Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 924 - 923: Another Conversation

At the peak of Talronde’s highest mountain, the splendid sanctuary was basking in the starlight that would last for half a year.

It seemed as if the eternal starlight poured down from the firmament, casting a faint glow on the pale golden outer walls and dome of the sanctuary. Mist, like smoke or gauze, flowed slowly at the sanctuary’s feet, and below the mist, the bustling lights of Talronde under the night sky could be faintly seen—lights illuminating the dragon kingdom. Massive intercity pipelines and air traffic guiding lights crisscrossed, weaving network-like patterns between the highly developed yet ancient cities. Among them stood enormous facilities hidden in the depths of the lights, which were either gigantic factory installations or vast environmental maintenance devices.

Supported by the mountains, the entire Talronde appeared to be divided distinctly into two layers: dense cities and factories at the plains and mountain foothills, while the upper layers of the peaks were home to temples, parliaments, the Senate, and the headquarters of various giant enterprises.

All of this, just like the stars in the sky, hadn’t changed for many years.

A figure with golden hair stood at the edge of the great sanctuary’s terrace, bathed in starlight, overlooking the Talronde Continent.

However, His gaze did not linger on the dragon’s realm but continued extending to the edge of the continent, seemingly crossing endless oceans and eternal storms, finally settling on the continent occupied by humans.

"My Lord," Dragon Priest Helagor bowed his head, "The observer has sent word that the ’Magic Web’ of the human empire, the Cecil Clan, completed its integration today, but there seems to have been some hiccup in the process. We are still investigating..."

"No need to investigate further," the Dragon God said lightly, "There is nothing in it worthy of your attention."

It was merely a reckless and fortunate God freeing himself from shackles, a process neither referential nor repeatable.

"...Yes, my Lord." Helagor responded with his head bowed, respectfully.

After a few seconds of oppressively silent pause, he finally heard the deity speak again: "Tomorrow, have the young Dragonkin named Melita come to see me."

"Yes, my Lord."

...

Although Nariteer was unable to detain the supposedly magical deity, the hunt did yield some results—Nariteer collected "embers" shed from the Goddess of Magic, Milmina, in the border region. For the participants of the defied Plan, this was a critically important divine sample.

Inside the Great Pyramid of the neural network’s Mirror Emperor’s Capital, Gawain looked at the black fragments Nariteer collected—they appeared like flaky ash left after some kind of paper burned, seemingly weightless and fragile, crumbling in one place. Yet, in truth, each fragment was much sturdier than it seemed, possessing high physical strength (within the network), even able to withstand Magnan’s mental storm.

"Indeed, I am curious," Gawain mused aloud to Yuri and others beside him, "Are these fragments shed from Milmina a piece of data in the neural network or could they manifest some kind of...entity in the real world? The gods have physical entities, but their ’entities’ differ from what we comprehend."

"To the gods, perhaps the dichotomy of virtual and real is a false proposition," Selina, standing not far from Gawain, remarked, unconsciously glancing at the quietly guarding Nariteer over the embers (the latter seemed to be carefully protecting his trophy). "You might recall how the Supreme Narrator nearly stepped out of dreams into the real world."

"So... in theory, if the method is appropriate, these embers could be brought into the real world as lab analysis samples," Gawain speculated, "just by finding some kind of... ’interface’ that connects the neural network with reality—not an immersion capsule nor an artificial nerve cord, but something more abstract and advanced."

Selina’s expression turned slightly peculiar: "That sounds challenging to common sense, but Nariteer and Duvalt might have ideas. However, are you truly considering bringing these into the real world?"

"...No, let’s not. Too many uncontrollable factors and potential risks," Gawain shook his head, "I even suspect these embers were intentionally left by the Goddess of Magic—perhaps she’s waiting for us to take these things into the real world?"

"A bit conspiratorial, but in matters involving gods, a touch of conspiracy theory doesn’t hurt," Magnan remarked with a nonchalant air, "You’re right, keeping this ’ash’ in the neural network’s virtual lab is safer, at least with Nariteer and Duvalt guarding it, plus we have the ’Deep Sea Power’ as protection."

"Deep Sea Power..." Gawain repeated softly, his mind first conjuring Tiel’s perpetually sleepy face, then her euphoric writhing tentacles in Sea Demon form, and finally, the correct sight of sea demons’ Deep Sea Runes appeared, "Kamel is preparing to integrate sea demons’ runes into the neural network, but optimizing the effect of these runes still requires careful study. The most straightforward idea is to cover the entire visual area of the network with these patterns and project them into the real world through the Magic Web terminal, but this idea...isn’t quite feasible."

"That sounds terrifying," Semyr imagined, expressing sincere admiration, "Terrifying no matter how you think about it..."

"It is said that Kamel and Jenni have made further progress; I’ll check with them after returning," Gawain casually commented, taking one last look at the ash samples left by the Goddess of Magic, "Manage these samples properly and submit a complete plan report to me before conducting a series of tests."

The present Yuri and Selina promptly bowed to take orders, and Gawain nodded, stepped back slightly, and his figure gradually faded.

...

Returning to the real world, Gawain wasted no time, making brief arrangements before heading to the Dark Mountain Range, entering the deepest part of the defied Fortress.

He wanted to talk again with that false-death deity.

This time, he only brought Veronica—when conversing with Amoen, the Giant Stag, the number of people made no difference; for safety, throughout the entire imperial capital, he and Tiel were the only ones who could approach Amoen without any impact. With technical means, Veronica and Kamel could protect themselves for short periods. Tiel was a creature with a mind full of biscuits, and knowing now that Amoen was in a state of false death, naturally, they couldn’t bring Tiel along—whether she didn’t get to eat and felt low or ate and found the scene bizarre, it was best not to take her. As for Kamel, he was responsible for finishing the technical work after the Magic Web integration and studying the incorporation of sea demons Runes into the Magic Web.

Therefore, accompanying Gawain into the defied Fortress this time is only Veronica Moen, who is an ancient Defier—in fact, Gawain even felt that he could come alone without any issue if it wasn’t for having someone to look after things in case of emergencies, but obviously, Aunt Heidi would never agree to such an adventurous plan, and Gawain himself... at his position, long had lost the qualification to act recklessly and take risks.

The ancient alloy barrier slowly opened, revealing the vast and chaotic land and sky of the shadow realm before them. Standing before the final security barrier of the defied Fortress, Veronica Moen gazed into the distance at the god-like entity resting quietly like a small mountain. She nodded to Gawain beside her, "This time, I’ll go with you."

Last time when Gawain spoke with Amoen, she was standing with the others inside the security barrier and didn’t step forward in person.

"This could pose a certain risk," Gawain guessed that Veronica Moen would request this, but nevertheless reminded her, "I don’t doubt your protective measures, but this is, after all, a true ’close encounter’.

"My consciousness has faced the Holy Light at an even closer range before," Veronica Moen just smiled faintly, "In fact, my protective technology might be more effective than you think."

Gawain raised an eyebrow.

"If that’s the case, I won’t stop you," he said, "But always be mindful of your state—I imagine that wouldn’t be difficult for an experienced Defier."

Veronica didn’t speak, she just nodded slightly, then raised the platinum scepter in her hand, opening a small gap in the ancient security barrier.

The two of them crossed the barrier, stepping into the shattered courtyard directly exposed to the environment of the shadow realm. They faced the visual pressure brought by the "God of Nature" (though it had long since left its divine throne), crossing the cracked roads and ancient built bridges, arriving before Amoen the Giant Stag, who kept his eyes tightly shut.

The other party was clearly aware of the surrounding changes. As soon as Gawain and Veronica Moen approached, the massive stag slowly opened his eyes, those crystal-like eyes quietly staring at the unexpected guests before him. A deep and melodious voice directly reached the minds of both, "Welcome—today there’s an extra guest in my little yard."

"Last time, I stood somewhat farther," Veronica Moen said calmly, "And you probably recognize an ’earlier’ version of me—back then, I had a different identity."

"Then you should tell me your name and identity from that time," Amoen said, "Unlike what many believers proclaim, gods are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Even the strongest faith cannot truly grant us these two abilities that defy rules..."

Veronica Moen showed a slight smile: "I was once called Ophelia, Ophelia Norton."

"...Ah, I do have some impression now," Amoen said in sudden realization after a brief moment of recollection, "The mortal scholars who were busy digging into me or building supports mentioned that name during their chats...they also mentioned Herman Norton and Simmons Norton."

Veronica Moen nodded: "They were my father and elder brother."

"Truly memorable—a long time in mortal standards. So, as a human, how did you live to today? You appear...as entirely human."

"That’s my secret—since you are not omniscient nor omnipotent, let some mysteries remain hidden," Veronica Moen shook her head, "Today we didn’t come to reminisce with a god; we have some questions we want to ask you."

"Ah, I guessed so, and I even guessed what you want to ask..." Amoen’s tone carried a trace of amusement, then paused before speaking unhurriedly, "A hurried ’god’ passed through the shadow realm, happened to be seen by me. She should have run quite far by now."

Gawain was organizing his thoughts and considering how to start the conversation when Amoen abruptly revealed this information, catching him off guard and leaving him speechless, his face full of shock and disbelief, and even Veronica Moen beside him was momentarily dumbfounded.

"So, it seems this is indeed what you wanted to ask," Amoen’s tone remained calm and indifferent, "What, are you looking for her?"

"You really saw it with your own eyes?" Gawain couldn’t help but confirm, "She passed by here?!"

"Saw it indeed. And if I’m not mistaken, it should be the Goddess of Magic... Milmina, I remember the name. Her form had very obvious elements of mystical representation, and the aura she emitted pointed to the spell system created by mortals. However, she seemed somewhat weak, even...as if she was weaker than I was when I first arrived ’here’," Amoen said unhurriedly, finally asking, "So, what happened?"

"...She might be emulating you," Gawain hesitated for a few seconds before sighing and saying, "I’m not sure if I should tell you the specifics, but there’s one thing you can know now—there probably is no longer a ’Goddess of Magic’ position in the world, at least temporarily. Milmina has left her position, and I suspect her current state isn’t much different from yours."

Amoen was unexpectedly silent for a moment; externally, he showed no sign of his current mood, but Gawain felt he caught a hint of shock in the depths of Amoen’s eyes—the change concerning the Goddess of Magic had clearly shocked this ancient "God of Nature" too!

After several seconds of silence, Amoen’s voice finally rose again, "It really happened one day... it really..."

Not waiting for Gawain and Veronica Moen to speak, he then narrowed his eyes slightly, speaking with a hint of self-mockery, "You said her state is not much different from mine; I don’t agree with that—she quickly ran past in front of me, do you think in my current condition I could achieve that?"

Veronica Moen instinctively glanced at Amoen’s body, and all she saw was countless metal remnants, fixed clamps, and restraining locks. These layers upon layers of bindings made it impossible for Amoen to even move a limb, let alone run from the neural network to the shadow realm as the freed Goddess of Magic did...

Gawain, somehow, thought of Nariteer helplessly, thought of that Supreme Narrator’s obsession with "legs". He glanced at Amoen, and mischievous thoughts surged in his mind—

You guys with eight legs and four legs, you can’t even outrun one without legs...