Chapter 1339 — Before the Return Home

After some thought, she finally lifted her eyelids again and, looking at Belna, let out a breath. "All right, since your mind is made up, I won't stop you—but don't get excited yet. We need to plan this carefully. I can't let you just recklessly run off to the south; recklessness has already cost you once. And I still need to discuss this with Brother Gao Yang—that envoy..."

She paused there, and even her mimicry face, which struggled to form expressions, could not help twitching at the corner of the mouth. "That envoy is no ordinary being. I hope you won't be frightened when you meet him."

...

Wind mingled with the smell of gunsmoke and ash swept across the old defense line now reduced to scorched earth. Coarse sand and dust were caught up by the wind and lashed the shattered ground and the towering walls of the border fortress. Banners whipped and fluttered in the wind, and the scorched, curled edges of the flags, burned by fire and magic, brushed against Belantia's pale golden hair as the wind carried whispers from the distant forest.

Belantia overlooked the land, saying nothing in the wind. Only a faint fluctuation of magic came from her now and then, showing that she was listening to the "voices" carried from afar.

Beside the ruler of the Silver Empire stood a tall, middle-aged man with short black hair, clad in armor, one eye covered by a dark red patch. Together with her he overlooked the scorched wasteland in the distance and the "mountain range" at its far end that sprawled low against the earth. After a long silence, it was this middle-aged man who broke it. "Our attempt to retake the Blue Rock Hills failed. The soldiers have temporarily withdrawn to the defense line—the monsters poured more troops into the Blue Rock Hills than we imagined, and they seem intent on 'building' it up as a long-term stronghold."

"I have already heard the news on the wind. The Guardian Ancient Tree and the warriors of the Millennial Legion are on their way to reinforce, King Audris," Belantia said gravely. "Our line is now deadlocked from the Blue Rock Hills to the forest barrier... As more and more millennial warriors cross the Returnees' Long Bridge, those monsters pouring out of the wasteland are sending in reinforcements as well."

"...The most critical moment has passed, but we are still far from true dawn, Your Imperial Majesty," said Audris, King of the Highland Kingdom, narrowing his one remaining eye in the wind. "Several districts of the fallen north of the forest barrier have already been converted into wasteland. We have to divert a considerable force to deal with the aberrations that keep 'growing' out of thin air, and we still have to find a way to purify the corruption spreading through the forest. The whole line is stretched too long, our soldiers are run ragged—and those monsters do not fear death. If the deadlock continues like this, we will fall at a disadvantage again."

Belantia was silent for a moment, and only after several seconds did she speak in a low voice. "But we cannot retreat a single step... You know the news from the north. The monsters' true purpose in attacking the civilized world is very likely to plant certain 'control nodes' at specific locations, nodes capable of commanding the entire planet's magic system. The present deadlock is hard, but it is a stage we have no choice but to endure. We must get through it."

"...On the day the Glorious Dome fell, you did not abandon the Highland Kingdom, so the Highland Kingdom will never betray the 'Alliance.' Still, I must say... if we don't find a way to break the deadlock, this war will truly be hard to fight," Audris sighed. "Lately our scouts have found traces of aberration activity along the northwestern border as well. Clearly some of the monsters that were attacking the western front are now moving toward us. The numbers aren't large yet, but it's not a good sign."

He had barely spoken half of this when hurried footsteps suddenly came from the nearby wall. Belantia turned and saw a young man with short black hair, a long sword at his waist and a military uniform, striding quickly toward them. It was Lorin, the only son of King Audris of the Highland Kingdom, who had only recently come of age.

"Why such panic?" Seeing Lorin's frantic manner, Audris immediately frowned and asked in a somewhat stern tone.

"Fort Greta is under attack," Lorin said rapidly. "The enemy came from the direction of the Dark Crossroads..."

"Again? Those bastards never know when to stop, do they?!" the rough-hewn Audris burst out cursing at once, every hair on his head standing on end. Then, striding quickly toward the other side of the wall, he turned his head and said hurriedly to Belantia, "I need to meet with the generals. The situation at Fort Greta has been rather bad lately—Your Imperial Majesty, just as I said, if we don't find a way to break the deadlock, this war will truly be hard to fight!"

The tall king and his young heir soon vanished along the wall, and Belantia's gaze quickly returned to the direction of the forest barrier. Through the perception unique to Silver Elves, she could see not only that scarred and devastated land, but also the other things filling the space between forest and soil—the life force struggling on, the surging chaotic power, the "memories" mortals had left upon the earth being devoured by darkness. Civilization was receding, and it had receded to the very edge of the fortress beneath her feet, yet here it had stubbornly halted. Sustained by the fierce will of countless mortals, this boundary line held its ground against the dark power from the direction of the wasteland, locked in a seesaw struggle of mutual devouring and shifting fortunes.

...

At the same time, on the northern front of the Gondo Wasteland, Fendir Vild, in full military dress, was driving an arcane armored vehicle across the vast wilderness between the forward camps.

Cold wind, carrying hard-frozen fragments of ice and snow, lashed the door of the arcane vehicle, and the howling mixed into the wind kept one's nerves constantly on edge. The distant mountains had grown hazy in the foul weather, yet beams of bright blue light rose in the distant wind and snow—the radiance released by the purification devices in operation, which in such weather served perfectly to point the way forward.

A soldier's voice came from behind. "Sir, want me to take a shift? You've been driving a long while."

"No need—we're passing between purification zones. Best not to stop," Fendir said without turning his head to the subordinate sitting behind him. Then he lowered his head slightly and glanced at the mission summary lying at hand:

Mission: Proceed to the newly established frontline laboratory and assist the laboratory director in setting up the arcane-net communication system.

Mission note: Maintain a calm and courteous demeanor.