Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1211: Chapter 1210: Liberation

Witnessing all this from a very close distance evoked an indescribable awe, as if witnessing a crouched hill rising slowly, or the land heaving before one’s eyes—as both Gawain and Queen Belsetia were momentarily stunned into silence. They instinctively took two steps back, trying to see more clearly; yet the Giant Stag merely lifted its head, its upper body reaching a height that even a glance upward would not suffice to see its back.

During the rise of the Giant Stag, those ancient alloy remnants pierced through its body and nailed onto the earth began to emit a teeth-on-edge, creaking sound. The metal and crystals, which originally had supreme suppression over the divine power, suddenly lost their uniqueness. The energy remaining within them seemed neutralized and dissipated by some unseen force, while the radiance traversing their surfaces rapidly dimmed. They began to break and fall off, and were slowly freed or squeezed out from Amon’s wounds, accompanied by the incessant sounds of flesh writhing and metal grinding, and tiny particles of light continuously falling from the sky—

No one could imagine what kind of pain this would bring. Throughout the process, Amon maintained an awe-inspiring silence until he stood completely upright, until those massive metal remnants fell to the ground like boulders tumbling down a mountain. Only then did a deep sigh finally emerge amidst a myriad of indescribable emotions.

It was a sigh of humanity.

His wounds finally began to heal, at an unprecedented pace, quickly closing up before the eyes of Gawain and Queen Belsetia. It was only then that Gawain snapped out of the astonishment and seemingly grasped some understanding, nodding lightly afterward: "Congratulations, you are finally liberated."

"Yes, liberated..." Amon lowered his head, his voice deep and pleasant, though it was unclear whose "liberation" he referred to. Just then, a storm imbued with arcane flashes came rushing from the distant depths of the Dark Chaos and materialized the form of the Goddess of Magic, Milmina beside Amon. This lady, towering like a clock tower, looked up at the much taller God of Nature, observing quietly for a long time before a faint smile appeared: "Ah, a medical miracle indeed."

"Your jokes are as difficult to laugh at as ever," Amon muttered, his body rapidly shrinking within the glow, as if gaining more self-control after the last shackle was broken. His body, which had grown excessively large over long years, began rapidly shrinking—from the size of a hill to a castle, then from a castle to a hall. Finally, his form settled at a size still so grand to mortals that it invited an upward gaze, but at least not as exaggerated as before, allowing Milmina not to have to look up at him anymore.

After completing all this, Amon exhaled softly and turned to Milmina: "Tell me honestly—did you realize a long time ago that I could break free from these constraints? Now I suddenly remember that your looks were rather peculiar a few times..."

"What if I did?" Milmina chuckled softly, her eyes shrouded in mist squinting slightly, "It’s not up to me to speak of this matter, nor is it up to you—even if you already possess the ’conditions’ for breaking free from these constraints, you still couldn’t stand—you must understand it’s not just the things here binding you, not even just your own ’divine issue’. In the end, you are too much like a god."

Amon stood quietly on the shattered earth, remaining silent for a long period with neither Gawain nor Queen Belsetia speaking, leaving the silence to the old god who had finally freed himself entirely from past constraints. After some unknown time passed, they finally heard a sigh from above, followed by an exclamation: "I should have known long ago."

Gawain spoke again at this moment: "Do you have any plans afterward?"

Amon was silent for a moment as if thinking, then helplessly shook his head with a smile: "Plans? What plans could I have—even though I’ve shaken off these bonds, I should still avoid appearing in the real world for now, as Queen Belsetia will likely need a long time to completely deal with those Mystics Doctrine messes. For now... I’ll remain here to avoid causing trouble for many people."

"Indeed," Gawain nodded lightly, "Although your final ’anchor point’ has been released, solving a historical legacy issue isn’t as swift as divine nature dissipating, and the technical departments also need time to assess your situation—so for a while, you’ll have to stay here. Rest assured, the duration shouldn’t be long, at least compared to your past three thousand years, it will be very brief."

"This doesn’t count as any grievance," Amon calmly replied, gently shaking his body, "Compared to the past three thousand years, my current state is already much better."

Gawain and Queen Belsetia exchanged a glance, both nodding, before Gawain said to Amon: "Well then, we won’t disturb you here—take a good rest; this week’s theocracy Authority Council work can also pause."

Amon did not speak, only nodded gently, while Milmina waved dismissively as if to shoo Gawain and Queen Belsetia away.

Gawain and the Silver Empress departed, and the grand defied Court quieted once more. In the endless Dark Chaos, the now much smaller Amon stood amid a heap of scattered wreckage, while Milmina beside him looked at the motionless "God of Nature," finally unable to resist murmuring: "Are you planning to just stand still like this? Then you’re no different from before—it’s just a change of posture, still staying put?"

"I don’t know what to do," the former God of Nature replied softly after a brief silence, "I never thought I would be liberated in this form, nor did I ever expect this day to come so soon... Milmina, could you offer me a suggestion?"

"Offer a suggestion? I’d quite like to sit and finish watching the few series I never finished, or visit the neural network to play chess with Lady Enya—but considering the medical miracle that happened to you, I think I should give you healthier advice," Milmina opened her hands, "Care to take a walk with me? I can take you to see the depths of the shadow realm; you must have been curious about the ’border’ scenery for quite some time now?"

"I... don’t know if leaving here is a good idea," Amon hesitated, "I’ve been here for so long..."

"Having been here for such a long time, you should all the more take a walk," Milmina didn’t hesitate, reaching out to grab the sacred antlers atop Amon’s head, "Come on, don’t let the children’s final intentions go to waste—remember their last words? They’re with you, consider taking them along if that makes you feel any better..."

"So you were eavesdropping somewhere earlier?"

"...I am just perceptive, you know, matters of the magic field... Anyway, let’s not talk about this, grabbing your antlers feels odd, maybe I should find a rope..."

"Shut up, and let go."

"Alright, alright, today you call the shots..."

...

At the door of the defied Fortress in the Dark Mountain Military Zone, Queen Belsetia once again breathed the fresh air of the outside world. She looked up to gaze at the sky where the night had fallen, with countless stars shining cold and high from the night.

Among the stars, are there souls of the departed protecting the beings remaining in the world?

Ancient sages once told the world this, however, at this moment Belsetia knows, that starlight is just starlight, after all, the departed souls are gone for good—there is no eternal kingdom, everything comes to an end, even gods are not exceptions.

Perhaps, the Oblivion Association of yore also saw through this point, and used this cold truth as their name, perhaps to remind the world, or perhaps just to remember themselves.

She turned back, seeing Gawain standing by her side, this figure as tall as she remembered, although his inner self is not entirely the human pioneer hero she remembered, yet in a way... The soul within this body today actually has many similarities with the pioneer from seven hundred years ago, and many of her questions... can always be answered from the mouth of this "Wanderer from Outer Realm."

"Actually, I still don’t quite understand why Master Azmore and the other sages would face death so calmly," the Silver Empress suddenly spoke in a low voice, "Although I said they could not return to the mortal world, they could choose to remain in the shadow realm, to stay beside their gods. To devout followers like them, this should be supreme honor and fortune..."

"What they miss is not just Amon," Gawain lightly shook his head, "they miss the era with the God of Nature—a time bathed in divine grace, a time of steadfast belief, a time when all things followed the ’right path,’ even knowing that era has passed, they held firm for thirty centuries, and now, that era has truly come to an end in their hearts.

"From the start, those priests did not seek survival; they merely wanted to account for their three thousand years of steadfastness. They were searching for a home, a home they should have gone to long ago but hesitated and feared to set out. To Azmore and the other priests, they were not facing death; they merely finally stopped walking."

Belsetia fixed her gaze on Gawain, her tone somewhat surprised: "You have never met Azmore and the sages, yet you seem to have seen through everything?"

Gawain calmly responded to the Empress’s gaze, with a light smile: "Maybe because I’ve seen too much."

At this point, he paused, his face showing some emotion: "And frankly, if it weren’t for Azmore and the sages’ choices, Amon could not have escaped those restraints... Actually, from a long time ago, I noticed that the Voyager’s legacy has strong suppressive effects on ’divine power,’ but for individuals without divine attributes, they are merely exceptionally solid advanced materials, and Amon’s divine nature is fading each day, and since the demystification projects I led have been scaled up, his divine nature fades faster. Yet all this time... the Voyager legacy’s seal and restraint on him hasn’t weakened at all?

"The only explanation is that Amon himself has kept himself bound in place... As an entity born of ’thought currents,’ his own mind has produced an overly strong influence on himself."

"Can gods truly be bound by their own ’thoughts’... is this restriction even tangible?" Belsetia wore a look of incredulity on her face, "If a god believes they are not bound, then..."

"Unfortunately, we can’t verify this, and judging by existing data, such a good thing is unlikely to happen," Gawain shook his head regretfully, "This world almost never presents situations that perfectly fit our desires."

"...That’s true."

The two rulers of the Empire smiled at each other, jointly mocking this unfriendly yet life-nurturing world, and just then, a familiar aura suddenly gathered in the nearby air, interrupting the conversation between Gawain and Belsetia.

Gawain looked in the direction the aura came from and saw Amber’s small figure jump out of the crack in the shadow realm. He couldn’t help but smile and tease: "Rare sight—you’re working overtime at night?"

"Do you think I want to?" Amber stood firmly on the ground and immediately complained confidently with her hands on her hips, "Who asked you to run to this place at night?"

"Alright, I know you’re a night owl, you’d wander around even when you’re free at night," Gawain waved his hand and casually asked, "What’s up, for you to personally run here?"

Amber pouted: "Actually, I just came to give you a message en route; there’s inside news just now—"

She paused halfway, her gaze sweeping over to the Silver Empress several times, Gawain then nodded slightly to Belsetia and took steps towards Amber—the Silver Empress also tacitly moved aside, standing with her elfin guards.

"News from the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range," Amber said softly beside Gawain, "High Chancellor Victoria wants to personally go to Talronde—she seeks your opinion."

"Victoria? Personally go to Talronde? Is this her decision?" Gawain was suddenly surprised, thinking it didn’t sound like something the consistently calm and indifferent "Grand Duke of Ice and Snow" would propose actively. However, soon, the surprise on his face faded, replaced by a brief contemplation, and after pondering, he slowly nodded, "It’s reasonable to think..."

"So that’s your response?" Amber blinked, "Don’t you need to be more explicit?"

"More explicit?" Gawain looked at the half-elf, "Then I express support—on the condition that she arranges her duties well and provides a complete and reliable plan with contingencies."

"Alright, I’ll go back and reply now!" Amber immediately waved her hand, and before the voice fell, her figure had already disappeared in front of Gawain.

It was then that Belsetia unobtrusively returned to Gawain’s side. The Silver Empress looked in the direction where Amber had just disappeared, and after a long pause, spoke with a bit of surprise: "Your relationship with this ’Minister of Intelligence’ is closer than I imagined... Your interaction doesn’t seem like that of a superior and subordinate, nor like ordinary monarch and subject, but more like... close friends."

"Is it?" Gawain raised an eyebrow in surprise, casually replying, while a thought popped into his mind:

How should I put it, it’s just a relationship of a suspect and stolen goods, right...