Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 763: Section 519: Scenery of Light (Part 2)

Chapter 763: Section 519: Scenery of Light (Part 2)

Old Francis waited until three in the afternoon, but he did not get to see Master Malin; instead, emergency team members arrived.

With their explanation, Old Francis figured out everything that had happened in the town—Chaos, corruption, his Apprentice Roben had ultimately not escaped the twisted fate of mutation.

Fate once again snatched away the person he cherished most from before Old Francis.

Old Francis was heartbroken, but what pained him even more was that Master Malin and his mechanical body had stayed there. Could he defeat Roben, could he purify it, could he come back alive?

Old Francis didn’t know. He promptly contacted Todd Spencer, who was powerless—he wasn’t adept at opening teleportation passages, so the two of them sought Raglov Dender, a Mage who immediately began preparing the coordinates to open a portal to a Mage Tower owned by a lesser mage near the town, but the teleport failed.

Raglov and Todd surmised that it was likely spatial interference—in other words, something big had happened in the southern town.

Thus, Raglov immediately reported this situation to the Mage Tower. Old Francis returned to the Church and once again inquired with the emergency team commander, but the young man couldn’t give a clear explanation either. In the end, Old Francis could only hope that Master Malin could leave that dreadful land.

Yet, one after another, bad news came. Several villages in the southern area had been attacked. The warrior mages who ventured out during the blizzard confirmed that at least six human settlements had been set ablaze, all near the incident area.

This confirmed the presence of Chaos warbands—it was the only explanation for the simultaneous attacks on those settlements.

The Mage Tower had begun to mobilize and Mage messengers were dispatched further south to various nations. Under their alliances, they all were obliged to offer aid when a Chaos warband appeared. Royal couriers would head to the eastern and western provinces to muster troops—Chaos invasions were no trifling matter, and the royal family must immediately convene an army, lest the Chaos warbands launch a surprise attack on The Capital.

Before long, a messenger from the region of Carterburg approached Copenhagen, "Could there be trouble for Master Malin!?"

The visitor was Bishop Colin, the deputy of Carterburg and a devout follower of the Church. In the face of this young man, Old Francis recounted everything he knew.

"...I trust my junior, he should be okay." This young man seemed to have great faith in his junior, bringing some comfort to Old Francis, but he was still afraid. He feared that such a young legend might perish and, if it were due to his own words, Old Francis felt that even death would not absolve him of his guilt.

"I must return now, two princes are awaiting my news. For now, I can only spin it positively. If Malin comes back, remember to have a messenger report his safety to me." Colin said this as he left.

In the end, Old Francis still asked why, "Shouldn’t we have immediately told Master Malin to leave the area?"

"My junior brother detests such injustices the most; he would likely choose to stay here until the Chaos warbands are driven away," said Bishop Colin before turning and stepping into the teleportation channel.

The left-behind Old Francis was somewhat puzzled, but ultimately marveled at this young man’s trust in Master Malin.

Indeed, how many of Master Malin’s achievements involved combating Chaos? He must do as Bishop Colin had said.

With this realization, Old Francis continued to wait.

After half an hour, a squad of warrior mages returning from a reconnaissance mission brought news—they had found at least three groups who had escaped from the town. The Yalong Knight brigade immediately began preparing supplies, but the warrior mage reconnaissance team indicated that only supplies for two groups were needed because in one of the groups they had recognized Malin Gaiate. He was riding on a Legendary Wild Boar Sprite named Majesty, leading the group toward Copenhagen. By their calculations, they would arrive by seven at the latest; they were the group who needed supplies the least, apparently Master Malin had enough supplies to sustain them.

Upon hearing this news, Old Francis’s first feeling was gratitude to the Mother Goddess, his second, was wondering just how big Master Malin’s Spatial Bag was.

...Nevermind, as long as he is safe, the size of the Spatial Bag is not for Old Francis to concern himself with.

.........

When Goethe rushed back to his palace, a messenger from the Northern Kingdom had already been waiting for a while. Upon seeing him, the young messenger paid his respects, "Respected His Majesty Goethe, it brings me great joy to see you safe and well, but I have adverse news for you. Today, a Chaos warband has appeared in the south of Copenhagen."

"I’m aware. As a part of the alliance, the Sydney Union will provide your country with weapons and various logistic supplies," responded Goethe. For the Sydney Union, still fighting Chaos, this support was quite generous.

The messenger was very satisfied and performed a gesture of thanks. As he was preparing to leave, out of curiosity, Goethe asked, "Malin Gaiate, where is my son-in-law?"

"I am not sure about that, perhaps you need to ask Old Francis from the Goddess of Harvest Church in Copenhagen," replied the young messenger.

Goethe nodded, gesturing for his butler to see the young man out.

After the young messenger departed, the King of Sydney turned to look at the side hall where his wife Anna stood, "This son-in-law of ours, he’s good at everything, but he truly has quite the knack for finding trouble wherever he goes. I’m almost too embarrassed to ask the messengers where he was when the incident happened."

Goethe smiled wryly while his wife, Anna, shook her head with a smile, "The child we saw in our eyes has grown up. He won’t be in trouble."

"Are you so confident, Anna?" Goethe asked curiously.

"Yes, I have always had confidence in this child," Anna replied, then turning to leave, "I’m going to take a bath. If not for this messenger’s arrival, I’d still be exploring the Dark Zone with Lena."

"Can’t you refrain from going to such dangerous places, my dear?" Goethe’s caring advice halted Anna for a moment. She turned to look at him, "Trust me, my dear."

Just like I trust the grand plan laid out by the mentor, and we are all but a cog in this grand machine, replaceable screws...even your own flesh and blood cannot be an exception, ah.

No wonder she left you... She indeed has a right to hold resentment against you, for you placed your child with her on that perilous scale.

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Passing through the door of the side hall, the guards opened the door for their Queen, and Anna entered the living room, where she glanced at the portrait on the wall that depicted three young women standing together.

"My sisters, if nothing unexpected occurs, our descendants shall live in a world without Chaos... I will do everything in my power to accomplish this, and for the day this comes true, I am willing to sacrifice everything... May the light of civilization endure forever."

.........

"My wife seems to be hiding something from me."

Goethe asked himself this question deep in his heart as he sat in his rightful place, until the sound of his wife’s footsteps finally faded away in the depth of the side hall’s corridor, accompanied by the sound of the door closing. The King sighed.

Why would she hide things from her own husband?

In silence, Goethe pondered and eventually rose from his seat, heading towards the other side hall. His guards opened the doors to the corridor for their King.

In the corridor, Goethe stopped in front of a painting.

It was a portrait of his children, all youthful and full of hopeful wishes for each other’s tomorrows.

With a sigh, Goethe eventually walked to the end of the hallway.

In his youth, he and his companions had sworn to put an absolute end to Chaos’s invasion in their generation.

But they had failed their children; they hadn’t ended it all, and the invasion of Chaos was approaching.

As he walked, he looked at the portraits of generation after generation of his ancestors, until, at last, he stopped before his father’s portrait.

"Father, just as you told me, I too have let my children down. We haven’t stopped the invasion of Chaos. Time and again, it comes unbidden. When will it all end? Can we ever defeat Chaos and drive it completely out of our world?" he reached out, touching the painted image of his father, then resumed walking, his fingertips trailing along the wall until he reached his own place.

"My children, perhaps there will come a day when you will stand here asking me the same question... I’m sorry, my children." He sighed and continued on his way.

I’m sorry, children, your father... really is a useless fellow.

.........

As night fell and the blizzard grew stronger, Malin had no choice but to let Eleven carry a torch fueled by holy flames at the forefront, while he and Mayor Sudel of the town brought up the rear, occasionally strapping completely immobile townspeople to the chairs on either side of Two.

The carrier was overloaded with difficulties, and even Two struggled under the weight, but thankfully, Malin’s spell formation had strengthened it enough to keep it from falling over.

"I believe we are nearly there."

"Cousin, you say that again." The mayor had said this more than once, only to be ruthlessly mocked by his cousin Rhodes each time.

But this time, as the young man struggled forward, encouraging himself, a cheer came from the front.

Then, a message was passed back – the people at the forefront had seen the city not far away.

With that, even the weariest of travelers found new strength. As they arrived at the city gates, Malin stood at the very front, holding the torch. Just as he was pondering how to state his case, he heard the voice of old Francis from atop the city walls.

"It is Sir Malin! Open the gates quickly!"

As the city walls parted, Malin organized the townsfolk to pass slowly through the gate into a specially designated inspection point. Here, everyone would be isolated and subjected to tests against Chaos. After passing the tests, new arrivals would still have to live at the inspection point for at least a week before being truly allowed into the city.

The conditions were strict, but everyone accepted them, and Malin certainly understood why – those who wouldn’t accept these measures would have been wiped out by the Chaos onslaught long ago.

These days, nature’s selection was particularly brutal.

"Sir Malin, welcome back. It is truly good to see you," old Francis ran over and shook Malin’s hand.

"Lord Francis, by doing this, you’ll also have to live in the quarantine area for a week."

"It’s better than doing nothing. I am skilled in healing spells, able to help the townspeople, and besides, my presence can assist you with any emergencies," said the old Bishop, looking towards the townspeople: "I can only imagine what a miracle it would be for even half of these people to have made it here alive, if not for you."

"But here they all are, Lord Francis. We did it, didn’t we," Malin said while surveying the surroundings. "I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend your meeting tonight."

"It’s alright; our meeting can’t be held anyway. The Svenson family’s two young ones have already returned to their posts, and several of us have done the same. Perhaps only after this invasion ends will we have that chance again, and it’s going to be a long wait. You should go back to Carterburg."

"Why, I should stay," Malin chuckled and shook his head in response to Lord Francis’s persuasion. "I should stay and face the invasion with all of you."

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