Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 689 - 688: Talronde

The dragon wings swept across the sky, the soft golden light seemed to be shattered by the giant wings, turning into countless sparkling glints adorned on the wide and majestic blue scales. The turbulent magic power condensed into ribbon-like traces of light at the edges of the dragon wings, sketching a grand arc between the clouds and the clear sky — riding on the ripples of magic power, this sovereign of the skies crossed the borders of the continent, crossed the endless seas, bypassed the ever-ceaseless storm barrier, and flew swiftly towards the far northern realm amidst the dazzling twilight of the giant sun on the horizon.

The cold wind howled, the frigid air of the far northern lands revealed that the destination was near; the blue dragon slightly lowered its altitude, and in that soft golden-coloured enormous vertical pupils, reflected the myriad icebergs floating on the polar ice sea and various permanent alloy structures emerging from the sea. Some small harmless creatures were frolicking and jumping on those icebergs and platforms, while the shadow of the dragon swept across the sky, some immediately jumped into the sea to hide, while others just stared blankly at the sky as if they knew nothing about fear.

The icy floes quickly retreated from the view, the surroundings grew increasingly colder, but suddenly the number of floes diminished dramatically, and the ambient temperature unusually rose. The blue dragon slightly reduced its flight speed, and at the end of her field of vision, a magnificent continent floated upon the open and calm sea between glaciers.

This was a piece of land much smaller than the Loren Continent, but still with towering mountains, forests, and rivers. Countless elegant towers emitting a metallic texture stood at the edge of the continent; arcs of lightning flashed between these towers, illuminating them in turn.

Above this, a colossal shield, of a scale that would leave humans astounded, stretched out from the towers above, encompassing the entire continent. In the aerial section of this Great Shield, numerous silver-white devices could be seen floating at specific points, maintaining the integrity of the shield in some manner. Countless shadows flew between these devices, busy yet orderly.

The blue dragon let out a joyful low roar, heading towards one of the areas of the Great Shield. As she approached a certain distance, the Great Shield automatically opened a gap, a long guiding beam extended from the gap, indicating the direction of the homeland amidst the dim sky, and a gigantic metallic ring flew out from the shield, following the guiding beam to accompany the blue dragon in her flight.

A flicker of light skipped across the surface of the metallic ring, an artificial intelligence voice emanated: "Identity verification... External personnel, Observer, Mithril Vault tier one agent... Melita Ponia, identity verification passed, welcome home, fellow."

The blue dragon was evidently in a very cheerful mood, greeting the central AI behind the ring: "Hi! Omega, what’s been happening in Talronde lately?"

The ring paused slightly, and then light flickered across its surface again: "Search completed - Environmental Control Tower No. 2 power unit successfully replaced 72 days ago, Senate issued commendations to construction personnel; Dome Control Center completed recent upgrades, Senate issued commendations; Third Hatching Center’s hatch health laboratory successfully improved the 6+2 deformity screening process for Synthetic Dragon Eggs before hatching, making it more ceremonial, the lab director stated at the press conference a desire not to disturb the Senate, but hopes for a twelve-year paid vacation, Senate rejected this request but still issued commendations for the excellent work results..."

"...Haha... There’s really nothing worthy of listening to... These trifling ’results’ have been going round and round for how many millennia now?" Melita Ponia sighed, flying alongside the ring towards the Great Shield, and sighed again, "Any news about the Council?"

In Talronde, there exist two critically important governing groups for the dragons, the Senate, which is the largest in both scale and power, responsible for managing all internal affairs on the continent and controlling all ancient technological facilities in Talronde with the help of "Omega". The other group, the Supreme Council, oversees foreign affairs, with whom Melita, a senior cadre of the Mithril Vault, most often interacts — the elders of the Council.

The ring again paused briefly, then responded: "The Council made the decision three days ago to deduct the ten-year bonus of Mithril Vault tier one agent Melita Ponia as punishment for unauthorized damage..."

Melita’s wings almost tipped over, she managed to steady herself and took a deep breath: "Alright, you don’t have to say anymore, I already knew about this three days ago..."

"Timely grasp of homeland news helps external personnel alleviate loneliness," the ring produced a synthesized monotone, gradually slowing to align with the opening of the Great Shield, "Welcome back again, Melita, wish you a pleasant time."

"I shouldn’t have asked you the last question, pleasant my foot!"

Melita muttered, slightly retracting her wings, skillfully passed through the thin light membrane in the center of the ring, instantly completing the necessary processes for return to Talronde like disinfection and quarantine. Then she circled around inside the Great Shield, recalibrated her sense of direction, and quickly flew towards a grand city built amongst the mountains nearby.

This was a massive stone and metal-built city, stretching towards the sky along the towering mountains, its heavy, atmospheric, and complex architectural style was entirely different from most cities on the Loren Continent. Also most notably, the architecture of this city was divided into two distinct types: one type with particularly enormous dimensions, the structure was splendid and solemn, like abodes of giants from legends, their porches and windows were usually twenty or thirty meters high. The other type was scattered between these large structures, like some kind of "ornamental pieces" constructed on the rooftops or walls of giant houses. Their structure was intricate, finely decorated with crafted details and colors, though still in an imposing style, compared to those giant abode-like houses appeared to be delicate and "cute".

Melita slowed slightly above the city, then flew straight towards a familiar spot, landing steadily on a huge grey-white terrace. After landing, she raised her head, issuing a loud voice unique to dragons: "Noreta! Noreta! I’m back! Are you home? Are you home? Are you..."

Just halfway through shouting, a slightly annoyed voice reached her ears: "I’m home!! No need to shout so loud!"

Melita looked around: "Where are you?"

The voice came from directly below her: "Under your feet! Lift up your toes!"

Melita quickly lowered her head, her two huge eyes almost squeezed together. After carefully discerning, she hurriedly moved her claw, watching a woman in a white dress, with pale golden hair, and a tear mole at her eye corner, crawl up from the spot she had previously stepped on.

"Oh... Noreta!" Melita exclaimed in surprise, carefully using her front claw to pick up her friend, "This is the first time I see you maintain human form outside of shallow sleep — I didn’t see you at all!"

"That’s because your eyesight is poor!" Noreta swung her arm lightly, easily breaking free from the dragon claw, jumped firmly on the ground, "Moreover, of course, I have to maintain human form — today is the divine festival, this time the ceremonial ritual is held in our city. Are you suggesting I meet the God in dragon form?"

Melita’s vast dragon form was enveloped in a layer of radiance, her figure swiftly shrunk within the glow, transforming almost instantaneously into human form upon hearing her friend’s chatter. She paused for a moment, then with a slightly complex expression, spoke softly, "Ah... the divine festival... I almost forgot, today is the day to meet the Dragon God..."

Noticeably, Noreta, with pale golden hair and the tear mole at the eye corner, observed Melita’s expression, she pressed her lips, ultimately smiled slightly: "She is always the God who shelters us."

"Yes, after all, ’our’ God..." Melita said, shaking her head slightly, "Let’s not talk about this for now, I need to see Speaker Andar, I’ve brought back a special ’Mithril Commission’."

"Mithril Commission?" Noreta looked curiously at her old friend, "What commission is worth the Council Chairman’s personal review?"

"Gawain Cecil, do you remember this name?"

"The human who resurrected?" Nuoletta blinked, "You still take orders from him? Last time he came back alive to take delivery, the Mithril Vault was in quite a turmoil, and later on, we had to dig graves all over the world to ensure those dead clients wouldn’t return to claim their orders..."

"But in the end, no other graves transmitted any debt collection sounds!" Melita waved her hand, dismissively, then her expression grew slightly serious, "I’m not joking with you, this commission is really quite special—this human is more interesting than you and I can imagine, and the force he’s building has developed beyond the initial expectations of the Five Kings Council—and most importantly, he’s already noticed..."

Melita suddenly closed her mouth at this point.

But in Talronde, among dragons, this sudden silence itself was already a signal.

Nuoletta furrowed her brow, then said with disbelief, "Are you sure?"

Melita nodded gently, "Remember that crazy human empire? And their mad defied plan—we all thought a chaotic wave completely destroyed those bold mortals and their grand ambitions, but in reality... their resilience and courage surpassed the imagination of all dragons..."

"Defied..."

White Dragon Nuoletta’s face changed slightly upon hearing this special word, then she softly repeated it with a hint of reflection.

She recalled the evaluation made by the Supreme Speaker when the Council first learned that the Gondor Empire was suspected of researching anti-god powers:

Short-lived yet full of changes, born weak yet fearless, in front of gods, humans are braver than dragons.

"Alright, there’s still some time before the ritual, I’ll arrange for you to meet with Speaker Andar."

...

In the center of this dragon city, atop towering mountains, the magnificent temple soared into the clouds.

The extreme northern land was in the middle of a polar day phase, with the skies covered by a glow for half of each day. The intense and splendid brilliance poured through the temple’s vast windows, diffusing into its gilded and splendid interior hall, casting mottled shadows and highlights on every ancient tile and every weathered pillar. A woman dressed in a luxurious pale gold gown, her golden hair reaching to the ground, with a radiant appearance and noble demeanor stood by one of the palace’s tall windows, gazing at the distant glow, overlooking the sea of clouds below the temple and the faint city structures and scattered lights within.

She had been witnessing this scene for nearly a million years.

"Even the most beautiful scenery... will grow tiresome," the woman with hair cascading to the ground sighed lightly, turning her head to speak to the high-ranked Dragon Priest standing respectfully behind her, "What do you think, Heragor?"

The Dragon Priest referred to as Heragor slightly bowed his head, his pale golden vertical pupils hidden in the shadows of his crown, "This is because your eternity has surpassed all scenery, my lord."

"...Perhaps," the golden-haired woman’s lips curved slightly, yet it was almost impossible to tell if it was a smile. Her voice was pleasantly soothing, but the perfection of her tone induced fear and aversion, "Heragor, you have been by my side for the longest time, there’s no need to flatter me—insincere words are exhausting for both the speaker and listener."

The Dragon Priest did not raise his head, "My respect for you comes sincerely from within."

The golden-haired woman narrowed her eyes slightly, still smiling, "What about hatred? Is it also sincerely felt like the others?"

"..."

"I placed a lock on all of you, you should hate me, yet sadly even this hatred is locked," the golden-haired woman turned back, gazing at the distant clouds and glow, "Just like this immutable scenery of a million years... From the day you failed to defy, you have been eternally locked here, locked in this ancient and unchanging cycle of day and night... Hate me sincerely, it’s what you should do."

"..."

"But it’s okay, I am still your protector, I will continue to protect you as always, yesterday, today, forever..."

The golden-haired woman spoke softly, turning away from the tall windows, heading toward the depths of the temple.

"Poor creatures, you will be trapped to death on this planet."

Dragon Priest Heragor raised his head, watching the back of the god, expressionless, he stepped forward, closely following.