Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 443 - 442: The Battle Ends

The flames burned fiercely, with thick smoke billowing into the sky.

This fire was indeed burning well.

Luo Peini Ge’lan stood quietly in front of the northern gate of the rocky ridges Fortress, surrounded by a Wind Shield, isolating her from the suffocating smoke in the air. Dozens of Steel Dragoon Warriors stood behind her, each wearing a full-coverage Magic-guided Helmet. The goggles on these warrior’s helmets glowed with a faint red light, indicating they were on alert for any magical anomalies around them.

The fire spread from the armory in the North City District, burning down parts of the sentinel towers and barracks, dividing the entire inner city into several sections. Originally, such a blaze could have been controlled by the fortress’s troops; however, with the collapse of the Great Shield, order within the fortress had completely disintegrated. Even if someone wished to step forward and turn the tide, facing the now rampant flames, there was no longer any hope of success.

This fortress is finished.

Luo Peini Ge’lan lowered her head, looking at the two still-warm corpses. After a long silence, she lifted her hand and gently rubbed her fingers together.

She had imagined countless times how she would act if she one day gained the power of revenge, dreamed of various ways to torment those criminals and extend their suffering, envisioned how she would enjoy the pleasure in the process of revenge. But now she finally knew that when she actually had this opportunity, she would have no patience for such acts.

She didn’t even have the patience to let those people take another breath of air.

The last two people on the list were dealt with, and Luo Peini Ge’lan exhaled softly, suddenly feeling a bit empty.

Handling some people personally was part of her transaction with Gawain Cecil. She could offer everything in the rocky ridges Fortress to the Grand Duke, and the lives of the people in the city would be at the disposal of the Cecil Clan. However, certain individuals— including the first deceased, Viscount Carol, not only must die but had to be dealt with personally by her.

"My lady, the emptiness after revenge is a normal phenomenon," Soldrin’s voice suddenly interrupted Luo Peini’s trance, and she heard the high-ranked Elven Ranger speaking in an extremely cool but calming tone, "Do not be puzzled by this emptiness. You have finally been freed from hatred— there’s a lot more waiting for you to do after this."

"Thank you," Luo Peini calmed her emotions and thanked Soldrin, "Ranger Sir, as an elf...you must be much more knowledgeable and mature than I am."

"The mindset of elves and humans differ slightly, it’s hard to say who’s more mature, but indeed I have seen more than you do. Also, no need for honorifics with me."

"Alright— I know you were once a comrade of Duke Gawain Cecil," Luo Peini said, seemingly in need of something else to divert her attention, "In your view, what kind of person is Duke Gawain?"

"I am still his comrade now," Soldrin smiled faintly, then shook his head, "As for what kind of person Gawain is... it’s a difficult question to answer. His personality has slightly changed after resurrection compared to seven hundred years ago, but he still often leaves me with an unfathomable feeling. He is always contemplating things beyond our sight. Seven hundred years ago, he was contemplating beyond the wasteland; now, he straightforwardly contemplates another era. So, if you wish to follow him, the only advice I can give you is to try to keep up with his pace. Even if you do not understand, it’s better than falling behind, lost in contemplation and confusion."

People who fell behind seven hundred years ago were devoured by the wasteland, and those who fall behind now won’t fare much better, Soldrin had an absolute intuition about this.

Luo Peini Ge’lan was momentarily lost in thought, while Soldrin suddenly lifted his head, looking at the inner city streets shrouded in smoke, his hand already on the bowstring of his short bow.

Around them, the Steel Dragoon Warriors also raised their arms, unlocking the safety of their heat-ray guns and barriers, while the heavy firepower handlers had already shouldered their portable railgun launchers, aimed at the street’s end.

A group of knights and soldiers, looking rather distressed amidst the smoke and flames, appeared there.

Luo Peini raised her head and saw that the commander leading them was none other than the most trusted personal guard knight of Sir Maryland.

The personal guard knight also spotted Viscountess Luo Peini across, simultaneously noticing the bizarrely armored, silent Black Armor warriors behind her — those equipped with flowing Magic Power from head to toe evidently couldn’t be part of the fortress’s personnel. Their existence alone was enough to prove what Sir Maryland had said before leaving was true.

Finding Luo Peini Ge’lan and the "sabotage team" she led into the city wasn’t difficult since this team stood blatantly in the open ground of the North City District, but gathering a group of soldiers who could halfway follow orders and were brave enough to fight amidst the chaos wasted too much time: a lot of soldiers had already died on the south city wall and at various sentinel and archer towers within the city; the rest were in disarray, hardly anyone still taking commands. The hundred or so with the personal guard knight were practically all the manpower that could be mustered within the castle.

Upon seeing the two corpses at Luo Peini’s feet, the personal guard knight realized that the Viscountess had likely completed what she intended to do.

Those two corpses, though dressed as aides and grooms, had very familiar faces.

The personal guard knight didn’t know why Luo Peini specifically killed these two southern aristocrats, but he at least had to fulfill the mission assigned by Sir Maryland—

The fortress was no longer defensible, the south city wall was collapsing, and the two energy beams were continually clearing all high points in the city. Before the Cecil Clan broke in, all defensive forces of the fortress had already been paralyzed, but at the very least, he had to keep Luo Peini Ge’lan here.

However, before those soldiers launched a pointless attack, Soldrin spoke first, his voice echoing across the dust-covered street, "The battle is over, soldiers of rocky ridges Fortress— the city wall has collapsed, continuing to fight is unnecessary."

The personal guard knight silently drew the longsword from his waist, "I have my mission."

"In this era, it’s rare to see a knight like you," Soldrin frowned as he looked at the personal guard knight. Although the soldiers and other knights the latter brought with him visibly wavered and retreated at the words ’the wall has collapsed,’ the knight himself remained resolute. This made Soldrin sigh, "If those southern territories had your courage and awareness... ah, then they’d probably all be dead on Broken Stone Ridge."

The personal guard knight seemed not to hear these words, just continued in silence, taking a step forward.

However, at that moment, the air around him suddenly twisted, and then an oddly shaped, hammer-like thing floated out of thin air in mid-air. The magic symbol at the front of the hammer flashed, and a special pop-out structure forcefully struck out, smashing heavily atop the knight’s head—though he had somewhat reacted, the attacker’s stealth capability was truly too high, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was already unavoidable. After one hit, this admirable knight flew sideways on the spot, rendered unconscious in mid-air.

The knights and soldiers surrounding him hadn’t even realized what had happened.

A swift shadow weaved through the air, and in the blink of an eye, it was behind Soldrin. Amber’s figure materialized from the shadow, wielding a bizarre weapon combined from mechanical structures and rune devices. After confirming she was in a secure area, she let out a large sigh of relief, "My goodness... that was intense... I thought I’d be beaten to death..."

Soldrin cast a sidelong glance at this half-elf bandit, mainly at the ’mechanical warhammer’ in her hand, and suddenly thought that, following ’explosive shooting,’ there was now another Transcendent skill that could be refined as one of the abilities of the Steel Cavalry.

—"Power Cudgel (Note)" Who on earth came up with this genius invention...

After catching her breath, Amber lifted her head and said to Soldrin, "Over at Gawain... the leader has finished the battle, and the highest commander of the rocky ridges Fortress has been captured. The battle is about to end, reducing the scale of damage."

In such a situation, this half-elf would still respectfully refer to him as ’leader.’

After hearing the message from Amber, Soldrin nodded and then looked toward the confused and already chaotic ’defense forces’ of the rocky ridges Fortress: "Soldiers—now you can put down your weapons, your highest commander has fallen, surrendering at this time does not diminish your honor."

Ordinary soldiers didn’t generally care much about ’face’ when surrendering; the main point was directed at the knights who were still somewhat hesitant.

The fact is, when there’s a step to back down, most knights don’t surrender any slower than ordinary soldiers.

The last defensive forces of the rocky ridges Fortress laid down their weapons. The Steel Dragoons began moving forward to collect prisoners of war, while Soldrin approached the deeply unconscious personal guard knight, looking down at him.

"Stopping a knight’s noble actions in this manner isn’t honorable, but the leader has ordered that after victory, we should minimize unnecessary damage and casualties. Knight, your courage is admirable, but the battle is over," Soldrin said, shaking his head slightly, "You will understand eventually—in time, you will become a proud citizen of the Cecil Clan."

Outside the rocky ridges Fortress, at the bow of the "Aurora" on the White River, Gawain, standing beside Sir Byron, watched the fortress walls continuously collapsing under the bombardment. Sir Maryland, already disarmed, stood pale beside Gawain, staring at the nightmarish scene in the distance.

The Calibrator Beam continued to move across the sky, with the last two sentinel towers in the rocky ridges Fortress collapsing.

In the river beside the Aurora, Tiel emerged from the splashing water, supported into the air by the river as if it were a hand. The sea demon from the deep-sea, with eyes wide open, stared unblinkingly at the "Rainbow Cannon" on the Aurora’s deck.

In fact, she had been watching for quite some time, clearly enamored by the radiantly brilliant beam formed by the pure and fierce magic power.

A signal flare rose from the rocky ridges Fortress, followed closely by a second one.

Gawain exhaled softly: "It seems the fight on Soldrin’s side is over, and Ropeni Ge’lan’s team has survived safely."

The artillery fire from the second highland gradually ceased. The giant Calibrator Rainbow Cannon finally extinguished its destructive focusing crystal, and the steady rumble from the water pumps, amplifier group, and magic power core below deck slowly abated. Eventually, the "Magic Array" wings on either side of the warship also folded their steel-made extensions.

The White River grew quiet.

Gawain cast a glance at the Byron Knight beside him: "We can go and reclaim our northern gate."

The Byron Knight smiled but had no time to respond before the sudden sound of splashing water interrupted him.

Gawain saw a mermaid leap from the water, slapping onto the Aurora’s deck with a smack before flipping over with a carp-like jump. Miss Tiel wobbled on her fish tail, pointing at the Rainbow Cannon on the deck, eyes fixed on Gawain: "Make me one too!"

Then she seemed to think that wasn’t appropriate and added, "Whatever you want, just say the word!"

(Note: The "Power Cudgel," a Cecil-modified version of the stealth user’s skill "Cudgel," strikes enemies on the head with a mechanically powered warhammer, causing temporary or permanent unconsciousness.)