Chapter 1209 — Meeting Again
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 5
In the Court of Defiance, a low hum began to rise from every direction; high-power mageweb units and amplification and projection arrays began to operate under the command of the remote control center. The crystals fixed in their bases left their grooves and revolved slowly around the two deities; as the anti-divinity barrier activated, Mirmirna also gave a light wave of her arm toward Amorn.
The crisscrossing metal and crystal fragments on the giant stag's body swiftly faded and vanished within a distorted haze of light, screened off by an invisible optical barrier, and those shocking wounds were likewise concealed and covered. Within a few short breaths, the Pathfinder's weapons and the fragments of the ship were all hidden away, leaving only the holy giant stag, lying quietly amid a field of floating rubble.
And Mirmirna's figure... had already disappeared before that.
...
A party passed through the Shadow Realm portal at the base of the Defiance Fortress and advanced toward the deepest recesses of the Defiance Bastion. Upon reaching the final corridor, Belantia stopped and signaled the elves accompanying her to wait there.
"Your Majesty," an elven officer could not keep silent and stepped forward, "we should—"
"You will wait here," Belanthea's tone was gentle yet brooked no argument. "His Majesty Gaoyang Cecil and I are quite capable of protecting ourselves — from here on, there is no need for so many people."
The officer bowed his head and received the Empress's command; then he led the guard detachment toward a nearby rest area, while Belanthea turned to Gaoyang and gave a slight nod.
Gaosong's gaze fell on a spot not far off, where several aged silver elves stood. They wore classical robes that belonged to an age no longer their own, adorned with crowns and ceremonial bead strands that the present imperial house had long since decreed abolished — like a company of ghosts stepped out of an ancient painting, and yet standing truly, tangibly in this place.
The great druid Azmore stood at the very front of these ancient priests, his face calm, sorrowless and joyless, as though he were merely waiting quietly for his own fate — or for an answer.
The gate leading to the Court of Defiance lay just ahead. The safety mechanisms near it were in operation, the runes upon the great doors flickering, and the energy field of the anti-divinity barrier had already been linked to the Court of Defiance's own shielding system.
Gaoyun let out a soft breath and stepped forward to activate the gate. Amid the creaking of the machinery driving the heavy doors, he gave a slight nod to that ancient priest who had come walking out of history: "Master Azmore, if you please."
Azmore drew a deep breath and stepped across that gate — one step, and it was as though he had crossed three thousand years of time.
He saw before him a space shrouded in dim chaos, a space utterly unlike the divine realm of legend — and yet a holy radiance was rising in the distance, as though driving away the surrounding gloom. Within that radiance he saw a form like a mountain range lying quietly at rest, and merely gazing upon it, one could feel a vast power and a warmth and kindliness welling up from the depths of the soul.
The old priest suddenly felt himself growing dazed; the countless thoughts, conjectures, and plans that had arisen along the way collapsed in that instant into a single reality, and all the emotions accumulated over three years came crashing down in that same moment. Almost instinctively he took a step forward — and abruptly felt a long-lost power surfacing from the depths of his heart.
The divine arts that had run dry for three thousand years had returned; the connection to the god was re-established. Once more he was a priest who possessed divine arts and could pray, just as he had been three thousand years ago.