Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 550 - 549: Reconnaissance

The appearance of the dragon piqued Gawain’s interest in the mysterious impact crater on the southern slope of the Dark Mountain Range.

Whatever it was, it clearly attracted the dragon’s attention — so what was the last thing that caught a dragon’s attention?

It was the Cecil Clan polluted by the chaotic wave.

After exiting satellite link mode, Gawain quietly contemplated in his study for a moment, then instructed Amber to call Heidi and Byron.

Upon hearing that Gawain planned to personally investigate the situation on the southern slope of the Dark Mountain Range, Heidi was immediately startled: "You’re going to the southern mountains?!"

"What’s happening over there makes me concerned," Gawain couldn’t explain satellite surveillance to the current Heidi, so he said, "The overload of the great walls happened not long ago, and now there’s another new change near the wasteland, we must figure out the situation."

"But it’s too dangerous over there," Heidi said worriedly, "Crossing the Dark Mountain Range means facing the wasteland directly..."

"I’ve faced it, more than once," Gawain interrupted Heidi, "And even crossing the Dark Mountain Range doesn’t mean entering the wasteland area — there’s still the Black Forest and banded flatlands in between. Strictly speaking, the southern slope of the Dark Range is still part of the ’civilization border’. With my strength, plus a team of elites, there should be no problem operating over there."

Seeing Gawain’s determined attitude, Heidi realized she probably couldn’t dissuade him.

The ancestor had always been prudent, and if he’s this concerned, there must be significant reasons behind it.

But just as Heidi was about to nod, and Gawain was about to discuss personnel issues with Byron, a voice suddenly came from the study’s doorway, interrupting everyone’s actions: "Old friend, you probably don’t need to cross the mountain for now — there’s something going on at the defied Fortress."

Gawain looked up and saw Soldrin standing there.

...

After the "earthquake" occurred, Soldrin immediately received the order. He led a team of elite Iron Cavalry into the defied Fortress, heading south along the main corridor to check whether this ancient Gondor structure had been affected by the mountain tremor.

It turned out that the order was not only timely but very necessary.

Powered by the modernized magic web system, magic crystal lamps illuminated the long ancient fortress corridor. Gawain, along with Amber, Byron, and Heidi, followed Soldrin deeper into the southern part of the fortress.

A team of fully armed Steel Dragoon Warriors accompanied them, and on both sides of the corridor, they saw sentinel towers standing at intervals. The farther south they moved, the more sentinels they encountered.

"After the earthquake, the armory manager at the defied Fortress reported a loud noise from the southern grand corridor," Soldrin walked alongside Gawain, speaking in a steady tone, "Workers in several southern work areas also heard the noise, and there were noticeable vibrations. I feared the entire southern area might collapse, so I evacuated workers from that area and checked along the main corridor..."

The long corridor gradually reached its end, where an exceptionally heavy and massive isolation door was presented before everyone.

This was the southern isolation gate of the defied Fortress. Beyond this heavy door lay the vast cave known as the "Shadow Testing Grounds." Gawain recalled this place — it was here that Amber jumped through the shadow realm to Winterhold Castle, witnessing Francis II’s assassination and bringing back critical evidence of Prince Edmund’s secret dealings with Oblivion Association believers.

Since other areas of the fortress were not yet fully developed or explored, and the current "industrial dark zone" did not require such a large space, the "Shadow Testing Grounds" had been temporarily sealed after that incident.

Soldrin arrived at the gate of the Shadow Testing Grounds and activated the magic mechanisms of the door. Accompanied by the creaking sound of mechanical operation, the newly installed magic mechanisms slowly drove the heavy isolation door open, revealing the scene on the other side to everyone.

"Honestly, it startled me too," Soldrin said.

Beyond the door, a thin layer of fog drifted within the vast cave. At the far end of Gawain’s sight, daylight spilled into the southern part of the cave — a vast opening was there, and it was evidently from this opening that the daylight and thin fog were pouring in.

"It might have been caused by a mountain collapse — a secondary collapse triggered by the previous ’earthquake’, some rock layers fell off, connecting the previously sealed Shadow Testing Grounds cave with the outside," Soldrin said unhurriedly, "These infiltrating mists carry a faint chaotic wave aura, but fortunately, they are very thin, amounting to nearly harmless ’boundary mist’."

"...The southern part of the Dark Range..." Byron uttered, staring in disbelief at the crack at the end of the cave, "My God... it’s been breached..."

Amber was equally astonished: "So the Shadow Testing Grounds were this close to the southern mountain side?"

"Immediately assemble a brigade over here, armed with light and heavy artillery, positioned near the crack," Gawain suddenly turned to Byron, speaking rapidly, then turned to Heidi, "Mobilize the engineering team, construct fortifications near the crack, set up Barrier Generators, and... bring enough Rebecca Crystals."

Should the situation deteriorate, he didn’t mind collapsing the entire southern fortress region to seal this gap.

Byron and Heidi realized the seriousness of the situation and swiftly responded to Gawain’s orders: "Understood!" "Yes!"

"I intended to explore the south of the Dark Mountain Range..." Gawain turned his head to look at the Shadow Testing Grounds, now connected with the outside world, his voice filled with deep helplessness, "but I certainly didn’t plan to come this way..."

...

The soldiers and engineering teams urgently dispatched from Cecil Castle quickly arrived at the Shadow Testing Grounds area. Working alongside the initially arrived Steel Cavalry Scouts Warriors, they established a defensive line inside the cave as quickly as possible and began constructing temporary fortifications based on it, all while Gawain remained near the crevice without leaving for a single step.

It wasn’t until the magic cannon was set up near the cave’s crevice and ample weapons and ammunition were delivered to the south gate corridor that Gawain, Aunt Heidi, and others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gawain, accompanied by Amber, reached the south end of the cave, climbing over the collapsed and shattered boulders to gaze at the vast scenery outside.

A slope shrouded in thin mist with a purple-black hue stretched out before them. This place is the relatively gentle midsection of the southern foothills of the Dark Range, and at the end of the slope, extending downward along the mountains, lies the boundless Black Forest.

Majestic trees, twisted and mutated under the erosion of chaotic magical energy, took on a ghastly posture, while all the flowers, grasses, and shrubs no longer resembled familiar forms. These plants, mingled with thorns, venom sacs, rotting appendages, and swollen glands, continuously rustled in the polluted wind, some even slowly wriggling forward among the rocky gaps, with particularly unsettling shadows fleeting past the mutated, twisted vegetation, prompting each witness to imagine countless horrors.

That is the Black Forest, vividly depicted in epics, memoirs, and poems. It is a product of chaotic wave pollution, the result of the normal natural world yielding to chaotic magical energy, capable of devouring any explorer not cautious enough—yet, it is merely the edge of the chaotic wave.

The place remains several hundred kilometers away from the great walls.

"Is this the boundary of civilization..." Amber stood alongside Gawain. Though typically fearless, this half-elf couldn’t help but feel uneasy after seeing the Black Forest up close—even though she had once gazed at the Black Forest from a distant, safe boundary atop the Dark Mountain Range’s peaks, the impact of this proximity was indescribable.

Standing here now, only a few hundred meters from the Black Forest’s edge, she could even smell the putrid air drifting from the south—though this was likely a psychological illusion.

"We once had the chance to push this boundary further south. A hundred years ago, when the chaotic wave’s aura subsided, had the pioneering spirit persisted, the Anzu could have extended their southern frontier to beside the great walls and erected a more controllable great barrier there—but Anzu missed this opportunity, and humankind handed this place over with both hands," Gawain sighed, "the Black Forest is beyond saving, corrupted to such an extent that even Amoen, the Giant Stag, couldn’t restore it."

As he spoke, Gawain raised his head to look towards the southwest.

According to the satellite imagery comparison in his mind, that mysterious impact crater should be not far southwest.

The crevice caused by the collapse is indeed a giant hazard, but the hazard comes with advantages—now, the defied Fortress connects Cecil with the southern region of the Dark Mountain Range, and the facility built by the ancient Gondor Empire a thousand years ago has become a tunnel through the mountains. Using this passage, he can reach the southern areas without traversing steep mountain paths.

Moreover, leveraging the convenient inner passage of the defied Fortress, a large amount of supplies can be delivered directly to the southern foothills of the Dark Mountain Range. Once the fortifications here are stabilized, transforming the entire "Shadow Testing Grounds" into a forward fortress might be a good idea.

Seeing Gawain suddenly caught in thought, Amber held back for a long time before breaking the silence: "Hey, what are you looking at?"

Gawain casually replied: "Since we’re already here... might as well go and have a look at the situation."

"... You haven’t forgotten about that?!" Amber was startled, "Isn’t it just a mountain collapse—look around here, isn’t this it?"

"This collapse happened after the first ’quake,’ the initial ’epicenter’ wasn’t here," Gawain glanced at Amber, "according to my perception, there seems to be an abnormal magic power fluctuation southwest."

The "perception" of a legendary powerhouse is a universal excuse, so Amber could only trust Gawain’s judgment, but looking at the distant, intimidatingly dense Black Forest, filled with countless crazily mutated plants and unknown numbers of dangerous non-human monsters, the half-elf lady felt her scalp tingle: "You’re not planning on taking me with you... I’m allergic to the Black Forest..."

"Of course you have to come along," Gawain gave her a look, "but first, I need to clear a path—Sir Byron, come here, please."

Byron Kirk quickly ran over to Gawain: "Milord, you called?"

"I intend to investigate in that direction," Gawain raised his hand, pointing to the southwestern slope, "it should be within the Black Forest range."

As a knight from a mercenary background, with rich adventure experience, Byron immediately reacted: "Oh, got it, I’ll organize a group skilled in reconnaissance..."

"No need, let Soldrin’s side prepare reconnaissance scouts," Gawain interrupted Byron, "you’ll mobilize eighteen medium ’Justice’ Railguns over, I’ll give you some parameters, and you’ll blast a path through..."

Byron was bewildered: "...Milord, didn’t you say reconnaissance..."

"Indeed, firepower reconnaissance."

Amber, hearing this, was also dumbfounded: "I seem to remember when you explained firepower reconnaissance to me before, it wasn’t like this..."

"But this is beyond the borders of civilization, the brink of wasteland," Gawain smiled, patting Amber’s shoulder, and looking at Byron, "remember, in this wasteland, the only survival skill is to destroy all threats, the only safety rule is that nothing is safe, the only reconnaissance is firepower reconnaissance."