Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 802 - 801: Records of the Distant Sea Exploration

The feeling of being at the end of one’s rope.

Gawain didn’t speak for a moment.

But he roughly understood what Selena meant and could comprehend the mindset of those priests seven hundred years ago who miraculously survived the Great Impact, struggling in the shadows of madness and mutation, with their mental pillars completely collapsed, unable even to return to the civilized world.

Just like the last moment before he crossed over, when the plane began to disintegrate; like when he came to this world, trapped in the sky with a satellite perspective for countless years. In such circumstances, any person, given any slight hope, even without any promise or evidence, would be moved instinctively, just like a drowning person instinctively grabbing at a straw drifting by.

Moreover, those priests and devotees of the past endured both mental and spiritual pollution and torture, with their judgment and willpower already reduced to the lowest point.

Returning from the Ancestral Peak, Gawain Cecil, who claimed to have found a way out and was willing to offer help, was like that last straw to them.

With emotions surging within, it all concluded in an unspoken sigh. Gawain nodded: ”I can understand your choices at that time.”

At the same time, he also guessed the truth behind the ”insight” ability that Gawain Cecil suddenly exhibited seven hundred years ago, mentioned by Selena—

It was obviously related to the surveillance satellites in the sky!

In this way, even without knowing what Gawain Cecil discovered on Ancestral Peak back then, he could roughly speculate that the discovery must be related to the satellite arrays in the sky.

In his thoughts, Gawain looked into Selena Gerfen’s eyes: ”Did you venture out to sea with Gawain Cecil?”

”In a sense... yes,” Selena nodded, ”As a soul entity, I couldn’t physically set sail with them back then, but I left spiritual imprints on the Storm Clerics within the team at the time. This helps protect their minds from divine pollution and allows me to ’see’ them. Though unable to act independently as a ’human,’ I was counted as a member of the scouting team.”

Selena indeed participated in the subsequent exploration!

Gawain felt his heartbeat suddenly quicken, maintaining an outward facade of calm and composure, he asked in a deep voice: ”What exactly did you discover in the Endless Sea?”

Selena paused in silence, organizing her language in memory, then slowly began to speak:

”At first, it was just a routine voyage. Once we left the mainland, we entered an ocean ruled by storms and chaotic magic, but the Storm Clerics constantly plotted safe courses using their remaining power and profound understanding of the sea, maneuvering around storm gathering areas and Magic Turbulence, delving into the eastern seas.

”During this process, we passed by several colonial islands of the Typhon Empire. By then, the Church of Storms had already collapsed, and only a few powerful priests serving the military could barely maintain sanity. Normal sea routes were about to be severed as the Typhon people were hastily withdrawing...

”As we were about to cross the outermost colonial islands of the Typhon Empire, Count Dyson, who ruled the island, sent a fast boat attempting to dissuade us. He said far-sea storms were growing increasingly violent, and the atmospheric phenomenon had become abnormal. Venturing into the far sea at this time was tantamount to suicide, but we ignored him...

”We entered a far sea never visited by humans, a completely unfamiliar sea area not marked on any chart. The Storm Clerics could no longer provide navigation on the route, relying only on their sensing of storms and magic to help avoid danger. Gawain Cecil directed us to continue eastward, and after traversing a sea filled with cyclones and magic vortices, he led us southward—though it was his first time at sea, he seemed to already know the destination, with his targeted determination greatly alleviating the team’s anxiety.

”But on the thirty-second day of the voyage, an accident happened.

”First, the Storm Clerics on board suddenly fell into nightmares, and amid chaos and confusion, many underwent horrific mutations and even willingly jumped into the sea, swallowed by the waves, causing the deaths of half the priests. The remaining priests, barely maintaining sanity, became hysterical. Several determined Storm Ecclesiastics claimed we were ’sailing above the God’s nightmare,’ and that ’the terrifying powers of the deep sea had sensed the blasphemer’s presence and would devour everyone.’ They suggested the ship immediately abandon the current sea area, but when the sailors prepared to do so, they found that the ocean had already ’imprisoned’ the entire ship in place, with layers of mysteriously empowered waves tumbling in, preventing the ship from leaving.”

Sailing above the God’s nightmare...

Gawain repeated the words mentioned by Selena in his heart, vaguely guessing where the initial scouting team arrived—

Above the God of Storm’s divine corpses!

”Indeed, that was probably the closest those storm believers ever got to their God...” Gawain shook his head with a subtle expression, ”What happened next?”

From Gawain’s demeanor, Selena vaguely sensed that he might know some secrets on a divine level, but she did not inquire further and continued: ”We were attacked by the oceanic forces, and the ship was severely damaged in the storms, but at the most critical moment, unexpected assistance appeared.”

Gawain lifted his eyelids: ”Was it the sea demons?”

”It was the sea demons,” Selena gave Gawain a deep look, gently nodding, ”They suddenly appeared from the waves and calmed the entire sea area with a power we couldn’t comprehend...”

Gawain instantly realized why Selena glanced at him meaningfully when mentioning the sea demons—because a sea demon lived in Cecil Castle!

Tiel’s presence was not a secret, having been known even before the Eternal Sleepers were largely expelled from the Empire. Selena was evidently aware of the ”alliance” between Cecil and the sea demons, a partnership that could fully be credited to the ”Outland Wanderer.” Seven hundred years ago, Gawain Cecil and others faced danger when sailing the seas, and it was the sea demons who aided them, seemingly with the purpose of some negotiation with the ”Wanderers from Outer Realm”...

This coming and going seemed to have many clues aligning.

But only Gawain knew that there truly wasn’t much connection within—the sea demons acted on whims; who knows what they thought back then, and the sea demon living in the territory simply got lost while swimming home, having nothing to do with any ancient pact...

But those explanations would be cumbersome, so he refrained from interrupting Selena’s account, listening as she continued:

”The sea demons helped the scouting team defuse the crisis and treated some of the crew members. They even said some very strange things, claiming we disturbed their eating and their food...

”Despite apparent communication barriers, Gawain Cecil still conducted negotiations with those sea demons. He detailed the scouting team’s purpose, expressed intentions of peace, and described to the sea demons some... peculiar ancient ruins.

”He described a tower, extremely massive, as if connecting the sky and earth, standing in the world since the Ancient Era.

”The sailors found it unbelievable, unable to imagine such a thing existing, but the sea demons became somewhat excited upon hearing Gawain Cecil’s description—they knew of the tower’s existence and seemed to have interacted with it, holding some apprehension towards it.

”After some negotiation, a few bold sea demons finally agreed to Gawain Cecil’s request, becoming guides for the scouting teams. They said they couldn’t lead the teams directly to the tower but could guide us nearby, in the right direction.

”Then our ship underwent some temporary repairs and resumed its voyage, setting sail southeast under the guidance of the sea demon guides.

”With the aid of the sea demons, the waves became our allies, boosting our speed, and soon after, we reached... the edge of a continent.”

Gawain was originally just listening quietly but suddenly widened his eyes: ”A continent? Did you just say ’continent’?!”

”Yes, a continent, not an island, I’m quite sure. We saw a very long coastline and strange birds flying from the direction of the land.”

A new continent! A land Gawain had never heard of, located southeast of the Loren Continent, deep in the Endless Sea!

In Gawain’s mind, he couldn’t help but outline the distribution of land and sea on this planet, based on the information gathered so far. The intelligence he had accumulated gradually formed a roughly outlined picture, including the information just learned from Selena, he sketched four landmasses in his mind—

The Loren Continent, inhabited by humans and many intelligent beings, located mostly north of the equator;

Possibly directly north of the Loren Continent, Talronde ruled by dragons;

According to Tiel, to the direct east of the Loren Continent, the Aeo Continent controlled by the sea demons;

Plus the new continent Selena just mentioned, reachable by sailing south from the eastern sea, deep in the Endless Sea, southeast of the Loren Continent.

Once again, he realized how narrow and isolated the land humans lived on was, once again stirred up a strong desire to explore the ocean.

With the currently known facts, there were already three unvisited landmasses on this planet, and he was really curious if there were more areas in this world unknown to humanity...

With curiosity about the new continent, Gawain controlled his excitement and continued to ask: ”Did you explore that new continent? What’s on that continent?”

Selena’s response, however, was like a cold shower: ”I don’t know, only Gawain Cecil ventured deep into the land—all other sailors and priests stayed on the coast.”

Gawain furrowed his brow: ”Why?”

”The land was protected by guardians, existing since the Ancient Era, operational to this day,” Selena said slowly, ”In fact, there are guardians in the surrounding sea as well, but those guardians are manageable as long as you don’t provoke them, you won’t be attacked, but those on land are exceedingly hostile.

”The sailors and priests in the scouting team were elite in the mortal world, even including powerful transcendent beings, yet their strength was far too weak against the guardians, not to mention the guardians on land vastly outnumbered our team—the entire new continent was under their control, they had mysterious origins and seemed endless, making it impossible for the scouting team to penetrate the land.

”Oddly, the guardians wouldn’t attack Gawain Cecil.”

Gawain furrowed his brow: ”Wouldn’t attack Gawain Cecil?”

Having long lived under the guise of ”Gawain Cecil,” he felt slightly awkward today during the conversation with Selena...

Selena then reiterated: ”Yes, that was confirmed after first contact with the guardians on that continent.

”Those guardians would actively attack anyone entering their alert zone except for Gawain Cecil.

”Some members of the scouting team asked about this, but he said he didn’t know the specific reason either.”

”So, in the end, only Gawain Cecil ventured deep into the new continent, and it seems he found what he was seeking...” Gawain slightly furrowed his brow, pondering, ”Interesting... these crucial memories were erased...”

While speaking, he looked towards Selena Gerfen.

”If I’m not wrong, you don’t know the specifics of his experience after leaving the team and heading into the continent interior alone either, because this content is also ’dangerous.’”

”The team members inquired, but he said nothing,” Selena replied, agreeing with Gawain’s assumption, ”I can only tell you what I know:

”Before departing, he instructed everyone to wait for half a month in the coastal safe zone, if he hadn’t returned by then, everyone should immediately leave the continent;

”He returned on the twenty-first day, appearing exhausted yet excited, evidently achieving his goal.

”He told everyone that he had undergone a soul transaction, which would secure a ’chance,’ but he did not disclose more details of the transaction to anyone at the time.”

Gawain gazed at Selena: ”But you seem to know more, you’re aware of my existence as this ’Outland Wanderer.’”

”Indeed, because he told me some of it privately.”