Deep Sea Embers

Today's blood meal was brought into the hall.

Richard stood under the high platform, next to the "Dream Skull", watching the gray-robed believers push the two elves forward. The expression on his face was the same as everyone else's, calm and filled with faint expectation.

The two elves were a man and a woman, and their clothes were already in tatters. What was exposed under the torn clothes were the scars from many tortures - not only the wounds left by the "sacrifice", but also the wounds caused by the previous treatment of the Dream Skull. Scars from "research" and "testing".

When they were first brought to the hall, they looked numb, but after seeing the "Saint" and the "Dream Skull" under the high platform, panic filled their eyes. They were struggling, but the Saint on the high platform With just a slight shake of the eye stalks, the two elves were paralyzed and lost resistance under the saint's gaze - then, a gray-robed cultist holding a sharp knife stepped forward.

The ritual dagger was polished to a bright shine. Under the expectant gazes of the Annihilation cultists, the blade cut through the flesh and blood of the two elves - the arms, thighs, and back were all non-fatal places, as if they were deliberately trying to preserve their lives. Inflicting the greatest torture and pain under the circumstances, the "bloodletter" cut the sacrifice skillfully and silently.

However, the "sacrifice" could not even wail and struggle under the gaze of the saints. The man and woman were stiffly held by several men in gray robes beside the heavy cart. Only the suddenly twisted and ferocious expressions on their faces showed They were suffering from astonishing pain at this moment - and the blood was flowing from the new wounds on their bodies, and seemed to be pulled by invisible forces, floating into the air in a way that defied gravity, and then gathered in the heavy push vehicle. In a series of "blood storage tanks" on the upper level of the car.

The blood flowed in the grooves, towards the dark goat head that seemed to be carved from wood.

The moment the blood came into contact with the "Dream Skull", a terrifying aura and astonishing power suddenly burst out from the goat's head!

The nearest Annihilation cultists instantly felt the explosion of power. Richard felt as if countless superimposed screams and roars penetrated directly into his brain, rushing through his mind as if to tear his soul apart. He saw that the dark goat's head seemed to be coming to life, swaying from side to side in violent tremors. A powerful and malicious will in a state of chaos seemed to have awakened. Richard could feel that its eyes were looking at it. Scan the hall.

The "Dream Skull" wakes up.

The two elves who were sacrificed had already passed out. The gray-robed man as the "assistant" immediately dragged them aside, while the gray-robed cultist who was holding a sharp knife and personally performed the bloodletting ceremony raised his hand high. Ritual dagger, shouting ecstatically——

"I am approved! The Lord will accept me—"

The next second, a terrifying twist came to the bloodletter. The sound of flesh and blood being separated and bones being crushed suddenly came from under the gray robe. His clothes were beating, and all the constituent materials in his body were instantly contaminated, alienated, and... Crushed into pieces, in an instant, countless tentacles seemed to grow out from under his robes, and countless cracks and mouthpieces appeared on his face. However, this severe pain seemed to have nothing to do with him, and the fanatics cheered He stood there, shouting loudly in ecstasy, calling for the majesty of the Holy Lord, until the life disappeared, until his body fell heavily to the ground.

The "martyrdom" of the bloodletter means that the ritual has been completely successful.

“Take those two ‘blood eaters’ down,” the saint on the high platform immediately ordered, “and let them live well and prepare for the next bloodletting.

“Collect the blood flowing from the blood reservoir and distribute it to the gathering points in various city-states for use in other gathering points’ dream rituals.

"The chosen ones step forward and touch the 'Dream Skull' to prove that your time has come."

The saint's order was immediately carried out, and the two weak elves were dragged out of the hall, leaving two dazzling blood marks on the ground. Another believer came under the strange "goat head" and tried to remove the dream skull. Collect the blood of elves - this blood already has the power to open dreams. Although it is not as powerful as the Dream Skull, it is enough to guide the user's spirit into the dream of the Nameless One with the cooperation of rituals. It will It has become a key material for those compatriots hidden in the city-state to perform dream rituals.

But the core explorers still rely on those "elite priests" who directly touch the skull of dreams.

Richard took a deep breath, stepped forward, and put his hand on the horns of the "Dream Skull".

The scream pierced the mind again, and the terrifying pressure erupted from the goat's head, and the terrifying power swept in. In an instant, the Annihilation cultist felt that his mind was quickly separated from his body, and he " "Seeing" his perspective quickly increased, and the surroundings quickly dimmed, he saw his flesh and blood body falling backwards, being supported and taken away by the compatriots next to him...

In a trance, he also saw a strange rabbit doll. The rabbit doll followed quietly next to his body, seeming to hide itself in the shadow of his body to avoid the saint's eyes...

rabbit? Why is there a rabbit?

Richard was confused for a moment, but the next second, he forgot this doubt.

The dream of the Nameless One opened to him.

…

Transformation happens.

Duncan could clearly feel the change in that "atmosphere" - although the scene in front of him didn't seem to change much, he knew that the "reflection of the Lost Homeship" had changed after the clock struck nine o'clock. Another kind of... "thing".

The wall clock on the opposite wall was mirrored left and right again. The hands that rotated counterclockwise now resumed clockwise rotation. Other things in the room that were mirrored because they were facing the mirror also quietly changed. The dim feeling lingering in the air subsided. A lot has changed, and outside the window, the hazy deck and ship's side became clear again. The sea and sky outside the ship's side, which were like the spiritual world, disappeared, replaced by the familiar, boundless darkness and fog.

This is no longer a "reflection", now it is the Goat-Headed Dream - another Lost Home - sailing through the dreamland of Silantis.

However, Duncan's focus was not on this ship for a while.

"...The way the cultists used the 'Dream Skull' was to pour the elves' blood on the goat's head," he said with a complex and subtle expression on his face, "and it actually worked..."

Agatha's voice came from the mirror on the side - after the "transformation" occurred, she returned to the mirror: "Judging from the scene described by the rabbi, it is not so much that the ritual was successful, the 'Dream Skull' was Activation is more like the Dream Skull being angered and then executing the person who performed the ritual - but they considered this 'execution' to be glorious.

"At present, it seems that the elves who are used as 'sacrifice' will not have to worry about their lives for the time being. The cultists will keep their lives as a stable source of blood - but before this ritual is 'mature', perhaps Many elves who were sacrificed have died on that ship..."

Duncan didn't speak for a while, but nodded gloomily. After a few seconds, he glanced at the mirror not far away.

Agatha's figure is reflected in the mirror. In addition, the mirror no longer reflects the scene on the Brilliant Star in the real world - Lucretia's figure has naturally disappeared.

She who stayed in Qingfeng Port should have entered the "dream state" by this time.

"Lucy, how's the situation over there?"

"It seems that the Lost Home's departure from Breeze Harbor cannot prevent the dream of the Nameless One from happening - I have returned to this forest, and Shirley is with me," Lucretia's voice came into Duncan's mind, "I have also contacted the rabbi. It is still parasitic on the cultist and has not been exposed yet."

Duncan was silent for two or three seconds: "...What do you think of the 'ritual' they performed?"

"A group of crazy and stupid people used stupid and crazy methods to deal with the fragments of the ancient gods. The ideas were biased, the methods were wrong, and the price was high - but they got what they wanted to a certain extent. As a result, as a scholar, I don’t understand and don’t recognize it.” Lucretia’s face was complicated, and there seemed to be some resentment in her tone. “It’s like a group of idiots holding sticks and beating the faulty difference engine. , and the machine was actually repaired, it was just..."

She hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "What a disgrace to intelligent creatures!"

Duncan said silently: "But they succeeded - even though the method seemed to be seeking death."

Lucretia's expression suddenly became more complicated than before.

Noticing the resentful expression on the face of this "witch" lady, Duncan did not continue to provoke her, but quietly changed the subject: "It seems that there is more than one goat head, but I'm afraid not many have complete sanity, even Maybe it’s really just my ‘first mate’.”

Then he paused and continued thinking: "It is precisely because the 'goat heads' in the hands of those cultists do not have complete rationality that their outrageous rituals have the possibility of success - the 'Dream Skull' will only It reacts instinctively to external stimuli, and one of its instinctive reactions happened to help the group of Annihilation cultists open the door to the Dream of the Nameless One.

"We still don't know whether this set of 'operational methods' was blindly tested by the Annihilation cultists themselves, or whether it was taught to them by those blasphemous preachers of the end. Moreover, even if we understand how the Annihilation cultists 'dream' The way in which those 'Followers of the Sun' entered the Dream of the Nameless One is still a mystery..."

"Will those who follow the Black Sun also have a 'goat head' in their hands?" Lucretia subconsciously thought of this possibility.

"Everything is possible - but my intuition tells me that it shouldn't be that simple." Duncan frowned and shook his head while thinking, "So far, there are only two types of followers of the sun who have entered the Dream of the Nameless One. One is the original The 'sons of the sun' who showed up once, and the other kind are the 'scum of the sun' that look human but not human. Ordinary sun priests and believers who are human beings have never appeared. Regardless of whether they are 'sons' or 'scum', they None of them are human.

"They are 'ancient divine creatures' whose mental structure is very different from that of humans.

"The way these guys enter the Dream of the Nameless One may be completely different from the Annihilation Cult."

(Please ask for a monthly ticket during the double period!)