Chapter 1037: Far-Reaching Impact

Amber blinked, staring at the words that High Lord had seemingly written absentmindedly on the paper. She recognized each individual word, but the way they were combined was something she had never seen before. Her half-elf mind whirred for a moment, trying to make sense of it, but in the end, she simply gave up and withdrew her gaze, turning instead to the scenery outside the window, lost in thought.

High Lord lifted his eyelids and glanced at her. “I thought you’d ask.”

Amber immediately brightened with pride. “I knew you’d say that.”

“Well, then I won’t say anything. After all, this matter is still just a shadow of an idea,” he waved his hand casually. As expected, the half-elf’s face puffed up in frustration—something that only made him more pleased. He quickly changed the subject. “Have we received any responses to the invitations sent to neighboring countries?”

“Just sent them out a short while ago. How could there be any replies so soon? Even you just returned to the capital,” Amber replied, intending to ask about the meaning of the words he’d written, but since he’d switched topics, she followed along. “They’ll definitely want to discuss and deliberate, maybe even spin some conspiracy theories, guessing whether the two human empires are plotting to carve up the entire continent’s interests…”

“Indeed, they need to weigh things carefully. After all, no one has ever done anything like this before,” High Lord smiled faintly, his expression calm. “But in the end, most will probably agree, or at least send representatives to see for themselves and confirm what’s really going on. Cecil and Typhon are the two dominant settlement zones on the continent now. Any kingdom trading with these empires can’t ignore the invitation. Even if they don’t care about the previous wars, they’ll have to pay attention to the economic operations of the settlement zones… The real headache is those countries outside the settlement zones.”

“The Violet Kingdom, the Dwarven Kingdom, and the few city-state alliances in the southeastern corner of the continent, right…” Amber’s eyes flickered as the relevant information surfaced in her mind. “They’re all relatively closed-off countries, or ones naturally shielded by geography. The Dwarven Kingdom and those peripheral city alliances are manageable—maritime trade routes will eventually pull them into the two empires’ settlement zones. But that hermit-like Violet Kingdom… that’s tricky.”

“A hermit kingdom…” High Lord’s expression grew more complex as he listened to Amber’s musings. While many countries on the continent were gradually opening their doors to this new era, one nation seemed to remain frozen in time, shrouded in mystery and isolation. It naturally piqued curiosity. “This country, built on a massive island, always maintains a distant, ambiguous stance toward the mainland… Yet quite a few mages from the Violet Kingdom travel the continent, and merchants do business with the northern regions and across the sea. They’re not completely closed off.”

“Yes, the common folk aren’t entirely isolated. The Violet Kingdom doesn’t forbid its citizens from traveling to other mainland countries, nor does it prohibit coastal cities from engaging in foreign trade. But their capital—the City of a Thousand Towers—never opens its gates to outsiders, and their royal family never contacts anyone on the Loren continent. So far, all our communications with them have been indirect, conducted through the Violet Council or secondary envoys.”

“That only makes me more curious,” High Lord murmured, stroking his chin. “So close to us, yet more mysterious than even the dragons—now even the Holy Dragon Principality has opened its doors to us.”

“Should we take a more proactive approach to communication? Or maybe… investigation?” Amber thought for a moment, then gestured with her hand. “I mean, send some spies or something…”

High Lord glanced at the half-elf, who looked back at him with wide, earnest eyes, fully in work mode and ready to stir up trouble as a diligent intelligence chief.

“You’ve certainly become a competent intelligence minister,” he sighed. “But haven’t you tried infiltrating the Violet Kingdom before? Did it work?”

“Well… yes, the Intelligence Bureau has sent people. We tried using merchants or adventurers as cover to investigate the Violet Kingdom, but progress was slow. We could only operate in their coastal cities; penetrating inland was extremely difficult. And those coastal cities don’t seem much different from other places on Loren. But if you order it, I can draft some new plans…”

“No need. This is enough,” High Lord shook his head. “We can’t treat every country that refuses to open its doors as an enemy. Probing beyond what’s necessary is an offense. They have their own way of survival. Closing their borders is their right. We can’t expect everyone in the world to abide by Cecil’s values.”

Amber shrugged. “Alright, your call.”

High Lord hummed in agreement, about to ask something else when suddenly the maginet terminal beside the desk beeped.

Once connected, the holographic projection flickered twice, and Veronica’s figure appeared in midair, her expression somewhat strange. “Your Majesty, we’ve been analyzing the war god’s remains recovered from the battlefield and have made some discoveries.”

High Lord immediately set aside the previous topic, his expression turning serious. “Hold on, I’m coming right away!”

…

Deep within the Dark Mountains, at the Rebellion Fortress.

Despite the empire’s continuous development and the improvements in Cecil City’s facilities, this ancient fortress had not been abandoned. On the contrary, with the Rebellion Project restarted and various research projects on the gods deepening, this facility—once dedicated to studying gods and magical storms—was put to use again.

The mountain’s interior space, aged over millennia, had been reinforced. The ancient, weathered corridors and rooms were cleaned and repainted. New experimental equipment and staff had moved in, and many laboratories and warehouses were now in use. Under Veronica and Kamail’s leadership, with High Lord’s approval, the middle and lower levels of the Rebellion Fortress had become the empire’s new “God Research Base,” dedicated to unraveling the mysteries related to the gods.

To achieve this, High Lord had even set up a neural network computing node within the Dark Mountains to channel Nariel’s power into the fortress. The former “Upper Narrator” herself provided essential data analysis services for the labs and served as a powerful security barrier, protecting the fragile humans inside from the harmful legacies of the gods.

At this moment, in a large laboratory deep within the fortress, a group of technicians was analyzing dangerous fragments collected from the Winter Fortress battlefield.

The rectangular lab was brightly lit, various arcane devices humming throughout the room. At the center were several neatly arranged platforms, each holding fragments of the war god’s remains—some were iron-gray armor shards, others tangled clusters of dark red fibers, and some looked like stones thoroughly soaked and corroded by blood. No matter the form, each emitted strong magical fluctuations and an imposing aura.

Around one platform stood four metal pillars inscribed with intricate runes. Between them floated a thick magical aura, isolating the dangerous samples inside from the outside.

A dozen researchers busied themselves, recording the magical fluctuations emitted by the fragments and their changes over time. Each wore a solemn yet subtly excited expression. Kamail, the lab director, floated among them, directing and supervising the operation. Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, stood a little apart. The holy princess’s radiance gently pulsed, but her expression was already deep in thought.

High Lord and Amber entered the room at that moment.

Veronica immediately sensed High Lord’s presence and snapped out of her reverie, turning to greet him. “Your Majesty, you’ve arrived.”

“Yes, I came to see the situation,” High Lord said, first scanning the entire scene. Besides the busy technicians, he noticed some unusual “presences.”

On the lab’s ceiling, faint, blurry lines spread through the air, weaving into a nearly transparent web-like structure that sheltered everything below. At the center of this web, High Lord could vaguely make out a lazy white spider resting.

It was a greatly miniaturized form of the “Upper Narrator”—she looked bored, or perhaps asleep.

“When technicians need to directly handle divine relics, Nariel provides protection and contamination warnings on site,” Veronica explained, noticing High Lord’s gaze. “This is one of Kamail’s experimental protocols, and it’s proven effective.”

“Hmm,” High Lord nodded, stepping forward. “Tell me, what have you found?”

“In short…” Kamail floated over, bowing slightly before him, a buzzing sound emanating from within. “We’ve discovered that these fragments… no longer cause any mental harm to mortals.”

High Lord stopped mid-step, stunned.

Amber, walking behind him, bumped her head hard against his back—she let out a surprised yelp and bounced nearly a meter away.

“No mental harm?” High Lord seemed oblivious to the impact, staring at Kamail. “Is that conclusion reliable?”

“Reliable. We conducted direct and rigorous tests,” Kamail said seriously, her blue glow steady. “Including personnel tests—testers were closely monitored while directly contacting the samples, and nothing happened.

“Of course, we took precautions—Nariel’s webs bind the testers’ minds. If any mental contamination occurs, the tester is instantly ‘pulled’ back for purification and healing.”

“You even tested that…” High Lord finally recovered from his shock, listening incredulously to Kamail’s report. His gaze involuntarily fell on the nearest platform. Within the tightly sealed runic pillars and energy barriers lay a piece of armor fragment glowing with iron-gray light. Because the war god’s original form was enormous, it was impossible to tell which part of the armor this shard had come from. But one thing was certain: this piece used to be enough to drive even the most steadfast warrior mad just by its presence.

When he entered the lab, he’d seen the fragment placed openly on the platform, and the people around it seemed unaffected. At the time, he thought the lab’s protective systems and Nariel’s presence were at work. But now it seemed… that wasn’t the whole story.

The fragments had been rendered harmless.

So what exactly had changed in these shards?

“After the war god’s fall, did its remaining fragments lose their divinity?” High Lord muttered to himself. “Because the fall was so complete, the leftover pieces have become mere mortal objects?”

“We also suspected that these fragments had undergone some change, but Narithil disagrees,” Veronica’s voice came from beside him. “Before the War God fell, she used her spider silk to ‘hunt’ and recorded the War God’s aura at that time. Just now, she analyzed the lingering aura on these fragments again and confirmed that, aside from some weakening and dispersion, the fundamental nature of the two auras hasn’t changed. Miss Tyr also helped verify this…”

Without needing anyone to explain, Gawain already knew how Tyr had assisted with the verification, but he couldn’t help asking, “Is Tyr’s examination reliable?”

“I believe it is,” Veronica said, her usually calm tone carrying a hint of hesitation. “Although she ‘consumed’ a large amount of samples, she really is an expert in this field.”

“…I see,” Gawain rubbed his temples. “In short, the divine power lingering on these fragments hasn’t diminished, so theoretically, the spiritual corruption they carry hasn’t disappeared either. Yet now, this corruption no longer affects mortals. So it’s not the fragments that have changed, but…”

He trailed off instinctively.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t reach a conclusion—it was just that the idea forming in his mind was so strange, it almost challenged his worldview.

Behind him, Amber, who was rubbing her nose as she walked over, seemed to have given it little thought. The half-elf almost instinctively said, “If the fragments haven’t changed, then could it be that what’s changed… is humanity?”

The entire lab fell silent. Amber, still rubbing her nose, immediately sensed the shift in atmosphere. She stopped moving and looked around nervously, her gaze finally settling on Gawain. “I was just saying that offhand, you don’t have to take it seriously…”

“No,” Veronica shook her head, her voice deep and deliberate. “That is exactly what we’re hypothesizing.”

Amber’s eyes went wide, and she stood frozen for a long moment. “…Holy hell.”

“This isn’t the final conclusion. Everything still requires more testing and analysis,” Kamail interjected, the arcane light around him flickering uncertainly. “Yes, more testing and analysis… The implications of this conclusion are too significant. We must design a more thorough—”

“We can be cautious and verify a hundred times over, but before that, we can make a bold guess,” Veronica cut him off. Her fingers tightened slightly around the platinum staff, her fingertips whitening. “Perhaps… the impact of our battle at Winterhold goes far beyond the mere fall of a single god.”

(Why are so many people rushing to watch the first season of the Abnormal Creatures Chronicles anime…? That’s not even made by the reader-reassembled production team…)

(End of chapter)