Super Righteous Player
Chapter 660 - 201: Delivery of the Will_1

Chapter 660: Chapter 201: Delivery of the Will_1

——[Dragon Transformation].

That is, to become the messenger of Grandmother.

Annan certainly knew what "messenger" meant.

In fact, this was a euphemism... only the deceased could become the messengers of gods.

This meant that Ivan’s time had come.

But Annan didn’t feel any sorrow...

Because this was not actually a final farewell.

It was different from some of the Pseudo-god Church’s doctrines, where "the deceased faithful would go to the side of the deity" or "the souls of the dead would go to hell". The True Gods did not need to deceive their followers with such lies, but the False Gods—especially those who were loyal to building their own territories—would more or less tell some minor lies to get helpers.

The biggest lies were "Gods will hear your prayers" and "You must remain devout to God".

——With the exception of those with abnormal perception such as Kafney, who were born able to converse with the divine, it was basically only through correct and powerful rituals that the gods would hear the caller’s voice. Of course, calling out a true name would be another matter... after all, the act of "calling out the true name" was a ritual in itself.

When you think about it, if a god could hear you just by calling them, what would be the point of rituals?

As for devotion... neither the True Gods nor the False Gods need devotion or faith. The gods only had two jobs: to uphold the concept of their divine office, and to purify nightmares.

Creating messengers, operating the church, compiling Divine Arts, and drafting doctrines, and so on, were all extensions of these two jobs.

But gods do not need devotion... yet the church does.

The more a church lacks welfare and competitiveness, the more it emphasizes the importance of faith. Through the large net woven from faith and the afterlife, they can compel followers to perform various types of work for them.

When devout enough, they would neither seek rewards nor care about experiences. For small household Pseudo-god Churches, this was a crucial step.

——For powerful Orthodox Churches such as the Silver Baron’s, there was no shortage of people.

They could even tell their followers directly that it didn’t matter whether they truly believed in Silver Baron or not, as long as they didn’t blaspheme within the sanctuary. Even if they cursed a couple of times on the street about the Silver Baron, as long as they weren’t caught by a knight of Silver Baron, no one would mind.

You could complain all you like, but the work must not be neglected.

The church assigned individuals the highest mission of purifying nightmares; as well as the voluntary tasks that everyone needed to complete.

Such as serving as a teacher at the church school, managing the donated funds, helping ordinary people read and interpret contracts they encountered, and accepting complaints and reports about other contract workers and participating in investigations... These tasks also had to be completed.

——Keep in mind, the core doctrine of the knights of Silver Baron wasn’t to grasp benefits, but to maintain transactions.

So those merchants who earned money through deceitful means and by slaughtering the goose that laid the golden eggs, if reported, would also be hunted by the priests of Silver Baron—this kind of divine justice was also part of the priests’ work.

Grandmother’s way of doing things was completely different from Silver Baron.

As the God of Tradition, She only favored Her own bloodline. Therefore, Grandmother would only choose messengers from the inheritors of Frost Speech.

——In other words, all of Grandmother’s messengers were, strictly speaking, relatives.

Upon becoming messengers, they might find that their father, uncle, aunt, and grandfather were all watching them, murmuring "you’re here" and "it took you long enough".

From their outward appearance, Her messengers looked like great dragons.

The upside was that they could finally break free from the emotional bondage of the "Heart of Winter". But at this point, they could no longer transform back into humans or speak human language.

It was entirely different from the "perfect dragon form" obtained after evolving the "Heart of Winter" to its final form and ascending to the Gold rank.

The innate ability Heart of Winter, if it could evolve to [Blood of the Frigid Winter] and obtain a stigmatized soul, theoretically could transform into a true ancient dragon.

They could freely change forms without losing their profession, have long lifespans, and possess strong resistances. If they were originally wizards, they could even cast spells in dragon form.

To put it more precisely.

——That is to become a "fellow kin" of grandmother.

In fact, the innate ability "Heart of Winter" was initially meant by grandmother to create her kin. The curses, constraints, and enhancements it provided were all side effects caused by extracting from the bloodline.

And the messenger of the old grandmother, "Frost Speech Dragon," is merely in the appearance of a dragon.

They had lost the organs humans use for hearing and speaking and could only use the language of the frost or draconic to "listen" and "speak."

Therefore, to conduct a high-level ritual to summon a dragon, one must be proficient in one of these two ancient languages; otherwise, it would be impossible to command the dragon.

And those transformed into dragons through this method cannot change back into human form, nor can they speak the language of humans. They also do not possess any of the transcendent abilities they had as humans, and naturally, cannot conduct rituals... What they have is only the "shell" given by the old grandmother, which possesses abilities to spew, fly, resist, and attack. Just like a human transformed into a dragon.

Of course, even so, their combat ability is still very terrifying.

Unlike the "Silver Guide" type of messengers, the Frost Speech Dragons are true enforcers—possessing weapons that spray extreme cold, the wisdom of a sage among humans, a calm and indifferent spirit, and the ability to call forth blizzards with mere words, they are thick-skinned, twenty-foot-tall monsters.

They are creatures that even multiple transcendent beings at the silver rank may not be able to cope with...

The most frightening aspect is that this shell is disposable at will. For it is actually an illusory image created by the power of "tradition." Therefore, if the summoned dragons are in a good mood, they would fight for the summoner without worrying about their own safety.

However, even if they cannot change back into humans, it’s not really a big problem...

Because messengers are supposed to stay away from the mortal world. This limitation of being unable to revert to human form is a measure used by the old grandmother, who often falls into dragon sleep and lacks control over them, to ensure her messengers remain apart from the mortal world.

If the messengers were in the material realm, they would not be able to respond to rituals immediately... which would be equivalent to absenteeism.

As undead, the messengers are able to continue existing in this world without triggering the burial mechanism, and the "guarantee fee" for this is paid by the gods themselves.

If the messengers do not work, then it’s akin to freeloading...

The old grandmother is very kind to her own progeny, but that does not mean she will allow them to act as they please—since all her messengers are her descendants, it implies that, to her, no one person is special.

Perhaps the Silver Baron would occasionally allow someone time off due to their special talents, but the old grandmother would not.

She harbored a strong parental will.

In her eyes, all Dukes of the Winter, no matter how powerful they are in the outside world, are her juniors in her presence.

To work, the messengers must reside in other adjacent worlds or within the rifts between worlds. This way, they can respond instantly when ritualists initiate rituals.

The upside would be... probably that Ivan could see his father and grandfather again.

With Ivan’s talent being so exceptional and his life lived so diligently, Annan need not worry that the old grandmother would look down on him.

Moreover, there’s at least one advantage—that Annan and Ivan would not be permanently parted.

After Ivan became a messenger, there would still be opportunities for them to meet again.

Yes.

Afterwards, as long as Annan performed the ritual "Summon: Frost Speech Dragon," there was a chance he could summon his own father...

"It’s about this month," Ivan spoke slowly, "I hear you’re dealing with the Northern Union. I’ll try to live a few more days, to transform into a dragon after you’ve dealt with their issue.

"Before that, I must entrust you with the secret that’s been passed down through the generations of Dukes..."

"...A Great Calamity Curio?"

Annan guessed what Ivan was about to say.

Ivan nodded.

He patted the tri-colored cane he usually rested on and spoke calmly, "Actually, this is our family’s Great Calamity Curio that’s been passed down through generations. You didn’t expect that, did you."

"...Ah?"

Annan was taken aback.

I didn’t expect that.jpg

Annan glanced at the tri-colored staff in Ivan’s hand that spread out like an IV stand and hesitated for a moment.

So... that wasn’t a non-slip cane?

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.