Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 245 - 244: The Young Wolf General

In the communication hall, Kamel gazed longingly at the nine hundred seventy-two seats that were now forever silent.

One familiar name after another flashed through his mind, and behind those names were faces that had begun to blur in his memory. He vaguely remembered the day the Watcher Team first settled in this facility and the vows everyone had made here still echoed in his ears.

Voluntarily giving up everything that comes with being human, in the name of humanity, to watch over this fortress, to guard the hope and seeds within it, until the long night passes, until the lights are rekindled, until the light of civilization once again illuminates this world.

The Watchers did not break their vow. Today, the last Watcher would fulfill the promises made a thousand years ago.

Kamel stood at the front of the hall, in front of the wall where the final message had once been projected. The rune armor plates rubbed against the air as he bent slightly to bid farewell to his old comrades.

Gawain and Aunt Heidi stood silently at the entrance of the hall, waiting quietly for Kamel.

"Ancestor, what are you thinking about?" Aunt Heidi asked softly, looking at Gawain’s expression.

Gawain sighed lightly: "Thinking about those things that don’t quite add up."

Aunt Heidi looked puzzled: "Things that don’t quite add up?"

"The locking of this facility," Gawain shook his head slightly, "This facility was sealed a thousand years ago, and the Watchers and the ’seeds’ simultaneously entered a state of stasis, yet the chaotic wave didn’t actually erupt until seven hundred years ago. That’s a full three hundred years early... don’t you find that unnecessary?"

"Perhaps the scholars realized the terrors of the chaotic wave. They might have believed that waiting until the wave actually erupted to seal and enter stasis would be too late," Aunt Heidi speculated, "So it was necessary to store some seeds in stasis before the disaster truly hit, so that one day, if civilization were to perish, they could awaken and rebuild the Empire..."

Gawain didn’t commit, and after a brief pause, he continued: "According to Kamel, besides the ’seeds’ as the main force of rebuilding, the Watchers responsible for guarding the fortress were all the core executors of the former ’defied Plan’. They were the finest Master Mages, the most cutting-edge scholars, each invaluable. Once the defied Fortress completed its mission, all peripheral staff of the plan withdrew from here, but the real core, leadership, and those in the know, nearly all went into deep stasis in the fortress, and outside, none of what they returned to the imperial capital was ever seen by the public..."

Aunt Heidi frowned, seemingly realizing what Gawain was trying to say.

Gawain immediately pointed out another suspicious element: "Lastly, it seems the Gondor Empire didn’t warn its neighboring countries about the chaotic wave."

"You mean the elves, dwarves, and beastmen?" Aunt Heidi raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps the Empire didn’t intend to warn them? The Gondor Royalty of that time only thought about preserving human civilization through the disaster and didn’t think of..."

"No, the Gondor Empire of that time was completely different from what you think," Gawain shook his head, "Since entering the later stages of the Meteoric Era, the Gondor Empire was the most powerful state on this continent, but this human empire didn’t rely on violence and conquest to get along with other races—though it was also because of the Well of Deep Blue’s limitation, the Gondor Empire flourished at its peak without being able to expand outward, so emperors of all generations chose to maintain their strength while maintaining friendly relations with the surrounding nations.

"From Kamel’s active years until the chaotic wave broke out three hundred years later, the Gondor Empire was then enjoying a golden age with the elves and dwarves, especially with the Silver Empire established by the elves. The ’Sherlin Pact’ of the time brought human and elf relations to a peak, with a third of the elven royal heirs studying in the Gondor imperial capital and the human merchants’ footprints covering the entire Silver Empire. If relations weren’t so close, the post-chaotic wave elves wouldn’t have been so eager to help human refugees. Besides constructing the great walls, elves also took in the human southern pioneering knights, and now the southern Highmountain Kingdom is almost a collaboration between elves and humans of that time.

"Thus... if humans had known about the chaotic wave earlier, they would have at least warned the elves," Aunt Heidi understood Gawain’s doubts completely, "But Kamel never mentioned anything in this regard... all he knew was always just about preserving human civilization."

"Kamel was just a technical staff, so he might not know the full plans of the higher-ups, but with the intelligence I have, it can be confirmed that the elves also didn’t know of the chaotic wave," Gawain nodded, "At least... their civilians knew nothing about it."

"All information was locked," Aunt Heidi took a light breath, "Most members of the defied Plan were locked and put into stasis in this fortress, their results never made public, the Gondor Royalty neither informed the public about the chaotic wave nor warned any race on the continent. If initially, it was said to prevent panic by controlling information, that still makes some sense, but they were still controlling information after the chaotic wave had erupted... that becomes hard to understand... those in the know, what exactly were they afraid of? Was it merely concern for public panic?"

"...I don’t know," after a long silence, Gawain could only shake his head, "But I know, what they feared must have been more complex than just the chaotic wave itself..."

Gawain didn’t share all his doubts with Aunt Heidi. In fact, besides the illogical "information control" of that time, he also sensed another discord within the entire event: The ancient Gondor Royalty seemed to have misjudged the scale of the chaotic wave.

From the last message they sent to the defied Fortress, they clearly believed that the defied Fortress would house the final human survivors after the chaotic wave—maybe even the last survivors of all mortal civilizations, while in reality, seven hundred years ago the chaotic wave didn’t even come close to wiping out all human civilization, as a large number of refugees from the Gondor Empire escaped the wasteland.

According to Tiel, the event seven hundred years ago was just a "little chaotic wave."

The Gondor Royalty at the time evidently made a misjudgment, mistaking that chaotic wave for a Great Magic Tide that could destroy the entire world...

But was this misjudgment... really just a mistake caused by nerves? Or was the chaotic wave that erupted seven hundred years ago... actually meant to be enough to destroy the world?

Everything is a mystery now.

Kamel completed his final farewell, came to Gawain, and bowed slightly: "I have delayed for quite a bit of time."

"No worries, we were just discussing some matters," Gawain stopped his discussion with Aunt Heidi and turned to nod at Kamel, "Rest assured, I will collect every body here and give them a proper burial, so that the world will remember every sacrifice."

"I thank you on their behalf," Kamel said, "Next, I will unlock all the remaining sample storage in the fortress, hoping these ancient items will be of use in this era."

At the same moment, on the border between Anzu and Typhon, a young Knight Commander stood in a high command tower, in the room at the top of the tower, gazing through the window at the faint silhouette of the mountains in the snowstorm.

Winter had arrived, and a heavy snowfall that began two days ago continued to this day. In the face of this natural power, even the Dark Mountain Range was clothed in silver, and as the mountain winds blew, the snow in the distance was swept up, forming a hazy curtain between the mountains, blurring the boundary between the mountain and the sky.

Andresha Wendell knew that the mountain range led to that ancient, decaying, sluggish kingdom, where a group of mediocre conservatives occupied the land, basking in the glory of their ancestors, blocking the path of human resurgence.

This era should belong to the more innovative, stronger, and braver reformers, and Typhon is such a reformer, representing the glory of humanity and embodying the spirit of the ancient Gondor Empire—whereas Anzu is almost the antithesis of that series of glorious spirits.

That kingdom is not only rotten and depraved, but it also swallowed her father.

Andresha Wendell withdrew her gaze, and every time it snowed heavily on the border, she couldn’t help but think of her father, who passed away years ago. Back then, she was young, and most of her memories of her father were blurry, but one thing she remembered clearly: her father disappeared after a snowstorm like this—he vanished in that wild land west of the fortress, never to be heard from again, with not even a body found.

Nobody was held accountable; one of the oldest and noblest families of the Typhon Empire lost its historically most excellent heir, but no one took responsibility.

Andresha sighed softly, concealing all emotional changes within her pale gray eyes. She lowered her head to look at the letter she had just opened, bearing Duke Ferdinand Wendell’s seal, with content only half a page long.

As usual, her grandfather’s letter contained no tender or affectionate words, only admonitions and instructions as if from a superior to a subordinate. Andresha had to read those stiff and brief words many times carefully to discern the deeply hidden concern.

The letter again reminded her to pay attention to the winter border defense, but it also mentioned some recent changes in the situation at the imperial capital. The old duke still seemed to regard his granddaughter as someone who needed guidance—even though Andresha had become the youngest Wolf General in Typhon’s history, Duke Ferdinand Wendell’s habits cultivated over a lifetime were not so easy to change.

Andresha’s eyes skimmed over the letter, finally stopping at the reminders at the end, which mentioned the recently widespread rumors about the "resurrection of heroes," and the instructions directed at Andresha herself. The young Wolf General couldn’t help but frown, before letting out a slight sigh, and said to the messenger waiting at the door: "Go and bring Mister Soldrin."

A moment later, a blond elf walked into Andresha’s room.

This was a typical pure-blood silver elf, tall and slender, wearing a ranger’s winter hunting outfit, with fair skin and nearly flawless features, his long, pale-golden hair draping down his back. If not for the Adam’s apple and a trace of heroism between his brows to indicate his gender, this blond male silver elf might even have been mistaken for an elegant and beautiful lady—from appearance alone, this "beautiful gentleman" exuded little sense of martial might.

However, Andresha knew the real strength of this silver elf, a power that even she, inheritor of the Wolf General title, was impressed by. This elf, hired as a freelance soldier by the Typhon Empire, was the most outstanding hunter and scout in this fortress, and the most suitable person for infiltration tasks that she could think of.

"Mister Soldrin," Andresha nodded slightly at the silver elf before her, "I have a task to entrust to you."

"At your service, Commander," the silver elf Soldrin slightly bowed his head, a smile appearing on his face, "Since the start of winter, I haven’t had the pleasure of hunting suitable prey for quite some time."