Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 945 - 944: Rift in Space-Time

Those "verses" were neither sound nor text, but suddenly appeared like some thought that emerged directly in the mind. It was a direct infusion of information, a "super-experience" beyond the few senses of human beings, and to such a "super-experience"... Gawain was not a stranger.

He was even very familiar with those verses themselves.

He had come into contact with the relics of the Voyagers more than once, among which the first two encounters were with the Eternal Stone Slate. The first time, he learned from the information carried by the slate of the battle report of the ancient god-slaying war, and the second time, the information he obtained from the Eternal Stone Slate was those strange, obscure, and ambiguous "verses"!

In a flash, he fixated his gaze on the glowing area at the base of the Eternal Storm. He felt that something related to the heritage of the Voyagers was trying to establish a connection with him, and that thing might have been dormant at the center of the storm for countless years. He concentrated his attention, trying to stabilize that faint connection, but just as he was about to make some progress, Melita’s sudden exclamation came from the front:

"Ah—what’s happening..."

With this short exclamation, the dragon, which was trying to skim over the storm center at an inclined angle, suddenly began to descend. Melita seemed to be suddenly grabbed by some powerful force, starting to plunge headlong towards the bottom of the storm, towards the most violent, chaotic, and dangerous direction of the vortex!

"Whoa!!" Amber exclaimed immediately, jumping more than a meter high, "What’s happening, what’s happening... hey, don’t fall down!!"

"I don’t know! I can’t control it!" Melita shouted at the front, struggling with all her might to maintain her flying posture, yet some invisible force continued to drag her down— the mighty dragon, in the face of this force, appeared helpless like a bird. In the blink of an eye, she descended to a very dangerous altitude, "It’s no good! I can’t maintain balance... hold on tight! We’re heading towards the sea!"

"You didn’t say this when you set out!" Amber shouted, jumping up and down, then immediately dashed towards the nearest Magic Web Terminal - she quickly pried open the cover of the device, pulled out the recording crystal board from the terminal base with an incredible speed, clutching it tightly in her hand while cursing loudly, then turned and ran towards Gawain, shouting as she ran, "Help, help, help, help..."

Gawain reached out, trying to catch Amber who was jumping towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Veronica Moen already spreading her hands, summoning powerful Holy Light to build a protection in preparation to resist the impact. He saw the dragon’s wings sweep back in the storm, the chaotic and violent airflow rushing against Melita’s precarious Protective Barrier, and continuous lightning interwoven in the distance, illuminating the dark outlines of the cloud depths and casting bizarre scenes towards the Eye of the Storm—

The scene he saw with his regular vision stopped abruptly here.

A jumble of light and shadows rushed towards him, like fragmented mirrors filling his vision. With visual and mental perception severely disrupted simultaneously, he couldn’t discern the changes in his surroundings. He only felt as if he had crossed a "boundary line", which was like a water curtain with a cold feeling piercing into his soul, and once past this boundary, the whole world suddenly quieted down.

The feeling of rapid descent vanished, as did the previous roaring storm sounds, thunder, and the screams of Melita and Amber. Gawain felt that the surroundings had become incredibly silent, and even the space seemed to have come to a halt. His disturbed vision began to gradually recover, with light and shadow slowly piecing together to form clear patterns.

A drowsy-looking sea area appeared before him. In the center of this sea area was an enormous vortex, at the heart of which stood a bizarre, tower-like steel giant. Countless huge, distinct forms emerged from the surrounding seawater and air as if attacking the "tower" protruding from the center of the vortex. Near that tower-like steel object, numerous dragon figures were circling as guardians, seemingly engaged in a life-and-death confrontation with those ferocious, violent attackers.

And all of this was static.

The entire sea area, including that oddly shaped "tower", the massive attacking forms, the guardian dragons, and even every wave on the sea surface, and every drop of water in mid-air, all remained stationary in front of Gawain, covered with a dark blue, color-imbalanced dimness that made the place increasingly gloomy and strange.

After a brief two-second stupor, Gawain suddenly reacted, quickly retracting his gaze, and looked at those beside and beneath him.

Melita was also frozen. She stood still in mid-air like an element of this vast static scene, similarly covered with a dim tone. Veronica Moen was also stationary, maintaining the posture of spreading her hands to summon the Holy Light. However, no Holy Light surged around her, and Amber was also frozen— she was even suspended in mid-air, still holding the jumping posture towards this side.

Gawain instinctively rotated his neck.

He found that he was not frozen, and might be the only... human being who could still move here.

An unspeakable eerie feeling rushed from all directions. Gawain took a deep breath, forcibly calming his tense mind.

Afterwards, he looked up and saw the entire sky covered by a hemispherical "shell." That shell hung overhead like a fragmented mirror, outside of which one could see a stationary, massive vortex. A storm and inverted seawater were all solidified within the vortex, and even further, lightning embedded seemingly in the cloud wall— those electric lights clearly remained still.

This was the center of the Eternal Storm, also the lowest level of the storm, a place unknown to even a dragon kin like Melita...

This was the Eye of the Storm, where time and space were in stasis.

Standing on the frozen Melita, Gawain frowned and pondered for a long time. Realizing that this bizarre situation doesn’t seem to disappear naturally, he felt it necessary to actively do something.

Staying in place won’t change one’s circumstances. Although taking rash action is equally dangerous, considering that in this storm far from civilized society, rescue is impossible to expect. Considering that this is the Eye of the Storm even the dragon kin cannot approach, actively taking action is the only choice.

He first confirmed the situation of Amber and Veronica Moen, ensuring they were merely in a state of suspension without any damage. Then he drew the Sword of Pioneers he carried and prepared to leave a few words for them—just in case they suddenly regained freedom of movement like him, it would be good to know the current situation.

He hesitated for some time about where to carve the message. In the end, with a hint of apology, he decided to carve the message on the dragon scales in front of Amber—Melita Ponia surely wouldn’t mind this slight "matter of urgency," and moreover, she expressed before departure that she didn’t mind "passengers" leaving slight "scratches" on her scales. Gawain thoughtfully considered that carving a few words on her back wouldn’t matter much to the massive dragon kin...

After completing this, he exhaled and turned to the edge of Melita Ponia’s massive wings. After confirming the height of the sea below, he began channeling his inner strength and leaped down.

As a legendary powerhouse, even though he isn’t a mage and can’t perform the flying spell of mages, he can still achieve brief suspension in the air and slow descent to a certain extent. Besides, it’s not entirely empty between Melita Ponia and the sea below; there are some strange fragments like wreckage floating nearby that could serve as stepping stones during the descent—Gawain used these as a path to swiftly move towards the sea while controlling his falling direction and speed.

He landed on the still sea, feeling an extraordinary touch beneath his feet—the solid-looking water surface wasn’t as "hard" as he imagined, nor did it feel liquid like normal sea water. It felt like it had a peculiar "elasticity." Gawain felt himself sink slightly, yet when he firmly stepped, that sinking sensation vanished.

He felt as steady as if standing on the ground.

"Strange..." Gawain muttered softly to himself, "There was indeed a momentary sinking and elasticity just now..."

No one around could respond to his self-talk.

Gawain shook his head, took another deep breath, and raised his head to look into the distance.

In the vortex-shaped sea, that towering steel structure stood at the center of his view, appearing like a strangely-shaped mountain. It bore clear signs of human craftsmanship, with precisely fitted armor and many protruding structures of unknown purpose. Earlier, when viewing from midair, Gawain felt indifferent, but now from the sea level, he’s awed by its massive scale—it is more colossal than any ship ever built by the Cecil Empire, and taller than any tower built in human history. It seemed that only part of its structure was exposed above the sea, yet even that exposed portion was breathtaking.

Gawain couldn’t help but gaze at the enormous figures emerging on the distant sea and half-air, looking towards those "attackers" surrounding him from all directions.

Their forms varied wildly, stranger than anything imaginable. Some appeared like ferocious sea monsters with seven or eight heads, others like gigantic beasts molded from rock and ice. Some even resembled blazing fire or an indescribable gaseous mass. At a distance further from the "battlefield," Gawain even saw a vague human-like outline—it seemed like a giant wielding a longsword, cloaked in a robe woven from starlight and flowing fire, striding over the sea waves, with flames burning like blood on the longsword...

Gawain has already set his steps, swiftly moving towards the vortex center of the "battle remnants" along the motionless sea surface. The legendary knight’s charge approached the speed of sound, breezing like a phantom amid those vast figures or floating wreckage. Simultaneously, he continues to meticulously observe every detail of this eerie "battlefield."

Though the "attackers" surrounding the large vortex appeared diverse, without exception, they possessed a particularly massive build. In Gawain’s impression, only Amoen, the Giant Stag or Supreme Narrator Nariteer Duvalt could share similar forms. Flush with these associations, he can’t restrain his thoughts from extending further—

Who are these massive "attackers"? Why have they gathered here? Are they attacking the steel structure at the vortex’s center? The place resembles a battlefield, but when is this battlefield from? Everything here remains in a state of stillness... How long has it been frozen, and who is responsible for its suspension?

Gawain draws closer to the center of the vortex, where the sea surface clearly slants, with warped, solidified wreckage and illusionary static flames strewn everywhere. He has to slow down to search for the route to proceed, and in the midst of slowing, he raises his head to the sky, observing those shadows flying above the vortex, their wings shrouding the sky and sun.

Undoubtedly, those are dragons, hundreds and thousands of them.

They are circling the steel structure at the vortex’s center, using powerful breaths and various spells and weapons to combat the attacks from the surrounding monstrous creatures. Yet, these dragon kin clearly hold no advantage. The enemies have breached their defenses; the steel structure they desperately protect bears extensive damage. This is doomed to be an unwinnable battle—even though it’s suspended here, Gawain can only witness this moment of stalemate between both sides, but from the scene, he can infer the battle’s eventual outcome.

...However, the question remains, has this battle already ended? Has it decided a winner?

Gawain pauses—giant obstacles and static flames are everywhere ahead, making the search for a path considerably challenging. He stops rushing forward and surveys this frozen battlefield, beginning to ponder.

If some force intervened, breaking the stillness of this battlefield, would everything immediately resume? Would this war, whose timing remains unknown, instantly recommence and determine a winner? Or...would everything here merely dissipate into a forgotten historical wisp...?

Gawain isn’t certain if everything he’s witnessing here is "real." He even doubts that this might merely be a "silhouette" left by some static space-time. This war’s timeline may have ended long ago, but a certain scene from the battlefield remained preserved by this anomalous space-time structure. What he’s witnessing isn’t the actual battlefield but merely an impression left in the continuum.

So...which hypothesis is correct?