After two days of recuperation, Victoria’s condition has evidently improved substantially, but traces of lingering weakness and fatigue still linger in her eyes that she tries so hard to conceal. Gawain glanced at the Northern Duchess and reminded her, "Tulip Castle is deep within the pollution zone and is not part of our next offensive plan—in the absence of purifying the whole area, flying over it is one thing, landing there is entirely another."
"But it is not impossible," Victoria gazed unflinchingly into Gawain’s eyes. Her face still lacked any change in expression, but her tone revealed a determination. "Those monsters are now in a state of frenzy, which, in other words, ans they have lost their organization, no longer supporting each other, no longer having sentinel units, nor being as vigilant—we can infiltrate inside. As long as we don’t make too much commotion and don’t alert too many monsters, I could silently send the ssage out."
"...I admit there seems to be a possibility of achieving this," Gawain nodded after brief contemplation. "But you’re sure you want to go personally?"
"Not every Mage can rely rely on the amplification of a Mage tower to send ssages to St. Soniel, it requires profound casting techniques and enormous magical power," Victoria stated in a tone that was matter-of-fact, "it’s most prudent for to handle this."
Before Gawain could raise further questions, the Duchess continued, "I heard, Loland’s Beltira lit the first fire beacon.
"I cannot match his feats, but as the head of the Wilder Clan, I at least should not shy away from sothing I could accomplish."
When an aristocratic noble places their family honor on the table, it usually signifies a resolute decision.
"We can give it a try, at least it’s a plan," Gawain finally nodded. "But one thing, we need to find a safer way to get you to Tulip Castle—giant eagle’s carrying capacity is limited, Sonia can only guide the way and can’t fly with you, and the gryphon’s altitude and speed aren’t good, making them susceptible to being shot down by Crystal Cluster Giants deep in the pollution zone. Overall, traveling through the air is not safe."
"Is there a safer thod?" Victoria’s tone had a hint of doubt—crossing over the pollution zone from the air and landing in Tulip Castle was already the most likely plan she could think of, she truly couldn’t imagine a more prudent approach, surely she wasn’t to fight her way through a ground swarming with Crystal Cluster Giants, right?
Gawain faintly smiled, and his gaze fell upon Amber...
The mont the half-elf lady saw Gawain’s smile, she shivered and imdiately realized this matter is unavoidable. She pouted, "Traveling via shadow realm is indeed a way—but let clarify, my actions in the shadow realm also have consumption, it depends on encountering unstable shadow rifts and fatal ’big voids.’ If the route’s depletion is large, I can’t guarantee getting the person all the way to Tulip Castle—I also have to consider the strength needed for the return journey."
"Of course, do your best," Gawain nodded, "I will dispatch an armored assault troop to take you as close as possible to Tulip Castle, then you’ll infiltrate inside to send ssages. anwhile, I’ll send a rapid force towards St. Soniel at full speed, ensuring not a single mont is wasted."
The details of the plan were quickly finalized, and those who received orders gradually left the room. Ultimately, only Gawain and Victoria remained inside.
"Frankly, the situation now is quite grim," once left with just one Northern Duke, Gawain slowly spoke, "I’ve consistently held a pessimistic view on whether St. Soniel can be defended—though I’ve been striving towards tily reinforcent."
Victoria’s expression didn’t change, she quietly asked, "...If St. Soniel cannot hold, you have contingency plans, don’t you?"
"...Simply abandoning all northern parts and the Plains of the Holy Spirits, preserving the southern borders and Duke of the East, and constructing defensive lines in the West before pollution encroaches," Gawain didn’t hide his alternative plans, "survival pressure will make these regions submit to new governance, and I have confidence in stabilizing the situation after building the new defenses, gradually reclaiming the polluted territories."
Victoria was silent for a mont, finally confessing, "Sounds like you hold little hope for the kingdom’s nobility."
Gawain chuckled and countered, "Sounds like your expectations are high?"
"...I admit, my expectations of them aren’t as high as a few years ago," Victoria slowly spoke, "but I believe St. Soniel can be defended—if only the reinforcents’ ssage can be swiftly delivered to Silver Castle."
Gawain showed a piqued expression, "May I hear the source of your confidence?"
"Duke Baldwin Franklin and Wales Moen," Victoria gazed into Gawain’s eyes with extraordinary seriousness, "they will defend that castle—for as long as the reinforcents need to arrive, that’s how long they’ll hold."
"...You have a higher opinion of Wales Moen than I anticipated."
"My forr task was to monitor him, so I understand him; Prince Wales has never lacked talent, he rely chose to retreat proactively, but if the kingdom needs, he will step forward," Victoria stated, "and besides him, besides Duke Baldwin, the royal capital has many reliable people. We have Earl Cromwell Whiteshill, a loyal Order of Knights, Cohen Loland the Leader—perhaps half the nobles in the royal capital are thinking of abandoning the city, but at least half will choose to defend to the end."
Gawain quietly observed Victoria, who equally observed him, after two seconds of staring, the "Ice and Snow Duchess" lightly exhaled.
"I know our generation has disappointed you greatly, Duke Cecil, perhaps Anzu’s contemporary nobility truly have decayed, but please believe, not everyone has rotted. Many still hope for this kingdom to revive and are willing to exert efforts for that."
"Including Edmund Moen and Silas Loland?"
"...Including them."
"But they failed, you also failed, countless progressive factions in the royal capital, those uncorrupted ones you spoke of, nobility striving to rejuvenate the kingdom all failed—what do you think caused their failure?" Gawain stared into Victoria’s eyes, "Is it rely because the Oblivion Association suddenly started wrecking things?"
The gaze from the founding king bore an indescribable pressure, and those deep brown eyes were profound and sharp, far more than the northern snow and mountains. Victoria involuntarily held her breath—for many years, she’d used her authority to intimidate others, she had almost forgotten what it felt like being on the receiving end of such intimidation. In a mont of stupor, she seed to return to years ago, back to when she was a child, back to facing the stern eyes of the previous Duke.
The father from her mory pointed at the poorly growing plants in the courtyard and asked her a question: "If pruning, fertilizing, watering, and applying treatnts all don’t work, what should you do?"
The fleeting mory fragnt ca and went quickly, and Victoria returned to the present, still facing Gawain’s deep and intense eyes.
"You actually know the answer," Gawain said, "It’s just that you’re not free to act."
Victoria remained silent.
"We shouldn’t be discussing this now," Gawain withdrew his gaze and adopted a more relaxed posture, "Victoria, you’re very capable. Even among the Pioneer Generation, you would be an outstanding aristocrat. After this war is over, we can slowly consider how to rejuvenate this country, but for now, our most important task is still to end this war."
"As you say," Victoria sighed lightly, then bowed her head slightly in a more solemn manner, "In any case, you saved and the Mountain Legion. I cannot repay this kindness, so regardless of what happens in the future, at least I personally will be your loyal ally."
Once alone in the room, Gawain couldn’t help but lean back in his chair, exhaling silently.
"Personal allegiance... it’s tough for everyone."
After a sigh, he sat up straight, ready to draft a feasible plan to move the main forces north— the situation had drastically changed, leaving him no room to act according to the previous titable. Considering the strategic importance of St. Soniel as a gateway fortress, he had to deliver a contingent of combat-ready soldiers to the north faster than planned.
Using those modified civilian ships, utilizing the Gorgon River, maybe that’s a good solution...
And just as he was drafting the initial part of his plan, the Magic Web Communication Terminal on his desk suddenly started buzzing.
Gawain glanced up at the identification code projected on the holographic display—it was a special channel from Cecil Castle.
The Magic Web Terminal was activated, and after a brief flicker of the projection, Gawain saw Aunt Heidi’s face appear before him.
"What’s happened?"
"Miss Tiel said there’s urgent news," Aunt Heidi said simply before stepping aside—only then did Gawain notice a long snake tail swinging in the background behind Aunt Heidi, and with a couple of swings, Tiel’s upper body swayed into the center of the fra.
"I sensed it again," Miss Tiel widened her eyes at the holographic projection before her, "It’s the scent of food! It’s suddenly beco very strong!"
Gawain’s heart instantly tightened—though he had already anticipated and prepared for this, Tiel’s sudden announcent still made his nerves tense up: "Location, intensity, can you roughly determine the target’s situation or state?"
"The location should be deep in the Eastern Holy Spirit Plain, but the exact position is still unclear. It seems to be suppressed or sealed by sothing, or perhaps it’s deep underground," Tiel spoke rapidly, "As for the intensity... I don’t know how to describe it, it feels very subtle. It should be ’alive,’ more so than the Big squid, but its presence is unstable and impure, like many chaotic presences fused together, fluctuating between strong and weak."
Gawain inhaled lightly.
Is it the "divine power" held by the Oblivion Association? The energy source they use to create and activate divine evils? Has this energy source lost control? Is sothing akin to a god awakening?
So the sudden mutation of the Crystal Cluster Legion is related to this out-of-control "divine power"?
Various speculations surged through his mind, Gawain controlled his thoughts and questioned the sea demon before him: "What is your queen’s stance?"
"She’s intrigued by the biscuits and your arcane energy technology, and is willing to provide assistance. They’re preparing the Elental Warp Tower over there, but the specifics of cooperation still need to be negotiated," Tiel wiggled her tail tip with a serious expression, "Additionally, I must convey Her Majesty the Queen’s ssage—sea demons will only help you deal with ’non-human entities’ and will not interfere in human internal wars. We hope this cooperation remains pure and moderate, which is the guarantee for maintaining long-term cooperation in the future."
"That’s more than enough," Gawain sincerely nodded, "Thank you very much for your assistance."
"Don’t ntion it, mutual benefit," Tiel waved both her hand and tail tip, then leisurely drifted out of the communication screen, her voice still audible from off-screen, "How do you turn this off? Oh, you do it, I’m leaving first."
Two seconds later, Heidi reappeared before Gawain: "Ancestor, the engineering team sent to the wasteland’s edge has begun to return, and the Great Wall’s expansion project has successfully concluded."
"Finally, so good news," Gawain exhaled lightly, "Very well, let these personnel rest fully, then assign them to construct the second phase tank factory and armory, let the Elven Mage to the Magic Technology Research Institute, assisting Rebecca with the translation and optimization of the anti-gravity rune work."
"Yes."
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