Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 978: Chapter 977: Chaotic Moves

The meeting ended, but Aunt Heidi did not leave the room.

Soldrin was asked to stay behind, and it wasn’t long before Kamel was summoned to the conference room as well.

Even before the meeting concluded, Soldrin had sensed something amiss. Now, with no one else around, he bluntly asked, "Do you think there’s something strange about this?"

As Gawain’s comrade from years past, Soldrin was considered an elder to Heidi even though his position was slightly lower. Therefore, he always spoke candidly with her, without holding back.

"There’s something peculiar about this matter from start to finish," Heidi nodded frankly, her gaze sweeping between Kamel and Soldrin, "The actions of the Typhon Empire defy logic. Sending an elite troop to charge the border defenses alone establishes nothing from any tactical perspective — both Sir Philip and General Maryland emphasized this point. And this illogical behavior... cannot be explained by the commander being foolish or lacking intelligence.

"The Typhon Empire couldn’t be foolish, nor are they so behind in intelligence that they would be unaware of the existence of armored trains and the railway defense network."

"Are you suspecting... a mutation within the Sect of the God of War in the Typhon borders?" As a Defier, Kamel naturally connected the dots to this aspect.

"Although there is no evidence, the possibility is high," Heidi nodded, "The anomalies within the Sect of the God of War have persisted for some time. The Typhon Royal Family has employed numerous measures to suppress the church’s activities and reduce follower gatherings, but there is no sign of the anomalies ending. We can assume that all their measures have failed — though we do not know in what manner the maddening War God affects its followers, we can hypothesize that the actions of the Iron River Knights are related to the War God’s loss of control."

Soldrin couldn’t help but furrow his brow, "If that’s indeed the case, then between us and the Typhon Empire..."

"Whether the Iron River Knights are acting under Emperor Rosetta’s orders or under the orders of their ’God’, factually they have attacked the Longwind Defense Line, and the enemy has invaded — of course, we must retaliate," Heidi said without hesitation, "The crucial point is that we must quickly determine whether we are at war with the Typhon Empire or with that rogue deity.

"Currently, General Maryland and Sir Philip are conducting military operations at the border while also investigating to gather as much intelligence from the Typhon side as possible. However, the main force army specializes in frontal combat, and they might not be able to swiftly ascertain the truth — this is the strong suit of the Steel Cavalry.

"Soldrin, you may need to make a trip to the eastern border — bring your Cavalry Scouts, find a way to understand what’s happening over there, and the embedded Typhon Intelligence Agency operatives will also cooperate with you."

Soldrin nodded without any questions, "Certainly, the Steel Cavalry is meant for handling such situations — and I am relatively familiar with the situation on the Typhon side, which makes me suitable for this task."

"Indeed," Heidi recalled something, a hint of a smile appearing on her face, "I almost forgot that you spent quite a long time in Typhon."

At this moment, Kamel also broke his silence, "Is my task to combat potential divine contamination?"

Heidi looked at the ancient Master Mage, glowing with arcane magic, and her expression became solemn as she nodded firmly, "Yes — this is likely another battlefield."

"If the Typhon soldiers have indeed been corrupted by the mad will of the War God, then the imperial army fighting them will undoubtedly be exposed to danger as well," a buzzing voice emanated from within Kamel, "Although the faith in the War God is not strong within the borders of Cecil, some of our soldiers and officers are still influenced. The potential for mental contamination to spread among these ordinary believers cannot be ruled out."

Heidi asked seriously, "Will the existing protective measures be effective?"

"Through further decoding of sea demons Runes and deep research on the ’Eva’ phenomenon, we have improved the ’Mind Protection System’ in various vehicles and individual armor. Nariteer believes its effect is sufficient to counter near-range visual and auditory mental contamination for several hours. On another note, we have set up the ’Humanity Barrier’ system within the neural network. By converting low-frequency oscillations from the Song of the Sea Demons into neural background signals, we can continuously ’broadcast’ an information stream with purification effect across the network. Coupled with the inherent resistance provided by Nariteer, as long as the neural network can cover the front lines, even if soldiers undergo mild mental contamination, we can reverse and purify them.

"Of course, all this is based on laboratory data — the entire system has not undergone field tests, which I must admit."

Due to his scholarly rigor and responsible demeanor, Kamel candidly pointed out the potential flaws in these protective measures, which Heidi evidently had already considered.

"It’s better to have them than not. At least we have a way to respond. As for the effectiveness... things that need to be tested in real-world conditions eventually have to face real-world tests," she said, immediately asking another question, "How about the progress of the Psychic Choir? Can Wendy’s trained Psychic Singers be deployed now?"

"I’m afraid a little more adjustment is needed," Kamel said with some hesitation, "Even though we’ve successfully integrated the low-frequency oscillations from the Song of the Sea Demons into the Neural Thorn using ancient magical devices, greatly shortening the training cycle for Psychic Singers, the human body still needs time to adapt to ’external casting’. Moreover, even those who undergo this adaptation are quite unstable; the Neural Thorn significantly expands the original breadth of Magic Power perception, especially in military prototypes... We’re trying to find solutions to this issue."

"Being cautious in technology involving mental and cognitive realms is still necessary," Heidi sighed, "Not everything goes smoothly; even without Psychic Singers, at least we have the Mind Protection System and the ’Humanity Barrier’ in the neural network. We are not without means."

After completing the arrangements, Kamel and Soldrin also left.

The large conference room finally had only Heidi left.

Standing silently in place for a while, allowing her overheated mind to finally cool down, the Great Steward of the Cecil Clan finally sat back in her chair with a touch of fatigue and let out a long breath.

...

Under the morning light, the Communication Tower was running at full power, the floating magic symbol ring rotating slowly in the winter cold wind, relaying emergency war reports from the border from Winterwolf Fortress to Shadow Marsh, from the Northern Land to Aldernon, one tower after another passing it far away until it finally reached Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s desk.

Even the astute and visionary Typhon Emperor would be stunned by such explosive news.

In the private study of the Obsidian Palace, Rosetta braced his hands against the table, leaning forward like a hunting hawk as he stared at Ferdinand standing in the room, "Lord Ferdinand, the situation has exceeded our expectations."

After so many years, Ferdinand once again felt a suffocating pressure, "Your Majesty, I don’t understand... why did the Iron River Knights..."

"Because the War God is the ’War God,’ because the War God needs a war," Emperor Rosetta’s expression was particularly grim, "We have always overlooked... we only know that something went wrong with the Sect of the God of War, but we never considered what their God wants to do... He needs a war, any war will do, it could be internal chaos in the Typhon Empire, or... a comprehensive war externally."

Duke Ferdinand said urgently, "Your Majesty, do you think Andresha..."

"She should have already retreated to the Winterwolf Fort Defense Line by now—under the worst circumstances, Duke Ferdinand, the worst circumstances," Rosetta said solemnly, "The Cecil Clan should have received the border news by now, they will summon our ambassador and contact Aldernon; they should have done so already... We will draft a letter immediately to explain the situation, this is a war that should not erupt!"

"Will they accept it?" Duke Ferdinand couldn’t help but say, "If the Iron River Knights have already launched an attack, then this is definitely not as simple as border friction, perhaps the forces at Longwind Fortress have already started..."

"Regardless of whether they believe it or not, we must have such a reply letter," Rosetta stared into the old Duke’s eyes, "Then, order the third and fourth mobile Knight troops of the Empire to move towards the Winterwolf Fort Defense Line and Bitter Winter Castle Defense Line, simultaneously cutting off all railways connected to Cecil—raise those mechanical bridges, until the situation clears up, let none of those mobile fortresses charge in!"

Duke Ferdinand felt a chill in his heart.

Obviously, although Rosetta is still seeking to resolve misunderstandings through diplomatic dialogue, he is also mentally prepared for a comprehensive war.

The old Duke lowered his head, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

In the shortest possible time, a concise and sincere, well-organized letter was drafted, looking at the ink-dried words on the paper, Duke Ferdinand couldn’t help but sigh softly, "If only this letter could curb the situation..."

"Though we are preparing for the worst, I still believe this letter will be effective—the Cecil Clan noticed the deity hazard earlier than us, they also have experience in facing ’divine disasters.’ If they are willing to calm down and think, they will certainly detect the abnormality behind the whole matter," Rosetta said slowly, "Now, the most important thing... is to prevent the situation from worsening further, to prevent the chaos from the War God Faith from continuing to ferment."

"Duke Ferdinand, activate that list—all officers and aristocrats closely affiliated with the Sect of the God of War, and suspected to have faith beyond the oath of allegiance, must immediately leave key positions, the freezing and transfer of critical powers shall proceed according to the plan. Completely block all local Sect of the God of War institutions, in the name of the Pope’s summons followed by royal assistance to the church in maintaining order, isolate all priests, keep them away from the army..."

"Your Majesty," Duke Ferdinand was somewhat worried, "In such tense circumstances, doing so might further weaken the combat capabilities of the Typhon soldiers, affecting domestic stability—the Cecil Clan may launch a full-line attack at any time."

"Leaving people who may lose control at any moment within our national system poses a greater threat—I don’t want to do this, but we have no choice," Rosetta stared into Duke Ferdinand’s eyes, "This is a crisis, perhaps the biggest crisis you and I have ever faced, and the entire Typhon Empire has ever faced... We haven’t made enough preparations, but in the face of a divine disaster, mortals never make enough preparations. Do all we can, Ferdinand."

"... I understand," Ferdinand took a deep breath, at that moment, he seemed to have returned to decades ago, to the era before Rosetta Augustus ascended the throne, when the Typhon Empire was deeply mired like the Anzu of old, an era fraught with domestic crises—the suffocating pressure, the future lurking in chaos and fog, the precarious situation ready to fall at any moment, memories of past years and the present situation subtly overlapped, causing his no longer young heart to pound, "We will overcome this crisis once more, Your Majesty."

"Certainly."

...

Duke Ferdinand hurriedly came to the communication Tower within Obsidian Palace, tightly clutching a letter written by Emperor Rosetta Augustus himself, clarifying the situation.

He intends to send the contents of this letter through the communication lines and the Cecil Clan’s Magic Web to Cecil Castle—from a certain perspective, this might already be the last chance to prevent the situation from sliding into the abyss.

He stepped through the door, passed by the guardians in the first floor hall who saluted him, and boarded the elevator leading to the upper levels of the communication Tower, arriving at the transmission center of the facility. As he stepped off the platform, he saw a stationed Mage who was visibly flustered, hurriedly running towards him.

"Your Grace!" The Mage saw Duke Ferdinand Wendell, immediately raising the paper in his hand and shouted, "Urgent communication from Cecil Castle!"

"Let me see!"

Duke Ferdinand took the transcribed document, his eyes quickly scanning over it.

Everything was as Emperor Rosetta predicted—the fighting across the borders of the two countries had already enraged the Cecil Clan, now the two nations stood at the edge of war.

Both parties are sliding towards the abyss.

"Send it immediately to His Majesty’s study." He returned the transcription to the Mage, speaking swiftly while his feet were already moving quickly towards the transmission center rooms.

Since he had received the Cecil Clan’s query, he could now send His Majesty’s drafted reply without further delays.

This matter cannot be entrusted to any attendant or Mage.

He entered the transmission center, in the not-too-large room, the magic circle quietly operated on the side wall, and a large crystal was embedded in the platform at the center of the room, its surface shimmering with light.

After ordering the stationed Mage to adjust the transmission parameters, Duke Ferdinand approached the platform once more, glanced at the contents of the letter written by Emperor Rosetta Augustus, then placed his hand on the crystals, as he began to inject Magic Power, focusing on transcribing the corresponding information into the crystals—

"...interference and sabotage on the economic, cultural, and even domestic affairs levels have pushed the Typhon people to the brink... several armed provocations along our border... declarations of war... to defend our..."

The crystals on the platform quietly flickered, the transcribed information instantly traversed a great distance, reaching the next communication Tower, from Aldernon to northern reclamation lands, from Shadow Marsh to Winterwolf Fortress, it would soon complete the final relay, entering the Cecil Clan’s Magic Web.

On that flickering crystal, within the blind spot of Ferdinand’s view, the crystalline surface faintly reflected blurred human figures, Malm Dunite looking at Ferdinand with a gentle loving expression.