Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1367: Chapter 1366: Entry

Goddess of Magic’s words made Gawain feel as if he grasped something for a moment, certain vague clues or ideas surged in his mind, but they were still not clear enough, as if shrouded in mist. He showed a contemplative expression, and those blurred thoughts finally gradually formed a contour, making his expression become serious: ”Are you saying that The Deep Blue Webway can not only be seen as the ’path’ through which Magic Power flows within our planet, but it could also be a real ’road,’ leading to various layers including the shadow realm and elemental world, and those dark priests... might be trying to open an unprecedented large-scale passage, and the anomalies that Winter and Antawen Expeditionary Force encountered should be related to this unformed passage?”

”This might really be a passage, but I highly doubt whether this is the plan of those dark priests or the plan of you know who,” Goddess of Magic looked into Gawain’s eyes, ”Do you remember our last conclusion? The ’cooperation’ between them and those Oblivion Association believers is not as harmonious as we initially thought. Behind the great plan it depicted for Balken, it has an even darker conspiracy...”

”You mean...”

”The goal of those dark priests is to create a controlled deep blue explosion, transforming this planet into an eternally wasteland wrapped in a great barrier. This is their ultimate goal, and no matter what new actions they have taken, theoretically it should all be moving towards this goal,” Goddess of Magic said gravely. ”But in my view, using The Deep Blue Webway to open a ’passage’ to other layers does not help this goal at all, and may even prematurely exhaust The Deep Blue Webway’s energy in the process, leading to the failure of their ’great barrier plan’ in the end. After all, although The Deep Blue Webway theoretically has an inexhaustible energy, there is still a limit to the ’consumption’ it can withstand in a short time, and cannot be randomly squandered.

”These days I have been calculating the model of The Deep Blue Webway and the energy readings deep within the wasteland. The conclusion is that those dark priests must use more than ninety percent of The Deep Blue Webway’s energy to activate the great barrier for their plan to have even a slightest chance of realization. Therefore, they absolutely cannot use this precious energy to open any passage. This matter... can only be it’s scheme.”

”So, it is trying to secretly open a passage...” Gawain furrowed his brows, ”What do you think it’s planning to do with this passage?”

”You already have the answer, don’t you?” Goddess of Magic looked at Gawain. Her mysterious purple eyes carried a sense as if they could see through everything, ”Our blockades on various fronts around the wasteland have already seriously interfered with its original plan, it might have already confirmed its deployment plan is doomed to fail. If it realizes it cannot directly use The Deep Blue Webway to turn this planet into a death planet, it might take a secondary approach... using something else to destroy us.”

”...That ship that is still operating,” Gawain’s voice was low, ”Indeed, I have already thought of this point. If it really plans to open a door in the material world, then that ship is the only thing I can think of that it plans to bring in...”

”I hope you are prepared for the worst,” Goddess of Magic’s face was not good. At this moment, the tone of this former god was surprisingly tense, ”If it really brings that ship into the material world, there’s no means of defense that this season’s civilization can employ to contend against it—neither your Sky Fortress nor the existing dragons in Talronde are opponents for an interstellar warship.”

”...I have a plan, but I don’t have the slightest confidence,” Gawain deliberated for a moment then still spoke, ”I want to know, how powerful is that ship?”

”I have not really faced it, you know, that ship has always been ’invisible’ in our eyes,” Goddess of Magic shook her head, ”But Lady Enya once saw the Voyager’s warship. During the last discussion about the information returned by the ’door’ plan, she saw the image of that ship and mentioned some things related to it. She thinks that the ship that was cruising before our kingdom should be a type of Voyager’s heavy flagship, specifically tasked with the most terrifying, most direct combat missions. Its weapon can penetrate the kingdom’s barriers. The power of a single ship is enough to kill any god ever born on this planet, and if it aims its main cannon at the ground from a high orbit... in a short time, it can destroy the planet’s surface ecosystem completely.

Gawain fell into silence for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, while Goddess of Magic simply watched him, not speaking for several minutes, until Gawain looked up again, when this ’Dominator of All Magic’ curiously asked: ”What is your plan?”

”At the current stage, mortal civilization cannot fight against a Zenith Fleet capable of executing extinction bombardment in high orbit—only Voyager can be used against Voyager,” Gawain candidly spoke, ”If it truly brings that ship into the material world, the only solution might be to induce Firmament Station to fire at that ship. Lady Enya should have mentioned this to you—the part of the authority of Firmament Station currently rests in my hands.”

Goddess of Magic slightly widened her eyes, it seemed she hadn’t thought that Gawain actually had such a bold idea before, but after a moment of astonishment, she seemed to have thought of something, frowning slightly and shaking her head: ”This is indeed...a staggering proposition, perhaps the only way, but can you truly make Firmament Station fire at that ship? The legacy of Voyager likely has mutual recognition, or has your authority reached a level where you can disable the identification system?”

”So this is the part I have least confidence in—there is likely a very high-priority mutual identification mechanism among the legacy of Voyager, and my method may not bypass this thing,” Gawain helplessly shook his head, ”Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, I hope we can interrupt its conspiracy in advance, prevent things from reaching this point.”

”What if it really reaches that point?”

”Then I may need Amon to lend a hand...”

...

Cecil Clan Year 4, Revival Month 12.

This war that has spread to the entire civilized world broke out last winter and lasted until this year’s Revival Month, yet showed no sign of stopping. To the soldiers stationed at Fort Greta on the northwest border of Highmountain Kingdom, the past winter spent amidst the calamity of war was the most unforgettable ’cold winter’ of their lives.

For this southern kingdom, winter isn’t as cold as in the north, but for the Highmountain Kingdom’s military, who lost the forest barrier and witnessed their homeland and fellow citizens ravaged by the aberration Army, every moment of this winter was bone-chilling.

And now, this chill has persisted through the Month of Cold and still shrouds the heart of King Audris as Revival Month arrives.

A sharp whistling sound suddenly pierced the sky, with huge projectiles of ominous black and red hues sweeping over the military formation, distorting the air and sky along their path, tracing a parabolic trajectory towards a small hill behind the battle lines. On that hill stood large Magic Crystals that provided energy for combat Mages, and layers of intricate magic symbols rotated and surged around the crystal. At the instant the projectile attacked, a radiant barrier unfolded, and the very next moment, the projectile violently impacted the barrier surface, a deafening explosion roared like ten bolts of thunder simultaneously in the ears.

The magic barrier shook violently, struggling to withstand the powerful artillery burst, while the chaotic energy released by the filthy projectile scattered in the explosion, turning into countless deadly rain of light that attacked the troops around the hill. As ordinary soldiers, they had difficulty resisting this ’light rain,’ and amid numerous screams, the casualty figures began to rapidly climb until Knights and Mages forcefully erected a second barrier, stabilizing the nearly chaotic formation.

Shouts of war arose around, the din created by magic missiles, heavy crossbows, magic cannons, and other weapons thunderously shook this already mutilated land. The combat Mage camp, having just endured a round of artillery fire, began counterattacking; in the sky over the camp, a huge magic circle slowly formed, its sloping angle aimed at the vast wasteland to the north. On the burned wasteland, countless hideous-faced aberrations were surging like tide, with even larger ’monsters’ the size of houses forming an artillery formation behind the tide. The terrifying monsters had bone structures extending like acceleration tracks from their backs, between bone plates electro-light surged, they stabbed mutated claws deep into the earth, transforming themselves into powerful artillery, brewing another round of shelling against the mortal formation.

High-energy beams poured down like a torrential rain. The combat mages finally completed the magic circle’s charging, and the vast magic circle in the sky began releasing energy towards the ground. Many aberrations turned to ashes under the sweep of these high-energy beams, yet in the distance, those colossal beasts preparing to bombard remained virtually unscathed. The next wave of black and red light bombs came suddenly...

The ground trembled beneath their feet. The air was filled with the scent of gunpowder and blood. King Audris, towering and clad in black armor, wiped the blood and sweat from his face forcefully. Standing in the temporary command post within a shelter, he turned to a nearby commander: ”We must find a way to take down those ’monsters’! Their bombardment poses a significant threat to our infantry, and the mages’ magic power is being rapidly consumed!”

”Your Majesty, those are beyond the mages’ range–only the magic cannon can reach them, but we’re about to run out of ammunition!” the commander shouted, ”We probably have to retreat to Fort Greta!”

Damn it, we sacrificed over a thousand lives to reclaim this passage. If we’re pushed back to Fort Greta again, next time these damn monsters will be at our doorstep launching magic missiles at us!” King Audris cursed loudly, furious that the hard-won land might soon be lost again. ”Where the hell did these cursed monsters come from?!”

”Your Majesty, they’re another group of aberrations marching south from the Western Front Battlefield, seemingly merging with ’reinforcements’ emerging from within the wasteland...”

King Audris couldn’t help but curse again, his crude language resounding throughout the front-line command post.

At this moment, a young man with black hair in light armor suddenly rushed into the command post, causing King Audris’s curses to abruptly halt. He looked at the young man and shouted: ”Lorin! What’s the situation? When will our reinforcements arrive?”

”Father, the Sorin Guard can’t provide us with support,” Prince Lorin wiped the sweat from his face, shook his head regretfully, ”General Romar sent word that if the situation here turns unfavorable, we should immediately retreat to Fort Greta—no reinforcements will come from the elves in the short term.”

King Audris’s eyes widened instantly: ”What happened on the silver elves’ side?!”

The silver elves would never abandon an ally. Back when the forest barrier line collapsed, they didn’t even forsake the Highmountain Kingdom, letting the Sacred Stars Temple crash onto the ground. So King Audris’s first thought was that the silver elves were facing a crisis.

Lorin took a breath and quickly said: ”Several purification towers and two forward bases constructed near the Sacred Stars Temple’s crash site simultaneously faced assault, with a number of aberrations far surpassing the past surging from the wasteland—the eastern Sorin Guard and Thousand Years Legion are holding back the purification devices and forward base.”

Listening to Lorin’s reply, King Audris gently inhaled, knowing the situation had indeed reached this juncture.

The silver elves had already begun building the barrier walls; the large-scale purification devices stimulated the crazies in the wasteland—the latter likely realized what the alliance intended, and now they’re doing everything to stop those purification devices from progressing.

But Audris knew well that the barrier wall must be constructed at all costs. Without those ”walls,” the power from the wasteland would be infinite, and the pollution will never be eliminated from the land. The war will never end—if the barrier wall isn’t built, all the Realm of Mortals will eventually be dragged down by those monsters on the battlefield.

Push the barrier wall into the wasteland at all costs, against the aberration Legion that would stop the Mortal Alliance Army at all costs—this towering human king nearly smelled the pungent scent of blood, and this scent would soon permeate the entire Southern Front Battlefield with its icy chill.

As if to further remind Audris of the more challenging times soon to come, a trace of coolness suddenly landed on the human king’s cheek.

”Damn it... it’s starting to rain...” The nearby commander looked up at the unexpectedly overcast sky, watching the increasingly dense raindrops fall, and the thin, tall middle-aged soldier couldn’t help but furrow his brow, ”This makes the situation even more unfavorable for us, Your Majesty, we need to prepare.”

However, the king was silent.

”Your Majesty?”

The commander couldn’t help but speak again, and Audris suddenly moved. He lifted his head, staring at the gloomy clouds gathering at an unusual speed, with a peculiar expression on his face.

”It’s raining... The celestial scholars previously predicted it would be sunny today...” Prince Lorin, as if he recalled something, said quietly, ”Father, do you remember the news from the north a few days ago? A reinforcement is arriving from the sea, and their signal once they enter the battlefield is rain.”

The nearby commander then recalled the news received a while back but hesitated to confirm, ”Is it really them? But this might just be a naturally formed shower, the celestial scholars aren’t...”

Audris looked up at the sky, his tone suddenly becoming very firm: ”It’s them. I can confirm it now.”

”Ah?” The commander was stunned, ”How do you...”

Audris lifted his head and pointed at a cloud overhead: ”That cloud has a huge smiley face drawn on it, beneath the smiley face is an arrow pointing to the enemy’s position—find me a ’naturally formed’ cloud like that?”