Chapter 548: Witnessed Again
The moment he disconnected from the mental network, High Lord Gawain immediately received a report from Amber.
“…That’s basically the situation,” the half-elf lady concluded her briefing. “Right now, the Magnificent Wall is stable, with no signs of any aberrations approaching. It seems there was just a landslide at the junction between the southern foothills of the Dark Mountains and the Black Forest. Due to the terrain, the outpost can’t get a clear view.”
“I see,” Gawain said after a brief pause, nodding thoughtfully. “Keep a close watch on the Magnificent Wall. Also, dispatch the security teams within the Rebellious Fortress to patrol the southern corridor. If it’s a landslide, that area might be affected.”
After issuing these orders, Gawain didn’t linger at the Arcane Technology Institute. Claiming he needed rest, he returned directly to his manor.
Back in the relative safety of his study, he immediately summoned the satellite feed in his mind.
The special orbital surveillance view flickered into his consciousness—images from an ancient monitoring satellite. Carefully, he adjusted the system’s focus to the junction between the Dark Mountains’ southern slopes and the Black Forest.
He searched for signs of landslides or earthquakes. The outdated satellite system struggled to operate, the images grainy and unclear, showing a slowly shifting wasteland of decay. After several minutes of scanning and painstaking comparison, his gaze suddenly froze.
There was something there.
Along the direct southern line from Cecil City, within the Black Forest, something was visible—not a landslide, rockfall, or earthquake scar, but a crater-like formation.
Zooming in, the image remained fuzzy, the dark, corrupted earth making details hard to discern. Yet Gawain could make out radial folds around the circular area and giant trees bent outward at the crater’s edge. These were no ordinary trees—towering giants, dozens of meters tall, snapped cleanly in half. The impact must have been tremendous. Wisps of smoke still lingered in the air, indicating the crater was very recent.
What was it? Had something fallen from the sky?
Gawain stared in shock at the massive impact site. Though he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he was almost certain this kind of crater wasn’t caused by the magical storms.
At that moment, he desperately wished he could go there immediately to investigate. But the crater lay on the southern slopes of the Dark Mountains—a treacherous barrier. Crossing it meant venturing into the very front lines of magical corruption. The risk was enormous.
Though his power had grown steadily with the development of his domain, and he had begun planning more proactive measures in the Gondor Wastelands—including proposals to establish observation posts or forward bases on the Dark Mountains’ southern slopes—these were still just plans. Cecil Principality was not yet ready to cross the Dark Mountains.
Soldiers carrying equipment would have to traverse steep, fragile, corrupted mountain paths and toxic, magically tainted vegetation. Descending would be even more perilous. Supplying or calling for reinforcements would be nearly impossible. Any crisis could be fatal.
Still, he could send a few elite operatives—or even go himself. Legendary warriors could operate in the Dark Mountains’ southern foothills. But was this crater worth the risk?
As Gawain pondered, something else suddenly appeared in his surveillance feed.
Thin clouds whipped past on either side, cold winds sliced by massive wings roaring over a colossal, scaled body. A mature blue dragon circled high above, her enormous, gem-like eyes reflecting the scarred land below.
Layers of corrupted rock piled atop one another, twisted and mutated magical plants growing wildly between the strata. The soil was a foreboding purple-black, shrouded in a thin mist. This corrupted zone stretched from the Dark Mountains southward—through the Black Forest, the Ribbon Plains, the Magnificent Wall, and finally the Gondor Wastelands—reaching the terrifying deep-blue magical storm that even dragons feared.
The dragon beat her wings, adjusting her angle in the sky. Her gaze swept over the Black Forest’s edge, where a massive crater still billowed smoke.
Hovering, she began chanting in an obscure, ancient draconic tongue. As magic surged, pale golden runes shimmered into a protective screen around her, shielding her from the howling wind and creating a stable environment for communication.
A female voice emerged from the dragon’s mouth: “Arrived at coordinates, southern Dark Mountains. Witnessed a large crash site.”
The golden rune screen flickered with complex symbols and lines. A slightly distorted voice responded: “…Received. Please approach for closer observation. Exercise caution—it’s near the magical contamination zone. Don’t fall in.”
“Understood. I’ll be careful,” the blue dragon replied with a hint of casualness. “Actually, this spot is still quite far from the real contamination. I think if I fly a bit further south, I might—”
Before she could finish, the screen’s voice cut in sternly: “Do not take unnecessary actions—have you forgotten last time?”
“That wasn’t my fault! I just had to make an emergency landing and missed the mark—”
“The Council was impressed by your crash landing, but we don’t plan to watch a repeat anytime soon. Focus on the current mission.”
The dragon shook her head impatiently, then cut the communication and flapped her wings hard, descending rapidly.
At the Black Forest’s edge, the huge crater still smoked. The powerful impact had blasted away vast vegetation, leaving radial cracks around the rim. At the crater’s center, amid swirling dust, a twisted, deformed piece of metal still glowed hot.
A sudden gust scattered the smoke, and the blue dragon landed heavily inside the crater, her massive form settling firmly.
“I’m still pretty steady,” she muttered to herself.
She stepped forward to the glowing metal wreckage.
It was a cylindrical alloy device about two or three meters long and less than half a meter in diameter. Despite enduring the searing heat of atmospheric entry and the brutal impact, its basic shape remained intact. Both ends were broken, with charred cables and conduits protruding. The surface bore raised structures—signs it had broken off from a larger whole.
“…Sigh… I knew it,” the dragon sighed, then reached out with a huge claw to grasp the still-hot alloy piece.
“Recover the wreckage.”
With powerful wingbeats stirring the air and magic, she lifted off. Once at transmission altitude, she hovered, hesitating briefly as if debating whether to explore further. After a moment, she opened communications again.
The golden rune screen appeared, the voice inside sounding a bit urgent: “Status report? Confirmed the object?”
“The fallen object is confirmed—a fragment from either the Radiance Station One or Two. Looks like part of a gravity calibrator. It was probably still functioning during descent, and the massive energy released on impact created this enormous crater. Scholars were right after all.”
“So it really is from the Radiance Space Station…” The voice paused. “The artifacts left by the Pathfinders… each one is nearing its lifespan’s end.”
“Eventually, they all break down. We’ve been prepared for that.”
“Being prepared mentally isn’t the same as being ready,” the voice sighed. “The key issue now is that the Pathfinder legacy may suffer massive failures before this cycle ends. Yet, so far, none of the civilizations this season have found any hope of breaking the deadlock…”
The blue dragon fell silent, hovering in the fierce wind, seemingly at a loss for words. After half a minute, she broke the silence.
“Not necessarily.”
“Hm?”
“Maybe this time there’s a turning point.”
The voice on the screen sounded surprised. “A turning point? Which one? Don’t say it’s those elves or the sea witches from the far ocean. The elves’ lineage has long been broken, and who knows what those sea witches are scheming.”
“Not them. Humans,” the dragon shook her head. “More precisely, the kingdom founded by that resurrected human… Seems interesting.”
“You mean that human, Gawain Cecil?” The voice sounded a bit startled. “Ah, his resurrection was impressive, and his progress has been unexpected… But you see hope for breaking the deadlock in him? Are you sure?”
“Not sure. But there’s one thing I’ll say that might shock you,” the dragon said. “In his Cecil Principality, the power of the Holy Light is growing, but the power of the Holy Light’s god… is waning.”
“…Unbelievable!”
“But it’s true.” The dragon spoke with conviction. Just as she was about to elaborate, a strange sense of unease suddenly interrupted her.
Guided by an intuition beyond human understanding, the dragon immediately pinpointed the source of the feeling. She flapped her wings fiercely, leaving her hover spot, spiraling upward as she craned her neck to look skyward.
“No way, not again?!”
The dragon on the other end heard her shout and quickly asked, “What’s happening?!”
“Another unknown surveillance sensation… coming from directly above!” The blue dragon darted wildly through the sky, her tone bordering on frantic. “Damn it… I still think it’s coming from the satellite direction… Are you absolutely sure the Pathfinders haven’t returned?”
“We can confirm that—regardless, you need to leave your current location immediately. Shake off the tracker and head to the western rendezvous point. Our kin will meet you there.”
“I’d like to shake it off…” The dragon shouted as she desperately altered her flight path. “But I can’t… Damn it, I’m probably going to have to do that thing again…”
“Ah?! You better think this through—”
“No time to think. Hesitate, and I crash. I’m pretty sure I’ll make it this time.”
Gawain cut the satellite feed with a weary, frustrated sigh.
Lost them again.
Just like last time: after monitoring for a while, the dragon sensed the unknown watcher from space, then abruptly changed course in a baffling maneuver and vanished from view.
But there was one thing Gawain could be sure of: the dragon that appeared this time was likely the same one he had seen during the surveillance at Covenant Fortress.
(Yo!!)
(The End of this Chapter)