Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1261: Chapter 1260: A Familiar Scene

Under the polar night sky, the Steel Giant Island, silent for nearly two million years, accompanied by ancient and weathered relics of prehistoric civilization, along with iron roads extending straight in the darkness—and the self-activating streetlights.

Amber let out a yelp and vanished in front of Gawain, only to reappear after half a minute with half her head poking through the Shadow Rift, nervously observing the surroundings as she cautiously muttered to herself, ”Nothing’s going to come out, right?”

Gawain, holding the Sword of Pioneers in one hand, reached forward with the other to pull Amber out from the Shadow Rift, while maintaining a vigilant stance as he whispered, ”No... but it seems like something here has noticed our presence...”

The magic in Modir’s Combat Staff was gathering into strands of magical energy at its tip. The old mage had put at least dozens of protective layers on himself within that half-second, with the leftover energy slowly dissipating into the air. He observed the action in the iron ruins with great caution. Upon hearing Gawain’s comment, he whispered in response, unsure whether he was nervous or excited, ”Such an ancient ruin still seems ’alive’... I’ve never seen anything this extraordinary in my life!”

Gawain glanced at the old mage, but before he could speak, Modir murmured again, ”Oh, maybe I shouldn’t be too sure... perhaps I’ve seen it many times before but simply forgotten...”

”You seem well-versed with this,” Gawain remarked casually to lighten the mood, then refocused on the ancient relic in front of him—those light spheres rising from the metal pillars lining the road, floating silently several meters above the ground, illuminating the road with constant brilliance that extended far into the distance. Gawain strained his eyes to see not only this road but also to notice how even the streetlights in the distance were sequentially activating. From his position, he had no way of determining how large an area the lighting system was covering at this moment, but one point was clear to him—the scale was certainly not small.

Just a moment later, the communication device on Amber’s waist rang, with Byron’s tense voice coming through, ”Your Majesty! What’s happening over there? I see many areas at the base of the tower suddenly getting lit up on my side!”

”You can see this even from your position?” Gawain opened his eyes wide in surprise, then shook his head, ”Don’t worry, we’ve just activated some old lighting. Stay alert on your end, and I’ll notify you immediately if anything arises.”

With communication with the Winter temporarily paused, Gawain and his group resumed their activities among the relics that had suddenly ”stirred”—Gawain holding the Sword of Pioneers led the front, followed by Modir, who had put dozens of protective layers on himself and had also shielded Gawain and Amber. Amber, meanwhile, adjusted herself to the shadow manipulation state, appearing intermittently amidst the ever-changing play of light and shadow, closely monitoring the action in all directions.

Modir couldn’t help but be drawn to the astonishing level of shadow manipulation exhibited by the half-elf. Despite having seen a lot in his life, the old mage had never witnessed anyone using shadow jumping as casually as a walk, and he couldn’t help but open his eyes wide, ”This is, without a doubt, the most skilled stealth user I’ve encountered—she could single-handedly keep an eye on every movement within the night sky!”

Gawain glanced at Amber, darting around within his line of sight, and casually remarked, ”Don’t be fooled. Her main reason for running back and forth is to ensure a quicker escape.”

Modir: ”...?”

Amber evidently heard Gawain’s comment, but she had long grown accustomed to such remarks and felt no shame at all, showing no change in her expression. After running around for a bit, she confidently returned to Gawain’s side, claiming merit, ”I’ve scouted around and found that it seems like only those streetlight-like things have activated, with no further action.”

Gawain nodded, as he’d also been assessing the surroundings, finding everything indeed as Amber described:

Within the ancient ruins, everything remained deathly quiet, with only the distant sea waves and the wind at their ears disturbing the tranquility under the night sky. Amidst such a lifeless atmosphere, the abruptly illuminated streetlights appeared especially eerie and heightened their caution.

”I think it’s best we avoid those areas under the streetlights,” Amber suddenly suggested, her expression revealing some tension. ”Operating in a well-lit environment like this doesn’t feel like a good idea.”

”All areas leading towards the tower have already been illuminated by these streetlights,” Gawain said, looking toward the distance. He knew Amber’s tension made some sense, but as he inspected the far-off conditions, he realized they might have no choice but to proceed under these unnervingly lit streetlights. ”The lighting system is activated around the tower and becomes increasingly comprehensive with proximity to the core area—let’s go. At least our direction is clear.”

Amber had to suppress the tension within her, hunching down to continue following Gawain, while Modir curiously surveyed the surroundings, taking note of occasional signs appearing along the roadside, or the surface markings that had become damaged and incomplete.

”Such a wide road... even wider than the central avenue of Cecil Castle...” Amber couldn’t help but mutter softly, ”Who was this road meant for? Could it be that the Voyagers were giants several meters tall?”

”Maybe their vehicles were enormous in scale,” Gawain shook his head, ”Enya mentioned that the Voyagers were a race nearly similar in size to humans, with appearance akin to most humanoid creatures, but they had many large and impressive machines—within the temporary bases built by the Voyagers, those commuting intelligent vehicles often outnumbered the people themselves. Back when this facility was operational, the roads were likely bustling mostly with mechanical vehicles they’d constructed... perhaps most were for engineering purposes.”

”Here’s a road sign that’s still discernible,” Modir suddenly remarked, pointing to the air ahead of them, ”On it... oh, I can’t read a single word...”

Gawain immediately followed the direction indicated by the old mage’s fingers, spotting a beam of alloy spanning above the road, with a large sign affixed to it as well as several inactive, unidentified devices beneath. The sign’s base was illuminated by additional lighting, casting light on the marked but still recognizable characters.

The text was composed of mysterious, unknown symbols, formed through short dots, lines, and beautiful curves, accompanied by directional arrows. In the Loren Continent today, likely no one could decipher these characters—perhaps Enya knew somewhat, but she wasn’t present here.

Gawain stared at the road sign for a moment, ready to shift his gaze, but suddenly those unfamiliar characters in his vision quivered, then seemed to come alive, morphing and moving. As the lines swiftly reformed, the meaning of those characters emerged in his mind—

”Proceed forward to—Production Center B-17 entrance;

”Safe driving, keep it in mind; production area, slow down;

”Speeding here will result in a deduction of 20 Order Points and a Level Two Negative Behavior recorded once.”

Gawain blinked and instinctively raised his hand to rub his eyes. Beside him, Amber immediately asked curiously, ”What’s wrong with you? Getting older and tearing up in the wind?”

Gawain casually smacked this guy on the head, then looked up at the illuminated base of the towering huge tower in the distance. He spoke in a deep voice, deep in thought, ”Looks like we’re heading in the right direction.”

Further ahead, apart from the increasingly dense and bright lights, nothing threatening appeared in the ruins. The group of three gradually quickened their pace and arrived at the final stretch of road around the base of the tower. As they continued to approach the main body of the tower, the surrounding architectural facilities became denser than before. Many large and small alloy structures, like pillars of support, stood on the nearby platforms, pointing straight into the air under the night sky. Various fine alloy beams connected between the pillars, intertwining into a complex three-dimensional structure, while some dome-like curved thin plates covered the top of some of the three-dimensional structures. Under the night sky, these towering pillars and connections together cut through the night sky of the north and south poles, faintly revealing a certain... ”architectural art” of the Voyager civilization.

”So beautiful...” Amber couldn’t help but look up at these things, like large urban sculptures. In such an industrial center, they undoubtedly had functions more important than city sculptures, but those functions had been buried in the long history. Now what they could present to future generations was only the breathtaking architectural skill and unique aesthetic style. ”I thought the Voyagers only created cold machines or powerful weapons, that they were a completely combat-focused race. So they also understood art and aesthetics...”

”Don’t be guided by prejudice,” Gawain reminded timely from the side, ”The Voyagers are also a wise civilization, and as long as it’s a wise civilization, it will develop its own art and aesthetics, even if the aesthetic standards of different civilizations might differ vastly. Just like these pillars here, they...”

Gawain raised his head while speaking, but suddenly stopped halfway. His gaze turned serious immediately, swiftly sweeping across those pillars and connection structures. Then he lowered his head, meeting Amber’s equally serious and contemplative gaze.

”Looks familiar!!” The two of them said almost in unison.

Beside them, Modir was momentarily bewildered and instinctively spoke, ”Huh? What’s the matter? Have you seen similar things?”

No sooner had the old mage spoken than Gawain and Amber simultaneously directed their gaze at him, which startled Modir. He instinctively wanted to ask, but the particularly solemn expression of the two in front of him made him unsure whether he should speak, so he had to spread his hands in confusion.

In this brief exchange of eyes and recall, Gawain and Amber confirmed one thing.

Their ”sense of familiarity” was correct. Not long ago, they had seen somewhere similar to those pillars and connection structures here, and it was related to Modir—it was the ”stage” presented by those Shadow Sand Dusts that Amber had taken from Modir, the mysterious place where the old mage and two figures resembling the Elven Twins would meet!

There, too, stood pillars and domes similar to those found here!

”The styles are more than ninety percent similar, but it’s not the same place,” Gawain quickly compared memories in his mind, then looked up again at the scene before him. He spoke with great certainty and spoke quickly to Amber, ”It should be another Voyager Relic.”

”Are you sure?” Amber couldn’t help but confirm. ”The scenes shown in those Shadow Sand Dust images back then weren’t clear, and there are many detailed differences between these pillars that are hard to remember, or should I...”

As she spoke, she raised her hand to prepare to summon those Shadow Sand Dusts again for confirmation, but she stopped halfway through, cautiously shaking her head, ”No, this place is strange, doing this may trigger some unpredictable change...”

Gawain had wanted to stop Amber when he saw her action but was surprised to find this usually carefree person being so cautious and thorough at this moment. In this unexpected moment, he deemed it reasonable—it was clearly the cautious nature embedded deep in her soul at work.

”No need for further confirmation, I’m confident in my memory,” he said and temporarily noted this incident. ”Let’s keep going; I’m finding this place more and more interesting.”

As he spoke, he turned his head to Modir, ”Keep an eye on any changes in yourself. If you see or hear anything you find unusual, let me know immediately.”

”I’ll try,” Modir nodded helplessly. He followed Gawain, speaking as they walked, ”But in many situations, if one’s mind is contaminated, it’s quite difficult for the affected person to realize immediately that what they’ve seen or heard has peculiarities...”

”Then take this,” said Gawain, handing something to Modir casually, ”but don’t look at it too often; just keep it nearby.”

Modir took the object Gawain handed over, glanced at it, and realized it was a talisman no bigger than his palm. The talisman had intricate and extraordinary patterns on its surface, and just looking at the talisman, he felt a kind of invigorating and uplifting power flowing into the depths of his heart. However, his instincts honed from years of adventures prevented him from indulging in this positive mental influence, instead, causing him to be immediately wary, ”What is this? It seems to affect my mind...”

”Portable Divine Protection Runes Array, a gift from the deep sea—standard equipment for ’Contact Level’ and above operatives of the Theocracy Authority Council,” Gawain explained casually. ”The full concept behind these specialized terms can’t be explained quickly, so just understand that it’s an item specifically for fighting mental contamination. But so-called fighting poison with poison, its protective principle is itself a form of mental contamination, although for ordinary people, this mental ’contamination’ only has positive effects, with its negative impacts reduced to negligible levels after a slight adjustment. However, your situation is special; your resistance to mental contamination might be much lower than an ordinary person, which is why I gave you this now, and you better not let this talisman appear in your sight too often...”

”I understand,” Modir replied as he carefully put away the ”gift from the deep sea,” though he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, ”Mental contamination... no wonder, just now when I looked at this object, I actually had an impulse to turn and dive into the ocean!”