Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1038: Chapter 1037: Far-Reaching Impact

Amber blinked her eyes, looking at the phrases Gawain seemed to have unconsciously written on the paper. She could understand the individual words, yet when combined, they were entirely new to her — the half-elf’s mind whirred for a moment, ultimately confirming that it was something she couldn’t comprehend, so she simply withdrew her gaze and started gazing absentmindedly out of the window.

Gawain lifted an eyelid to glance at her: "I thought you would ask."

Amber immediately got smug: "I guessed you would say that."

"Then I won’t say anything; after all, this matter is still in its infancy," Gawain said with no mental burden, waving a hand, and saw as expected the half-elf in front of him puff up her cheeks — this made him even more delighted, and he quickly changed the topic, "Have we received any responses to the invitations we sent to neighboring nations?"

"It’s only been a short while since we sent them out; how could we get a response so quickly? Even you just returned to the imperial capital," Amber initially intended to continue asking Gawain what the words meant, but as he changed the topic, she had to follow suit, "They will definitely deliberate, discuss, perhaps even have a bit of conspiracy theorizing, guessing that perhaps the two human empires are plotting to divide the continent’s interests..."

"Indeed, they have to weigh it carefully. After all, nobody has done this before," Gawain smiled with a rather indifferent expression on his face. "But they will most likely agree in the end, or at least send a representative to come and see, to confirm what this is really about — the Cecil Empire and Typhon are the ’leading powers’ of the two major settlement areas on the continent nowadays, so all kingdoms having trade with the two empires cannot ignore this invitation. Even if they are not concerned about previous wars, they will have to pay attention to the economic operations of the settlement areas afterward... the real headache is with the countries outside the settlement areas."

"The Violet Kingdom, the Dwarf Kingdom, and several city-state federations at the continent’s southeast corner, right..." Amber’s eyes shifted, and corresponding information floated into her mind, "They are relatively closed nations or those with natural geographic barriers from the continent’s interior. Actually, the Dwarf Kingdom and those edge city-state alliances are manageable, as sea trade routes will eventually draw them into the two empires’ settlement areas. It’s just that reclusive Violet Kingdom... it’s troublesome."

"A reclusive kingdom..." Hearing Amber’s ramble, Gawain couldn’t help but have a complex expression: while many nations on this continent have been gradually opening their doors to this new era, there is a nation that seems to remain mysteriously sealed off as if stagnated in another world, arousing much curiosity, "This nation, built on a massive island, always maintains a seemingly close yet distant stance with the continent’s countries... But there aren’t few mages from the Violet Kingdom traveling to the continent, and merchants do business in the northern regions with the far side of the sea, suggesting they are not entirely closed..."

"Yes, the civilian aspect is not completely closed. The Violet Kingdom does not prohibit its citizens from traveling to the continent’s countries, nor does it prohibit coastal cities from engaging in foreign trade, but their capital — the City of Thousand Towers — has never been open to anyone, and their royal family does not contact people on the Loren Continent. So far, all our interactions with them have been indirectly completed through the Violet Council or secondary envoys."

"...That makes it more intriguing," Gawain murmured while stroking his chin, "so close to us, yet more mysterious than the Dragonkin — now even the Sacred Dragon Kingdom has opened its doors to us."

"Should we take more proactive communication initiatives? Hmm... or rather an investigation?" Amber pondered for a moment, gesturing with her hand, "I mean sending some spies or something..."

Gawain glanced at the half-elf, who in turn looked back unabashedly, as if she were in full work mode, earnest and ready to make moves as an intelligence head.

"You indeed have become a competent Minister of Intelligence," Gawain sighed. "But have you never tried to infiltrate the Violet Kingdom before? Was it effective?"

"Well... alright, the Intelligence Agency did dispatch some people before. We tried investigating the Violet Kingdom by using merchants or adventurers as cover, but the progress was very slow. We could only operate in their coastal cities, trying to penetrate inland is extremely difficult — and those coastal cities don’t seem much different from any other places on the Loren Continent. However, if you give the order, I can come up with some new plans..."

"No need, this is sufficient," Gawain shook his head. "We cannot regard every country that doesn’t open its doors as our enemy. Excessive probing is a form of offense — they have their way of survival, and closing their borders is their freedom. We can’t demand everyone in the world adhere to Cecil’s values."

Amber shrugged: "Alright, you call the shots."

Gawain agreed with a hum, preparing to ask some other matters, but just before he spoke, the Magic Web Terminal set beside the desk suddenly rang.

After the terminal connected, the holographic projection in midair trembled twice, and Veronica’s figure appeared, her expression somewhat peculiar: "Your Majesty, we have some findings from analyzing the War God’s remains retrieved from the battlefield."

Gawain immediately shelved the previous topic, his expression turning serious: "Hold on a moment, I’m coming at once!"

...

Deep within the Dark Mountain Range, the defied Fortress.

The constant progression of the Empire and the enhancement of various facilities in Cecil Castle had not rendered this ancient fortress obsolete. On the contrary, with the defied Plan’s restart and the deepening of various research projects regarding the gods, this facility, which was once specifically used to study the gods and chaotic wave, was brought back into use.

The interiors, enduring through the passage of countless years, were reinforced anew, with the ancient corridors and rooms cleaned and painted; new experimental facilities and staff moved in. Many laboratories and warehouses are now being utilized. Under the leadership of Veronica and Kamel, and with Gawain’s permission, the middle and lower layers of the defied Fortress have become the Cecil Empire’s new "God Research Base," dedicated to unraveling the mysteries related to the gods.

To achieve this, Gawain even set up a neural network computation node in the Dark Mountain Range to channel Nariteer’s power into the defied Fortress — the former "Supreme Narrator" can provide the laboratories with necessary data analysis services here while also serving as a formidable security barrier, protecting the fragile mortals within the facilities from the harm of Divine Heritage.

At this moment, in a large laboratory located at the deepest part of the defied Fortress, a group of technicians was analyzing the dangerous debris collected from the Winterhold Fort Battlefield.

The rectangular lab hall was brightly lit, with various magical devices humming in operation throughout the room. In the center, several platforms were neatly arranged, each with portions of the War God’s remains — some were iron-gray armor fragments, some were entangled, evolving dark red fiber clusters, some were stones seemingly thoroughly soaked and corroded by blood, and no matter what, they emitted strong magical fluctuations and an eye-catching aura.

Around each platform stood four metal columns carved with intricate magic symbols, floating between them was a thick magical aura, used to isolate the dangerous samples within from the outside.

More than a dozen researchers were busy at various points, documenting the magical fluctuations released by the remains and the various changes they exhibited over time. The expressions on every face were solemn with a hint of excitement, with Kamel, the director of the laboratory, floating between them, directing and overseeing the operations onsite, while Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, stood somewhat further away, with the light beside the Saint Princess gently undulating, already lost in thought.

It was at this point that Gawain and Amber entered the room.

Veronica immediately sensed Gawain’s presence and promptly woke from her contemplation, turning to approach, "Your Majesty, you have arrived."

"Hmm, let me take a look at the situation." Gawain said as he glanced around the entire scene—besides the technicians who were busy, he immediately noticed certain unusual "presences":

On the roof of the laboratory, some vague, indistinct lines extended from the air, weaving into a web-like formation across the entire room. This nearly transparent spider web sheltered everything here, and at the center of the web, Gawain vaguely saw a lazy white spider lying on it.

That was a "Supreme Narrator" of unknown scale—she seemed somewhat bored and perhaps even asleep.

"When the technicians need to directly contact the divine relics, Nariteer provides protection and pollution alerts on site," Veronica noticed Gawain’s gaze and immediately explained, "This is one of Kamel’s designed experiment procedures, and it has been proven effective."

"Hmm," Gawain nodded, continuing to walk forward and casually asked, "So, what’s the situation? What did you discover?"

"In short..." Kamel floated over from the side, mildly bowing in front of Gawain, with a buzzing sound coming from within, "We found that these remains... currently pose no mental harm to mortals."

Gawain stopped mid-step as if he were frozen on the spot.

Amber, who was walking headlong behind him, bumped directly into his back—letting out an "ouch" before bouncing nearly a meter away.

"No mental harm at all?" Gawain seemed unfazed by the impact on his back, looking at Kamel in disbelief, "Is this conclusion reliable?"

"Reliable, we conducted direct and rigorous tests," Kamel said with grave blue light on his face, "This includes personnel testing—testers directly contacted the samples under strict observation, and nothing happened.

"Of course, we took protective measures—Nariteer used threads to bind the tester’s mind, ensuring that if spiritual pollution occurred, the tester would be instantly ’pulled’ back and subjected to purification and healing."

"You’ve even tested that..." Gawain finally recovered from his shock, listening incredulously to Kamel’s account, yet his gaze involuntarily fell on the nearest platform—between tightly guarded magic symbol pillars and energy field screens, a piece of iron grey glowing armor fragment lay silently. Given the War God’s enormous original form, it was hard to tell which part of the armor it belonged to, but one thing was certain—this thing... was once enough to drive even the most resolute warriors mad when placed before mortals.

Initially, upon entering the laboratory, he saw this fragment just placed on the table, and the people around seemed unaffected. He assumed at the time that it was the various protective systems in the lab and Nariteer at work, but now it seems... that is not the case.

The remnants have become harmless.

So, what exactly has changed on these fragments?

"Did the fragments left behind by the War God’s fall lose their ’divine essence’?" Gawain murmured, "Did they become mere mortal matter because the fall was so thorough?"

"We also speculate that these fragments have changed, but Nariteer doesn’t think so," Veronica’s voice came from the side, "She once conducted a ’hunt’ with threads before the War God fell, memorizing its essence. Just now, she analyzed the remaining essence on these fragments and confirmed that, aside from some weakening and dispersal, there was no essential change in nature. Miss Tiel also helped with the confirmation..."

Without others explaining, Gawain already knew how Tiel assisted in the confirmation, but he couldn’t help but ask: "Is Tiel’s inspection reliable?"

"I believe it’s trustworthy," whether it was an illusion or not, the usually composed Veronica seemed a bit hesitant, "Although she ’consumed’ a large number of samples, in this aspect, she is indeed an expert."

"...I understand," Gawain rubbed his temples, "In short, the divine power lingering on these fragments has not declined, theoretically the mental pollution they carried hasn’t disappeared, yet now these pollutions have lost their effect on mortals. So, the change isn’t in the fragments, but..."

Here, he instinctively paused.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t articulate a conclusion; rather, the conclusion emerging in his mind was too fantastical, even challenging core beliefs.

But behind him, Amber, who had just recovered from the collision, seemed to speak instinctively, "If these fragments haven’t changed, then what’s changed could only be humans..."

The entire laboratory fell into silence, and Amber, still rubbing her nose, immediately sensed the change in atmosphere; she stopped her actions, fearfully glancing around, her gaze finally falling on Gawain: "I was just speaking casually, you don’t have to take it seriously..."

"No," Veronica shook her head, speaking slowly with a heavy tone, "Our speculation... is exactly that."

Amber widened her eyes, staring blankly for a long time: "...Oh my god?"

"This is not a final conclusion; everything requires more testing and analysis," Kamel couldn’t help but say, the arcane glow on his body flickering slightly, "Yes, more testing and analysis... The implications of this conclusion are too significant. We must design more meticulous..."

"We can verify cautiously, verifying a hundred times would not be excessive, yet before that, we can indeed make a bold assumption," Veronica interrupted Kamel, her grip on the platinum scepter tightening, her fingertips nearly turning white, "Perhaps... our victory on the Winterhold Fort Battlefield has more profound impacts than merely the fall of a god."

(Why are so many people going to watch the first season of Anomalous Creatures? That wasn’t made by the reader’s recomposed production group...)