Chapter 346: Chapter 75: The Veil of the Church Court
Margaret’s hand rested on his leg, feeling the flow of Energy beneath the fabric.
A flash of confusion crossed her eyes, but she quickly pushed it aside for business.
"Yes, Master." She withdrew her hand, knelt properly once more, and her tone returned to one of calm composure. "People from the ’Silver Tower’—or at least their advance scouts—have used the Deep Red Wilderness as a springboard to successfully infiltrate the Old Realm. While the Tower of Secret Silver’s opening of the Plane Passage certainly caused a disaster, it also tore a usable rift in the Church Court’s curtain."
At this, a distinct, cold smirk appeared on her delicate face. "Those Wild Wizards and Wizard Apprentices who were duped into storming the passage and creating chaos were nothing more than cannon fodder and pathfinders tossed out by the Silver Tower. They were promised handsome rewards, convincing these poor souls trapped in the Old Realm to throw their lives away."
Murphy frowned slightly. "That’s not right. Most Wild Wizards who willingly remain in the Old Realm do so with the mindset of ’better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.’ In the New Realm, they might be at the bottom of the hierarchy, but in the Old Realm, they can lord over others with the power of an Official Wizard. They even covet the pre-Dawn War legacies that exist in the Old Realm. Why would they be so easily persuaded to become cannon fodder in what is clearly a suicide mission?"
"’Better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond?’" Margaret repeated the phrase, the coldness in her smile deepening. "Master, that’s only true when they still have choices and time. Do you know why most talented Wizard Apprentices would rather take enormous risks to break through in the New Realm as soon as possible, instead of slowly accumulating power in the Old Realm?"
"Because in the Old Realm’s environment, breaking through to become an Official Wizard is extremely difficult," Murphy said.
"Extremely difficult... Yes, almost hopelessly so." Margaret’s voice dropped. "But there’s a more hidden detail: once someone successfully breaks through and becomes an Official Wizard in the Old Realm, it becomes nearly impossible for them to travel to the New Realm using a conventional Plane Waymark."
She lifted her dark eyes and looked directly at Murphy. "This is one of the most effective curtains the Truth Church Court put in place after winning the Dawn War. Its purpose is to permanently trap the truly promising and threatening geniuses of the Old Realm in this decaying, resource-depleted cage. It leaves them with power but no path forward, forced to watch themselves slowly rot away over their long lifespans."
She paused. "Before the Dawn War, every one of those Wild Wizards without an orthodox lineage was a brilliant genius, capable of leading their own school of thought. But now? They are trapped here. In the beginning, they might have enjoyed the authority their power brought them. But as time passes, with resources depleted, their path forward severed, and their lives drawing to a close... the desire to leave this world becomes their deepest obsession, consuming all reason."
"Just like that Wizard who attacked the Duval Territory," Margaret’s voice was as soft as a whisper. "Why did he take such a desperate risk? Was it really for a few resources? No. He saw a faint clue, a possible path to the New Realm. Even if that clue was illusory, even if the price was destruction and death, he was willing to gamble everything. Because staying in the Old Realm, all he could see was eternal imprisonment and a slow death."
Margaret’s hand began to creep up Murphy’s knee.
She lowered her head slightly, her thick, dark hair sliding down to cover half her face. Her voice became muffled, taking on an almost dreamlike tone:
"Of course... how could that unlucky fool have known that the ’soft target’ he chose, the Duval Territory, was hiding you, Master? If he had known, he wouldn’t have dared to come, not even if you gave him a hundred times the courage. But with you here, Master, any problem... is no problem at all..."
Her fingertips curled slightly, as if trying to grasp something.
Murphy’s gaze swept past her bowed head. "The Duval Territory... What about Richard? Any news from him recently? When will he be back?"
Margaret kept her head down. "Who knows, my Master. I sent him off on a voyage, to the New Continent to develop territory and establish a foothold. It’s a fine assignment—it both tempers him and opens up a new source of income and a path of retreat for the Temeris Clan. Kills two birds with one stone, you see."
"Are you concerned about him? Or... are you feeling nostalgic for the old days in the Duval Territory?"
Murphy ignored the probing nature of her last question and simply followed her train of thought. "The New Continent... It’s said the struggles there between the Church Court and the remnant Wizard forces are even more blatant and chaotic than here."
"Isn’t it just." Margaret scoffed, her words still muffled. "Far from the Old Realm Continent, the center of civilization and power, order is thin on the ground. Savagery and chaos are the main themes there. No matter how far the Church Court’s tentacles reach, their influence is greatly diminished in such a remote and barbaric land."
"And those remnant Wizards, practitioners of Heresy, and even some bizarre native faiths who were suppressed to the point of suffocation here have all found fertile ground there to eke out an existence, or even secretly flourish. They fight endlessly over resources, followers, and territory."
She paused again. "However, Master, the conflicts in a place like that are, in the end, just noise at the fringes. The real chessboard has always been right here."
"Why? Naturally, it’s because the Origin of this world’s power—the region where its core Laws are most concentrated, most active, and most easily touched—is on this Continent. No matter how vast the New Continent is, or how rich its resources, it is ultimately a ’remote land.’ On the New Continent, forget about comprehending and leveraging profound Laws; even maintaining a basic rate of Cultivation requires many times more effort and resources than it does here."
