Chapter 1294: Returning to Cecil

Amber’s sigh of relief wasn’t hers alone. Every explorer who had just returned from the Sentinel Mother Port felt the same inevitable sense of release—though the War God’s divine realm was still perilous for mortals, there was a difference between “dangerous” and “unspeakably unknown.”

“No matter how you look at it, the War God’s realm is at least a place where we can maintain some control over the situation,” Victoria said, breaking her usual icy, distant demeanor after hearing Amber’s words. “But what the Sentinels left behind feels completely uncontrollable, unpredictable… Honestly, we still know very little about what the Voyagers left behind.”

At that moment, Lady Windsor Mapell and the Solide Knights who had come to greet the group stepped forward. Windsor was the first to approach Daniel, a faint smile on her face. “I’m so relieved to see you all return safely. Was the expedition successful?”

Daniel nodded calmly. “We made many discoveries. We encountered other divine realms, but more importantly, we uncovered the secret of the ‘Sentinels.’ I’ll explain everything in detail once we’re back.”

The white dragon Noretta moved toward her friend, who had just shifted into human form. The two young dragons were even quicker, leaping into their mother’s arms, chattering excitedly and bumping their heads against Melita’s arms and belly. Melita had to use both hands and feet just to manage their enthusiastic greetings. “Alright, alright, settle down… You missed your mom, didn’t you? Have you been listening to her at home?”

“You sound strange saying that—though logically, it makes sense,” Noretta smiled as she approached her friend. “Judging by your expression… this trip must have been quite the experience.”

“More than quite,” Melita said, pressing down on the two young dragons’ heads as her eyes fixed on Gawain not far away, her expression complicated. “I even remembered what it felt like to blow two hearts at once. My blood pressure hasn’t come down since we left…”

“We need to return to Cecil City as soon as possible, Solide Knight,” Gawain said briskly, approaching the white knight commander. He glanced up at Victoria, standing nearby. The icy duchess was silently holding a frozen ice cube, crystal clear, inside which twisted vines and two inconspicuous pale pink flowers were suspended. The magical ice kept the plants preserved exactly as they were when frozen. “There’s something that must be sent back immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the high-ranking combat mage Solide replied in a deep, heavy voice from beneath his full-coverage white knight helmet. Then he added, “Also, there’s an urgent report.”

Gawain had been about to hand over intelligence about the Sentinels and discuss follow-up exploration plans, but the tone in the armored priest’s voice immediately caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow. “Urgent report?”

“The Sea Witch Kingdom has sent word. Our deep-sea allies discovered anomalies in the Deep Blue Conduit within the Water Elemental Domain—they ‘salvaged’ some kind of artificial object of unknown purpose and principle from the magical energy currents. Preliminary suspicion points to the Cult of the End of All Things in the Wasteland,” Solide said gravely. “They’ve already shared the structural diagrams and initial analysis with Cecil City, but both Lady Jenny and Princess Rebecca have encountered… technical obstacles.”

“Wait, the Sea Witches actually ‘salvaged’ something from the Deep Blue Conduit?!” Gawain was stunned. First, he was shocked by the Sea Witches’ astonishing feat, then he focused on the latter part of Solide’s report. “You’re saying Jenny and Rebecca can’t make sense of what the Sea Witches pulled out? What about the other scholars in the Empire?”

Though Jenny and Rebecca were absolute authorities in modern runes and magical engineering, they lacked the experience and accumulated knowledge of traditional mage scholars. When it came to the mysterious artifact the Sea Witches retrieved, perhaps the old-school scholars with broader knowledge might recognize something.

But Solide just shook his head. “No progress. Lady Hetty even convened the academic community in Saint Sunir City, but no one has ever seen or even heard of such a thing.”

Gawain frowned, recalling a recent discussion with Kamail and others at the Sentinel Mother Port about the “Elven Twins” in the Wasteland possibly using the cult’s power to meddle in the Deep Blue Conduit. He hadn’t expected a suspicious lead to surface so quickly. He glanced at Windsor Mapell and the Typhon scholars she led, then turned back to the armored priest. “Has this information been sent to Typhon and the Silver Empire?”

“Yes. In accordance with the Alliance’s joint defense protocol for major world-class disasters, we’ve already shared this intelligence with the leadership of both nations,” Solide nodded. “However…”

“But we still have no clue,” Lady Windsor said with concern. “The Silver Empire’s feedback is the same. This is something completely unknown to modern mortals, using technology and design concepts we can’t comprehend. While the prime suspect remains the cultists in the Wasteland, we can’t understand how a group sealed off in the ruins of Gondor could have manufactured such a thing—or even mastered the technology to open the Deep Blue Conduit and insert matter into it…”

“It seems the situation is exactly as we suspected,” Gawain sighed knowingly in response to Windsor’s worries. He turned to Kamail. “The Sentinels have already begun to act.”

“Sentinels?” Windsor looked puzzled. She knew the word “Sentinel” from recent classified Alliance documents, where the phrase “Beware the Sentinels” had appeared frequently. But she didn’t understand why this unsettling term was connected to the Gondor Wasteland. “What does this have to do with the Wasteland…?”

“This is the biggest discovery of our trip,” Daniel’s low, somber voice sounded. “Remember the warning ‘Beware the Sentinels’? Now we finally understand what it means. An ancient guardian left by the Voyagers has gone rogue. It infiltrated our world a thousand years ago and, after a long period of dormancy, has now begun to act. It’s currently hiding among the ‘Elven Twins’ in the Gondor Wasteland… and it’s impersonating this so-called ‘Sentinel’ guardian! The cultists in the Wasteland have become its pawns, wielding the Voyagers’ technology.”

Windsor’s breathing quickened. After a moment, she gripped her staff tightly, her face grave. “This must be reported to Aldern immediately.”

“I need to return at once as well,” Gawain said, feeling the urgency of Solide’s news. “Victoria, you’ll return to the North to handle affairs. We’ll need a stable domestic situation more than ever. Amber and I will head back to Cecil City. As for Kamail…”

He looked at the ancient mage floating nearby, then nodded after a moment’s thought. “You stay here and continue overseeing the exploration of the divine realms—we need more clues and intelligence. The research can’t stop.”

Kamail bowed in midair. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I and Noretta will return to Talrond,” Melita said, approaching with the two young dragons still clinging to her like koalas. “What happened at the ‘Mother Port’ must be reported to leaders Andal and Hragor as soon as possible. Also… we need to prepare for changes in the situation.”

Gawain nodded slowly. “Rest and prepare briefly, then set out. Agondor should be waiting for your news.”

…

After returning from the War God’s divine realm, everyone went their separate ways. Gawain and Amber boarded a dragon rider airship and flew straight back to Cecil City. By the time they arrived, night had already begun to fall over the city nestled at the foot of the Dark Mountains. In the grand study of Cecil Palace, Hetty had been waiting for some time.

The glow from the magic crystal stones dispelled the early winter darkness. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city streets shimmered with lights and distant sounds of carriages. Gawain settled into his familiar chair while Hetty stood before him, her face serious and solemn, dark circles under her eyes pronounced.

Gawain’s gaze lingered on Hetty’s dark circles for several seconds.

“These are real dark circles, Your Majesty,” Hetty sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead tiredly. “I haven’t rested much these past two days… Most of the time was spent coordinating with Typhon and the Silver Empire’s technical officials about the Deep Blue Conduit. I’m sure they’re just as overwhelmed as we are.”

“So what exactly did the Sea Witches salvage?” Gawain forced himself to shift focus from Hetty’s dark circles, asking seriously. “I heard it’s a highly complex runic device…”

“Yes, a highly complex runic device. It looks like a black cube about two meters on each side. Its materials include magic-conducting crystals, highly purified black stone, and several alloys. Inside, there are layers upon layers of intricate structures,” Hetty nodded, placing several sheets of blueprints and documents she’d been holding onto Gawain’s desk. “This is the data the Sea Witches sent over. Jenny and Rebecca’s team have extracted and annotated the clearer structural elements as much as possible. You can take a look.”

Gawain took the documents, his expression grave as he scanned the dense diagrams and annotations. Knowing he wasn’t an expert in runes, he didn’t waste time trying to decipher the rune connections or magical conduction calculations. Instead, he focused on the internal structural divisions of the cube, trying to deduce its secrets.

As he studied, Hetty’s voice continued. “We currently suspect the runestone was constructed layer by layer—first the core, then runic structures were embedded and inscribed on successive ‘shells.’ Different layers are connected by precisely placed crystalline fasteners. There are traces of Gondor-era technology in the craftsmanship, but only in the manufacturing process… Beyond that, these runestones are filled with technology we can’t comprehend.”

“Voyager technology,” Gawain said, looking up into Hetty’s eyes.

“Voyagers, huh… I’ve already heard from Amber about everything you saw in the ‘Deep Sea,’” Hetty said solemnly. “If the ‘Elven Twins’ hiding in the Wasteland are indeed the Sentinels, and these runestones truly come from those cultists, then the mysterious technology behind these devices makes sense.”

“…I heard the Sea Witches salvaged more than one of these cubes from the Deep Blue Conduit?” Gawain asked, curious.

“Yes, as of yesterday afternoon, they’ve already discovered five of these devices within the Deep Blue Nexus,” Hetty nodded. “And that’s only the ones they managed to capture—there are probably many more that remain undetected or untouched.”

“Have the sea hags learned anything about these devices?”

“They haven’t found any useful clues,” Hetty shook her head. “The sea hags themselves have a rather shallow understanding of magic, and they don’t know much about the Deep Blue Nexus. However…”

“However?”

“Queen Petia of the sea hags mentioned something: recently, the water elementals in the Boundless Sea have been deliberately avoiding the Deep Blue currents that flow through it. Elemental beings have always disliked the magical aura of the Deep Blue Nexus, but their recent reactions have been especially pronounced… and tense. The Elemental Lords and Overlords haven’t explained why, but it seems they’re not intentionally hiding anything—they simply don’t understand what’s going on themselves.”

High King Gawain fell into thought, remaining silent for a moment. After nearly half a minute, he suddenly looked up. “Has Mylmina reviewed this information? She once ruled over the magical realm; maybe she can make sense of it.”

“Not yet,” Hetty shook her head. “Since returning from the God of War’s divine domain, Lady Mylmina has been delving into the secrets behind magical fluctuations. She even submitted a ‘Do Not Disturb—Focused Research’ notice within the Divine Council. But I think if you approached her… both senior advisors would be willing to cooperate.”

“Focused research into the mysteries of magic…” Gawain murmured softly, his mind involuntarily drifting back to the vision of the ‘Magical Divine Kingdom’ he’d seen aboard that cruiser. A wave of emotion washed over him. “At last, she can freely pursue true knowledge… Still, I should bother her a bit—I need to send something to Amon.”

Hetty immediately nodded. “Alright, I’ll make the arrangements and accompany you.”

Gawain glanced at this devoted ‘descendant’ who had faithfully followed him for years and couldn’t help but smile faintly. “No need. As usual, I’ll just bring Amber along. You should get some rest.”

Hetty opened her mouth to protest. “Ancestor, I—”

“Go rest, Hetty,” Gawain cut her off gently. “I’m back.”

(End of chapter)