Chapter 1542 — The Smile Grows Increasingly Martial
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Ever since the exploration team led by Mojin had entered the depths of Violet Island, Gao Yang had been waiting for fresh word from the north—and now, at long last, that word had come.
The Lady of Night's mysterious realm had finally opened a crack for him, and he had countless questions and ideas to discuss with that mighty ancient god—the fate of the gods, the riddles left behind by the Voyagers, the shadow coiled around Amber. All of it was a tangled vortex, and at the root of that vortex stood the Lady of Night.
"So the entrance to the Shadow Divine Kingdom is the City of Embers..." Gao Yang propped his forehead against his fingers, speaking thoughtfully. "What else has Mojin reported?"
"With Prince Nash's permission and in his company, Mojin, Maggie, and Dailan—whom they ran into by chance—made a brief 'tour' of the City of Embers," Amber nodded, beginning with the less important details. "According to Mojin, the city still retains certain 'dreamlike' characteristics. Only the dim court at its center—the area where Prince Nash resides—is clear and normal. The closer one gets to the city's edges, the more the streets and buildings take on a warped, hazy quality.
"At the far end of those hazy, twisted districts, Mojin looked out along one of the streets and saw vast, overlapping, drifting shadows that resembled the scenery of the Shadow Realm. He therefore judged that the City of Embers' border might lead directly into some region of the Shadow Realm—though this remains unconfirmed.
"He also had a brief exchange with that magical artificial intelligence called 'Bernadette.' She described herself as having been built by the finest mages of the Violet Kingdom era, originally serving as nothing more than the tower spirit of the dim court's main spire, before gradually growing into a 'deputy' capable of helping the Prince administer the entire kingdom. Mojin found Bernadette's high degree of growth astonishing, and noted that she is utterly different from the spirit-artifice or magical-puppet techniques currently used in the nations of Loren. He believes there is great research value in her..."
Gao Yang's eyebrow twitched at that, and his heart lurched. "And then? He went off to study her?"
"No, Dailan physically stopped him," Amber shrugged. "Mojin even complained about it in his report—said his curiosity had suffered a severe blow..."
"Complained, my ass!" Gao Yang's eyes went wide on the spot. "Thank goodness he was stopped—otherwise what kind of diplomatic crisis would this have been? Send him an urgent message: tell him not to get any ideas about that magical intelligence. That's Prince Nash's 'paper waifu.' Tch—I'll have to thank Luo Yan later. Good thing he sent Dailan, and good thing Dailan linked up with Mojin in time... Speaking of which, wasn't Maggie with them? Why didn't she stop him?"
Amber's expression turned a little strange. She hesitated before speaking. "Maggie said she was also rather curious about how Bernadette operates..."
Gao Yang immediately slapped his forehead. "For fuck's sake, how is every single one of them weirder than the last? What kind of people do I have working for me..."
Amber stuck out her tongue ever so slightly, then, watching Gao Yang's expression, asked, "What's the plan from here? It looks like the final door into the Shadow Divine Kingdom won't open unless the two of us are present as well. Prince Nash is faithfully carrying out the Lady of Night's orders in that regard. Do you want to set out now?"
Gao Yang's first instinct was indeed to depart at once, but he quickly suppressed the impulse. True, he wished he could go find the Lady of Night right now and demand answers to everything—but he had not forgotten the "test" on the Fertility Trio's side, nor his grand plan to "stack martial virtue around the thrones of the gods." That matter had only just begun; he could not bring himself to abandon it and run north to keep an appointment.