Chapter 608 — Disaster
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Most of the time, this world refuses to unfold the way you plan it. Gao Yang had once believed that the standoff between the royal house and the Eastern Marches would last at least until the Great Wall project was finished—that Ansu would still have a year of peace before the flames of war flared again. But the truth was that barely over half a year had passed when another fire ignited from an utterly unforeseen quarter—truth be told, the actions of the Assembly of All Ends had caught Gao Yang completely off guard.
He had known the Ashfall Cult was a danger, known that those zealots were consumed by madness and destruction—but until he discovered the "Vine" in the Shadow Realm, he had never imagined the Assembly of All Ends' corruption had spread so deeply. And until last month, he had never dreamed they would move directly against the royal house and the noble armies of the Eastern Marches—by this point, their actions had altogether transcended the notion of a "dark cult."
On the fifth day of the Month of Rebirth, Ansu Year 738, Gao Yang returned to Xuanyao City with Amber and the others, and immediately summoned the officers in charge of military and intelligence affairs.
In a high-level conference room of the Government Hall, Amber reported the intelligence that had just been delivered by her subordinates:
"...Roughly two-thirds of the Military Intelligence Bureau operatives have received orders and are on their way back to the Southern Marches. The remaining third are out of contact. The last intelligence they sent back was on the final day of last month: an operative stationed in White Pine Town, within the royal-controlled zone, reported that the local residents were holding secretive, suspicious gatherings, and that the local lord had not appeared for three weeks."
Gao Yang looked at Amber. "Which areas are the missing personnel mainly distributed in?"
"The intersecting and standoff zones between the royal-controlled territory and the Eastern Marches-controlled territory. Intelligence from these regions has been completely cut off."
Hedy, seated to Gao Yang's right, rose. "Since late last month, all merchants, travelers, and adventurer parties from those regions have stopped coming through. The last time the checkpoints at Boulder Fortress and the Ge'lan region registered anyone entering from those areas was on the forty-first of the Month of Chill—a merchant caravan. We have placed close surveillance on everyone who entered from those regions over the past winter and is still stranded in the Southern Marches. So far we have found no signs of curses, divine arts, or plague, but the quarantine continues. Additionally, intelligence from the White Sand Mining Company remains entirely normal; order in the Eastern Marches is unaffected. I have ordered Holm toheighten vigilance and prepare for evacuation."
He nodded, then turned to Rebecca. "Any progress on Kamal's side?"
Rebecca hurried to her feet as well. "Yes, yes—Mr. Kamal has produced a great deal of material, including the characteristics of the godfiends' transformation at each stage and the hallmarks of their magical reactions. He says the godfiends' greatest trait is that they uncontrollably release arcane energy of mixed attributes, but he also says this is all material from a thousand years ago, and he cannot guarantee that the godfiends made by the Assembly of All Ends will behave the same way."
Finally, Gao Yang turned to Philip and Byron.
"The armored units are already assembled and standing by at Boulder Fortress and the Ge'lan region," Philip said, rising first. "Besides the war engines equipped with heavy burners, we have prepared large quantities of 'conventional' fuel, including alchemical oils and sticky tree resin."
Then came Byron: "The warships can blockade the Dolgon River at any moment."
Gao Yang let out a breath.
Fortunately, no matter how unexpected the Assembly of All Ends' actions were, he did in fact have countermeasures.