Chapter 598 — A Visit to the Typhon Encampment
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
A gigantic eagle swept across the turbid, chaotic sky, bearing couriers and tidings from distant lands. Under the watchful eyes of soldiers and craftsmen alike, the iron-grey raptor circled twice high above, then, guided by the beacons on the ground, descended steadily onto the landing platform at one side of the Peak Base.
"Coo! Coo!!"
Its mission accomplished, the great eagle loosed a loud, excited cry—shameful as the sound was, its master was clearly long accustomed to it. Soryu leapt down from the raptor's broad back, light of foot and graceful of bearing, then patted her partner's drooping feathers and set off toward the camp.
Along the way she glanced up and saw that on the open ground not far off, the frame of a hexagonal tower, dozens of meters tall, had already risen.
The frame was plainly unfinished; new structures were still being added to its upper levels. In the dim light of the sky she watched jagged steel bars and rune-carved pillars stretch and interlace within the frame like a giant's bones and veins, while a faint rune-glow circulated near the structure's base, supplying the whole site with a steady source of magic. Inside and out of the sturdy scaffolding, powerful machines and weight-shaving pallets ceaselessly hoisted building materials and workers to every corner of the frame, casting the tower body and embedding magic mechanisms.
A little farther from the site, in a narrow strip stretching toward the Black Forest, a series of smaller towers could be seen either already risen or beginning to take shape—the sites of the "pressure-release points" and "purifiers."
Even in the bitter winter cold, these works had not been delayed in the slightest; rather, with machinery and manpower all in place and several temporary frontline factories in the base now running, efficiency had climbed considerably.
Even the high-tier courier from the Silver Empire could not help but exclaim, "The Cecilians' efficiency... it's terrifyingly high..."
A voice came from nearby, cutting short Soryu's admiration: "You've only been gone two days—no need to sigh like that. Two days of construction doesn't look like all that much change."
Soryu turned at the sound and saw Gaoyang standing not far away with a faint smile. She couldn't help but smile back, and as she walked over she said, "Elves are good at sensing changes precisely, down to the details. I could even count how much those workers raised those buildings in just two days..."
"How much?"
"...That's—it was a figure of speech. You weren't nearly this pedantic seven hundred years ago!"
"An occasional joke helps keep one's spirits up. On this wasteland, that's a precious thing," Gaoyang said, shifting the subject with a light touch. "How went the reply?"
"You must have guessed already. Luoyan Augustus welcomes you to visit at any time. He will receive you with the highest protocol—the protocol for welcoming heroes and for welcoming the highest nobility of a neighboring realm," Soryu said, drawing from a finely carved, openwork wooden tube she carried a letter sealed with magic thread and wax. "This is his reply."
Gaosong's gaze fell upon the scroll bearing the Typhon imperial crest.
After a pause of a second, he took the reply, opened it casually, and swiftly scanned its contents.
The ruler of the Typhon Empire answered Gaoyang's earlier letter in impeccable terms—courteous without fail, yet full of majesty—and at the letter's end, that emperor of great talent and grand strategy gladly accepted Gaosong's visit and expressed his welcome.
A moment later, Gaoyang put away the reply he had long anticipated and let out a soft breath. "Good. Then I set out tomorrow."
Soryu could not help but be startled. "So soon?"