Deep Sea Embers

A sudden burst of heat swept across the hall, as if a strong sunlight penetrated the roof and was moving above the crowd. With the appearance of this invisible heat, all the gas lamps and candlesticks in the hall seemed to be affected. The inexplicable interference and suppression instead quickly dimmed, as if sinking into the shadows.

However, the Annihilation cultists in the hall did not react much to the appearance of this heat. They only looked up at the dome above the hall after a slight commotion.

Richard also raised his head, and his eyes swept between the gorgeous curtains, chandeliers and roof paintings above the assembly hall. He saw that they seemed to be illuminated by invisible sunlight, and the light and dark light and shadow slowly moved on the surface of the dome. , then, the "sunlight" finally gradually converged to the center of the dome, and showed its existence there——

It was a sphere that looked like a blazing sun. The flames on its surface were floating, releasing scorching light and heat. At the same time, it presented an illusory and transparent texture. It seemed to be just a projection. Then, this small sun projection became Slowly lowering the height, he came to the high platform in the center of the hall and came to the saint.

Richard heard low-pitched conversations and mutterings coming from nearby, and some believers were quietly expressing their dissatisfaction - the messenger of the alien god was becoming more and more brazen and unrestrained, and even skipped the reporting process when he arrived at this sacred gathering place. There are also believers who say that the assembly hall should not be open to the messengers of alien gods at all. Their appearance itself means the defilement of this sacred place.

But the saint's voice suddenly rang in everyone's mind and ears, interrupting the low hum in the hall: "Ah, it's our 'ally' here."

As his words fell, the small sun projection that landed in front of the high platform gradually lost its glowing and heating shell. As the light-cast "shell" became dim and transparent, its true appearance emerged. In everyone's sight.

A sphere composed of grotesque flesh and blood tissue and countless curled tentacles. There are also countless eye-like structures inlaid between the tentacles on the surface of the sphere - the children of the sun.

The projection slowly stretched its tentacles in the air, and its eyeballs turned around, and almost at the same time, another illusory figure appeared below the heir of the sun.

It was a human being, wearing a gold-rimmed black robe that represented the priest class among Sun Cultists, and a golden mask imitating the sun on his face. The projection of this Sun Priest fell on the high platform in the center of the hall, standing in front of the saints. Like a spokesperson.

The Children of the Sun in mid-air made a low and vague trembling sound. The sound seemed to be mixed with countless layered whispers and noises that were difficult for human intelligence to understand. It sounded dizzying.

The figure wearing a golden sun mask who fell in front of the saint immediately spoke, relaying the message conveyed in those vague tremors: "I can feel that you don't welcome me."

The saint raised his eye stalks high: "I hope you can understand that this is the meeting place of the Holy Lord. For a long time, we have not allowed believers or messengers of the alien gods to enter this sacred place - but please don't worry. , our sincerity for cooperation will not be affected by this."

"It doesn't matter, I don't care." The projection of the Son of the Sun slowly stretched its body in the air and continued to emit a low and vague tremor. The Sun Priest who appeared with it immediately began to translate, "We can leave the differences of belief to In the next era, dusk is approaching, and those of us abandoned by the deep sea era must first learn to coexist."

"Yes, learn to coexist - when everything is reshaped, there will be a world wide enough to accommodate our differences," the saint said solemnly, "Are you here to emphasize this to me?"

"No, ally, I'm here to talk to you about the losses we suffered in the last operation," said the masked Sun Priest, "I wanted to come to you during the day, but that abominable false sun is always hanging high in the sky, and now it As soon as it fell, I came.

"We have lost many of our clansmen, our precious clansmen. In the great forest woven by the 'Dream of the Nameless One', they were burned by the fire usurper's flames, and even their souls could not return to the place of refuge - I must and You talk about this."

"We are also deeply sympathetic and uneasy about the unfortunate experience of those remnants of the sun," the saint said, the spikes of his bones shaking, as if to express some dissatisfaction, "however, you are not the only ones who have suffered setbacks... who No one thought that 'his' power would appear there - after all, not long ago, the ship was still in the far north, and no one thought that 'he' would intervene in this matter, and 'his' followers have already It is unjustifiable and reckless for you to take action and hold us accountable for this."

"...We don't ask our allies for sins," the Son of the Sun in mid-air was silent for a few seconds, and the light surrounding it seemed to shrink a little. It whispered vaguely, and the priest on the high platform immediately began to translate, "But we want to Show your attitude - we are willing to cooperate with your actions in the Dream of the Nameless One, but if you turn this 'cooperation' into unilateral use, then our cooperation will end."

"I understand what you mean, Messenger," the saint said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, we will not turn a blind eye to this incident. Just now, we have decided to launch a counterattack against the followers of the Fire Usurper. Our next goal One is to find the heretic who attacked the remnants of the sun and our compatriots, and capture her and her demon - she is powerful and insidious, but we are willing to take some risks for this and avenge those 'remnants' who sacrificed their lives."

"We don't care whether you are really taking action to avenge them, nor do we care what methods you plan to use to deal with those powerful and strange 'followers of the fire'," the priest wearing a golden mask on the high platform relayed to the sun Zi Si's words, "Don't forget our original and most fundamental goal - there is something we each need in the Dream of the Nameless One. We can cooperate frankly and cooperate wholeheartedly. We only care about this matter, and nothing else matters."

The saint was silent for a moment, then the spikes of his bones clicked, conveying a friendly attitude: "Yes, we each take what we need... all we want is the tree."

The descendants of the sun slowly lowered their height, and the countless eyes embedded between the tentacles silently stared at the brain wrapped in a skeletal cage on the high platform: "We only want that sun."

The seemingly real and illusory "heat" that shrouded the assembly hall began to recede, and the figures of the Sun's descendants floating in the air and the Sun Priest who landed on the high platform began to gradually dim and dissipate. After just a few seconds, this Two uninvited guests left the sacred assembly hall.

The hall was quiet for a while, and the Annihilation cultists who gathered together breathed a sigh of relief. Richard also felt that his pounding heart gradually calmed down - maybe it was because his heartbeat had become too fast unknowingly just now, and he I even felt my chest throbbing slightly.

He had lingering fears.

Even if what comes here is just a projection, it is also the projection of the Son of the Sun - the monster that is directly separated from the essence of the "real Sun God" is like a demigod, and its existence itself is a fatal source of pollution for mortals. And the compatriots in this hall... after all, have not yet broken through the category of "mortal".

Perhaps only the "saint" present could compete with the so-called "son of the sun".

"We shouldn't open this place to the messengers of the alien gods," someone said in the crowd, the voice not too low. "After their 'sunshine' shines in, they become more and more emboldened."

"That 'scion' gives me a very bad feeling," another voice also reached Richard's ears. "We can't understand its mind and true intentions. A masked priest is needed every time. Translation - no one knows how much more disturbing information is hidden behind those translations. When its eyes look at us... they don't look like the eyes of an intelligent creature looking at other intelligent creatures at all."

"Those 'remnants of the sun' give me the same feeling. I can't sense reason or emotion from them at all... After all, they are still monsters abandoned in the last era... They have long since degenerated in the darkness..."

The low-pitched discussion began to spread in the hall, and the suppressed emotions quickly resonated. However, at this moment, the saint's voice suddenly sounded in everyone's mind, instantly interrupting the communication among the Annihilation cultists: "Quiet ."

The hall suddenly became quiet.

"...I know your concerns," the saint's voice continued, with reassuring power, "but we need their strength."

"Saint," an Annihilation cultist who was closest to the high platform spoke boldly, "that Son of the Sun, and those 'remnants'... do you think they will really keep their promises?"

The saint was silent for a few seconds.

"I have never believed in the 'promises' of those aliens, because they were born out of oath-breaking from the beginning, but at least they have no reason to break the contract until they get what they want," he said slowly, "Just As much as we need them, they also need us - in the time and space woven by the Dream of the Nameless One, those aliens can only ally with us."

The voice of doubt disappeared.

The bells ringing timely.

Dang——dang——dang——

The mechanical clock hanging on the high wall at the end of the assembly hall chimed melodiously.

"... Let's end these topics. The time is approaching. The dream of the Nameless One is about to be connected to the real dimension." The saint's voice quickly attracted everyone's attention. "Get ready for the dream. The people who will dream tonight are listed. , come forward and prepare to touch the skull of Dreamland."

Richard, who was standing among a group of men in black robes, reacted quickly. He raised his head and saw several other compatriots already walking towards the high platform, including Du Meng, who had come to see him during the day.

He also walked forward quickly.

At the same time, several low-level cultists wearing gray robes walked into the hall - they pushed a cart painted with many runes and made of a special heavy alloy. He was wearing a piece of blood-stained black cloth, and something seemed to be covered under the black cloth.

"Push the Dream Skull to the high platform." The saint ordered.

The low-level believers pushed the cart to the platform in the center of the hall. Two of them grabbed the black cloth on the cart and prepared to lift it.

Richard swallowed subconsciously - even though it was not the first time he had touched the "Dream Skull", he still felt a little nervous at this time.

That weird thing makes people feel a kind of...horror that penetrates the soul every time they come into contact with it, and no matter how many times they experience it, this kind of terror seems to be impossible to adapt to.

Firm belief and devout faith could only help him make up his mind to touch that thing, but they could not eliminate the impression left by the terror itself and the instinctive tension at the moment.

Then, two low-level cultists lifted up the black cloth.

The "Dream Skull" on the cart also came into Richard's sight——

It was a black, as if carved from wood... goat head.