Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 484 - 483: Program

Since the end of the Southland civil war, all church forces in the southern borders have entered a kind of vacuum period. The most influential Holy Light Church has been confined within Lu’an City, and missionary activities have also stopped. Outside of the Holy Light Church, the relatively weak and scattered Church of Otherworldly God quickly sensed danger and proactively ceased or reduced their activities in the southern borders. It can be said that with the end of the southern borders war, faith transmission activities on this land have essentially become a vacuum — the only thing still spreading is the faith of the ’New Holy Light Faith’, or the ’pure Holy Light doctrine’, slowly permeating from Cecil Castle.

With the launch of the ’publicity offensive’, the slowly permeating New Church faith will quickly fill this vacuum area, correspondingly dealing an extremely heavy blow to the influence of the old Holy Light Church in the process.

Cecil’s printing machines have started up.

The overwhelming newspapers and promotional materials are covering the entire southern borders. Every day, every hour, every minute, there are articles exposing and discussing the Holy Light Church appearing before people.

In the writings of Godwin Orlando and Wright, these articles dissect the enormous entity of the Holy Light Church in an extremely cold and extremely clear straightforward way. For the first time, the Holy Light Church is not being portrayed as a lofty transcendental force, not as a sacred group endowed with divine aura, but as an ordinary power that relies on strength to maintain itself and on money to operate, placed in front of everyone. With all the ornate rhetoric and cover removed, people for the first time see how the church operates — how it controls the spread of theological knowledge, how it maintains the purity of the top members, how it absorbs newcomers, how it gathers wealth, how it maintains force to ensure its status, how it fabricates lies to attack competitors...

After all the details have been dissected cleanly, every aspect of the Holy Light Church’s operations has become devoid of any sacredness.

On this basis, news from Lu’an City as ’popular science columns’ starts to quietly appear prominently on all newspaper pages.

As the lead writer for the news pages, Godwin Orlando’s grammatical skills exhibited strong power. His articles need no abusive language and contain no intense emotional expression. He just quietly narrates everything about the Holy Light Church, and it has already awakened thousands upon thousands of people.

However, newspapers alone are not enough.

In Cecil Castle, within a special building on the edge of the Mage District, Giply is trying her best to calm her mood.

This building was originally part of the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute, but with the establishment of the Magic Web Communications - Broadcasting Compound System, it was separated and independently serves as the control center for the Magic Web Communications - Broadcasting. On its upper floor, technical personnel worked overtime on renovations and construction based on the experience from the first Magic Web broadcast, transforming it into Cecil’s first ’broadcasting studio’ with practical significance.

Even though she considers herself to have good psychological quality and also had strong confidence before, at this moment, Giply still feels an uncontrollable tension filling her heart.

She sits in the hallway outside the studio, looking through the window at the Mage Technicians performing final adjustments to the equipment inside — there is a light blue room in there, half of which is reserved for her, arranged like an ordinary and cozy reception room, with plain and comfortable sofas and round tables, and soft, bright lighting. The other half of the room, however, resembles a large, complex magic laboratory: three specially made large Magic Web Terminals are set up in three different directions, metal beams engraved with magic symbols extend from the base of those Magic Web Terminals to the far end of the room’s control seat. A row of seats and rune devices are arranged there, used to control the lighting of the entire room and the status of each Magic Web Terminal. And once the ’show’ begins, those seats will be filled with serious, ready technical personnel.

Giply knows that shortly after, her job is to sit on the sofa at one end of the room, facing the vast complex magic machineries and a group of expressionless staff to read her script.

Besides the machines and technicians, and a certain guest, she will have no other communication objects or audience in front of her. However, in fact... countless people throughout the southern borders will see her at the same moment — through the ’public Magic Web Terminals’ set up in four new industrial cities and numerous satellite towns, her face will appear before all of them.

She has never seen so many people in her life.

Giply, who has always prided herself on being articulate, was, for the first time in her life, somewhat afraid of speaking.

And just when Giply fell into tension and anxiety, a cheerful voice suddenly came from beside her, interrupting Miss Witch’s wild thoughts: "Nervous? If you’re nervous, have some candy~"

Giply was startled, hurriedly turning her head to see Rebecca Cecil standing next to her. This noble lady with the honored surname was wearing a loose technician’s white robe over her dress, looking devoid of any elegant restraint. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Giply, her hand holding a handful of candies, which she was handing over: "Here, once you’re in the studio they won’t allow eating anything."

For a moment, Giply wanted to salute and also decline politely, but by the time she reacted, Rebecca had already slipped the candy into her mouth.

"Tasty, right? It has honey!" Rebecca said with a grin, "When you’re nervous, have a piece of candy. Aunt Heidi taught me this, it’s especially effective."

"Th-thank you..." Giply said blankly, holding the candy, and only after a moment did she react, hurriedly thanking, "You’re really a kind person."

Rebecca’s reaction startled Miss Witch: "Wow — someone’s seriously saying that to me for the first time!"

Giply was slightly stupefied, and just as she was thinking about what to say, Rebecca had already jumped to the next topic: "By the way, are you prepared? You seemed to have stumbled twice during the rehearsal before."

"I... I think I’m ready," Giply hurriedly said, then nodded firmly, "I am absolutely fine."

"Actually, it’s pretty much okay — our ancestor said improvisation is most important, even if you can’t remember the words, being able to make them up on the spot will do," Rebecca said, nodding her head, "And although you seem nervous, perhaps the person going on stage with you is even more nervous."

Upon hearing this, Giply couldn’t help but look back at her temporary partner who would appear on stage with her.

Not far away, on a chair, a man standing two meters tall, extraordinarily strong, and with a scar at the eye position was meditating calmly, appearing calm and composed.

A luminescent little girl in a semi-transparent state was floating nearby, trying hard to make ghostly faces to scare passersby — but unfortunately, she was too lacking in intimidation and did not succeed once.

Giply was somewhat disappointed: "...I feel that Mr. Wright is not nervous at all, nor is Miss Emily."

Rebecca also noticed this, and she wanted to console Giply once more, but before she could speak, the bell signaling the readiness of the equipment suddenly rang.

Miss Giply raised her head, looking at the technicians coming out of the studio and the operators walking into the room, then took a deep breath.

She stood up and nodded to Rebecca: "I’m going in."

Rebecca showed a bright smile, clenched her fist at her chest and shook it: "Good luck!"

As she sat in the focal position of the three Magic Web Terminals, Giply felt her whole body was somewhat floaty, a surreal feeling gripping her heart, making it beat frantically.

She was still nervous to death.

Wright also entered the studio, the man with a build that was hardly priest-like sat across from Giply, he gave a slight smile, and Emily floating behind him also smiled.

At that moment, Giply felt her tension seemed to ease.

She looked at Emily, at the spiritual body girl with big eyes and an innocent smile disappearing obediently in Wright’s Holy Light resonance, suddenly she realized why she came here.

She felt ready.

"Equipment in place—five-second countdown to start."

A voice came from a certain direction, Giply did not seek the source of the voice, but sat well on the sofa and turned her head to the three complex, huge, and cold magic machineries.

She recalled when she first used a bungled "divination spell" to fool a merchant for a day’s food, she was as nervous as today.

"...four...three..."

As she mingled in the slums of the southern borders, among adventurers and mercenaries, she always used lies to protect herself, sweet words to coax others, but in the very beginning, she never meant to deceive anyone, she only wanted a full meal.

"...two...one..."

Now, she had her fill.

Today, she would speak some truths.

"Start!"

Giply smiled, a sweet and kind smile:

"Hello, everyone, I am Miss Giply, you can call me Miss Witch.

"I imagine many of you are curious about the scene unfolding before you, curious about the sudden appearance of a stranger in the magic projection and what this intends to do—I believe you’ll soon find the answer.

"Welcome to the first episode of ’Witching Hour,’ today, we will talk about events happening in Lu’an City..."

In a room next to the studio, a Magic Web Terminal used for testing was activated, accompanied by the magic-filled glow in the Projection Crystal, a stable and clear image appeared above the crystal, along with it, Giply’s sweet voice.

Gawain watched the image and sound before him, slightly turning his head to Heidi beside him: "Her performance is good—Amber’s recommended person is okay."

"Indeed, better than expected," Aunt Heidi nodded, "if she can maintain this state, it’s fine."

Just then, the room’s door was suddenly pushed open, Rebecca walked in with a joyful stride, exclaiming happily upon entry: "Ancestors! The latest feedback is back—all Magic Web Terminals have been successfully activated!"

Then she also noticed the test video and sound in the room, immediately showing a happy look: "Miss Giply performed very well!"

"Hmm..." Gawain touched his chin, suddenly puzzled, "But I remember this program was called ’Cecil Miscellany’... I was the one who named it..."

Rebecca was suddenly stunned: "Eh, is that so?"

"...Looks like she forgot the words, but improvised one," Gawain turned back to the test video with an odd expression, "The cue cards on the table couldn’t save her... but the name she came up with is quite good too."

Witching Hour it is then... it’s rather fitting for the world.