Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1113: Chapter 1112: The Retired Gods

Balogar and Melita instinctively exchanged glances, and from each other’s eyes, they saw the same confusion. Every word Gawain spoke was clear, and every word was in the common language of the Loren Continent, but the sentences were so difficult to understand—who can make sense of this!

Gawain was clearly aware that communication was extremely difficult in this complex situation. He considered it for a moment, then glanced to the side—as if after some brief exchange, he turned his gaze back to the holographic projection: "Would you be interested in talking to her? The situation is quite complex, and it’s not convenient for me as an outsider to relay many things—matters concerning dragons are easier communicated by yourselves."

"Talk to her...?" Duke Balogar was initially stunned, and upon realizing the true significance of Gawain’s proposal, his expression became extraordinary. Memories spanning millions of years unfurled in his mind like layers of yellowed scrolls—those ancient fears, long periods of endurance, difficult planning, and the complex emotions that surged when faced with the deity who had protected his race through countless disasters—all of a sudden emerged, weighing heavily on his heart. This ancient titan suddenly felt a bit intimidated; despite not retreating even a step when once facing an enraged, out-of-control deity, at this moment... he truly felt afraid.

He did not know if he was ready to face the God of Yore again at this moment, especially knowing that he had personally plotted to harm this deity, but he knew... this would be an extremely important moment in his life.

Perhaps it is also the most important moment for the reborn Dragonkin as they enter the new era.

"I... never thought I would have to face such a matter after the new era arrived, but many things in this world don’t allow us to be fully prepared," the Grand Duke of Dragonblood said softly, seemingly responding to Gawain, though it also seemed like he was speaking to himself. Finally, he raised his head, his eyes filled with determination, "Let me... meet her, also to let me confirm whether the incredible thing you mentioned is true."

Gawain in the holographic projection nodded: "Alright, I’ll adjust the equipment angle."

When Gawain’s words fell, the screen projected by the Magic Web Terminal began to rotate to the side, and both Melita and Duke Balogar took deep breaths, calming their pounding hearts.

The edge of the screen revealed a faint golden arc, and Balogar swallowed saliva simultaneously, using his stone-carved face to mask his inner anxiety, pressing down all those endless thoughts concerning the gods, the apocalypse, the heavy history, and the uncertain future—he was ready to face the goddess, betrayed by himself and the entire Dragonkin.

The screen turned completely, and a golden egg still in dragon egg form appeared before Balogar and Melita, floating alongside was a newspaper, and several tea cups floated in the air on the other side.

The tea cups bobbed up and down, pouring liquid back and forth, appearing... quite merry.

Balogar: "..."

Melita: "..."

"Ah, Balogar, and Melita—it’s been a long time," a very familiar gentle female voice came from the other side of the screen, though a bit muffled due to the thick shell it was coming through, "Nice to see you’re still around."

Balogar finally regained his ability to think. Many complex thoughts were immediately scattered, and he instinctively spoke: "Why is this an egg?"

"That’s how she was sent to you, as an egg," Gawain’s voice came from the side of the frame, "Melita knew, and there was site footage to prove it."

"Cough, cough, no, that’s not what I meant," Balogar began to cough, realizing his mind was a bit slow due to the continuous shock, quickly adjusting his state, "I meant... why is she still an egg? From your description earlier, I thought..."

"Ah, I understand what you mean," Gawain’s figure walked into the frame, standing beside the golden egg, "She has indeed woken up, but remains in the dragon egg form... we were just discussing the egg hatching issue in depth. Even your goddess herself doesn’t know when she will hatch."

Balogar’s mouth twitched, feeling that the development of events had completely exceeded his prediction, yet suddenly felt that this development seemed very good... he does not have to face that familiar figure nor endure the unspeakable pressure.

What he needs to face is merely an egg that is drinking tea and reading the newspaper...

He looked at the holographic projection, opened his mouth, and suddenly hesitated; he found himself at a loss for how to address the opposite party at this moment. After two seconds, the title from deep in his memory surged up, and his throat emitted a syllable: "My..."

However, he was interrupted after uttering the first syllable: "Balogar, stop, do not say that word again—no honorifics, no worship, do not regard me as a god, call me by my name, from now on only by my name."

Balogar gently breathed in, and the next few syllables took him immense effort, but he ultimately succeeded saying: "Enya... Lady."

At this moment, the Duke of Dragonblood suddenly felt something silently dissolve deep within his soul—something that had lingered in the deepest corners of his heart for countless ages, a thing might resurface someday from the depths of his soul, yet this moment, it truly vanished completely—a feeling of indescribable relief enveloped Balogar.

"Yes, that’s right, Balogar—you’ve already grown up, do you remember?" The voice of the golden egg also came from the holographic projection, with a gentle smile. And compared with the condescending gentleness she had when she was a goddess, this moment her smile was more like that of a long-lost friend, bringing a reassuring, relaxed feeling, "You have defeated me, severed the chains with your own hands, and accomplished an unprecedented feat for the mortal races, so you should gain confidence—in front of any god, you should be confident, and especially with me who is no longer the God."

"Enya... Lady," Balogar’s voice was somewhat peculiar, "We..."

"It’s all over," softly spoke the golden egg, "You’ve sacrificed so much... what you earned should be the future, not the past. Actually, I originally didn’t want to meet you all so soon, but Gawain believes I should talk to you as soon as possible to prevent certain hazards in entering the ’godless era’, and I happen to have some matters I need to convey..."

...

Inside Cecil Castle, Gawain, seeing that matters were starting to develop for the better, prepared to leave first.

He had more than one matter to accomplish, and another meeting awaited him today.

Before leaving, he looked at Enya and said: "Then it’s your ’family’s affair’ after this, allow me to take my leave—the portable Magic Web Terminal will be left here for now. It only has basic communication functions, but you’ll receive a special terminal in a couple of days. You can look forward to it."

"Thank you for the arrangements," Enya said, with a gleam of light floating across the egg shell, "Additionally, you can look forward to a ’drink’ I’m concocting for you—I feel I’m getting a hang of it."

Gawain’s gaze fell involuntarily on the floating teacups next to the golden egg, a smile appearing on his face. After politely bidding farewell to Enya, he left the room with a smile.

Soon after, deep within the defied Fortress in the shadow realm, Gawain walked alone and stepped through the energy field screen leading to the courtyard area—chaotic, dark, shattered ground stretched out before him, with a "path" made of ancient alloys and steel chains winding forward. At the end of this fragmented land, a body as large as a hill still lay quietly amid the ruins, with a holy radiance rising from it, illuminating this dim place.

And around this massive body, a large number of brand-new Magic-Guide Devices were operating, some kind of invisible "field" covering the entire area. Although it was intangible and without substance, Gawain understood that this verification technology known as the "Anti-Divine Barrier" was blocking the mental pollution from the gods.

He walked towards Amoen, the Giant Stag, and saw the Magic Web Terminal in front of Amoen projecting a new drama from Philem Shadow Industry, a serial Magic Shadow Drama detailing the Fellmoon War, recently a hot topic among the Empire’s citizens.

As Gawain approached, Amoen also turned his gaze, a low and pleasant voice, with a slight resonance, sounded in the air: "It’s been a while, Gawain."

"Are you satisfied with these things?" Gawain nodded, smiling, speaking casually as if chatting with an old friend, "These special devices were crafted by the Empire’s chief craftsman personally."

"Very satisfied, my friend," Amoen’s tone was quite cheerful, a kind of cheerfulness Gawain had never seen before, "After three thousand years of boredom, these interesting little gadgets are truly treasures... you indeed have created remarkable things."

"As long as you’re satisfied," Gawain said, then he did not bring up the Silver Empress but instead looked around seemingly casually and suddenly asked, "Isn’t Lady Milmina here?"

The atmosphere in the courtyard quickly grew tense; Amoen did not speak, only the program projected by the Magic Web Terminal continued playing beside him. In the corner of Gawain’s vision, a tiny spark flashed, but when he looked over, he saw only chaotic darkness.

The stalemate and awkwardness lasted for nearly half a minute before Amoen finally spoke: "Milmina... that’s the name of the Goddess of Magic; hasn’t she already disappeared? Ran into the deepest part of the shadow realm... why do you think she’d appear here?"

Gawain’s gaze swept through the surrounding darkness, shrugging with a mixture of amusement and disbelief: "Doesn’t she watch dramas here every day—or is it actually you who’s been binge-watching Magic Shadow Dramas?"

Amoen still said nothing, so Gawain continued: "If one terminal isn’t enough for the two of you, I can actually install another one here to prevent you from fighting over it..."

"Come out," Amoen said to the side, "you’ve already been discovered, so stop hiding."

As soon as he spoke, a rotating cloud appeared out of nowhere from the dark space. Inside the cloud, arcane sparks flickered, with countless intricate magic symbols constraining its foundation. A huge, yet clearly female silhouette rapidly formed in the mist. In just a few seconds, an exceptionally tall "goddess" with a transparent, dreamlike lower body and a beautiful female upper body appeared before Gawain—and immediately glared at Amoen.

"You’ve betrayed me again—how many times now?" Milmina put her hands on her hips, her tone was annoyed, "You didn’t even hesitate!"

"I hesitated; it was a very intense inner struggle."

"For a total of one second?!"

"Psychological activity is instantaneous..."

Gawain had already guessed Milmina was here, but seeing two gods arguing like mortals spontaneously put him in shock. He stared dumbfounded at the exchange between Milmina and Amoen, clearly aware that this had become their method of interaction—a dynamic that not only overturned mortal imaginings about gods but even challenged Gawain’s imagination.

But soon, Gawain seemed to realize something; his look towards the two Gods of Yore transformed from surprise to a thoughtful contemplation, eventually turning into a smile.

Amoen seemed to suddenly remember there was a third person present and lightly coughed to end the dispute with Milmina: "Let’s not quarrel; today we have a guest in my little courtyard."

Milmina reluctantly stopped, then her gaze lowered to Gawain. After a moment of awkwardness and hesitation, she softly broke the silence, "Hello."

"Lady Milmina," Gawain looked up, smiling, "This isn’t our first interaction, but it truly is our first meeting."

"Our last interaction was the grand funeral you prepared for me," the Goddess of Magic spoke calmly; she now appeared serene and elegant, a stark contrast to when she was just disputing with Amoen.

Perhaps her human aspect isn’t stable enough?

A guess surfaced in Gawain’s mind, and he casually asked, "Were you satisfied with that funeral?"

"Very surprised. What you did amazed me for a long time, but also, very satisfied—because the funeral made everything develop perfectly."

Gawain nodded, in a casual conversational tone: "But afterwards, you kept hiding in the shadow realm, avoiding contact—is it because you’re worried about a ’reconnection’ relapse?"

Milmina’s gaze became more earnest as she looked at Gawain; she descended in height—the clouds resembling an intricate court gown at her lower half folded layer upon layer, seemingly crouching down, though this still didn’t align her sight with Gawain’s, it made the interaction more comfortable: "You might think I’m overly cautious, but I must avoid any hazard—back then I could not ascertain how effective your neural network’s ’purification’ was, nor how far you and the mortals you lead could explore the unknown realm of the ’divine’."

"So now, are you a bit reassured?"

"Not completely assured yet, but at least halfway," Milmina replied earnestly, suddenly giving a smile, "Otherwise, I absolutely wouldn’t have come out—even if this Old Deer betrayed me without a hint of hesitation."

Amoen’s voice promptly came from the side: "I told you, I was having a very intense inner struggle at the time..."