Gawain gazed at the horizon for a long time, and during the initial minutes, the immense cognitive dissonance made it difficult for him to discern what he was actually seeing. Whatever it was, it was far from what he understood to be the sun.
The broad and magnificent arc continued to rise, moving much faster than the sun in its initial ascent. Before long, Gawain was able to see a portion of the arc clearly; it was indeed glowing, with edges that shimmered with a hazy color and an indistinct, cloud-like structure. This world's light and heat must be provided by this entity.
Yet its brilliance was not blinding like the sun; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Gawain could not only gaze directly at the arc but could also make out some intricate patterns upon its surface.
After roughly assessing the curvature of this entity, Gawain realized that it had a visual diameter dozens or even hundreds of times larger than the sun. Of course, its actual size must be smaller than that of a typical star; it was simply too close to the ground.
At this distance, once it fully rose, it might obscure about one-fifth of the sky…
Of course, this was just a rough estimate based on his sensory perception. The overwhelming impact of witnessing such a colossal celestial body rise before him made it difficult to arrive at an accurate judgment.
Quickly sifting through the memories of Gawain Cecil, he indeed found countless similar awe-inspiring "sunrises." The object in the sky was not an anomalous phenomenon but rather a perfectly normal spectacle of this world.
So what could explain this?
Drawing upon his knowledge, Gawain formulated several interpretations: perhaps the physical laws of this world differed drastically from those of his homeland. As a result, the efficiency of the light and heat emitted by the stars was significantly lower, and this planet was located exceedingly close to its star.
This could explain why such a gigantic sun was visible without scorching the earth below. It was also possible that it was not a sun at all but rather a luminous opening radiating heat and light, or something else entirely unscientific yet magical…
However, it was even more likely that this planet did not orbit a sun but instead revolved around a gaseous giant planet. Thus, it was not a planet but a moon, and what was rising in the sky was… the parent planet of this moon.
At this moment, Gawain felt the sensation of being in a "foreign land" more intensely than ever before.
"Ancestor? Ancestor?" Hetty's voice called from beside him, finally breaking Gawain out of his stupor and contemplation.
"Ah… what?" Gawain blinked in confusion, looking at his multiple-great-granddaughter beside him.
The beautiful noblewoman had left the dim, cramped, and perilous underground tunnel, and she was beginning to regain some of her former poise. She slightly inclined her body to Gawain. "Ancestor, you were just daydreaming, but we need to leave this place now."
Gawain stammered a vague response, only then noticing that the tunnel's exit led to an open hillside. Standing here, with the surrounding situation still unclear, was undoubtedly unwise.
He nodded. "Let's head higher up to see and confirm the situation nearby. My knowledge of the terrain is from seven hundred years ago, and it might not hold true today."
Gawain continued to gaze at the horizon, and for the first few minutes, the immense cognitive conflict prevented him from identifying what he was actually seeing. Whatever it was, it was far from the sun he knew.
The broad and majestic arc kept rising, moving much faster than the sun during its ascent. Before long, Gawain caught sight of a portion of its arc. It was indeed emitting light, with edges that shimmered in a hazy spectrum and a structure that resembled mist. This world's light and warmth must come from this object.
Yet, its brilliance wasn't blinding like the sun; on the contrary, Gawain could look directly at it and even discern some subtle patterns on its surface.
After roughly assessing the arc's curvature, Gawain realized that it appeared to have a visual diameter dozens or even hundreds of times larger than the sun. Of course, its actual size must be smaller than that of a typical star; it was just too close to the earth.
At this distance, once it fully rose, it could potentially obscure about one-fifth of the sky…
This was merely a rough estimate based on his sensory perception, but the overwhelming impact of witnessing such a colossal celestial body rise before him made it challenging to arrive at an accurate judgment.
Quickly scanning through the memories of Gawain Cecil, he indeed found countless similar awe-inspiring "sunrises." The object in the sky was not an anomalous phenomenon but a perfectly normal spectacle of this world.
So what could explain this?
Drawing upon his knowledge, Gawain formulated several interpretations: perhaps the physical laws of this world differed drastically from those of his homeland. As a result, the efficiency of the light and heat emitted by the stars was significantly lower, and this planet was located exceedingly close to its star.
This could explain why such a gigantic sun was visible without scorching the earth below. It was also possible that it was not a sun at all but rather a luminous opening radiating heat and light, or something else entirely unscientific yet magical…
However, it was even more likely that this planet did not orbit a sun but instead revolved around a gaseous giant planet. Thus, it was not a planet but a moon, and what was rising in the sky was… the parent planet of this moon.
At this moment, Gawain felt the sensation of being in a "foreign land" more intensely than ever before.
"Ancestor? Ancestor?" Hetty's voice called from beside him, finally breaking Gawain out of his stupor and contemplation.
"Ah… what?" Gawain blinked in confusion, looking at his multiple-great-granddaughter beside him.
The beautiful noblewoman had left the dim, cramped, and perilous underground tunnel, and she was beginning to regain some of her former poise. She slightly inclined her body to Gawain. "Ancestor, you were just daydreaming, but we need to leave this place now."
Gawain stammered a vague response, only then noticing that the tunnel's exit led to an open hillside. Standing here, with the surrounding situation still unclear, was undoubtedly unwise.
He nodded. "Let's head higher up to see and confirm the situation nearby. My knowledge of the terrain is from seven hundred years ago, and it might not hold true today."
So, the group moved toward the nearby hill under Gawain's guidance. Along the way, he couldn't help but glance at the giant "sun" several times.
"Ancestor, are you still looking at the sun?" Rebecca, walking behind him, asked with a hint of concern. "Is there something wrong?"
Amber chimed in casually, "Well, your ancestor hasn't seen the sun in seven hundred years, so of course, he's going to take a good look at it."
Gawain ignored Amber and glanced at Rebecca, shaking his head slightly. In his heart, he confirmed that the locals referred to that entity in the sky as the sun, after all.
Or rather, regardless of how that word was pronounced, what it represented in this world was undoubtedly the sun, with nothing else to compare.
Gawain once again sifted through the memories of the original owner of this body. After several attempts with various keywords and vague information, he finally lifted his head, gazing at the still somewhat dim sky on the other side.
In that sky, which had yet to fully brighten and still retained some stars, he spotted a speck about the size of a grain of rice, shining brighter than all the stars.
The people of this world referred to that special star as "Ao" and attributed much symbolic significance to it in both religious and magical rituals.
Perhaps the previous two guesses could be dismissed, and only the third one was plausible.
"Ao" was the star of this solar system, distant beyond belief, its light spilling onto the ground beneath Gawain, almost as cold as the other starlight.
As the cool morning breeze brushed against him, Gawain climbed to the top of the hill.
Before him lay a land ravaged by war, appearing in a state of eerie decay.
It looked as if acid had been poured onto the flesh of the earth, the ground grotesquely rotting. Large swathes of rock and soil had turned a grimy black, with cracks spreading in every direction. The vegetation on the land had long since decayed, leaving behind twisted tree trunks that resembled demonic claws. Further in the distance, one could see collapsed walls, charred houses, and the Cecil family's ancient castle shrouded in smoke and dust.
It was as if giant aberrant creatures roamed the wasteland.
The fields and crops had long since been obliterated in the magical tide stirred up by the monsters, leaving no trace behind.
"The family's territory…" Rebecca knelt on the hillside, gritting her teeth, her eyes reddening. Tears of either anger or sorrow swirled in her eyes, as the girl who had just inherited her legacy and hadn't yet adapted to her role as a lord seemed to lose everything at that moment.
"This is what happens to land tainted by the magical tide…" Gawain sighed. "When the Gandor Empire rotted from within and became like this, I suspect that even today, those corruptions still linger in the ruins of the old empire, and now new corruptions have appeared in the realm of civilization."
Amber broke into a cold sweat. "By the gods of shadow… we've been surrounded by these things all along?"
Hetty pondered the possibility of the family's recovery. "Is there any hope?"
"No hope…" Gawain shook his head. "You didn't stop the assault from the aberrations; they have formed a collective resonance, and the elemental contamination caused by the magical tide is irreversible. Even if all the monsters were eradicated, the pollution that has taken hold of this land will persist for a considerable time."
"How long will it last?" Hetty appeared to still cling to hope.
"Has human civilization returned to the lands of the Gandor Empire?" Gawain posed a seemingly unrelated question.
"Those lands remain a forbidden zone for life; the territory beyond the great barrier is one no one dares to enter."
Gawain shrugged. "Then it seems the corruption of the Cecil territory will last at least seven hundred years."
Rebecca and Hetty looked at their ancestor with surprise, unable to comprehend why this legendary founder of the Cecil family could remain so calm when faced with the devastation of the family's last territory by monsters. There was neither anger nor sadness on his face; he seemed to regard it as something that had no relation to him. This attitude even instilled a sense of fear in them.
But Gawain soon noticed the expressions on the faces of the two women and took the initiative to ask, "Is there a problem?"
"Ancestor, don't you… feel angry?" Rebecca asked cautiously. "This is the last territory of the Cecil family…"
Gawain was momentarily taken aback, quickly realizing that he hadn't fully stepped into his character, revealing a crack in his façade. He promptly put on a serious expression, summoning all his acting skills. "Dwelling on these matters is of no use. Gawain Cecil is a pioneer. Every inch of land and wealth belonging to this family was built from the ground up by me. If the territory is gone, it's gone; we can always find a new place to pioneer. Why sulk over it?"
Hetty and Rebecca hurriedly nodded in agreement, feeling a deep admiration for their ancestor. They thought to themselves how worthy he was of being a legendary figure, and while his vision and mindset were indeed exceptional, they couldn't help but wonder where he intended to pioneer in an age where all land had already been divided among the existing noble system, with unclaimed lands mostly being off-limits…
"There's nothing more to see here; we need to plan our next steps. First, we must find a town, then figure out how to reunite with the group that broke through earlier…"
Taking advantage of the lingering effect of his bravado, Gawain quickly changed the subject. "I remember a knight named Philip led the way, right? Have you decided on a rendezvous point?"
Rebecca replied promptly, "We agreed on Tansan Town in the north. If Tansan has also been attacked by the monsters, we'll continue north along the Royal Highway."
Gawain nodded, about to leave when an odd sensation suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
After a moment of hesitation, he and Knight Byron shouted in unison, "Get down! Hide!"
Although they didn't understand the reason, Rebecca and Hetty immediately followed Byron, taking cover beneath a nearby boulder. Amber, quick as a flash, had already slipped into the shadows and vanished into some hidden corner the moment Gawain spoke.
Gawain darted behind Rebecca for cover but suddenly noticed that the seemingly dazed little maid, Betty, was still standing there, bewildered, clutching her frying pan.
Without thinking, he rushed out and pulled her back just as a sense of dread descended upon everyone—a heavy pressure that made their hearts tremble.
Amid the rising glow of the "giant sun," an elegant and massive creature slowly flew across the sky.
It was a dragon, measuring several dozen meters in length.
In a state of panic, Hetty instinctively cast a third-tier spell, "Bend Light Field," concealing the forms of everyone present. However, she wasn't confident that this basic spell could fool the eyes of a legendary creature.
Yet the dragon seemed oblivious to the people below, or perhaps it simply did not deign to pay them any attention.
It slowly flapped its wings, soaring gracefully and majestically across the sky, its enormous eyes reflecting the land of the Cecil territory ravaged by the magical tide.
Then, it unleashed a breath of saltwater… oh, a searing breath that incinerated the ground below.