Throne of Magical Arcana
chapter-639

“…Based on our research, the fake god’s extraordinary abilities and the way such abilities are used are entirely different from magic or blood power. It is different from magic creatures, as well, and calls for more studies…”

“…After locating one of Mr. Thanos’ relics with ‘Mirror of Fate’, we discovered that he had also conducted research on gods and was much more advanced than us. He had secretly preached for a hundred years and gathered the power of faith through special items… By grasping his research files, we made groundbreaking developments in our research, and we established certain religions on our own. Also, we separated and recruited Mr. Thanos’ believers…”

Here, the experiment logs that described the way to make the special items had been entirely destroyed. Frowning, Lucien kept on reading. The record matched his conclusion before. After all, for religions that required time and population to accumulate the power of faith, it was impossible for them to suddenly soar. It was unreasonable that the Saint Truth and many other religions of fake gods emerged out of nowhere during the War of Dawn and became very powerful. There must’ve been a period of development that took decades if not hundreds of years.

Also, in the main material world, all the creatures that had hoped to gather godhood would be coveted and captured by the World of Souls, which would then fake their natural death. To dig out the mysteries of faith, one had to begin by discovering the fake gods in the alternate dimensions, exactly like how he encountered God Ell and the like. It also matched the history that Thanos conquered all the known alternate dimensions except hell and the abyss and led the magic society to the pinnacle and answered the question as to why so many underdeveloped alternate dimensions were conquered but no fake gods were ever discovered. It was because they were all intercepted by the Sun King who kept them a secret.

“…During my research, we found the World of Souls, and I also created the first special magic item with the gathered godhood – the Sun’s Corona. It’s a mark that I’ve embarked on the path to be a real god. I’ve made the first step towards the mysteries of this world and the dream of an everlasting life…”

It was indeed created by the gathered godhood. Lucien tapped the paper on which the experiment logs were recorded. It meant that, if the sorcerers could not find a way to steal the godhood of the God of Truth but try to create a divine item by establishing a religion to gather godhood, it would take a very long time. It would be impossible to shake the foundation of the Church using the fact that sorcerers could also create divine items.

“…I found a world that is beyond my imagination in this place. In the deepest and most quiet death, there was a sacred and overwhelming world of light, in which the brightness was twisted into a seven-floored mountain. Countless angels with pure wings on their backs and transparent holy spirits were dancing and singing… Was it angels, holy spirits and Mountain Paradise that Mr. Thanos envisioned? The worlds behind the black gates are a natural reflection of the death customs in different cultures. Then, could it be just like them, and it is derived from the collective consciousness of the believers of the Sun God? But it’s still a surprise to see it here…”

“…The exploration on the Chamber of Immortality failed. I think I understand why the existence of the World of Souls sleeps near the chamber, and why there is so much concrete evidence suggesting that the secret of immortality lies there. Those things couldn’t have been spread out without the exploration of the pioneers… Even the demigods suffered severe wounds in the pathway of immortality and had to recover from the river of fate over a long time?

“…We used the Mirror of Fate again and discovered Mr. Thanos’ remaining laboratory. We read his experiment record…”

In the next, it was some notes that Thanos left behind:

“I’ve found a way to surpass the pathway of immortality, which is to transform myself into a weird status that is similar to ghosts and the primeval devils. Only by doing so will I be immune to the overwhelming power of disintegration and collapse inside the pathway. This happens to be what I’ve been working on. Chamber of Immortality, I’m coming!”

“…After many unimaginable dangers, I finally opened the door of the Chamber of Immortality, but was it the secret of immortality behind it? Why couldn’t I be convinced at all? What did it mean exactly? Was the God of Death tricking me? But the traces of immortality everywhere and all the things around proved that the secret of immortality must be behind the door!”

‘God of Death’ was a random name that Thanos came up with for the mysterious existence of the World of Souls. As for the way of transformation and the dangers to be faced, the former was destroyed, and the latter had never been recorded by Thanos. At that time, he must’ve thought of another possibility and began his attempt to surpass the level of demigod.

“…Is it because I’m not strong enough that I cannot see the secret of immortality? Also, there are many insidious problems if I turn into a demigod by transforming into something similar to the primeval devils through gathering the power of emotions. Something may go terribly wrong! It’s time to make another attempt. As long as I surpass this test and become the real Sun God, everything will be better. By then, I will surely be able to see the secret of immortality as a real god, won’t I?”

“…I’m all set to become a real god. My approach is to completely melt myself with Mountain Paradise where godhood is gathered and solidified. This is a very dangerous step. Thankfully, I’ve made all the preparations. I created a perfect body and projected a bit of my essence into the body. If the melting fails and I am swallowed by Mountain Paradise, will I be reincarnated in him?”

No more notes from Thanos could be found again. It was back to the experiment logs of Maskelyne and his partners.

“…We didn’t know that Mountain Paradise was created by Mr Thanos. He found a world of death that had angels. Then, he melted the special item with which he collected godhood into that world, thereby creating a Mountain Paradise that was much more powerful than he thought! Its magnificent power reached the peak of demigod, and as the power of faith increased and many holy spirits arrived, it gradually broke the limits of demigod…”

“…Mr. Thanos must’ve lost all his self-awareness when he melted himself into Mountain Paradise. To be more exact, he was dissolved and completely perished… He became a real god, exceeded the limits of demigod, and reached the apex of this world, but he does not know how strong he is. He can only function according to the preset rules like the most accurate magic circle. He does not have consciousness or a soul. No, it isn’t correct to say that he does not have consciousness. He has consciousness that is hidden inside everybody’s heart, a result of the influence of the power of faith…”

“…Mr. Thanos only left a platinum staff behind, in which are the rules that he set for Mountain Paradise. Because his real self has become a real god, his staff is enshrouded by the most powerful will. We can only crack it and grasp it gradually. By the time we can use it freely, we will be wielding the power of a real god!”

“…Mr. Thanos’ preparation for his resurrection seemed to have failed, too. After the perfect body was woken up by us, he does have any memories or self-awareness about the Sun King anymore. He is a brand-new intelligent life. Of course, thanks to the projection of the Sun King, he is making crazy improvements in strength. Perhaps, he will reach the peak of legendary earlier than all of us. According to McLeod’s proposal, we have given him a new name: Mecantron, which means the deputy sovereign of paradise and the young Sun God. It matches his real identity perfectly…”

Reading that, Rhine couldn’t help but chuckle, “So, Mecantron is Thanos. No wonder I always feel that he is familiar. I thought it was because every pure beauty looked familiar to me…”

“Mecantron is not technically the Sun King. His soul, his consciousness and his memories, everything he has is different.” Lucien believed that even Mecantron wouldn’t think that he was Thanos, the Sun King and the ‘God of Truth’!

Hardly had he finished his sentence when Lucien’s head hummed as if it had been hit by a gigantic hammer. Seizing the key to the problem, he mumbled, “Mecantron is Thanos’ reincarnation, Mecantron…”

“What’s wrong?” Rhine was somewhat puzzled. Wasn’t it what the Sun King acknowledged in his notes himself and what Maskelyne and the other sorcerers recorded in their experiment logs? Could somebody have fabricated it?

Lucien said, in both shock and confusion, “If Mecantron, the Angel King, is a reincarnation of Thanos, the Sun King, then only the six seraphs were actually made out of legendary sorcerers. However, seven legendary sorcerers went missing!”

It was simple math!

“Perhaps, the first product failed during the production?” Rhine became solemn, too.

“No…” Lucien murmured. Countless memories flashed in his head.

The puppet that was divided into ‘six parts’ by McLeod…

The residues of the magic circle in the grey hall that represented the different components of a hexagram…

Maskelyne left his secret laboratory in a hurry when he almost finished his conclusion, leaving only a mark of ink that indicated his shock…

‘Maskelyne’ shouted miserably, “It’s not him; it’s him!”

Viken took away the most important part of the files in the Sun King’s underground palace, which was a relic that Maskelyne and the other sorcerers did not discover…

Viken’s most weird ‘Special Summoning Ritual’…

It was Viken who proposed to erase the experiment descriptions in their magic notebooks, and it was Viken who went missing first…

The monster shared a lot of similarities with the primeval devils. It seemed to know everybody’s memories and feel the deepest feelings in their heart, and it was one or half a level stronger than the target…

“Viken…” Lucien seemed to see a grey-haired old man sneering at him. He said fuzzily.

Rhine’s ears were keen enough for him to catch it. He repeated, “Viken? It was him?”

Lucien had connected all the clues and made many deductions. His shock was gradually gone. His eyes dark and profound, he pushed his monocle and said solemnly and confidently:

“Although there are many things that we haven’t figured out yet, there is only one possible truth!”

The grey mirror on their back suddenly became clear, and a blurry shadow protruded.