Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1351: Chapter 1350: Subsiding?

In the network space covered by the White Flower Sea, figures departed from the venue. As the figures around the round table disappeared one by one, the space also quieted down, leaving only Gawain and Beltira standing in the center of the floral sea, gazing into the distance at the virtual sky and far-off horizon.

Beltira was the first to break the silence, ”It seems like you have a lot on your mind, Brother Gawain.”

”I’m still thinking about the sentinel,” Gawain said in a deep voice, ”After confirming it hides a deeper conspiracy, I have to start considering what further countermeasures it might take and what its ultimate means are. As an ancient mind, the knowledge and trump cards it holds far surpass our understanding.”

”...If our speculation is correct, then using the power of the Deep Blue Webway to transform the celestial body beneath our feet into a permanently uninhabitable planet should be its ultimate goal, and everything my ’wasteland compatriots’ have done is just part of its process to achieve this goal,” Beltira spoke slowly, ”Now we’ve successfully thwarted the aberration Legion from advancing further into the civilized world and learned about their next ’deployment plan’. Theoretically, unless the alliance’s frontlines suddenly collapse completely, the sentinel’s ’tame planet’ plan is no longer feasible.”

”That’s exactly what I was just considering—if the sentinel can’t realize its plan to control the Deep Blue Webway, what ’alternative solution’ does it have to achieve its ’permanent extinction’ goal?” Gawain pondered slowly, ”Although its plan for node deployment is incomplete, a large number of rune stones have already been placed into the Deep Blue Webway. Previously, observatories and magic observation facilities across the regions observed widespread abnormal magic phenomena. Tiel has confirmed a violent change in the Deep Blue Webway has severed the connection between Loren Continent and Antawen. This indicates that even without deploying all the rune stones, the sentinel can already partially control the Deep Blue Webway’s operation...

”If one day it confirms its plan has failed, what could it do with the portion of the Deep Blue Webway it currently controls? It seems it can’t yet launch a direct strike against the physical world, but it can already influence and interfere with the entire continent’s environment. Yet, I believe... what it can do with the Deep Blue Webway goes far beyond this.”

At this point, he paused and turned to the composed-looking Beltira, ”What about you? What’s your take?”

”I don’t know much about the Deep Blue Webway and am not good at extrapolating like you. I just feel that my past compatriots are both pitiful and hateful,” Beltira shook her head, saying in a low voice, ”We’ve all fallen into darkness, but they’ve not only fallen; they’ve become unwitting tools of the sentinel. In Bertrum, I only see an irretrievable future.”

Gawain was silent for a moment, reflecting quietly, before suddenly saying, ”Perhaps I should go to that door in Winterhold Castle one more time.”

”You want to go to the kingdom of gods again?” Beltira raised her eyebrows, then realized, ”Wait, you mean to go to the Sentinel Base again? Isn’t it already...”

”It’s already abandoned, I know, but the things left there unsettle me. Inversion Tide once completely corrupted that base’s core and the last cruiser, yet now those ancient things are still operational. To me, such ’relics’ that continue functioning automatically after a long history, with their core systems essentially out of control... are themselves a huge hazard.”

”You plan to destroy that base and the last cruiser?” Beltira frowned slightly, ”But as far as I know, the technicians involved in the ’door’ plan have repeatedly proven that, with our current technical capabilities, we are unable to destroy such a scaled Voyager inheritance and even face difficulties cutting a metal sample from the ship. Moreover, Master Kamel suspects it still has some ’defense mechanism’; if the base and cruiser are confirmed to pose a deadly threat, those remaining weapons might counterattack.”

”Indeed, it seems we can’t destroy those things now...” Gawain took a light breath, speaking softly, ”But we always need some precautionary measures...”

...

In the depths of the Gondor Wasteland, shrouded in dark, filthy clouds, in the center of the hills and plains occupied by the dark priests, Archbishop Bolken was seething with rage at the news of failure from afar.

”Bertrum, that useless waste! I shouldn’t have given him a second chance!” Bolken furiously cursed, passing through the upper nerve nodes, making the gathered high priests around the mound tremble with fear, ”I should have thrown him straight into the biomass sludge pool; he would be more valuable as nutrients for the root network than as himself!”

Footsteps came from the edge of the mound, where two tall figures in long skirts approached Bolken. With expressions of surprise, the elven sisters looked at the archbishop, and Fyrna spoke first, ”What’s going on, my respected Archbishop—your emotions even scared the mindless aberrations. You’ve never lost your temper like this in recent days.”

”Bertrum faced a second disgraceful failure,” Bolken seemed accustomed to the sisters’ habit of feigned, exaggerated speech, responding grumpily, ”I assigned him a large escort, even granted him part of the root network authority in the northern parts of the mountain range, but in one action, he squandered it all—if that were all, fine, but the worst is, he and his incompetent followers were captured alive by the enemy!”

”Captured alive?” Lelena opened her eyes wider, seemingly genuinely surprised, ”How could that happen? Although Bertrum might lack military talent, he is at least a powerful priest, and his followers... The situation shouldn’t have been so dire that a mortal army could capture him alive, not to mention...”

Lelena paused, while Fyrna continued almost seamlessly, ”Not to mention that even if he couldn’t win, he could have taken his own life at the last moment?”

”Who knows what happened?” Bolken said viciously, ”The last message from one of his followers was ’The enemy’s mind is too powerful; we were outnumbered’—such lunatic information yields nothing for analysis.”

”...The enemy’s mind is too powerful?” This time, the elven twins were visibly perplexed, staring wide-eyed as Lelena frowned, ”It sounds like... our ’good opponents’ in the north have come up with some bizarre invention that exceeded Bertrum’s understanding, which... is quite intriguing.”

”We may have different perceptions of ’intriguing’,” Bolken’s clouded eyes glanced at Lelena as he spoke slowly in a hoarse, deep voice, ”Our greatest loss now is not Bertrum and the forces he squandered, but intelligence... Bertrum knows much of our deployment and our true plans; him falling into enemy hands entails immeasurable loss.”

The elven twins spoke in unison, ”It sounds like you don’t hold much hope for Bertrum’s loyalty and resilience?”

”No, I believe that even someone as incompetent as Bertrum wouldn’t easily speak under interrogation—but there are too many ways in this world to ’extract’ information from a silent captive,” Bolken said gravely, ”We must brace for the possibility that many critical deployments have been exposed. Henceforth, all deployment actions will inevitably face relentless obstruction from the Mortal Nations, and even the forces transporting rune stones might face targeted interception... Damn, if it weren’t for the sudden obstruction of the Southern Front Battlefield, our progress could have been quicker...”

”Southern Front Battlefield?” Lelena furrowed her brow, ”What happened now on the Southern Front Battlefield?”

Balken’s mood obviously worsened: ”It’s those elves, those elves have somehow received support from the north, and a particularly powerful Treant Guardians Legion has joined the front line. We were almost about to break through their ridiculous border fortress, and now not only has the offensive been thwarted, but a main force of those elves has even advanced near the breach in the barrier...”

Upon hearing Balken’s words, Fyrna seemed quite surprised: ”Treant Guardians? Your army was actually blocked by mere treants? When the southern line’s battle began, didn’t you confidently state that the combined strength of all the ancient trees guarding the forest barrier was insufficient to stop the legion’s advance?”

Balken’s leaves vibrated irritably: ”...At that time, the treant guards we faced did not have dozens of tons of steel plates on them, nor did they wield those magical weapons called ’magic cannons’.”

”Oh, it looks like our ’good opponents’ from the north have cooked up something new,” Fyrna listened and suddenly laughed, her voice unexpectedly cheerful, ”It seems that war truly is a catalyst for technological advancement. You see, under the pressure of survival, the transformation speed of those Mortal Nations is astonishing!”

”I sometimes really wonder whether you are truly on my side,” Balken stared fiercely at the elf twins before him with his yellow-brown eyes, ”Do you really not understand the current situation? Our advantage is being slowly eroded; the achievements of the early war are far from enough to establish a foundation. Those Mortal Nations have reacted, and we are experiencing setbacks across the board, even facing complete counterattacks on certain lines — my dear ’consultant’, humans from the north and east have even started building permanent bases on our territory! Have some sense of crisis!”

”Oh, a sense of crisis, naturally, Archbishop, we are certainly on your side, with shared goals,” Lelena spoke, yet her smile remained unchanged, ”However, a sense of crisis cannot change anything for us, and... the small setbacks encountered at the boundaries of civilization may not be as bad as you imagine.”

”...What do you mean?”

”Regarding the activation method of The Deep Blue Webway, we actually have many alternative plans...”

...

Deep within the tribal country of Augari, in the beastmen main city, Ruby City.

With the changing situation, this beastman city has now become the military hub of the tribal country of Augari against the Wasteland Legion. The Dawn of the mortal world sky fortress from the Cecil Empire is anchored above this city, with the Gorgon flying fortresses utilizing it as a distribution center, departing daily from above Ruby City to reclaim lost ground, clear aberrations, and reconstruct border defenses. The expeditionary army led by Duke Baldwin Franklin has also established Ruby City as its base and supply point, with the agreement of the Great Chieftain Camilla. Coupled with support troops gathered from various tribes within Augari, the city quickly transformed into a behemoth, with its population and city scale surging multiple times.

After her injuries healed sufficiently, Camilla left the medical ship in the sky and returned to her city. The solid ground beneath her feet reassured the tribal Chieftain who ruled the forest and mountains. She walked up the towering city walls of Ruby City, gazing in the direction of the barrier of mountains in the cold winds at the end of winter and beginning of spring, her feline-like eyes squinting into two lines in the sunlight.

In her view, the mountains still stood tall and majestic, while the large flying fortress crossed the distant ridges slowly. The scorched ruins of the Ruby Forest Sea stretched across the land at the foot of the mountain, and at the edge of the forest ruins were camps arranged in lines, simple yet bustling temporary marketplaces, and various flags waving in the wind.

Every day, countless soldiers gather here, and countless soldiers, under the assignments of the allied army’s commander-in-chief, head towards the eastern front or other areas plagued by aberrations. Every day, vast stretches of scorched earth return to the hands of the Augari People, and the border, once contracted to the foot of Ruby City, continually advances towards the edge of the wasteland.

Duke Baldwin Franklin from the Cecil Empire is now the commander-in-chief of the entire western line of the allied army, and the soldiers gathered from various tribes of Augari obey this foreign commander’s orders, including Camilla herself — an unprecedented situation, yet across the entire western line, there is no complaint.

This is the function of the alliance, and the significance of the ”wartime system.”

A gust of cold wind blew past, causing Camilla’s pointy ears to twitch in the wind — but only one stood upright on her head, while her other ear drooped lazily to the side of her head.

Camilla thought for a while, then tried again, but still, only one ear stood upright.

The Great Chieftain sighed, somewhat despondent.

Just then, footsteps approached from nearby, accompanied by the enthusiastic voice of the human King Wickcliff: ”Are you sparring with your ears again?”

Camilla turned her head, glancing at the tall human King: ”The doctor says this ear requires a minor surgery, and once it’s done, it can still stand upright.”

”Actually, I think you’re better off like this now — it makes you look softer,” Wickcliff commented offhandedly, turning to gaze at the distance, resting his hands on the adjacent city wall, ”Look, you’re finally paying attention to your appearance now, which is better than only knowing to wield your Chopping Axe every day.”

Camilla paid no mind to Wickcliff’s words, instead focusing on his distinctive right arm — the mechanical structure beneath its alloy casing and transparent crystals gleamed in the sunlight. The somewhat fierce and rugged design made the beastmen Chieftain curious: ”...Is it practical?”

”What... oh, you mean this?” Wickcliff realized, shaking his mechanical arm, his alloy fingers flexing nimbly, ”It’s fine, it’s stronger than my original one, with many wonderful new functionalities, aside from feeling a bit odd... everything else is quite good.”

”Looks pretty cool,” Camilla mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, ”I almost want to cut my arm off and switch to one like yours.”

”...Are you crazy?”