Chapter 1019 — The Day of Descent
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 5
"The timing of the Typhonians' move..." Anton mused, then shook his head with a trace of irritation. "No one knows what that emperor of theirs is thinking. If he really intends to stand with us against the gods, he should at least send out some kind of signal..."
"He won't," Amber shook her head, her expression rather relaxed about it. "According to our sovereign, anything between Typhon and Cecil can be communicated — except this one matter. Turning the war into a mockery and a trap aimed at 'war' itself would render all efforts to date utterly futile."
As she spoke, her attention had already returned to the mountain of documents before her. Had anyone else been present, they would surely have been astonished to see her so earnest and absorbed in serious work — but Anton knew that his "big sister" had been maintaining this state for several days now.
When something truly deadly was about to happen, even the ordinarily carefree Amber would buckle down.
Amber paid no mind to whatever her subordinate might be feeling. She simply pondered the clues she had encountered in recent days, trying to analyze the Typhonians' operational schedule from them. And while consolidating those clues, she also expanded her thinking, attempting to find a breakthrough from directions beyond the existing leads.
Often, it is not the one lost in the fog who parts the clouds, but a force from beyond the fog.
She found no clue among those stacks of paper on the desk that could reveal the critical timing of the Typhonians' actions. But as she lifted her head wearily and yawned, her gaze inadvertently swept across a calendar hanging on the wall not far away.
After a moment of blankness, she blinked, and as if something had occurred to her, asked casually: "How many days until... the New Calendar Festival?"
Anton was briefly taken aback — he hadn't expected his chief's mental leaps to still be this wondrous. But then he considered her usual style and decided it was entirely natural for her to fixate on a holiday that meant time off, bonus pay, and a legitimate excuse to mooch meals everywhere. So he nodded: "Yes, the New Calendar Festival is in a couple of days — the first day of the year... Though honestly, with the current situation, you might want to hold off on thoughts of drinking and time off..."
Amber completely ignored the latter half of Anton's teasing (on any other day she would have already kicked him into the Shadow Realm). She merely murmured the words "New Calendar Festival" as if in a daze, then glanced down at a few shorthand notes she had jotted beside her. Light kindled in her eyes bit by bit — "I've got it!"
...
"Three days from now? The New Calendar Festival?" In the frontline command hall, Gao Yang looked at Amber with surprise as she rushed in excitedly to report to him. "Are you certain?"
Having lived in this world for so many years, he was no stranger to traditional festivals like the New Calendar Festival. It was a day somewhat akin to a new year — the first day of the Month of Chill, and the first day of the entire year. On this day, the Frost Sky constellation begins its descent and the Flowing Fire constellation begins its ascent. Though the entire month that followed was called the Month of Chill, in truth the coldest days of the year would soon pass — as the coming Month of Revival approached, people would celebrate this special festival in all manner of ways. And "people" here included not only humans, but even the elves of the south and the many races of the western continent.
As he recalled these facts about the New Calendar Festival in his mind, a thought suddenly flashed through Gao Yang's head like lightning.
He seemed to know what Amber had discovered.