Deep Sea Embers

And even if the message amounted to nothing more than an extremely short sentence, it’s likely at the cost of countless lives from those Flame Bearers to transmit this message.

After listening to Morris’s explanation, Duncan fell into deep thought due to the shock.

He’s got a general idea of what this faith did according to the Flame Codex he read.

Unlike the storm, wisdom, and death church, the Flame Bearers followed a teaching that’s much more ethereal and harder to grasp: its history.

History was the memory of civilization. If history becomes corrupted, so does the memory of civilization itself. When that occurs, even reality itself could be bent to the corruptor’s will. Control history, control the world. To combat this threat, Flame Bearers are constantly working behind the scenes to fight against those who pose a threat. They are often forgotten, often never seen, and often perished within history itself. Nevertheless, their impact continues to be felt today in the form of everyday living.

So who did they worship? The “Eternal Flame” Ta Ruijin, a giant who guards against the corruption of history, the embodiment of civilization’s memory. According to the Flame Codex, the giant integrated the first flame created by mortals into its body. Through this flame, it records the correct history and grows with it in size, and once Ta Ruijin grows big enough, he will be immune to corruption and safeguard history in its entirety.

Of course, the origin story was nothing more than bullocks in Duncan’s view. He wouldn’t dismiss the Flame Bearers did work to combat the corruption of history, but the flame giant was a whole different matter.

“So they did something like that before already…” Duncan muttered thoughtfully.

“What did you say?” Morris didn’t process the comment and asked, “Did what before already? What do you mean…”

“It’s nothing, just talking to myself.” Duncan shook his head and met the old gent’s gaze with a certain severity, “The intel you brought is very important.”

“The intel I brought?” Morris now got really confused, “You mean the message? The one that appeared on the Flame Bearer’s pillar?”

Duncan nodded with a frown: “But there’s one thing I’m curious about, did the Black Sun have the power to corrupt history?”

“This…” Morris hesitated, obviously unsure due to this not being within the scope of his expertise. “I am not very clear about the authority of the Black Sun, which is probably only understood by those experts who specialize in fighting against evil gods. But as far as I know, the Black Sun should theoretically not have this ability…”

While Duncan nodded and continued to dwell on the issue with unease plastered all over his face, Morris took the time to observe the subspatial shadow sitting opposite of himself.

This “Mr. Duncan” has always been polite and patient. He likes to discuss academic issues with me and ask questions from time to time, just like the last time I visited the antique shop. Now, he seems interested in the Flame Bearers and their mission of preserving history. But why though? Does he suspect someone’s polluting history? Is this the reason why Lahem ordered me to get into contact with this being? What is his relationship with Lahem? What is his stance on the order of this world? Am I stuck in the middle of games between gods?

The chaotic thoughts rose and fell in Morris’s mind, forcing him to become more cautious in what he should do and what role he might be playing in this mission. In fact, Morris got this inkling sensation that Lahem was watching the conversation through him as an avatar right now. He didn’t know why, but that’s what he’s getting.

While the old gentleman was having wild thoughts, Duncan finally ended his musings and looked up, half curious and half lamenting: “I say, those Suntists have done so many bad things in the past. Doesn’t anyone want to do something about them? Like eradicating the group?”

“How can it be that easy to eliminate an evil god’s faith?” Morris subconsciously shook his head, “Heretical beliefs are like mercury entering the body, pervasive and permeating. No matter how much they are eliminated, new ones will always be sprouting. In the end, the main source of the problem remains with the evil god. Until we remove the core of the problem, the branches that spawn from it will keep coming.”

As Morris explained, he sighed harder at the situation: “Most individuals are good people at heart. They work hard and live to their fullest, but because of a single unexpected setback in their life, they would fall from grace and touch upon forbidden knowledge. You see? Any ordinary citizen can become a heretic by donning the black robe of the evil gods. How can the authorities clean them out when you have an open invitation like that?”

Speaking of this, the old gentleman subconsciously glanced at Duncan again with a strange glint in his eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Duncan appeared offended at the accusing look.

“With all due respect,” Morris took a gentle breath and plucked up the courage, “but shouldn’t you know this all too well? About a mortal being corrupted?”

Spreading his arms out, Duncan shakes his head in denial: “How am I supposed to know? I’m a law-abiding citizen. Even in my free time, I will report on the closest heretic to the authorities.”

Morris: “…?”

The older man obviously didn’t buy it and nearly choked.

Not minding the accusation, Duncan figured he better shift the conversation back on track less this spiral out of hand. “But I understand what you mean. Unless we can directly target the evil god, their influence will never wane. However, something is bothering me. Is the Black Sun’s influence really that strong? I’ve seen its lifeless state. Even when it communicated with me, it had to do it through a mental echo instead of speaking. How does a being that’s so weak able to pollute the world?”

The corners of Morris’s mouth visibly twitched: “No matter how bad the state of the Black Sun is, it is only weak in your eye… Unfortunately, we, mortals, are not so durable…”

Duncan felt an indescribable urge to rebuttal that claim and say he’s human too. However, he reconsidered the idea after taking the mental and physical health of the old historian into account. Besides, spouting something like that would only make him look weird and awkward when the other side already saw his true appearance.

It’s then Morris seemed to think of something else. After a pause, he added: “But your doubts may also point to the crux of the matter. If the state of the Black Sun is really as bad as you say, his pollution of the world really shouldn’t be so strong, at least it shouldn’t make the Suntists this tricky to handle… All this may perhaps have something to do with the existence of those sun ‘heirs’.”

“The offsprings of the sun…” muttered Duncan thoughtfully. His mind couldn’t help but think of the tall, thin black shadow that had appeared in Shirley’s dream before.

Although there was no clear evidence, he always felt that the thing was probably related to the legendary Sun offsprings.

The Black Sun has long fallen and can no longer shine on this world, but the heirs of the Black Sun continue to this day. If there’s any power causing the influence, it would be the next of kin.

But another key problem remains unsolved: the Black Sun doesn’t have the power to pollute history, and its descendants most certainly couldn’t.

Yet, the forgotten city-state of “Wilheim” did send a message that the Black Sun has returned from history. That meant history has been polluted at least once. In that case, who’s helping the Suntists to resurrect their god?