Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 389 - 388: Amber’s Mysterious Origins

A civil war, a real civil war.

Unlike the armed conflict among the aristocrats within a region, unlike the limited wars initiated by leaders to redivide the land, or even the military action Gawain is preparing to regain control of the southern borders, what Anzu is about to face is a real civil war.

The newly fractured royal family and the border dukes will be the promoters, leaders, and participants of this war.

And behind all this is the Oblivion Association, a secretive and enigmatic cult hidden in the shadows.

Their power has swelled to such an extent!

Gawain was nearly dumbfounded, looking at Clement in front of him with a hint of astonishment—even though this powerful cult follower had become a puppet under the control of Tiel’s tentacles, he still had to view this person who had just ignited the fuse of civil war differently: "What exactly do you want to achieve by starting this civil war?"

Clement’s face showed a trace of struggle, as if the last vestige of his will was resisting answering this crucial question, but moments later, he still began to speak in a low and muddled voice: "All we want is a war... any form of war..."

"You want war?" Gawain’s brow furrowed tightly, "What do you need war for!?"

Clement let out a vague mumble, Tiel let out a soft hum, and the surface of those tentacles immediately shimmered with a faint halo, dissolving all of Clement’s rebellious will: "War... brings abundant... raw materials..."

Gawain pressed relentlessly: "Materials? What kind of materials?"

Clement let out a painful growl, while Tiel softly exclaimed "huh" with slight confusion.

"There’s a very strong mental restriction... it’s even stronger than my Voice of the Deep Sea," the sea demon showed a hint of helplessness, "this restriction just erased part of his memory... I didn’t even have time to observe how it worked."

"There’s such a thing?" Gawain was taken aback, not expecting that these evil cult followers would leave such a layer of ’safety lock’ in the minds of powerful members. Then he tried several ways to indirectly question Clement, hoping to obtain some remaining clues, but the results were as expected—fruitless.

He could now only ascertain the following facts:

Prince Edmund was involved in patricide and had a wary, subtle ’cooperation’ with the Oblivion Association; his goal was to end the ’puppet royal family’ status of the Second Dynasty, completely control the entire nation, and based on that, he likely had many plans continuing afterward; the Church of Oblivion needed war to provide them with some kind of ’material,’ whether it was the Anzu Civil War or a war between Anzu and Typhon met their requirements; on the Typhon side, there was secretly the power of the Oblivion Association, and Emperor Rosetta Augustus was likely also an accomplice of the Oblivion Association.

This was all the intelligence he could gather from Clement.

After finishing the questioning, Gawain glanced at Amber standing next to him, reminding her: "Didn’t you have questions too? Hurry up and ask."

Amber looked at Gawain, then glanced at Clement, then bit her teeth, and pulled something out from her pocket.

She held that thing up to Clement’s face: "I overheard—do you know the origin of this ring?"

Clement’s murky gaze took a long time to focus on Amber’s hand, and he murmured lowly: "Ring of Shadow Seal... an ancient ring..."

"Do you know why this ring is in the hands of Anzu’s King?" Amber stared fixatedly into Clement’s eyes, and on her face, Gawain saw for the first time such a serious, earnest, expectant expressions tinged with a bit of unease.

Where did this ring come from? It seemed to hold significant importance for Amber?

Gawain couldn’t help but grow curious about this.

And Clement quickly responded: "The Ring of Shadow Seal... was once the possession of Francis Moen... I don’t know its ownership before ending in Francis II’s hands... only that it’s a... relic from the Gondor Empire..."

"You said it’s a relic of the Gondor Empire?" Amber’s eyes widened, "Then what else? Doesn’t anyone know more about the ring’s origin?"

The question Amber posed was apparently too complex, as Clement murmured in a low voice for a long time before finally saying something coherent: "It... relates to the shadow realm... can communicate with creatures in the shadow..."

"...Might as well have said nothing!" Amber couldn’t hide her disappointment, even her usually lively ears were slightly drooping.

Gawain had never seen this carefree half-elf in such a low state, he couldn’t help his curiosity: "Is this ring very important to you?"

"Yeah," Amber nodded, then pulled out another ring from her pocket, looking exactly like the Ring of Shadow Seal, except it was obviously damaged and the intricate magical pattern inside the ring had failed. In Gawain’s perception, it was merely a metal band without any magical fluctuations. "This is another one... When I was very young, my adoptive father told me that this ring was the only thing he found with me that might be related to my identity. It was not originally damaged—it only became like this the year I awakened my shadow affinity..."

"Your ancestry..." Gawain finally understood why Amber had that expression just now, "According to what you just said, you got that ’Ring of Shadow Seal’ from Francis II?"

"That’s right," Amber nodded, "It was because he used the shadow seal ring to summon a space door that I was able to run to the border from here... I originally thought I had finally found clues about my parents, but it turned out that I only retrieved a ring."

At this moment, Tiel, who had been silent on the side, suddenly spoke up: "Let me interject here—this Clement said the shadow seal ring had always been with the old King, Amber, could it be that you are the King’s illegitimate daughter?"

Not just Tiel thought so, in fact, Gawain also had this overwhelming thought after knowing about Amber’s connection with the shadow seal ring, but he hadn’t had time to voice it when Soldrin, who was listening nearby, shook his head and said, "Impossible—you should look at Amber’s ears."

Gawain looked at Amber with a puzzled face: "Ears?"

"The edges here, curving upwards," Amber pointed to her long, pointed elf ears, "This is a trait inherited from the paternal side—this indicates that my father is an elf. If it were maternal inheritance, the edges of a half-elf’s ears would be flatter and extend more towards the back."

"So there is such a distinction..." It was the first time Gawain learned this little fact—even the Gawain Cecil of the past, who was well-versed in human matters, was not entirely knowledgeable in this aspect, "So, Amber, your father is definitely an elf... According to the lifespan of elves, there’s a good chance he’s still alive."

"That’s what I think too, although I don’t know what race my mom is, I believe my dad is definitely still alive," Amber lifted her head and said with a firm expression, "Since the shadow seal ring is a treasure of the Gondor Empire, then my dad must be a very formidable elf, right? Moreover, he left me another ring... It must have been left for a future opportunity to reunite!"

Gawain looked at Amber, who had a complex expression, and smiled slightly: "Of course, that’s the most logical deduction."

"But after all these years... I only found a ring... which I got from a person who has already died... The King’s secret treasure, whom should I go to inquire about its origin?"

Gawain was silent for a few seconds, then slowly raised his head and softly said, "Seize the royal capital; then you’ll definitely find someone to inquire."

"Oh..." Amber murmured, but half a second later, she reacted, exclaiming, "What?!"

"War has begun," Gawain sighed lightly, "whether we like it or not, it has already commenced."

The Shadow Testing Grounds’ rock cave fell into silence, only Clement’s low, indistinct mutterings and Tiel’s tentacles occasionally stirring the water pool broke the silence. After a long pause, Soldrin looked into Gawain’s eyes and said, "Behind this war, there’s a cloud larger than the war itself; those evil cult followers of the Oblivion Association are anticipating this civil war—you know that."

"Of course, I know," Gawain nodded slightly, "but this war is unavoidable. The hidden dangers of the Second Dynasty were sown the day the Duke of the North supported an illegitimate child to ascend, and the peaceful state maintained through the Moen Royal Family’s repeated compromises and the mutual balance between the Dukes over the years is, in other words, just as long as the royal family members don’t plan to compromise, and the Dukes do not intend to maintain balance, this peaceful state will immediately lose its foundation... This pent-up force of centuries is immensely powerful, and neither you nor I can stop it."

Soldrin sighed, acknowledging that Gawain’s words were the undeniable truth.

Gawain did not continue to speak but silently pondered Clement’s statements in his mind.

The Oblivion Association eagerly anticipated this war because it would provide them with valuable "raw materials" for some "enterprise" of theirs.

Gawain was unable to ask what exactly that "enterprise" was, but through indirect questioning and after a period of investigation into the Oblivion Association, coupled with his exceptional understanding beyond others of the truths behind the Gods’ downfall and the evolution of Druid beliefs, he could roughly infer what those cultists wanted to do and what "raw materials" they might require.

After that, Gawain inquired about many things from Clement, and during this process, confirmed his high-rank bishop-level status within the entire Oblivion Association, collecting vast amounts of intelligence related to the Oblivion Association.

The interrogation lasted nearly an entire night.

Finally, Tiel concluded her "control" over Clement.

As her tentacles withdrew from the cultist’s body, his flesh and blood started uncontrollably breaking down and decomposing; he collapsed like a wax figure melting, leaving only a pile of garments soaked with viscous substances and a few fragile, porous bones.

This person, who killed Francis II and lit the first flame of the Anzu Civil War, died miserably.

"It’s quite disgusting indeed," Tiel glanced at the water pool’s edge, sticking out her tongue in distaste, "just like a deep-sea slime creature..."

"You better retract those tentacles of yours," Gawain said with a frown at the sea demon, "To be honest, your form is no less shock-inducing to ordinary people than a deep-sea slime creature."

(Taking the opportunity on my birthday to announce some news, which many might already know... my wife is pregnant! Three months along now! I’m going to have a little one next year!

However, my wife’s post-pregnancy reactions are severe, and her health is currently poor; I have to take care of the household, so my energy may not keep up, affecting updates. I’m working to adjust my schedule and writing habits to ensure there are no hiatuses, but if updates change from dual to single, I hope everyone can understand... Currently, I’m taking care of the entire household alone, and it’s overwhelming.

Finally, happy birthday to me =. = Hope my wife gets well soon.)