Deep Sea Embers

Great Demon God Sasloka.

A sense of familiarity vaguely appeared in Duncan's heart, and then he quickly recalled that he had indeed heard this term—it was during a chat with Morris very early on.

"I remember... this is the name of the 'lord god' described in the ancient belief system unique to elves," he said slowly while thinking, "this demon god has the ability to control dreams and wander the soul, and in According to your legends, this Great Demon God is even related to the opening of the 'Deep Sea Age'—"

"Yes, Captain Duncan," Taran Ayer nodded, "According to the descriptions of those ancient legends, the world was originally a dream, created by the great demon Sasloka in a half-dream and half-awake state. It is the residents born in the dream, and our innate mission is to serve Sasloka in the dream, prolonging his deep sleep as much as possible, so as to prevent the whole world from coming to an end due to the awakening of the Great Demon God."

Lucrezia on the side listened carefully. As a learned person, she obviously knew about the ancient and weird "heresy legends" of elves, which are completely different from the mainstream beliefs of today. At this time, she couldn't help but interjected: "But Sasloka was destined to wake up - that's part of the legend."

"That's right, the Great Demon God is destined to wake up, and his awakening means the end of the world," Taran Al nodded again, and continued, "In most...not so mainstream belief systems, there are similar The 'end of the world prophecy', but in most cases they are just a warning, a deterrent to believers, to enhance their own persuasion and control over the believers, the legend of the elves is not like this, in the legend of the elves Now, this 'end of the world' has already happened.

"In the legend, the end of the world started with a nightmare. The Great Demon God saw a great flood coming because of the nightmare, so the long-term comfort of the elves was useless. When he woke up, the flood leaked from his dream to the real world, transforming For the vast ocean...

"After that, the Great Demon God Sasloka woke up and disappeared, and the elves could no longer return to the peaceful dream world, so they could only survive in the vast ocean after the flood—this is the fairy version of the myth. An interpretation of the 'Age of the Deep'."

Taran Al's narration of this legend is not much different from what Morris said at the beginning, but there are some more details added, and after the elf scholar's voice fell, Duncan revealed something. Thinking expression.

After a few seconds, he broke the silence with a deep voice: "Your creation myths and doomsday prophecies all revolve around the element of 'dream'."

"Yes, in the elf culture, 'dream' has always been a very large concept," Taran Al nodded, "We think that there are two worlds in the dream and outside the dream, and the two worlds are different. Real and capable of interacting, falling asleep and waking is a journey between two worlds—or, more traditionally, a 'journey without a country'."

Speaking of this, he paused, organized his words, and continued: "Speaking of which, let me make another digression—there is a special congenital disease among elves called 'dreamless'."

Duncan frowned: "Dreamless?"

"Literally, people who are born unable to dream," Taran El explained, "dreams are the instinct of mortals. From our point of view, dreaming is as uncontrollable and unavoidable as death. Of course, some people dream more , some people have few dreams, and some people even think that they can’t dream—but studies have proved that these people’s dreams are too short or have too little influence, so that they can’t remember their dreams at all after waking up, and they still dream of……

"As for the 'dreamless', it's completely different from the above-they really can't dream.

"The deep sleep of the dreamless is pale. After they fall asleep, there is only nothingness and chaos. Their consciousness 'jumps' directly through the entire sleep process as if jumping, and no clever psychiatrist or priest can find traces of their dreams. .

"This kind of inability to dream at all only occurs in the elves, and there is a chance of 'onset' of about 1 in 10,000. It is born with it and cannot be cured."

Hearing this, Duncan couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "...In a race that attaches great importance to 'dreams', dreamless people will definitely be treated specially."

"Yes, in the eyes of most elves, the pale and empty sleep of the dreamless is dangerous, weird, even terrifying, and in history, there have indeed been many injustices against the 'dreamless', But that was mostly the situation before the old city-state era," Taran Al waved his hand, "Now we don't make special targeting or discrimination against dreamless people, but as you said, the influence of traditional culture is still there. Now, they will be more or less...specially treated."

Duncan listened to the unique culture and legends inside the elves, which are difficult for foreigners to understand. After the university scholar's voice fell, Duncan thought for a moment, and slowly said: "But among the many legends and records about dreams, there is only There is no 'Dream of the Nameless' alone."

"One possible explanation is that the 'Dream of the Nameless' is just the name of the cultists, and what it corresponds to has another name in the elf culture," Taran Al said, "This situation is very common—— The cultural system of the elves is ancient and difficult, and some of the things that have been handed down are often misunderstood and processed by foreigners. We can't ask everyone in a race with an average life span of less than a hundred years to understand a container with a history of 7,000 years. The one who holds the wine or the one who fetches water."

Lucrezia had been thinking silently by the side, when she heard the words of the university student, she suddenly raised her head and said, "If it's 'another name', could the so-called Dream of the Nameless refer to Is it the dream created by the great demon Sasloka in the legend of the elves?"

"The old world?" Taran Al frowned, but quickly shook his head, "The dream created by Sasloka is just a legend, and there is no evidence to prove that it really existed, even if it did exist , in today's 'deep sea era', it must have been broken and dissipated..."

"But you and another elf far away in Purland did fall into a huge and weird 'dream' at the same time," Duncan reminded, "Have you forgotten the boundless forest?"

"...I did think of it," Taran Aiir hesitated, and his words were still very cautious. "We can make such a bold assumption...but it must be verified with sufficient evidence. If that dream is really legendary' Sasloka's Dream', is the word of 'Origin World'..."

"It's not just the elven society that needs to be shaken," Lucrezia said lightly, "The entire academic world will be shaken."

"That's right, the whole world," Taran El said with a particularly solemn expression, "this means that among countless speculations and contradictory historical records, there is finally a 'record' about the history before the Great Annihilation has been verified. Even if we still can't break through the historical black wall that stood 10,000 years ago, there is a crack in that wall, allowing us to glimpse the glimpses of the past before the deep sea era."

Of course Duncan thought of this too, but he didn't intervene, but thought silently. After a long time, he said with a trace of curiosity: "About that 'Great Demon God Sasloka', is there any more details?" legend?"

"'Legends' are mostly vague and contradictory. Even a race with a stable and complete inheritance like the elves cannot avoid this situation," Taran Al said slowly, "In most legends, Sass Loka is described as a giant dressed as a shepherd, holding a cane that can measure the world, but there are also stories that describe him as a huge male goat, stored in the "Bran Mar Epic" in the city-state of Moco It is said that He has no form, and can change into any shape according to the imagination of the audience. It is the "reflection" of the most majestic and awe-inspiring posture in the eyes of mortals...

"But no matter in which kind of legend, there is one thing in common: Sasloka lives at the foot of the world's giant tree 'Silantis', and the giant tree 'Silantis' is the first birth of the whole world. Plants - Sasloka created it in a dream as his home, and because of loneliness, he shook the branches of Sirantis violently, causing the dust, fruits, branches and leaves on the trees to fall off one after another. , then transform into various things in the world.

"The dust falling from the world tree turns into mountains, rivers and minerals, the branches and leaves of Sirantis turn into all kinds of birds and beasts, flowers, birds, fish and insects, and the fruits of Sirantis turn into the original elves. The dust will not corrupt, so Mountains, rivers, and minerals are eternal, and branches, leaves, and fruits begin to rot after falling to the ground, so the earthly creatures have a cycle of life and death."

Taran Al took a break at this point, took a sip of the tea that the puppet Luni put on the table, and continued: "This is the process of the Great Demon God creating various things in the dream, and in this After the initial 'creation' was completed, Sasloka began to inspect his world——

"He walks around Sirantis and uses his own eyes to determine the rules of all things in the world. He can circle the World Tree once a year, so Sirantis goes back and forth with a cycle of years, and thus makes the world have a It is a clear season, and He returns to the feet of Sirantis on the last day of each year. The elves need to dress up on this day to show Sasloka their most proud skills and creations. If the Great Demon God feels that those things are good , will continue to stay in this dream world created by him, and the world will survive."

After that, Taran El finally let out a long breath.

"That's all, Captain Duncan."