Deep Sea Embers

Agatha put away her cane in an instant, and then widened her eyes, staring in shock and vigilance at the "fake" monster that was slowly raising its head in front of her, and at this moment, she realized... The monster made of the element "mud" has mutated.

Some kind of power or will descended into its body, and instantly changed its essence—it had turned into a medium, and continuously released frightening power in this dark sewer.

Layers upon layers of noise rang out, turning into countless incomprehensible murmurs and roars in her mind. Agatha felt a trembling black shadow on the edge of her field of vision, and countless eyes seemed to open in the black shadow in an instant. This is a sign that her spirit is being polluted—the exhaustion and mental damage accumulated from continuous fighting have weakened her protective ability, making her almost powerless to resist.

But this pollution only lasted for less than two seconds. It seems that the master of the power consciously controlled it, restraining the power escaping from this incarnation——Agatha's senses became clear and stable again, In this moment of clarity, he realized the "identity" of the person in front of him.

"You are...the descendant..." She rubbed her forehead and spoke hesitantly.

"It's me," the avatar said. This body made of elemental mud is still wriggling and deforming. It seems that it can't bear too much power. It still can't present a clear and stable image. "Just call me the captain. Well—that's what my followers call me."

"Captain?" Agatha frowned. The sequelae of mental pollution made her thinking a little slow. She felt that this title was a bit weird, but she quickly gave up the entanglement in this aspect—there are countless "" "Captain", a high-ranking extraordinary person with unknown origin may also call himself "Captain" just out of interest, this is not something worth investigating.

"Why are you here?" she asked suspiciously.

"I have been looking for you for a long time," Duncan said. "You suddenly disappeared in the city-state, and I judged that something happened to you."

"Are you looking for me?" Agatha was a little taken aback, then raised her head and looked around quickly, "How's the situation 'outside'?"

"If you are referring to the 'Frost' of the real world, then everything is normal to the point of being abnormal," Duncan shook his head, "Do you know where you are trapped?"

"I...not sure," Agatha supported her body with a cane, and slowly leaned against the wall next to her. She gained a precious moment of safety and must take this opportunity to recover her strength. "Here is another A Frost, a Frost completely controlled by 'fakes', there is no sun here, and the connection with the gods is very weak, but there are clues to those annihilating heresy activities, I am tracking one of them, and I have been tracking to here……"

She stopped, panting slightly, and turned to look at "Captain".

"A mirror image," said the makeshift avatar, "you are trapped in a mirror image of frost."

"Mirror image?" Agatha was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head and showed a thoughtful expression, "It turned out to be like this...a mirror image..."

"They may have copied the entire Frost, including a piece of sea around the Frost, and this mirror image is the source of all the 'fakes'," Duncan continued, "The bad thing is that there are signs that the 'mirror image' and the real world are gradually becoming Get closer—this should be the real plan of those Annihilation Cultists."

Agatha suddenly raised her head: "You mean..."

"The 'fakes' frequently appearing in the city-state, the duplicated Haiyan, the disappearing Dagger Island, and even your entrapment are all the result of the 'Mirror Frost' getting closer to the 'Reality Frost' - the purpose of the Annihilation Cultist Rather than invading or destroying the city in the first place, Agatha, what they wanted was to transform the entire city into the prophesied 'Kingdom'."

"...At some point, the ever-approaching mirror image will collide with reality..." Agatha took a breath and muttered to herself, she had already thought of that possibility, "No wonder, no wonder that heretic said When the guardians find the 'sanctuary', that is when their plan succeeds...that moment is the moment when the mirror image meets reality!"

"It seems that you already have an idea," Duncan said, "You said just now that you found clues of those cultists here and are tracking them?"

"Yes, I can smell them—it's in the depths of this 'Second Waterway'," Agatha raised her head and looked in a certain direction in the depths of the corridor. After a short rest, she had already After recovering some energy, he stood up straight again with energy, and walked forward slowly, "There is a heretic, he has been obstructing me, but the longer he pesters, the more he is revealing his whereabouts, I feel It's very close..."

The avatar under Duncan's control followed Agatha's footsteps.

"I'm very sorry." Agatha who was walking ahead said suddenly.

"Why do you apologize?"

"Just now... I almost attacked you." Agatha's tone seemed a little embarrassed.

Duncan was taken aback for a moment, and then recalled the scene he saw when he first entered this avatar - the tin cane in Agatha's hand was only a few millimeters away from his head.

But he thought about it, and it didn't seem like a big deal.

It was stronger than Fanna's jump and chop at that time.

"I don't care and I'm used to it."

"……got used to?"

"One of my followers, when frightened, would suddenly use Jump Slash - sometimes targeting me, though she doesn't do that anymore."

Agatha: "...?"

The young gatekeeper was greatly shocked, and couldn't help guessing how such a suspected ancient god usually gets along with his followers, and how outrageous, weird, and evil his followers are.

After thinking about it for a long time, the san value is almost empty and I don't want to understand it.

Duncan didn't care about Agatha's sudden daze and thought. He just continued to walk forward and carefully observed the situation in the corridor along the way.

This is the second waterway of Mirror Frost—obviously, it is very different from the second waterway in the real world.

He stopped in his tracks, and looked thoughtfully at the sewer corridor stretching forward in the dim light.

"What did you think of?" Agatha also stopped, and asked in doubt.

"In the real world, this is a collapsed area, and the roads are impassable," Duncan said, with a thoughtful tone. "It seems that in this mirrored frost, the second waterway is intact, and it even appears to be in a state of constant use."

"...Perhaps, it looks like the queen's time," Agatha said hoarsely, "I have noticed that many details of this mirrored frost... are specious and not like the scene I am familiar with. It's modern."

Listening to Agatha's analysis, Duncan didn't speak for a while. After a few seconds, he broke the silence: "It seems that I may not be able to accompany you to complete the rest of the journey."

Agatha turned around unexpectedly.

She saw that the incarnation of "Captain" was gradually disintegrating. The continuously flowing and deformed black mud seemed to be carrying too much force, and it was peeling off bit by bit at this moment, leaving a criss-cross pattern like a spider web on the surface of the body. There are cracks in the cracks, and between the cracks, there are green flames jumping, as if they are going to escape and flow uncontrollably.

She exclaimed subconsciously: "Your body..."

"Don't worry, this poor-quality replica can't carry my strength stably, and it will collapse sooner or later." Duncan just shook his head, with a calm tone, "It's already unexpected that I can persist until I finish talking to you so much. "

Then he waved his hand again, stopping Agatha from speaking.

"You are in a bad state and need more help. I will leave some fire here, which can strengthen the connection between me and you. You take it and continue to track down the lairs of those cultists—I Will continue to help you."

Agatha stepped forward subconsciously, as if she wanted to ask something more, but before she opened her mouth, the avatar that was about to collapse due to too much force reached its limit.

In a sudden rising green flame, the elemental mud that made up the avatar stopped flowing instantly, and was engulfed by the flames, torn apart, and countless ashes fragments were scattered loudly.

And in the center of the black element that was burned into ashes, only a small, finger-sized flame was left in the end.

The flames floated in mid-air close to the ground out of thin air.

Agatha stared blankly at the flames floating near the surface. Its dark green appearance made the gatekeeper vigilant. She instinctively felt fear and nervousness. However, after a moment of hesitation, she still took a step forward. Slowly bend down.

"...Hopefully this is the right choice."

She said softly, and recited Bartok's name in her heart, then stretched out her hand, as if she had made up her mind with great courage, and touched the small flame with her fingertips.

The flame was held in her hand like a mass of weightless petals.

"...It can actually be picked up."

Agatha stared in astonishment at the flame that she had held in her palm, and at this moment, she felt the connection between herself and the flame.

Faint, wonderful, but it does exist—after a brief trance, she woke up and carefully protected the flame in the palm of her hand. With the other hand, she raised the scarred cane and walked towards the deepest part of the second waterway.