Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 239 - 238: The Last Survivor

As more and more clues were uncovered, the hidden secrets within this ancient facility seemed to gradually unveil themselves, and for someone as experienced as Gawain, piecing together what had happened here from these clues did not seem difficult.

It was evident that this ancient relic, constructed toward the end of the Meteoric Era, was not as simple as he initially thought—it wasn’t merely a frontier pioneer base, nor just a forbidden research institution studying the secrets of the gods. The hidden facility here in some form of Otherworld revealed its true purpose: it was a type of "fortress" built to resist disaster and preserve human civilization.

Whether it was the "divine evils research" that took place in the mountain ruins, the god’s flesh sealed away, or these dried-up corpses and the last communication from within the Empire’s borders, they all served as evidence of the struggle against disaster.

This disaster was most likely the "chaotic wave" that destroyed the Gondor Empire seven hundred years ago.

His previous conjecture had been confirmed: as early as the Meteoric Era, the Master Mages of the Gondor Empire had realized the existence of the chaotic wave and began preparations three hundred years in advance. Given the scale presented by this relic, there must have been support from the Gondor Royalty at the time, yet many things remained unclear to him:

If the humans of the Meteoric Era knew about the chaotic wave, why did this information fail to be preserved? So much so that when the chaotic wave truly erupted seven hundred years ago, the human empire was caught off guard and collapsed entirely?

If the information stored in the communication devices was sent from within the Empire after the chaotic wave erupted, it was clear that the Imperial Royalty at the time were aware of the border fortress’s existence, so why had they not taken any action when they should have known the chaotic wave was coming?

Or... was it that the Gondor Royalty at the time did take action, but no evidence or information survived?

It’s not impossible because the chaotic wave erupted centered around the imperial capital, destroying the entire kingdom’s communication network almost instantaneously. Afterwards, no one from the heart of the Empire emerged alive, and even if the Gondor Emperor did something, perhaps no one would ever know...

However, regardless, a disaster predicted by scholars a thousand years ago, with the Empire’s rulers secretly conducting such a large-scale "preservation project," yet no information was left when the disaster truly struck seven hundred years ago, plunging the entire Empire into bewilderment, is truly difficult to comprehend.

Even considering the reasoning of "controlling information leakage to prevent panic," Gawain found it too bewildering.

Moreover, he was curious about the "survivors" of this facility—the mountain relics were sealed a thousand years ago, and the chaotic wave formally erupted three hundred years after that. Did the survivors in the facility live through these three centuries?

This far exceeded the natural lifespan of humans. Even if powerful Beyonders could use magic power to prolong their lives, it would only extend for two or three centuries at most, yet the content of the communication suggests that the people in this facility not only lived beyond three centuries but were meant to continue living after that?

Although, in reality, they all died...

Gawain’s gaze roamed around the hall, trying to find more clues that might provide him with hints. At that moment, Aunt Heidi, standing nearby with a magic light orb at the tip of her magic wand, examining the remains of ancient Master Mages, made a sudden discovery: "Ancestor! Come and look at this!"

Gawain approached Aunt Heidi and saw her pointing to the backrest behind one of the bodies: "There’s a line of text here!"

Gawain frowned and read aloud the line: "Benjamin Houston, Gondor 1760."

The surrounding soldiers also shifted their attention to the seats, and soon everyone noticed the writings they had previously overlooked: "It’s here too!" "And here!" "Every chair back has one!"

Gawain suddenly thought of something, examining the names written on the chair backs one by one, reading them quickly: "Claude Perlin, Gondor 1790... Raffaeli Paldini, Gondor 1782... Melilia Houston, Gondor 1809... Pal Berlindi, Gondor 1920..."

"These are..." Aunt Heidi opened her mouth in surprise, "These people’s..."

"Their names and their death years, it’s the only explanation," Gawain said in a deep voice, "these people didn’t die here simultaneously, but were transported here after death. The person who moved them even wrote the deceased’s name and death date on each seat. If I’m not mistaken... it was completed by the last to die, or carried on by the living."

He lifted his head and surveyed the semi-circular hall with nearly a thousand seats, imagining the mindset of the survivors who remained here through those long years: "These seats... are their graves..."

"Gondor 1760... Gondor 1790..." Aunt Heidi looked at the dates on those seats and suddenly realized, "The Gondor calendar ended in 1740! That was the year the chaotic wave erupted, after that..."

"Yes, the earliest date we’ve seen so far is also after Gondor 1740," Gawain nodded heavily. "These people only started dying after the chaotic wave erupted seven hundred years ago, and the most recent date I’ve found is Gondor 2130, which was... three hundred years ago."

Aunt Heidi showed a saddened expression: "It means at least some of them lived until then... back when Anzu had already been established for four hundred years... but they knew nothing of what happened outside; they were sealed in here, thinking the outside world had perished..."

Gawain also felt a deep sense of regret, but he noticed that Tiel had some unusual behavior not far away: the sea demon twirled her tail like a spring to prop herself into the air, looking around with an expression of curiosity and vigilance.

He couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Tiel, what have you discovered?"

"Shh!" the sea demon immediately crouched down, quickly scurrying to Gawain’s side, "I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but I think I just felt a magical surge flashing nearby."

"A magical surge?" Aunt Heidi frowned, "Why didn’t I sense it?"

"Do you have the sharp magic senses of the elemental creatures?" Tiel glanced at Aunt Heidi disdainfully, "Moreover, there are many special magical surges that you humans can’t detect at all!"

Gawain did not take Tiel’s words as a joke; he cautiously activated his Magic Perception Skill and instructed the surrounding soldiers to be more alert, but in the vision of magic perception, he saw only a shrouded mist, without any special magical surge.

After closing his magic perception, he turned to Tiel, preparing to ask about the nature of the magic she sensed, but at that moment, a sudden sense of alertness made him swiftly sidestep, simultaneously raising his Sword of Pioneers to block in front of him—almost simultaneously, two dazzling arcs of electricity appeared out of nowhere, one striking the spot where he had just been standing and the other hitting the blade of the Sword of Pioneers solidly!

With two snaps, the arcs dissipated into nothing, and the previously completely hidden magical surge finally ceased to hide. Accompanied by a powerful energy wave, Aunt Heidi saw a luminous shadow suddenly materialize above the open area at the front of the semi-circular hall, a shadow with a vaguely human outline. The entire figure was shrouded in bright lightning, with some kind of raging energy forming its shell and innards, while a series of armor plates engraved with arcane magic symbols hovered above its surface, like the rune shackles on the summoned elementals, maintaining its "Mana Humanoid" form in some incredible way.

This creature appeared out of thin air, and the potent energy emanating from its body even caused the surrounding air to warp with heat. The entity was evidently brimming with anger and hostility; the two bolts of lightning just then were its handiwork, and after showing itself, it immediately prepared for a new wave of assault: two bright, spherical lightning balls rapidly coalesced at its sides!

"Ancestor, be careful!" Aunt Heidi instantly cast the most potent magic shield she could muster to encase Gawain, immediately following with chants of various spells that could enhance magic resistance—she sensed from that unbelievable entity a power so dreadful that against it, she had no idea how effective her spells could be.

Meanwhile, the soldiers behind Gawain, after a brief moment of shock, snapped back to reality. While the bizarre creature was terrifying, the reflexive responses from their rigorous training led these elite soldiers to instinctively raise their weapons; in the next second, a dozen Scorching Rays bombarded the strange entity wrapped in electricity.

The creature likely didn’t expect such a swift counterattack, especially one of continuous magical assault. In bewilderment, it was struck repeatedly, the spherical lightning it had gathered vanishing with two snaps—however, the mere Level 2 Scorching Rays were evidently insufficient to inflict any lethal damage on this strong mana creature that may have lived for centuries. With its body formed of arcane energy, the surface rippled with waves, nullifying all the attacks, before new lightning balls swiftly reformed around it.

But Gawain, within this brief gap, had already overcome the paralysis caused by the lightning striking his sword. Before the new attack could commence, he had raised his sword, his body transforming into a continuous blur as he charged at high speed, the motion of his swing converging in the next second before the mana creature—the surface of the Sword of Pioneers shimmered with magical radiance as the blade heavily struck the largest piece of silver-white armor on the foe’s form.

At the last moment, this powerful mana creature conjured an exceptionally sturdy barrier; while Gawain’s assault shattered the opponent’s barrier, it didn’t break the armor plate completely. Instead, it sent the mana creature flying, leaving a long charred mark on the ground amid streaks of electricity. Before it could get back up, Gawain was already rushing forward again.

The mana creature hurriedly focused a crossed icy pillar to block Gawain’s blade, but in the next moment, an incredulous exclamation from within it made Gawain’s actions abruptly halt.

This mana creature shouted in disbelief, "Are you real?!"