Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 651 - 650: The Defiers’ Alliance

When such words of defying the gods came from the ever-pious Veronica, Gawain felt an indescribable strangeness, especially after hearing these words, he noticed something—the subtle sense of discord from Veronica was not merely "inhuman." On this Saint Princess, Gawain sensed something... unfamiliar.

Although her appearance remained unchanged, and her manner of speaking and behavior were similar to before, there seemed to be subtle changes in the details of her demeanor that were not easily perceptible. She was still the same person, but inwardly... she seemed different from before.

Gawain couldn’t quite articulate these almost indescribable differences because his understanding of Veronica was limited, but he guessed the change in her must be related to the ancient figure she referred to as "Ophelia Norton."

"What are you thinking?" noticing Gawain’s prolonged silence, Veronica, or as she claimed, the ancient Ophelia Norton, asked.

"I’m thinking about what kind of being you really are..." Gawain candidly responded, "An ancient soul that continuously resurrects? Inhabiting this body? Did you replace the original Veronica Moen at some point? Where is the original Veronica, or did she ever exist at all from the start?"

"Is that question important?" the woman with a serene expression gently asked, "Kamel is right beside you, an ancient Mage surviving from the Meteoric Era. From a bizarre perspective, even his fundamental change in life form should be more astonishing to us, shouldn’t it?"

"But I trust Kamel, whereas I can’t directly trust you like that, which is why this question is important," Gawain said. "You hold too many secrets and reveal too few. You’ve been operating under another identity for so long, and your contact with me now seems abrupt... so I must understand your origins, and the real purpose of you telling me these things. Why approach me? How are you certain I would cooperate with you?"

"Since you’re so concerned..." Veronica/Ophelia slightly smiled. "Then it’s not wrong to see us as a stubborn soul lingering in the real world; I’m indeed inhabiting this body, but not as a replacement for her... We completed our inhabitation long ago before this body was fully born, before her personality and consciousness emerged—thus you can consider me as the original Veronica Moen, as I’ve experienced her full life, albeit with a more ancient and enduring memory.

"We are indeed different from the ancient Mage beside you. We’ve been active for many years in this world, aware of the changes in human kingdoms over the years, hence why your emergence intrigues us extraordinarily... Frankly speaking, in our extensive observation, there aren’t many factors that can be termed as ’variables,’ and you are one of them...

"Our observations and experiments with the Church of the Holy Light have come to an end, this project will yield no more benefits, but we hope to move to the next collaboration with you, and as for why we chose you... You’ve already accepted a Defier, haven’t you? Moreover, you’re introducing new doctrines at the southern borders. Frankly speaking, what you are advocating aligns with our goals. We have reasons to cooperate.

"As for whether you will cooperate with us... that is your choice. We will happily accept whatever choice you make. I can only say, if you choose trust, you will receive a reward proportional to that trust. If not, we will simply move on to other projects."

Gawain quietly glanced at Veronica/Ophelia, naturally placing his hand on the hilt of the Sword of Pioneers: "What if I choose to kill you right here? You are a significant destabilizing factor, and it’s possible for me to do so."

"This fifty-five kilograms of biomass represents an acceptable loss to us," the woman with a serene expression calmly stated, "and there’s no need for you to do this."

"Indeed," Gawain slightly raised an eyebrow, "then what do ’you’ want to collaborate with me on specifically? What do you want from me, what can I gain, and most importantly... is all this part of ’your’ experimental project?"

"We are interested in the southern doctrine you and High Priest Rhett jointly founded, and also in the White Knight’s technology. We are willing to help you reform the Church of the Holy Light based on the southern doctrine. This will be your greatest gain, and what we want from you... is merely the technical feedback generated during this process. To us now, knowledge is the only valuable thing, and we seek nothing else."

"But while acquiring knowledge, you might also perform some ’additional actions,’" Gawain glanced around the Great Hall of Radiance, his gaze finally resting on the empty Papal Throne, "You’re not going to tell me these people all perished from divine descent, are you?"

"Eliminating these ’godly bridges’ is our predetermined goal, and it is part of the defied plan, but it will not affect you, and frankly speaking, I have no ability to pose such a threat to you—you are not a believer of the God of Holy Light, so the platinum scepter in my hand is merely a typical Transcendent sacred object for you," Veronica openly said, "Of course, I can also frankly point out: collaborating with you is indeed regarded as a new project by our standards."

After a brief pause, she revealed a gentle smile: "Every project holds the possibility of failure—even the nature of ’collaborating’ entails bearing the risk of failure, doesn’t it?"

"...I will consider and give you an answer as soon as possible," Gawain contemplated silently for two seconds, looking into the eyes of the "Saint Princess," "This might benefit us both, but to establish more trust, I hope the less we hide from each other, the better. And if I discover you are a potential threat to the Cecil Empire, I will eliminate it immediately."

"I understand your concerns," Veronica/Ophelia slightly bowed her head, "Mutual trust is our shared direction of effort."

Gawain took a slight breath, slowly exhaled, and said, "Then we should discuss how to handle the martyrdom issue of the Pope and the entire bishop team. This city houses tens of thousands of believers of the Holy Light, and the churches throughout the Plains of the Holy Spirits are influenced by the Cathedral of the Holy Light—soon, everyone will learn about what happened in the cathedral."

Veronica/Ophelia raised her head: "Do you have any ideas?"

"Pope Saint Ivan III was summoned by the Lord after the divine descent, and before leaving, he heard the divine oracle. The contents of the divine oracle..." Gawain glanced at the other party, "I will have someone deliver it to you shortly."

Veronica/Ophelia’s eyebrows seemed to twitch slightly, but she quickly resumed her usual tranquil and gentle demeanor, "Then please try to write it moderately. In places where the old doctrines have the deepest influence, change needs to be gradual."

Gawain nodded casually and turned toward the exit of the hall.

Before stepping away, he slightly turned back to ask a final question: "When you say ’human beings will survive,’ do you mean all humans, or just a selected portion?"

"Is that question important too?"

"Very important."

The voice behind Gawain fell silent for a few seconds before slowly responding:

"Perhaps not everyone can survive in this harsh world, but the appearance of each sacrifice can only prove our incompetence."

It seems this is the answer from the Defier.

Gawain nodded slightly and stepped out of the hall where the Holy Light was floating.

Veronica quietly watched the direction in which Gawain departed and only after a long while did she turn to walk deeper into the hall.

"He may have discovered something unusual in this interface... The newly downloaded personality data has not fully stabilized." "But the goal of communication has been achieved." "It is still uncertain whether this contact will lead to a positive outcome..." "Positive assessment indicates beneficial—plus, our time is running out." "At least there won’t be any loss..."

The soft self-talk seemed to split into several personalities, and this self-discussion lowly echoed in the Great Hall of Radiance, eventually gradually falling into silence.

Returning to the Silver Castle, the first thing Gawain did was summon the awaiting Amber.

"Hey... Your serious expression is terrifying," Amber exclaimed as soon as she saw Gawain, "It’s just a visit to a cathedral... What happened over there? Did the bishop team in the great cathedral get wiped out?"

Amber gleefully began her divergent BB and never forgot to criticize the Northern Church of the Holy Light, but she was dumbfounded the moment Gawain opened his mouth—

"The bishop team was wiped out in the divine descent ritual."

"...Huh?"

"Pope Saint Ivan III also died in the divine descent ritual, the news will be announced tomorrow."

"...What?!"

"Currently, only high priests below the bishop level remain in the cathedral, and one living saint, Veronica Moen."

"...Wow..." Amber finally snapped back to reality, her eyes widened, "Oh, I was just joking, you didn’t have to go along with it so... Could it really be true?"

"I’m not like you, joking about such things," Gawain glanced at the half-elf, "Zip it, I have a task for you."

Amber hurriedly closed her mouth which was agape in shock and rubbed her face vigorously: "Ah, go on."

"Take people to check the daily records of royal family members in the Silver Castle, investigate all information on Veronica Moen, especially her childhood," Gawain said, "Also, check the process of the Holy Light Church accepting Veronica’s conversion back then, including her baptism records."

Amber’s expression finally turned serious, she nodded: "Understood."

Seeing Amber’s solemn expression, Gawain paused slightly, suddenly asked: "Found any clues?"

Amber first froze for a moment, then realized what the other party was asking about, she probably didn’t expect Gawain to actually remember this matter seriously, blinked and said: "I haven’t had a chance to investigate carefully yet... I just asked a few court scholars who manage heraldry, but no one has heard of the surname ’Randolph’..."

The so-called clue refers to Amber’s adoptive father, the stealth user with the surname, information about "Sali Randolph".

This name and the uncommon aristocratic surname is Amber’s only understanding of her adoptive father, and this shadow transcendent with an aristocratic surname, whose strength didn’t seem weak, ultimately died in the barren countryside of the southern borders, under the joint judgment of the church and local aristocrats—this secret is truly incomprehensible.

Even Pittman seems unaware of the inside story.

Gawain had once promised to help Amber find clues to her adoptive father in St. Soniel, now he has arrived at St. Soniel—although the arrival method was a bit unexpected, it’s time to fulfill the promise.

"Your adoptive father might be a descendant of a family that fell on hard times long ago, or one whose surname was stripped decades ago, more likely an undisclosed ’shadow noble’s’ heir, the heraldry scholars mostly possess data on orthodox families, it’s normal for them not to know," Gawain comforted Amber, "Don’t rush, we have plenty of time—you can start from the royal library in the Silver Castle, which houses the genealogy of all Anzu Dynasty aristocrats, including those most remote, most fallen ones, if that doesn’t work, you might find clues in the Moens family’s secret collection."

"Let’s hope..." Amber whispered, "Actually, it’s okay if we don’t find anything... It’s been so many years."

"But you still care, don’t you—well, I also care, care about whether your adoptive father’s surname is a branch of some old friend, care about what kind of book it was, that a transcendent would steal it from a cathedral," Gawain smiled, "Just consider it a favor for me, go investigate the clue about Sali Randolph."

"Alright, but you’ll have to pay more."

Gawain was taken aback: "...Isn’t that just shameless?"