Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 961 - 960: Goddess of the Night

The liquid in the oak cup rippled slightly, reflecting the resplendent, gold-and-jade dome of the royal temple Hall and the faint golden lights wandering between the pillars and murals. Gawain held the oak cup in his hands, a faint, indiscernible smile on his face, and a few seconds later the "God" sitting opposite him likewise smiled.

"Splendid," He said with a smile. "You scared me."

"Because you scared me too," Gawain said calmly. "Especially after seeing the ’truth’ above Talronde."

He then paused for a moment before continuing, "In fact, even after doing all this, I still couldn’t be sure this card of mine would definitely work—I could only prepare everything I could, but there are always variables in this world beyond anyone’s foresight. For example... I couldn’t be certain how much deterrence those impact crashes would really have on you, nor could I be sure whether you had the ability to directly read memories or tamper with the orders I sent out... My only reliance was that a ’God’ like you cannot directly meddle with the Voyager’s legacy, cannot intercept or alter my commands. And judging by the result now, things have gone well enough."

As he spoke, he reached out, casually took a rather exquisite-looking pastry from the table, and put it into his mouth.

Slightly sweet, not cloying, with a faint, peculiar fragrance.

"Indeed... Even after I understood your arrangements, I still couldn’t do anything to the Voyager’s legacy... You took a gamble, but you gambled right," the Dragon God also picked up the teacup in front of her, took a small sip, and looked at Gawain as if chatting with an ordinary friend. "Ensuring mutual destruction, even ensuring that in the event one side is annihilated the means of retaliation can still automatically take effect—an astonishing line of thought. You see, those Dark Cultists being afraid of you is actually quite justified. Beneath your radiant, towering heroic image lies a very frightening mind. Let me hazard a guess—this terrifying way of thinking has something to do with your true ’home planet’?"

"More or less," Gawain said offhandedly. "But I still feel that compared to my home planet, the conditions in this world are far harsher."

"If I could, I would truly like to see what your ’Outland Wanderer’ home planet really looks like," the Dragon God sighed, but then she shook her head. "All right, that’s not important. What matters is—if everything had really come to that point, would you truly have chosen to destroy Talronde? By now you should understand how destructive those ’Abandoned Satellites’ are when they fall. They are enough to obliterate and contaminate a whole nation—and many members of that nation... actually have a pretty good relationship with you."

"Which is why I’m very glad that in the end it was only a deterrent," Gawain said calmly.

"...Not bad," the Dragon God fixed her gaze on Gawain for several seconds before slowly speaking. "Maintain this vigilance and decisiveness. If you still have to deal with gods in the future, this mindset is indispensable."

Gawain did not speak for a moment. He took a second to organize his words, then suddenly looked up at her. "Back then, were those Dragonkin at the center of the Eternal Storm who resisted the ’Goddess of the Night’ not vigilant and decisive enough?"

"They..." The Dragon God seemed to hesitate, a complicated look appearing in her eyes. "They were excellent. They did very well... It’s just a pity they were one step too late. They originally had a chance to succeed, but by then the faith of the civilization as a whole had already grown too powerful, to the point where it could no longer be confronted head-on. Under such circumstances, their rash act of resistance triggered the simultaneous descent and loss of control of all gods..."

"The simultaneous descent and loss of control of all gods?" Gawain immediately furrowed his brow. "Then how did these ’all gods’ become you, this ’Goddess of the Night’? Why did They... fuse into you?"

As he asked these questions, he felt an odd sense of dissonance, because what he was questioning was precisely the former "Goddess of the Night," the target that the Dragonkin had defied back then, the greatest shadow hanging over Talronde and source of its terror. Yet he had a feeling—the Dragon God would definitely answer him. These seemingly defiant questions were even something she had long been waiting for.

"...This is the result of mortals failing in their attempt to break the chains," the Dragon God indeed said in a low voice. Her eyes grew unusually severe, her gaze almost scorching. "Remember this, remember it well—no matter which Mortal Races they are, they only have one chance. If they fail, they will face the same outcome as the Dragonkin. When the order of faith completely collapses, when the relationship between god and man crosses the extreme threshold of contradiction, and those chains still fail to be broken in the end, then this is what happens—

"The gods will fuse into one, and the ’Goddess of the Night’ will become the ultimate shackle.

"This ’Goddess of the Night’ will take civilization as Its name, the entire history, culture, worship, and fear of that civilization as Its framework, and the minds of all members of the civilization as Its source of power. However strong the civilization is as a whole, that is how strong the Goddess of the Night will be."

...

The terrifying roar and nightmare-like howling woke many Dragonkin living in the upper districts. Even Speaker Andar, who had just fallen asleep, was roused by the abnormal commotion outside the hall.

This venerable Ancient Dragon raised his head from the "throne" entwined with countless pipes and cables. He could still hear the faint rumble of thunder and storms continuing to echo. His neural sensing terminals were filled with anxious questions and exclamations from many of his kin. Driven by unease, he immediately called out, "Omega! What’s happening outside?"

Omega’s interface lit up at once, accompanied by a mechanical synthesized voice. "Switching to external monitors... It is an energy storm forming over the Upper Sanctum. Its energy level is still rising."

Immediately afterward, the largest crystal curtain in front of Andar displayed a clear surveillance image. He saw the resplendent Upper Sanctum appear on the screen, the royal temple shrouded in a faint golden halo even stronger than usual, and a terrifying vortex shockingly hanging upside down over the royal temple’s dome—that vortex was wreathed with crimson fire and lightning, its scale perhaps even greater than an entire mountain. It spun and spread, emitting deafening roars and howls as it grew larger with every passing second!

Why would such a terrifying natural phenomenon appear within Talronde?! How could something like this possibly appear over this land protected by gods!?

"Omega!" Speaker Andar called out at once. "Why isn’t the Weather Controller responding?"

"The Weather Controller is operating normally. This phenomenon is outside the alert list..." Omega responded quickly, but then its report was interrupted. "Special connection—Speaker Andar, High Priest Heragor requests communication with you."

"Heragor?" Andar froze for a moment, then reacted. "Put him through."

In the next second, Omega’s interface on one side of the hall was replaced by Heragor’s stern face. Andar turned his head. "Heragor, over at the Upper Sanctum..."

"Everything is normal, nothing has happened," the Dragon Priest said expressionlessly on the display. "Tell everyone they can rest easy."

The mechanical prosthetic eyes in Speaker Andar’s sockets gleamed faintly, the mechanical telescoping structures subconsciously twitching. "Heragor, you..."

"Our Lord is receiving a guest," the Dragon Priest said with a hint of coldness. "Speaker, nothing has happened—pay no mind to that vortex. It will disappear. Tomorrow’s Talronde will still be a clear sky stretching for ten thousand miles."

After saying this, Heragor ended the call unilaterally without waiting for Andar’s response. Following a brief burst of static, Omega’s interface reappeared on the crystal curtain at the side of the hall.

"Speaker Andar," Omega’s voice snapped Andar out of his brief daze, "do you require the issuance of a disaster-avoidance order?"

"...No, there’s no need," Andar took a deep breath and slowly shook his head. "Tell everyone the Weather Controller is making a temporary adjustment—there’s no danger, nothing has happened."

"Yes, Mr. Speaker."

...

"I think I heard something outside." Gawain put down his cup, frowned slightly, and looked toward the far end of the Hall. There was an open balcony there, but perhaps due to the angle, he couldn’t really see much of the scenery from where he sat.

"Pay it no mind," the God sitting opposite him said indifferently. "It’s just a bit of wind."

"All right, the wind. The winds around Talronde are always strong," Gawain glanced at this "God," shook his head nonchalantly, and then his expression turned solemn again as he returned to the topic that had shocked him so much he almost dropped his cup. "Goddess of the Night... So you’re saying, as long as the attempt to have defied fails, the gods will inevitably fuse into one and become the ’Goddess of the Night’? How exactly does this process happen? Is there some principle behind it?"

"You really do like to pursue underlying principles," the Dragon God smiled faintly and shook His head. "Unfortunately, I can’t give you an answer..."

Gawain fixed his gaze on the other. "Is it that you don’t know, or that you can’t say?"

"I neither know, nor can I say," the Dragon God replied. "Though I am the result of the fusion of the Goddess of the Night, I do not know how it all came about—and I believe the truth behind this process has already exceeded the ’limits’ of what we can communicate. Even between you and me, some knowledge simply cannot be exchanged so easily."

"Very well, I understand." Gawain nodded with a hint of regret, then glanced thoughtfully toward the entrance of the Hall, toward the place where Heragor should theoretically be waiting. "Then what about Heragor? You know... in the center of the Eternal Storm, I once saw a dragon who had taken on human form. I believe that was Heragor. On this point, can you satisfy my curiosity?"

The Dragon God fell into silence.

Just when Gawain thought this question was too sensitive and the other would not answer, he suddenly heard the other’s voice: "Since you saw it, you should have been able to tell that he once stood in the center of that battlefield, leading the Dragonkin in a desperate resistance against the gods who had lost control... Very ironic, isn’t it? Now he is the highest-ranking priest in Talronde, serving Talronde’s only, and supreme, God."

Gawain’s brows furrowed again. He looked at the Dragon God, his voice low. "So this is some sort of ’punishment’? A reproach handed down by the Goddess of the Night? Or... just a pure ’twisted sense of humor’?"

The Dragon God shook His head. "Neither. It’s a transaction."

"A transaction?"

"The mortals chose to submit, and the gods ended the judgment," the Dragon God said calmly. "This transaction needed a ’symbol.’ Heragor is that symbol."

"Nothing more than that?"

"Nothing more than that."

"All right, I see." Gawain nodded, indicating that this topic could end there.

"Perhaps we should speak of something lighter," the Dragon God suddenly smiled, His tone shifting as though He were discussing the weather and daily life. "You and your friends have been touring Talronde for three days—I believe you’ve seen quite a bit by now. Now, I’d like to hear your thoughts."

"My thoughts on Talronde?" Gawain raised his eyebrows. "You want the truth?"

"If I wished, I could hear countless ornate and sweet lies—I want the truth. I want to hear the evaluation that comes from the heart of you, this Wanderers from Outer Realm."

Gawain looked into the other’s eyes. In those eyes, perfect beyond mortal measure, he saw a calm void.

"Grotesque," he said. "Prosperous yet pathological; advanced yet decayed. Beneath the noisy and resplendent surface, there is no vitality at all."

The Dragon God nodded. "A sharp and straightforward assessment."

"That’s simply what I see," Gawain said. "How many years has Talronde been stagnant? Hundreds of thousands? A million? Perhaps only stagnation that long can explain everything I’ve seen. At first glance, I saw its prosperity and advancement—and to be honest, that even gave me a fright. I almost thought it was an advanced society that could only appear in fantasy. But as I looked into its interior, more and more darkness and desolation unfolded before my eyes...

"Talronde is already dead, rigidly dead within a technological framework pushed to its absolute limit, dead within a social structure as hard as stone, dead within this Sanctuary you call the ’Eternal Cradle.’ To be frank, when I look at Talronde, I even feel as though I’m looking at a ruin—a ruin that’s still running on automatic."

By the end, Gawain could not help but sigh. "This nation is called the Land of Dragons, but the dragons here seem to have become the least necessary thing—whether it’s the citizens of Lower Talronde or the so-called upper citizens, they’ve all already been severed from the progress of civilization. That is what I see."

After much hesitation, he ultimately did not speak aloud the phrase "the ultimate phase of capitalism" that had come to his mind.

After all, although the situation in Talronde looked very similar to that stage he knew of, he understood that the two were still fundamentally different—the causes that brought Talronde to this point were even more complex.

One of those causes was sitting right in front of him at this very moment.

This time, the Dragon God remained silent for a long, long while—so long that Gawain even began to worry whether He was about to slam His cup and summon five hundred headsmen—but in the end He still spoke. After a sigh, He showed an expression as though He had come to terms with something. "To make such an assessment, you truly did observe it with great seriousness."

"Which is why I’m all the more curious now—" Gawain said in a deep voice. "What exactly is the chain between gods and mortals? How does it actually take effect, and how does it trap both the Mortal Races and the God? In what ways is its power truly manifested? If we want to break free of it... where should we begin, if we wish to be ’correct’?"