Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1372: Chapter 1371: The Beginning of Reverse Deduction

Regarding the battlefield records returned from the southern frontline, Gawain and Amber reviewed every detail meticulously and jointly concluded: the sea demon race, this Harmonious Gate species, is indeed quite bizarre...

But aside from this bizarre conclusion, this valuable information has certainly brought many important insights to Gawain.

"...The ’coordinated tactics’ chosen by Byron and General Vanessa, though simple and crude, seem the most appropriate now," the holographic projection pauses, freezing on the last frame overlooking the battlefield, and Gawain turns to Amber beside him, saying, "There is a vast gap in the combat styles between the sea demons and us; it’s almost impossible for the soldiers on both sides to fight side by side on the same battlefield—one side level the ground with firepower, the other enters at staggered times, and this method works quite well."

"The sea demons are really capable fighters, honestly... much more so than I imagined," Amber couldn’t help but sigh, "I didn’t notice when dealing with Tiel normally, I just thought she was a comedian..."

"Being a comedian doesn’t conflict with being a capable fighter, not to mention you can’t even beat Tiel, so quit talking about them," Gawain waved his hand, "It seems now that the situation on the southern frontline can be considered secure. Though the soldiers General Vanessa brought are limited in number, as long as they enter the field, they can ensure victory in a region, precisely what the southern frontline urgently needs now..."

"If only that expeditionary army could just march all the way into the wasteland, things would be much easier if they plowed through from south to north..." Amber couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander.

"It’s just wishful thinking," Gawain glanced at her, "General Vanessa brought less than ten thousand soldiers. Even if the sea demons are more resilient in battle, how large can the few thousand troops cover on the battlefield? Aberrations are mindless, but their priests behind them are not fools. After realizing they can’t win head-to-head, they simply won’t engage you directly. The wasteland has no cities or industrial systems, so they’re not afraid of being ’overrun.’ Plus, the aberrations can regenerate endlessly; without the Barrier Wall’s construction, no matter how many times the sea demons go deep into the wasteland, it’s a meaningless tussle of losing points data with the enemy."

"... Alas, one side can’t be killed, and the other can’t be exhausted, the war can actually be fought like this," Amber tugged at her ears and muttered, "But luckily we have the sea demon reinforcements. They are completely unafraid of attrition with aberrations. Those precious Thousand Years Legion soldiers in the Silver Empire don’t have to be overwhelmed by monstrous creatures using mass sacrifices but can focus on protecting the Barrier Wall."

"Indeed, not only can the Barrier Wall on the southern side be accelerated but the wandering aberrations in the Augari Area have been further weakened, so Rebecca and Duke Baldwin can begin construction on their Barrier Wall project over there," Gawain rubbed his chin, his gaze gradually growing serious as he mused, "Next... I wonder what progress Kamel is making over there..."

...

In the depths of the dark and chaotic deep sea, the glory of the distant kingdom is gradually retreating in the gloom, while numerous floating, bizarrely shaped giant shadows or masses emerge after the dim light fades. These massive shadows are the projections left by things already vanished over time in the deepest layers of this world. They are the records of the world’s ’backside’ and float, spin in darkness, silently passing by the cruiser, sometimes intersecting with the ship’s thick barrier—afterwards, they pass through each other like two unrelated dreams, leaving no traces.

The White Knights clad in heavy armor and the lightly armed Armed Nuns are busy on the deck area while scholars wrapped in Typhon Royal Mage robes commute between the massive ship facilities. Kamel, floating at less than half a meter above the deck, sees two White Knights cautiously lift a man-high cylindrical container into what seems like a connecting pipeline structure, carefully secure it with clasps and straps, and insert some devices into certain grooves on the container’s shell.

Beside Kamel, Windsor Maple, cloaked in a deep purple Starry Robe, glances at the ’sky,’ witnessing a giant, physically nonsensical chaotic mass spiral past outside the barrier. Its structure is so bizarre that a glimpse leaves her dizzy, prompting this Legendary Mage from Typhon to shake her head and mutter softly, "These things seriously impair our cognition... yet we still cannot truly study them."

"The King believes these shadows are ’error projections from the world’s backside,’" Kamel says casually, his voice buzzing and quivering, "based on clues provided by several senior advisors, these projections appeared in the Ancient Era and are likely to have persisted since the birth of our world. I am attempting to construct a model wherein the upper order of our world constantly evolves, and those things that perish during the evolution dissolve into fragments and fall towards the ’Deep Sea,’ ultimately becoming these shadows."

"...this seems to establish some connection with the ’Unified Wave Theory...’" Windsor Maple remarks thoughtfully, "Early world fluctuations communicated across the universe and continually spread into deeper ’layers,’ having a certain degree of aberration and iteration during the propagation, creating some ’things’ we, as ’surface creatures,’ cannot comprehend, things so insane that a mere glance induces madness..."

"Theoretically, this could be an explanation," Kamel slowly says, his tone carrying a sense of reflection, "our development in theoretical fields has greatly surpassed our understanding of the physical material world. At a computation and logic level, this world increasingly reveals a fantastical appearance. In this era, a mere dive into contemplation can allow us to interpret this universe from entirely new perspectives—countless new theories are emerging, countless conjectures await verification, numerous discussions, validations, refutations, and debates... Lady Windsor, had you envisaged such scenarios appearing in your lifetime?"

"Never imagined—just a few years ago, this world seemed clear and comprehensible to me," Windsor Maple smiles and shakes her head gently, "At that time, many renowned scholars believed we had reached the boundary of human intellect in the quest for truth. We thought we understood most of the comprehensible theories in this world, and what remained inexplicable was hidden between the paths we had mapped, or merely the indisputable authority of the gods. Then...we discovered the deep sea, the heritage left by the Voyager, the wave nature of magic power, the mortality of gods upon their death, and... the Unified Wave Model that nearly ignited a battle among elderly scholars and mages in the Royal Council."

"You almost fought over it?" Kamel is somewhat surprised, "Sounds like the theoretical model made a greater impact in Typhon than it did in the Cecil Clan..."

"Typhon is an old magic power nation—which means we have many deeply ingrained and stubborn academic factions," Windsor Maple remarks calmly, "The traditional spell system is rooted in our society, and generations of magic researchers and recorders have been cultivated within this mature system. This has bestowed Typhon with significant national power over many years, but when radical change arrives, resilient walls turn into a stubborn fence. Many esteemed scholars, even those I greatly admire, were hit so hard by this change that they became... dejected."

She sighs softly; her gaze shifts toward the depths of the dark chaos above. A faint glow seems to emerge from that darkness—the kingdom of the god of trade, which is the ’next stop’ for this massive ship.

In this brief moment, Windsor seemed to associate the chaotic and awkward scenes of Typhon traditional scholars with the "Unified Wave Model" to the glorious Gods under the kingdom’s dome—on those radiant thrones, there were figures that were also teetering in the face of changes, and in a certain sense, the fate of mortals and Gods seemed to be no different.

But soon, she shook her head: "No matter what, I still believe this is the best era—in our lifetime, to witness such tremendous developments, to see mortals stepping into such a vast unknown world is a great fortune for a Mage. Perhaps many of us may not reach the end of any of these new fields, but it’s always better to walk on the path of exploration than to sit amidst a pile of decaying ancient books dreaming we already know everything."

"...Yes, it truly is a good era. In the known history of mortals, we have never been this close to the truth of the world," Kamel’s gaze lingered on Windsor for a long time, then he quietly said, "So we must protect this era—our civilization is about to step out of infancy, and it cannot die prematurely."

Windsor nodded slightly, watching a few Typhon scholars in mage robes walk by nearby. They were carrying another half-human-height cylinder with The Sculpture Hand towards the passage that led into the ship.

"...Will these things really work?" she asked impulsively, "What exactly is inside?"

"It’s ’poison,’ but I can’t tell you more," Kamel shook his head, "In fact, even I don’t know the whole plan—its crucial parts are in the King’s hands, and he has mentioned that this is the only choice when things reach an irretrievable stage. Apart from that, he hasn’t told me anything."

"...Looks like some things are not meant to be ’known,’ don’t worry, I understand," Windsor nodded knowingly, her face then revealing a complex expression. She looked at the alloy deck that stretched out below and the majestic ship structures around, and the powerful ancient shield system above, softly saying, "This feeling is really strange... During these days, our exploration of this ship has almost been proven meaningless; it is filled with things we cannot comprehend, grotesque twisted structures, and corrupted materials that should never be brought into reality. Now, everyone knows what this ship is—a demon that may try to destroy everyone soon, yet before that day arrives, we are busily working around this demon...

"Someone wants to ’kill’ this demon, but with the technology we currently have and the equipment that can be brought in, even disassembling just the hull of this ship might consume an entire century; most people worry every day about this ship suddenly ’waking up’ and beginning its terrifying mission, making every knock we make here distinctly chilling; we daily walk under these long decks and towering domes, destroyer and destroyed living together, as if actively embracing a nightmare."

Windsor sighed, seemingly unsure of what she wanted to say herself, merely chuckling self-deprecatingly: "Master Kamel, do you think the sentinel towers know what we are doing here?"

"I dare not be blindly optimistic, so I believe that thing surely still maintains a connection with this ship—yet it has already left Mother Harbor, separated by an entire real world from here, so it probably can only vaguely perceive, but cannot directly control things on this ship like in the Ancient Era, otherwise it should have already eliminated all of us ’unexpected guests’," Kamel said calmly. "Of course, there is also a worse possibility—the sentinel towers know everything, see everything, but don’t care in the slightest, because in their eyes, we mortals are just insects, all our struggles powerless to harm its strong steel body."

"...If it really sees it that way, then let it think so," Windsor’s voice was low, "When disintegration occurs, ’insects’ don’t care what a decaying body is thinking."

...

During this difficult period, the banquet prepared by King Audris for the guests was not luxurious but still considerable, with southern traditional meats, pastries, and berry wine from the Highmountain Kingdom leaving a deep impression on Byron. Outside the castle of Fort Greta, the soldiers’ celebration was also underway—unlimited meats and appropriate amounts of wine were brought out to reward those warriors who had endured a whole winter on this line. The illumination between barracks and walls would stay on all night.

The Giant Cannon of the Winter was pointed towards the northern plains, while Dragon Scouts and Dragon Cavalry Scout Machines maintained vigilance in the sky. The northern humid air was extended by the sea demons’ senses—this once faltering defense line now gained temporary safety, allowing the soldiers in Fort Greta some respite.

But for Byron, Asharena, and General Vanessa, their mission on this front line had just begun.

"We’ve just received a message from Queen Belsetia’s side, stating that the Sacred Stars Temple Forward Base suffered two fierce attacks, but the timely reinforcement of the Thousand Years Legion and the Sorin Guard stationed nearby repelled the enemies, currently securing that area temporarily," King Audris said with a relaxed expression to Byron in the reception hall, "The news of reinforcements arriving has greatly encouraged the silver elves’ warriors, who are now reinforcing fortifications, assembling supplies, ready to commence the next phase of military actions at any time."

"It sounds like the Barrier Wall has already started construction over there?" Byron asked, the Barrier Wall Project being devised after he left Northport, yet during his voyage, he learned about its contents through communication, "I heard those aberrations attacking the Sacred Stars Temple Forward Base were attracted by the purification devices..."

"Yes, precisely because the silver elves have begun building the Barrier Wall, the attacks from those wasteland monsters grow more intense by the day," Audris said solemnly, "The masters behind those monsters also realize that once a purification device starts operating, nearby wasteland forces will quickly be dismantled, making it unlikely to repel it using aberrations, so they are frantically attacking all units active in the wasteland to prevent the elves from constructing the Forward Base..."

General Vanessa beside him listened, smiling slightly: "Oh, sounds like we have our work cut out for us..."