Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 257 - 256: Old Acquaintances

A squad operating nearby lost contact, and didn’t even have time to release the magic worms, which alerted the Soldrin Squad in the Dark Mountain Range.

In a relatively concealed cave, Typhon Soldiers were seizing the opportunity to rest, while several Knights in the squad were whispering about the lost contact of that team, the atmosphere seemed very serious.

"That squad is unlikely to have survived; they might have been exposed and encountered the nearby Anzu Army," one Knight said. "Being able to annihilate an elite squad in a short time and prevent them from sending any message likely means a large force of regular troops."

"This area should be where the legendary ’Resurgence Pioneer’ established the developing new regions, right?" another Knight recalled the intelligence before departure. "Could it be that the ’Founding Duke’ has already sealed off the mountainous area surrounding the territory? Wasn’t it said he just established his footing in this region?"

"Perhaps our intelligence was wrong, he might have received strong support from Anzu’s royal family," the last Knight speculated. "If he intends to rebuild Anzu’s Southern Defense Line entirely, he should have brought a large number of troops..."

"Contact with other squads remains normal..."

The Knights whispered among themselves, but they focused more on Soldrin, who was resting nearby with closed eyes.

The Knights knew well that even though there were so many Empire warriors active, the entire infiltration plan in the Dark Mountain Range was centered around this elf commander—the high-ranked Elven Ranger was the brain of the whole operation, while those ordinary Soldiers, Knights, and Mages were merely there to gather intelligence and explore the road ahead for the brain.

Although it’s only infiltration at the early stage of war, the squads entering the Dark Mountain Range are elite but don’t possess much high-level combat power. This is because infiltration squads aren’t meant for direct combat, and even if a batch of strong fighters is sent to carry out a mission, their combat prowess doesn’t necessarily outperform experienced Soldiers in intelligence gathering and map drawing. In case of exposure and interception, it’s equally difficult for a mighty expert and an ordinary Soldier to return alive, making an expensive setup with little extra gain. Hence, apart from Soldrin, the high-ranked Elven Ranger, only the Secondary Team has a middle-ranked Mage with authority.

Here, Soldrin is the backbone of them all.

And when the backbone learned that a squad lost contact, he didn’t show any reaction, quietly contemplating beside them.

"Sir," one Mage in the team couldn’t help and approached Soldrin, "We should take action—either send back intelligence or continue searching for clues of the missing squad, anything is better than waiting here."

Soldrin then opened his eyes, unhurriedly saying, "Do you believe in the rumor about the ancient duke who resurrected?"

"Honestly, I don’t," the Mage hesitated, then shook his head. "Resurrection is something heard only in mythological stories, but Mages are pragmatic; phenomena unexplained by theory are unbelieved unless witnessed firsthand."

"Is that so..." Soldrin appeared undecided, paused in silence, then continued, "But seven hundred years ago, that Gawain Cecil was best at doing things that challenge conventions, I believe...he might have had the ability to crawl out of a coffin after seven hundred years."

The Mage listened confusedly: "Sir?"

"Never mind," Soldrin shook his head, "I dispatched two Soldiers earlier—I am waiting for their report."

Almost as if waiting for Soldrin’s words, as soon as he finished, the two dispatched Soldiers returned to the hideout.

"Sir," one of the returned Soldiers hurriedly approached Soldrin, "We discovered an outdoor mine located on a mountainside, and it’s operational!"

"An operational outdoor mine?" The Mage next to Soldrin was momentarily stunned, "In this dead of winter?"

Soldrin instantly shed the previously indifferent attitude, becoming alert: "Bring the map—where exactly is the mine situated?"

Someone beside passed over a rough terrain map, while the reconnoitering Soldier roughly explained the mine’s location: "It’s here, between two mountain ridges, there’s a vast open area—it’s a really large-scale mine, god knows how long they’ve been digging to reach such size. Many workers are in the mine, and numerous Soldiers guard around it; we were worried about exposure so dared not get close."

Soldrin immediately bowed his head and identified the map: "The team that lost contact previously had an accident on this route... The mines are located here... Just as I thought."

Several Knights in the team had already gathered around and quickly understood Soldrin’s implication: "Did the team that had the accident accidentally run into the guards around the mine?"

"It should be like that, and that’s actually good news," Soldrin lifted his head, "It means that the pioneer leader hasn’t completely sealed off the mountain area; the lost team just had bad luck and stumbled onto the opponent’s stronghold."

"But with that, the leader here should have heightened their alertness..."

"Yes, he has certainly heightened his alertness, and the guards around the mine will definitely be more stringent than before, but we must go and see," Soldrin pointed to the approximate location of the mine on the map, "Mining in deep mountains during the winter costs a lot, and there’s a very powerful guarding force around this mine; this place must be extremely important!"

The Army Mage next to them also realized the importance of the open mine and couldn’t help but speak up: "Perhaps the Anzu’s royal family specially sent a ’Founding Duke’ here for the pioneering effort, maybe also because of this mine... Are they trying to cover up their real intentions?"

Soldrin put away the map: "Extinguish the campfire, erase the traces, let’s figure out what exactly the Anzu are doing in this mountain range."

With past experiences in mind, Soldrin led the squad closer to the hidden open mine in the mountains with much more caution. They avoided mountain paths with possible patrols, navigating through rugged rocks and vines, relying on elf magic to achieve this incredible crossing and finally settled down at the best observation point near the mine.

As the scouts had said, it was indeed a very large excavation area—it was hidden within the mountains (though not hidden), probably having been developed for a long time to reach such a scale (took only two-and-a-half days), with many unfortunate slave laborers mining in the cold wind under the supervision of Soldiers (they all queued for half a day at the Administrative Office before signing up), and unseen around the mine, who knows how many Anzu Army are secretly guarding this mine (only a few patrols).

It seemed to be concealing tons of secrets, and it’s feared that underneath the mine lies an ancient seal capable of summoning an Evil God.

"We can’t get any closer, there are a few sentinel towers around the mine, do you see them?" Soldrin reminded the Mage beside him, "Summon an Eye of the Mage, see if you can quietly bypass under the towers and find out what exactly those people are digging in the mountain."

"Understood." The Mage nodded, silently chanting a short incantation, after which an Eye of the Mage emitting a faint glow, nearly invisible in daylight, floated out of the air beside him.

The Mage controlled the magic eye to slowly approach the excavation site, and when his vision passed by the sentinel towers, he couldn’t help his curiosity: the soldiers atop the towers were holding a peculiar metal tube to their eyes, looking around, what was that thing?

There’s no magical surge, probably not worth paying attention to.

The Mage in control of the magic eye cast the tower soldiers aside and focused on maneuvering the Eye of the Mage to slowly bypass the base of the towers. But just then, a strange "kaka" sound suddenly came from nearby, startling him, and the spell was disrupted.

Before the clicking sound, Soldrin had already sensed the sudden emergence of those presences from all directions. He instantly realized that he and his men had been exposed, so instead of remaining hidden, he jumped up directly, having already picked up his short bow from his side. Three arrows wrapped in a pale green whirlwind were nocked on the bowstring, and without any aiming process, he raised his hand and released three arrows in succession towards the direction of the strongest presence he sensed, while loudly warning, "Prepare for battle!"

Shortly after, three crisp clinks resounded from a distance, the sound of magical arrows being deflected by someone. Soldrin and the quickly reacting Typhon Warriors raised their heads to see a tall, fully armed man standing atop a distant boulder. He held a black Longsword in his hand, his gaze sharp and steady, while behind him and around stood several Soldiers, quickly forming an encirclement.

Gawain watched from afar at the blond elf standing among the Typhon soldiers, feeling both surprised and amused: "I actually guessed right, Soldrin—what are you doing in this place?"

Compared to Gawain’s relative calmness, Soldrin was closer to shock when he saw Gawain. His eyes widened at the familiar figure, nearly breaking his long-maintained indifferent and aloof image: "You are—"

"Elves shouldn’t forget easily," Gawain spread his hands, "Forgot your old superior?"

"Are you really that Gawain Cecil?" The high-ranked Elven Ranger’s expression quickly turned stern and sharp. He didn’t lower his short bow; rather, he nocked another arrow on the string, "Did you really come back from the dead?"

He uttered the question, but his hand had no intention of lowering the weapon. Not only that, the Typhon Warriors around him were all ready for battle—though they had realized that their commander and the distant Anzu leader were old acquaintances, and that this Anzu leader was probably the legendary hero from seven hundred years ago. Both of these facts shocked them immensely, but their long-trained instincts and loyalty to the Empire compelled them to nearly reflexively tighten their grip on their sword and Magic Wand.