Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 635 - 634: Extended Defense Line

The chaotic and illusory sky shrouded the monochrome earth, with scenes stripped of color appearing flat and eerie in the view. A gentle breeze swept through, stirring up tiny black specks of dust, seemingly hiding countless pairs of watching eyes. Victoria stood in this black-and-white world, and even her usually indifferent face could not help but show a trace of astonishment.

The person who brought her this sense of wonder was right beside her. The half-elf, whose personality was a bit too lively, stood there proudly. Her long black hair floated softly like smoke in the air, her golden eyes filled with laughter, her lower half surrounded by a mist of shadow that never dissipated, as if she had become an elf of the shadow realm, cleverly merging with this world of black and white.

"...Unbelievable power," Victoria softly praised, looking at Amber for a few seconds, "You are the most powerful master of shadows I’ve ever seen; no wonder the Dark Raven failed twice at your hands. Indeed, there isn’t a single simple person under Duke Cecil."

"You can praise me more; it’s rare for someone to compliment me this much," Amber laughed with satisfaction. "Speaking of which, I remember that Dark Raven you mentioned—the one I kicked out of the shadow realm twice. You should persuade him when you get the chance. If nothing works, he might as well train with a longsword or war hammer because the path of shadow manipulation might not suit him..."

Those familiar with Amber knew that once she started talking, she’d quickly stray off-topic, and rarely would her words have much significance. Victoria, however, was still not quite accustomed to the half-elf’s pace, and was momentarily stunned, perhaps unsure of how to continue the conversation. But thankfully, Amber’s rants were brief, and without a response, she’d quickly shift topics herself. This half-elf moved her limbs, raising her eyes to the half-collapsed castle stacked in a peculiar manner in the distance, and in a tone as if preparing a heist, said, "Let’s not waste time; let’s get to work—that should be the shadow reflection of Tulip Castle over there."

Victoria lifted her head and saw the castle at the road’s end: black and white fragments stacked on the gray-black earth, among the ruins walls could be discerned. In this bizarre and chaotic shadow realm, the half-destroyed Tulip Castle showed a clear sense of disorder. Some of its structures seemed to have lost material detail, while other parts were overlapping and piled in ways defying natural laws, the whole castle appearing like a failed painting, lacking in coordination. Only the still-intact mage tower and some attached turrets stood clearly at the back of the castle.

This was Victoria’s first time entering the shadow realm—as a Frost Mage, her understanding of shadow manipulation was limited to theoretical knowledge. This mysterious and eerie world opened her eyes and made her appreciate the strength of the half-elf named Amber in shadow arts. She followed Amber, using spells like rapid stride and wind affinity to keep up with her, while she couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Why do you follow Duke Cecil?"

Amber moved through the shadow realm like a fish in water, the black smoke around her soaring freely in the air. Upon hearing Victoria’s question, she turned her head slightly, her face wearing a teasing smile: "What? Planning to poach me?"

Victoria solemnly shook her head: "No, that’s not what aristocrats do. If I truly wished to hire you, I would negotiate directly with Duke Cecil and formally seek your opinion. I’m just curious now."

"Ah, straightforward...but old man...Gawain is different," Amber laughed. "If he wanted to recruit someone, especially someone clearly unattainable through direct negotiation, he would undoubtedly use various underhanded means like clandestine persuasion and monetary inducement."

Feeling once more that the topic was hard to continue, Victoria could only shake her head: "...Our ways are somewhat different."

"That’s why I’m more suited to be with Gawain, not with ’orthodox’ aristocrats like you," Amber said casually. "Didn’t you just ask why I follow Duke Cecil? To be honest, it’s nothing much. I dug up his grave, and then got caught. I only went there to hide anyway."

Victoria looked at Amber in shock, as if to confirm whether she was joking.

"Can’t believe it, right? But that’s how it was," Amber said indifferently. "Honestly, I wasn’t happy being detained at first. I thought I’d pretend to agree and then escape with Gawain’s money when he’s not watching, but I realized something: I couldn’t win, really couldn’t win, and couldn’t escape either, so I had to stay. Turns out, it was the right decision—the pay went up the next year."

Victoria listened expressionlessly to all this, but her slightly flickering eyes showed that she was not as calm as she appeared. She gave Amber a profound look and said in the calmest terms possible, "I’ve never heard anyone describe their loyalty to an aristocrat this way. You...are really special."

"...Duchess, you’ve made a mistake," Amber suddenly stopped and looked at Victoria. "I’ve never pledged loyalty to Duke Gawain Cecil. I’ve never pledged loyalty to any aristocrat or their bloodline family."

Victoria’s indifferent expression was broken, and she looked at Amber in surprise.

"I’m not an aristocratic descendant. My extraordinary power is half natural talent and half from a thief executed by the church and aristocrats. Naturally, I lack the qualifications to swear allegiance to nobility, since I don’t even have a surname, nor do I need such qualifications," Amber said glibly. "At first, Gawain offered me a gold coin a month, so I was responsible for that coin. When my pay increased, I was responsible for the increased pay. Later, he established Cecil Castle, consolidated the Kant Region, freed serfs through work, allowed commoners to walk in the middle of the road, and let merchants bow to knights. I liked these changes, and my job was to maintain them.

"When he established the Cecil Principality, where citizens could read and work, from last year to the year before, no one starved in Cecil City during winter. That’s when I pledged loyalty—I secretly pledged my loyalty to the Cecil Principality in my heart.

"Duchess, I am not a noble, and even if Gawain gives me a noble title in the future, I could never fit into your standards of nobility. I haven’t pledged loyalty to Duke Cecil, nor to the Cecil Clan, nor to any so-called noble bloodline or title, although I respect everyone in the current Cecil Clan because they deserve it. Yet, I’ve never pledged loyalty to them, nor have they ever asked me to.

"If we must have a shared allegiance target, it’s only one thing—we pledge loyalty to what Gawain Cecil has built, not to him personally.

"Lady, if you cannot tell this difference, I’m afraid we will never be on the same path."

Victoria quietly looked at the half-elf before her. Upon entering the shadow realm, this half-elf lady seemed to change, not only in temperament but slightly in character. Yet the things she said...were perhaps her sincere thoughts.

"I will try my best to understand." Victoria said calmly.

"That’s your problem. To be honest, I’m not very fond of the aristocracy, most of them really, but recently I’ve found two exceptions, one is you, and the other is Belk, who lit the fire beacon," Amber turned around and continued walking, "I always thought the noble virtues they talked about were just bragging, but at least with you, I’ve seen something real—but then again, Duchess, an individual can’t represent the whole, I still don’t like the aristocrats."

Victoria matched the pace of the half-elf again, maintaining a brief silence, neither defending the aristocratic system nor explaining the significance of bloodline heritage to this half-elf who seemed to have deep prejudices against the aristocracy. Although she once cared about these things, at this moment, she didn’t feel like arguing for them at all.

After the silence, she merely asked a question, "In the past two winters, did not a single person starve in Cecil Castle?"

"Of course, we have a complete population registration and management system, every death and birth is recorded."

"...How did you manage that? Without a noble system..."

"Are you talking about food supply or population management?"

"Both."

"Oh, then we should start from the relationship between the land and the people," Amber looked up at the already not-so-far-away crumbling castle, "Perhaps we should talk about it from there..."

...

On the northern plains of Red Maple City, by the Gorgon River, Gawain stood on a lookout tower in the frontline camp, watching the busy scene towards the dock.

The artillery fire and flames drove away the corrupted pollution on this plain. The Cecil Legion successfully occupied a large dock that once belonged to the local leader. After tense renovation work, the Engineer Corps widened the roads and reinforced the stone piers based on the old dock, turning it into a temporary military dock. At this moment, tanks were orderly advancing towards the reinforced piers, and fully armed soldiers were lining up to board the ships.

On the river surface of the Gorgon River, three main battleships of the Cecil were patrolling away from the piers, and a series of escort gunboats converted from civilian ships or light gunships hastily built from the rear shipyard were cruising back and forth on the wide river. Several sturdy ships with wide decks and stable hulls were docked at the edge of the piers, loading those soldiers and tanks boarding the ships.

These freighters, which looked nothing like warships, were converted military cargo ships deployed from the rear—although converted for military use, due to limited time, they only had some steel plates added to their hulls’ key areas, a set of barrier generators welded onto the hulls, and a Magic Web Terminal installed inside the cabin that could connect with the Pioneer. They didn’t even have basic weapons systems (adding a weapons system would require large-scale modifications to the power spine, and the shipyard’s production capacity was insufficient). Their safety depended entirely on the escorting warships.

These "armored transport ships" were initially intended for evacuating refugees from the northern parts of the mountain range. At the outset of the ground troops’ advance north, they began modifications, but by the time it was completed, Gawain found there were hardly any refugees left in the contaminated area to be evacuated. Consequently, these ships were used to transport various supplies to the front lines, and today, they’ve embraced a new mission: to set sail with the Cecil fleet, fully loaded with tanks and soldiers, heading towards the St. Soniel Defense Line to secure that critical gateway.

This battalion traveling up the Gorgon River would reach St. Soniel several days ahead of the ground forces.

Footsteps approached from behind. Sir Philip came up to the lookout tower, saluted Gawain, and said, "The Steel Cavalry has already escorted Duchess Victoria and Amber near Tulip Castle. The warriors visually confirmed the Mage tower is still operational. If all goes well, the message will be sent to St. Soniel today."

"Good," Gawain nodded, "By the time they return, the loading here should be almost completed and ready to set sail."

Philip hesitated slightly, unable to resist confirming once more, "You really intend to go personally?"

Gawain laughed, "I’ve come this far; what’s the difference if I go a bit further north?"

"But the mission for this advance unit is demanding and dangerous—in order to promptly support the royal capital, it must separate from the main ground forces, and after reaching St. Soniel, it will have to fiercely hold its ground independently for at least five days. In the worst-case scenario, St. Soniel might fall before the advance unit arrives, thereby sending the unit directly into the deepest part of the monster’s encirclement—even with the cover from Pioneer and the battlestars Morning Star and Aurora, the losses could be tremendous."

"That’s why it needs a strong ground commander even more," Gawain glanced at Philip, "You must stay behind to command the main legion, so that leaves just me."

"...Indeed."

"I’ll go to St. Soniel first to organize the defense line. With the fire support from three main battleships, there shouldn’t be any problems in the north," Gawain smiled and patted Philip’s shoulder, "You just continue pushing forward according to the plan, secure the coastal defenses, prevent those monsters from further contaminating the west bank, and finally, we’ll rendezvous at St. Soniel—close the blockade line."

Having said that, he took a light breath and said softly, "As for whether the royal capital will fall before then... Victoria has confidence that Baldwin and Wales can defend St. Soniel, so I’ll trust her this time."