Chapter 1259 — Trace of the Devil Everywhere

"Are you sure it's really all right to bring these two little ones along?" Gao Song pulled his gaze away from the two wyrmlings and could not help looking ahead at Metzen again. "They're still just children..."

"The deep-blue devil-mark reaction on them is an important clue, and also an enormous puzzle—if we don't get to the bottom of it, we'll only have longer-lasting worries," Metzen said without turning her head, her tone steady, clearly having thought this matter through carefully. "Of all the wyrmlings, Melly and Noray have the strongest devil-mark reactions. After Speaker Anqian and several ancient dragons who understand the deep-blue ley-lines examined their bodies, they all agreed that only by bringing them near the Tower of the Countercurrent Tide would it be possible to observe some telltale signs, and from there determine why they grow restless and turn toward the tower whenever their devil-marks change..."

At this point Metzen paused for a few seconds and let out a sigh. "Of course, there is a certain risk involved—but treating an illness carries risk too... That night, the devil-marks on the two little ones doubled in size. Who knows what other changes they'll undergo next? Rather than sit by in blank ignorance and wait for things to unfold, both Norleta and I agreed that we should... take a bit of a risk."

"...You two are their mothers, so of course this is your call," Gao Che mused for a moment before speaking slowly. "Do be careful. Who knows what that tower is really like right now..."

A low, drawn-out growl rumbled in Metzen's throat. Then, as if sensing something, she turned her gaze toward the distance—beneath the dim light of the sky, a single point of lamplight could faintly be seen toward the coastline. That was the watch post on the western coast. And straight ahead, over the vast expanse of the sea, a bright red orb suddenly shot up into the sky. With a bang, the orb burst apart, and a brilliant red glow stood out starkly in the night sky.

The two wyrmlings, who had been playing, were instantly drawn by the bursting orb in the sky. Cheering, they ran to their mother's shoulders, craning their necks and shrieking excitedly at the red radiance slowly descending toward the horizon.

"That's the waters where the Coldwinter is stationed," Gao Yang said, taking two steps forward. Gazing at the distant direction from which the signal flare had risen, a smile spread across his face. "Looks like Byron's right on time."

...

On the sea shrouded by the polar night, the Coldwinter and two comprehensive escort ships rose and fell gently with the waves. A biting cold wind blew in from afar; the foam on the sea's surface and the occasional fragments of floating ice in the distance glimmered a nearly deathly pale hue under the starlight. And farther out still, upon the sea, stood that towering, immense tower.

Even the well-trained Imperial Navy would feel their hearts shaken upon beholding that lofty tower; even an admiral who had weathered most of a lifetime of storms and hardship would instinctively hold his breath at the sight of it.

Byron stood on the Coldwinter's upper deck, gazing toward the tower through the night wind, watching that colossal structure draped in starlight loom over the sea like a giant standing between heaven and earth, cold and aloof. He could not help murmuring quietly to the red-haired lady beside him: "This thing's frightening no matter how many times you look at it... Before we came, I'd imagined what this legendary tower might look like, that His Majesty would be on such guard against it, and now I know my imagination wasn't nearly up to the task at all..."

Asharena stood beside Byron. She had clearly been thoroughly shaken by the sight of the giant tower as well, and when she spoke now she instinctively kept her voice low: "I heard His Majesty Bayang'er mention that this tower isn't even the largest 'legacy' left behind by the Pioneers. On the surface of this planet alone, there are two ancient structures even more massive than it..."

Byron did not know what to say for a moment; after a long pause he managed to squeeze out: "...Our human vision was once far too narrow."

Asharena could not help glancing at him. "It's truly rare to hear something with that much depth of thought come out of your mouth."

"...I suspect you're mocking me, but I have no proof," Byron said offhandedly, one corner of his mouth twitching. Then he frowned slightly, his gaze settling on the dragon-marked witch beside him. "But then again... even though you received orders from home to come along with us to Tarrhond to learn about the Tower of the Countercurrent Tide incident, your superiors never told you to personally follow us all the way out to a 'frontline' like this, did they? Isn't that a bit risky?"

Asharena gave Byron a look that was half smile, half something else, one eyebrow lifting slightly. "You're worrying about the personal safety of a dragon who can fight ten times better than you? You'd be better off using that energy to worry about your own health—you're not the young lad you once were."

Byron shrugged, as if about to say something more, when a bright red signal flare suddenly shot up into the sky from the direction of the foredeck. The wide burst of light from its explosion cut short whatever he had been about to do next.

Byron immediately recalled the corresponding procedure for this mission and looked up toward the western coast of Tarrhond. In the star-lit night, his formidable transcendent vision quickly caught those colossal figures sweeping across the night sky—the dragon flight had arrived.

Dozens of powerful dragons flew in from the direction of Tarrhond, cloaked in starlight and cold wind, skimming over the polar sea's icy waters. Before drawing close to the Coldwinter, they summoned spells such as light-glow arts and luminous orbs upon themselves to serve as guiding lights, and at the same moment the Coldwinter lit several lamps along its deck to provide the dragon flight with the guidance needed to land upon the sea.

The deck had been cleared, and the sailors moved according to orders to safe areas such as the bridge and the connecting corridors.

Byron and Asharena stood together in the "non-landing zone" of the upper deck, looking up at those colossal figures drawing ever nearer, watching those majestic wings blot out the starlight of the sky, then watching them one after another be enveloped by a barrier of light that materialized out of thin air and, within a shimmer of illusory radiance, transform into human form—just like Asharena had once done. Powerful dragon warriors leapt straight down from heights of dozens or even hundreds of meters, landing one after another with astonishing force upon the Coldwinter's steel-reinforced deck, each landing setting off a resounding "bang" in the night.

Byron's eyes went wide. From the very first dragon warrior's landing he had instinctively shouted: "Hey! My deck!"

"See, I told you this is how we dragons always land," Asharena seized the opportunity to add some fuel to the fire from the sidelines. "Especially landing on a ship in surroundings like this, with sea on every side—think how demanding that is on eyesight and reflexes. Of course you have to start aiming from way out and jump down while you're at it..."

"It's not your ship so you don't feel the pain, is that it?" Byron shot Asharena a look, but before he could finish, another "bang!" came from the deck, and he was so heartbroken that tears nearly fell. "Hey! My deck!!"

And so, for the next while, the Coldwinter was filled with basically this racket:

"Bang!" "The deck!" "Bang—" "My deck!" "Bang, bang!" "Two of them coming down at once... my deck!" "Splash!!" "Oh my... hmm?"