Sword of Dawn

Page 690

Modil looked in the direction of the other party's finger, but only saw a barren coast, the scene was wild and primitive, as if no one had ever set foot on it for thousands of years.

"You said that the city of Prandell was engulfed by dense fog...and black flames turned the buildings in the city into nothingness..." Victoria slowly turned her head, looking at Mordir with strange eyes, "but I am finally fully I see what you're talking about..."

"Well, I used declarative sentences from the beginning, but you all think that I used rhetoric." Modil spread his hands, "The things written by adventurers like me are usually documentary literature."

The old mage was very calm, but in fact at least half of the indifference on his face was fake.

He was equally astonished - because although he saw the scene of Prandel being swallowed by thick fog and burned by black fire in the "dream", he really didn't expect such a big city to disappear just like that!And it disappeared without a trace, as if such a city had never existed on the entire coastline!

He has traveled in this world for hundreds of years, and he has never seen such a thing!

"You don't seem surprised at all?" Victoria's voice came from the side at this time, and the duchess in charge of the North looked fixedly at her ancestor, "You said before that you didn't actually see Pulan with your own eyes. The situation after Del was completely swallowed by the thick fog..."

Modil stroked his beard with a calm expression on his face: "I have traveled on the continent for several centuries. Although I can't remember many things clearly, this vision does not make me confused."

As an ancestor, one must pay attention to his image in front of future generations...

Victoria obviously didn't think much about it, as if the words "You deserve it" were written in her calm eyes, and then her eyes fell in the direction of the Violet Coastline again.

Footsteps came from the side, and Maggie, the black-haired dragon-born maid, came to the deck.

"Prandelle City has disappeared, and the crew is waiting for your order," Maggie said with her head lowered. "Do you still want to move as planned?"

Victoria thought for a while, then nodded: "Go ahead, drop anchor four nautical miles offshore, and then send out an exploration team."

Chapter 1478 Rescue

A Dragoon fighter plane left the upper deck of the Hanxing with a low buzzing sound, and the anti-gravity aircraft brought a trail of shimmering magic power in the sky, and flew towards the distant Violet Coastline.

The images captured by the Dragoon fighters in the air were transmitted to the command center of the Hanxing through the magic network terminal, and were clearly presented in front of Modil and Victoria.

Now they could see more clearly the barren coast, and the vast stretches of pristine wilderness leading to the Violet Interior.

"The main urban area of ​​Plandel, the southwest port area, and the northern intersection area have all disappeared...there is a natural and continuous transition zone at the border of the forest, excluding the possibility of human intervention," the voice of the aerial scout came from outside the screen, which sounded disconcerting With a deep sense of astonishment and bewilderment, "Observing the terrain features that match the data records, it can be confirmed that this is indeed the original location of Plandel City..."

Maggie propped her hands on the communication platform, leaned her upper body slightly forward, and said in a very serious tone: "Is there nothing man-made?"

"There are no man-made things," the scout's voice sounded, "and there are no traces of artificially modified terrain. It feels as if no one has ever lived here since ancient times."

"Have you found any traces of the two missing operators?" Victoria said standing beside Maggie, "They should have left a distress signal on the beach."

"Not found yet, the beach environment is very complicated, I need to get closer."

"Lean over, hover over the beach, and wait for the landing team to support," Victoria nodded, then turned to look at another communication terminal, "Where is the landing team now?"

The voice of the leader of the landing team came from the magic net terminal: "We have arrived near the coastline and are looking for a safe landing route - there are too many reefs here, and the current is extremely chaotic. Disappear."

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief: "Proceed with caution. Immediately after landing, set up communication relays and look for a safe landing site. At the same time, search the entire coastline... Support troops will arrive soon."

After the communication was hung up, Victoria sighed, and turned to look at Modil: "The entire coastal area has become a primitive area, and that city really seems to have never existed... I hope that the two military intelligence bureaus Operators should not encounter things like powerful monsters, that place is no longer the 'civilized country' we remember."

"They shouldn't have a problem," Modil stroked his beard, he slowly raised his head, looked through a window in the command center, looking at Violet Island in the distance, "I'm more concerned about Violet now The situation in other regions...Prandel City has disappeared, so what about other cities that lost contact earlier than Plandel? City of Thousand Towers, Palan Santo, Cold Sea City... If the vision is spreading outward from the center of the island , that Plandel may just be the last area to disappear..."

"Are you saying that the entire Violet Kingdom has disappeared?" Victoria's expression was calm, making it impossible to guess what emotion she was feeling at the moment. After a while, she shook her head, "If it was before today, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, If you hadn't said that... I can't believe that this kind of thing would happen in the world. An entire kingdom just disappeared in the world... The rational part of being a mage makes me feel that this is not true."

"I'm just the opposite of you. As a mage, I always believe that anything can happen in this world. When a phenomenon happens and we can't understand it, it's not because there's something wrong with the world, it's just because we don't know enough. "Many," Mordir said cheerfully, "as an adventurer, I have seen too many strange things in my life."

Victoria was thoughtful, while Maggie glanced at a message just received by the magic net terminal, and said to Victoria: "The Cold Wind and the Ice Cavalry have departed from Beigang. According to your order, take A large amount of supplies and a powerful communication station, accompanied by experienced Iron Rangers. They will then land at Rattle and Port Payne on the southwestern coast of the Violet to investigate."

"Very good," Victoria nodded lightly, and then reminded them again, "Remember to remind them that no matter what the situation in Rattle and Payne Port is, they must return to the ship before the sun sets, at least after confirming the first night. Before the situation, no one can spend the night on the island, let alone rush into the interior.”

"Yes."

The Violet Kingdom does not only have the coastal city of Prandell, on this huge island, there are also several cities located on the southern coast that have established trade relations with North Port in the past few years. Now these cities have completely lost Although there is no clear evidence, everyone is guessing at this moment-whether what happened in Prandell also happened in other places in Violet?

If the other two teams encounter the same vision in Rattle and Port Payne... then Modill's fears may come true.

The communication station was quiet for a while, and Victoria, Mordill, and Maggie were all lost in thought, until the magic net terminal next to it suddenly buzzed, and the somewhat excited voice of the landing team commander interrupted Everyone was thinking: "Your Excellency, Grand Consul! We have already landed and found the two missing officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau—they are safe and sound!"

Victoria and Maggie looked at each other subconsciously, and the latter nodded immediately: "I will lead the team to see the situation myself."

Mordir hesitated for a moment, and got up immediately: "I'll go with you—the two young men and I have also been 'fighting side by side' before, and we were in a hurry when we parted, and there are some things I want to confirm with them at this time. "

Listening to the old ancestor's words, Victoria suddenly became a little worried: "You used to...wouldn't you have any problems? You saw the shadow dwellers in the mist of Prandell before, and I suspect that the Violet Kingdom may have some kind of secret relationship with Lady Ye You just arrived at Prandell in a dream last night, but if you go ashore in person now, I'm afraid..."

"It was precisely because of my previous experience in 'Dream Walk' that I felt the need to go and see for myself." Modil certainly knew what Victoria was worried about, but the old mage just smiled, his expression was rather indifferent, "When the vision happened, even though I was sleeping in the bedroom of Winterhold, my mind was still 'drawn' into the dense fog of Prandell... a certain force was guiding me here, and I couldn't hide of.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. This vision almost hid the whole world, but I became one of the witnesses. This seems to be a signal, a signal sent by Ms. Ye, and I started from this There was no sense of hostility in the signal. And..."

Speaking of this, Modil suddenly paused and shrugged: "Even without considering the above reasons, 'curiosity' is still driving me forward, I have been wandering in this world for hundreds of years, always trapped I can't make an inch of progress in the fog, but now the exit in the fog seems to be in front of me... I want to solve this mystery, even if this is the last adventure in my life."

Victoria's originally calm expression suddenly changed. She looked at her ancestor fixedly, and finally felt something unusual from the other party's always free and easy attitude.

It seems that since this morning, since he got out of that "dream", some kind of change has taken place in this ancestor's mentality. He has withdrawn the leisurely leisure of these days, and replaced it with a certain... motivation to go to the unknown.

It seems... the great adventurer who left a great reputation in history has ended his short vacation and is ready for the next adventure.

"...I understand." After a moment of hesitation, Victoria finally nodded slowly, "I will stay here and sit in charge. You and Maggie should be careful, and try not to continue to go deeper into the island after receiving the two missing operators. Explore, and be sure to return before sunset."

Mordir waved his hand to signal that he knew, then turned around and left the command center with Maggie.

On the deck of the Hanxing, the black-haired maid turned into a fully armed dragonborn. As the giant wings spread, the steel wings on Maggie's body also shone with a metallic brilliance under the sunlight. Listen The series of sounds of mechanical devices meshing and running, and the buzzing from low to high during the charging process of the magic unit, Modil standing on the edge of the deck could not help but sigh: "Although I have seen it many times... but I still I have to say, these are really incredible times.”

"Before the time came, no one could have imagined that the world would become like this." Maggie lowered her head slightly, her fangs and sharp teeth glowing coldly under the iron jaw, "please come to my back Well, my flying speed is still much faster than the mage's flying technique."

"Then I won't be polite." Modil nodded cheerfully, and directly climbed onto Maggie's broad back along Maggie's drooping wings, and then the fully armed black dragon jumped up from the deck— —Behind Maggie, there were two Dragoon fighter planes that set sail together, and two landing speedboats that had just been lowered from the side of the Hanxing.

This is the action process that was set from the very beginning: after the leading troops successfully landed and sent back the basic environmental parameters, the follow-up troops will carry various large equipment and supplies to respond, in addition to searching for and rescuing the two missing persons. In addition, their other task is to establish a temporary forward camp at the "old site" of Plandel City, which has now been turned into a primitive coast, as a foothold for subsequent exploration.

Of course, for safety reasons, everyone will still withdraw to the ship at night, at least for the first night.

In this way, the second expedition team left the giant steel ship floating in the sea in a mighty way, and headed towards the coastline not far away where an ancient city once stood, but now it has turned into a primitive landform.

The air currents in the sky were blocked by the protective barrier around the dragon, and the feeling of looking at the sea and sky from the back of the dragon was exhilarating. Mordir grasped the steel wing assembly near Maggie's shoulder and neck while observing the sea and the sky on the coast. While looking at the situation, he said happily: "Do I know, I actually rode a giant dragon hundreds of years ago. Although I don't remember it, there were records at that time..."

"Being caught in the claws of a dragon is not a 'ride', Mr. Mordir." Maggie said in a low voice.

Modil was stunned for a moment: "Ah? You know about this?"

"I know Miss Melita Purnia. When I was in Cecil City, I often saw her."

"...Okay, reasonable," Modil shrugged, and then muttered again, "According to the current popular saying, am I considered 'community dead'?"

Maggie thought about it carefully. She originally wanted to say that the person involved had a thick skin, but then suddenly realized that the unreliable old man on his back was actually the ancestor of Victoria. The words on the lips were swallowed back.

Mordir didn't pay much attention to this topic, because at this time his attention had already fallen on the coast.

The distance of a mere four nautical miles is nothing more than a few flaps of wings for the dragonborn. Now they have come to the sky over the primitive and wild coast of Violet Island. An exploration team, and two military intelligence officers standing with the exploration team.

Neither Sparrow Bee nor Night Owl expected that the rescue force would come so quickly—they didn't know that Mordir "returned" to Cold Winter Castle after the thick fog dissipated, and they didn't expect that a steel warship would come directly from North Harbor that day To cope with themselves, in their worst scenario, the news from the direction of Violet was cut off, and it might take several days, or even ten days, to send a ship from Beigang. After all, this mysterious hermit country often has such traffic blockades In addition, signal interference around the island often occurs.

They have already made psychological preparations to survive in this primitive wilderness for ten days without any support, communication cut off, and no material reserves.

As a result, before the first day was over, reinforcements arrived...

The heavily armed Iron Ranger warriors beside her made Quefeng slightly relax from the tense nerves from yesterday. She looked at the big ship floating in place on the sea in the distance, and saw giant dragons, fighter planes and speedboats coming from The boat set off and approached the coast, and saw the black dragon at the front of the team flapping its wings, the first one approached the coast and landed smoothly on the gravel beach a hundred meters away.

A somewhat familiar figure jumped off the dragon's back and landed slowly with a levitation technique.

It was an old mage with a soft black hat on his head, a dark robe of stars, and a magic ball and magic book hanging from his waist. He looked gentle and mysterious.

Sparrow Bee and Ye Xiao were both a little dazed, and just as they were dazed, the old mage had already used the flying technique and came directly in front of the two officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau. The young man who fought side by side (or run side by side) said cheerfully, "Why? So you don't recognize me?"

"Mr. Mordir? It's really you?!" Finch Bee finally came to his senses, looking at the old man in front of him in surprise and disbelief, and blurted out the words in his heart, "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you in your clothes... "

Mordir: "..."

"Coat! I mean coat!" Finch Bee blushed in the next second, and waved her hands nervously and ashamedly, "I mean you changed your pajamas into..."

"Why don't you just stop talking... I know what you want to say." The old mage sighed with helplessness on his face.

Rao is a great adventurer who is used to seeing the wind and waves, and he can only sigh in his heart at this time - fortunately, he does not have the habit of sleeping naked...

Chapter 1479 The Vanishing Country

Iron battleships flying the imperial flag are parked in the sea, dragoon fighter planes fly across the sky with a low hum, and heavily armed steel ranger fighters patrol the beach-for the sparrow bee and the night owl, all this brings An indescribable sense of security came.

On the desolate coast covered with gravel, the landing team cleared out a temporary shelter. The high-power mobile communication station and the magic grid array restored the communication between Violet Island and Beigang, and the shield generator was used in the field to resist Despite the biting cold wind on the coast this winter, Ye Xiao and Sparrow Bee sat on a big rock, each holding a freshly heated instant soup in their hands, feeling the chill in their bodies gradually dissipating.

There is a column-shaped device on the open space in front of them. The lower part of the device has a hexagonal alloy shell, and the upper part is a layered crystal plate. The magical glow between the crystals slowly A floating, constant and uniform thermal field radiates from this device, quickly raising the temperature of the entire campsite to a comfortable level.

Several soldiers hung their camping lunch boxes on the hooks next to the heating device, and the food in the lunch boxes was gradually emitting a tempting smell under the heat.

This device reminded Quest Bee of the similar items she saw in the mentor's mage tower when she was a mage apprentice. In the old days, mages would set up various spell items that could change the environment in their residences. The magic furnace that makes the whole tower warm like spring, and the ice mirror that can cool the whole castle, these things have incredible effects, and are usually used by mages to show their superb skills and financial resources in making magic props means.

They will always use the most elaborate and expensive methods to manufacture even the simplest magic props. A fireplace for releasing a wide-area thermal field must be built with obsidian bricks and adamantine ingots—that is a A way of life that was unimaginable to the common people at that time.

If my mentor hadn't died on the city wall of Saint-Sunil, I don't know how he would feel when he saw this era... Most likely he would point to this ugly "portable outdoor heating station" and yell that he has no soul—— Then secretly went to the market to buy one when no one was around, and then disassembled it to study how it works.

For some reason, these old events recalled in her mind, Sparrow Bee was stunned for a while, then shook her head lightly, she heard the black-haired Miss Dragonborn talking to herself and Ye Xiao: "Your' Store manager, 'Silver Eye' Cloade died when the city of Plandel disappeared, unfortunately, we may not be able to recover his remains... Did he leave any relics behind?"

"No, the store manager's personal belongings have been taken away by the thick fog," Finch Bee shook his head with a low voice, "If I have to say... Ye Xiao and I are his relics."

"...I see." Maggie looked at the two officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau with calm expressions in front of her. She nodded slowly and changed the topic, "Then, I need to know something from you—are you Witnesses of the Prandall Fog incident, and have been active in the Violet for many years, the information you have is very important to us."

Bird Bee nodded, and her gaze swept over the Steel Ranger soldiers standing guard and patrolling nearby and the steel battleship floating on the sea in the distance——the appearance of a main battleship like the "Han Xing" has obviously surpassed that of a country. The "boundary" of another country's intelligence collection work is an obvious signal that the upper echelon of the empire has realized the extraordinaryness of Violet's "extraordinary vision" and realized that Violet may have lost its status as a sovereign state. The "function" of the state.

Now, the Violet Kingdom is probably no longer a normal "country" in the eyes of the high-level empire, but an "abnormal zone" completely shrouded in extraordinary visions.

"Is there any omen when the dense fog appears?" Maggie's voice came from the opposite side. "I mean short-term omens—we already know the abnormal situation in various parts of the Violet Kingdom in the past month."

"There is no warning," Sparrow Bee shook his head, "The dense fog appeared suddenly without any warning. Ye Xiao and I were indoors at the time, and we didn't even notice when the dense fog came. We didn't notice anything unusual until we looked outside the window. "

Maggie carefully wrote down these details, and then asked: "The thick fog itself is not lethal, is it?"

"Yes, we move as usual in the dense fog. The fog is non-toxic, harmless and tasteless. I can't even feel its existence at all. It feels like some kind of... phantom, which only appears in vision, not Something that actually exists in the real world."

"Mr. Modill mentioned before that there are very weak lights in the doors and windows of buildings in the dense fog, and when people cast their eyes over them, shadows with blurred outlines and various shapes will appear in those doors and windows, as if There are many twisted people lying on the rough crystal glass and looking out, is that it?"

"...Yes, and not only those buildings, but also the carriages parked on the side of the road." Ye Xiao recalled the details of last night and said, "As long as it is a closed space with transparent or translucent doors and windows, Those weird shadows will appear. We suspect that those are the 'citizens' who originally 'lived' in Prandell. In the dense fog, they showed a certain... more essential posture. In addition, as you just said, These figures will react to our sight, 'they' will only appear when we stare at those doors and windows, and the longer we stare, the weirder their shapes will seem..."

Maggie nodded, and silently recorded the new details, and then she asked a few more questions to complete the information about the "Prandelle Fog" last night bit by bit, and after she finished asking, Modir asked again: "Did the dense fog appear again during the time you were waiting for rescue? Or did other visions happen?"

"...No more," Sparrow Bee shook his head while thinking, but then suddenly remembered something, and quickly added, "By the way, we did see some fog after sunrise, it was after we left 'Pulang Not long after Del', a mist suddenly appeared on the rocky beach, and Ye Xiao and I saw... the figure of the 'store manager' emerged from it, saying goodbye to us."

"...an unstable superposition state," Modir said softly, "That should be the last moment when the 'other world' is disconnected from the real world."

While speaking, the legendary adventurer stood up slowly and looked up towards the inland direction of the island. He saw the gravel beach on the coast extending there. To the northwest of the beach, there is now an unusually vast wilderness, while in the north of the gravel beach, you can see a lush and dense forest.

There are shadows in the dense forest, as if even the sunlight is difficult to pass through even the few short trees on the edge, but Modil is more concerned about another thing - there seems to be no "fog" in the dense forest.

This is not referring to the kind of fog that enveloped Prandell last night, but the "fog locks" that linger in the dense forests in various places in the Violet Territory mentioned in the data.

Before Plandel was devoured, all the intelligence personnel mentioned this kind of fog when they reported the situation of the Violet Kingdom. Thick fog, the fog seems to have extraordinary power, it can interfere with people's perception, block people's way, and even "exile" people who stray into it back to the entrance of the fog, even extraordinary people cannot pass through it.

The dense forest covering the entire territory, coupled with the persistent fog in the forest, together constitute the "inland barrier" of the Violet Kingdom, which wraps many inland cities, including the City of Thousand Towers, and blocks Cutting off the sight of outsiders trying to pry into this mysterious country, no matter whether it is the operatives of Cecil's Military Intelligence Bureau or the spies sent by Typhon, there is nothing they can do about it.

But now, Modil could clearly see that the dense fog in the dense forest had dissipated, and what was left... was only an abnormally dark environment.

Ye Xiao quickly noticed the sight of the old mage, and the young officer of the Military Intelligence Bureau immediately understood what the other party was thinking, and took the initiative to say: "After we escaped, the fog that had always filled the dense forest dissipated. never appeared again."

"You didn't go deep into the island, did you?" Modil immediately turned around and asked seriously.

"No," Ye Xiao shook his head, "Although the fog in the dense forest has dissipated, it is filled with an abnormally dark environment. Obviously there are other strange things. I just observed the edge of the forest and retreated to the beach. gone."

"You guys are right. It is very dangerous to go deep into the hinterland before you understand the current 'rules' of this island." Modil nodded lightly. As an experienced adventurer, he Knowing that recklessness and overconfidence can often lead to disaster.

"Prandall disappeared in the thick fog, and the fog that filled the dense forest on the island has also disappeared... What is the connection between the two?" Maggie muttered thoughtfully, "It feels like It's as if the city of Prandelle and the dense fog in the dense forest are both supported by the same 'source', but now this source is receding from the real world..."

"Ms. Ye, I can only think of Ms. Ye," Modil said slowly, "Whether it's the shadow dwellers who appeared last night, or the summons I received in the dream, they all seem to point to that mysterious ancient god, but I really can't see what intention he wants to convey... But I can see one thing clearly, the so-called 'Mage Kingdom' of Violet... I'm afraid the real face is a kingdom of shadows, at least the city of Prandel is obviously are ruled by shadow powers."

Modir shook his head, then casually sketched a few shining runes in the air, and then an illusory eyeball condensed from between the runes. After a moment of sluggishness, the eyeball looked into the depths of the dense forest direction.

"The situation in the hinterland of the island is unknown, and it would be dangerous to go deep in rashly. I'll put a mage's eye to see it first. The control distance of this thing is still very good."

While talking, the old mage casually put more than a dozen layers of elemental resistance and arcane protection around the mage's eye, and finally gave it seven layers of mage armor and seven layers of force field shield...

Seeing this scene, Quefeng was stunned, his eyes widened: "Can the mage's eyes also have so many layers of protection?!"

"A little skill accumulated during the adventure. After all, the wild environment is so dangerous. If you don't prepare well, who knows what will happen." Modil said with a face of course, and then stretched out his hand to push the mage he summoned. With a quick glance, Ye Xiao and Sparrow Bee watched the summoning object on the inner, outer, and outer layers, which had been wrapped in various magical effects, fluttering up into the air, heading towards the dense forest like a flying tank Fly away slowly.

Although everyone knows that the "magic effect" itself is weightless, they can see a feeling as if they can't fly from this eyeball.

Maggie next to her was also stunned, and this Miss Black Dragon even suspected that this mage's eye was more resistant to beating than herself...

At the same time, the Duchess Victoria, who stayed on the Hanxing and took charge of the command, was paying attention to the information sent back by all the exploration teams - not only including Maggie and Modil who landed on the coast of Prandell, but also those who went to Lat The information sent back by the "Cold Wind" and "Ice Cavalry" at Port Paine to check the situation at any time.

She glanced at the mechanical clock hanging nearby, then turned to look at one of the magic net terminals on the communication platform: "Cold Wind, report your position."

The next second, the voice of the commander of the Cold Wind came from the magic net terminal: "This is the Cold Wind, we are already close to the outer port of Rattle... the area that should have been the outer port. Rattle was not found." City, repeat, Rattle City was not found, there is only a primitive and barren coastline here!"

Victoria's face sank like water: "...confirm the orientation and the topographical features of the coast."

"The location is confirmed, and the coastal terrain matches. We are near the city of Rattle, and the city has disappeared."