Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 580 - 579: Edge of the Wasteland

Black Forest.

About this band of forest located on the southern slope of the Dark Mountain Range, adjacent to the wasteland, countless versions of legends circulate among the people of Anzu. For instance, every tree in the forest is said to be transformed from victims who failed to escape the wasteland, or that beneath the Black Forest lies a passage to a chaotic world, or that the Black Forest itself is actually a vast, evil-intelligent monster perpetually encroaching on the civilized world to complete the job that the chaotic wave could not finish by utterly destroying the world mortals created...

But Gawain knew the birth of the Black Forest was not that complicated.

It was once nothing more than an ordinary dense forest, situated on the Gondor Empire’s border, merely blocking the mountains and wastelands in the north.

The power of chaotic magic was what turned a harmless and bountiful forest into today’s forbidden zone of life.

The might of magical industry is forcefully carving a wide road through this forbidden zone of life.

Fierce and twisted magical trees grow wildly on the barren land, their tall, withered crowns weaving a cragged net in the sky. The unique thin mist of the Black Forest floats slightly just above the ground, while creeping vines and shrubs carefully hide themselves within the haze, seemingly ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey who wander into their hunting grounds. Amid the shrubs and mist, corrupted, half-dead magical creatures lie dormant, silently waiting for prey to enter their range.

Outsiders entered the forest, their fresh vitality spreading through the fog, exciting the predators.

Then, the sharp whistling sound broke the "wait-and-hunt" rules of the Black Forest.

Massive explosive grenades and field artillery shells rained down from the sky, tearing apart the thin mist and the predators concealed within. The towering ancient trees swayed and fell under relentless blasts, while panicked, writhing poison vines tried to burrow underground—only to be caught and obliterated by lethal heat and shockwaves before escaping.

The monsters that survived howled in the dust, some fleeing wildly with their minds intact, others mindlessly charging toward the source of the threat. However, dense bursts of Scorching Rays and Lightning Arrows quickly halted their final assault through the smoke and dust.

Heavy infantry in heavy armor, armed with rapid-fire thermal ray guns or lightning generators, advanced step by step and paused at the visible range’s edge to suppress any possible forces of resistance with concentrated firepower. Meanwhile, Steel Cavalry scouts armed with grenade launchers wove between the heavy infantry, clearing the most magical reactive corners with powerful grenades.

After a period of dense firing, the magic reactions observed by the warriors’ tactical scopes extinguished one after another. The heavy infantry immediately dispersed to the sides and retreated, while taller White Knights with sturdier armor carried heavy flame throwers forward with heavy steps.

"In the name of the Holy Light—execute purification!"

A deep and authoritative shout came from under the squad leader’s helmet, and the White Knights promptly activated their heavy flame throwers. These weapons, looking like a flattened cylinder and connected to the White Knight armor by a rune chain, instantly spewed flames tens of meters long, incinerating everything within the knights’ line of sight.

The most basic "Grease Spell," combined with the Hand of Burning and the Wind Elemental Blessing, created flames that could almost destroy all organic matter. If faced with a Transcendent who could use defensive Spells, these flame throwers’ effectiveness would certainly diminish, but for clearing "organic waste," there was nothing better than these heavy flame throwers.

Outsiders entered the forest, the aura of iron and fire spreading in the mist, predators approaching... almost three-quarters cooked.

"Keep advancing!! The Holy Light blesses your flame throwers—keep advancing!!"

Under the effect of the squad leader’s "Holy Light Encouragement" (the shout version), the White Knights began to make steady progress, continuously burning areas where potential threats lingered. The heavy infantry followed closely, executing cover and cooperative advancement tasks with their firepower. Completing their fire support mission, the Steel Dragoon Warriors swiftly moved around the formation’s perimeter, utilizing their most advanced tactical scopes and well-trained reconnaissance skills to provide vigilance for the entire squad.

The warriors coordinated skillfully and divided their duties clearly, advancing swiftly, evidently not for the first time.

No doubt, executing missions in the Black Forest was the best training for these soldiers.

Behind the warriors, multi-functional war vehicles and towed artillery continued to advance. These vehicles would become the spearhead at the next advancement point and execute the next round of fire bombardment with their arms. After the bombardment, the warriors would execute the next phase of "clearance" and "purification" in the targeted area, repeating the cycle to endlessly extend the pathway towards the edge of the Black Forest, entering the wasteland.

Gawain sat inside one of the war vehicles, watching the White Knights using heavy flame throwers while chanting Holy Light slogans and setting everything ablaze. He couldn’t help but sigh, "To be honest, at this point... their methods really have nothing to do with the Holy Light anymore, do they..."

"Didn’t Wright say belief is what matters?" Amber, sitting next to him, remarked casually. "In other words, as long as you claim that you’re under the protection of the Holy Light, even if you’re firing roasted potatoes out of your cannon barrel, it’s still considered the will of the Holy Light..."

"I doubt that’s what Wright meant by ’belief’..." Gawain glared at Amber, then couldn’t help but sigh, "But speaking of which, these flame throwers really are effective..."

Amber blinked, looking at the flames shooting everywhere and the thick smoke rising in the distance, shrinking her neck involuntarily: "I just find it terrifying... Such a weapon... only someone like Rebecca, who can create dozens of variations of a fireball, could come up with. And honestly, using such flame-spouting things in a forest, wouldn’t it set the whole place on uncontrollable fire?"

"This is the Black Forest, it’s different from a regular forest," Gawain smiled, shaking his head and pointing Amber towards the distance, "Obviously, you can’t just use a flame thrower in any forest, but didn’t you notice... here, the flames extinguish quickly on their own?"

Amber then noticed that the fire fields the White Knights created didn’t spread outward, and the flames burning on the ground also extinguished quickly, leaving her a bit astounded: "They really do... how’s that possible?"

"The chaotic magical energy environment in the Black Forest prevents the spread of fire—the flames emitted by the Burner are created by magic. While they can indeed cause a natural fire, this requires sustained magical reactions. However, in this place, most magic reactions cannot last long—unless they receive a continuous supply of magical power."

"...The Black Forest is really a strange place," Amber scratched her head, "No wonder you insist on using this method of flattening everything to pave the way. In such a bizarre environment, a conventional team of Transcendents would probably be lost in moments after going deep."

Gawain smiled and did not reply.

Flattening everything is the only true rule against the Black Forest, but to achieve this, you must have powerful enough force.

To face the threat of the wasteland and to combat potential future enemies, he has never slackened in "military force", even though the weapons and equipment of the Cecil Combat Corps are already considered the pinnacle of human armies of this era, yet against the bizarre and unpredictable aberrations, no amount of firepower seems too much.

The weapon design department of the Cecil Clan has never stopped its research and development work. Alongside making progress in major projects like Magic-guided Vehicles, Magic Web Communicators, and Magic-guided Trains, the equipment in soldiers’ hands is also rapidly improving.

In the early days of the Magic Era, the birth and development of many things actually depended on whether there was a "way of thinking." Without a way of thinking, a new entity or even an entire field would be a blank slate, but once there is a way of thinking, things in the field will develop explosively.

After the success of the heat-ray guns, the technicians discovered a "key idea," that is, "as long as traditional low-level magic is used properly and combined effectively, and then industrially mass-produced, it can have astonishing effects."

This idea was called the "Minimal Practicality Approach" by Gawain, meaning that under the premise of controlling costs and system complexity, stable and reliable basic spells are arranged and combined to achieve the highest possible practical effect.

Low cost, high stability, able to be mass-produced.

Based on this idea and the heat-ray guns, a series of weapons using general Magic Transmission Terminals as carriers and low-level offensive spell triggers as cores were quickly designed. By replacing the modules within the Magic Transmission terminals, the soldiers’ means of attack are not limited to Scorching Ray, Acid Arrow, Lightning Arrow, Ice Bullet, and even weak healing and supportive spells, as long as the energy level meets the requirements and can be compatible with the basic structure of the Magic Transmission Terminal, they can all be realized.

The heavy incinerators in the hands of the White Knights were something Rebecca tinkered with not long ago, also an extension of this "Minimal Practicality Approach."

In those new weapons, Rebecca and her technicians installed rune triggers for the Grease Spell and Hand of Burning, and used the "Wind Elemental Blessing" to increase the range of the Grease Spell’s projection. The results proved to be extraordinarily effective.

Three basic spells combined into a powerful weapon of war.

Gawain did not mind that the essence of these weapons was just some "low-grade spells arranged and combined." For him, as long as they were effective, they were good enough.

Fortieth Day of Harvest Month, the Pathfinders burned the last patch of forest on the southern border of the Black Forest.

Intertwined poisonous vines and ancient trees turned to ashes, and the non-human monsters corrupted by chaotic magical energy gradually became smoke drifting in the air. On the land that the White Knights treaded upon, the magical flames created by the heavy incinerators quickly extinguished in the chaotic magical environment. As the smoke and dust gradually dispersed, the scene at the end of the forest opened wide at once.

An endless Corrupt Plains stretched out ahead, with the enormous light screen of the great walls connecting heaven and earth in the distance.

Accompanied by the sound of machinery, a convoy of specially modified Magic-guided Vehicles adapted to the complex terrain of the wasteland drove out of the forest area, arriving on this scorched land polluted by the chaotic wave.

Gawain got off the vehicle and stepped onto this desolate land. He saw that Sonia and several other elves had already left the convoy earlier than he did and were waiting for him.

The elves were the "technical advisors" in the barrier repair project and naturally had to come along.

When Gawain approached, Sonia, with a sigh, said, "We finally got out of that Black Forest—traveling through such a profane and twisted jungle is truly a torment for elves."

A High-Ranked Ranger couldn’t help but add, "Indeed—fortunately, with those vehicles, we at least had a layer of crystal and steel between us and that corrupted forest."

"Yes, the ancient magical devices..." Sonia glanced at Gawain, "I must admit, the things you led the humans to come up with are quite impressive. But I think you should use those things called heavy incinerators cautiously—especially in forests. It’s one thing for the Black Forest, but if you were to use them to burn down healthy forestland... I personally wouldn’t be able to accept it emotionally."

"Setting fire to a mountain and getting locked up forever—that line is written in the Cecil civilization’s charter," Gawain said, spreading his hands with a helpless laugh. He knew that Sonia, as an elf, would eventually say these things after seeing those devices, "Don’t worry, we’re not just mindless destroyers."

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but be a bit emotional: Sonia and the elves instinctively had reservations after seeing the incinerators, but Soldrin, also an elf, had no similar reaction after first encountering them. In fact, he was quite excited...

Perhaps that guy has been wandering the human world for so long that he’s forgotten he is a Child of the Forest...