Sword of Dawnbreaker

”This is... Camp Forty-Four...”

”Report your situation, Obliteration Camp Ten needs more Magic Power...”

”There’s no more Magic Power... Camp Forty-Four was directly hit and has been destroyed. Nearby camps that I can see are also... All of our people are dead.”

The voice on the other side of the crystal was silent for two seconds before it sounded again: ”Received, we will redirect the Magic Power flow to the remaining camps, you can... retreat.”

”...Received.”

The crystal flickered a few times, its severely damaged internal magic symbols began to heat up, causing the surface to quickly fill with cracks. Before it completely shattered, one last faint voice was transmitted: ”Thank you for your fight, soldier...”

The crystal split with a crisp sound, and the combat Mage casually tossed aside the remnants of the now useless crystal. He used his last bit of strength to turn himself over; his remaining upper body leaned against a piece of ruins that no longer resembled its original form like a tattered sack.

”You’re welcome...”

He looked up at the sky, his rapidly dimming eyes reflected the night sky and brilliant starlight. In the backdrop of the sky, the Cecil Clan’s battle machines and fully armed Dragon Herd were flying toward the direction of the Winterhold Fortress Group.

And behind Camp Forty-Four, across the wilderness leading to the fortress group, hollow iron giants continued to march forward, flames streaming wherever they passed.

...

”Camp Forty-Four is gone, the last interception barrier we set up in front of the fortress group was destroyed three minutes ago,” a high-ranked Battle Mage said heavily to Palin Winterhold, ”Thus, our frontline defense power is less than thirty percent. We have only the walls, barriers, and mage towers of the fortress group left.”

”Their sacrifice has bought us valuable time and Magic Power, the Annihilation Seed can be fired once more, bringing us closer to the final victory,” Count Winterhold said solemnly as he glanced at the magical illusion not far away—the Eye of the Mage, set high in the sky, gazed from afar at the Winterhold line. In the mountains where the fortress group was located, more than half of those beams connecting heaven and earth had extinguished, and the magical network flowing on the ground had become riddled with scars, filled with sights shocking to behold.

The transcendent nodes set up near the defense line for maintaining Magic Power supply suffered heavy losses, and many of the camps inside the fortress group had also been extinguished... Therefore, even though the entire defense line was on the verge of collapse, this vast magical network had not completely shattered.

This might be the only ”good” thing that has happened since the outbreak of battle here...

Palin Winterhold shook his head, took a deep breath, and tightly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was only unwavering determination remaining in his gaze.

...

In the Hall of Mysteries, the illusory, hazy starlight had completely infiltrated the original walls, floor, and ceiling. The entire hall seemed like a glass room placed among the stars of the universe. An eerie eye, outlined by disordered lines, floated in the center of this ”Star Sea,” watching the image projected by the magical projection not far away with its hollow ”pupil.”

In that magical projection, the battlefield scenes caught by the surviving Eyes of the Mage continually flashed by, as well as the image of the iron giants striding forward, or the Cecil Legion advancing from both the sky and the ground.

”...Truly breathtaking... I never imagined that during my slumber, you would develop this far... I thought after the Inversion Tide was destroyed by the Dragonkin, I would never again see mortals so brave, yet here you ’remnants’ rising from the ruins could achieve this. Unbelievable, truly unbelievable... you mortals are far more resilient than I imagined.”

”Mortals are easily knocked down but always manage to get back up. Our history has continued in this way,” said Emperor Rosetta Augustus standing in the ”starry sky” façade with a calm tone. Then he glanced at the iron giant in the magical projection and subtly shifted the topic, ”Now, we can cause enough damage to Her.”