Chapter 285: Live Broadcast
________
To all the people of the Empire living in different Star Systems, today was a momentous day. Most workplaces were closed or replaced with golems for this day, giving all citizens a free paid day.
People from all walks of life, from the most powerful Tier 6 Arcanist to children in their 3rd to 4th year of school, from politicians in the Council to business people in charge of corporations worth billions of Arcane Coins: all of them turned on the television at the same time to wait.
Then, the screen changed to Edward, who had a scrub on with gloves on. A table was in front of him with a black cover over it. Medical tools and a few floating magic circles are displayed around him and in the background.
"Hello, my fellow citizens. How has your day been going?" began Edward with a smile.
"Today, we will begin a new education program spear towards removing some of the common myths, fears, or ideologies you may have towards certain things or species in the universe.
"And for our first episode, we will begin with a God."
After saying that, he removed the cover, showing the thing underneath: it was Herpo. His body did not have his cloak, and he was as pale as white paint, close to 3 meters tall, and very skinny.
After hearing what the Emperor said, the people were shocked, but their attention and intention were piqued.
"Gods are known in the universe as supreme beings that elicit worship and awe of all races and species. They are mighty, and they can be considered the ruler of this universe."
Edward paused for a moment to let his words simmer a little:
"However, if you think about the information regarding them logically, there are many odd things regarding them. Mortals can worship them, and after they die, their souls can ascend to the Divine Kingdom of whatever God they worshiped.
"However, a little piece of information not known to many-or should I say purposely hidden-is the fact that these Gods require the faith of people to become powerful. The more people who believe in them, the higher Tiers they can reach.
"In essence, they are a parasitic species that require other living creatures to grow and even exist."
The citizens watching at home or in other places became even more fascinated; The Emperor revealed the universe's secrets to them, which was a genuinely intoxicating feeling.
In the future, the Empire will come in contact with the Gods. Some wise people could see the other significance of this live broadcast. If any of them try to spread faith in the territory of the Empire, well, they would be in for a rude awakening.
This broadcast will ensure that no citizens of the Empire have any awe or respect for these Gods-except for maybe their strength. If you want them to revere any God and dedicate their lives to them, all they would think about is how their Emperor once used such a being as an example for an education program.
"The God in front of me is a Tier 8 one, which means that he can destroy the Solar System with one attack. Although he is not considered one of the upper ones in terms of strength, he is still in the middle-upper level."
His words shocked people as the knowledge up to Tier 6 is currently publicly available to ordinary citizens. However, the people had to quickly focus as Edward did not give them time to process the information this time.
"We will begin the dissection by cutting his skin."
A scalpel flew into Edward's hand, and he tried to cut off Herpo's skin vertically from his head down to his torso. Unfortunately, the scalpel only created a slight white dent on his skin.
"As you can see, the skins are very durable. This scalpel is made of one of the hardest metals currently available. Now, let's try a highly concentrated laser scalpel."
A scalpel with a short red laser appeared in his hand, and he tried to cut the skin again but to no avail.
"Preliminary analysis is that this God is immune to physical damage and some technological weapons. The level of immunity is yet to be determined. Now, let's try magic," commented Edward before a few more scalpels floated in front of him, and he tried each of them.
"Note: this God also has high immunity to magics like Wandcract, Draconic Chant, and Sorcery. However, Arcane Rune Magic seemed to be functional."
With the final scalpel, he finally cut off Herpo's skin, and blood trickled down after the process. However, a few seconds later, the cut healed itself.
"Even incapacitated, the subject has a natural healing factor. The color of its blood is golden instead of red. Now, let us see whether a high concentration of mana can negate the healing factor."
One of the magic circles in the room activated to inject mana into the cut that Edward made, preventing it from closing. So, he removed all the skins from Herpo's body.
"The muscles of the subject are black, which could be because it controlled the power of Death. However, more data is required to prove this conjecture.
"Additionally, based on basic data gathered by the magic circles, the density of the subject is between 3000 to 400- times that of an ordinary human, granting it unimaginable physical prowess."
He then cut other parts while people all over the Empire watched with fascination, unable to remove their eyes from the screen. Thie individual being dissected was a mighty God, and this fact has not entirely escaped their mind.
Meanwhile, Edward was already profoundly concentrating on the task at hand:
"No magic veins, energy veins, or organs of similar function are detected. The bones are also black, and the density is a few thousand times that of humans.
"All bones are connected with no cartilages or connective tissues. However, the bones seemed to be very flexible for all types of intricate movements despite their density. It is to the point that it is comparable to elastic.
"Fascinating. There are no other organs besides the heart."
After opening Herpo's rib cage, a heart seemed to be inside his body with blood vessels connected to his skin, bones, and muscles.
"There are no respiratory systems, no reproductive system, nothing besides the heart that pumps blood."
Then, he proceeded to dissect the heart to analyze it.
"The blood seemed to be created and transported from the heart. Additionally, a large quantity of divine energy is discovered inside each drop of blood. However, this amount is still small for a Tier 8 individual.
"Now, let's check the brain."
Edward proceeded to open Herpo's skull before dissecting it.
"The subject's brain appears to be no different from a typical human's brain with a few changes. The main objective seemed to be holding the entrance to the Soul Dimension.
"Based on the data gathered, both the heart and the brain seemed to have little effect on a God. If destroyed, they might be slightly weakened, but it is not deadly to them. In general, the entire body seemed to have no purpose except for being a container.
"There is a very high chance that Gods are Soul Creatures whose flesh served only as a container, and once destroyed, will not lead to their deaths. However, it is also possible that their Souls cannot exist without flesh for an extended period.
"Unfortunately, there is not enough data to determine whether this is the same for all Gods or those with high Tiers. Now, let's check the soul."
Then, he activated the magic circles in the room to access Herpo's Soul Dimension. However, as soon as he entered, he discovered a small struggle from Herpo's sealed soul.
So, he secretly controlled the vast energy in the Floating City to reinforce the seal inside. Edward had to admit that the Empire's Sealing Magic was mediocre.
Edward found himself floating in the sky of a large white space. Underneath him was a golden ocean so vast that he could not fathom how enormous it was.
At the center of that ocean was what appeared to be an altar with a Golden Flame burning bright gold.
"Fascinating," commented Edward to all the people viewing inside the Dimension.
"The Gods used their Soul Dimension to store divine energy. If we can find a way to imitate this method to store mana, a new magic path could be open.
"Additionally, this method can also decrease the speed at which Arcanist can reach Tier 8."
Edward's eyes lit up with anticipation. This method was indeed feasible. If Arcanists could absorb and store mana in both the magic core and the Soul Dimension, the time it takes them to reach Tier 8 and higher would indeed be drastically reduced.
And if he could find a way for the mana absorbed in the Soul Dimension to be aether and of the same purity as the magic core, that time would decrease again.
Although divine energy was different from mana, he could still learn from it.
Meanwhile, Edward's words had people going crazy-both Arcanaists and ordinary people. With each new magical system discovered or created, people will have more options and a high probability of becoming Mana-wielding Arcanists.
After all, if one system does not fit, people could choose another method instead.
As for the Arcanists of the Empire, they were also excited. With the Arcana Flame, the Emperor has already opened an easier path for them to Tier 7. Now, once this idea comes to fruition, they will not have to worry about Tier 8.
As such, people all over the world became excited.
Meanwhile, Edward continued his dissection. He explained how the altar and flame in the middle of the ocean were the Divine Altar and Divine Flame of Gods.
The Divine Flame is used to purify the faith of God's Believers, and the purified faith can be turned into divine energy through the Divine Altar or used for other things.
Once he was done, he stated his concluding words for this broadcast.
"Thank you for coming with me on this learning adventure. I created this program to facilitate a new sense of enthusiasm for knowledge and the pursuit of truth amongst all the citizens of the Empire, no matter what race, ethnicity, or star system you are from.
"As citizens of the Empire, we all have the duty to ask questions, seek answers, be curious of the unknown, and uncover all veils of mystery until all truths of the universe are revealed.
"This will not be an easy task, nor one we may ever achieve in our entire life. In this journey, we will face many adversities, many people who wish to stop us, and we will often doubt ourselves and our capabilities.
"Despite this, we will never stop our journey; we will never give up our pursuit."
He paused for a brief moment to salute: "The Arcane Truth will be our guide until the end of time and beyond."
All the citizens of the Empire stood up and repeated:
"The Arcane Truth will be our guide until the end of time and beyond."
________
Title: Cronai