Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 412 - 411: The Day History Marches Forward

The attackers in the night have finally retreated. After the two most powerful Church Knights and several leading mages, knights, and priests fell, the remaining few escaped in a panic into the deep darkness under the cover of night, leaving behind a dozen corpses and a chaotic mess, ultimately gaining nothing.

A Cecil Clan warrior suffered quite a severe injury. During close combat with a knight, his Forcefield Shield was shattered, and then a nearly bone-deep wound was opened below his chest. However, after several bottles of alchemical potions were poured in, the warrior’s injuries have stabilized.

Aside from this, there were no other deaths or injuries on the Cecil side.

The soldiers who ended the battle began to inspect the battlefield, organize equipment, and confirm the situation with the enemy, but not a single one approached the empty area near the well.

Wright stood quietly in this empty space, a layer of clear and bright Holy Light still enveloping him like armor and a cloak made of light, covering him completely. The Holy Light illuminated the surroundings and shone on the sky. In this ground covered by Holy Light, Emily had already closed her eyes.

Those bright eyes would never open again.

"Do you believe in Holy Light or the God of Holy Light?"

The words the leader asked Wright before departure surfaced in his mind, words that have lingered in his head for many days, the sense of contradiction from these words causing him to remain awake night after night. He could not understand, could not comprehend why he had to choose between Holy Light and the God of Holy Light, but now he understood.

In the midst of anger and great disappointment in the God of Holy Light, he comprehended—a powerful beam in his mind, a thunderous explosion breaking free from a mental steel stamp, and in that moment of sudden realization, he abandoned the Lord he had worshipped for decades and embraced the true Holy Light.

But someone paid a price that should not have been paid.

A slight chill fell across his face as faint traces of rain descended from the sky, falling onto the land soaked with misfortune and sorrow. The summer rain that was delayed by a whole night finally arrived before dawn. In this gentle rain, Wright knelt beside Emily, placing his hand on the young girl’s forehead.

"...May the Holy Light protect the path ahead of you... not be confined by cold and darkness... May your soul find peace... free from hunger and hardship..."

Anzu 736, Fire Moon 22, early summer.

The first White Knight in human history was born in the wilderness of the southern borders.

Although at this moment, no one yet knows how to name this brand-new profession.

In Cecil, within the feudal lord’s mansion, Gawain met with Byron and Sir Philip, the two knights who had just returned from the front lines.

They drove tirelessly from the Hosman Prisoner of War Camp back to the territory, and along with them came over a thousand special captives taken from the Noble Coalition Army.

"Under your orders, we have escorted those nobles along with their knights, mage attendants, as well as the Holy Light clerics, Church Knights, transcendent mercenaries mingled within the coalition army ahead of time," Byron reported, "However, because we had to travel quickly, we only brought a portion—more than a thousand are still at the Hosman Prisoner of War Camp, and there are two hundred at the Tanzan POW Camp that haven’t been brought over."

"That’s enough. The main thing is bringing over those nobles and their followers. The others can wait," Gawain said casually. "Until we have finished integrating the entire southern borders, there is much more we can do."

"Leader, what are you planning to do with those nobles and their followers?" Sir Philip curiously asked, "Those people... They’ve been clamoring to meet with you since they got their fill, wanting to explain the... misunderstanding in this war."

"...Clamoring to meet with me for this purpose? Well, it’s good their brains haven’t become completely rigid, but they’re not much better for it either," Gawain waved his hand indifferently. "They can spare themselves the effort; they haven’t even figured out what this war truly means yet."

Upon hearing this, Byron sidled over to Sir Philip and whispered, "See, I told you, just keep those people locked up. Let them clamor if they want to, even better, lock them up with the big machines at the water plant and see who’s louder..."

Sir Philip ignored Byron altogether and continued to speak to Gawain, "We captured as many Church Knights and Holy Light clerics from the Noble Coalition Army as we could, but many escaped pursuit when entering the plains. Some are trapped within the Cecil control area, and are slowly being captured, but a significant number of Church Knights and clerics have fled to the northwest St. Lu An Cathedral... That area is outside our control zone."

Byron couldn’t help but mutter, "Take it down and it’s a control zone."

"Ahem." Gawain immediately coughed twice—although he wanted to say that Byron’s words were indeed in line with his thoughts, at the last moment he refrained from letting himself get too carried away because he was very aware that St. Lu An Cathedral and the city of Lu’an where it stands hold special significance not only within the Church of the Holy Light but also throughout the entire southern borders.

The headquarters of the Church of the Holy Light in the Southern Diocese is theoretically a "neutral ground."

Lu’an City is theoretically under the direct control of the royal family; there is no local leader, only a general affairs officer stationed by the royal family. However, this officer is basically a façade. The real control over Lu’an City lies with Saint Lu An Cathedral, with the Southern Archbishop and priest Clergy in the cathedral.

Of course, the Southern Diocese’s bishop is now gone, and most of the cathedral’s high-level knights and priests have died in this war. The strength of Saint Lu An Cathedral is not an issue for the Cecil Clan now, but what Gawain is considering is not the defensive power of Saint Lu An Cathedral.

He is considering whether to directly attack there and under what pretext.

This directly relates to the order of the southern borders and his influence over the vast number of believers in the Holy Light there.

There’s also a more realistic issue: after conquering Saint Lu An Cathedral, should he merely occupy Lu’an City or arrest all the Holy Light priests there, or even destroy the cathedral entirely? If it’s the former, he might not be able to completely expel the influence of the Church of the Holy Light over the southern borders. If it’s the latter, the social order may face significant upheaval, and the more devout believers of the Holy Light in his new territory might question the "righteousness" of the new leader.

After all, occupying the city and cathedral can still be considered a normal procedure of warfare, as Southern Border Archbishop Leimont brought twelve fully armed Church Knights and a high priest to "attack" Cecil Castle, which can be seen as an act of war. But if he further destroys the Holy Light faith system in the southern borders after occupying the city, the tens of thousands of Holy Light believers might question Gawain Cecil’s rule.

Gawain cannot simply erase the Holy Light faith from the minds of those tens of thousands of people. Given his current influence in the southern borders and the actual state of religious beliefs in this world, he cannot promote overly radical church reform plans.

Of course, he could consider using a more moderate approach, forcibly requiring all priests to accept Cecil laws after conquering Saint Lu An Cathedral and sever their connections with the Holy Plain’s Church of the Holy Light headquarters, and then gradually replace, purify, and transform the entire priest Clergy, but the effectiveness of this approach is uncertain and may have hidden risks...

Since he has begun to take over the southern borders, he must start thinking about these practical issues as their ruler.

Sir Philip and Byron noticed Gawain pondering and did not interrupt. They quietly waited by the side and then heard Gawain tapping the table with his fingers, seemingly muttering to himself: "Must there be a Church of the Holy Light then..."

Sir Philip couldn’t hear clearly: "What?"

"It’s nothing," Gawain shook his head, "We will solve the issue of Saint Lu An Cathedral, but for now we can let those priests and Church Knights continue to tremble inside the cathedral. Besides, there’s those aristocrats locked up in various prisoner of war camps... we’ll let them hang for a while, let them recognize the current situation, this will help them cooperate with Cecil’s laws in the future. And before dealing with the issue of Saint Lu An Cathedral and re-establishing order in the southern borders, we should handle something else first..."

Byron and Sir Philip spoke in unison: "Something else?"

"We must ensure that the southern borders become ’our southern borders,’" Gawain stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the giant map hanging on the wall, his gaze falling on the gateway at the northernmost end of the southern borders—Rock Fortress, "We can’t hand over the keys to our house to outsiders, can we?"

Sir Philip and Byron followed Gawain’s gaze and saw the fortress with special significance.

Sir Philip’s expression became serious, while Byron couldn’t resist whistling: "Whew—this is quite a target."

"It is indeed a remarkable target," Gawain nodded, "Rock Fortress and those weak stone fortresses in the southern borders are entirely different. Its entire city wall is enchanted, almost equivalent to having an extra magic shield covering the fortress at all times. Besides, the Rock Fortress is filled with elite soldiers—Count Pompeii is the theoretical owner of the fortress, but its garrison is trained and controlled directly by the royal family. A single Rock Fortress is more powerful than the seventy thousand unruly troops gathered by Count Hosman."

Byron chuckled: "After all, the fortress is meant to seal the entire southern borders."

"Therefore, we might need to fire many cannons to take this fortress down," Gawain smiled, "But no matter what, we must conquer it...and hold this gate in our own hands."

After this, how battles are waged on the Plains of the Holy Spirits doesn’t concern him much. He can calmly sort out the southern borders, like dealing with those Holy Light priests hiding in Saint Lu An Cathedral or the aristocratic prisoners still locked up.

"When do you plan to launch the attack?" Byron asked seriously, setting aside his usual playful demeanor, "We are currently at the peak of morale..."

"No rush," Gawain waved his hand, quietly looking at the map before him, "I’m waiting for news..."

"Waiting for news?"

"Waiting for a reason to attack Rock Fortress, waiting for the timing, waiting for new intelligence," Gawain said, "And perhaps these... will come soon."