Chapter 1480 — The Vanished Nation

The forest covering the whole realm, together with the mist that never dispersed within it, together formed the Kingdom of Violet's "inland barrier," wrapping layer upon layer around Emberfall City and the many other inland cities, and cutting off the gaze of outsiders who coveted a glimpse into this mysterious realm. Neither Cecil's Military Intelligence agents nor the spies and infiltrators sent by Typhon had found any way around it.

Yet now Mojin could clearly see that the thick fog in that forest had dissipated, and what remained... was only an unnatural gloom.

Night Owl quickly noticed the old mage's gaze. The young Military Intelligence agent at once understood what the other was thinking and spoke up unprompted: "After we got out, the fog that had always filled the forest dispersed, and it hasn't reappeared since."

"You didn't go deep into the island, did you?" Mojin turned at once and asked sternly.

"No," Night Owl said, shaking his head. "Though the fog in the forest has dispersed, it's filled with an unnatural gloom—clearly something else strange is going on. Hornet and I only observed from the forest's edge before retreating to the beach."

"You did the right thing. Until we understand this island's present 'rules,' venturing rashly into its depths is a dangerous business," Mojin said with a slight nod. As an adventurer of long experience, he well knew that recklessness and overconfidence were the surest roads to disaster.

"Prandel vanished in the fog, and the mist that always filled the island's forests has vanished too... What is the connection between the two?" Maggie murmured thoughtfully. "It's as if Prandel City and the mist in the forests were both sustained by the same 'source,' and now that source is receding from the real world..."

"The Night Lady. I can only think of the Night Lady," Mojin said slowly. "Whether it's those shadow-dwellers that appeared last night, or the summons I received in my dreams, everything seems to point to that mysterious ancient deity. But I truly cannot see what He means to convey... One thing I have seen clearly, though: this so-called 'mage kingdom' of Violet... its true face is probably a shadow realm. At the very least, Prandel City was plainly ruled by shadow power."

Mojin shook his head, then casually traced several shining runes in the air. A phantom eyeball coalesced from among the runes, and after a moment of blank stupor it turned its gaze toward the depths of the forest.

"The state of the island's interior is unknown, and going in rashly would be dangerous. I'll send a mage's eye ahead to take a look—this thing has quite a respectable control range."

As he spoke, the old mage casually wrapped a dozen or more layers of elemental resistance and arcane protection around the mage's eye, and finally slapped on seven layers of mage armor and seven layers of force shield...

Hornet was dumbstruck at the sight, her eyes wide as saucers: "You can put that many layers of protection on a mage's eye?!"

"Just a few tricks picked up over the course of my adventures. The wilds are dangerous places—if you don't prepare properly, who knows what you'll run into," Mojin said with perfect matter-of-factness, then reached out and gave the mage's eye he had summoned a push. Night Owl and Hornet watched as the summon—now wrapped layer upon layer in every manner of magical effect—drifted up into the air and floated slowly toward the forest like a flying tank.

Though everyone knew that "magical effects" themselves had no weight, they could not help but feel, from the look of that eyeball, that it was struggling to stay aloft.

Maggie too was left gaping, and the black dragon lady even suspected that this mage's eye could take more punishment than she could...

At that same moment, aboard the Coldstar, Duchess Victoria, commanding from her post, was reviewing the material streaming back from all the survey teams—not only Maggie and Mojin's party landing on the Prandel coast, but also the intelligence relayed at intervals from the Cold Wind and the Ice Cavalry, dispatched to inspect Latrell and Penn Harbor.

She glanced at the mechanical clock hanging nearby, then turned to one of the magic-net terminals on the communications console: "Cold Wind, report your position."

An instant later, the voice of the Cold Wind's commander came through the magic-net terminal: "This is Cold Wind. We have approached Latrell's outer harbor... the area that ought to be the outer harbor. No sign of Latrell City—repeat, no sign of Latrell City. There is nothing here but a wild, desolate stretch of coastline!"

Victoria's face was like still water: "...Confirm your bearings and the coastal terrain features."

"Bearing confirmed correct, coastal terrain matches. We are in the vicinity of Latrell City. The city has vanished."

Victoria drew a soft breath, and almost at that very moment another comm channel crackled to life with the urgent report of the Ice Cavalry's commander: "Archon! This is the Ice Cavalry! Port Payne has vanished—repeat, Port Payne has vanished! We are searching along the coastline and have so far found no trace of any city!"

"...Understood. Cold Wind and Ice Cavalry are to continue searching the coastline. If it is safe, send landing parties ashore to establish a temporary base and monitoring equipment," Victoria's voice was as it always was—cold and composed as winter ice—then she glanced up at the sky beyond the porthole. "Regardless of progress, everyone must be back aboard before sunset. No one is to spend the night on that island today."

"Aye. Cold Wind acknowledges." "Ice Cavalry acknowledges."

The two warships' channels were put on hold, and Victoria drew another soft breath—but before she could exhale it, a comm request came through from the landing party led by Maggie.

When the channel connected, the first thing she saw was her own ancestor's face appearing in the holographic projection.

"The mist barrier in the deep forest at the island's interior has disappeared. I just sent a Mage's Eye toward the forest to the north," Mojin said, coming straight to the point. "It is now nearing the limit of my control range—looking down from the air, all the Mage's Eye can observe is unbroken primeval forest and, within it, abnormally abrupt stretches of open ground. No cities, no villages, no roads. What is the situation on your end?"

"...What you said before has come true," Victoria pressed her lips together and spoke slowly. "The Kingdom of Violet... I fear it has truly vanished entirely."

(End of Chapter)