Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1127: Chapter 1126: Listening

Beltira stood before Queen Belsetia in a way the latter had never seen before—fragments of yellowed memory flickered in the Silver Empress’s mind, recalling a distant past that even the long-lived could consider ancient. In those distant memories, this Druid Saint of human origin always wore a Priestess Robe, her smile as bright and warm as the afternoon sun in spring. She moved among the wounded of the expeditionary army, countless people finding new life through her.

Her achievements were even recognized by Elven Society, the original seat of Druid beliefs, with her sacred icon placed in the Elven Royal Court’s Hall of Saints alongside Druid Sages of countless ages.

But those memories had ultimately yellowed. Belsetia blinked, her eyes taking in the sight of a figure formed from flesh and mutated plant standing before her, offering a stiff smile. Behind, the vines coiling around her squirmed like veins, a wooden friction-like sound emanating from within: ”Seven hundred years, not even a greeting? Belsetia—Empress?”

The Silver Empress snapped out of her reverie. Her gaze fell on the figure before her, hesitantly breaking the silence: ”Beltira... Lady.”

”Your address towards me has become distant,” Beltira said, expressionless. ”Seven hundred years ago, you called me Sister Beltira.”

Gawain, standing nearby, couldn’t help but furrow his brow, recalling: ”How is it I remember you calling her aunt back then?”

A summer afternoon breeze swept across the Sorin Treetop. The rustling leaf sounds from below followed, making for an odd atmosphere in the moments that followed.

”...I don’t really mind the issue,” Beltira finally broke the silence. Her gaze briefly swept over Gawain, then fell on Belsetia. ”’Lady’ suffices for me—it’s more composed.”

”Ahem,” Gawain cleared his throat twice to dispel the awkwardness, noting that those assembled to greet them were still lined behind Beltira, and Handmaiden Elaine, recently descended from the long ladder, was pallid. Hence, he quickly shifted topics: ”Let’s not stand around idly—one of the purposes of the Silver Empress’s visit was to survey the Sorin Giant Tree. We should head to a place to rest, talk more along the way.”

”Indeed,” a faint smile appeared on Beltira’s face as she sidestepped, and the trailing vines behind her extended, beacon-like. ”I began preparations upon receiving the message, Your Majesty—this journey will surely be to your liking—no one knows this ’tree’ better than I.”

Belsetia had just taken a step when she heard Beltira speak, prompting her: ”Just call me by name—like before.”

Beltira turned to Gawain, seeking his opinion. Seeing this, Gawain nodded: ”Let’s do that—everything like before—it’s just us here, no need for facade, might even make us more at ease.”

Walking upon the flat terrain atop the Sorin Tree is an experience both familiar and strange to Belsetia—treading on the broad, solid wooden platform akin to earth, surrounded by buildings and stationary installations. Were it not for knowing the reality, visitors might struggle to realize they stood high above, akin to being atop the Sacred Stars Temple; yet contrary to there, here she sensed the immense vitality beneath the ’earth’ coursing deep below, a stark contrast to mechanical rumblings—this ’sound of life’ filled the Sorin Region, echoing within her keen perceptions.

For elves attuned to nature, this site held more sanctity than the ’Ancestor Legacy’ in the deep south of the continent, now in twilight.

”...This is the Sorin Region’s Magic Web Nexus, one of two such nexuses on the Plains of the Holy Spirits,” the group paused under an enormous tower at the treetop platform’s center. Beltira looked up, casting eyes upon the expansive Crystal Array and mechanical devices atop the tower, speaking to the adjacent Silver Empress. ”These Crystal Arrays distribute vast energy to surrounding areas, with corresponding regions receiving and redistributing by lower-tier Magic Web Nexuses. Sorin Region and adjoining areas get energy thus for ancient magical devices, while concurrent magic web communication is established among towers, broadcasted to all cities and villages with Magic Web Terminals.

”Currently, we have established the Narrator Neural Network’s crucial nodes in several key cities east of the Gorgon River. Through these nodes, major cities can integrate into the neural network—although the network’s coverage is presently low, at the current pace, ’network to villages’ is merely a matter of time.”

Belsetia looked up, dazed, admiring the vast Crystal Array—the artificial crystals shimmering splendidly in sunlight, a steady hum emerging from their foundation deep below. It was a ’miracle’ distinct from Sacred Stars Temple, its boundless possibilities deeply captivating even for the Silver Empress.

”I know about your neural network...I saw it mentioned in the theocracy Authority Council’s documents,” she spoke softly. ”You try using it to create a ’barrier’ against the gods’ mind pollution, hoping it can cover the world...”

”Not merely trying, we’ve achieved practical results,” Gawain interjected. ”You’ve witnessed its impact firsthand, don’t you remember?”

Belsetia started, swiftly recalling her encounter with the God of Nature in the Shadow Realm Courtyard, where ’Anti-Divine Barrier’ was already implemented, her demeanor growing solemn: ”I remember now...”

Gawain observed the Silver Empress’s expression, not pressing further on the topic. Beltira continued, maneuvering flowers and vines composing her form toward the platform edge.

”We’ll rest in a facility within the tree crown—unlike ground structures, each facility in the Sorin Giant Tree’s crown is ’grown’ by me personally. You can intimately experience the distinctive ’giant tree style,’” Beltira introduced with pride her achievements in civil engineering (potentially classified as cosmetic sculpting). ”You can also tour my biolaboratory—it’s in the lower level of the rest area. Cecil Clan’s cutting-edge bioengineering technology largely emerged or was conceptualized in that lab...”

Listening, Gawain subconsciously frowned slightly: ”Is your lab suitable for a tour by us normal folks now?”

Beltira gave him a look, conveying, seemingly devoid of speech, ”you, a god-munching Wanderer from Outer Realm, are posing as normal human before a plant-person”—though the insinuation may well be Gawain’s own fabrication.

”Rest assured, upon feedback from other researchers I attentively adjusted the lab’s structure and décor. All unsuitable display items are sealed in friendly-looking containers—despite my current mindset and aesthetic seeming somewhat shifted by life form transformations, I understand this well enough to heed others’ advice.”

”Not suitable for display?” The Silver Empress had a somewhat puzzled look on her face. She glanced at Beltira and then at Gawain. ”Are you referring to the confidential technology involved in the laboratory? If it’s that kind of thing, you can completely refrain from showing me...”

”No, although it is advanced technology, an ordinary visit won’t lead to a leak,” Gawain shook his head. ”And in the long run, I even plan to use it as an export commodity. What Beltira means by ’not suitable for display’ actually has nothing to do with technical confidentiality. It’s mainly because... the image of that thing is not very commendable.”

The flowers and vines behind Beltira rolled slightly; she seemed to disagree somewhat with Gawain’s evaluation. The Silver Empress grew even more curious about the legendary biochemical laboratory, but before she could ask again, the sudden sound of a mechanical device starting up in the distance caught her attention. She turned towards the direction of the sound and saw a massive device about a hundred meters from the Crystal Array slowly adjusting its angle. It had a complex structure of metal brackets, with many hexagonal crystal sheets set in between, leaving gaps. Numerous glowing magic symbols moved slowly on the crystal sheets, forming illusory magic lenses, seemingly constantly fine-tuning the focus of those crystals.

”What is that?” Bersetia asked curiously—the device wasn’t something she had seen in any intelligence reports, nor did it resemble any of the magical devices they had passed by on their journey. It seemed to be a high-tech device, but the magical fluctuations it released were unlike any kind of spell mould. Even someone like the well-informed Silver Empress found it perplexing.

”That’s a wide-area listening antenna,” Beltira explained. ”Each Nexus has a set. Essentially, it’s a highly sensitive receiver—we use it to search for a mysterious signal.”

”A mysterious signal?” Bersetia grew even more curious, ”What kind of mysterious signal?”

Gawain thought for a moment and nodded, ”Well, it’s not a secret anyway, and we’re currently working with neighboring countries to establish a series of listening facilities. If you’re interested in this, we can discuss it in detail in the lower-level rest area later.”

...

”The second gain magic circle has entered working mode, the first magic circle is switching to the cooling process, and the main antenna will rotate in three minutes. All listening personnel should pay attention to their respective channels...”

The operator’s clear and powerful voice rang out not far away, causing Bard, who had just sat down and whose mind was a bit scattered, to quickly focus his attention. He glanced around the room, seeing that the heads of the listening seats were all in position, while the Mage Technicians assisting the listeners were making one last check on the equipment.

A holographic projection above the large Magic Web Terminal in the center of the room displayed the fluctuation in each listening channel, where curves in every screen showed meaningless noise. The screens above several secondary Magic Web Terminals around the room were blank.

Bard took a light breath, preparing to start today’s work. Another listener next to him nudged his arm and whispered, ”Hey, did you know? Today, His Majesty and the Silver Empress have come to Sorinburg!”

”I know, the newspaper mentioned it two days ago,” Bard glanced at his colleague beside him. ”But what’s that got to do with us?”

”You... are just boring,” the colleague sighed. ”That’s the Silver Empress! Aren’t you curious? Most people will never see her in their lifetime. This time, we have a chance to see the real person! It’s said she’ll visit the trunk area of the Giant Tree and the surface East Sector later in a public activity. We’re planning to watch...”

Bard still appeared indifferent. It wasn’t that he was not curious about the big figure from the Silver Empire, but having been a Wolf General, he really couldn’t get excited about such matters involving ”important figures” like ordinary people. However...

The visit of the Silver Empress was not without impact on him—if all his colleagues really went to the East Sector, then there might be fewer people in the canteen during dinner tonight... which was good news.

Bard’s thoughts began to wander again, but as the operator of the main antenna started a thirty-second countdown prior to the antenna rotation, his focus quickly sharpened.

Outside interference was blocked, leaving the former Wolf General with only the constantly refreshing data and curves of the holographic projection before him. In his earpiece came the low, hollow, and soft sound of shuffling.

The antenna completed its rotation, and the listening channels tracked with high precision the ”sounds” transmitted from every corner of this world resonating in the magic-pervasive environment. Among the low and gentle shuffling sounds blended some unobtrusive noise. Bard’s mind further calmed down as he seemed to merge into those gentle echoes, unable to hear the outside world anymore.

The listening antenna listened to the frequencies in the magical power field, where every subtle fluctuation turned into oscillating signals output by the antenna, flowing quietly within the vast and intricate system of Sorin Nexus, eventually converging in this listening center. Most of the time, these echoes were meaningless, and the work of the listeners was monotonous and uninteresting, often yielding no results for weeks.

But today seemed destined to be an extraordinary day.

After an unspecified amount of time immersed in the soft noise, Bard was abruptly awakened by a somewhat abrupt howling sound.

Bard quickly sat up straight, eyes wide open, and almost simultaneously, the system filtered and restructured the subsequent echoes of the howling sound. In the earpiece came a series of rhythmic, drumbeat-like vibrations and short pauses. Above the large Magic Web Terminal in the room’s center suddenly projected a line of rhythmically oscillating lines—extremely clear and sharp lines that the listeners had never seen before!

”Signal received! Type I fluctuation, it’s that signal!” Bard suddenly shouted, swiftly turning to the Mage Technician assisting him, ”Output my channel as a graphic; is the recording device online?”

”The recording device is online, converting now—the pattern will come out soon!”