Chapter 171 - Legend of the Sea of Eternal Darkness (1/2)

Regardless, a trip to the Kant territory had to be made, and Gawain was going to do so personally.

The system of the Anzu Kingdom was lax; the royal court’s defense of the remote border areas was low, just like its dominance. Moreover, the south had been peaceful for a long time. Even the military clan with the strongest combat ability would slowly wane in such an environment. Hence, Gawain who was settled in the extreme southern region could almost never count on support from any third party (such an environment was probably one of the reasons why the heretic cult believers were able to wantonly corrode this region), and the lack of support was only one of the factors in Gawain’s decision to go forth personally. The other reason was because he had seen one thing in that ‘dream realm’.

He’d mentioned to Heidi and Pittman that the Eternal Sleepers had left behind a heretic item in the Kant castle, but he did not explain what it was. Yet in reality, he had already seen that item and identified it.

That item was located before the magnificent stone coffin in the center of the underground hall. It was placed on a small altar like a ‘sacred object’ being worshiped. It was an exquisite magic lantern, and more than 700 years ago, Gawain Cecil had given it as a gift to Selena Gerfen, who served as the accompanying Cleric in the pioneering team back then.

That was once a gentle and quiet lady: a priestess of the God of Dreams deeply trusted by the pioneers and who’d used dreams to heal the traumas of countless soldiers in an era of darkness and fear. Her devout belief and outstanding contributions made her the Dream Bishop of the northern pioneers before she was thirty years old. If fate hadn’t played that terrible joke, she could’ve even been one of the candidates for Pope of the Church of Dreams and could’ve become a famed pioneer hero like Gawain Cecil.

However, for that mysterious ritual which was an attempt to communicate with the gods, she headed to the Ancestral Peak with the Pope of the Church of Dreams then. No one knew what exactly happened at the ritual or the meeting held after it. Gawain only knew that after that fateful day, several sects including some Druid sects, the Church of Dreams, and the Church of God of Storms became the enemies of human society.

With no publicly announced break, no debates about religion and the royal court, the few sects rushed out of the Ancestral Peak’s conference hall like they’d gone mad at the same time. Following that, their believers scattered everywhere on the continent and also simultaneously left their respective churches and meeting places as if they’d received some order to do so. A certain huge spiritual net seemed to envelop the members of every dark sect from that day onwards. In a mere few days, the big sects degenerated successively and completely disappeared from the eyes of the world.

As the entire Ancestral Peak had then been sealed by the armed priests of the Church of Holy Light and the Sect of the God of War, no one knew the actual events of that day. The spokespeople of the major gods’ subsequent explanation was that ‘a few of the extreme churches were unable to accept the conditions of peaceful coexistence with other beliefs and, as such, chose to go rogue’. However, in the hearts of Gawain Cecil and the future Gawain, he was always doubtful of this explanation.

As for Selena Gerfen, she too never appeared again after that day. The gentle priestess who used dreams to soothe the pain of soldiers and was trusted by them had vanished. She could have rushed into the Gondor Wasteland like a small group of the fallen Druids did or possibly become some existence that was even darker and more twisted. Gawain was unaware of the ultimate outcome of that old friend. He only knew that today, 700 years later, one of Selena Gerfen’s belongings appeared here, placed in the old castle of the Kant Clan as the core of a certain heretic sacrificial ceremony.

He believed it was necessary for him to retrieve that item. It could perhaps aid him in figuring out what exactly happened at the Ancestral Peak 700 years ago or, at the least, understand what changes happened when that batch of priests degenerated into heretic cult believers.

The evil force that was growing and transforming in the Kant Clan’s old castle had yet to enter a flourishing stare. According to the progress he had sensed in the dream realm, Gawain could prepare slowly and arrange an opportunity for himself where he could enter that castle, yet it would not have Viscount Victor Kant on his guard and be suspicious of him. ——He did not plan on charging in, armed to the teeth, but to find a chance to stop it before the matter blew up.

A Duke paying a visit to a Viscount was very troublesome and conspicuous, but it wouldn’t be that complicated if it was a Duke who only had a title and was essentially only a feudal lord going to visit his ‘neighbor’. Gawain knew that a big portion of grains and herbs from the Kant territory would be transported to Tanzan Town and then purchased by the Cecil territory. Moreover, the Cecil territory had also bought a batch of slaves recently (they were normal slaves sold by slave traders). This meant that the two territories actually had considerable trade flow between them. This was a reason to pay a visit.

He prepared a narrative and told Heidi to handle it. “Send a messenger over. Just say that I’d be visiting to discuss the issue of purchasing rations and herbs next year. —— The Cecil territory will purchase supplies in bulk, and it is a great waste of time, on top of higher prices, when these things switch hands at Tanzan Town. We can build a new trade route between the Cecil territory and Kant territory since we’re preparing to open up the northern bank of the White River anyway. This issue is deserving of me going to talk to him.

Heidi nodded. “I understand.”

After he’d settled this matter, Gawain rubbed the space between his brows and set his attention on another matter.

“Have the two of you heard of the ‘Sea of Eternal Darkness’ before?”

Heidi and Pittman instantly faltered and looked at each other.