Chapter 1480: Bugle Horn for the End of War
It wasn’t only the Speedster’s crew that saw it. Everyone on the dock had seen it.
The harbor went terrifyingly quiet.
If those ships hadn’t been flying the Graycastle flag — if the people aboard hadn’t been leaning over railings to wave — the dock would have emptied in seconds, and the running would not have been dignified. Ghost ships in the legends appeared in distant fog, in the dark, in conditions that allowed for doubt. Not like this: in full daylight, within shouting distance, in front of a hundred witnesses.
More than half an hour passed before the door finally closed. What remained was the departing silhouette of the fleet dissolving into the open sea.
Without having seen it themselves, no one would have believed it possible.
“Alright, back to work!”
“Boss, what was—”
“His Majesty’s secret fleet. You’d do well to know as little about it as possible.”
After persuading his crew of this, White pressed two fingers to his temple and wiped away the small beads of sweat that had gathered there.
He would rein himself in from now on. He had promised himself this before, after other similar incidents, and had not quite followed through. But something about this felt final — a confirmation of what he had only half-believed. The King of Graycastle had changed the world in ways the world itself had not yet noticed. The world White knew from childhood was already a different place from the one he was standing in.
With Sky Lord’s cooperation, Graycastle moved its forces across the continent at a pace that seemed impossible.
In one week they transported more than a hundred thousand people from one end of the continent to the other — twenty thousand of them regular corps, accompanied by armaments and provisions calculated to last a month.
It was not a simple thing. To drive the Distortion Door at full efficiency, Iron Axe had personally traveled to Neverwinter to coordinate the preparatory work. The Kun Peng was reconfigured as a transport vessel and, together with Agatha, brought Red Mist forward to the storage towers in Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart — towers that had been constructed but never destroyed.
Simultaneously, to keep Hackzord’s magic power supplied, Spear, Leaf, and several others essentially accompanied him without pause, leaving him no room to rest. He opened Distortion Doors continuously, and the Administrative Office’s execution made the impossible possible: an entire army crossing a continent in days rather than months.
The soldiers of the First Army — most of them deeply unsettled at traveling with both Sky Lord and the demons — were held steady by Iron Axe’s presence. What could have become questions became cautious acceptance, and the acceptance eventually became an informal rumor that spread among the troops: the demons had surrendered to the King of Graycastle and pledged their loyalty.
Hackzord, who heard this characterization in advance, chose to say nothing. He kept every rejoinder to himself. Let them believe what they liked.
The nineteenth day of Roland’s unconsciousness.
The front lines were ready.
In the General Staff chamber, every senior officer was gathered for the final round of war games.
“First, Lightning will launch a signal flare above the target to guide Lady Eleanor. The floating island will then open a path and enter from the west.” Edith advanced the model representing the floating island across the map. “This stage takes approximately three days. Given the floating island’s mass, discovery by the Sky-sea Realm is inevitable.”
“Even so, they have no effective way to stop it.” Hackzord spoke with certainty. “The Deity of Gods was originally engineered to deal with the Sky-sea Realm’s strongholds. This island is somewhat smaller, but it remains a Deity of Gods at its core. As long as it does not take a sea approach, the enemy can only watch from the water. Whatever acid the Nest Mothers spray will leave a few black marks on the rock, at most.”
“During that approach, enemy pressure on us remains limited. The Aerial Knights’ primary task is to suppress and, with the Bottomless Land as the center point, sweep out an isolation corridor.” Ferlin Eltek laid a ruler across the center of the map. “Your Highness Tilly — this will fall to you.”
Tilly nodded.
“When enemy attention locks onto the floating island, the First Army will come through from the north and push south. The objective is to eliminate remaining enemy forces and secure the Bottomless Land’s periphery — creating an opportunity for Her Majesty Anna to locate the entrance to the Divine Domain.” Pearl of the Northern Region paused. “According to Joan’s account, there is a being on the island called a Guardian. She may be able to open a pathway in the real world that connects to the Realm of Mind.”
“I’ve already told you — I killed the Guardian,” Hackzord said.
“That you did. But after comparing multiple sources, we believe she does not die so easily.” Edith spoke without any particular inflection. “What you encountered was an evolved demon; what Joan saw was a human woman. Either the Guardian is an illusion or there are many of them. Given that the island appears uninhabited and she is evidently still there after several thousand years, she is clearly something extraordinary.”
“But…” Wendy’s voice was careful. “Will this person truly lead us into God’s domain?”
Silence took the room.
The entire second half of the plan had no reliable information beneath it. Whether an entrance to the Divine Domain existed at all was not confirmed. Nightingale had replayed for everyone what Roland had seen in the Dream World, and that was their only thread. Even Anna admitted the content was too abstruse to interpret clearly.
What could be confirmed was only this: the Guardian would open a path to heaven for the victorious race bearing a complete legacy. What would happen with Roland outside the Guardian’s receiving range was still unknown.
“We will never have an answer if we don’t try,” Anna said.
The room’s tension relaxed — slightly, but visibly. Something in her voice gave weight to the floor beneath people’s feet.
“I must warn you, humans.” Silent Disaster cut through the quiet. “This battle will be unlike anything you have fought before. It will not develop in stages. Once you make contact with the Sky-sea Realm, everything will happen at once. Time is the only thing that matters.”
“Meaning it’s impossible to establish a camp and search the island at leisure?” Edith asked, eyes narrowed.
“Trust her,” Hackzord said. “Serakkas has spent most of the last hundred years fighting the Sky-sea Realm. She understands the enemy better than anyone in this room.”
“Are there really that many of them?” Ferlin asked quietly.
“More than you can picture.” Sky Lord’s voice carried something unusual in it — a seriousness without any trace of performance. “When they swarm, the sea turns black to the horizon. If the Blackstone region falls to the Sky-sea Realm, there will be no barrier between them and the Bottomless Land. Holding the island on your own timeline, waiting for reinforcements — it cannot be done. Without continuous support, surviving longer is all that’s possible.”
“We have no intention of staying there long.” Anna stepped forward and closed the argument. “The floating island draws their fire and provides cover. The First Army pushes through the Distortion Door and secures the Bottomless Land quickly. Simultaneously, we find the Guardian. What happens after depends on how the enemy responds. Is that the plan?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Pearl of the Northern Region pressed a hand to her chest.
“Then we move in two days.” Anna’s voice was final. “Whatever it takes — Roland must reach the Bottomless Land. That is the only way to end the Battle of Divine Will.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty!” The room answered as one.
Chapter 1480 - Bugle Horn for the End of War
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It wasn’t only limited to the seamen on the Speedster; the others on the dock had also noticed this inconceivable fleet.
The dock instantly fell into a terrifying silence.
If the fleet wasn’t flying the Graycastle flag, as well as the people on the vessels waving at them, everyone might have immediately dropped everything on their hands to flee!
Even ghost ships of legend would only appear in the foggy distant sea, so how was it possible to appear in front of so many people in the day in such an ostentatious manner?
More than half an hour passed when the inconceivable door disappeared, leaving only the departing figures of the fleet across the sea surface.
If they had not seen it for themselves, no one would have believed that they had appeared on the sea out of nowhere.
“Alright, alright. Get back to work!”
“Boss, what was that…”
“His Majesty’s secret fleet. It’s best you know less of it!”
After hoodwinking his seamen, White could not help but wipe the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead.
He decided to restrain himself a little more in the future, so as to prevent similar incidents from happening. Even though he had similar experiences in
the past, he had confirmed his beliefs. The King of Graycastle had already effected so much change in the world that the world he was familiar with was already highly divergent from what it presently was.
…
With the help of Sky Lord, Graycastle completed their gathering of troops in the northern ridge of the continent at an alarming speed. In a week, they managed to transport more than a hundred thousand people from one end of the continent to the other end. Of this, twenty thousand were made up of the regular corps, and the armaments and food were enough to last them a month.
This was not a simple task. To raise the Distortion Door to its maximum efficiency, Iron Axe personally rushed to Neverwinter to organize the preparatory work. Kun Peng was changed into a transporter and, together with Agatha, the Red Mist was transported ahead of time to the Blackstone storage towers which had been built and not destroyed in Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart.
Simultaneously, in order to replenish Hackzord with magic power, Spear, Leaf, and company basically accompanied him the entire way, causing the former to have no chance of taking a breather. He kept producing Distortion Doors, and together with the Administrative Office’s strong execution abilities, it made this movement over the continent happen extremely quickly.
Despite the many soldiers of the First Army being extremely astonished at having the companion of Sky Lord and the demons in the continental passageway, Iron Axe’s lead prevented these doubts to turn into problems. And the troops slowly began spreading talk that the “demons had surrendered to the King of Graycastle and had expressed their loyalty.” Of course… Hackzord, who had received news of this ahead of time, ignored it, pretending he had never heard of such talk. He hid all the rejoinders in him.
On the nineteenth day of Roland’s unconsciousness.
The front lines had already made preparations to invade Mist Island.
Amid the General Staff, all the higher-ups were engaging in the last round of war games.
“First, Lightning will send a flare above the target to direct Lady Eleanor. Following that, the floating island will open up a path and enter the target from the west.”
Edith pushed the model representing the floating island towards the western front of the map and said, “This step requires about three days. With the floating island’s mass, it will definitely be discovered by the Sky-sea Realm.”
“But even so, they do not have any effective means to stop us,” Hackzord said confidently. “The Deity of Gods were originally designed to deal with the Sky-sea Realm’s lair. Although this island is a little smaller, it’s still a Deity of Gods at its core. As long as it doesn’t take a sea route, the enemy can only watch from the waters. The acids the Nest Mothers spray out will at most leave a few black stains on the rock.”
“During this period of time, the enemy isn’t of much of a threat to us. The Aerial Knights’ main mission is to suppress the enemy and, with the Bottomless Land as the center, sweep out an isolation band.” Ferlin Eltek placed a ruler in the middle of the islands. “Your Highness Tilly, this will be left to you.”
Tilly nodded.
“When the enemy’s attention is drawn to the floating island, the First Army will appear from the north and slowly push south. The goal of the army is to eradicate the remaining enemy and occupy the periphery of the Bottomless Land, so as to seek a window of opportunity for Her Majesty Anna to find the entrance to the Divine Domain.” The Pearl of the Northern Region paused. “According to Joan’s description, the island has a receiver that’s called a Guardian. Perhaps, she will be able to open a pathway in the real world to the Realm of Mind.”
“I remember telling you that the Guardian has already been killed by me,” Hackzord reminded.
“Indeed, but after comparing various sources of information, we believe that she wouldn’t die that easily,” Edith said without much care. “What you saw was an upgraded demon, while Joan saw a female human. Either the Guardian is just an illusion or there are many of them. Considering how the island appears uninhabited, it implies that she’s quite extraordinary to remain there for several thousand years.”
“But… Will this person really lead us into God’s domain?” Wendy asked worriedly.
The venue plunged into silence.
In fact, the entire plan’s second half was not supported by any reliable information. It was unknown if such an entrance actually existed. Nightingale had once rerolled the scene of what Roland saw in the Dream World to everyone, and that was their only clue. However, the content was just too abstruse and incomprehensible that even Anna wasn’t able to make much out of it.
At present, the only thing that could be confirmed was that the Guardian would open a “path to heaven” to the victorious race that carried a complete legacy. As for what would happen with Roland not being in her receiving radius was still an unknown.
“We will never have an answer to this question if we don’t try,” Anna said decisively.
Her firm reply relaxed everyone’s shoulders, as though it bolstered confidence from the bottom of their hearts.
“I have to warn you, humans,” Silent Disaster suddenly said. “This battle will be different from all the wars you are familiar with. It would not develop in steps. Once you make contact with the Sky-sea Realm, everything after that will happen simultaneously. Regardless of what you do, time is of the essence.”
“Does that mean that it’s impossible for us to set up camp to slowly search for the island?” Edith asked with pricked brows.
“Believe her.” Hackzord shrugged his shoulders. “Serakkas has spent most of her time the past hundred years fighting the Sky-sea Realm. She should likely be the person who understands the enemy the most among everyone here.”
“Are there really… so many of those monsters?” Ferlin could not help but ask.
“More than you can imagine.” Sky Lord had a rare tone of seriousness. “When they swarm over, the sea will turn into a rich blackness. If the Blackstone region were to land in the hands of the Sky-sea Realm, there will not be any obstacles between them and the Bottomless Land. Hoping to secure the island based on your idea is impossible. Without subsequent reinforcements, all that’s possible is to last longer.”
“We have no plans on staying there for long either.” Finally, Anna stepped forward to cut the dispute. “The floating island will draw enemy fire and provide support, while the First Army will quickly occupy the Bottomless Land through the Distortion Door. At the same time, we will seek out the Guardian. As for what we do after that, it will depend on the enemy’s reaction. Am I right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Pearl of the Northern Region said while placing her hand on her chest.
“Then, we shall take action two days later!” Anna said with a decided tone. “Regardless, we have to send Roland into the Bottomless Land. This is the only way to end the Battle of Divine Will!”
“As you wish, Your Majesty!” everyone shouted together.