Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 677 - 676: Gawain’s Path

The celebration is taking place both inside and outside the castle. After the morning ceremony, there will be a grand parade and various traditional festivities in the square. Almost everyone in the city has the opportunity to fully relax on this day, and the newly designed ceremony will undoubtedly push people’s celebratory enthusiasm to its peak.

But before the evening banquet begins, the new ruler of this Empire is no longer required to attend the following activities.

Gawain sat quietly in the room. He didn’t draw the curtains or turn on the lights, allowing the dim and quiet environment to gradually envelop him. The sounds of celebration from inside and outside the castle faintly reached his ears. They were mixed with music, laughter, dance steps, and the bursting sound of magic fireworks. These sounds were distant and ethereal, emphasizing the quietness in the room even more.

Through observing and inquiring with Merita Ponia, he could finally confirm that the Black Pit was indeed related to the gods, and some measures in the defied Plan were indeed effective in avoiding the Black Pit.

Of course, Gawain had already suspected this before, but it was only today that his suspicions were confirmed.

In the dark and silent room, he curled his fingers and tapped the table lightly in a rhythmic manner.

"The Dragonkin are still trapped in the Black Pit... It’s not that they didn’t encounter the Black Pit, but rather, after encountering the Black Pit, they are ’stuck’ in this state..." Many thoughts crossed his mind, "Did they also attempt a ’defiance’ act, and then failed? Were they discovered by the gods, or...

"It’s a pity there’s no way to inquire. Judging by Merita’s condition, any dragon in the know probably can’t answer questions regarding this... What happened to her when she tried to speak about the Black Pit and the gods?

"Was it divine interference? Or... a materialized mental Steel Stamp? If an attempt to break through the Black Pit fails, does the mental Steel Stamp transform into a manifestable force?

"If this is true, then every step of the defied Plan must be even more cautious... Even the Dragonkin can’t escape its grasp, and once humans fall into the Steel Stamp state, it would surely be a never-ending perdition."

The unconscious tapping stopped. Gawain turned his head slightly, looking at the empty space beside him: "Almost out of seeds? Drink some water, stop eating, there’s still a banquet tonight."

Amber’s figure appeared from thin air, grabbing the last few seeds, her feet surrounded by seed shells. She stared wide-eyed at Gawain, looking dissatisfied: "Can’t you pretend you haven’t noticed me for once? I, as a dignified stealth user, do have professional pride!"

"You, a dignified personal guard, managed to finish two pounds of seeds in an hour in the Empire’s Sovereign’s room, and you tell me about professional pride?" Gawain glared at her, "Clean it up yourself. On my first day after coronation, I can’t let the court archives note ’Empire’s Sovereign returned to the room and inexplicably consumed two pounds of seeds’ on the first day."

Amber threw away the last bit of seed shells, clapped her hands, and while gathering the seed shells with her toes, muttered quietly, "I kinda regret not seeing what you’ve written... What exactly did you give to that agent?"

"...Just some knowledge for future generations."

Amber stared intently at Gawain: "But why are you talking about overthrowing the Empire? Even... overthrowing yourself..."

Gawain, pondering, sighed gently: "Indeed... I didn’t expect to do these things either."

He had always been clear about why he had walked to today, and how he was planning to continue tomorrow, but not everything on this clear path developed as he anticipated.

At the beginning, his goal was simple. He just wanted to live, and after enduring millions of years of solitude, he was finally able to stand on the land in human form again. What a surprise it was for him at that time. He wanted to live, to live in human form—but surviving in this world wasn’t as easy as imagined.

In order to survive and leave the old Cecil ruins, he had to lead a few orphaned descendants and followers to carve a path of blood; to find a foothold in this era, he had to, as Gawain Cecil, lead refugees to develop a piece of land. To prepare for an uncertain chaotic wave and for neighboring threats, he must develop his power...

This was a road that could not be stopped, and Gawain himself did not intend to stop it.

After all, he wasn’t innately a complacent person. Having given such a rare opportunity for another life, he was unwilling to just live an ordinary life either.

But the longer he lived in this world, the more he interacted with those of flesh and blood, the more he found himself unable to escape the influence brought by "living again."

Responsibility is something innate. When he chose to inherit Gawain Cecil’s legacy, he was destined to bear the associated responsibility, and as he personally influenced many people’s destinies, the responsibility became his own.

He didn’t know when his mindset began to gradually change, but he knew that after doing so many things along the way, his mindset must have correspondingly changed—no change would make him suspicious. He would suspect whether he had been completely transformed by the "satellite," wondering if on the surface he appeared to be a creature of flesh and blood, yet inside, he was a machine devoid of blood and tears.

He realized his goal was no longer just about "surviving" after he had conquered the eastern area of the Spirit Plain, entered the Silver Castle, had a long talk with Wales Moen, and looked back at the path he had traveled.

He wanted to live, and countless people relied on him to live. Even at this stage, the whole magic-industrial society’s order depended on him to survive—the converse was equally true. He had reached this position relying on countless people and things.

This was a grand symbiotic relationship, at least for now.

So Gawain wanted to take a big initiative, to not have lived in vain, to live up to his efforts so far.

And as for what else drives him to continue down this path... even he himself couldn’t say clearly.

He shook his head and smiled at Amber: "Maybe it’s because my ambition is too great, pursuing things too shockingly unconventional."

"...I can’t figure out what you’re thinking, but since it’s something you did, there must be a reason," Amber scratched her head, quickly putting aside the things she couldn’t comprehend, "Anyway, I’m just watching from the side. I’ll eventually figure out what you want to do."

Gawain glanced at this half-elf: "You have quite a broad mind."

Amber puffed out her chest proudly instead of feeling ashamed: "That’s my greatest strength."

Gawain shook his head with a smile and then said half-jokingly, "Let’s not talk about this. Last time you said you’d pray to your God to seek the truth. Did you find any answers?"

He was casually asking, not expecting Amber to give a real answer. After all, communicating with gods is never easy, even if she’s really a Chosen. Directly hearing divine messages requires lots of preparation and luck—at least that’s how it is with other religions.

But he didn’t expect Amber to nod immediately: "I went back and asked! But no answers."

"You really asked?!" Gawain’s eyes widened, and he instinctively stood up. "No answers? The Goddess of Shadows didn’t respond?"

"Couldn’t get through, divine message said ’Goddess is not on duty, try again later,’" Amber said with a serious tone, "Based on my experience, this ’later’ will take at least a month..."

Gawain looked at the half-elf in bewilderment, yet saw no hint of joking on her face.

The key point is... what kind of "divine message" is this? Does the Shadow Sect usually receive this type of message? That seems unlikely, right?

"Is this kind of message normal for you?" Gawain felt his corner of the mouth twitching, yet his tone remained somewhat calm.

Amber thought for a moment, nodding: "Actually, it’s fairly common. Although I have a good relationship with the Goddess, it seems she’s not always available to respond to me. Most of the time, it’s this kind of reply."

Gawain furrowed his brow slightly.

Let’s not discuss whether Amber is just spouting nonsense, assuming what she said is true, does this imply... it’s really difficult for the Goddess of Shadows to respond to this world, even to her own ’Chosen’?

With various speculations in mind, Gawain asked another question: "Are there any other contents besides this ’message’?"

Amber replied with a straightforward face: "Oh yeah, the Goddess left me a recipe in advance, told me to study it carefully when I get back..."

Gawain: "...Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

Gawain rubbed his forehead, feeling an unprecedented headache. He looked at this half-elf with an exceptionally natural attitude, unable to suppress his doubts: "Are you really a Shadow Chosen? Are you sure the divine messages you’re talking about aren’t just hallucinations from taking too much shadow potion?"

Amber immediately glared, with an expression of "If it wasn’t for being unable to defeat you, I’d fight you to the end today," glaring at Gawain: "You can question my power, but you can’t question my faith! I’ve told you so many times already..."

"I’m mainly curious," Gawain interrupted before she could finish, "As a Chosen, at least you should have some extraordinary characteristics. Even if you show a shadow realm divine technique or a miracle, it’s fine. Can you?"

"I can backflip into the shadow realm, what kind of shadow realm miracle do you want?" Amber placed her hands on her hips, leaning forward as if to show a bit of aggressive momentum, but that made her have to tilt her neck at least ninety degrees just to see Gawain’s face, resulting in an exceptionally comical pose, "Do you want me to run into the shadow realm and drag out a shadow inhabitant to perform getting beaten up by them in front of you?"

"That makes sense too, your shadow affinity is in itself a miracle..." Gawain waved his hand, then his face filled with confusion, "But why perform getting beaten up?"

Amber held her pose and reasoned with conviction: "Well, I can’t beat them!"

"You..."

Gawain watched the half-elf with his eyebrows twitching, after a few seconds of speechlessness, he finally couldn’t suppress his laughter.

In this moment, all the pressures from the dangers of the Black Trap, the threat of gods, the heavy responsibility of ruling an empire, the future risks, and the current road difficulties, all seemed to dissipate like smoke.

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing for a solid half minute, then he took a deep breath to calm down, but his eyes still carried a smile: "Alright, let’s leave it at this for now. Until you can contact your Goddess, we won’t discuss it further."

Amber frowned: "Although you say that, I can’t shake the feeling you were mocking me just now..."

"I wasn’t, I just suddenly felt good," Gawain said with a smile, shook his head, and then walked to the window, casually waving his hand, the curtains parted to the sides.

Outside the window, bright sunlight shone upon St. Soniel, celebrations were being held in the square outside the castle, and preparations for a bonfire and magical performances were being made in the courtyard within, the ancient city was lively this day, flags waving.

No matter what the future holds, today is a beautiful day.

"Let’s go to the courtyard and get some fresh air."