Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 933 - 932: Joint Proposal

As Frostmoon entered its later days, Aldernon welcomed a rare sunny day. When the thin fog cleared, the long-missed sunshine shone into the imperial capital. Even in the deep, long corridors of the Royal Mage Association, there appeared some natural light beyond the magic lamps—sunlight streamed through those ancient crystal narrow windows, casting oblique beams between the walls and ceiling. They floated over the portraits hanging on the inner side of the corridor, creating distinct light and shadow on those faces long deceased, who once brought the association glorious honor.

However, those hurrying through the light and shadow seemingly had no time to enjoy this long-lost warmth.

Mages dressed in various magic robes hurried through the corridors. These figures, imbued with wisdom and occupying a transcendent position in human society, now all bore more or less worried expressions. Even those who usually loved to chat had lost interest in idle talk, and the most optimistic and cheerful now wore tense faces—the people in this building were still maintaining their daily work, keeping the association running, yet apart from these tasks, they evidently had no mind to consider anything else.

Daniel, draped in a black robe, hunched as he walked among these people, his pace unchanged from the past. As an old mage who usually appeared somewhat gloomy, he always stood out when entering the association, yet today, nearly everyone seemed somber, so he rather blended seamlessly into the atmosphere.

The old mage lifted his gaze, sweeping over the anxious-looking ”colleagues,” with what seemed like a touch of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

Of course, he knew why these people were worried. He had learned the truth behind everything two days ago—a truth unimaginable, which even made him shiver when he first discovered it, though now he was long composed, watching with a reserved detachment the myriad of these mundane people’s states.

A deity had ”fallen.” The situation was entirely under his master’s control. The divine residue left by the Goddess of Magic was still sealed within the neural network as an experimental specimen. He had even looked at it as a researcher last night... No big deal.

Daniel walked through the oppressively atmospheric corridor, entered the Main Mage Tower of the association, and without needing anyone to announce his arrival, came into the study of the president, Windsor Maple.

The oak door, driven by magical mechanisms, opened to both sides with a slight creak. Daniel stepped into the room and saw his former apprentice sitting behind the large desk, seemingly engrossed in some documents. Apart from that, there was no one else in the room, only a not-so-smart-looking magic artificial intelligence dusting the shelves.

Windsor Maple sensed the presence entering the room and immediately looked up from the documents. Upon seeing Daniel, she smiled slightly, ”Teacher, you’re here.”

”I don’t like coming to this place, everywhere are stupid faces,” Daniel muttered, finding himself a seat in the study, ”you’d better have a good reason for me to come here—I put down my experiment for this.”

”Of course, I wouldn’t disturb you for nothing,” Windsor Maple, long accustomed to her teacher’s harsh way of speaking, responded warmly, ”You must be aware of the unease within the association recently—the anomaly with the Goddess of Magic is unsettling all the mages.”

Daniel raised an eyelid to glance at Windsor, ”Don’t tell me you’re among those terrified—I don’t remember you being devout.”

”Of course, I’m not greatly affected. I still remember your teachings—the mage is a seeker of truth, relying most on human wisdom and spirit of exploration, not some god’s grace,” Windsor nodded, ”but many mages besides me have been affected. Though there are no incidents of backlash due to mental disturbance yet, the anomaly with the Goddess of Magic has already impacted most people’s mindset, indirectly affecting the progress of several researches...”

Daniel furrowed his brow, ”I’ve been detached from the association for years. Do you think I’d return to care about those people’s mental states?”

”I understand that, but this situation extends beyond the association’s affairs. It affects all mages and even all spellcasters with shallow faith in the Goddess of Magic. Our Emperor needs capable and influential mages within the empire to step up to calm this turmoil.”

As Windsor spoke, she handed the document she had been reading to her teacher. Under the lift of magic power, it floated lightly to Daniel.

”What is this?” Daniel showed a trace of curiosity, nonchalantly accepting the document.

”Before you begin reading, I would like to...give you a reminder,” Windsor said with a solemn expression, ”What I’m about to tell you is classified intelligence; it may be unbelievable, but this intelligence was directly handed to me by the Emperor, who personally vouched for its credibility. Please prepare yourself psychologically when you hear it.”

Although an odd feeling had arisen in Daniel’s heart, he remained expressionless and said casually, ”You know I don’t like riddles.”

”Alright,” Windsor Maple took a deep breath, her expression unprecedentedly serious, and said word by word, ”The Goddess of Magic... may have already fallen.”

Daniel: ”...”

Well, yeah, so what, I knew about it two days ago. Yesterday, I even studied the ashes with my colleagues. Moreover, the word ”fallen” isn’t accurate; strictly speaking, it’s only a pseudo-death...

”Are you serious?” Daniel raised an eyebrow, displaying no more, no less an expression of surprise after a brief and reasonable bewilderment, and expressed the appropriate skepticism for such a situation, ”Although I’ve taught you not to be overly reverent of deities, this is no topic to joke about.”

”I knew you would have such an attitude,” Windsor Maple maintained her solemn demeanor, ”but this news is absolutely true. Although I personally do not know how to verify whether a deity has truly fallen, our Emperor evidently has ways to confirm it.”

Daniel gazed at Windsor silently for a few seconds before retrieving his gaze to look at the document in his hands.

The contents were the draft announcement on the fall of the Goddess of Magic and a plan—both familiar to Daniel.

”We will announce this news simultaneously with the Cecil Empire—regarding this, the Emperor has already reached an agreement with our neighboring country. Therefore, we need a group of mages and scholars sufficiently prestigious and influential across various strata to do this, and your prestige and influence in the field of Magic Guide Technology are unchallengeable,” Windsor Maple said solemnly, ”Afterwards, there will be a grand-scale ritual, this ritual...”

”This ritual will bring everything to a conclusion; the fall of the Goddess of Magic will no longer be chaos but a conclusion,” Daniel spoke, interrupting Windsor’s subsequent words.

This is the master’s plan, decided two days ago, but at that time, it seemed to be limited to the Cecil Empire.

But now, it seems the master has successfully persuaded the rulers of Typhon to also push this matter within Typhon borders — this is certainly a good thing because the Typhon Empire currently has the largest mage group in the world. If the master’s plan works here as well, then this ”round-table verdict” action will undoubtedly have better effects.

Windsor did not know what was in her tutor’s mind, nor could she know that her tutor had already understood most of the situation two days ago, but she was not surprised by her tutor’s words either — a keen-eyed and experienced elder can naturally see the significance behind this matter. If her tutor couldn’t understand why the rulers of the two empires had gone to great lengths to do this, that would be problematic.

She looked at her tutor, asking with some expectation, ”Then... what is your wish?”

”Of course, I am very willing,” Daniel returned the paper in hand, with a slight smile on his face, ”I am very willing to serve His Majesty — moreover, this matter itself seems to have some significance.”

...

”On the Typhon side, they responded quite positively to the signals we released, including the joint announcement concerning the fall of the Goddess of Magic and the corresponding farewell ceremony,” Gawain looked at Amber beside him, a smile on his face, ”I thought Rosetta would ponder longer — after all, this is intelligence from his ’opponent,’ and it involves a very dangerous god.”

”The Sect of the God of War in Typhon is already quite pessimistic, Rosetta certainly doesn’t want the Goddess of Magic matter to create a second wave of crisis, your proposed plan is the most effective way to stabilize the situation and accept your invitation only brings him benefits,” Amber spoke casually, ”As for why he replied so quickly... that is indeed quite surprising, but I think he should have his own intelligence sources that can verify the authenticity of our information.”

The cold wind of late autumn blew across the path between flower beds, sunlight shined on her face, and those amber-colored eyes seemed to glimmer with light, looking radiant.

It is now morning, a relatively leisurely time, Gawain is as usual walking in the garden, Amber as usual jogging beside him.

The latter seems to have already gotten used to this affair, first giving up on keeping pace with Gawain by walking, and second, giving up on protesting Gawain’s walking speed. Anyway, running isn’t difficult for her, her small short legs move quite quickly.

”The Augustus Clan and the ’curse of the gods’ have been entangled for two hundred years, Rosetta and I know well the true face of the gods, in the events involving gods, his cooperation with us should still be sincere,” Gawain nodded, ”According to the plan, we need to establish a temporary coordination office to ensure the mourning ceremony proceeds smoothly while maximizing the impact so that everyone clearly knows what happened, then these messages will be spread through the commercial networks of the two countries, by merchants throughout the human world... and even into the nations of other races.

”This is the first time in history humans will be sending off a god, if we can successfully turn this incredible event into a ’normal affair’, then when other gods face problems in the future, people will accept it more easily, without so much societal turmoil.

”Of course, before this we must first officially announce the fall of the Goddess of Magic, the ’funeral’ can be delayed, the message cannot be, it has been two or three days already, mages are becoming increasingly uneasy, unease will breed rumors, when the public starts treating rumors as truth, the effectiveness of official news won’t be as good.”

”Rest assured, it’s already being done — we have already summoned the most prestigious individuals from the mage community, made a big announcement about forming an investigative group, now everyone is waiting for the investigation group’s results,” Amber said, ”They will reach an ’investigation conclusion’ the day after tomorrow, and jointly announce the fall of the Goddess of Magic with the Typhon side.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but show a thoughtful expression: ”I must say, this matter is truly incredible... that we are actually doing this with Typhon.”

”In the face of divine disaster, everyone is equal, the God of War has already encountered trouble, the Goddess of Magic may have sensed the crisis, choosing to run away at this time, that ’countdown’ is probably really coming soon... it seems inevitable that the current generation is experiencing this crisis, afterwards more gods are likely to encounter issues,” Gawain shook his head, ”In the face of disaster crossing national and racial boundaries, united action is the best choice. Typhon and Cecil’s cooperation this time is the first, but it won’t be the last... it may serve as a future reference point.”

”Are you planning to establish some kind of standard united agency?” Amber almost instantly deduced Gawain’s intention, blinking her eyes, ”A cross-national organization specifically handling god-related affairs?”

Gawain looked at her with some surprise: ”...your mind is becoming increasingly sharp.”

”Of course...”

Gawain was long accustomed to Amber’s proud and boastful behavior, which could become pesky at any moment, so at this moment, ignoring her was the best approach, thus he withdrew his gaze, continuing forward steps, but then suddenly stopped after just a few steps.

Amber, who had been jogging by his side, suddenly bumped her forehead into his arm.

”Hey...” the half-elf exclaimed, ”Why did you suddenly stop... oh? Familiar face?”

A figure dressed in a light purple gown, graceful and elegant, had somehow already stood ahead, smiling at Gawain.

”Good morning,” the sudden visitor Melita Ponia slightly bowed towards Gawain, ”I hope my sudden intrusion has not caused you any inconvenience.”

”Trouble? Not at all, but you taking the initiative to find me is indeed quite rare,” Gawain somewhat unexpectedly looked her up and down, noticing that this agent lady once again wasn’t wearing a veil, and her complexion had evidently completely recovered, showing no sign of heavy distress from last time — one has to admire the resilience of the Dragonkin, ”Is there anything you need?”

Melita took a deep breath with a small gesture, said solemnly: ”I am here to invite you once more.”