Chapter 1331 - 1330: Weaknesses of the Dark Side

Chapter 1331: Chapter 1330: Weaknesses of the Dark Side

When Grand Governor Baldwin Franklin said this, his expression was unusually solemn and serious, yet however Gawain listened it felt off to him—though he knew Duke Baldwin wouldn’t exaggerate at a time like this, sticking the four words "brilliant military achievement" onto Rebecca’s head still sounded a bit odd. Aunt Heidi at his side subconsciously spoke up, "She didn’t cause any trouble, did she..."

"Of course not." Duke Baldwin’s expression was a little helpless; he too clearly knew what Rebecca’s usual reputation was like. "Princess Rebecca was very... cautious this time. Aside from commanding Dawn of the mortal world in combat, she did nothing else. Up to now, the air units under her and Commander Jinna have completely crushed the enemy’s offensive on the western front and driven their main forces east of Wind Erosion Valley. Miss Venna and I have already led the ground forces into the Central Augari Region and begun assisting the local garrisons in clearing the uncontrolled aberrations roaming the mountains and forests. In addition, we’ve successfully used the aerial platform to establish a temporary communications network; communications with Holy Helm City and Ruby City have already been restored... though the southern region is still under interference for the time being."

"Byron Kirk will soon set up new communication stations along the southern coastline," Gawain exhaled and said. "Looks like the crisis on the western front has finally passed, at least for now..."

"Yes, pressure on the western front is easing. Next we’ll conduct joint operations with the Augari forces and begin reclaiming and purifying the fallen land in the eastern region." Duke Baldwin nodded, then hesitated slightly before continuing, "Also... the collapse of the enemy formations on the western front was faster than we expected, and after the enemy retreated they left behind large numbers of uncontrollable aberration troops in the contaminated zone. Although we still lack clear evidence, I suspect... one of Princess Rebecca’s attacks may have successfully destroyed the enemy’s command system."

"She destroyed the enemy’s command system?" Gawain’s attention was immediately drawn to this piece of intelligence. "Tell me in detail."

"Yes," Baldwin nodded. "At the final stage of the Battle of Ruby City, Princess Rebecca ordered Dawn of the mortal world’s main cannon to fire at the Wolf Spine Mountain range—we suspect that was where the enemy’s command node lay. After several strikes, the enemy’s retreat suddenly fell into chaos. Later, frontline reconnaissance observed that some aberrations managed to rebuild order after the confusion, but a large number clearly broke free of control permanently, roaming the mountains and ruins like ordinary monsters. To this day, those roaming creatures show no sign of returning under command. However, we still haven’t found direct clues that can tell us what exactly Princess Rebecca’s bombardment hit at the time..."

"Then we can tentatively assume she took out the enemy’s command node—that detail isn’t critical. What matters is, according to your report, it’s clear that some other dark priest subsequently took over command of the aberrations on the western front, yet a large number of monsters still broke away from control for good..." Gawain’s expression grew serious as he sensed a key thread in this intel. "Those permanently uncontrolled monsters are the crux... it shows that those dark priests’ ’rule’ over the aberrations isn’t as solid as it looks. If we sever their command system by some means, then even after they re-establish contact, a considerable portion of monsters will slip out of that system..."

Here Gawain thought for a moment. "Dawn of the mortal world’s main cannon... I recall the fortress’s conventional main guns shouldn’t be able to hit the Wolf Spine Mountains directly from Ruby City, so the round Rebecca fired back then must have been..."

"The Supercritical Accelerator," Baldwin confirmed Gawain’s guess. "She completed the final assembly of the accelerator while Dawn of the mortal world was underway; the bombardment of the Wolf Spine Mountains was the ’test firing’ after that final assembly. Right now Her Highness is still leading the technicians in adjusting and optimizing the rail structure of the Supercritical Accelerator, and she plans to build another one near the fortress’s central axis..."

"She actually managed to finish building that thing while the fortress was in flight?" Gawain muttered in some surprise. "And she’s planning to build another? That is exactly how her mind works..."

Heidi at the side spoke thoughtfully, "Mm... we’ve long been studying how to disrupt those aberrations’ command systems—those monsters are such a tremendous threat precisely because they suddenly possess discipline and tactical awareness. The technicians believe that massive energy disturbances can interfere with the spiritual signals those dark priests send out behind the monsters, but we never found that ’massive energy source.’ Now it seems..."

"Now it seems that approving three extra budget rounds for Rebecca and not worrying about her blowing up labs really was the right decision. The value of Supercritical Acceleration is immense; at the very least, it has already proven itself on the battlefield this time." Gawain smiled briefly at Heidi, then turned to Duke Baldwin. "In my view, building only two Supercritical Accelerators on Dawn of the mortal world is still too few—regardless of whether those aberrations broke out of control because Dawn of the mortal world’s bombardment killed their command node, or because the energy shock released by the accelerator’s detonation severed their link with their controller, we need more accelerator units.

"Tell Rebecca to build freely. All additional construction and modification requests on Dawn of the mortal world will be fast-tracked under wartime special approval and left entirely to her discretion. If the shipboard materials are insufficient, she is to file a request—an aerial transport unit will deliver what she needs. Our top priority is to further enhance the combat capability of the Sky Fortress battle group and to verify the Supercritical Accelerator’s destructive effect on the aberration Legion."

Gawain issued his instructions in a serious tone, then suddenly thought of something, his expression turning unusually stern. "But remember this above all else—neither you nor Rebecca may pillage local resources or civilian property in your operations. If there’s no other way, you pay for it—even violators will be treated as traitors. This point is critical, especially for your ground forces. You must pass this admonition down to the lowest level of command and have them repeatedly drill it into the soldiers. We cannot fight a war only to drive off the enemy while shattering ourselves in the process."

"You have my word." Baldwin straightened up at once and spoke in a deep voice. "Before departure I repeatedly stressed the matter of discipline to the officers and men. After two years of intensive rectification and reform, the West Frontier Corps has already cast off many barbaric abuses from the old era. I will now see that your admonition spreads throughout the army—soldiers of the Cecil Clan take the restraint of discipline as their core honor, and that will not change no matter how far we march."

Hearing Baldwin’s solemn promise, Gawain slowly nodded. At that moment, an additional communication channel suddenly connected to the Magic Web Terminal before him.

The link opened, and he saw Veronica Moen holding the platinum scepter—she dipped her head slightly to Gawain, with the scene of a golden oak tree flourishing in the darkness behind her. "Your Majesty, the aberration samples captured at the front have been delivered to the testing grounds."

"They’ve arrived?" Gawain’s eyes lit up; it was clear he’d been waiting a long time for this news. "Good, I’ll head over at once."

He rose as he spoke, and looked toward Heidi in the holographic projection. "Heidi, you’ll chair the rest of the meeting."

Heidi in the projection nodded. "Yes, Ancestor."

Gawain strode toward the study door not far away, and a swift black shadow flickered through the air, closely following in his footsteps.

In the depths of the defied Court, shrouded in boundless, silent shadow and chaos, a colossal golden oak stood quietly at the center of a lush lawn. Its faintly glowing crown spread over this once desolate, broken land, and the vegetation spreading across the ground covered and filled the crisscrossing fissures that had scarred the surface. This "garden" built by Amon’s own hand had become a remarkably conspicuous, wondrous "Sanctuary" in the dim shadow realm—the Master Mages of the Gondor Empire who once raised the defied Fortress here would never have imagined that the God slumbering in this place would one day wake, and remake it into such a sight.

Veronica Moen stood quietly within the light cast by the golden oak, platinum scepter in hand. She seemed to be casually admiring the exotic flowers and grasses around her, yet also to be studying the vast figure lying among the blooms—the vast figure of Amoen, the Giant Stag, sacred and snow-white. Those sacred eyes were open, watching the woman before him. After a long moment he could not help but speak: "You keep looking at me like that, I feel rather awkward..."

"You were once a God, and you still feel ’awkward’ just because a mortal is looking at you?" Veronica’s face showed a faint smile, as if she were teasing him. "Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t it be the mortal who feels nervous and awed when gazing upon this form of yours?"

"Back when you led that whole crowd of mortals in the ’Defier’ plan, was anyone nervous or awed?" Amon said languidly. "You even ordered them to cut me up for samples—you think I wouldn’t feel awkward seeing you?"

"...Us... well, fine, more or less, that would be me," Veronica Moen shook her head with a smile, speaking gently. "Back then, who could have imagined that your real personality was actually like this... and even less could anyone imagine that for all those years you were only in a state of pseudo-death... Fate really is an unfathomable thing."

"Personality... don’t talk about ’personality’ to gods who have not yet shed their divine shackles, and don’t trust a god’s ’humanity’ before they are truly freed. That’s something even we ourselves cannot control," Amon gently shook his head. "Don’t let the fact that Goddess of Magic and I are now harmless make you harbor unrealistic expectations about other gods."

"Yes, I’m very clear on that point," Veronica Moen said calmly. "So if time went back to the past, I’m afraid I would still give the order for Kamel and the others to slice you up—at most, I’d tell them to slice faster."

"Alright, alright, you two have been staring big eyes at small eyes here for half a day just to talk about this?" At that moment, a somewhat impatient voice suddenly came from beside the golden oak. A lady who still stood over three meters tall even after "compression" was leaning against the trunk of the golden oak. She tilted her head and glanced at Veronica Moen and Amon. "How is it now—it’s been more than a year as colleagues already, can’t you talk about something that better enhances colleague bonding..."

Veronica Moen opened her mouth, seeming about to say something, but Gawain’s voice suddenly came from not far away: "Talking about one’s old workplace is an effective way to enhance camaraderie among new colleagues."

"King, you’re here." Veronica Moen immediately turned around, looking at Gawain and Amber, who were walking in from the courtyard entrance behind him. She bent slightly at the waist and greeted them with a gentle smile.

The Goddess of Magic nearby just casually waved her hand in greeting, then pointed at Veronica Moen and Amon: "Well that’s convenient, the two of them used to be at the same workplace—I get second-hand awkwardness just listening to them talk about their old job."

"...Seeing you and Amon becoming more and more like mortals, I feel much more at ease," Gawain only gave the former Goddess of Magic, who was complaining, a quick up-and-down look, then changed the subject. "I’m here to see the ’sample’. Let’s get to business."

"Veronica Moen just had that thing sent over; I put it in my ’experiment zone’," the Goddess of Magic nodded, rising from beside the golden oak. As she walked toward a section deeper in the defied Court where no vegetation grew, she spoke offhandedly, "The Old Deer wouldn’t let me put it under the tree—said he was afraid it would dirty up his courtyard and scuff his tree... He himself is always rubbing his itches on the trunk, shedding bark and leaves in whole patches..."

Gawain: "..."

Never mind Gawain, who had no idea how to respond—Amber, who had come along, was also staring wide-eyed. The goose held it in for a long while before muttering under her breath: "I think we can launch a new series alongside Emperor’s Edicts..."

Just as she muttered it out loud, Gawain, walking in front, suddenly stopped. Amber wasn’t paying attention and bumped her head right into his back, letting out an "ouch" on the spot and nearly falling over. But to her surprise, after Gawain turned around, he didn’t yank her ear like he usually did. Instead, he actually thought seriously for two or three seconds, then nodded to her: "This can be approved."

Amber was dumbfounded: "...Huh?"

"I think it could be very useful for weakening the influence of theocracy among the younger generation."

Amber stayed dumbfounded: "...You’re serious?"

Gawain shrugged and continued walking forward: "It’s not like they’re writing about me anyway."

The Goddess of Magic arrived at the deepest part of the defied Court. Here, vast, broad platforms molded by Magic were arranged in neat rows, with luminous orbs of Magic floating between them to provide illumination. Many Magic servants were also floating and moving through the air from platform to platform, busily tending to all kinds of things upon them—some were record boards automatically calculating and logging data, some were alchemy vessels in the middle of reactions, and others were dismantled Magic-Guide Devices and crystals sliced into thin wafers.

These were all the Goddess of Magic’s "treasures".

The former Goddess of Magic stopped at the edge of this experimental field, turned around, and looked at Gawain, Amber, and Veronica Moen who had followed her. Her gaze fell on Amber and Gawain: "I heard you, you know. I don’t know exactly what Amber wants to do, but I suspect it’s not something good."

"It’s a good thing," Gawain said very seriously. "She plans to break the stereotypical image of ’gods’ among young audiences and help you and Amon thoroughly eradicate any chance of ever being revered by the world again in the future..."

"...Really?" The Goddess of Magic looked suspiciously at Gawain and at Amber beside him, who was keeping a straight face, trying very hard to look reliable. "Why do I get more suspicious the more I listen?"

"Really," Gawain nodded solemnly to this "goddess". "When have I ever lied to you?"

"...Well, when you put it that way—although you sometimes come up with all sorts of bizarre ideas, you’re a man of your word when it comes to doing things. Back when you said you were going to give me a funeral, within just a few days you actually had my ashes scattered..." The Goddess of Magic muttered as she pondered. "Alright, I believe you."

Gawain: "..."