Deep Sea Embers

A ghost ship that constantly oscillated between subspace and reality was like a cannonball shuttling between the roof and foundation. Every vibration damaged the spirit world and deep sea, leaving a trail of carnage by dragging everything along with it into subspace.... As a cherry on top, the incident occurred over a long period as well!

It’s no wonder a shadow demon like Dog would have its fear engrained into his bones. Who wouldn’t be traumatized if they had to witness something that crazy?

But compared to the shocking mess that the Vanished once made, Duncan was more concerned about the ship itself and the real Captain Duncan.

Was that “shock” intentionally done by the real ghost captain? Or some kind of uncontrolled trek caused by madness? Did the goat head know what was going on back then? If all this was intentional, then what purpose fueled this crazy venture?

The Vanished... Will it get out of control again?!

For a long time, the Vanished has been Duncan’s biggest backbone, his safest hiding harbor. The safety of that vessel was equal to his own safety. It’s the reason he explored the ghost ship and took control. It’s to ensure his own safety in this weird and dangerous world. But now he learns the greatest threat was in fact that very ship?

Will I be able to pull a ghost ship back from subspace if it plows straight into it?

After the idea of being unable to control the vessel started to sprout, the man was shaken to the core. He’s not delusional enough to believe a story merely based on hearsay, but there’s that door down at the lowest cabin on the Vanished.... And the way the goat head reacted after learning there was an open crack.... There’s no question about it. The subspace had never stopped calling out to the Vanished. It’s always been trying to convert it back into madness like Dog said.

Taking a small breath to forcibly calm his irritated mood, the man clenched his fist and felt powerless.

No matter how much he thought about it, he didn’t have the ability to meddle with issues related to subspace at the moment. He knew far too little and lacked manpower. Perhaps the four main churches could help, but that’s for another date.

“Let’s focus on what’s here first,” Duncan shook his head to dismiss the trap he made himself. “If something from subspace really invaded this underground church, then things from eleven years ago are far more complicated than everyone had assumed....”

He raised his head and looked at the door that’s no longer there.

“The nun here barricaded herself here before dying in battle, probably to prevent the thing from running outside. But can a simple door prevent an invader from subspace from leaving?”

“The invasion of subspace is also situational,” Dog said thoughtfully. “In most cases, the real world is protected by the gods.... Alright, I admit I don’t like them very much, but they’ve effectively protected the mortals from many dangerous beings. Like a shadow of subspace, they must first locate a medium before influencing the real world. It could be a polluted item, a fleshly body, or even the human heart...”

As Dog went on, he suddenly halted and glanced up at Duncan nervously.

What invading shadow of subspace? In my view, you are the greatest threat of all here dammit!

“Go on, and then what?” Duncan, the walking subspace invasion, cluelessly pressed the dark hound without knowing what he represented.

“I... I mean, subspace invasions can normally be blocked off by the sacred facilities in the churches... And since the invasion is not from the main body, one only needs to cut off the connection to stop it. Of course....” Dog gulped when reaching this part, “the price needed to do this is another matter entirely on its own....”

“I see, so that’s what happened,” Duncan nodded nonchalantly. When he faced the nun who had fallen to the ground, his eyes now showed admiration, “She must’ve done everything she could to prevent that disaster from further exploding.”

“But she probably didn’t succeed, right?” Shirley’s voice suddenly came from the side. Due to the discussed subjects being too high-end or too scary, the girl hadn’t found a chance to interject herself until now. “Eleven years ago, the fire still happened...”

“The fire eleven years ago was caused by the sun fragment, yet we found traces of a suspected subspace shadow in this church. It is not clear how these two things are related,” Duncan shook his head, then he seemed to have thought of something and slowly came to the goddess statue at the center of the underground sanctuary. “But... I am suddenly quite curious about something.”

He raised his head and peered at the slightly different stone face to the one on the main floor.

“What are you curious about?” Shirley followed, glancing cautiously at the weird statue as well.

“This storm goddess, what was she doing during all this?” Duncan raised his hand and pointed at the statue, “The church was invaded, the priest died in battle, and only a phantom soul remnant was left outside. Why did the gods here not react at all? At the very least... she should’ve warned her believers of the dangers and threats here. Why not send help?”

“I don’t know much about the gods, but this matter is indeed a little suspicious,” Dog grumbled when he heard this. “Although the connection between the gods and the earthly world is not close, they are indeed always concerned about their respective ‘sanctuaries’. These buildings where the followers gather are like the ‘anchors’ of the gods and the earthly world. Now that one of the anchors has been silently unplugged for eleven years.... It’s weird that nothing has been done.”

Duncan mused again before raising his right hand. Rubbing his finger, he summoned a small flame from the tip to illuminate the statue.

“You... what are you going to do?” Dog started to shiver and rattle his chain while cowering backward.

“If one can’t make a decision, just make a little fire.” Duncan forms a mischievous grin, “Maybe the burn will drag out something that’s hiding here.”

Dog was shocked by what he heard. Wanting to remind the boss that it’s the church of a god, the dark hound stopped at the last second after recalling the situation. He had no right to stop a shadow of subspace. Besides, the church had already fallen. What’s there to protest about?!

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean Dog wouldn’t take protective measures. He had quietly distanced himself from Duncan and dragged Shirley along. If there’s really divine punishment coming down from overheard, he and Shirley wouldn’t be able to bear it!

Duncan noticed Dog’s movement, but he didn’t care.

Of course, he didn’t want to attract the attention of the storm goddess either, but in the church’s main hall just now, he had already confirmed that this “sanctuary” had already eroded to the point of no return. So if something was watching the church, it could only be some evil force.

The ghost fire silently burned as it fell to the ground like a droplet of water. It’s hazy and illusory, quickly rippling along the sanctuary floor to instantly fill the entire room. However, just as quickly as it spread, the flames silently extinguished itself once it hit the end.

Shirley and Dog exchanged a weird look with each other, and after a long while of this eeriness, Shirley finally broke the silence: “You... what did you find?”

With some surprise, Duncan looked at the little flame that was still jumping on his fingers.

Is there really nothing here? Or to say... the power of the flames is not enough to pry apart the “curtain” that shrouds here?

He frowned, and at this moment, a very slight, almost hallucinatory murmur suddenly entered his ears-

“Who’s there?” Duncan was startled and suddenly looked up in the direction of where the voice came from.

It’s the statue of Gomona, standing quietly in the darkness as usual.