Chapter 1481: The Decoded Blueprint
“The disappearances of Rattle and Payne Harbor have been confirmed. All coastal facilities surrounding these two cities have vanished without a trace,” Modir said, lowering his gaze from the communication device to look at the two standing beside him—Wasp and Night Owl. Then he shook his head slowly. “No… to be precise, it’s as if they never existed at all.”
The shield surrounding the camp blocked the biting sea wind, and the warmth from the heaters made the air comfortable. Yet both Wasp and Night Owl felt a chill creeping deep within their hearts.
“The reconnaissance drone just scouted northeast along the coastline, all the way to near Damtran Harbor,” Maggie’s voice came from nearby. “Damtran Harbor has also disappeared. That’s the farthest point from the island’s center on Violet Island. If this supernatural phenomenon really is spreading outward from the center… then things are probably exactly as you feared.”
Modir nodded but said nothing. Instead, he lifted his eyes toward the dense forest to the north. The perpetual mist that once shrouded the woods had vanished, replaced by an unnatural darkness that clung to the tangled shadows between the trees. The previously deployed Mage’s Eye had dissipated naturally after exceeding its control limits. Before it disappeared, its last transmitted image was an endless sea of trees, punctuated occasionally by massive stone piles that looked like heaps of rubble.
At first, Modir had thought these huge stone mounds were the ruins left behind after the cities vanished. But upon closer inspection, they were just piles of stone—nothing more.
The territory of this so-called “Mage’s Realm” was astonishingly vast. Though it was just an island, and often mistaken by the people of Loren continent as a small, insignificant country due to its low profile, the island’s area was nearly half the size of the Holy Dragon Principality or the Dwarven Kingdom. Its long coastline was dotted with several large cities and numerous smaller settlements. Inland, vast forests and wastelands stretched endlessly. Even the legendary Mage’s Eye could not reach the island’s center to survey the situation.
Wasp looked up toward the western mountains. The blazing sun was slowly sinking toward the distant, rolling horizon. As the daylight dimmed, brilliant golden-red clouds spilled across the sky, casting their glow over the rocky, primitive shoreline.
It was a magnificent sight, yet for those still on the coast, it only deepened their unease. Night Owl glanced at the black-haired Dragonborn standing nearby. “Miss Maggie, the sun is about to set.”
Maggie checked the sky. Though nightfall was still some time away, she dared not let the team linger for even a minute longer. “All personnel, evacuate the coast immediately! Board the ships now!”
The steel-clad rangers on the shore quickly packed their gear and sprinted toward the landing crafts moored at the water’s edge. The dragonrider fighters, previously stationed in the open field, swiftly took to the skies and began circling above the coast. Maggie transformed once more into a fully armored black dragon, allowing the two intelligence agents and Modir to climb onto her broad back.
Everyone began the orderly retreat from the coast as planned. However, the vast array of equipment they had brought remained behind—energy units, communication devices, and numerous sensing and monitoring instruments. After the personnel evacuated, these magical devices would continue operating, observing Violet Island’s changes after nightfall and transmitting real-time data back to the main warship, the Cold Star, waiting offshore.
Seated on the broad back of the black dragon, Wasp glanced back toward Violet Island. She saw it slowly receding in the sunset’s afterglow. The distant forest had already sunk into darkness. The once-familiar Prandell City was now a wild, desolate coast bathed in the fading light. The shore was deserted, save for the faint flickers of the automated magical devices blinking in the twilight.
“Let’s hope the first night passes without incident,” Night Owl murmured beside her.
“I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” Modir said casually. “From what I gather, that ‘mist-shrouded world’ has completely separated from our reality. Our return to the ship is just a precaution.” He patted himself down, casting twelve layers of Stone Skin, along with a host of Mage Armor and elemental resistances. “Everyone just relax…”
Wasp’s eye twitched involuntarily. How was it that, with this legendary adventurer around, she could never truly calm down?
…
As several exploration teams left Violet Island’s coastal areas and returned to their respective main warships at sea, far to the empire’s southern border, Gawain simultaneously received the exploration report sent directly from the Cold Star.
In a study lined with blue velvet carpeting, the atmosphere was heavy. Amber stood before the large desk, clutching the report just received from the north. Even with her sturdy nerves, her mood was unsettled.
“…According to the latest reconnaissance, it’s confirmed that multiple border cities of Violet, including Prandell, Rattle, and Payne Harbor, have disappeared. No signs of any cities have been detected in the inland areas so far…
“…The Ice Cavalry, equipped with high-powered magical sensing devices, conducted three full-power scans toward Violet Island. None detected any spell activity or artificial magical concentrations. We can basically rule out any human activity within 120 kilometers inland from the island’s southwest coast.
“All landing forces have returned to their main ships at sea, leaving only automated recording and transmission devices on the beaches to continue monitoring Violet after nightfall. Archmagister Victoria remains aboard the Cold Star to oversee command.”
She closed the file and looked up at Gawain, who sat calmly behind the desk. “At this point, we should be able to draw a conclusion—the Kingdom of Violet has vanished, or as you suggested, it… never existed.”
“I understand,” Gawain nodded lightly, gesturing for Amber to set the report down. He rubbed his brow slowly. “How is Modir? He’s the most unpredictable element in this entire process.”
“He’s stable. Victoria conducted a thorough examination after his return to the Cold Star,” Amber exhaled. “Overall, aside from being chased through half a city by hundreds of shadow dwellers in his dreams, the adventurer’s body was unaffected by the Prandell mist. Given his experience, his mental state is probably fine too.”
Gawain: “…”
He didn’t quite know how to comment on the adventurer’s remarkable exploits. All he could do was silently wish the old man good health.
“Now we wait for Victoria’s follow-up reports,” Gawain said, exhaling slowly. “Tonight will be critical. Whether Violet Island undergoes any further changes after this supernatural event will become clear after nightfall. You should get some rest—you’ve been busy all day.”
Normally, Amber would have vanished in an instant and reappeared in some random tavern downtown, downing a cold beer in three gulps. But this time, she stayed.
Gawain glanced at her, saying nothing, then remarked casually, “The agents did well. Without them, our response to this event would have been far slower.”
“…Over the years, I’ve lost many old acquaintances,” Amber said slowly, pulling up a chair and sitting down, resting her chin on her hands. “Some left with a bang, some quietly, and some… I executed with my own hands. Sometimes I wonder—if I hadn’t gathered them in that little tavern back then, if they hadn’t followed me to Cecil and joined the intelligence agency, would things have been better?”
She shook her head and looked at Gawain. “Nearly a hundred agents operated in the Violet region. Now only two remain alive. Those who disappeared were either my followers from ten or even twenty years ago, or the core members I personally trained in recent years. Many of them never had to walk this path.”
Gawain watched Amber silently. He rarely saw this expression on her face, but he knew she didn’t need empty comfort.
“There are many things in life to regret, but I don’t think this is one of them,” he said calmly. “You brought them to Cecil. They chose to follow you and join the agency. That wasn’t just your decision. They chose their own path and walked it to the end—with conviction, loyalty, and a life they believed in. Questioning your past choices is like questioning the path they took.”
“…That’s true,” Amber considered, then smiled. “And thinking about it… given their original lives, if they hadn’t come with me, most of them would probably be cuffed to a radiator in the security bureau or worse—dead in some dark alley years ago. That’s not something to be happy about.”
She patted her face, stood up, and stretched. “Enough thinking—it’s not my style. I need to find a tavern and unwind. By tradition, I owe them one last round.”
Gawain looked into Amber’s eyes. “Raise a glass for all of them on my behalf.”
Amber waved him off and stepped into a quietly opening shadow rift. In the next moment, she vanished from sight.
The study fell silent. Gawain sat behind the desk, lost in thought. After a moment, he looked toward the door. “Come in. You’ve been standing out there long enough.”
At that moment, the door creaked open slightly. Rebecca and Jenny peeked their heads inside, cautiously scanning the room. After confirming no one else was present, they entered quietly. Jenny whispered, “Miss Amber left so silently…”
Gawain looked at Rebecca, who was carrying a large stack of documents. “It’s rare you waited in the hallway. I thought you’d just barge in like usual and disrupt everyone’s mood.”
“I wanted to come in directly, but Jenny stopped me!” Rebecca said quickly. “She said the atmosphere in here wasn’t right… Why wasn’t it right just now?”
Gawain: “…”
“The atmosphere was a bit off, but explaining it might take a while,” he waved his hand. His gaze then fell on the files in their hands. “Let’s get down to business. What do you have there…”
Jenny immediately stepped forward and placed the documents she and Rebecca were holding onto Gawain’s desk. The Empire’s chief runesmith wore a serious expression as he said, “Your Majesty, we have finished translating the technical materials sent by the Noyans on the so-called ‘Cognitive Unification Field.’ We’ve made some rather astonishing… discoveries.”
At those words, Gawain straightened up in his chair.
The upheaval in the Violet Kingdom was shocking, the mystery of Lady Night weighed heavily on his mind, and the enigma surrounding the Pact between the Voyagers and the Ancient Gods was thick with unanswered questions—but no matter what, the encroaching magical tide was the pressing issue above all else.
After all, the upheaval could be dealt with in time, the ancient mysteries wouldn’t vanish on their own, but if the magical tide wasn’t stopped soon… then Loren would truly be lost.
Gawain’s gaze quickly settled on the thick stack of documents on the desk. After a brief assessment of their length and the technical complexity of the opening sections, he decisively abandoned the idea of reading through them immediately. Instead, he turned to Rebecca. “What have you found?”
Rebecca spoke up at once, “The Noyans’ so-called ‘Cognitive Unification Field’ is essentially a technology that links the minds of living beings into a network. They use this to create an enormous, controlled ‘Thought Domain,’ which they then project above the planet, generating a kind of barrier-like protective effect.” As she explained, she opened one of the files she’d brought and pointed to some diagrams. “This is an annotated schematic of the components of the Cognitive Unification Field. We’ve ‘localized’ it for easier understanding. Please focus on this section here…”
Gawain furrowed his brow slightly as he studied the blueprints, which had been processed by Jenny, Rebecca, and other technical experts. Looking at the linked nodes and computational units, a sudden thought struck him. “This looks very familiar…”
“Yes, of course it does,” Rebecca nodded. “Because the underlying structure is almost exactly the same as the ‘neural networks’ we’re currently using.”
“Neural networks… no wonder it feels so familiar,” Gawain murmured, nodding slowly as his heartbeat quickened. “So this mysterious ‘Cognitive Unification Field’ is actually a neural network?!”
“Not just a neural network,” Jenny’s voice came from the side. “The neural network is only the foundation—the groundwork. The most critical and shocking part of this defense system is its ‘field effect generator’ and ‘projection unit.’ This thing…”
The chief runesmith paused, exchanging a glance with Rebecca before nodding solemnly. She then looked back at Gawain with grave seriousness. “This device shares similarities with our ‘Anti-Divinity Barrier,’ but it’s… the inverse.”
(End of chapter)