Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1184: Chapter 1183: Adventure

In the holographic projection, Gawain seemed lost in thought. He didn’t respond to Emperor Rosetta immediately, but rather spoke up after a dozen seconds: "I have no technical doubts, as experts will naturally discuss these matters. What I care about is Typhon’s understanding of the risks behind this matter and whether you have made sufficient preparatory plans and...mental preparations for these risks."

"...This is a feat accompanied by great risks, rest assured, Gawain, I have a clear understanding of this," Emperor Rosetta said slowly, his voice low and extremely solemn. "Besides you, there should be no mortal in this world who understands God’s dangers better than I do, no one more cautious in this field than I—my family and I have dealt with a runaway God for two hundred years, we are not careless in these matters.

"As for the specific concerns you have, my experts have already formulated six different contingency plans, considering various unexpected situations, such as Divine Kingdom Revitalization, residual War God will in the kingdom, spiritual contamination exceeding mortal immunity, and possible intervention by other gods. Of course, no matter how many plans we make, we must always be prepared to face unimaginable situations, which we should have consensus on.

"I will later transmit the complete contingency plans and more technical information to Cecil Clan, and you can make a judgment after reviewing them."

In the holographic projection, Gawain finally nodded slowly, and after a moment of deliberation, he said in a deep voice: "Since you have considered this step, I can also reveal something from my side—Cecil Clan will provide strong security guarantees in the God exploration plan... we will have a genuine ’expert’ acting as advisor and guide for the exploration operation."

"A genuine expert?" Emperor Rosetta paused slightly, and soon, as he seemed to guess something, his expression changed slightly, "Do you mean...?"

"This matter is top secret now," Gawain nodded slightly, "A deity will participate—rest assured, she is now ’harmless’ and completely stands on our side. But at the same time, you must be prepared, her assistance can bring us great help, but it will also bring additional risks. Among those involved in the action, there can absolutely be no ’believers,’ nor can anyone who is weak-willed know about this matter."

Emperor Rosetta’s expression became extremely solemn, and he nodded earnestly: "I understand, I will personally oversee these matters, those who can participate in this plan are scholars and strong-willed warriors, and many have secretly assisted the Augustus Clan in their resistance against divine power for years. They can withstand the test."

Gawain nodded again, then he discussed some project cooperation matters with Emperor Rosetta, and finally asked a question: "There’s one more thing I want to know—where do you plan to open this ’door’?"

In religious terms, the ’door to the kingdom’ is an almost unreal, spiritual concept, only existing in the minds of devout believers and perception beyond dimensions. However, what Typhon Empire intends to do now is to solidify and manifest this ethereal door through technological means, creating a real door that mortals can enter, which means a ’location’ for opening the door is necessary.

"Considering potential risks, this door must be away from all bustling areas, ideally set in an uninhabited zone," Emperor Rosetta said with a slight thought, expressing his ideas. "We also need to set up sufficient ’safety measures,’ ensuring that if the door loses control, we can completely destroy its material structure in the shortest time. On the other hand, with the door operating properly, it must withstand some external impact to prevent various unexpected incidents..."

As Emperor Rosetta spoke, Gawain nodded lightly to express agreement and murmured softly to himself: "Sounds like the Gondor wasteland fits the criteria... but the risk is too great."

"Yes, the risk is too great," Emperor Rosetta agreed. "Not to mention that at present, we can only build test sites on the edges of the wasteland, the chaotic and uncontrolled energy environment around the wasteland itself poses a hidden danger causing instability of the door, and the time-space structure near the great walls is affected by strong energy fields, deep within exist numerous fault zones. If something ’runs out’ of the door, these uncontrollable faults might become countless leakage points..."

"Let’s rule out this option," Gawain said. "Continue discussing what other requirements the door needs."

"It should be an independent and solid facility, capable of being completely destroyed from within, yet difficult to breach from outside; it also requires ample energy supply, preferably with enough space for setting up those arcane generators around; we also need to build roads for transporting supplies and personnel..." Emperor Rosetta continued to speak about the needs submitted by technical personnel after repeated demonstration, and emphasized one point, "Above all: everything must be realized in the shortest possible time.

"The War God has already fallen, and the connection between His remaining fragments and the kingdom has recently shown evident signs of decay. Scholars believe this indicates that the War God’s kingdom is gradually ’distancing’ from our world—in the absence of mortal ideation as an ’anchor,’ that kingdom is like a ghost ship drifting aimlessly on the ocean, whose departure from our sight is unpredictable. We must solidly establish the door before its connection with the real world is completely severed, to re-anchor it..."

After listening to Emperor Rosetta’s final words, Gawain slightly furrowed his brows, deep in thought: "So, this facility can’t be too far from us, or it will unnecessarily increase construction costs and time... if possible, it is best to have a certain foundation already, so that we can only perform minor modifications and repairs..."

Is there such a suitable place? Emperor Rosetta fell into deep thought for a moment and quickly thought of something, he slowly raised his head, looking at Gawain with a probing gaze: "What do you think of Winterhold Castle? It happens to be located in our border buffer zone, although our northern trade line is now very active, the wasteland where Winterhold Castle is situated is still far from inhabited areas, there’s existing roads and ample space too, and the supply stations set up for the castle’s establishment in border areas can be utilized."

In the holographic projection, Gawain slowly started to smile: "You and I have thought of the same thing."

"It seems we’ve reached another consensus," Emperor Rosetta rarely smiled as well, and his usually somber face slightly softened. Then, he seemed to recall something related to Winterhold Castle, his expression turned a bit sentimentally, quietly sighing, "Winterhold Castle..."

"Indeed, Winterhold Castle... many things have happened there, many people’s destinies changed starting from there, didn’t they, Rosetta?"

...

After the remote communication with Aldernon ended, Gawain took a step back, leaving the optical capture area of the Magic Web Terminal. Then he turned and walked off the platform to meet Aunt Heidi, who had been waiting at the communication room door.

"It seems our collaboration with Typhon has been finalized," Aunt Heidi took a step forward, helping Gawain smooth out the wrinkles on his coat, then frowned slightly, "I just didn’t expect that the finalized ’opening’ location would be Winterhold Castle... a ’temporary fortress’ that was initially built just to sign a peace treaty between Anzu and Typhon has surprisingly stood to this day..."

"It will also stand in future history and political books, with countless sections related to it—’Please briefly discuss several famous historical events that occurred in Winterhold Castle and their subsequent impacts,’" Gawain chuckled, easing the slightly serious and oppressive atmosphere with a joke, "Many students probably dream of that castle no longer standing..."

The ancestor’s train of thought was truly unpredictable at times. Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but laugh along as she listened, and she pondered quite seriously, "Then they’ll be disappointed. Even if Winterhold Castle collapses, it would only become a new major topic, like writing about the time, reasons, and historical background of its collapse..."

Aunt Heidi, who was usually serious and earnest, actually started to keep up with the jokes he made, which surprised and delighted Gawain a bit. He then lightly coughed twice, steering the topic back on track: "Notify Kamel when we return; our cooperation with Typhon is about to begin. Although the Arcane Energy Source he created can’t unravel the mystery of the essence of Magic Power at present... perhaps it can be used to blast open the secrets of the gods."

...

The cold and dry polar winds swept across the rugged, crystal-layered barrens, echoing a deep resonance resembling the lament of some giant beast among the towering rock pillars. The wind carried the distinct sting of toxic substances emanating from deep within the ruins, while the cold air itself made young huntress Lola involuntarily shiver.

Even though she had the dual protection of a Wind Shield and warm clothing, and had just drunk the mass-produced Frost Resistance Potion issued from above before setting off, the cold weather in the Arctic Region constantly challenged her southern adaptability—she even regretted now, if she had known it would be this cold away from camp, she would’ve spent her own money to buy some better quality Frost Resistance Potions, like those 52-degree premium ones from the Cecil Clan...

Her mind wandered aimlessly with some trivial thoughts, but soon the huntress gathered her thoughts back and focused intently on monitoring the movement on the path ahead—it’s taboo to get distracted when performing tasks in unfamiliar and harsh environments, and she had been distracted for too long just now. She knew the unceasing howling wind and overly repetitive wilderness scenery here interfered with her judgment, but that was no reason to let her guard down.

Luckily, she wasn’t acting alone this time; there were many reliable companions around her.

Lola raised her head and, while being vigilant of the surrounding environment, glanced at her companions in front, behind, and beside her. She saw several swordsmen and another hunter who had set off with her, as well as two Druids most properly protected within the team. Finally, her gaze landed on the mage at the very center of the group—the elderly Modir, apparently over eighty, was trotting briskly among the group, with a delighted expression on his face.

Mages, a profession both fragile and powerful, should always be protected at the core of the marching or combat formation by teammates with stronger defensive capabilities during action; this is a common rule that any adventurer should know and adhere to. But looking at the energetic old man in the middle of the team... Lola couldn’t help but question her understanding of professions more than once.

Does this old man really need protection?

"We’ve now approached the boundary of our squad’s patrol zone," A greatsword fighter serving as the temporary leader in the front suddenly stopped, interrupting Lola’s thoughts. He took out a map with enchanted effects and confirmed his and his teammates’ current positions through the flickering lines and dots on the map, "After going over that low hill, it’s the endpoint of our patrol; beyond that, the area is covered by other squads, and we can head back."

Lola breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her tensed nerves didn’t dare to relax completely. While focusing on the situation between those rock pillars, she recalled the tasks she and her teammates were entrusted with: acting as support forces for the Talronde Dragonkin warriors’ operations on the surface, patrolling and confirming the routes opened up by dragon warriors along the way, clearing monsters that had luckily escaped the dragon’s breath, and constantly observing whether new Elemental Rifts appeared in temporary safe zones for timely reporting.

Their objective for this series of tasks was singular: to assist the dragons in opening a safe route between New Argondale and Crystal Rock Hillock.

Contrary to her initial expectations, it wasn’t a one-off deal but a rather long-term mission. It’s difficult for the dragons to open up the path from Argondale to Crystal Rock Hillock in just a day or two, so the entire task of opening, clearing, and securing the boundary might last many days.

"Honestly, I think this route is safe enough," a single-handed swordsman couldn’t help but mumble, probably because the continuous days of patrolling and the scanty scattered skirmishes finally wore him down a bit, "Over the days, we’ve only encountered a few wandering elemental creatures, which are even fewer than the monster nests we’ve cleared around camp..."

The temporary leader couldn’t help but glance back at the single-handed swordsman, "This is, after all, an area that the dragons have already cleared once and is relatively safer—if you’re looking for excitement, you can press onward to the regions that the dragons haven’t gotten to yet; there are plenty of monsters for you to practice on..."

"Never mind—I’m not one of those sea demons who can crawl out unscathed from the cooling pool after being sucked into the engines of mechanical ships..."

Lola listened as her companions bantered energetically, and her mood lightened a bit too. But just as a smile appeared on her face, a strange odor suddenly wafting into her nostrils made her frown again.

It smelled like sulfur, but not as pungent; like heated rocks, but even stronger and more intense. Lola couldn’t help but sniff hard again, and a bizarre thought suddenly emerged from within her—

This smell was like pure flame.

Pure flame naturally has no smell, yet this peculiar association popped into Lola’s mind. Almost simultaneously, her nearby companions also gradually realized the presence of that odd odor, with someone unable to help muttering, covering their nose, "What’s that smell... it’s like something’s burning..."