The flame on the alchemy table began to burn silently, the liquid in the flask was bubbling, and Lahem's gaze came from the fog deep in his mind. Rune felt that his consciousness was drawn to a dark and deep place - after passing through an illusory and long black "tunnel", he saw a few faint lights at the end of the tunnel.
They were his old friends—Helena, Banster, and Frame.
He came in front of the figures, and before he could say hello, Helena was the first to break the silence: "You look good, Rune - it looks like we don't have to worry about the Academy of Truth needing a new pope."
"Thank you for your 'concern'. It seems that I will not be summoned by the Lord for a while." Rune glared at Helena, but his tone showed that he did not mind at all. Then he turned to the others and nodded slightly. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I need some time to restore order on the Ark and my own condition."
Frame, a tall man with rock-like skin, carefully examined the state of Rune's soul projection and said in a low voice, "Is the incident resolved?"
"It's solved," Rune nodded and said, "Order in Breeze Harbor is being restored, and the elves in other parts of the world should also gradually wake up. The worst thing didn't happen after all."
"... We want to know more information," said Banster, a tall and thin old man who followed the God of Death. His expression was solemn. "The impact of this incident far exceeded that of Plunder and Frost. It directly affected an entire race, and it also directly pointed to the history before the Deep Sea Era... What happened in Breeze Harbor?"
Rune was silent for a moment. His eyes swept between several figures and finally landed on the leader of the Firebringers, Frame. After a moment of consideration, he finally spoke in a deep voice: "With the help of Captain Duncan, I witnessed the occurrence of the 'Great Annihilation' - the ultimate truth of our world is far beyond everyone's imagination."
Afterwards, he told the three old friends everything that had happened in the deepest part of the Nameless One's dream, including the great impact that destroyed the two worlds and the information about the Sen'jin's home world. He told them everything without hiding anything.
Obviously, even for the followers of the Four Gods, this information was too shocking - after Rune finished speaking, this dark space supported by the echoes of psychic energy fell into silence for a long time.
"The collision and fusion of worlds?" After an unknown amount of time, Helena was the first to break the silence. She stared into Rune's eyes in the darkness, "You mean, the 'World Drifting Theory' has been verified?"
"It's more extreme than the 'World Drift'... You didn't see it with your own eyes, so it's hard for you to imagine what a terrifying process that 'impact' was. It was the annihilation and reshaping of all things. Everything in the world turned into a dark and chaotic 'primordial soup' in a very short time. It looked... like the subspace. There were definitely more than two worlds that 'impacted' at the time. Perhaps dozens or even hundreds of worlds collided at the same time. The memory of 'Silantis' is just a corner of that great annihilation..."
Rune did his best to describe his feelings when he saw that scene, as well as the associations that came with it. During his narration, the tall Frame remained silent and thoughtful. After a long time, the Senjin Pope, who looked like a little giant, suddenly spoke: "Are you sure... that the giant who was traveling with Miss Vanna was the 'Eternal Flame'?"
"That's the clue we have now," Rune nodded seriously, "The 'Chronicle' is now on the Lost Homeland. I have seen it with my own eyes."
At this point he paused, and added very seriously: "But I want to warn you that it may not be easy to take that thing away..."
"I know," Frame shook his head before Rune finished speaking, "I will seriously consider this matter... The most important thing now is not the 'Chronicle', but the information about our Lord, or strictly speaking, the information about the 'Lord' that each of us serves."
He raised his head, his eyes seemed to carry invisible pressure, looking at every figure at the scene.
Of course, others understood the meaning of this last sentence.
After all, in this world, they are the mortals closest to the Four Gods—in fact, they have long been able to sense what is behind that hazy and awe-inspiring veil.
"… Our connection with the gods has become increasingly difficult, and the role of the Pilgrimage Ark has gradually weakened," Banster said slowly. "When the Ark was first built, I could almost hear the Lord's voice directly in the meditation room, but now, after just a few years, that voice has become a vague whisper."
"The pilgrimage ark is just an auxiliary anchor point. It can only strengthen our connection with the 'master', but it cannot really delay the decay." Rune shook his head slowly. "When we built these arks, we actually knew that this day would come sooner or later."
Banster fell silent. The tall and thin old man closed his eyes slightly, as if he was quietly feeling and listening to something. After a long time, he spoke softly: "Sometimes, I can almost smell the smell of them gradually rotting..."
The dark space was silent for a while. After a long while, Rune broke the silence with a low voice: "... Yes, we can all do it."
Banster turned his head and looked into Helena's eyes in the darkness: "... The Deep Sea Church's fleet has been operating at the border for a long time. Have you made any progress?"
"The advance team is still wandering in the endless fog," Helena said with a little frustration. "There are no routes or reference points in the depths of the fog. The sea and the sky both have a strange texture. Even with the 'Observatory' for navigation, the heading error has reached an unacceptable level... We tried to build a few temporary lighthouses in places where the fog is thinner, but this can only allow us to go a limited distance in the fog... Going deeper, the lighthouse will be swallowed by the fog."
"Our fleet encountered the same problem," Fram said. "We entered the Eternal Curtain of the Border from another gap. At first, the fog was thin and the sea conditions were normal. But as soon as we went deeper, the fog suddenly became thicker and the lights we had set up disappeared into the fog as if they were swallowed up by something out of thin air."
"This exploration has been going on for some time," Rune said with a serious expression. "We have mobilized patrol fleets from all over the world and gathered them in large numbers in the border waters. This should have attracted the attention of many city-states. If we continue like this, whether we can find the 'connection point' between the gods and the mortal world will definitely cause suspicion and panic among the world."
Several figures remained silent for a while. The popes were each lost in thought. After several minutes, Helena suddenly said, "In history, only one person has ever truly gone deep into the 'border' and returned alive from the fog."
"...Yes, this is also the last thing I want to say to you this time." Rune nodded gently, "'He' is also willing to establish further exchanges with the Four Gods Church—not as simple as meeting with one of us, but a truly in-depth 'cooperative' relationship."
This was obviously a very sensitive and hesitant topic. The other three figures did not speak for a while, and Rune first set his sights on Helena: "You should support it - the saint named Vanna has lived on that ship for a long time. You should have obtained a lot of information from her. I believe that you, like me, know a lot about the current situation of the ship and the status of the captain."
"Vanna... Well, judging from the information Vanna sent back, the captain is indeed trustworthy." Helena rubbed her forehead, but for some reason her words sounded awkward. "Sometimes I even doubt whose saint she is. She has recently shown... too much trust in the 'captain'."
"But at least you can be sure that she is still loyal to her faith - otherwise you won't hear her voice again through the blessing of the Storm Goddess." Rune laughed, "I met your saint this time. Although we didn't have much contact, I can feel that she is... a frank and real person. Her judgment on the captain is trustworthy."
"I also agree to have further exchanges with the captain, including direct contact with him and inviting him to participate in our current operation," Frame said, "Although I don't have any saints kidnapped to that ship, I believe in Rune's judgment, and no matter what, I need to see the 'Chronicle' with my own eyes..."
Helena and Rune said in unison: "Can you please stop bringing up the topic of 'the saints being kidnapped onto the ship' every time?!"
Frame spread his hands and said, "Okay, I won't say anything."
Then the three of them looked at the only person at the scene who had not expressed his opinion.
Banster, who was tall and thin and dressed in a black robe, felt a little awkward being stared at by three people, and couldn't help but frowned: "Why are you looking at me?"
"Now it's up to you," Rune said seriously. "We all agree to establish further communication with the captain and disclose to him our actions in the border waters. What do you think?"
Banster pursed his lips tightly, and it was obvious that he was still thinking intensely in his mind. After a long time, he sighed helplessly: "I need some time to let my bishops accept this matter."
Helena was a little surprised: "So, you personally accepted it?"
"Otherwise?" Banster spread his hands. "Personal feelings must give way at this time - as long as 'he' doesn't take anything away from me this time."
(Monthly ticket requested!)
(End of this chapter)