Chapter 772: Chapter 464: Invasion_2
Colin speculated that it might be traces left by believers after the deity had once occupied the island.
Following Mill up the small path on the hillside, Colin continued to look toward the sea to his right.
As they ascended, the scene of the distant sea domain became clearer.
A large fleet of steel warships was gathering on the azure sea, resembling a group of giant whales roaming, with their flags and paint clearly indicating they belonged to the Wizard’s side.
Beyond the Wizard’s fleet, and further ahead, lay three islands diagonally distributed, surrounded by the Divine fleet—obviously the Parra trio.
Turning his gaze closer, on a gentle slope of open ground at some distance, Colin suddenly saw a group of people acting strangely.
Some clenched their fists, muttering to themselves; others were running around the open ground; and still, others sat on the ground, with vacant stares.
"These are the island’s original civilians," Ryden noted, seeing his gaze and sighing as he explained, "When the Divine arrived, they were hypnotized and brainwashed by the Priests, converted to the faith of the Divine. Now they are unlikely to return to their normal lives."
Colin nodded, then suddenly thought of something else and asked, "Are all of the civilians over there?"
"Of course not," Ryden shook his head, "Those who could return to normal life, after strict inspections, have already been concentrated and sent to specially settled islands in the rear for further treatment. Those remaining are the civilians with more severe conditions."
Colin fell silent. Although the Wizard’s side had recaptured the island, they could only retrieve the land while the usable population had significantly diminished.
Ordinary believers were already in such a state, and as for those who had become Priests or Bishops, Ryden hadn’t mentioned their fate, but it was obviously only death.
Coming and going, the number of civilians who could pass the inspection and rejoin the Wizard’s side, if it was half of the original, would already be good.
And these civilians who had once believed in the Divine, even if they passed all the inspections, it would be difficult to completely trust them in a short time... at least they wouldn’t trust choosing children with potential to be cultivated as new blood for the Wizards.
"We’re here," Mill suddenly stopped.
Colin looked back.
Beyond Mill’s figure, a huge castle, enveloped in a translucent Protective Shield, came into view.
At the moment, they were outside a circle of iron fences surrounding the castle.
Mill waved, opening the black iron gate in front of them, leading everyone through, stopping on the open ground in front of the castle, finally saying,
"The related training session will begin promptly at nine in the evening, located on the first basement level of the castle, don’t be late."
"Before that, you can move around freely. If you want to rest, you may use the unoccupied guest rooms on the first floor of the castle, but you cannot leave this place."
Having said this, Mill flew away, seemingly having other tasks to attend to.
"I didn’t expect there to be an examination and to go through training..." Ryden sighed, looking somewhat apologetically at him, "I wasn’t aware of this beforehand."
"It’s okay, with the task being so important, it would be abnormal not to have these steps," Colin said, gently shaking his head.
At the beginning of his contact with Ryden, he had seemed a cold and powerful Wizard, one with profound depths.
But now, it seemed a misconception, probably because they were still relatively unfamiliar at first and Ryden was reticent.
"What do the two esteemed gentlemen plan to do next?" Yeats asked amicably from the side.
Ryden didn’t respond but instead turned to ask Colin, "What about you, Lord Colin, what are your plans next?"
Colin thought for a moment and asked, "I wonder if there’s any information about the Divine on the island? I’m new to the frontline and there’s much information I do not yet understand."
"So it’s your first time at the frontline," Yeats said, a bit surprised, "There is a simple library on the third floor of the castle. I remember that you can find some information on the Divine there. But for more detailed knowledge, you need to go to the larger Er Mountain island next door."
"Thank you," Colin nodded in gratitude.
He had previously sought knowledge related to the Divine in the Supreme Council due to the Divine Blood, but there had only been a few scant articles. The vast majority of knowledge about the Divine could only be obtained at the frontline.
"I’ll go with you; I’m free anyway," Ryden said.
"Alright," Colin nodded, seeing no reason not to.
"I won’t go. There’s training in the evening, and I plan to rest for a while," Yeats said from the side.
The three bid farewell, with Yeats heading to the guest room on the first floor of the castle for rest, while Colin made his way to the third floor with Ryden.
"As of late, have you remained at the front lines, Lord Ryden?" Colin inquired on the stairs leading to the third floor.
"Indeed, I have," Ryden nodded. "Since the defense line at Teiya Strait was breached, I’ve been constantly at the battlefield, following the lead of my mentor in slaying enemies."
"Previously, you mentioned to me that the followers of the divine at the level of Pope not only possess strong bodies but also spirits that are second to none... Doesn’t this mean their actual combat abilities are likely somewhat stronger than those of wizards of the same rank?" Colin continued to inquire.
"Not necessarily," Ryden shook his head. "Whether it be a Pope or a Great Pope, their power is granted by the divine, mighty in essence, but not as flexibly wielded as a wizard’s. Hence, in terms of actual combat power, wizards of the same rank generally surpass divine believers."
"The only exception is the Divine Avatar. At the same rank, Divine Avatars indeed possess stronger combat abilities than ordinary wizards, especially those avatars descending through the bodies of believers, who are much more formidable than ordinary wizards."
As Ryden spoke, there was no fear in his eyes, only a flash of combativeness.
"Do you know about the different kinds of Divine Avatars, Lord Ryden?"
"I’m aware of some, but I can’t claim to understand thoroughly," Colin shook his head.
"There are mainly two types of Divine Avatars," Ryden explained, "One is a projection, and the other is an avatar. Projections are intangible and insubstantial, descending without a specific vessel and generally weaker in power, not exceeding Third Rank. They’re closer to us in many ways and have weaker resistance against soul-targeting witchcraft."
"Avatars, on the other hand, require a suitable divine believer to sacrifice themselves as a vessel for the divine to descend. Typically, these avatars are of at least Second Rank power and practically lack any specific weaknesses, possessing high resistance against various forms of witchcraft."
"As for true avatars, it’s a special term for Divine Avatars that have reached Fourth Rank strength, demanding extremely stringent conditions for their vessels.
Those suited to be vessels are referred to as Divine Sons or Goddesses within the church."
Colin nodded thoughtfully, a contemplative look in his eyes.
This Divine Avatar, the more he heard of it, the more he felt it resembled his own current power—at least, it too emphasized both body and spirit!
Letting out an almost imperceptible sigh, Colin quickened his pace. Though he tried to suppress it, his heart was still somewhat surging with excitement.
A somewhat shocking thought began to form in his mind—
’Maybe, I don’t necessarily need Divine Blood to progress; perhaps by researching Divine Avatars, I could also find my own path forward?’
With this thought, Colin arrived at the library on the third floor.
Taking out his Councilman Badge, he reached out to the crystal in the center of the library, eager to start searching for knowledge about the divine.
With a quick search, the screen before him immediately populated with an abundance of information regarding the divine.
’It seems there are now five divinities present; when I last checked in the rear, there were only the Lord of Flesh and Thorns, the Poison Fury Fiend, the Lord of Gold and Molten Rock, and the Night and Hunting Goddess.’
’There’s an additional Lord of Bitter Winter, then? That’s the deity that appeared outside of Graham City in the north.’
Wizards mainly name divinities based on their characteristics, rather than their true divine names.
Sometimes, due to delayed information, the same deity might have multiple names, like the Night and Hunting Goddess, who is sometimes also called the Night and Blood Goddess.
"The Lord of Bitter Winter is said to have the appearance of a robust man with blue hair, out of these is the one most resembling a human," Ryden added as he stood beside Colin, examining the information.
Colin nodded slightly and continued to read on.
By evening, he had acquired a rudimentary understanding of the information about the divinities.
Regrettably, he hadn’t come across any studies on divine power that he wanted to know about.
Perhaps it was because researching divine power also carried the risk of corruption, or perhaps such knowledge simply wasn’t accessible on this small island.
Which of these scenarios was true, Colin had no immediate way of knowing and no time to delve deeper.
The orange sunset sank beneath the sea’s horizon, and evening had arrived.
He and Ryden made their way to the first level underground, ready to begin their training.