Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 656 - 655: Trap

This will be one of the most challenging and risky operations since the Cecil Legion came into being.

Yet, before the operation succeeds, and before the secret behind it can be revealed, the vast majority of those involved will not know the truth.

Mortals will attempt to hunt a god—though it is merely a fabricated god, and the most crucial part of the operation is to be completed by a powerful ally, the essence of this action remains astonishingly audacious. In a world dominated by religion, where belief is commonplace, ordinary people would not dare imagine such a thing. Even the powerful and well-organized Cecil Legion might face issues like morale instability and reduced combat effectiveness if they were faced with the truth before the operation starts.

The majority of the soldiers will only know the orders issued by their superiors, even many middle and lower-level commanders will only know the contents of their specific tasks. The ones who truly understand what they are up against are only the highest commanders of the army, the top officials in the Administrative Office, and those who devised this whole plan.

Iron Throne Commander Maryland stood inside the tactical section of the armored train, through the shielded car windows, he saw soldiers busy moving across the armed platform and various parts of the defense line, vehicles transporting ammunition, and tanks heading towards different nodes of the defense line, set against a backdrop of a sky looming ominously over the land, distant scorched city walls and sentinel towers silently standing on the plains, everything felt somber and oppressive, as if heralding the arrival of a storm.

A deputy officer wearing a black military uniform entered the tactical section, saluted the Maryland Knight, and loudly announced, "General, all units have been deployed and are ready, railroad inspection is complete, all units are functioning normally!"

Maryland snapped out of his thoughts and nodded, "Good—where is that monster now?"

"The target is still wandering in the southwest direction but is gradually approaching the defense line overall," the deputy immediately replied, "Currently, it’s about fifteen kilometers away."

"Has the ’Braves’ commando unit reached the designated position?"

"The commando unit has arrived and is circling the target’s perimeter, awaiting orders."

"Continue to stand by..." Maryland drew a gentle breath in and slowly exhaled, "The order will come soon."

"Yes, General!" the deputy replied crisply and efficiently, then turned and returned to the communications platform, while Maryland looked away from the window, looked back at the holographic image projected above another Magic Web Terminal.

The sacred yet eerie, majestic yet terrifying Giant Stag was roaming restlessly on the plains, compared to when it first appeared, it had clearly awakened further, some indescribable power beyond human comprehension and beyond the "magic" knowledge enveloped it, wherever it passed, within hundreds of meters radius, anomalies occurred, half of the earth was scorched and lifeless, while the other half bloomed endlessly with flowers and vines, full of life, as if life and death’s natural law had received some manifestation naturally expanding around this monster.

However, this was not a monster, it was a god, resurrected by the Oblivion Association sacrificing countless humans with forbidden methods—the God of Nature.

Whenever he thought of this truth, Maryland would feel his heartbeat accelerate. In the past few decades of life, he never could have imagined being involved in such an event during his lifetime. However, just as the priests often say—fate is fickle...

But to speak of the irony, if even gods can be fabricated and even gods can be slain, then do the priests’ words still hold any meaning?

Maryland collected his thoughts, allowing his accelerated heartbeat to gradually calm down.

He is a Knight and an aristocrat, albeit the Cecil aristocratic system has undergone drastic changes, and although the knights of the new era are vastly different from the old days, he still would not forsake the oath he swore when he first took up the knight’s sword.

Since he has decided to pledge allegiance, then he must be loyal to the end.

...

The winding White River flows from west to east, traversing Cecil, crossing Gran, and flowing into the land of the Duke of the East. This river which is the lifeline of the southern borders suddenly slows down upon reaching the eastern lands, branching into several tributaries, transforming into gentle streams among fertile fields and hills, while before the first fork of the river channel, the White Sand Dunes have quietly lain along the riverbank for millennia, backed by the plains of the east, gazing at the mountains of the southern borders.

Miners and technical personnel have already evacuated, with only the security forces of the White Sand Mining Company—which includes a combat battalion, two tank platoons, and artillery units fixed on various hills of the mining area—left to maintain order to prevent any uninformed aristocrats from the Duke of the East from unintentionally disrupting this carefully prepared stage. Shortly after, the security forces will also withdraw to minimize loss of personnel to the greatest extent possible.

On a hill near the river in the mining area, Holme gazed at the rippling White River nearby and the magic energy rail extending straight through the woods north of the riverbank, a worried expression on his face.

"This mining area might not be salvageable, huh?" The mine manager, born a serf, spoke to the female of another race beside him, "Such a large-scale action... back when we attacked Rocky Ridges Fortress, it wasn’t as dynamic as this."

"The facilities of the mine will certainly need reconstruction, but even the fiercest battles seldom destroy nature itself." Tiel gently shook the tip of her tail that stood up, she glanced at the young man in front of her—this manager is neither a military leader nor a high-ranking official of the Administrative Office, and so he does not know all the secrets of this operation. He only knows that the Cecil Legion is cooperating with ’another race’s ally’ to attempt to ambush a powerful monster, and so Tiel did not elaborate.

However, what she said was not merely consolation but rather the accumulated wisdom of the sea demons over their long history.

The wars of mortals usually only destroy the mortals themselves and rarely shake the foundations of nature, even now, as they aim to hunt an artificial god, this fact does not change.

Ultimately, sea demons have never regarded those "gods" worshipped by humans as real gods.

"You should evacuate with the security forces in an hour," Tiel looked up at the sky, seeing the clouds gathering, the glorious daylight gradually being obscured, "I need to prepare."

While speaking, she extended her coiled tail, the enchantingly mysterious serpentine tail moved like some kind of magical vine, surface faintly gleaming with magical light. Holme instinctively looked at the ’another race female’s’ inhuman limb, despite knowing she is an ally of the southern borders, he couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable and curiously asked, "I’ve heard some legends about sea demons... as told by a bard, he said that before the seas were sealed, back when human ships could still sail the far seas, sailors would sometimes encounter sea demons; you often sang magical songs at sea, luring ships into traps... is this true?"

"We do sing at sea, but we do not lure human ships into traps," Tiel said amusingly, "back in the day, should humans occasionally drift into dangerous waters, we would secretly help them... sea demons do not wish for the sea to swallow any lifeforms not belonging to the ocean, the water quality would worsen."

Having gained some pointless foreign knowledge, the inquisitive Holme contentedly left, preparing to pack some personal items for evacuation with the security forces, while Tiel remained on the hill by the riverbank. When the time was right, she climbed onto a Magic Crystal Tower atop the hill.

The serpent’s tail coiled around the crystals of the magic devices, and magic power established a secret connection. The runes on Tiel’s body shimmered faintly as she opened her hands and began to hum an ancient and incomprehensible deep-sea shanty.

Although somewhat problematic in style and appearing unreliable, Tiel was actually among the relatively conservative faction of the sea demons. She adored the oldest and most traditional sea demon songs and excelled at weaving magic into these ancient tunes, unlike other new-generation sea demons who always delve into peculiar magic chants.

Magic fields surged, leaping between the Crystal Towers and sentinel towers, with intangible magic riding the deep ripples of time and space, sending the song filled with information into the realm of elements. Tiel sang softly, feeling the orderly rhythm of magic power and elements, and sighed contentedly in her heart:

The group of death metal tide callers... they’re forever the heretics.

...

Plains of the Holy Spirits, the "Braves" strike team, Hunter sat inside his vehicle, looking through the periscope at that indescribable monster in the distance. The faint blue light of the Mind Protection System reflected softly on this gunner’s cheeks, peaceful and serene.

He was a civilian from old Cecil, one of over eight hundred refugees during the initial rebuild of Cecil.

Before donning military attire, he was a hunter.

He still remembered the forest beside old Cecil that once enabled him to support his family. He also remembered the fires blazing in the town when aberrations invaded the territory and the cries of his neighbors. He remembered how the soldiers covering their retreat fell and when the new camp was established, how he led the hunting squad into the mountains, bringing back the first batch of meat while survivors cheered.

Born in the countryside, he felt that he had experienced many events that others might never encounter in their lifetime. If these events were written down, they might fill a book.

The night school teacher once said that most civilians of this era would not fill a sheet of paper with their life experiences, but Cecil’s civilians were fortunate; they had much more to write compared to others.

Hunter wasn’t sure if all his experiences constituted luck, but he still remembered the joy beyond anything he’d felt before when Duke Gawain Cecil awarded him an honor medal after the new camp first repelled an aberration attack.

This joy motivated him, leading him to enlist during the third expansion of the legion, learn new skills, and come to this scorched plain to become one of the "Braves."

The faint light of the Mind Protection System calmed the hunter’s heart. In an oddly relaxing atmosphere, he once again placed his eyes on the periscope, observing the distant target.

Indeed, life hadn’t changed much; his tasks remained the same as before.

The hunter was here, while the prey was over there, with patience and cautious waiting in between.

Though the prey was somewhat bigger, the hunter no longer held a bow and arrow.

Hunter placed his hand on the activation device of the Rail Cannon. He had to fire very cautiously and accurately because there was only one shell on this vehicle.

The other few vehicles around also had only one shell each.

In fact, not only did they carry only one shell, but even vehicle personnel were reduced to just two people—a gunner and observer, and a driver and captain. This was the minimum personnel required for the "Warhammer-I" tank to operate—all in effort to reduce weight and improve the tank’s speed and maneuverability, increasing their chances of survival after firing.

After all, to that monster, a regular tank cannon was largely ineffective apart from provoking anger.

Just then, the vehicle’s communication console flashed an alert signal, orders from superiors arrived.

"Start the operation!"

...

In the depths of the Endless Sea, on the land named "Aeo Continent" by the sea demons, a massive Elemental Warp Tower had been activated. Surging energy drove this advanced and intricate machine, causing its shell-like structures to emit a faint glow, while the spherical device at the top of the tower rippled dreamily. Above the tower, an astonishing energy had accumulated into a blurred vortex, stirring the clouds, rotating continuously.

On the plaza below the tower, thousands of sea demons gathered, prepared and solemn.

Even lively sea demons have moments of seriousness.

On the platform beside the plaza, Sea Demon Queen Petia stood at the front, holding a trident scepter. A Deep Sea Handmaiden approached her, respectfully bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, Tiel has sent the coordinates, with recognition code: Tides, Feast."

The Sea Demon Queen nodded lightly. "Activate the Rift Generator."

Under the manipulation of deep water technicians, the Warp Tower emitted a peculiar sound like waves. The illusory vortex above the tower instantly expanded and solidified; accompanied by terrifying energy fluctuations, the vortex unfolded into an inverted funnel, enveloping the entire plaza in a light curtain, completely isolating it from the outside world.

Among the sea demons on the plaza, General Vanessa raised her trident high, commanding:

"Attention everyone—Evaporate!!"