Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1272: Chapter 1271: The Veil of Truth

Since the beginning of winter, Aldernon has experienced two consecutive major drops in temperature, causing the city to shed all its autumn colors. A layer of withered yellow and gray tones covers the streets and alleys, while the mist, as in every past year, promptly shrouds the city on the plains—from the high towers of the Obsidian Palace, the densely packed rooftops and distant towers once again become vague silhouettes and islands in the sea of fog, carrying an unreal indistinctness.

Emperor Rosetta Augustus stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his study, looking silently in the direction of the church district, while the religious building with its iron-gray spire stood in mute companionship.

The emblem of the War God which once fluttered above the church now has been replaced by the flag of the Typhon Empire. Although the church’s exterior walls still carry the reliefs of the church, they seem to have lost their former mysterious and exalted aura. In a "perspective" not perceived by ordinary people, the extraordinary, sacred atmosphere that once filled the grand building has dissipated, and now it offers only pure solace to the heart and architectural aesthetic value to the world.

On the square in front of the cathedral, citizens visiting were walking in groups through the mist, stepping onto the long stairs. Royal guards stood silently on either side of the steps, observing the activities around the square, while new faces of "church guides" greeted the gathered crowds at the main entrance. These smiling individuals bore decorations of the old War God Sect and carried badges labeled "Scenic Guide," waving conspicuous red or yellow small flags—as a batch of new visitors arrived, they began explaining the murals and reliefs on the walls, introducing the candlesticks and sculptures distributed in the prayer halls.

From the religious legends behind these things to the symbolic meanings they had in church activities, from the history of the War God Sect to the secrets surrounding these matters.

Those able to stand up against this "rebellious act" have all died; ordinary believers lack the determination and awareness to confront the changes in customs. Those unable to accept these changes mostly can only sigh over past times at home, curse the "crumbling era" in taverns, or weep bitterly in security discipline rooms.

These minor issues no longer require the imperial ruler’s personal attention; they are mere fragments left behind in the process of time’s advancement, destined to gradually fade away sooner or later.

Rosetta Augustus withdrew his gaze and returned to his desk, and Princess Matilda, dressed in a long black gown, with golden fine chains hanging between her strands of hair, stood aside. Seeing her father return to his thoughts, the heir continued the matter she had been reporting: "...Currently, the residual forces of the War God Sect across the nation have been thoroughly dismantled and cleared. The remaining churches, farmland, merchant houses, and other assets have all been nationalized, with over half of the churches being closed or repurposed. However, as per your instructions, certain churches of historical significance or special local influence have been remodeled and reopened as cultural activity facilities for local residents...

"A series of newly compiled publicity and education materials about the history and tales of the War God Sect have been promoted nationwide. They will work with those reopened churches to play their roles. The pilot results in Orlandeau and the Talenkins Region are quite satisfying, but the trials in Duwoson County and Enqihok County are encountering significant resistance. Local people’s beliefs remain strong. The new policies may require more time to achieve effectiveness."

"The Typhon Empire has revered the War God faith for centuries. It has become part of life habits for many," Rosetta said flatly. "But the phase of intense confrontation is over. We should not see the populace as enemies—mild guidance always requires patience. No need to worry, Matilda. The comprehensive influence has already begun. People of the old era will eventually grow old, and their next generation will inevitably grow up in an environment after these changes of custom. In the minds of the new generation, ’War God Sect’ will be a historical term of established fact."

He lifted his head, his gaze passing through the broad crystal glass window and landing once again on the spire of the War God Church: "Once people get accustomed to half-price tickets to the church and chargeable photos in front of the shrine, nothing will be a problem anymore."

"The ’de-sacralization’ mentioned by Emperor Gawain Cecil..." Matilda involuntarily revealed a thoughtful expression, with a hint of admiration deep in her eyes, "Church entry by ticket, shrine photo souvenir, stalls on the square selling specialty snacks and handicrafts... When it came to eliminating the influence of the War God Sect, Hadrian and I only thought of demolishing churches and dispersing priests, never considered that it could be done this way..."

"In a certain sense, Gawain Cecil is our teacher—he personally demonstrated how to make a sacred thing become mundane while allowing the majority of ordinary people easier acceptance of the changes in the process," Rosetta said calmly. "Not everyone is a devout believer versed in canon and determined to follow dogma; most ordinary people cannot discern the ’meanings’ behind changes—and these ordinary people constitute the main body of thought trends."

"Ordinary people are the main body of thought trends, aren’t they..." Matilda softly said in contemplation. Before her, Rosetta fell into momentary silence, then after a few minutes, this Typhon Ruler suddenly spoke: "’Door’ project over there has some new discoveries."

"New discoveries?" Matilda curiously raised her eyes, not knowing why her father suddenly talked about this matter in front of her.

Rosetta looked into Matilda’s eyes, his voice low: "They saw Malm Dunite’s soul there."

Matilda’s eyes widened at once, her great shock prevented her from controlling her emotional expression as she had been taught, but she quickly forced herself to suppress her facial changes, keeping the expression of surprise under her eyes.

Observing his daughter’s changing expressions, Rosetta nodded subtly, then continued: "He has awakened and now seems to have become part of the War God’s Divine Realm—whatever happened before, he will not return to this world."

Matilda pondered and nodded, then asked curiously: "What are Windsor and Master Daniel doing now?"

"They are continuing to delve into the secrets of our world."

...

Digging out the secrets of this world is a common dream shared by scholars walking at the frontiers of knowledge. Yet, to extract the "truth" hidden behind complex phenomena, theories, and conjectures, sometimes requires more than arduous effort—luck and opportunity sometimes profoundly influence historical turning points.

Kamel floated at the center of a very wide arena, observing technicians working tensely to assemble and debug the equipment needed for the experiment, with many emotions surfacing in his heart.

He had waited for this opportunity for many years. Counting the years that pioneers from the Silver Empire have spent exploring the mysteries of magic, mortals might have waited for half a century for this opportunity—but no one expected everything to be realized here.

Exploring one of the most essential secrets of the world, a frontier experiment in the field of Magic Power research, its most suitable testing ground is located in the realm of the War God. According to a popular saying in the imperial capital today, this setting was something "even Mr. Philem dared not adopt."

Windsor Maple stood beside Kamel, intensely focused on those special devices transported from the Cecil Clan’s scientific research camp. She knew the Cecil Clan had a Magic Power Essence exploration project, and during the increasingly deep technical exchanges lately, she also learned about the specific contents of this experiment project, but witnessing it personally was a different experience.

She watched Cecil Clan members in white short robes place a precisely cut rectangular box on a stable experiment table, mount a silver-white alloy plate at the front of the box, and set up a powerful Arcane Energy source at the box’s rear. Around the energy source were complex structures for stabilization and shielding—these items were utterly different from the tools she usually used for experiments, yet from them, she could feel a familiar sense of rigor and solemnity.

Even without knowing the experiment’s outcome, she understood that those who designed and participated in it were surely worthy of respect.

"This is currently the purest arcane energy source we can produce," Kamel raised his hand, pointing to the cylindrical device at the end of the rectangular box, whose surface magic symbol was gradually turning from dark to bright. There was a drag chain of magic symbols at its tail end, the end of which was resting on the experimental table for now, not connected to anything yet. "Inject stable magic power from the end, the energy source inside will filter and integrate it, and the thirty-six-layer ruby lattice will ensure that the final focus on the crystal column is an arcane ray without any interference—its purity can exceed the three energy towers around Winterhold Castle, with an output power approaching the limit that the Polarized Ferrite Crystal Column can withstand.

"The arcane ray will enter the box, where a blocking plate made of magic inhibition material rests inside. The blocking plate is precisely cut with slits and two lenses made of polarized sapphire, ensuring only directionally filtered arcane rays can be emitted from the front of the box—after this layer of processing, the arcane rays almost no longer react with any material in the air, rendering them invisible and uninterfered by other substances... until it strikes the ’Screen Panel’.

"That silver-white thin layer contains Mithril components, which will very sensitively leave traces of magic ’impact’. Theoretically, if magic power is not a wave, but some special ’substance,’ then the ray impact on the thin board will only leave two clear marks, but if magic power is a wave, then..."

Windsor didn’t wait for Kamel to finish before she spoke, "Like two ripples spreading in a pool, the two strands of energy shot from the slits will interfere with each other during transmission, ultimately forming interference patterns on the thin board."

"... To this day, we already have a lot of indirect evidence and theoretical conjectures to support this hypothesis," Kamel nodded gently, "But researchers need not just these conjectures, we need indisputable empirical proof—the environmental limitations have halted our progress in this final ’verification step’ for years, until now..."

He raised his head, his eyes filled with arcane magic sweeping over this grand space, the ancient, magnificent circular arena came into view, the ring-shaped stands extending upward in his vision, rows of empty seats lined the stands, a giant throne standing at the end of the arena, a giant phantom clad in iron-grey armor sitting on the throne, its hollow helmet slightly bowed, as if a phantom gaze was watching the center of the arena, watching this small group of mortals daringly seeking truth.

Kamel seemed to experience the illusory feeling of being watched by countless eyes, but this illusion just made him smile softly.

He turned to look beside the experimental table, where a Magic Web Terminal was silently operating, projecting a distant hologram overhead, a tall, mature, and beautiful silver elf standing in the projection watching the scene of the test field.

"I really wish I could be there on-site," Great Astrologer Vilanya said with some regret, "Unfortunately, I’m far at the southernmost end of the continent."

"With modern equipment, you can still witness all of this, Lady Vilanya," Kamel couldn’t help but smile, "And the War God’s Divine Realm is right here, it won’t go anywhere for at least decades, and we have more conjectures to verify in this special experimental space—you’ve only missed the ’first match’."

"... I’m starting to feel more and more regretful," Vilanya couldn’t resist sighing opposite the hologram, "Master Kamel, let’s start."

Kamel nodded, instructing his assistant beside him, "Activate the shield."

An assistant immediately stepped forward, activating the shielding devices surrounding the platform, and several symbols set at the platform’s edge lit up, the crystals embedded around the symbols also began to emit stable light—the shield devices are, of course, not for blocking interference from the ambient magic power background (first of all, this interference cannot be blocked with current technology, and secondly, there is no such interference in the War God’s Divine Realm). Its real function is to prevent the magic power released by on-site communication devices, recording equipment, etc., from affecting the accuracy of the observational results.

After the shield device was activated, it was time to start the energy source.

Kamel’s gaze turned to the platform, looking at the drag chain extending from the end of the arcane energy source.

In his original plan, a high-power magic storage device was needed to provide magic power for this experimental setup—just like the ’Enchanting Gem’ he’s dragging behind him now.

But now they have a better choice... a more powerful and reliable source of magic power.

A hand reached over, grabbed the drag chain, and curiously fiddled with the metal hinge at its end.

The three-meter-tall Goddess of Magic, Emirm, was slightly bending over, studying the experimental equipment before her and smiling, despite being the ’goddess holding the secrets of magic’ in mortal legends, she now had the same desire for exploration and knowledge filled every mortal present.

"Inject magic power into here, am I right?" She raised her head, smiling at Kamel.

"Yes," Kamel nodded slightly, "but be careful not to burn the equipment—it can’t withstand your full strength."

"No need to worry," Emirm grabbed the drag chain with one hand, and raised her thumb with the other. At this moment, she was no longer like a god—but closer to unlocking the true ’secrets of magic’ than in the past hundreds of years, "No one knows better than me how to control the flow of magic power."

As her voice fell, the surface of the silver-white drag chain in her hand had begun to glow with a light blue magic symbol.

The device started up.

A low humming echoed in the arcane energy source, the primitive magic power injected into it quickly transformed into pure test energy, everyone held their breath for a moment, focusing their gaze on the alloy thin plate at the device’s end.

There were no earth-shattering noises, no stunning and dazzling lights, nor were there any more twists, risks, or fog.

The truth quietly unveiled its veil.

Interference patterns composed of alternating light and dark stripes appeared before everyone.