FALLEN ORACLE

**Chapter 10: Light and Flame (6)**

Clearly, that was not the truth.First, it was certain that the Divine Communion between the goddess Tiya and himself was not known to—or permitted by—anyone else in the upper realm.And the dark cyan stone was clearly placed by the white-robed men guarding her. Those men couldn't be so foolish as to facilitate contact between the goddess and him.So why did they set up that stone?Chen Yi realized he had been thinking from the perspective of someone from the lower realm.Now, consider the perspective of those from the upper realm. What was their goal in using the Divine Communion spell?Comparing the details of Divine Communion, it was obvious that for the upper realm, teaching magic was only a cover. Their true purpose was to use the light from the dark cyan stone to irradiate the lower-realm humans.The most reasonable guess was that the dark cyan stone could extract some kind of resource from the target.Thus, so-called Divine Communion was not benevolent "gods" teaching magic to mortals—it was a bait to trick mortals into willingly having that unknown resource extracted from their bodies.The extraction process caused great harm to people's bodies.The goddess Tiya, as a prisoner, was also periodically irradiated by that stone. Clearly, the other upper-realm beings were using the same method on her as they used on mortals.That might be another reason she had only been imprisoned, not killed—they still needed that resource from her body. She still had value.At this thought, Chen Yi clenched his fists. The taste of glimpsing the world's truth was exciting, but also bitter.Before this Divine Communion, Chen Yi had still harbored illusions.He thought that although these powerful mages from the upper realm liked to play at being gods, objectively they had indeed advanced magic on the continent.So, using tricks and concealing part of the truth to gain the respect of the continent's mages was not entirely unacceptable.But now the nature of the matter was completely different. Divine Communion was, from start to finish, a complete fraud—a means, not an end.At this thought, Chen Yi couldn't help but worry about the headmaster, who had just ascended. If his reasoning was correct, ascending to the upper realm could be a blessing or a curse—or worse.So far, Chen Yi realized he was the only one who had glimpsed part of the truth. Everyone else was still in the dark. Was Tiya the only person of conscience in the entire upper realm?In just a few months, the image of the gods in Chen Yi's mind had plummeted—from omnipotent higher beings to unscrupulous schemers who would stop at nothing for gain.And during these months, Chen Yi had not been idle. Using the high-level spells Tiya had taught him as a foundation, he had independently discovered several more powerful spells.He believed that now, with Headmaster Morin's ascension, there was probably no mage on the entire continent who could match him.But thinking that his future enemies would likely be the entire upper realm, he couldn't help feeling disheartened.---Though Chen Yi still went to the library early and returned late every day, his heart was restless.He still ate and laughed with his dormmates and other friends, but an unprecedented loneliness inevitably enveloped him—the secrets he knew, he could tell no one.Phil and the others were good brothers, but during his first Divine Communion, the goddess Tiya had hinted that he must keep it secret for good reason.If he carelessly revealed anything, he might bring disaster upon his friends.Another reason—though Chen Yi didn't want to admit it—was that deep down he felt:Though his bonds with Phil, Carl, and Mendes were profound, their abilities were not sufficient to entrust with matters of great importance. At least, not matters as great as opposing the upper realm.---One day, while studying in the library, Chen Yi felt restless. He remembered a Psionic spell he had once discovered on his own that could calm an agitated mind.The problem was, that spell was written in his old spellbook.Without that spellbook, he couldn't recall the exact steps.The person Chen Yi most wanted to talk to now was, of course, the goddess Tiya, who knew everything.But the goddess was not someone he could see whenever he wanted. And even when he did, she couldn't hear what he said.She could never know how much he admired and respected her.Another person he could confide in was Headmaster Morin. Every time Chen Yi discussed questions with that wise elder, he gained a great deal.But Morin had ascended to the upper realm. Chen Yi didn't know whether he had learned the truth about Divine Communion, or whether he could face the dangers there.Without the help of magic, Chen Yi's overwhelming need to talk began to crush him.He had thought that as long as he had knowledge as his companion, he would never feel lonely. Now he realized how shallow that was.The more he knew, the more he didn't know.Darkness wrapped around him like thick fog. Chen Yi felt he could barely breathe.Realizing he couldn't go on like this, he forced himself to think:*"Chen Yi, Chen Yi, how can you be so fragile? Is the pressure of fighting alone already crushing you? Have you no spiritual anchor now that you've lost your spellbook?"**"Wait! There is still one anchor! She is still there! She always will be!"*With that thought, Chen Yi mechanically gathered the things spread across his desk and put them into his storage ring.Then he stumbled out of the library and walked straight out of the academy gate.Guided by some blurry instinct, he made his way to a cemetery outside Kanter Town and found the gravestone.He leaned on the stone with one hand and slowly sank to his knees.With a choked voice, Chen Yi finally spoke:"Lisa... what should I do?"