Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1280: Chapter 1279: "A Friend’s Former Residence

The sudden and terrifying changes in the fertile land were seen by everyone, even Melita, who had undergone the "coming of age" ceremony, felt her breath catch for a moment—fear and pressure inevitably sprouted from within, and the mental impact of witnessing some "truth" seemed to be about to test the minds of every witness. Yet in the next second, that horrifying scene in the "kingdom" dissipated like a phantom.

The ground, covered with blades, mud, and dead branches, turned back into lush fertile soil. The courtyard was once again filled with laughter, and the pure white fairies took care of the blessed visitors, while the holy and gentle three goddesses continued to preside over this joyful feast as before.

All the blood, bones, and mutated limbs seemed like an absurd dream, disappearing in the blink of an eye. However, the explorers standing on the ship’s deck, who witnessed everything, could not erase the terrifying impression lingering in their minds. Amber even forgot to breathe from that moment, until a few moments later she couldn’t hold it anymore and gasped for air, while Kamel quickly reacted, loudly reminding everyone: "Beware of divine contamination! Check your mental contamination protection!"

They had just faced the kingdom and come into contact with the source of divine contamination that could cause fatal pollution merely by sight. The intensity of this source was incomparable to the remnants of dead gods or fragments split from the kingdom. Although everyone on site carried the highest intensity protection devices mortal civilization could currently manufacture, in the face of high-intensity divine contamination, these protection devices still might be breached!

Amber quickly glanced at the Deep Sea Amulet she wore on her waist, then looked at the Magic Transmission Terminal on her arm. Both items remained quietly in their original state, showing no sign of activation.

"...No reaction?" Victoria was also surprised to find her protection device showed no sign of activation. She quickly sketched several silver-white magic symbols in the air. The symbols rotated around her forehead, detecting changes in the spellcaster’s mindset, but the results surprised her even more, "...No signs of pollution, the scene we just witnessed only caused a normal ’fright’..."

Confusion spread among the explorers, and at this moment, Gawain finally broke the silence: "It was the Defense system on this ’ship’ that provided protection. The Voyager’s technology—they understand how to deal with divine power better."

Everyone then looked up at the barrier above their heads—the extra light screen that had just appeared also gradually dissipated at this time, as if confirming that the external contamination crisis had been resolved, and the targeted defense system of this "ship" began to shut down automatically.

But Gawain knew that only a part of the targeted defense system should be closed. The regular defense of this ship must be always on standby, to ensure its safe navigation in the deep sea.

Amber finally breathed a sigh of relief. She blinked, patting her chest with a tangible sense of relief, muttering under her breath, "The stuff left by the Voyager is quite reliable... and it’s worthy of being a facility specially cruising between divine realms, with a dedicated defense system... Wait, does it mean the Voyager could also be affected by mental contamination?"

"The Voyager might not necessarily be affected by mental contamination, but more than half of the members in their fleet are just like us, ordinary mortals," Melita answered her, also breathing a sigh of relief. As a high-ranking dragon educated by the Talronde system, she knew more about the Voyager than anyone else here, "In the Voyager fleet, the ordinary mortals participating in the grand expedition are not just individuals receiving protection; they also engage in the fleet’s military activities based on their own circumstances—the many ’low-level facilities’ in the Voyager’s legacy were prepared for those ordinary mortals."

Daniel had been focusing on the "Fertility Divine Kingdom" floating upside down above them. His sunken eyes were full of caution, even though the courtyards and fertile land had now returned to a beautiful and holy state, he remained as if facing a great enemy: "What did we just see? Was it the ’truth’ of the kingdom? The ’fact’ that the three goddesses of fertility have gone mad? Could it be that after the War God, the next we have to face are the three goddesses of fertility?"

Daniel’s words instantly tensed everyone. The tragic and horrifying scene from the Winterhold Fort Battlefield still deeply etched in everyone’s hearts. The bizarre and terrifying scene they just witnessed was like a blood-colored "omen," inevitably reminding people of the madness and loss of control of the gods and the impending divine disaster—even Amber, who was always carefree and careless, couldn’t help but tighten her face, her tone unusually serious: "Logically, it shouldn’t be... According to the estimates of the theocracy Authority Council, the most stable gods currently should be those like the three goddesses of fertility, the Fire God, and the Water God. They received relatively small shocks during the era’s changes..."

"...Relax, we only saw a part of the ’divine aspect,’" Gawain suddenly broke the silence. He raised his head from deep thought and slowly spoke, remembering what he once learned from the Dragon God, "As long as mortal civilization develops, the divine aspect of gods will keep accumulating ’contamination.’ Unless the chains are cut, this contamination will surely exist; the difference is just in the ’dosage.’ What we saw earlier was the part of the three goddesses of fertility that has been contaminated... but overall, this part should still not be enough to break their ’balance.’ At least, for now, the Fertility Divine Kingdom we see remains in a positive state most of the time..."

Hearing Gawain’s explanation, Amber visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but Daniel, who needed to maintain his character, still maintained his expressionless state and asked, "Are you sure what you said is reliable?"

"The most ancient god of the Dragonkin talked to me about these things in detail," Gawain glanced at Daniel, "She experienced the entire process from the birth of the gods to their erosion and madness. There is no more reliable source of information in the world."

Daniel nodded: "Then I have no problem."

As they spoke, a slight tremor suddenly came from beneath their feet. This ancient airship, continuously cruising between the Land of the Gods, seemed to have finished observing the Fertility Divine Kingdom and began to dive again towards the distant Dark Chaos, with the light-drenched fertile land outside the barrier slowly retreating from their view.

Gawain lifted his head, his gaze once again falling upon the Fertility Divine Kingdom, on the courtyard at the center of the fertile land, and on the three goddesses with their grand and beautiful figures—at this moment, they once again returned to their perfect and holy forms.

They were being eroded, their kingdom concealing a true form that could drive mortals insane... Although he had long known this, it was not until today that Gawain witnessed this cruel fact with his own eyes, which further solidified his belief—the "theocracy Authority Council" plan he was pushing forward in the mortal world was correct and necessary by all means. If the Loren Countries didn’t do something... the horrifying scene in the kingdom would not just be a fleeting illusion.

"More than a thousand years ago, the first batch of Gondor Pioneers who accidentally stepped into the kingdom saw the same scene as we did," Kamel’s voice came from beside, with a low tremor, "They didn’t have our current protection, nor did they have our experiences today. They faced the baptism of terrifying truth directly... yet they also gained crucial ’knowledge’ from direct contact with these pollutants, bringing the first warning."

Gawain didn’t voice a sound, just continued to silently gaze at the Fertility Divine Kingdom gradually fading away. At this moment, one of the three goddesses hosting the "eternal feast" suddenly lifted her head and glanced in the direction of the "Steel Ground."

A pair of eyes filled with divinity, calm and indifferent, this gaze seemed to transcend the vast spatial barrier, still clearly imprinting itself on Gawain’s sight, even as the airship slowly drifted away.

But the next second, those eyes naturally turned to another direction, and it seemed like the goddess didn’t notice the massive airship outside the kingdom at all; her glance was merely a coincidence looking in the direction where Gawain was.

Gawain felt his heartbeat suddenly quicken; he instinctively wanted to do something, yet quickly realized that what separated him and the goddess who cast that fleeting glance was not merely the chaotic void of the deep-sea but also the chains entwining the three goddesses of fertility—he couldn’t verify, question, or confirm whether the flower-crowned goddess had indeed seen him just now.

The spaceship continued its "descent," gradually passing beyond the ruinous rings surrounding the edge of the kingdom, as boundless black chaos surged once more, enveloping the shield outside with darkness.

Amber finally noticed the change in Gawain’s expression, and she approached nervously, "Hey, are you alright? Just now, for a moment, your face looked quite scary..."

Gawain did not speak for a while, and only after some time did he break the silence as if talking to himself, "This ’ship’ beneath us should be invisible to the gods still trapped on their divine thrones, right?"

"That’s what ’Lady Tower’ said," Kamel immediately replied, "She mentioned this ship has some sort of ’concealment’ effect, akin to ’psychological invisibility.’ It can interfere with thoughts, preventing gods birthed from those thoughts from perceiving its existence."

Except for Gawain himself, no one seemed to notice the moment when the goddess lifted her gaze towards them— upon confirming this, Gawain merely sighed lightly, "...So those three goddesses in the kingdom just now couldn’t have seen us."

"Of course," Kamel nodded and said, "Had they seen us, they wouldn’t have appeared so indifferent."

Gawain acknowledged with a "Hmm," said nothing further, but rather turned and continued walking forward. Kamel kept leading the way while the others in the team followed closely behind.

Meanwhile, the ancient ship beneath their feet continued its voyage through the dark chaos, heading towards some unknown "next stop."

But this time, everyone had perked up, even adopting an attitude as though facing a formidable enemy, keeping a close watch on those dark silhouettes sweeping past outside the shield. They anticipated that something would appear before them in the continuing journey— naturally, since the ship was cruising between the Land of the Gods, it couldn’t just visit the realms of the War God and fertility gods.

This journey allowed one to directly observe every kingdom— though only from a limited vantage point, it was still unimaginable to the former Defiers, and even the present technicians of the theocracy Authority Council.

The "next stop" of the journey didn’t leave Gawain and the others waiting for long, for before they reached the internal passage hiding the Explorer Golem, new glimmers and "scenery" began emerging in the dark space outside the spaceship’s shield.

And this time, what appeared in front of everyone took them greatly by surprise.

Amidst the vast darkness, a starry sky appeared— at least from a great distance, those twinkling lights were no different from what Gawain and the others envisioned as a starry sky. As the ship drew closer, they realized those "stars" twinkling outside the shield were actually glowing magic symbols.

Thousands of luminous magic symbols floated in the expansive dark space, vaguely forming an irregular "bubble" shell, simulating the posture of stars in motion. In the center of this starry realm, a majestic tower silently hovered in the void.

The tower was grand and mysterious, covered with symbols and flowing glimmers, its foundation and top shrouded in darkness, respectively symbolizing a mysterious cornerstone and an unknown end.

This was another sacred realm; however, the owner of the tower had long disappeared, leaving behind this empty sky, slowly dissipating in the irreversibility of the deep-sea.

"...It would be interesting if the Goddess of Magic were here," Amber suddenly muttered, "We’re seeing her home..."

"But she likely wouldn’t enjoy seeing this place again." Gawain shook his head with a complex expression, and from the corner of his eye, he saw countless ancient ruin remnants and twisted, terrifying fragments of divinity floating outside the kingdom’s darkness. A particularly massive and terrifying shadow slowly drifted out from the depths of chaos; it was a torn face — pallid and hideous, dotted with four eternally staring eyes and already dried blood cracks, the scale huge enough to compare to a castle. Whether it was originally that huge, or transformed over eons remains unknown.

This horrifying face that could scare timid souls into fainting purely through eyesight drifted to the edge of the "starry bubble" shell, then repeatedly collided with the kingdom’s barrier. And simultaneously, the four eyes embedded in the face turned toward the direction of the tower, steadfastly staring at the now deserted "Church of the Three Goddesses of Fertility" — the owner of this face had long passed away, with no signs of rational intelligence in its eyes, but the lingering force of a civilization’s thought seemed still at work, causing such a terrible transformation.

The face kept colliding with the border of the kingdom, until invisible forces emerged from the surrounding ruin rings, causing it to slowly float away with hollow gazes.

"...I suddenly fully understand ’Lady Tower’s sentiments living here back then..." Kamel finally broke the silence after the dreadful pressure brought by that face gradually receded, speaking softly.

"I understand too." Gawain replied solemnly, while in his sight, a floating boulder inside the deserted divine realm happened to be slowly floating over. The boulder rolled slowly, surface faintly traced with glowing patterns. When it approached closest to the spaceship, the patterned side happened to rotate visible.

It turned out the pattern was a string of bold, venting words that appeared to be a message left behind by the owner before departing this wretched place —

"Damn it, I’m done!"