Deep Sea Embers

Although they are both cult groups, the Sun Sect and the Annihilation Sect have completely different characteristics, which also leads to Duncan having to take their "characteristics" into consideration when facing the actions of these cultists.

The essence of Annihilation cultists is "human beings" who gain power and transform themselves through contracts with demons. Although these dark cultists clearly believe in the Holy Lord of the Underworld, their "gods" do not actually respond to this relationship. Therefore, in addition to blasphemous With extraordinary power, the Annihilation cultists are still a group of mortals as a whole, and their actions and restrictions will also be based on their identity as "human beings" - no matter how loudly they shout the name of the Holy Lord, this group of lunatics are actually nothing like the ancient gods. How big a deal.

If their sect is divided into a "tower structure", then from the powerless ordinary believers at the bottom, to the priest class who can summon demons, to the so-called "saints" at the top who look completely inhuman, At each level, they are trying to climb to the so-called "truth" at the higher level - but the "Holy Lord of the Deep" at the top of the tower does not want to pay attention to them.

This is not the case with the Sun Cult - the "structural transmission" of the Sun Cult is top-down.

At the top is the dying "Black Sun". This ancient god in poor condition gave birth to powerful descendants called "descendants" while sleeping on the verge of death. These "descendants" paid close attention to and protected the beings. The humanoid monsters called "remnants" are the remnants of the sun, and further down are the huge and delirious believers of the sun. These mortal believers did not worship the black sun spontaneously, but the power of the black sun leaked. In the real dimension, some human beings were transformed into believers out of thin air due to mental distortion.

Therefore, from a certain perspective, the entire "Sun Sect" can be regarded as an "excrescence" of an ancient god, a branch structure of the power and flesh of the Black Sun.

When facing the Annihilation Sect, you should think of them as human beings. When facing the Sun Sect, you should first think of "it" as a chaotic ancient god - every descendant and every remnant is an ancient god. Those tentacles that twitched and spasmed unconsciously in sleep.

These tentacles sneak into the dream of the nameless one. Some kind of "instinct" from a higher level drives them to steal the "sun" in the dream of the nameless one. Considering their upper nature, there is no way for these guys to enter the dream of the nameless one. Probably simpler and more crude than those Annihilation Cultists...and more dangerous.

Duncan exhaled softly and put aside those complicated thoughts for the time being.

"After this dream of the Nameless One is over, let the rabbi confirm where the ship is as soon as possible," he said to Lucretia in his heart, "the sooner the better - as long as you are careful not to disturb the ship." 'saint'."

Lucretia's voice hesitated for a few seconds before saying: "Are you... worried about the elves who were sacrificed?"

"Judging from the dream ceremony, their lives are not in danger for the time being, but those cultists may also hold other rituals, and there may be more than just two elves on the ship," Duncan said in a serious tone, "This is one of the reasons. , another reason, I am very concerned about the 'goat head' in their hands - the essence of the goat head may really be the 'Fragment of the Ancient God'. If this is the case, then this fragment must not remain in the hands of a group of cultists. , who knows what new death-defying operations they will come up with next?”

I don't know if it was an illusion, but as soon as Duncan finished speaking, he felt a weak... emotional change coming from Lucretia's "mark". The witch's mood seemed to be inexplicably better?

"Understood, I will plan this matter carefully with the rabbi," Lucretia's voice sounded, "I will find the ship within a few days."

"Um."

Duncan responded in his heart, then he exhaled and turned to look at the chart table.

The dark goat-headed wooden sculpture was looking calmly here - although it seemed motionless at the moment, it had already turned once just now.

It has woken up, but it has not spoken.

Duncan walked over to the chart table and glanced across the surface.

The lush mysterious forest was projected on the chart, replacing the previous ocean markers and routes. The shadow of the ship representing the Lost Home was slowly moving over the forest sea.

The goat head on the edge of the table followed Duncan's footsteps and slowly moved his gaze.

After an unknown amount of time, the taciturn goat-head (to be honest, Duncan felt that this word was a little inappropriate for a goat-head) finally broke the silence: "You're here again, friend... you seem to have undergone some changes."

"Change?" Duncan raised his eyebrows, "What kind of change?"

"I can't tell, but you seem to make me feel safer now than before," Goat Head said slowly, "Before, when you appeared here, it would make me confused and nervous. I couldn't understand you. existence, but now, although I still don’t know who you are, the confusion and tension are gone.”

Duncan stared silently into the goat's head's eyes.

He knew that his "method" had taken effect this time.

Before nine o'clock at night, he entered the reflection of the Lost Home through the mirror, just like Agatha did - and when the transformation occurred after nine o'clock, he directly followed the changes in the reflection and became this "dream ship" part of the ship.

In other words, he changed from an "intruder" to "one of our own" in this dream.

After many attempts, Duncan finally found a way to truly "enter here". Now he can finally let go of his actions here - whether it is exploring the ship, taking the helm, or driving the ship towards Exploring that dark mist will not wake up Sylantis, nor will it wake up the goat head again.

"Probably because we are finally familiar with each other," Duncan laughed. Of course, he could not reveal the existence of this dream to a mental entity sleeping in a dream, so he changed his words, "This is a good thing."

"Familiar?" The goat's head turned its head slightly, as if it had briefly thought about Duncan's words. Compared with the last time we met, its hazy, half-dreaming state seemed to be a little lighter, but it was still a little slow to react. "Ah, this does seem to be a good thing... We are better friends now."

Duncan thought for a while and gave up the idea of ​​going to the bridge to "steer" now, but sat down on the high-backed chair behind the chart table.

He looked at the goat head who was staring at him silently, and asked a cautious question: "Where is Selantis now?"

The goat head turned its head, seeming to be a little surprised by Duncan's question - it was hesitant in a rare way, and after this almost human reaction, it slowly spoke: "Silantis is here, everywhere. "

"Right here? Everywhere? Can you explain it a little more clearly?" Duncan frowned, and then added, "I don't mean any harm, I just want to... talk to her. I don't know if you can Understood, but she is in danger, there are a group of malicious people who want to harm Silantis, and I hope to find her before they do."

Duncan didn't know if the second half of his explanation had any effect, but after a moment of silence, the goat head did speak.

"...This is Silantis," it looked into Duncan's eyes, "You are already in Silantis - you are in her thoughts, you are in her memories, this is the border and the hinterland , but...you can't see her."

Listening to the first half of the goat-headed words, Duncan understood instantly, but the other person's last words made him stunned again: "Why?"

"Because Selendis hasn't remembered herself yet - before she recalled everything, she was not a clear existence... and now, she doesn't want to wake up."

"You mean, Selendis is now dispersed in this dark fog in some kind of spiritual body. Because she cannot form a complete consciousness of herself, she is an invisible existence at the moment?" Duncan immediately understood. Knowing what the other party meant, I couldn't help but ask, "Is there any other way for me to see her? Or just establish communication."

He remembered his previous experience when he was "at the helm" of this dream ship, and remembered the streams of light that appeared in the darkness and the voices in the streams of light - he could be sure that those were Silantis' thoughts, but Those "thoughts" seemed to be in another dimension and did not respond to his call at all.

This time, the goat head remained silent for longer than before.

After an unknown amount of time, it finally spoke——

"Let her sleep a little longer, just a little while...it won't take long, let her settle them down..."

…

A disorderly wind suddenly blew in my ears, and the diffuse dust instantly covered my sight.

However, before Vanna subconsciously raised her hand to block the sand and dust, the wind and sand stopped in front of her, and a voice came from the wind: "Traveller, we meet again."

Fanna immediately looked in the direction of the sound.

In the dust that gradually subsided, the giant's figure became clear.

He was sitting among a pile of collapsed black boulders, with the exaggeratedly huge "cane" beside him. The pile of "bonfires" that had been burning for an unknown length of time had long been extinguished. At the feet of the giant, there was only A pile of embers turned to ashes, still glowing with slight heat and sparks.

Fanna raised her gaze and looked around.

It was still the place where I said goodbye to the giant before, the same shelter from the wind, and the same campfire. I returned to this "place" very accurately, and the giant seemed to have been waiting for me.

"I said, we will meet again soon," the giant smiled gently, with wrinkles on his face. "Look, the fire is still hot."

"Have you been waiting for me here?" Fanna was a little surprised, "I thought..."

"It's just a little bit of waiting," the giant said calmly. "Anyway, there is nothing left here but desolation, and I don't have anything to do - waiting is somewhat meaningful."

He paused, then raised his head and looked into the distance.

"You're here just in time, traveler... If you don't have a goal at the moment, I want to take you to a place."

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