The Hunt Begins

Theism had always wielded enormous influence in the Western world. Although, with the advancement of technology, the Roman Church could no longer excommunicate kings or interfere with their marriages as it once had—Henry VIII in particular—nor could it organize Crusaders to subjugate heretics, and English Puritans could no longer casually launch witch hunts, religion still continued to influence every aspect of the secular world.

This was especially true in the United States, the world's foremost technological power, where religion also held immense influence.

For example, when appearing as a witness, one had to place a hand on the Bible and swear an oath, otherwise the testimony had no legal validity. Presidential candidates had to receive the blessing and prayers of pastors, and after being elected, they also had to place a hand on the Bible before officially taking office. The president also had to appoint a White House pastor. The U.S. military likewise had to have a chaplain accompanying the troops; if the chaplain did not pray, soldiers might even refuse to go into battle. Even prestigious universities had seminaries, and their admission standards were no lower than those of certain science schools.

Just as he had said before, theists claimed to be God's shepherds.

Americans regarded themselves as God's warriors. Every war they launched was a just war; they were liberating ignorance and saving the world because they were protected by God. They were the most correct people in the world, and everyone else had to learn from them. As for whether anyone discovered that the real reason for launching a war was oil or something else, that depended on how politicians deceived the masses.

Even now, at least half of Americans believed religion should influence science and politics. This was one reason why theistic nations so often displayed anti-intellectual behavior. In Salomon's view, it would not be surprising if those Saxon barbarians one day picked up syringes and injected disinfectant into their own bodies.

When the living, breathing Athena had appeared before him, Salomon had not offered up his faith. He did not even believe in the Vishanti, so how could he possibly believe in God? In his view, God was most likely an existence on roughly the same level as Odin, while the Vishanti were magical entities that existed throughout the multiverse. Which was stronger and which was weaker was obvious at a glance, not to mention the true god of the universe and Kamar-Taj's greatest patron, The Living Tribunal. Even toward The Living Tribunal, Salomon had expressed nothing more than respect.

Salomon's conclusion was this: if gods could not grant divine magic, then religion was of no use whatsoever to humanity's development.

But Salomon would not interfere with anything. Modern Western society had already worn away the scientific spirit of progress from the Renaissance, yet this world was not peaceful. Repeated Alien Invasions would make Earthlings understand that they were not alone in the universe. To survive in this universe, humanity would have to develop technology. Religion would naturally be eliminated, and Salomon would not have to do anything to witness the fall of theology.

When Salomon told the Sorcerer Supreme his conclusion, The Venerable One was quite pleased that he could think this way, and even rewarded him with a bottle of soda. In The Venerable One's eyes, Salomon's birth had been filled with doubts from the very beginning. Those Holy Marks had most likely come from Heaven, which was why Salomon possessed magical talent beyond the reach of ordinary people. As the Sorcerer Supreme who had lured Salomon into Kamar-Taj, she naturally did not want the disciple she had trained to become a lackey of Extra-dimensional Beings. Only a Holy Child who did not worship God could protect Earth until the next Sorcerer Supreme had grown strong enough.

Salomon, who was currently reviewing documents on the top floor of Collins Manor, had already developed contempt for Barnabas.

He was already a Vampire, so he should stop dreaming of ascending to Heaven. Was becoming a petitioner really that much fun? Whether judged by the standards of Judaism, the Anglican Church, the Orthodox Church, or the Catholic Church, perhaps only a very small number of people in modern society could meet the requirements for entering Heaven. If they did not believe it, they only needed to look through their browser history to understand how many sins they had committed.

This was already the fifth day—Salomon had spent an extremely long time screening books. Every day, he worked until late at night before returning to Kamar-Taj. During the daytime, he opened a portal in the hall of Collins Manor. The Collins family had gone from being startled at every turn to treating it as an ordinary sight. Every morning, they could see sparks lighting up the living room and Salomon hurrying upstairs.

Many thick books and yellowed scrolls were piled at his feet. These were all books he had ruled out. Although some recorded one or two minor spells, they were far removed from the Dark Magic derived from the Darkhold that he needed, and were practically harmless. But after their last conversation, Barnabas no longer appeared before Salomon on his own initiative. Someone without faith truly frightened him.

As one of the earliest families to arrive in the Americas and establish themselves there, the Collins family had a seahorse emblem. The seahorse heraldry symbolized the power of water and safe passage along sea routes. In those days, no one who made a living through ocean trade was free of superstition. Under his parents' influence, Barnabas had long since become a devout Puritan.

In his view, having no faith meant having no moral limits. The Vampire had no idea whether Salomon would keep his promise or turn around and destroy him and Victoria. Even God could not guarantee whether Salomon would keep his word. He felt that a great disaster was hanging over the Collins family. Now, in the Vampire's eyes, Salomon was far more detestable than sunlight, silverware, and garlic combined.

Unaware that he had become hated by both people and "ghosts," Salomon stretched hard. He could even hear the crisp sounds of his spine popping as it arched backward. Pulling aside the curtains, he found the deep crimson afterglow of the setting sun mingled with gray storm clouds, dyeing the distant sea an ambiguous dark pink. If Salomon had not felt the soreness in his neck, he might not even have realized how much time had passed.

His results were obvious as well. Several books still lay on the table. Though they were filled with nonsense that now seemed entirely erroneous, Salomon had still found what he was looking for. He had not read the lengthy incantation from beginning to end, yet he could still understand how dangerous it was. Now, he needed to investigate the source of this spell, because The Venerable One's order was to find the Darkhold. One or two spells were not enough to complete the task.

This was an alchemical book written in Latin. That was unsurprising. Transforming humans into Vampires was a transformation of life itself, so its classification as an alchemical text was perfectly normal.

Salomon found the author's name on the book's title page. It was an Arabic-style name: "Jabir." Its medieval Latin spelling was "Geber." The name Jabir often appeared in the most influential Latin alchemical works of the thirteenth century, but the Latin name Geber belonged to someone else. He had merely borrowed the name of this Aragorn alchemist. He had also adopted the characteristic instructional style of Jabir's works and rewritten several chapters of Jabir's Book of Seventy.

This author had even inserted certain grammatical structures and expressions into his text that had been translated into Latin but appeared to be typically Arabic, attempting to pass off the work as genuine and enhance its credibility. As for why he had done so, that was related to the spread of alchemy into Europe after exchanges between Christian and Arab civilizations, and there was no need to elaborate further here.

In short, according to later historians' research, the author behind this "Geber" was very likely Paul of Tarento, an Italian Franciscan Order priest and teacher—because Paul had written a nearly contemporary alchemical text whose style and content were extremely similar to Geber's work. The original manuscript was now kept in Kamar-Taj's library, and Salomon had looked through it before.

After confirming his next destination, Salomon placed the book into his Dimensional Bag. He still had something to do—Barnabas's guess had indeed been correct. Salomon would not keep his promise, because there was still a Dark Magic Creature in this town.

Tonight, Salomon joined the hunt.

P.S.: Please vote! Please invest!

Work's over, work's over. I wonder if anyone has added this to a reading list. My Long Kong account got banned for self-promotion, QAQ.

Also, someone actually confidently added another 10,000 points of investment. That puts a bit of pressure on me.