Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 971: Chapter 970: Night Sky

The Magic-guided Vehicle continued to move smoothly along the wide street leading to the Obsidian Palace.

The brightness brought by the Magic Crystal Street Lamp swept past the window from outside.

The seat beside him was deserted, with no trace of anyone ever having been there; it seemed as if the car had only ever housed two people—the Trusted Retainer driving and the Imperial Duke wielding significant power.

Duke Ferdinand’s expression was somber, his magical power permeated outward yet failed to detect any residual Dark Wave, not even any lingering trace of life. He glanced at the Attendant in the front seat, who seemed unaware of what had just occurred but sensed the master’s gaze upon him, thus asked, "Sir, has something happened?"

"...No, nothing." Duke Ferdinand said deeply, simultaneously reaching out to touch the seat beside him—the leather seat was icy cold, lacking even the warmth that a human presence would leave.

The old Duke’s face turned even more grim, a thoughtful look in his eyes, while outside the window, flickering neon lights and faint music suddenly drew Duke Ferdinand’s fleeting attention.

In the corner of his eye, Duke Ferdinand saw the scene outside the window; he noticed a few tall buildings standing outside the left side of the car window, with the spire of St. Jerome War God Cathedral poking through above them, while on the car’s right side was the Vanarlion Salon—the Magic-guided Vehicle had just driven past the Salon’s entrance, the noise passing through the car window into his ears.

"We just passed through the Vanarlion District?" Duke Ferdinand’s pupils subtly contracted, and he promptly raised his head to inquire of the Trusted Retainer driving ahead.

"Yes, Sir," the Attendant replied immediately, "We just passed by the Vanarlion Salon—there’s a little longer to go until the Obsidian Palace. Would you like to rest for a while?"

"..." Duke Ferdinand was silent for two seconds, then shook his head, "No. Speed up—let’s reach the Obsidian Palace as soon as possible."

The Attendant, though feeling somewhat puzzled, did not voice any questions and promptly commanded: "Yes, Sir."

The Black Magic Guided Car accelerated speedily along the sparsely populated night street, and after some time, the towering silhouette of the Obsidian Palace finally came into Duke Ferdinand’s view, yet unease lingered in the old Duke’s heart. Thoughts of Malm Dunite’s eerie sudden visit hovered in his mind, along with those inexplicable words he spoke, but upon seeing the spires and walls of the Obsidian Palace, his slightly uneasy heart slowly settled.

The night-shift guardians checked the vehicle and verified personnel, and Duke Ferdinand Wendell stepped into this palace, guided by an Inner Court Lady Officer towards Emperor Rosetta Augustus’ private meeting room.

"Isn’t Lady Diana on duty tonight?" He glanced at the Lady Officer leading him ahead and asked casually, "She usually is at this hour."

"She has other duties," the Lady Officer replied respectfully, "by the King’s orders."

"Hmm." Duke Ferdinand responded simply, without further words.

Passing through the final archway towards the inner court, he glanced upwards at the familiar roof and pillars—classical-style multi-edges pillars supported the corridor leading to the inner court, and the beams extending from the top of the pillars in four directions were adorned with heroic figure reliefs. Near the archway, all the beams and sculptures were connected, inlaid with golden decoration, with black and red drapes from the sides of the archway, grandly majestic.

Like the throat of some giant beast, perhaps only mortals who build them this way symbolize towering royal power.

Duke Ferdinand’s mind suddenly was filled with uncalled-for sighs, then shook his head, stepping across the threshold.

...

In Emperor Rosetta Augustus’ private meeting room, the lights were bright, a faint aroma invigorating every visitor’s spirit, accompanied by soothing music from an unseen source, easing those who entered unconsciously.

The astute imperial ruler sat in his favorite high-back chair, engrossed in a thick book at the time Duke Ferdinand entered the room, appearing fully absorbed.

"Your Majesty," Duke Ferdinand approached to salute Emperor Rosetta, "I am here."

"Oh, Ferdinand—you arrived sooner than I anticipated." Rosetta raised his head, offered a slight smile upon seeing Duke Ferdinand, stood up, and placed a bookmark on the page within the book, setting it aside.

With the book facing upward, Duke Ferdinand caught the gilt words in the corner of his eye: Society and Machines—familiar with this book, having read much of its content. Emperor Rosetta Augustus had ordered the printing of copies, pledging to numerous aristocrats and officials, with Duke Ferdinand Wendell as the esteemed representative being honored with one.

Its origin was from the Cecil Clan, yet Duke Ferdinand had to admit that much of its content could be enlightening, captivating him with several succinct principles previously unexamined by others. Nevertheless, upon seeing the book on the coffee table, his memory drifted to several portions within, experiencing unaccountable anxiety.

However, now wasn’t the time to dwell deeply on the "Cecil way of thinking," diverting focus to Rosetta: "Your Majesty, your summoning me to the palace at this late hour is for...?"

Emperor Rosetta Augustus swept his gaze around, observing the few Attendants and high-ranking Lady Officers present graciously exit, leaving only two individuals in the room before resuming and acknowledging Duke Ferdinand solemnly: "Malm Dunite received the Lord’s summoning tonight—approximately four hours ago."

Duke Ferdinand’s breath abruptly paused, his heartbeat skipping half a beat, all accumulated unease subtly linking. This slight change did not escape Rosetta’s notice, watching with interest: "Lord Ferdinand, your response seems somewhat odd—do you know something?"

"Your Majesty," Duke Ferdinand inhaled gently, expression exceptionally stern, "I encountered Malm Dunite tonight—on my way here. His appearance was highly peculiar, and the entire experience... filled with discord."

"Share every detail immediately," Rosetta instructed, "All the details."

"Yes," Duke Ferdinand nodded, began recounting his recent bizarre encounter, "It occurred approximately an hour ago, while passing through the Vanarlion District’s ’Salon.’ There were no witnesses other than myself, at the time..."

The narrative did not consume much time, with Duke Ferdinand attempting to reconstruct his strange experience’s entirety concisely, and upon conclusion, Emperor Rosetta Augustus’ brow was tightly knitted, reflecting intense solemnity.

"It could be an illusion or some mind-affecting ’projection,’" Duke Ferdinand voiced his speculation, "Whichever it is, the situation is extremely grave—discrepancies within the Sect of the God of War have reached its apex; if Pope Malm Dunite becomes a transformation’s source, the responses we’ve prepared might..."

Emperor Rosetta suddenly interrupted Duke Ferdinand’s words: "Have you ever thought that this anomaly did not spread to the upper echelon, but originated from the top from the very beginning?"

Duke Ferdinand’s eyes widened slightly, then quickly fell into thought. After a brief contemplation, he raised his head: "Your Majesty, the matter of Malm Dunite’s summoning of the Lord... is it true? Are there more details?"

"The news hasn’t been made public yet, currently only the Sage Hall and the two of us know about it. As you know, traditionally, any death of the Pope of the Sect of the God of War, regardless of the reason, has to be immediately reported to the royal family to ensure stability. In this regard, the Sage Hall has fulfilled its responsibility well this time, but after that, things have become somewhat odd," Emperor Rosetta said to Duke Ferdinand, "After reporting the Pope’s death, the Sage Hall refused the normal process of allowing royal representatives to conduct rites for the body without giving any reason, and they also closed the communication channel with the Obsidian Palace."

"They closed the communication channel with the Obsidian Palace?" Duke Ferdinand was stunned, "So what about the Sage Hall now..."

"Diana is trying to investigate, I’m waiting for her news," Emperor Rosetta said, "And I summoned you here to prepare for a worse scenario."

"A worse... scenario?"

"The priests of the War God and the ascetics have the strongest combat power among all clerical status personnel, and the recent changes in the situation have made them overly tense," Emperor Rosetta said slowly, "The Imperial Knights and the Obsidian Imperial Guard are already prepared around the Sage Hall, the St. Jerome War God Cathedral, and the Saint Matim War God Church, but we need to make further plans.

"If, as we discussed earlier, the priests of the War God have the possibility of collective loss of control and madness, they might take actions crazier and more unpredictable than ordinary mortals. Facing this threat in the city is a challenge, and the young Hadrian may lack the experience to cope with such complex situations.

"You should prepare. If necessary, we might need to call in the Protectorate Knight Order—of course that is the worst-case scenario."

"Could the situation really develop to that extent?" Duke Ferdinand furrowed his brows, his expression solemn, "The Protectorate Knight Order only acts when the imperial capital is threatened with destruction during war situations..."

"If the biggest religious group in the Empire loses control completely in Aldernon, the situation won’t be much better than if the imperial capital were attacked during wartime," Emperor Rosetta said slowly, "I don’t want things to progress that way... but unfortunately, the time from the emergence of anomalies in the Sect of the God of War to the worsening situation is too short. We don’t have ample time to prepare, and we can’t take more drastic actions against the church without solid evidence and sufficient grounds... You need to be prepared, Duke Ferdinand."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good, now let’s discuss some details..."

...

Silence and darkness enveloped the deepest part of the Sage Hall. In the corridor leading to the Inner Sanctuary, the countless niches housing candle flames had gone out, the brilliance that once illuminated the Sanctuary had vanished. Only a row of candles hanging from the corridor ceiling provided the bare minimum of light to keep the long hallway from plunging into complete darkness.

According to the sacred texts of the Sect of the God of War, the candle flames in the niches of this corridor leading to the Inner Sanctuary are extinguished only after the highest-ranking church leader, the gods’ spokesperson in the world, is summoned by the Lord.

They remain extinguished for ten whole days and nights until a new church leader receives enlightenment, passes the test, and successfully accepts the Pope’s scepter, upon which the "Divine-flame" ignites automatically.

In the dim corridor, fully armed Church Knights stood in silence and solemnity among the pillars and niches, as combat priests and high priests stood like sculptures in front of the door.

It was early winter, and fog had already enveloped Aldernon, making it hard for stars to pierce the clouds and mist over the plains, under the night sky. Hence, the imperial capital appeared darker, but for the priests in the Sage Hall, the darkness in this holy hall was even thicker than outside in the imperial capital.

A faint breeze gently blew through the dim corridor, bypassing the many layers of sight of the church guards.

No life reaction, no slight magic power leakage, almost no detectable heat wave—none of the elite transcendent guardians in the corridor sensed the uninvited guest who bypassed their defense and entered the deepest part of the Inner Sanctuary, the prayer room.

The prayer room of Malm Dunite was empty, with only a feeble oil lamp illuminating the center of the room. In the dim light, a figure in black hair and black clothing appeared out of the air.

Diana removed the concealment effect of the position distortion Force Field. While maintaining precise awareness of her surroundings, she began to survey the small room.

As expected, the corpse was long gone, and most likely had been completely "purified" by fire.

Regardless of the appearance the former Pope had when he died, leaving behind how twisted or terrifying his remains were, now they must have become a pile of ashes and a wisp of smoke.

But this did not mean that the prayer room wouldn’t leave any clues.

After quietly scanning the area, Diana pressed her hand to her forehead. Accompanied by a very faint mechanical sound, a seam suddenly appeared on her forehead, and part of her "skull" moved backward under the force of the deformation device. Some precisely structured elements, shimmering with faint light, extended from it as rapidly flashing beams began to scan the entire room.

Meanwhile, this black-haired Maidservant Supervisor’s eyes turned cold and unfeeling, with the photosensitive units deep in her pupils adjusting slightly, beginning to carefully record all the scanned traces.

Under the detection of the scanning rays, large sections of the room’s floor, walls, furnishings, and even ceiling, glowed with fluorescence!

These were traces of splattered blood, terrifying remnants that could only be shown by spreading the entire blood of an adult. The clergy responsible for handling the place had already used alchemical potions and Divine Arts to remove the visible blood, but their handling clearly couldn’t escape Diana’s sight.

Suddenly, Diana’s gaze stopped.

She looked at the small platform holding the oil lamp. On the vertical surface below the platform near the ground, a line of dimly glowing letters, once smeared with blood, was faintly revealed to her.

"Devoted prayer, seek mercy, having obtained the sacred will... as you wish."

(Friendly book recommendation, "We Wild Monsters Don’t Want to Die," fantasy category, imaginative approach, omitted above and below, buttered to sacrifice to heaven.)