Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 653 - 652: Breaking Ground

Facing a maze of mysteries, unclear intentions, controlled by the Cathedral of the Holy Light, the ancient Defier, Kamel, advised Gawain to be vigilant and maintain distance, while Wright, the Great Shepherd of the Southern Church, advocated for the implementation of the new Holy Light doctrine, believing the other party could cooperate. This situation was something Gawain hadn’t anticipated.

He looked at Wright: "Tell me your reasons."

"From a practical standpoint, we can’t ignore the Northern Church," Wright said seriously. "Faith issues can easily evolve into intense conflicts. The past two years of expansion of the Holy Light Church have demonstrated that as an example, with confrontations and clashes with other religions. This is a pressing issue in front of us. Putting aside whatever goals Princess Veronica might have, the fact is she currently possesses the platinum scepter, and the collapse of the Northern Pope and bishop team is also a fact. Just from these points, she has cooperative value—she can help us control the situation. Otherwise, the unrest of the Northern Church could very likely turn into a disaster."

"Is it solely based on value?"

"...No, there’s a second point," Wright continued. "If her identity is genuine, then regardless of her intentions, at least she is indeed a ’Defier of the gods.’ There aren’t many like-minded individuals on this path of forsaking the gods, so even temporary allies are extremely precious."

After a brief pause, he continued: "We must pass on the correct concept of faith to the people. This process may inevitably involve violence, but we cannot rely solely on violence. There are many people in the world, and faith comes from the heart. Eventually, we must turn most people into friends rather than mortal enemies, so we must discern who can be swayed and who cannot be—Veronica and Ophelia Norton, in my view, fall into those who can be swayed, and at least at this stage, there is a need to attempt to sway them."

Gawain looked at Wright with some surprise.

Distinguishing primary and secondary contradictions, understanding the nature of opposing groups, knowing who must be defeated, and who can be persuaded... These ideas he had indeed mentioned to those around him, and Wright clearly had achieved a masterful level of application, naturally implementing them.

It seems that after ascending to the position of Great Shepherd, this "Priest" indeed has grown significantly. When his evangelization targets shifted from individual entities to an entire group, his perspective on matters has drastically changed compared to before.

Gawain began to ponder.

The potential risks of Veronica/Ophelia being a "non-human entity" were clear to him. Bringing such a mysterious individual into his cause certainly entailed certain risks, but her value was also evident, especially with the imminent reception and transformation of the Northern Church’s efforts. Within these benefits and risks, he needed a balancing point.

Ultimately, he nodded slightly: "Perhaps we can engage in limited cooperation with her."

Gawain could ultimately not, within such a short period and with limited intelligence, trust a mysterious Defier, but he also couldn’t outright reject her in the absence of sufficient intelligence. After much consideration, he decided to engage with Ophelia Norton in limited cooperation—if the Defier was willing to cooperate under certain surveillance conditions and share some knowledge and intelligence.

After all, Gawain himself was very curious about Ophelia, eager to understand what the ancient Defier had been doing in the Holy Light Church all these years, curious about how much content in the massive defied Plan had remained unknown to Kamel, and such a rare intelligence source was right in the Cathedral of the Holy Light... He could hardly afford to miss this opportunity.

...

The warfront in the distant western side momentarily calmed, but the war that spread across one-third of the Plains of the Holy Spirits and heavily damaged the Anzu hinterlands was far from over.

At the edge of the plains, to the east of Sorinburg, in the mountain pass, the thunder of war rumbled incessantly.

This pass comprised several mountain ridges and numerous staggered plateaus, serving as the largest gate to the eastern region. Once, its owner was Duke Silas Loland, the Eastern Frontier Guard initiated the kingdom’s civil war from this barrier with a thunderous strike on Sorinburg, and now its current owner is the Cecil Legion—the mighty magical mechanized troop occupies the ridges and highlands, forming a steel barrier to confront those trying to break the blockade and enter the eastern region, the rampant Crystal Cluster.

Between the ridges, under the roar of thunder, in rock shelters crafted by engineering spells, Magic Crystal Railguns extended their acceleration tracks from rocky and wooden cover, sending lethal shells far away amidst flashes of light; on the highlands, tongues of flame spray, and the Heavy Incinerators inside bunkers continually incinerate mountain paths, turning those Crystal Cluster Monsters lucky enough to escape cannon bombardments into ash.

And at the center of the pass, among layers of bunkers, walls, and sentinel towers, reins the most central fortress and command center of this line of defense—the formidable armored train, Iron Throne-Zero.

This mobile fortress, covered in black armor and a thick barrier, is now slowly approaching its intended location. With mechanical devices whirring into action, the repulsion nodes of the train securely locked the entire vehicle on the tracks, while the main guns in the train’s arsenal section simultaneously fired. Following several sharp whistles, the Magic Crystal Cannon shells of the heavy Rail Cannon fiercely sliced through the air towards the distance.

Within Iron Throne-Zero’s tactical compartment, Commander Maryland stood before a Magic Web Terminal, reporting on battle status in the display to Gawain: "The new batch of tanks has arrived on the frontline, the Sorinburg line has been fortified, and the east is secure."

Behind the commander, through reinforced barriers is a crystal window presenting a scorched land from cannon fire and incinerators. Sentinel towers and armed platforms stand tall, gleaming with the texture of metal and concrete, illuminated repeatedly amidst flashes from the firing Magic Crystal Railgun, while the transfer mechanisms on the armed platforms have connected to the Iron Throne, unloading tanks transported from the White Sand Region to the frontlines, set to be adjusted by Mechanical Scholars and deployed in the battlefield, and a large group of soldiers drawn from the Kant Region have disembarked, these fully armed warriors clad in black armor are assembling on the armed platform for inspection by their respective commanders.

Above the Magic Web Terminal’s holographic display shimmered in radiant light, Gawain’s voice, slightly interfered, asked: "Have there been any discoveries of large-scale anomalies appearing on the plains?"

"Not yet discovered—we have already advanced the northern line to the area near the diagonal forest path and set up observation posts along the way, but have not uncovered anomalies," Commander Maryland sternly responded. "Now we are opening the southern battlefield, and building a second railway line, potentially encountering some discoveries."

Outside the Iron Throne, among the rocky ridges, a metal rail with an elegant arc suddenly extended out, pointing toward the battlefield. Accompanied by a deep humming sound, a blinding and terrifying white beam pierced through the dusky twilight sky, crossing over the Iron Throne, armed platforms, frontline bastions, and bunker clusters, slowly sweeping across the plains, strafing the battlefield.

The powerful flash penetrated the train window, reflecting on Maryland’s cheek, illuminating the inside of the tactical compartment exceptionally bright. From the communicator, Gawain frowned: "Was that the Rainbow Cannon just now? Are the monsters attacking fiercely?"

"Yes, I was just about to report—this is the situation of the last two days. The attack frequency of those Crystal Cluster Monsters is accelerating, and their intensity is escalating. There are even instances of a full legion charge, which requires the four Calibrator Beam Cannons set on the mountains to clean them up—and such legion charges have rarely appeared after the Crystal Cluster Monsters fell into frenzy before."

"This could be some sort of omen; the strongest ’monster’ manufactured and now out of control by the Oblivion Association should have started its activity," Gawain quickly said. "Continue to closely monitor the plains, report immediately any anomalies discovered—also remind the armored assault troops entering the combat zone that if they encounter bizarrely powerful and resistant enemies, don’t fight to the death; retreat first, prioritizing intelligence."

"Yes."

Communication ended, Maryland took a gentle breath, then walked to the window covered by the barrier, gazing at this steel defense line, looking beyond the line at the scorched plains.

The rail system carrying the Iron Throne has extended to the edge of Sorinburg, and the defense line has also advanced to Sorinburg’s edge. At the foot of the mountains connecting the Duke of the East and the Plains of the Holy Spirits, countless temporary bunkers, sentinel towers, cannon positions, and the Iron Throne together formed an indestructible defense line. But this line of defense is not only used to resist enemies with its solid walls and barriers.

Its primary method of defense is to obliterate all who approach.

As a long-time commander at rocky ridges Fortress, Maryland has always been quite confident in the field of defensive warfare. But it wasn’t until he encountered the Cecil Clan that he seemed to open the door to a new world and found the true essence of defensive warfare—

The best defense is offense, much like the popular saying among White Knights: the best treatment is preemptively eliminating the attacker.

Behind the "platform" where the Iron Throne docks, atop a rocky ridge, a sentinel tower built with a metal framework stands in the wind, with the shimmering of a barrier flickering around it, the crystal device used for communication and signal relay atop it slowly rotating driven by mechanical structures. Below the crystal device, in a small room covered with steel plates, the sentinel is vigilantly observing the direction of the plains.

The sentinel holds military binoculars. This new-style binocular, based on the original optical structure, has added a spell status to enhance vision, further improving its effectiveness for ordinary people using it. In the clear sight produced by the binoculars, the sentinel’s gaze slowly swept over a distant ruin.

Other than occasional Crystal Cluster Monsters gibbering and dashing about in the field of view, everything looks normal.

The sentinel withdrew his gaze, rubbed his eyes, but just as he was about to turn his gaze in another direction, an abnormal flash suddenly entered his view.

The flash appeared from an extremely distant spot, not particularly bright, yet it seemed to possess a magic-like strong presence. The sentinel initially thought it was a hallucination, but soon he saw a second flash appear, and then the flash turned into a steady glow, rising at a distant place...

In a battlefield filled with all kinds of magic power, merely the appearance of some light isn’t worth making a fuss over, but after the sentinel watched the light for a moment, he suddenly felt a twinge of alarm—he unexpectedly sensed a palpable malice from that light!

Without the slightest hesitation, the sentinel immediately pressed a button nearest to him.

A deafening alarm instantly sounded in the tactical compartment of the Iron Throne. Maryland abruptly lifted his head and heard the communication from the mountaintop sentinel: "Commander! Unknown flash observed in the southwest direction! Flash contains extraordinary power!"

Maryland quickly observed the light on the plains, which has now fully stabilized into a hazy beam, emitting a strong presence, while eerie malice and madness seep continuously from the glow.

That nebulous aura does not exert a tangible effect, but it is enough to make Maryland instantly heightened with alertness—he realized that this could be what Gawain referred to as "anomalies."

"Immediately connect to St. Soniel," the commander loudly said, and then swiftly turned to his subordinate, "Knight Anpel, dispatch a reconnaissance squad at once to investigate the site where the light rose—be cautious, do not be careless!"

...

Southwest direction of the Iron Throne defense line, near the ruins of Sorinburg covered in scorched scars, the ground is already cracked. A colossal figure cloaked in sacred radiance yet suffused with chaotic aura slowly emerged from the rift on the earth, standing silently still.

This is an enormous stag, having antlers like those cast from light and eyes as if crafted from crystals. Pure brilliance surrounds its body, within which faint sacred sounds float, yet this stag’s body is grotesque and fearsome, intimidating to behold: patches of its fur are torn, vile flesh writhes between the fur, countless scorched or festering wounds cover its limbs, around the wounds swollen and deformed structures can be seen. Every muscle, every inch of its skin constantly bulges and trembles, as though its flesh structure is forcibly assembled from countless errant factors fighting to split apart.

But the stag itself seemed completely oblivious to these terrifying wounds and mutations; it simply stands quietly at the edge of the crumbling town, as if it were a soulless husk.