Chapter 1540: A Reliable Way to Relay the Message

The procedure for delivering “mortal weapons” to the Fertile Divine Realm was quickly finalized. As for the arrangements involving High Lord, Amon expressed no objections—indeed, the former god of nature had always been easygoing. As long as no one disturbed his gardening, he paid little mind to what the Divine Council did in the courtyard. Besides, his domain was usually quiet; now that something interesting was happening, he was even looking forward to the excitement.

“Just make sure you don’t trample my garden or vegetable patch,” Amon said, rising from beneath the golden oak tree and nodding toward a nearby clearing. “And don’t occupy that fenced-off spot under the tree—that’s Mimirna’s territory. I’ve already promised her that space.”

“That’s nature,” High Lord nodded. “The main handover area will be set outside the courtyard. Aside from the unavoidable entrance to the Defiant Fortress, this won’t interfere with your daily life here.”

After speaking, he paused thoughtfully, then turned to Amber and the three Fertile Sisters beside her. “Let’s consider if there are any oversights or points we need to discuss further. This matter is quite delicate. Before we reveal the plan to the other Divine Council members, we need to make it as foolproof as possible.”

No sooner had High Lord finished than Gaia, the eldest of the three goddesses, spoke up. “How should we notify the other gods about this plan?”

That was a question High Lord hadn’t yet fully considered. After a moment’s thought, he realized it was indeed tricky. “Notifying the other gods… the key is whether it will alert their ‘divine halves.’ Right, we’ve previously sent messages to the Divine Realm through ‘windows’ set up in major cathedrals. You can receive those messages, correct?”

“Yes,” Harvest Goddess Eve replied thoughtfully. “It was the ‘messages’ from believers that prompted us to contact you directly. But not all gods have taken that step like we have. I imagine most are more cautious.” She added, “And there’s a crucial point you mentioned—we must avoid provoking their ‘divine halves.’ Even if we can send information from the mortal world to the Divine Realm, we can’t reveal this plan directly to other gods. Messages sent through cathedral ‘windows’ are perceived simultaneously by both their human and divine aspects.”

Eve’s words trailed off, and Gaia quickly added, “A cold, inert bomb isn’t seen as a threat, but a deliberate ‘plot’ is unmistakably hostile. The divine half will react to such information. Therefore, intelligence must never be transmitted upward through cathedral windows. Likewise, this plan must remain strictly confidential—even within the Divine Council, and absolutely no leaks outside.”

“Though gods don’t constantly scan every ordinary believer’s thoughts, they are highly sensitive to targeted hostility. So if even one believer knows this plan, every passing moment risks that believer’s fleeting thought triggering the divine half’s alertness—possibly causing it to lose control prematurely.”

Gaia’s warning was grave, and High Lord’s expression instantly grew serious. Inwardly, he felt grateful for the choices he’d made when founding the Divine Council. From the start, he had established a strict “cognitive access” system. Considering that gods perceive what mortals know, many council plans were structured in layers. The closer to clergy and ordinary believers, the more concealed the council’s true intentions. Often, those executing orders had no idea of the real purpose behind them; only council leaders and senior advisors were privy to the full scope.

Alongside strict cognitive controls, he had insisted on a “gradual” approach—whether secularizing divine authority or deconstructing doctrines, all actions avoided direct conflict with the gods’ teachings. The goal was to slowly dismantle old faiths through cultural shifts and doctrinal replacement.

Back then, he hadn’t fully understood how gods operated, nor the precise distinction between their divine and human halves, or the “counterattack logic” of the divine half. He had simply done his best to ensure safety during the unbinding of divine authority. Now, it was clear that caution had been absolutely necessary.

From beginning to end, the Divine Council had never revealed any hostility toward the gods’ divine halves. Even though the gods’ human halves knew what this mortal organization was doing, the council had operated smoothly to this day.

High Lord shook his head slightly, gathering his thoughts. “So we have two options. The first is to find a sufficiently covert way to send messages—ensuring that the mortal-to-divine communication is understood by the gods’ human halves but doesn’t provoke their divine halves. Since the human half can think flexibly, and the divine half only judges based on doctrine, this approach is feasible.”

“It is feasible, but not without risk,” Gaia said, shaking her head. “Even we can’t be sure of the divine half’s alertness. After being ‘severed’ by the Lady of Night, our communication with our own divine halves was cut off. That gave us freedom but also lost control and awareness of the other half.” She paused, then continued carefully, “Perhaps the messages we send to the Divine Realm contain no hostile words, but the writer’s inner malice might still be conveyed through the text. Or maybe…”

She hesitated, then added, “We must also consider that gods’ comprehension varies.”

High Lord’s expression turned a bit odd. He looked at the Earth Goddess before him and said, “You mean to say their intelligence levels differ?”

“That works,” Gaia replied, a little embarrassed. “People say gods are omniscient and omnipotent, but we all know how ridiculous that is. Their cognition and thinking are influenced by their authority and doctrines. The gods’ human halves have their own traits and… flaws, just like mortals. I’m sure some gods are naturally not very sharp. Maybe when we send the message, some gods’ divine halves instinctively lose control, while their human halves haven’t even understood what’s written.”

High Lord was momentarily speechless. Amber’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean there are dumb ones among the gods?”

Gaia looked sheepish. “We haven’t interacted with other gods much, but we believe there must be… some ‘slow’ ones.”

“Alright, then let’s go with the second option,” High Lord said decisively, waving his hand. “We try to establish direct contact with the gods’ human halves, bypassing their divine halves.”

“That sounds easy to say, but how?” Amber stared at him. “The human and divine halves of other gods are together. Whatever you send will inevitably be detected by both.”

High Lord looked around thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “If only we could, like the three Fertile Sisters, summon the human halves of other gods here. Then we could discuss face-to-face. The human halves don’t have the mutual exclusion or contamination issues the divine halves do—they can gather.”

“We could try sending a direct invitation,” Flora tapped the ground lightly with her forehoof. “But it’s hard to say how many gods would respond to such a sudden, even suspicious, invite. We can’t reveal any real details of the plan. And if we say nothing… who would recklessly leave the Divine Realm to meet here on the mortal border?”

“Maybe we could come up with an offer they can’t refuse?” Amber blinked. “We can explain everything once they’re here. As long as we get them here first.”

“That’s easier said than done,” High Lord shook his head. “What reason or appeal could convince gods to leave the Divine Realm just because of a scrap of paper from the mortal world? Especially now, when their human halves have just been freed and the world is tense. Most gods are probably extremely cautious, trying to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

Amber glanced at the Fertile Sisters. “Then how come you three are so reckless?”

The three goddesses blinked, then spoke in unison, “We’re measured!”

“Right, right, they’re measured,” Amon chimed in, who had been quiet until now. “My courtyard is pretty safe…”

High Lord gave Amon and the three goddesses a long look. Whenever they mentioned “measured,” they all seemed to radiate the same peculiar aura—like Byron talking about “justice.” It was that feeling of “you may not believe it, but I’m absolutely confident.”

Just then, Gaia’s gaze shifted to Amber. After a moment’s contemplation, the goddess said thoughtfully, “Perhaps… Amber’s suggestion isn’t without merit. We could ‘trick’ the human halves of other gods into coming here. We can give them a reason they can’t refuse—or at least one that seems impossible to refuse.”

High Lord and Amber said in unison, “Huh?”

“This will require a little help from you, Miss Amber,” Gaia said earnestly. “I believe the success rate is high.”

…

Two hours later, in the blue velvet study of Cecil Palace, Amber sat beside High Lord’s desk, a pen held between her teeth, admiring her handiwork with a faint look of pride.

But the pride lasted only a moment before she turned to the man resting beside her, who had his eyes closed. Setting the pen down, she muttered uncertainly, “Do you really think this will work? Even though Gaia says the chances are good.”

“At least in this regard, her judgment is probably sound,” High Lord opened his eyes and glanced over. “The gods’ perception is extremely sensitive—especially now. The Lady of Night’s presence is almost PTSD-inducing for them. Don’t forget how the three goddesses reacted when you first stepped into Amon’s courtyard. You hadn’t even summoned any of your knockoff artifacts yet.”

“Under this special mindset, any message from the Lady of Night—no matter how suspicious, even if sent by mortal believers—will be taken seriously by the gods’ human halves. Even if only to verify its authenticity, they will show up. After all… who else besides us would know or suspect there’s a knockoff ‘Lady of Night’ like you?”

“Alright, that makes sense,” Amber thought for a moment, pursing her lips. “Come take a look at what I wrote. See if it’s okay.”

Only then did Gawain rise from his chair and walk over to the desk. On it lay a neat stack of a dozen or so sheets of letter paper, each one bearing the exact same message:

“One treatment cycle remains. Assemble at the Recluse of the Natural Sovereign on the Shadow Realm border within twenty-four hours. Please cooperate fully with the treatment. — Lady Night.”

“Don’t you think this sounds a bit… too ‘authoritative’?” Amber scratched the back of her head nervously, watching Gawain’s reaction. “I wrote it exactly how you said, but if it were Lady Night herself, wouldn’t the message be more solemn and dignified?”

Gawain stroked his chin thoughtfully, then shook his head. “No need to change it. I actually like it this way. According to the Gaia sisters, Lady Night talks to them just like this—casual but firm. Honestly, I don’t think the gods will scrutinize your choice of words when they get this letter. The real power of this message lies elsewhere.”

“I know, I know,” Amber said, snapping her fingers. Immediately, a swirl of smoky gray-white sand appeared, drifting around her like a ribbon in the air. She then pulled a stack of envelopes from a nearby shelf and began filling each one with the fine shadow dust. “They’ll never suspect a thing once they see the shadow sand inside the envelopes, right? Both you and Gaia said so…”

Gawain nodded. He watched as Amber carefully folded each letter, slipped it into an envelope half-filled with sand, and sealed it with glue. Seeing this, and thinking about the content and purpose of these letters, a strange feeling crept up inside him. After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke up: “You know, this really looks like some kind of gang sending out threatening letters…”

“Huh? Isn’t that the point?” Amber blinked at him in surprise. “I thought you were treating this as a threat letter from the start—I was wondering how you were so familiar with this kind of thing.”

“Forget it, let’s not dig too deep into that,” Gawain said, slapping his forehead. Just then, Amber reached for a wax seal stamp nearby, and he quickly interrupted, “Wait, hold on! Don’t use that!”

“Why not?” Amber looked puzzled, holding up the wax seal. “You always use this when you send letters. It makes it look official…”

“Yeah, but you’re leaving a note to the gods as Lady Night, and the message is being sent through earthly churches, fine. But the envelope is stamped with the Cecil royal crest! Does that make any sense?” Gawain’s mouth twitched. “I know you said Lady Night’s PTSD can override everything, but don’t you think that’s a little too suspicious?”

Amber thought it over, then reluctantly put down the wax seal. “Alright, you have a point.”

Gawain shook his head and sighed. Seeing Amber had everything ready, he connected the communication link to Veronica.

“Summon all the city’s bishops, holy maidens, holy sons, and archbishops,” he said to the bewildered Veronica on the other end. “Have them prepare the sacrificial ritual at the ‘window.’ Tell them Lady Night asked me to deliver a message to their gods…”

(End of chapter)