Chapter 1256 - 1255: "Door

Chapter 1256: Chapter 1255: "Door

Early the next morning, Gawain and Amber arrived at Agondale’s highest council hall, having decided to set off early to the Western Coast to assess the situation of the high tower.

The eternal night persisted, so even during the theoretical "day," the sun lingered below the horizon, with only dim glimmers breaching from the plains’ edge. The glow of the magic crystal lamps illuminated the corridors, as the black dragon girl Koleta walked ahead of Gawain and Amber. Their footsteps echoed in the somewhat empty space—until they arrived in front of Heragor’s office door.

A short-statured young dragon woman with red hair pushed open the door and stepped out, her gaze momentarily surprised to see Gawain and the others here so early, before settling on the black dragon Koleta. After a brief greeting, the young dragon woman hurriedly left the corridor.

"That’s Belranta, the caretaker responsible for the hatchlings..." Koleta muttered curiously after the woman left, "Why would she come to see the leader at this time..."

She then shook her head, momentarily setting aside the minor episode, and stepped forward to help Gawain open the office door: "Please come in, the leader is already waiting for you inside."

Gawain and Amber stepped into Heragor’s office, and in the bright light, they saw the dragon leader seated behind the desk, but to their surprise, another familiar figure was also present in the room.

Melita Ponia, standing not far from the desk. When Gawain and Amber entered, the blue dragon lady turned her head simultaneously, her gaze meeting Gawain’s, with both appearing somewhat surprised.

However, Gawain’s priority for coming here today was to discuss important matters with Heragor, so he simply greeted Melita before focusing his attention on the dragon leader behind the desk—Heragor, the former dragon priest with golden hair and an elegant demeanor, looked up towards them. He smiled faintly at Gawain, then his expression turned serious: "Is this related to the Tower of the Inversion Tide?"

Before Gawain could speak, a trace of surprise appeared on his face, and he raised an eyebrow: "How did you know what I was going to say?"

"Looks like I guessed right," Heragor said gravely, becoming even more serious in his demeanor, "Do sit down, and talk about your situation. Why did you decide to move ahead of schedule? Has something changed with the Great Adventurer’s situation? New clues pointing to the tower?"

Gawain glanced at Amber beside him, then sat down in the armchair by the desk’s side, speaking solemnly: "Amber administered ’treatment’ to Modir, through her unique talent in the Shadow Realm, we managed to control Modir’s ’anomaly’ process, though the mechanism is unclear. We may have inadvertently activated some missing memories of the Great Adventurer—he mentioned the tower and... a ’breach’."

Heragor instantly frowned: "A breach?"

Gawain nodded and recounted the details of Modir’s situation, sparing no detail, especially highlighting the things mentioned in Modir’s muddled state—though much of what the Great Adventurer spoke about appeared incomprehensible to Gawain and Amber, from Heragor’s perspective—as a centuries-old "Demigod," perhaps he could discern something from the fragmented descriptions.

"He recalled the tower..." Listening to Gawain’s story, Heragor’s brow furrowed even more, and he slowly spoke in thought, "Moreover, he seems to have recalled not just the tower but another location closely tied to it in his memory..."

"Yes, he mentioned ’another entrance,’" Gawain nodded, "Amber and I couldn’t understand what he meant, nor could he himself—though based on our current intelligence, Modir Vealt’s trip to Talronde only visited the Tower of the Inversion Tide, and he was then sent back to Loren Continent by the Dragon God. In his travelogue, he never again mentioned any records related to the Tower of the Inversion Tide, unless...the ’another entrance’ he refers to is located on Loren Continent, and his journey to that entrance took place long after leaving Talronde—during a period not recorded in the widely circulated ’Modir’s Travelogue’."

"Entrance... breach... the key lies in the meaning of these words," Heragor’s voice was low, "He must have seen something in the tower, and what he saw eluded the gods of that time..."

"That’s exactly why I must go to the tower for confirmation," Gawain nodded, "Please arrange for our journey to the West Continent as swiftly as possible—we must hasten—following the previous schedule, ’Winter’ is almost due to arrive, and will anchor between the Tower of the Inversion Tide and the Western Coast to assist our mission. Additionally, I need you to deploy some robust dragon forces as support. ’Winter’ can serve as a forward base for dragons in human form and provide firepower support—should the issue pertain to divine ’contamination,’ I might attempt a resolution; but should the tower yield any conventional ’hostile units,’ we might require dragon troops’ cover."

"Are you planning...to battle the heritage left by the Voyagers?" Heragor gave Gawain a surprisingly inquisitive glance.

"Just in case, should any uncontrolled ancient weapon emerge from the tower? Conventional forces should still prove useful against such," Gawain shook his head, "However, if this situation teeters towards complete chaos, no regular troops would suffice—I must resort to some ’ultimate measures’."

Heragor gave Gawain a long, discerning look—aware of what Gawain’s "ultimate measures" entailed.

"I will make arrangements immediately," the dragon leader’s tone was low, "In fact, I began preparations before you arrived—Melita will join you, bringing Agondale’s most elite warriors."

A recollection formed in Gawain’s mind about what Heragor mentioned the Tower of the Inversion Tide upon arrival. He then thoughtfully looked at Melita: "Seems you’ve uncovered something too... what’s happened?"

"The hatchlings," Melita exhaled lightly, revealing a trace of worry, "Last night, Melita and Nole seemed drawn by some invisible force, screaming towards the Tower of the Inversion Tide for a long while. Subsequently, the ’magic mark’ on them expanded almost double overnight..."

"The two little ones?!" Gawain was momentarily tense, emotionally invested as he had watched the hatchlings grow, "Are they okay?"

"Fortunately, no physical issues seem to have arisen," Melita nodded, "And the situation stabilized by morning, yet concerningly...the mishap wasn’t isolated to just the two of them."

Amber couldn’t help but interject: "Not just the two of them?"

"All the young dragons with the ’Deep Blue Demon Mark’ showed the same condition," Heragor’s voice came from the side, low and powerful, "At the same time, the same ’symptoms’: the marks on their bodies expanded as if resonating with some unseen power source, becoming restless in the direction of the Tower of the Inversion Tide, only stabilizing by morning. Although physically they’re fine, however..."

The Dragonkin leader propped his hands on the table, leaning slightly forward, his expression particularly solemn as he looked at Gawain: "We initially thought these marks were just ’imprints’ appearing on the young dragons due to the magical power surges within the Deep Blue Webway affecting the dragon eggs, but now I must suspect... there is a deeper reason for their appearance."

"When did the abnormality in the young dragons’ state begin?" Amber suddenly asked Melita Ponia.

"I knew you would ask that," Melita Ponia nodded, "It was around the time after you completed Mr. Modir’s ’treatment’."

"...Alright, then this matter is ’interesting’," Amber’s mouth twitched a bit, "Tell me, when do we set off?"

Melita Ponia took a light breath, looking at Amber and Gawain, "Now."

...

At the same time, on the Typhon and Cecil Border Buffer Plains, Winterhold Castle.

Bright Arcane Flame Stream erupted from the tops of the three Energy Towers, and under the effect of a series of containment and flow devices, they were gathered, focused, and infused into energy conduits and Magic Crystals. The large energy release devices floated slowly in the morning light, accompanied by a deep humming sound.

Cold and rapid winds blew from the direction of the northern mountains, but before they could reach Winterhold Castle, they were deflected and dispersed by the immense field of energy swirling here, turning into chaotic turbulence, sweeping across the wilderness near the castle—dust and dry grass blades were lifted into the air, whistling as they swirled in the uninhabited expanse, while the birds and beasts living on the plain had already sought refuge in advance.

Since the Second Expansion Era, the strongest and purest power source created by humans was ignited in this cold plain’s heart, with an enormous amount of energy unimaginable by old-time mages gathering here, being directed as planned to the center of the entire facility group, toward the portal installed in the castle’s main hall, and to the layers upon layers of protective barriers and... fuses surrounding the portal.

Inside the castle’s main hall, all sorts of magical devices were already activated, and the giant magic circle covering the entire floor and dome emitted a constant gentle glow. Energy conduits neatly lined the walls around the hall, with pure Ao energy flowing ceaselessly within, while silver-white alloy "magic tracks" extended from beneath the floor, connecting those energy conduits and the underground power cores. More than ten control nodes were distributed across the hall, each crafted from expensive and precise alloy bases, floating above which were magic crystals or Magic Transmission Terminals for monitoring the portal.

The busy and anxious technical personnel moved or dashed between these awe-inspiring devices, conducting the last checks on all systems, while Kamel floated directly in front of the portal, accompanied by the legendary Typhon Mage, Windsor Maple.

Commands echoed from various parts of the hall:

"All Energy Towers ignited successfully! Output power reaching standard levels—Arcane energy conduit readings stable!"

"Power rail status normal, all energy tracks connecting properly, primary conversion normal, secondary conversion normal!"

"Inversion Circle is on standby, ready to withstand divine power impact..."

"All defense systems normal—Mind Protection System activated, Humanity Barrier activated, linked to the neural network... Received Cecil Empire Computing Center identification code, signal feedback normal!"

"Psychic Singers standing by..."

Kamel slightly raised his head, the rising and falling commands seemed to drift away. He watched the portal already in the "preheating" state, observing bright blue sparks beginning to leap between its arc-shaped frames, while the runed alloy ring slowly floated to the top of the gate. In the subtly distorted light and shadow at the device’s center, he seemed to see images buried deep in memory long ago, seeing figures long gone from this world...

"Finally..." Windsor Maple’s voice came from beside him, with an unmistakable tone of excitement and emotion, "We finally waited for this day... Two hundred years, Typhon has been silently preparing for two hundred years for this..."

"The Defier has waited a millennium for this day, Lady," Kamel’s mind gradually dispersed the yellowed images. He turned his head, the dancing arcane magic reflecting in Windsor’s eyes, "And if you count those pioneers who once struggled but failed in the past civilizations, the time ’mortals’ have waited for this day is likely even longer."

Windsor Maple nodded gently, her gaze moving toward the strange runes near the portal, the Magic Web Terminals set at each corner of the hall, and the Cecil soldiers in unique light armors floating nearby, unable to resist asking, "Can these protections withstand any ’contamination’ that might occur during the experiment?"

"Theoretically, the War God’s Divine Realm is already ’harmless’ to mortals of our era, even if we were to confront the War God’s divine body now, we wouldn’t be contaminated," Kamel said seriously, "Of course, when it comes to accidents—we must always be prepared for the unexpected. These protective runes have been tested and proven, and your King can vouch for their effectiveness. The Magic Web Terminals can broadcast the ongoing ’Spirit Song’ resonating in the neural network throughout the entire experimental facility, this penetrating psychic resonance provides a more active and stronger purification and protection effect than protective runes, and those soldiers... they are Psychic Singers, specially trained units to combat divine contamination. They have already faced the War God’s divine power directly on the battlefield at Bitter Winter, tested in real combat."

Listening to Kamel’s explanation, Windsor Maple nodded slowly, but she couldn’t help but look toward the position of the "Psychic Singers," toward the peculiar floating device several meters in diameter, wrapped in a tightly sealed metal shell behind them. Her brows furrowed, "And what is that thing? Is it part of the defense system as well? I didn’t see any mention of it in previous documents..."

"Lady, that’s classified information—though we are in close cooperation, some things cannot be disclosed lightly," Kamel’s voice seemed to carry a hint of a smile, "I can only tell you that this thing is a significant aid for the Psychic Singers, and it’s a good companion for us Cecilians—if the cooperation between our two countries becomes closer and future technical exchanges progress further, they might appear on our trade lists, and then you’ll naturally know what it is."