Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1055: Chapter 1054: Sudden Manifestation

The lights rising in the wilderness were actually very weak, and compared to this vast land, their numbers were pitifully small. Yet even so, Melita Ponia felt as though they filled her entire vision during those fleeting few minutes—she found it hard to look away.

After a moment, some of the lights temporarily went out, but the remaining ones persisted, shining like starlight in the cold, dim "polar midnight."

"Over there—that farthest one, at the foot of that mountain, could be another camp," Nuoletta also widened her eyes, looking into the distance. She pointed to a cluster of lights at the horizon, a hint of excitement on her face. "Can you see it? There are a few smaller lights moving around there, which might be patrols!"

"I see it, I see it," Melita Ponia said repeatedly. "And east of the camp, in the direction of what used to be the Rus Valley, several fireballs have just risen there... maybe a few survivors have gathered together..."

Nuoletta fell silent, staring at those places for a long time before breaking the silence: "Now they should be able to hold out longer..."

Melita Ponia scratched her head, not knowing how to respond for a moment, and finally managed to squeeze out a few syllables: "Yes, it really is..."

...

On the high sentinel towers, the soaring flames burned fiercely with the aid of pressurizing devices. Although the cold wind from the sea continued to howl, it could never extinguish these dazzling flames. Balogar stood next to the pressurizing device, and only after confirming these devices could operate stably did he leave the sentinel towers to other Dragonkin and turned to leave.

He climbed onto a nearby platform, where Andar and Heragor stood in the night wind, gazing out towards the distant plains. Some Red Dragons stood at the edge of the platform, intently recording something.

"Did you see those signals just now?" Andar, hearing footsteps behind him, turned first to Balogar, "There are more than we imagined!"

"I saw them, but certainly not as clearly as you did," Balogar couldn’t help but smile—he felt as though he hadn’t smiled like this in a thousand years. "The fire pillars over at the sentinel towers are quite bright and somewhat affected my sight—as I said, it was a very grand ’campfire’.

"We have already recorded the positions of the signals," Heragor stated. "Honestly, quite a few are in very far or dangerous locations, and with the camp’s current situation, we cannot send teams to explore. But it at least points us in the right direction, as soon as conditions here improve a little, we can send teams to aid our compatriots trapped in those ruins."

"Moreover, more importantly—we have confirmed the existence of other survivor camps," Andar continued. "At least one beacon signal showed clear characteristics of a camp: larger scale, longer duration, and other signal activities nearby, something not achievable by a few dragons alone. Judging by the direction, it should be Akatoosh, where there are solid factories and underground bunkers, along with a very, very deep mine, which used to house an Omega System node. The chances of survivors holding on with those facilities are high."

Balogar spoke with a hint of hope: "Can we now..."

"We can’t, it’s too far, and there’s a blockade of elemental havoc and gravitational disruption in between," Heragor shook his head, "But we can gradually forge communication lines in the wilderness. In any case, confirming the existence of other camps is what’s most important."

Balogar nodded gently, then he displayed a contemplative look and slowly stated in reflection: "Now that we know there are more survivors, we should also consider the long-term future... Given the camp’s current situation, how many kin can we support?"

"To be honest, not optimistically," Andar sighed. "I’ve discussed this with Duke More. Our current food sources primarily comprise several discovered warehouses and a food processing plant nearby, with some goods untouched by fire or contamination. They can sustain us for one to two months. Additionally, a team has been dispatched towards the coastline direction to find resources from the sea and nearby islands, but the amount won’t be large: gravitational storms have torn apart the continent’s edges, having a significant impact on the entire near-shore area.

"Comparatively, the freshwater issue is easier to solve, besides filtering and purifying from seawater, we can also capture nearby low-level water elements wandering around—just be careful not to overdo it, causing an element outbreak would be troublesome."

"So, in the short term, we cannot achieve self-sufficiency, even if we can obtain stable food supplies from farther islands, it’ll take a long time," Balogar said gravely. "Before that, everyone will go hungry, and the only way to keep going is to dig into those buried ruins of warehouses and factories... Achieving stable supply is simply impossible."

"Also note one thing: almost no Dragonkin knows how to grow and harvest crops without relying on automatic systems, let alone implementing agricultural production in most of the Arctic Region, losing the ecological domes and Weather Controllers," Andar stated. "Hunting yields are limited, and the skills to obtain and process food must be relearned from scratch. After losing automatic farms and synthesis factories, our start becomes incredibly challenging. If this continues, surviving Dragonkin will have to redirect their focus to... the warmer human world."

Balogar’s facial expression changed slightly: "You mean..."

"Instead of waiting for the situation to worsen, waiting for some compatriots to take risks seeing no hope and choosing a losing strategy, we should take proactive measures," Heragor looked into Balogar’s eyes. "The era of Talronde’s isolation is over; since we survived, we should find ways to face these changes.

"For over a million years, our compatriots have never faced ’change’, and they don’t know any survival method outside the cradle. Hence, now is a very crucial time—we must be ahead, we must become Talronde’s first ’representatives’ to contact the external world, thereby establishing a new order of communication with the outside, a civilized and orderly one.

"I have just consulted with Andar, Dragonkin must return to the world stage, to contact humans, to contact other intelligent beings on the Loren Continent. We indeed need help, but we are not begging; we must offer something to exchange for scarce supplies, even scarce living space—all of it following the principle of equivalent exchange."

Andar listened quietly, and when Heragor concluded, he sighed with a complex expression: "Equivalent exchange... we owe a lot of debts now."

Balogar quickly caught on: "You mean... the Mithril Vault?"

"For this world, the Mithril Vault is only a name now—except perhaps some things preserved in branches set outside Talronde, the headquarters and all major warehouses of the vault have disintegrated, at least that’s the case in Agondale. Now we owe a huge debt, and it’s not limited just to the prime material world..."

"Then we’ll repay it slowly," Heragor said. "Dragons keep their promises, we repay what we owe, whatever we can offer, we’ll offer it."

He spoke in a deep, serious tone, and Balogar heard the resolution and deep thought in it. He looked at his old friend standing before him — since 1.87 million years ago, he has been the leader of the dragons, and today, 1.87 million years later, he still maintains everything for the Dragonkin in his own way, including their survival and what remains of their dignity.

"What do we have left to offer now?" After a moment of silence, Balogar asked, "There’s not even enough here to sustain ourselves on this wasteland."

"There are always things we can offer. Even if Talronde is destroyed, we have many things that could attract the interest of other races. Besides those technologies with potential dangerous gaps, we have some knowledge we can reveal. There might be treasures in some warehouses, and we can always dig out some wealth from beneath the ruins. If all else fails... we still have our flesh and bones."

Heragor spoke with a steady pace, yet his gaze was unwavering, and his demeanor revealed his attitude—a line he had drawn for the civilization of dragons.

Talronde might have fallen, but the dragons still stand. Dragonkin was once the most powerful civilization on this planet, and also the only one that has successfully broken free from the shackles of the gods for over a million years. Even though the situation is dismal now, he would not allow his kin to fall into degradation—Dragonkin will not become thieves, will not become robbers, nor will they survive like beasts.

Dragonkin will return to the world’s stage with dignity.

"Since you have already decided, I naturally support it," Balogar nodded, "Then, if we want to contact humans and other intelligent beings, we need a plan. First, we need to find candidates who understand the various races on the Loren Continent. Second, we must identify our targets for initial contact, and finally... we need to gather some intelligence to understand the current situation on the Loren Continent."

"The situation on the Loren Continent," Andar mused, "Indeed, it should be investigated first. The rate of change in the outside world is much faster than the rhythm we are familiar with, and this is now the time when they’re changing the fastest."

As he spoke, he nodded slightly, "As for the candidates who understand the various races on the Loren Continent and the early contact targets, I already have a rough idea."

"That’s good," Balogar exhaled, "I’ll also start taking action—once the camp stabilizes, I will return to the Sacred Dragon Kingdom. The Sacred Dragon Kingdom has already established contact with the human nations on the Loren Continent, and this place can also serve as a window for Talronde to understand the Loren Continent.

"Moreover, although the crops output in the kingdom isn’t overly abundant, I should still be able to organize some food and medicine. However, I might need some extra time over there to make preparations, given that the Dragonborn... haven’t been ready to face Talronde."

Here, the Grand Duke of Dragonblood couldn’t help but express some regrets, "It’s a pity that it’s now winter on the Loren Continent, and the grain reserve situation in the northern parts is likely limited. Relying solely on the kingdom’s strength, it might be difficult to purchase enough food from adjacent human nations in a short time... I can only do my best."

"The Dragonborn..." Heragor’s expression was a bit conflicted, and after a long while, he sighed, "That section of the mountain range is not rich in resources, hosting primitive dragons with massive consumption will be a great burden for the Dragonborn, so just do what you can. After all, we never really intended to rely on the strength of the Sacred Dragon Kingdom..."

"For our audacious plan, those Dragonborn have already shouldered too much unknowingly," Andar also sighed, "We should have been their guardians and guides, yet in the end, we became their burden instead."

Balogar shook his head, "For many years, I’ve been watching the Sacred Dragon Kingdom; I’ve watched the Dragonborn progress step by step to where they are today. Genetic modifications took their wings, and even made most of their life only survivable in human form, yet the Dragonborn have never forgotten Talronde—we are connected by blood.

"Perhaps not all Dragonborn can understand what we’ve done, but I believe, once they know the truth, most of them would choose to help their parent race, after all, we are all dragons."

After this, silence fell over the platform as the three leaders pondered over matters affecting far-reaching decisions, leaving no one to speak. Apart from the whistling wind, only the intermittent flapping of wings from the search teams arriving and departing, along with the music coming sporadically from deep within the camp was heard.

The daylight seemed to have further dimmed, with twinkling stars emerging from the side of the sky closer to the night sky. Heragor looked up, eyes sweeping over the serene, cold night sky. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

It was then that his expression suddenly changed.

"Heragor?" Andar, the closest, was first to notice the change in his old friend, "What’s happening to you?"

"Did you hear the voice?" Heragor’s face was exceptionally solemn, his eyes nearly frightfully intense, "Did you hear... ’Him’?"

At first, Andar and Balogar were startled by Heragor’s expression, but immediately, his words genuinely frightened them, making them gasp simultaneously, "’Him’?!’

"Did you not hear it?" Heragor’s gaze swept over the faces of his old friends, seemingly confirming whether their minds were normal, "Just now, for a brief moment, an echo appeared."

"No," Andar also grew tense. He repeatedly confirmed his mental state before shaking his head firmly, "I’m sure of it."

"I didn’t hear it either." Balogar confirmed likewise.

Heragor frowned and confirmed his mental state, it took a full half-minute before he slightly relaxed, though his tightly furrowed brow didn’t ease at all.

"Could it have been a hallucination from excessive tension?" Balogar hesitated to ask, "The shackles have disappeared, this we’ve confirmed repeatedly, and once the ritual is complete, this process is irreversible."

"...I hope it’s a hallucination, but I dare not casually use the word ’hallucination’ to explain any abnormal phenomenon occurring in my mind," Heragor replied seriously, "we... had better re-confirm once more."