Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1292: Chapter 1291: Homeward Journey

The entire port area was shrouded in rising smoke and dust, accompanied by deafening sounds like thunder from the collapse.

The blue dragon soared into the sky, making a vigorous ascent amidst the cloud of dust, while the crown of the Reincarnation Giant Tree crashed down behind her. The colossal wooden structures that had stood for millennia shattered like an ancient city in a dream, the thick branches akin to clock towers and the wilted massive leaves and just-dead vines snapped and fell onto the ground of Mother Harbor amidst a series of loud crashes. Each collapse caused the steel ground to emit a low tremor, kicking up wave after wave of even larger plumes of dust.

Gawain and the others stood at the edge of Melita Ponia’s broad back, looking down at the earth below. The spectacle before their eyes was so breathtaking that everyone was left dumbstruck.

It seemed as if an entire city had collapsed from the sky before them, millennia of history reduced to fragments in mere minutes, engulfing the entire port area. Within the dense smoke and dust clouds, even the lights left by the Voyager were obscured.

A grand funeral.

”Everyone hold on tight!” Melita Ponia’s voice came from the front, as if gathering strength, ”The dust is rising too quickly below, we need to speed up!”

As soon as the blue dragon lady finished speaking, Gawain and the others felt a jolt beneath their feet. At once, they had no time to marvel at the grand scene below, instead quickly stabilizing their positions. Meanwhile, the surrounding dust, which continued to rise and spread, began to accelerate past Melita Ponia’s wake. She blasted out of the most severely collapsed area at the highest speed, and the ship docked in the harbor finally appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Where the ship was connected to the port, the encroaching dust had already swallowed the various indicator lights, while giant tree remnants and the shrubs and flowers within those remains on the ship had all turned to fragments. Fortunately, the ship was large enough that the dust-covered area only took up a small edge of the deck. Melita Ponia directly leaped over that part of the deck and skimmed low among ship structures, eventually landing on a wide alloy platform.

Gawain was the first to jump onto the deck. Standing on higher ground, he gazed far into the direction of Mother Harbor. Under the hazy lights and the background skylight brought by the energy field screen, the majestic crown of the Reincarnation Giant Tree vanished from view. Only a ”sea of clouds” surged up in its place, appearing like a rapidly growing mountain range, covering the port once occupied by the great tree.

”... With things like this, the next time we send an investigation team here, it might not be so easy for them to operate,” Kamel floated nearby and said in a low voice, ”The collapsed Reincarnation Giant Tree seems to have completely blocked the entire port area. The investigation team will have to clear a path through that collapsed debris before delving deeper into Mother Harbor.”

Amber, who jumped down beside him, let out a long sigh: ”That’s a pile bigger than the Pisolin Great Tree... Even if we send engineering teams, it seems they might be digging for ages...”

Listening to Amber and Kamel’s words nearby, Gawain simply kept his gaze fixed on the distance, without saying a word.

After some time had passed, the subdued mechanical hum suddenly resonated from the depths of the ship beneath their feet. The mechanical lock devices between the ship and the port disengaged one by one, the massive ancient engines roared to life, and the ship’s own protective barriers automatically activated—the port area in the distance gradually fading from view, as the ship beneath their feet embarked once more on a cruising voyage among the various divine realms. Gawain seemed to awaken from his contemplation, speaking softly, ”The ship has set off, everyone take a rest—have something to eat, and regain some strength.”

Since the ship left War God’s Divine Realm and the team embarked on this unprecedented exploration journey, everyone’s nerves had been highly strung. Even those with strong constitutions, like the Transcendents, felt fatigued under such total tension. Now that they had finally left the ”Sentinel Base,” although the return journey would still be spent on this ship, at least the most uncontrollable and risk-prone part of the trip was over, allowing everyone to relax a little.

The scouting teams found a suitable resting area near the entrance to the ship’s interior passages. They brought out carried provisions and water to eat and restore their strength. To guard against any unforeseen incidents during this final segment of the journey, Melita Ponia did not revert to human form but remained in her dragon form, resting on the nearby deck. Her enormous dragon body was like an upright wall, bringing an unquestionable sense of security.

Melita Ponia lounged on the deck, her gigantic scaled tail curved slightly, encircling the temporary encampment of the scouting teams. Her head veered to the other side of the team, resting her giant head on the edge of an alloy platform, with one eye observing the activity on the deck and the other watching Amber and the others at rest, appearing somewhat bored.

Amber approached at this moment, holding a sweet flatbread and waving it in front of Melita Ponia’s eyes: ”Hey, aren’t you eating anything?”

”Do you mean in my dragon form or human form?” Melita Ponia lifted her eyelids, uttering a deep rumble from her throat, ”In dragon form, this flatbread isn’t enough to get stuck in my teeth—but dragon form doesn’t require frequent feeding. I ate yesterday before setting out; my next meal can be next week.”

”... You dragons are impressive,” Amber paused, stuffed the flatbread into her mouth while gnawing, and muttered indistinctly, ”I can’t do it; the thing I fear most is an empty stomach.”

Melita Ponia immediately closed the eye facing Amber’s side and shifted her massive head slightly to the side, making a sound akin to metal striking as her scales rubbed against the steel, ”Hey, move away while you eat, crumbs are getting into my eyes!”

”Ah, sorry, sorry.” Amber quickly took a half step back, swallowing the flatbread furiously as she patted her hands clean. Melita Ponia then opened her eyes, glanced toward where the team was resting, and said: ”Hey, have you seen Gawain? I haven’t seen him since just now...”

”He went into that passageway, said he wanted to check the condition of the ship,” Amber cleaned her hands and then casually wiped them on her clothes, turning to look at the door leading to the ship’s interior passage, ”He didn’t let me follow, but I decided to go check on him secretly after filling my stomach—he clearly has something on his mind, and he’s moving alone. I feel uneasy.”

As she spoke, she shook her head, her expression rather helpless: ”Everyone seems preoccupied, Modir is, Victoria is, even Kamel’s color looks off. It’s only Daniel and his mage apprentice who seem unaffected; the former has an expression that suggests the sky never falls, and the latter as if the sky is always falling...”

Melita Ponia lifted her eyelids, gazing at her. Even someone as strong-minded as Amber felt at once unnerved under such a large eye staring, prompting her to ask: ”Why are you staring at me like that? Is there still crumbs on my face?”

”You seem like the most carefree among those around Gawain, but in reality, you’re one of the most observant and meticulous Loren People I know...” Melita Ponia’s voice seemed to carry a hint of amusement, ”You’re constantly observing everyone and every detail around you, yet most of the time, you pretend to be idle, making yourself appear the least functional.”

Amber hesitated, carelessly waving her hands, turning to walk toward the passage door as she murmured back casually: ”Survival codes from the slums, that’s called survival codes...”

Melita looked with one eye at Amber as she gradually walked away, finally slowly retracting her gaze. Near her tail, Modir was walking to a secluded spot, somewhat entranced as he gazed at the chaotic dark lumps constantly darting past outside the ship’s barrier, appearing to be in a daze.

Victoria came to Modir’s side. She looked somewhat worriedly at the old man before her, hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke: ”Ancestor, are you worried about how much time you have left?”

”...I’ve experienced an unprecedented adventure,” Modir suddenly spoke, ”On this ship, what I’ve seen surpasses everything I have seen before—these mysteries unknown to those who came before, these nearly forgotten things... I think I should feel satisfied, Victoria. I’ve come so far, lived for even 600 years—I cannot be too greedy.”

”...You mustn’t give up,” Victoria immediately said. ”Amber has a way to temporarily stabilize your condition, and during this time, we can slowly search for a solution. We can seek Lady Night’s kingdom, find your divided other half of your body and soul. It’s not unimaginable—we even defeated the War God, reached the deep-sea, found the heritage left by the Voyager. Ancestor, even without relying on gods, mortals can create miracles...”

”I’ve always believed in miracles,” Modir smiled, wearing a calm look that surprised Victoria. ”I have not given up, Victoria, don’t misunderstand my words. I simply have no regrets about any outcome, but if there’s a chance to survive, I would certainly be very willing—who would actively seek death under normal circumstances?”

Victoria felt somewhat awkward for a moment: ”Ah... that’s good, I thought...”

Modir just gazed with a smile at the lady before him, who theoretically was his descendant but had actually been a stranger not long ago, and suddenly asked with some curiosity: ”Do you care a lot about my situation, Victoria? I might be a bit blunt, but until not long ago, neither you nor I knew each other; we were originally strangers. The only thing connecting us is a bloodline that spans six centuries, which is now very thin... You have people closer to you, more familiar to you, and I... shouldn’t be that close to you.”

Victoria looked at the old man in front of her, somewhat surprised. She seemed didn’t expect him to bring up this somewhat delicate topic, but after a brief silence, she softly broke it: ”You’re right, theoretically... there’s not much deep familial connection between us. For a long time, you were just a story passed down in the family records. Now you have stepped out of the story, yet you’re quite different from my imagination. Indeed, I can’t treat you as a kindly, familiar elder, though I know I should.”

”How do you see me then?” Modir asked with some curiosity.

Victoria pondered carefully, and after a long time finally said: ”A great person, this great person was once very distant, now close at hand—I am trying to understand your affairs, perhaps just like Aunt Heidi and Rebecca did.”

After speaking, she looked at Modir, who seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked: ”Do you have any plans for when you return?”

”I haven’t decided yet—currently, Amber is helping stabilize my situation temporarily. But unless there’s an accident, I should have only about a year to arrange the matters for the rest of my life. I’ve been considering whether to use this year to complete one last adventure of my life, to go somewhere as far as possible and witness some even stranger things. But just now, while looking at you... I had another thought.”

”Another thought?” Victoria asked with some curiosity.

”...I traveled the entire world, possibly even more than once. Although some things have already dissipated from my memory, I still have vague impressions of many places in the world. Yet, only one place... is unfamiliar to me, unfamiliar to the point I don’t even remember where it is,” Modir suddenly looked into Victoria’s eyes, speaking very seriously, ”I want to see that place.”

”What is that place you are talking about?”

”Bring me back home to have a look,” Modir said slowly, ”Perhaps my final ’adventure’ this lifetime is to return to the hometown that I have thoroughly forgotten—Victoria, it’s in the middle of the mountains, isn’t it?”

”Yes,” Victoria’s usually unmoved face seemed to become lively as she recalled her place of birth and upbringing in response to Modir’s gaze. ”There was a very beautiful castle on the highest mountain in the northern parts. It was mostly cold, only rooms with lit fireplaces had some warmth. But the scenery there is great, you can see the snow-capped northern mountains and the white courtyard and the bustling town at the mountain’s foot—it’s not as advanced and new as Northport, but along its streets and alleys, you can see the rise and fall of the Wilder Clan over the six hundred years since you left.”

”Oh, that sounds wonderful,” Modir Vealt smiled. ”I surely should take a look.”

...

In the vast desert covered by gray-white fine sand, a majestic throne stood amidst the ruins of a collapsed altar, the mountain-like figure atop the throne slightly bowed her head, gazing at the small stone pillar at her feet, examining the ancient tome atop the pillar.

”Oh, you have awakened, great adventurer,” Lady Night’s solemn voice rang out across the world, ”Did you have a good dream?”

”I suppose,” the voice of the old man from the black leather tome atop the stone pillar carried a hint of a bewilderment from just waking from dreams, ”I haven’t had such a dream in a very long time...”

”What did you dream about?”

”I dreamt of packing my belongings, stepping on the path back to my hometown,” Wilderness’s voice was low and slow, speaking to the sole listener in this desolate, vast sandy sea, ”I seem to not have returned home for many years...”

”...Yes, great adventurer, home is a very distant concept, do you wish to return?”

”Perhaps, I think I should have such a thought, yet I am not certain if it’s truly my thought...”