Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 655 - 654: A Crisis Perfectly Arranged

As he saw the imagery transmitted from Iron Throne-Zero, Gawain couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

The madmen actually created a counterfeit "Amoen, the Giant Stag"...

The counterfeit had obviously spiraled out of control; the cracked flesh and deformed body attested to that. Yet, the holy radiance surrounding it and the light-forged antlers mirrored those of the real "Amoen." Without doubt, it was an incredible creation — despite being an enemy, despite following a misguided path, the biotechnological prowess held by the Oblivion Association left Gawain astounded.

They must have collected genetic material derived from the God of Nature within humans and used some kind of reverse-engineering to shape this monster. That level of technical skill...

Couldn’t they just use it for something beneficial?

Gawain could only sigh at this now, but the high-ranking members of the Oblivion Association were likely wiped out by the awakening of this terrifying Artificial God, leaving him with no outlet to express his questions or sighs. All he could do was find a way to deal with this enormous mess.

He glanced at the Magic Web Terminal before him, where the holographic projection displayed Maryland’s half-figure. Behind the commander, the busy scene at the Iron Throne Tactical Command Center unfolded, with holographic projections flickering in the background and many personnel carrying documents hurrying in the cabin. Clearly, the appearance of the "Giant Stag" had made everyone anxious.

"What’s the current situation? Is this... monster still at its location?"

"Yes," Maryland’s voice had a slight distortion, perhaps due to interference from the intense energy field surging across the Plains of the Holy Spirits. "In the first contact, it showed strong aggression, destroying two of our vehicles and killing the soldiers inside, but quickly stopped moving and roamed the plains..."

"I’ve dispatched several teams to monitor the monster from afar, and it can be confirmed that when our soldiers approach the monster at a certain distance, it will activate and start attacking. But after a period or upon failing to find a target, it will halt..."

"Its activity range is gradually expanding, and the monitoring personnel notice it growing increasingly restless.

"We suspect it has not fully awakened yet. Perhaps it needs a few more days, or maybe just a day or two, and it will completely ’wake up’..."

Gawain attentively listened to Maryland’s report while another holographic projection next to him showed some footage of the "Artificial God."

The bizarre monster rampages across the plains, firing using some plasma-like stream attack mode, scorching trenches on the earth with searing heat. It emits a frenzied roar, a chaotic noise indescribable by human language accompanies its movement, driving numerous Crystal Cluster Giants even further into madness. As it roams the earth, radiant light surrounds it, causing birds, beasts, and even Crystal Cluster Giants to collapse en masse, with countless flowers blooming and vines unfurling over their corpses...

And in some distant footage, it wanders confusedly on the plains, seemingly without purpose, yet occasionally bursts into a manic sprint, indiscriminately attacking all targets.

Every characteristic perfectly aligns with the standard of "frenzy."

This is the "Divine Power" created by the Oblivion Association.

According to Maryland’s report, this monster is immensely powerful. It barely fears the shells of main battle tanks, and theoretically, nor would it be slain even by fixed-ground giant cannons and currently maximum power-calibrated beams. It also possesses a frightening attack potential, able to easily slice open the hull of main battle tanks with summoned energy beams, puncture shields made by Steel Envoys with a single strike. It can also invoke uncanny and defiant supernatural forces, transforming all life forms near it into vines and blossoming meadows without shield protection, meaning that conventional ground troops would suffer complete casualties within a certain radius around this monster...

This is the strongest enemy faced by the Cecil Legion since its establishment.

Yet Gawain judged this Giant Stag as still an unaccomplished replica, and even suspected the Oblivion Association believers merely forged a monster with only traces of divine power.

Because the flesh of this "Giant Stag" wasn’t as impervious to harm as he imagined. Warhammer-I’s main cannon could harm it, hinder it — with current mortal power capable of such harm, it suggested the Giant Stag on the Plains of the Holy Spirits was merely a crude monster.

Leveraging the entire strength of the southern borders, with considerable sacrifice, employing overwhelming ranged firepower beyond its self-healing limits, and pre-set traps, might still allow independently slaying this "Artificial God" — this was Gawain’s estimation based on intelligence.

But it was just an estimate since he had no intention of undertaking such enormous sacrifice to deal with this "counterfeit" — with the Empire’s foundation yet unstable, its interior hollowed while external enemies lurk, conserving strength was paramount, and this threat... should be left to the ravenous deep-sea visitors.

It’s time for this drama to end.

The monster should have just left its "warm nest," wandering the plains in a semi-dream-like state, soon fully awakening to instinctive destruction — before then, traps must be prepared.

...

On the southern borders, at Cecil Castle, beside White River, a fast mechanical ship set to leave for Rocky Ridges Fortress was docked at the pier. Several Magic-guided Vehicles bearing the Sword and Plough Emblem were parked along the broad path to the jetty, as people preparing to embark bid farewell to loved ones at the roadside. Sea Demon Tiel lazily lounged by the docks, watching the scene with a hint of boredom.

"Lounging" rather than "curling" because she’s currently using her fish tail.

Humans truly are strange beings... or perhaps all short-lived, fragile species appear odd to sea demons. These humans hold such regard for brief separations; even with merely a few hundred kilometers distance, even for just a short time apart, they linger for half the day in farewells, incorporating what seem like "ceremonial" elements, like exchanging tokens, sharing blessings... such things seem amusing initially, but grow dull with repetition.

At least to Miss Tiel, who preferred lazing in the sun at the docks over these mundane proceedings.

Tiel stretched with a yawn, from head to tail, then flexed her fish tail with a flip, flopping the entire fish over onto the concrete pier, resuming her sun-soaked nap.

Yet a shadow suddenly approached, blocking the warm, comforting sunshine and startling the drowsy Tiel awake.

The sea demon lifted her head, looking at the figure approaching her - the other person was dressed in a simple white dress, gray-white hair tied up at the back, holding a wide-brimmed sun hat that’s been popular recently in the southern borders, with a noticeable scar on her cheek, a familiar acquaintance:

The head of the Rune Research Center, Cecil’s chief rune expert, Miss Jenni Perot.

Tiel rubbed her eyes: "Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your friends?"

"There’s nothing to say goodbye to, I’ll be back soon anyway," Jenni said with a leisurely smile, "I just came to greet you..."

"Your habit of speaking formally to everyone is really hard to adapt to," Tiel yawned, "What’s there to greet me about... I’m just basking in the sun here."

"Thank you for entrusting those mysterious runes to us for research. According to information from the front lines, those runes indeed had an effect, saving many soldiers’ lives," Jenni sincerely bowed her head, "It’s embarrassing that we can only use them superficially; we’ve yet to decode the secrets of those runes..."

"Then you must take your time to decode them because even we don’t know how those runes operate," Tiel patted the ground with her tail, "Perhaps someday, you’ll have a chance to see the Big Squid, refer to the patterns on its surface, and you might understand... Your way of thinking and perception are different from ours, perhaps you’ll see things we can’t?"

Jenni immediately smiled: "I look forward to that day."

"Let’s not talk about this," Tiel propped herself up, wobbling to support her with her fish tail, and raised her head to glance at the mechanical ship not far away, "... Are you heading towards that St. Soniel city? Gawain is over there?"

"... Yes," Jenni seemed to pause for a moment before she spoke, "A lot of manpower is needed over there to restore order, and the Duke requires a batch of scholars to sort out the royal archives and the Mage Association’s documents, preparing to receive Anzu’s technological legacy... I’ve been assigned to lead a team of rune experts to assist."

"I heard you’re from that city," Tiel curiously glanced at the friend she had met during the exchange of technology, the end of her fish tail obliviously patting the concrete ground, "Do you have acquaintances over there?"

Acquaintances...

Jenni paused briefly, then turned her head to look at the White River shimmering under the breeze, at the mechanical ship retracting its magic energy wingboard, toward the direction of the royal capital.

As the chief runemaster, she smiled slightly: "Indeed, there are acquaintances."

Then, she bid farewell to Tiel and turned to head toward the mechanical ship docked nearby.

Tiel blinked, seemingly sensing a subtle emotional fluctuation in the runemaster at that moment, yet being not so familiar with humans, she couldn’t quite decipher it. She could only shake her head, stretch lazily, preparing to turn over once more before the sun set.

However, today she was destined not to sleep in.

A series of hurried footsteps came from not far away, clearly heading in her direction, Tiel raised her eyelids to see a young lady in a black uniform running toward her.

It was Sheriff Joan from the docks district, rumored to have a brother working at a factory - since Tiel often came to the riverbank for sunbathing, she was familiar with this sheriff lady.

"Miss Tiel!" The young sheriff quickly reached the "Ship Consultant," saluting briskly, "The Administrative Office has sent a message, requesting you to attend a meeting immediately."

"Huh? Looking for me?" Tiel scratched her head, "What’s the matter?"

"I’m not really sure... but Lady Heidi asked me to convey a message to you, saying you’ll understand," the sheriff lady said with a serious face, "’The meal is served, prepare to dine.’"

"Dining? Does it need to go to the Administrative Office..." At first, Tiel didn’t quite get it (having soaked up almost a day’s worth of sun), but the next moment she bounced up, "Meal’s served?! Okay, I get it—I’m right on my way!"

Before the words finished, the sea demon had already turned into a ball of mist, and the next second, switched to the more easy-to-move water snake form, rapidly departing.

Unless seen with one’s eyes, nobody would believe a big bug could burrow this fast...

...

In St. Soniel, within the Silver Castle, Gawain had already established connections with the southern borders.

"Our Elemental Warp Tower is ready; now all we need is a guiding beacon," projected by the Magic Web Terminal’s hologram, Sea Demon Tiel said with a solemn face, "I need a relatively stable environment, preferably with a nearby river or similar water body, where I will release the signal and provide guidance - then, you have to figure out how to lure that Stag into the trap."

"... This is a pretty risky thing."

Gawain frowned, his gaze slowly sweeping past the map hanging on the wall not far away.

The sea demons can cross the Endless Sea through a method called "elemental warping," but this process is accompanied by a very noticeable phenomenon of energy focus. Even though that Giant Stag is foggy-minded, it probably wouldn’t be foolish enough to wait in place for this process to complete, hence to ensure the success rate of "hunting," the trap must be prepared in another location in advance, then use some method to lure the Giant Stag into this trap.

While pondering, Gawain gradually came up with a plan.