Deep Sea Embers

In the spacious and gorgeous assembly hall, the roof and walls are decorated with many reliefs and patterns related to the Holy Lord, a deformed thing called a "saint" is standing silently on the high platform.

The "crown" made of pitch-black bones intertwined stands on a high platform. Between the nerves and blood vessels at the bottom of the crown are half-opened and half-closed eyes. The chilling brain lies in the center of the crown of bones. Occasionally a low, vague sound was made while squirming.

The lower-level priests and ordinary believers in the hall remained quiet, standing cautiously and nervously in the corners. They kept a distance from the high platform in the center, and did not even dare to look directly at the dormant eyestalks of the saints. A low and depressing atmosphere enveloped the place, and even the air seemed to be frozen.

Everyone knows that the Saints are in a bad mood - and that bad mood apparently has something to do with the sudden end to the latest operation.

Of course, the order to terminate the operation was issued by the saint himself, but it was obvious that this was not the result that the Lord wanted to see - the direction should not be like this.

This silence and depression lasted for an unknown length of time, and a voice suddenly appeared in the ears of every lower-level priest and ordinary believer: "Get out."

Everyone seemed to have received an amnesty - almost in the blink of an eye, the Annihilation cultists gathered in the hall left the assembly venue through various doors, leaving only the upper-level priests next to the high platform.

"Saint," a top-level priest wearing a black coat and meticulously combed gray hair turned to the high platform and broke the silence, "We have received news from Moco and Siproud. Every city-state has fallen into lethargy and The dissipated elves have gradually recovered."

"...The entrance to the dream has disappeared, and the Dream Skull no longer responds to 'blood food'," another upper-level priest said immediately, "Judging from the current situation, the dream of the Nameless One has probably completely disappeared - But until now, followers of the Sun have not contacted us."

"They will no longer contact us," the response finally came from the Skeleton Crown on the high platform. "The Sun's descendants who led this operation have died. This loss is enough to plunge those followers into a long-lasting chaos... Loss Without the 'scions' as the core, this branch that cooperates with us will die soon."

There was an instant commotion among the upper-level priests around the high platform. After a brief period of astonishment, the gray-haired priest finally couldn't help but speak: "Then the Son of the Sun has fallen?! How did it die? Is it something deep in the dream... "

"I don't know, I only saw its brilliance suddenly extinguished at the end of its destiny, and a large shadow spread from the place where it was extinguished, and until now, this shadow is still spreading towards us."

The upper-level priests immediately looked at each other. After a moment of silence, one of them hesitantly said: "You mean... after the death of the heir of the sun, the shadow that killed it is still chasing us?"

"There is a gloom hanging over our destiny," the saint began slowly, "that has not yet dissipated."

"We are now far away from all city-states and major shipping routes," another upper-level priest said hesitantly, "and we have also successfully avoided the border patrol fleets of the four major churches..."

Immediately next to him, another priest said: "Those four-god lackeys don't know what they are doing recently. They have concentrated a large number of fleets near the eastern border, which has caused the patrol force in other border waters to weaken a lot. We passed very smoothly, it should be very easy." We can return to the 'Holy Land' soon..."

Other priests echoed: "The 'Holy Land' is shrouded in thick fog at the border, and with the blessing of the 'Lord' there, even the patrolling ark of the four gods' lackeys cannot break through..."

The upper-level priests spoke one after another, but the "saints" on the high platform remained silent. Gradually, the voices around the high platform became quiet, and the priests wisely closed their mouths.

"'He' is coming."

After an unknown amount of time, the saint's deep voice suddenly reached everyone's ears.

Along with these few short words, it seemed as if an invisible cold wind suddenly blew through the entire hall - the wind was carrying an almost contagious fear and terror, making those whose hearts were as cold and hard as black iron. The Annihilation Priests suddenly trembled subconsciously.

A high-ranking priest understood the saint's meaning almost instantly: "You mean... the ghost that returned from the subspace..."

"How is that possible?! We haven't had any dealings with 'his' followers at all since then..." Another priest said in a voiceless voice, "We evacuated the Nameless Man's Dream before there were any bigger changes. I should have cut off contact with 'him' long ago..."

The saint did not respond to the cowardly and incompetent voices around him that were full of nervousness and fear. He just slowly raised the eye stalks around him, and at the end of those wriggling tentacles, his eyeballs looked around the hall. , and seemed to be looking around the entire ship through the wall of the hall.

The haze of fate was reflected in his deformed and swollen eyeballs. Green flames burned in the shadows and gradually appeared on the sea surface in the near future. He saw death and fear approaching - in the near future, Most of the people on this ship will die.

As for the other part, the fate is worse than death.

He has smelled the smell of blood boiling in the flames in advance and heard the screams that will sound soon - but what is more desperate than the impending deaths is that the shadow will continue to spread on this route, this ship It's not the end, just a stopover in the spreading shadow.

The saint slowly retracted his eye stalks.

In the foreseeable and limited future, he had made many choices carefully, and these choices successfully allowed him to gain increasingly powerful power, making the ship a symbol of the will of the "Lord", but this time, He found that no matter what he chose, the haze would always follow his fate.

Whether it is ending the actions in the Dream of the Nameless One in advance, changing the course of this "holy ship", or isolating the atmosphere of the entire ship, the terrifying future cannot be avoided.

The shadow surrounded him, surrounded everyone, even... as if already on this ship.

Already on this ship?

In the skeletal crown on the high platform, the swollen and squirming brain suddenly stood still for a moment, and then the biological tissue around it gradually expanded.

With the sudden realization that flashed through his heart, the saint noticed that the ubiquitous shadows began to weaken. On the sea not far away, the green flames emerging from the darkness seemed to be gradually dissipating.

"...I got you," he muttered softly.

A high-ranking priest reacted instantly: "What did you find?"

"...Go and bring everyone who has ever entered the Dream of the Nameless One into the hall," the saint said slowly, and at the same time, part of his eyeballs observed the haze that filled the ship and the smell of death from the future. It is continuing to weaken, "especially those who have been in contact with the girl who traveled with the Dark Hound...Richard, yes, bring him here...don't startle him, don't arouse his alertness, and guide him here slowly." "

The haze in the hall completely subsided, the aura of death coming from all over the ship weakened sharply, and not long after, the green flames returned to the shadows on the sea.

The shadow was indeed on the boat, and I once again sensed that tiny "turning point" in my destiny - the right choice, the good result.

One of the upper-level priests quickly left the assembly hall and went to carry out the saint's order.

Then the saint on the high platform was silent for a moment, and then ordered: "Also, let the boat stop."

The haze in his fate temporarily dissipated, but a strange uneasiness still lingered in his heart. It seemed that things would not end so simply. The ghost returning from the subspace... might not be so easy to get rid of.

Driven by the necessary caution, the saint decided to stay on this sea for the time being. Before he was sure that the hidden dangers were completely eliminated, he could not let the ship continue to approach the Holy Land...

A minute later, Richard woke from a brief but confusing nightmare.

A cold wind came from nowhere and blew across his neck, and an inaudible, small whisper came from the corner of the room. The nightmare situation had dissipated from his mind, and he could not remember what he had just said. Whatever I was dreaming about, I only felt that a kind of hangover-like heart palpitations that were slowly dissipating remained in my heart. As time went by, it gradually turned into a hazy impression.

"She's coming to visit..."

A vague voice sounded, as if it came from his mind.

Richard sat up straight in bed.

Small, fuzzy whispers came from every corner of the room, and the light swayed on the wall not far away, casting many strange mottled shadows that looked like criss-crossing mycelium, or an invisible spider web. It's covering the entire cabin.

"It's time to greet the mistress...cute doll..."

The small voice whispered again.

Richard blinked slowly, and the paralysis and slowness in his mind seemed to gradually subside. He left the bed and slowly walked to the locker beside him. After opening the locker, he rummaged inside for a while and finally found what he needed. s things.

It was a large roll of paper, and several pencils.

These are the materials used in daily practice of tracing runes.

After looking at these things quietly for a few seconds, a smile finally appeared on Richard's face. He came to the bed with a pen and paper in his arms, and without hesitation threw his bedding on the ground next to him. The large roll of paper was spread on the flat bed.

"They're coming for you...don't waste any time."

Richard softly repeated the whispers in his head, with a smile on his lips, leaning down with a pencil in hand, and sketching skillfully.

A lady's beautiful face appeared in his mind and gradually fell onto the paper.