Chapter 85 - The Great Barrier (2/2)

“Don’t put your hopes on that. Although their numbers would not increase, it has exceeded the critical point of natural extinction. Counting on these close-to-a-thousand monsters remaining in the mountains forever and be our neighbors? Dream on.” Gawain frowned. “We have to find a way to get rid of them…”

Amber silently glanced at Gawain. “Then I have a plan…”

Gawain was slightly surprised. “You have a plan?”

“It goes like this. I will first sneak over and finish off one. Then you, the legendary knight, will leap in like a god descending on the mortal world. At the end of the battle, you would have gotten rid of the remaining nine hundred and ninety-something of them. Then this gorgeous great-granddaughter of yours will set off some arcane magic fireworks to add to the fun. And when we’ve returned, we will claim that these one thousand monsters have been defeated with the joint effort of both of us. You can then continue to be the Lord that you are and farm with peace of mind, while I’ll go brag in the taverns… Hey! Don’t go. I’m not done…”

Gawain knew midway through her speech that she’d actually fallen into the state of feeling severely nervous with her careless analysis. Hence, he did not even pay attention to the remaining half. Instead, he lifted his head and focused on the surrounding terrain. At this point, he finally found a route that could bypass those monsters. Thus, he tugged on Heidi’s magic robe and then cautiously started on the detour.

Amber was stumped for a moment. Ending her mindless analysis, she obediently disappeared into the shadows and followed Gawain’s steps.

The trio skirted around the route of those slow-moving aberrations and found a trail between the rocks. Moving along the direction where that decayed path pointed to, they trudged closer to the gap in the mountains of the Dark Range and finally found a highland that was enough for their line of sight to go beyond the rocks and look out to the northern side of the Dark Range.

Gawain climbed up the rocks and gazed into the distance.

That side of the mountains… That was close, it reminded him of The Smurfs by accident.

There wasn’t a group of adorable smurfs on that side of the mountain. There were only the ruins of civilization, only the wreckage of world order, only the Gondor wastelands shrouded in chaos and darkness.

Despite the actual Gondor wastelands being somewhere even farther, the aura of that polluted ground was being presented in the skies on the far side of the Dark Range. After crossing a certain boundary, the skies on that side exhibited a state of dimness and chaos like an eternal sunset. Swarms of foul, dense clouds hung from the skyline, creating an oppressive sensation, as if it was about to swallow the world. And under the cast of such a peculiar sky, the world displayed a strange bearing, like a twisted otherworld.

Starting from the plains by the southern foot of the Dark Range, a boundless dark forest covered the entire mountain and a small half of the banded flatlands. Though he was very far away, Gawain could still spot — in that warped forest known as the ‘Black Forest’ — many mutated giantwood that grew right up into the horizon, slowly swaying and spreading toxic feeler-like branches towards the sky. Whereas at the banded flatlands even farther out, there was dense mist rising up. The mist constantly displayed the past city, forts, palaces, and similar figments. Looking past those visions, one would be able to see an aurora-like barrier.

That aurora-like barrier seemed to be the only thing in sight that could put people at ease and was also pleasant to the eyes. From this distance, it looked like a hazy shimmering ribbon, but in reality, it was extremely tall and grand. That layer of ‘glimmer’ connected to the sky and ground; though it looked to be a sheet of weak fluorescence, it was even thicker and sturdier than mountains. And at the base of that fluorescent screen, a neatly arranged row of towers could be seen.

The fluorescent screen was sustained by the powerful energy released from those towers.

That screen was the Great Barrier, and the towers beneath the fluorescent screen were the sentinel towers. This setup sealed up the entire Gondor wastelands and prevented the deaths of all living creatures on the whole continent.

Everyone knew that this barrier was built by the elves’ Silver Empire, but in reality, it had been so utterly beyond imagination, such that the skills and resources required to build it had exceeded the limit that any intelligent species could shoulder alone. Even the powerful and prosperous elvish Silver Empire was unable to independently undertake it. In actual fact, the elves back then had taken the lead to provide half of the resources and all of the skills, and then all the other forces on the continent — including the Dwarf Kingdom and the survivors of Gondor — jointly took responsibility for the other half of goods and materials before they managed to build this barrier.

That was truly a heart-stirring era.

…But also an era where terror enveloped the continent, and no one could sleep peacefully.

Amber’s head swung here and there under Gawain’s shoulder. She looked nervously at the polluted grounds on the northern side yet marveled at the barrier that was even farther out.

Even with the obstruction of the Great Barrier, the aura of the Dark Wave had still polluted a considerably vast area outside of it. But compared to the inside of the barrier, even the Black Forest was a total paradise.

Gawain shifted his gaze away from the fluorescent screen. He exhaled lightly. “The barrier is still there.”