Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 658 - 657: The Glutton

Within Silver Castle, Gawain and two newly appointed Grand Governors were stationed before the Magic Web Terminal. Messages from the eastern Plains, relayed through Sorinburg, the White Sand Region, the southern borders, and the Gorgon River communications line, were continuously being delivered into this room.

"The ’Braves’ team has begun operations. First-level induction of the target successful..."

"The target has entered Sorinburg defense range. ’Braves’ team successfully disengaged. Second-level induction successful..."

"All units in the White Sand Dunes have completed evacuation. Beacon established..."

"Third-level induction successful. Iron Throne begins moving south... The target is approaching the White Sand Dunes..."

Reports from various execution units seemed to follow a precise timetable, continuously arriving as planned. Yet Gawain felt no relief, knowing Sorinburg’s defenses had proven the weirdness, strength, and difficulty in eliminating the Artificial God. Even though the evil cult followers had only shaped a flesh-and-blood ’counterfeit’ using mortal power, its strength clearly exceeded the mortal realm, possessing certain divine attributes.

Facing such an enemy, none dared to relax before its true demise.

Gawain knew these reports arriving according to plan, these seemingly well-executed and seamless stages, contained countless soldiers and commanders risking their lives in every moment and detail. The surface smoothness implied a tightrope-like precise balance—

The sea demons Allies were indeed strong, and the plan seemed indeed perfect, yet risks would not vanish. Even with high hopes for success, the necessary risks must be taken.

Beside him, Victoria Wilder, usually cool and steady, could not help but tense her face with a hint of anxiety: "Hope everything goes smoothly."

"It will go smoothly... If the sea demons can’t deal with it, the Second Legion supporting the White Sand Dunes from Rocky Ridges Fortress and the reserve battalions from Cecil Castle will step up. Ultimately, we will eliminate the monster," Gawain said solemnly, "And then, we will publicly announce the truth of this operation, proclaim it with great fanfare."

Baldwin Franklin gently nodded: "People will realize the strength of the new Empire, the shattered confidence will be rebuilt, and the aristocracy in the border region will cooperate more in transformations..."

"Yes, people will recognize the strength of the new Empire," Gawain agreed, nodding, while adding silently in his heart—

They will also realize that ’gods’ are not so untouchable.

...

At the junction of the Plains of the Holy Spirits and the eastern territories, this prolonged pursuit had already passed the midpoint.

The chaotic magic tracks extended between plains and hills, and the heavy Magic-guided Train sped along the rails. The sky was gloomy, and hot winds from the plains whipped up sand, battering the relay posts alongside the tracks and the armor on the train’s sides. The roar of war machines tearing through the air, coupled with the booming of continuous artillery fire, shook the land. In the wake of this monster’s passage, birds were forbidden, and surviving beasts on the plains fled from their lairs as if the apocalypse had come.

The arsenal section fired frequently, not only with the powerful main cannon but also with defensive auxiliary cannons near the main cannon. Various acceleration rails pointed to the rear of the train, flashing with magic power, hurling heavy shells into the distance.

Under the dim sky, the shells traced conspicuous paths through the air. At the intersection of those paths, a holy and resplendent light illuminated the plains, connecting heaven and earth. The enraged god sprinted across the land, persistently pursued by mortal artillery fire.

This was no ordinary battlefield for commoners, nor one that could be directly faced. Far away, beyond safe distances, some brave leaders from the eastern territories climbed their towers and city walls. Boldly, under various extraordinary spell blessings, they managed to take a glance at this battlefield of constant thunder and flashing lights. Then, half dared not look a second time, while the other half recited the names of various gods and ancestors, praying the flames wouldn’t reach them.

"The target’s speed has increased," in the Iron Throne tactical segment, the adjutant reported loudly to Maryland, "the distance between us is shortening!"

To some extent, anger could bring strength.

This was effective for humans; it turned out to be effective for the Artificial God...

Maryland looked out the window. At an opportune angle, he saw the scene behind the train, where the holy yet malicious light shone from the north. Light continually burst from that direction, flattening mountains and forests, destroying chaotic magic tracks, and covering rocks and steel with lush vines and flowers along the way.

Maryland turned back to the adjutant: "How far are we from the White Sand Dunes?"

"At full speed, we need half an hour, General—we might be caught before then."

Maryland frowned, and during their conversation, it seemed like the monster’s distance had narrowed further.

A powerful energy beam lashed out from afar, sweeping over the chaotic magic track, fiercely flashing the barrier covering the track before piercing through it. The rune structures below the track and nearby Magic Web exploded in sequence. Before the safety devices automatically cut the circuit, successive explosions impacted near the Iron Throne, causing the speeding train to shudder violently.

Faintly, this former fortress commander sensed a familiar feeling.

He had faced a similar crisis before—a mighty enemy attacked, while his resources were continuously consumed, the disparity in strength making direct confrontation almost a luxury. The only things to rely on seemed to be his bravery and the pride from his aristocratic background.

Last time, he chose an aristocratic-style combat, charging with a loyal cohort of Knights, attempting a glorious duel to turn the tide, only to be defeated in a few moves, learning a lesson that revealed the reality of ’war’.

Facing a true battlefield, he needed more pragmatic methods.

"Order all members of the fourth arsenal segment to move to the transportation carriage," the commander quickly finished his reflection, swiftly issuing orders, "prepare to cut off the rear connections and energy supply to the fourth arsenal segment. In addition...

"Have the soldiers unlock all safety fuses on the shells before evacuating and leave grenades inside the carriages."

The adjutant paused for a moment, then stood upright, saluted, and accepted the order: "Yes, General!!"

In the compartment of the fourth armory segment at the end, soldiers were tensely and busily operating all the turrets that could hit the target. The recent impact caused the train to shake violently, and the main cannon malfunctioned due to the impact. Some people were injured, but no one left their position. Until the onboard communicator lit up, these veterans were still trying their best to recalibrate the main cannon.

Not every soldier immediately understood the general’s intentions, but every soldier immediately responded to the command.

"Move quickly, boys!" An old veteran who had been through every battlefield from the old Cecil to the present was the commander of this compartment. He had already understood the general’s thoughts, and at this moment, his voice was exceptionally loud, "Follow orders, unlock the shell safety, unlock the grenade safety too, and any spare landmines, shove them all into the ammunition pile! Let’s make it big!!"

The train did its best to increase speed, pulling away from the Giant Stag. The soldiers quickly completed the task in this short moment and passed through the third armory segment, entering the empty cargo compartment in front.

Two minutes later, the commander of the third armory segment received the order and manually disengaged the connecting hook at the end of the train and the energy supply to the fourth armory segment.

The large compartment, now powerless, quickly distanced itself from the train’s main body, being thrown far onto the track.

A few minutes later, a sky-shattering explosion and a series of ensuing smaller explosions came from afar.

Maryland looked towards the direction where the explosion arose. For that moment, he deeply hoped that the terrifying "God" could simply die cleanly in this explosion and never appear again, but this unrealistic thought was quickly dispelled by the sacred radiance shining through the clouds of explosion.

The Giant Stag was not affected by the compartment’s sacrificial explosion. The radiance around it and the overflowing powerful magic power prematurely detonated the compartment, and the monster only slowed down slightly, then charged forward again.

Maryland frowned slightly but merely watched everything quietly.

Ten minutes later, he gave the order again—

"Third armory segment, move personnel to cargo compartment, prepare for sacrificial explosion."

"Yes, General!!"

The sacrificial explosion of the compartment couldn’t harm the monster, but at least it could buy some time.

The White Sand Dunes were almost there.

When the second mushroom cloud rose into the air above the distant tracks, Maryland looked out the window again.

The sky was dimmed frighteningly, as if the whole world was about to enter night. Dense clouds of unknown origin gathered over the White Sand Region, a chilling wind was rampantly sweeping across this area, and suddenly, thunder and lightning erupted simultaneously.

This sound of thunder seemed to blast into the heart of every person in the compartment, making even the most experienced, brave and composed soldiers and officers tremble. Under the bluish glow emitted by the Mind Protection System, almost everyone instinctively glanced at each other and then simultaneously looked out the window.

A raindrop hit the window, drawing a slanted mark on the crystal glass surface. Before this mark was blown away by the gusts, a second, a third drop fell...

It’s raining.

Countless raindrops formed a curtain, pouring down from the sky.

The iron throne recklessly rushed into that torrential rain, as if venturing into a water world hanging down from the sky. It was followed into the rain by the furious Artificial God. In an instant, the storm swallowed all the intruders and rapidly expanded to engulf the entire White Sand Dunes.

The sky was completely covered by a vortex-like cloud mass, and the terrifying dense clouds made the entire region seem to have entered midnight. The cold wind howled, the storm poured, and the lights emanating from the iron throne could only dispel the nearest darkness limitedly, while only the constant thunder and lightning could illuminate the more distant world.

In the light of the lightning, Maryland saw countless shadows gathering in the sky, innumerable strange things breeding in the storm and darkness. The boundaries between form and formless were broken, an indescribable structure as vast as a mountain gathered in the rainstorm, unfolding limbs and tentacles densely like a forest, sweeping toward the "Giant Stag" still shrouded in light.

Even in madness, the "Giant Stag" instinctively sensed the danger approaching under the guidance of its instincts. It suddenly gave up the iron throne already within reach, instead lifting its head to the sky, antlers glowing with light. Blinding energy stream swept across the entire sky.

Numerous shadows fell from the sky, as if many tangible and intangible things were cut and destroyed by the beam, but these shadows instantly merged into the surrounding rainwater, recomposing tentacles and limbs, and continued firmly to cover the "Giant Stag."

These indescribable things gradually became clear, presenting a posture like some giant sea creature, yet seeming like countless monstrous figures pieced together from the depths of imagination. This structure seemed only to be assembled in the most insane, absurd human imaginings. It unfolded its thousands of limbs, bit by bit sealing off all actions of the "Giant Stag," bit by bit closing in, with twisted, strange magic symbols flashing on the surface of those limbs, suppressing all the stag’s struggles one by one.

It is consuming—Maryland’s mind suddenly flashed with this absurd and terrifying thought.

But it indeed was consuming—those tentacles or limbs had started to tighten, a notable posture of predatory animals eating.

Yet faced with such terrifying scenes, seemingly enough to cause ordinary people to mentally collapse, Maryland surprisingly found his own will untested in the least. On the contrary... his thoughts were clearer than ever, his spirit more elated than ever. All previously accumulated negative emotions and mental pressures seemed to have disappeared, enveloped by an uplifting emotion that even contained... some kind of joy.

The Mind Protection System can also produce similar effects, but its effectiveness can’t compare to this moment.

In this wondrous mental state, Maryland saw those indescribable limbs or tentacles finally entirely close up, even the radiance surrounding the Giant Stag was thoroughly covered by the closed limbs.

Then, all the tentacles and limbs suddenly shrank, and through the storm came a cheering seeming to amalgamate countless voices:

"Lunch time!!"