Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1020: Chapter 1019: Winter God Hunt

One phantom after another was dragged out of the air by Emperor Rosetta Augustus, like feeding firewood into a blazing fire pan. Some of these phantoms were dazed, some animated, some silent amidst the raging flames, while others cursed wildly and frenziedly. More phantoms let out roars that humans could neither understand nor replicate, filled with a powerful force of corruption, causing even the bravest warrior to shiver, driving ordinary people to insanity. But regardless of what they did, they ultimately could not resist being thrown into the fire pan, making the flames gradually take on an iron hue and burn even more fiercely.

Eventually, even Malm Dunite’s phantom appeared in the flames, becoming increasingly realistic, and he shouted loudly:

"Rosetta! I curse you! You fallen betrayer of the gods! You will not meet a good end, opposing the gods will not lead to a good end!"

"Stop it, stop it, this is destined to be in vain. How could a great God be manipulated by mortals? Your arrogance will lead to your doom... Stop it! Your blind confidence is baseless..."

"What is the meaning of this? You have worked so hard to make an Empire strong, only to push it into an abyss at a time like this? Look at what you are doing... You have ruined so many who were once loyal to you..."

The voices in the flames were sometimes furious, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes righteously accusing, sometimes softened to beg, yet Rosetta continued his actions at a leisurely pace. After casting in dozens of phantoms, he finally raised his eyelids to glance at the flames: "Do you know why so many of your phantoms were captured by me?"

"You..."

"You were too trusting of your gods, but they are not as invincible as you imagine — the Augustus Clan has dealt with the ’gods’ for two hundred years; even with my eyes closed, I can smell the stench emitted by the ’Ascender’ possessing a mortal... Once I realized the influence you had over Duke Ferdinand Wendell and extracted the first ’phantom’ sample from him, all your actions in the Typhon Empire were laid bare before me."

"You..." Suddenly the phantom of Malm Dunite in the depths of the flames widened his eyes as if woke from a dream, and exclaimed, "It’s that curse... that entangles the Augustus Clan... you’ve actually compromised with Him?!"

"No," Rosetta calmly watched the flames as another Malm Dunite phantom condensed from the air and was unhesitatingly pushed into the fire pan by him, "This was merely a transaction."

"Transaction... transaction..." The projection of Malm Dunite in the flames suddenly lowered his head and muttered, then quickly erupted into uncontrollable laughter, "Ahaha, ahahaha... transaction! Rosetta, you’re finally walking this path! You think you can benefit from dealing with gods, but there’s nothing more laughable in the whole world! You, along with your succession of ancestors who fell over two hundred years, are equally arrogant and foolish... Rosetta, it seems you’re no different either..."

Emperor Rosetta Augustus seemed not to hear the ridicule from the flames. He quietly dragged out the last phantom he captured of Malm Dunite from the air, slowly placing it into the fire pan, then walked to a long table beside him expressionlessly, reaching out for an item placed on the table.

It was the iron scepter that had once belonged to Malm Dunite, the symbol for past War God Popes—

Upon seeing the scepter, Malm Dunite in the flames suddenly fell silent as he fully understood Rosetta’s intentions. However, he did not continue to curse or mock, instead speaking in a sorrowful tone: "Do you truly intend to take this step, Rosetta... We were once friends, even if we walked different paths, weren’t we once very close friends? I was the first to understand your ideals, and when you were questioned by aristocrats and religious leaders, it was the Sect of the God of War that first stood up to support your coronation, even though for years you had been weakening the position of the church with my cooperation..."

"Yes, Malm Dunite was once my friend," Rosetta wielded the scepter and returned to the fire pan, expressionlessly observing the phantom in the flames, then slightly raised the scepter, "Therefore, this unknown thing has even less right to look upon his face and continue babbling here!"

Before he finished speaking, the scepter was already enveloped by a holy and vast radiance, and the flames in the fire pan suddenly blazed fiercely, iron-gray color permeating the flames, consuming every word of Malm Dunite in faith. In the next second, Rosetta slammed the scepter heavily onto the ground, the iron staff striking the carpeted stone floor, emitting a sound as if a warhammer clashed against a shield!

"Boom—"

All of Winterwolf Fortress seemed to hear this explosion, followed by fantastic chimes and horn-blasts reverberating across the sky!

Emperor Rosetta Augustus raised his head, an illusory and hollow "Eye of the God" appeared behind him. His gaze pierced through the thick stone dome, unflinchingly observing the gates slowly opening in the sky, the unfurling of banners, and the phalanx of long spears as if growing like a forest of illusions. A giant clad in iron armor stepped out from the gate, with a figure that invited madness, uttering whispers capable of driving one’s sanity astray, and began to merge step by step with the phantom shadow wandering between heaven and earth.

"The Pope’s grand sacrifice to serve as the ultimate offering can perform a far transcending ’God Descending Technique,’ and if the god wishes to descend to this world, He can even arrive in person..." Rosetta murmured as if talking to himself, "Such rigid ’rules’... all that is necessary is the Pope’s sacrifice, not even the voluntary consent of the individual."

"These rigid rules form the basis of the gods’ operations; we are powerful because of them, but we also become prisoners due to them," The illusory hollow eyes trembled behind him, emitting a low voice, "The phantoms you captured are not yet the entirety of Malm Dunite, but exceed half... enough to bring the War God to this world."

"Once the War God falls, will the remaining phantoms of Malm Dunite dissipate as smoke?" Rosetta asked without turning his head.

"You’ve begun contemplating post-victory affairs already? Indeed optimistic..." The hollow eyes seemed to sneer but still answered sincerely, "You needn’t worry about this; your pitiful old friend now relies on the War God’s power to maintain his half-dead, chaotic fallen state. Once this power is gone, he will naturally vanish, no longer threatening this world, and in a sense, achieve a form of release. As for the present moment... focus on what you’re facing, the being you’ve taken upon to challenge... He has already arrived."

"I will face Him — just fulfill your duty as well."

"Of course, that is part of our contract."

...

The chimes and horn-blasts echoing through the heavens gradually transitioned from a chaotic ethereal state to becoming nearly deafening roars, as the clouds shattered and the sky opened like a crack, howling winds enveloped with rain and snow ravaged wildly. The miraculous blizzard instantly took form—a divine intervention that usually required masses of high priests to exert all their efforts, here it was merely an incidental ripple upon the gods’ descent.

At the fringes outside the snowstorm, in large assembly halls, layers of prayer continued endlessly without the slightest sign of stopping. Priests who completely lost their human sanity swayed around the iron-gray sacrifice fire, chanting poems dedicated to the War God in unison with bodies resonating in a humming rumble. Some bizarre, mutated organs in their bodies emitted a more cryptic chant beyond human voices. Surrounding these priests at the edges of the assembly halls, Obsidian Imperial Guards wearing Black Armor had their Longswords drawn, every Soldier nervously tracking the subtle movements of their commander.

The seventeenth toll of the distant bell rang out; the commander glanced at his mechanical watch before looking at the sky outside the window. He witnessed a huge, blurred, shadowy figure resembling a giant appearing amidst the blizzard. A sensation of his heart being forcefully gripped surged up—at the next instant, he shouted loudly, "Kill all priests! Quick!"

Blades were drawn, and under the iron-gray light and shadows of flames, swords danced, repeatedly piercing the bodies beneath the black robes. The already devastated and mutated priests quickly lost their vitality one by one, as the Obsidian Imperial Guard executed their slaughter with silent ruthlessness. Until the moment they were killed, those softly chanting priests made no resistance—they were completely immersed in the out-of-control summoning ritual, devoid of any human joy, anger, or fear.

Throughout the entire Winterhold area, between plains, hills, and valleys, similar scenes were continually unfolding in the gatherings of the War God.

The sound of war drums and horns blowing in the sky suddenly turned mournful, as if a cacophony had joined the normal military band. The wind and snow swept across the land, and the giant figure that was solidifying in the blizzard suddenly swayed—it seemed to have been struck by something, its aura weakened somewhat, almost as if it would be banished to another world. But this weakening lasted only a moment. In the next second, it became even more resolute in entering this world.

Finally, even ordinary people could witness the huge shadow appearing in the blizzard. It was so enormous, so terrifying, yet so sacred and solemn, moving through the storm like a mountain, seemingly with an endless attraction drawing the gaze of all beings—around Winterhold, on the mountains and in the camps, countless soldiers and officers instinctively looked up toward the storm.

Even Count Palin Winterhold, standing at the top of the Winterhold Mage Tower, was no exception.

He originally believed that he could resist the influence of the gods with his willpower. However, when the god began to enter the real world bit by bit, he could scarcely control himself from casting his gaze toward the blizzard. In the next moment, his entire vision, even his whole mind, was entirely occupied by that immense and majestic figure. He felt enormous knowledge crazily flooding into his mind, countless thoughts that did not belong to him sprouting and burgeoning within every nerve, his perception was being torn asunder, beginning to touch all the maddening secrets and darkness of this world, and he was sliding into the abyss that no human mind could comprehend—but at that moment, brilliant starlight reflected in his eyes.

A marvelous scene appeared over the Winterhold area—the blizzard raged at low altitude, with fierce winds swirling the rain and snow into a continuous curtain of chaos. However, in the higher sky, a broad starry sky suddenly appeared. The sky, originally at noon, seemed to be replaced by the night sky, with glittering stars, vastly different from the current era, shining in the night sky, each star confronting the furious power in the blizzard—and this spectacle was confined entirely to the Winterhold area, with a clear and sharp dividing line appearing between the starry sky and the normal sky at the spectacle’s edge.

Palin Winterhold, who was sliding into the abyss of madness, quickly regained his composure, knowing that the King he was loyal to had finally acted.

This winter hunt was just beginning.

Count Winterhold strode swiftly to the communication crystal within the mage tower, activating the powerful magic within the crystal to broadcast his voice across the entire defensive line:

"All units—commence the predetermined plan!"

"Conquer your fear, conquer your weakness, conquer your instincts—attack!"

...

In stark contrast to the Winterhold defensive line, in the highest terrace of Winterwolf Fortress within the Cecil control zone, Gawain could also observe the immense blizzard—and the "marvelous scene" above it.

He couldn’t see the specifics within the blizzard, but not long ago, Veronica had issued a warning during her "observation" mission: the War God had descended.

Today was the first day of the Cold Month, the new year’s festival—Amber’s judgment was correct.

Even across such a great distance, directly gazing at a god was still a dangerous thing. Therefore, various psychic protection units on the Cecil side had already begun to operate. But Gawain didn’t actually sense the presence of divine erosion within the blizzard. According to Veronica’s observations, it seemed that the "starry sky" covering above the blizzard was exerting some suppressive and filtering effect, directing the divine corruption, which should have spread everywhere, into the depths of the starry sky.

Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s hidden cards were being revealed one by one.

The intelligence from the frontline observation post was rapidly converging at Winterwolf Fortress, and a communication soldier rushed onto the terrace:

"Report! Signs of supermassive magical power convergence have been observed on the Typhon side, their combat Mage regiment has started to act!"

"Observed gryphon Knight Order taking flight on the Typhon side!"

"Anomalous magical surges appearing at the edge of the confrontation zone, frontline units request instructions!"

After quickly handling a few directives, Gawain arrived at the command hall on the castle’s first floor, which was already bustling.

The immense change occurring in the Typhon control zone agitated everyone’s nerves. Although the date was pre-calculated and preparations made, lacking key intelligence, the commanders still had to execute various contingency plans for the worst-case scenarios. Sir Philip was commanding the armored troops on the frontline to advance toward the Typhon control zone, and Maryland had already boarded the "War Citizen" armored train en route to the Winterhold line, while at the rear air base, several Dragon Cavalry squadrons and Dragonborn mercenaries were ascending in an orderly fashion, ready to head to the frontline.

But for now, they were just executing assembly tasks—the decision on whether or not to open fire, and on whom, still awaited judgment from the highest command.

"Your Majesty," Philip swiftly said upon noticing Gawain’s appearance, "the scout watchdog just visually confirmed that there indeed is some extremely large ’entity’ in the blizzard, but the psychic pollution protection device hasn’t reacted."

Gawain nodded: "The Typhons seem to have diverted the direction of the psychic pollution using some other means—do not relax vigilance, keep the Defense system always on. We can’t say how long the Typhons’ ’means’ will be effective."

Philip opened his mouth, apparently wanting to report something further, but Amber suddenly jumped out from the air beside them at this moment.

She bounded in a few steps to Gawain’s side: "We caught a Typhonian outside the fortress!"