Deep Sea Embers

When Duncan woke up, the overflowing starlight began to shrink quickly, and the desert, which was almost soaked in starlight, quickly returned to its original state, and Tarijin also breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the "Eternal Burning Fire" turned his head and glanced at Fanna who was not far away.

When the starlight filled the air, Vanna was hardly affected - in fact, she didn't even seem to notice the spreading starlight. She was just contemplating something like Duncan, and it was only then that she raised her head belatedly. Looking around.

A little lavender starlight filled the edges of her long silver-white hair, as if those stars had existed a long time ago, and only now appeared under some kind of "irradiation".

"You have gradually been transformed by the power of the Fire Usurper and have begun to become an extension of his power." Tarijin broke the silence and nodded slightly to Vana, "This confirms my judgment - the nature of the Fire Usurper. Not the flames, but what lies beneath the flames."

At this moment, Fanna finally began to understand what was being discussed between the captain and the "ancient god" in front of her. Her expression changed several times, with a thoughtful look on her face.

"So strictly speaking, you have never stepped into this world, Fire Usurper," Tarijin once again set his sights on Duncan, "You have been observing everything in the boundless sea through a layer of curtain. It's just that Occasionally, I will use my own eyes to detect its fleeting true side, and the ending of the flame you mentioned——

I can think of what it is - it is caused by this limitation.

The 'takeover' of Pilot One is based on the fact that you must continue the sanctuary, and continuing the sanctuary means that you have to maintain your awareness of the current status of the refuge." To maintain your awareness of the current status of the refuge, You must be 'Duncan'. "

Tarijn paused briefly here, seemingly giving Duncan time to think, and then continued in a low voice: "Because the fire usurper's gaze will destroy this world - its appearance depends on your observation conclusion. .

"And this is also true conversely. When you want to carry out the "first step", you must be a fire usurper - because the gaze of 'Captain Duncan' will cause the shelter to continue in the flames, thus ushering in the 'Flame' The ending has nothing to do with your subjective wishes, and it may be the only thing in this world that you cannot control. "

The fire usurper's gaze will destroy this world

Duncan didn't speak. He thought about what Tarijin said, about Pilot One's plan and his own plan.

In the eyes of "Duncan" and "Zhou Ming", the world looks different.

I get it," Duncan said after a long moment - he still needed to be "Duncan"

—

Finally exhaling softly, he raised his head and met Tarijin's eyes, "Thank you for reminding me, this is indeed crucial.

"That's good." A smile appeared on Tarijin's face, and then the old and rickety giant stretched out his hands to support his body and the ground next to him. He gradually exerted his strength, and in a difficult but firm posture, slowly moved from Stand up in the yellow sand.

The sand fell from his body, like the passing years gone by the wind. He stood in the desert under the night, looking up into the distance.

After a while, he sighed softly: "There is almost nothing left -

What was it like here originally? "Hearing the other party's sigh, Fanna couldn't help but ask, "Original? It was not a lush place originally, because from the beginning, the 'history' in the sanctuary was just an phantom built in the long river of time. It was my 'carving' and the continuous ritual records of the fire bearers. Inheritance and repair make the real world outside seem to have been developing and continuing normally along time, but it has never been prosperous here.

"But at least, it was not a desert at that time - the endless dry land was dotted with extremely rare rivers and oases, because even in the hallucinatory time flow, what really happened was reflected. Something truly worth documenting.

At that time, there were even cities on this land, and intellectual groups lived beside the oases. Those were reflections of the real world reflected in this dreamland carved by me. In their memories, the world was once prosperous, and It has always been prosperous. "

The old giant bent down, grabbed a handful of sand from the ground, and watched as it gradually fell from his fingers and disappeared into the cold night wind.

"Then, I encountered 'rot',

More and more things are disappearing into the real world, and the history of the shelter is also riddled with holes. Every 'self-adjustment' of the shelter means more and more 'gangrene' appears in the time stream. The dry land is gradually covered with yellow sand, and the memories and sounds of the past echo in the ruins, eventually becoming what you see before you. "

Vanna couldn't help but think of that city, the sounds she heard and the relics she saw while trekking in this endless sea of ​​sand.

And then, she suddenly thought of something else: She thought of some deviant "theories" and "academic conjectures" that she had seen in the archives of the cathedral when she was still in Prand. One world has two sides.

Some scholars believe that the entire world is one with two sides - in a certain dimension, there is a "dry land" where the sea and the land are completely reflected. There is an endless dry land, and extremely rare rivers and oases are dotted here. In the midst of drought, there are even intelligent civilizations in that depleted land, and they are reflections of everything in reality.

Fanna opened her eyes wide. She couldn't help but look into the distance, looking at the boundless sea of ​​sand, and imagining the ruins of large and small city-states dotted in the sea of ​​sand.

This is the place that those scholars have guessed is a reflection of the world.

It turns out that it really exists - it exists at the end of the world, in the memory of an ancient god who is gradually decaying and has a world that is constantly weathering and disintegrating.

Vanna raised her head suddenly, as if she wanted to say something to Tarijin, but just when she was about to speak, a strong wind suddenly swept across the yellow sand.

The wind and sand were like a curtain rising from the sky and the earth, closing around her and the captain, and then disappeared in the blink of an eye - the wind stopped, and the giant standing hunched in the desert had disappeared from her eyes.

The chaotic sky light shines through the clouds and thick fog, illuminating this ash-covered island. A breeze blows from nowhere, and a layer of fine and pale ash dances with the wind, floating around like a veil.

Fanna woke up from her daze, raised her eyes and looked into the distance, seeing only endless ashes in front of her eyes, and sparse smoke pillars rising crookedly into the sky from a distance.

Not far from her, there was a bonfire that seemed to be extinguished.

Tarijn sat there - skinny, rickety, almost a pile of withered bones. He was the bonfire itself, and his flesh and bones were the fuel for the bonfire. The small and weak flames came from his blackened bones and remnants. The flesh and blood ignited, shaking gently in the breeze.

The giant lowered his head and sat there motionless. There seemed to be some things piled up beside him, but now there were only some undulating, shapeless ashes, and he still held a chisel-like tool in his hand. Black stone pieces - it seemed that he was still carving something carefully until he could no longer move.

Vanna slowly came to the pile of flames that were almost extinguished, raised her head, and looked at the giant's face for a long time and silently.

In a daze, she seemed to hear that familiar voice again.

Duncan walked over from the side and gently pressed his hand on Vanna's shoulder.

"We should go," he whispered, "before the fire here is completely extinguished."

Vanna nodded slightly.

Duncan took another step forward and stretched out his finger towards the remaining flames on Tarijn's body.

Silently, the cluster of flames was quietly dyed with a layer of faint green, and then the fire light jumped, and there were magnificent stars emerging in the fire light, flickering slowly as if they were breathing.

In the vague perception established by the flames, he whispered in his heart: "See you in the new world."

In the eternal night, a huge fleet is sailing towards the north.

The night wind blows through the calm sea, bringing a coldness unique to the cold northern sea that seems to gradually freeze the heart and lungs. The pale and cold light of the world shines on the whole world. Those floating on the dark, mirror-like sea Ice floes, large and small, reflected the glory of the creation of the world. Under the night, they were like peaceful and pale ghosts, moving slowly but really quickly outside the ship's side.

Even the huge and sacred bonfire could not dispel the coldness that enveloped the entire sea - Frame stood next to the fire in the center of the church ark. For a moment, he even felt that the blazing flame in front of him seemed to have suddenly disappeared. When the temperature was lowered, what hit his face was no longer the heat of the fire, but an endless emptiness and sharp and biting cold.

The sound of footsteps came from the side, awakening the Firebringer Pope who was meditating with his eyes closed. Frame looked towards the direction of the sound and saw a priestess wearing a black-bottomed fire-patterned dress and a veil walking towards himself, and bowed his head to himself by the fire.

Your Majesty, we have crossed the sea around the frost and have just received a signal from the Deep Sea Church ship. They will meet us in half an hour and deliver the 'goods'."

"Well," Frame responded, "Is the archives ready?"

"It has been prepared for storage," the tall Sen'jin priestess replied. "Each storage area has been readjusted, leaving space for newly stored documents."

Frame nodded silently.

"In addition, the Frost City State just sent a message," the priestess said again, "The Tirian Archon sent us greetings. The original text is as follows: "With all the best wishes in the world, I pay tribute to the record and inheritor. Please move forward with peace of mind. Everything All actions of survival have meaning: 'They' have crossed the burning node and will go to the last stop. "