Deep Sea Embers

In the moment when Vanna heard these words, her mind instantly shook as a static tearing rippled within her mind. It could not be described in words, nor could she pinpoint where the source came from. All she knew was that it’s mixed into the flames and surging forward across the island.

Then, she met the gaze of that “Captain Duncan” standing behind the Ender. Unlike the one she had met in the dream; this one was completely shrouded in flames like a true ethereal ghost.

It only took a split second for Vanna to judge that this was not the main body, but another projection brought forth by herself as a “medium”. She could sense the power flowing out of her, sense something burning from within, and sense the second voice echoing from her body.

Out of reflex, the inquisitor raised her hand and peered down. There, in the palm of her hand, a small green flame had attached itself to her flesh and spreading along the arms to the legs of the man. Here, the truth finally dawned on her. Since long ago, the ghost captain had turned herself into a “node”, an anchor point to project himself into this city. The erosion and corruptions had been far deeper than she and Bishop Valentine could’ve imagined, and the reason was all for this day…

In the next second, the whole world in her eyes changed abruptly.

The green flame spread into the other reddish one, into every pile of ash, into every rising smoke, it’s bursting out of the seams and across the entire city after lurking for an unknown amount of time!

It happened way too fast to react, or rather, it had been done long before this “real invasion” began. Vanna recalled what she had seen on the other side of the curtain, and suddenly, realized that the fire created by the Enders and the Suntists had unknowingly become the carrier of the ghostly flame… Their act of burning the entire city only furthered the ghost captain’s plan!

A mournful cry suddenly sounded, waking Vanna up from her daze. She confronted the source of the noise and saw that the emaciated Ender had also burst into a pyre of green.

He twisted and howled after witnessing the sudden turn of event: “Stupid fool! Foolish idiot! Be destroyed! You rejected the gift of subspace! You will suffer eternally in this suffering world… Foolishness!!”

However, in contrast to the curses and howls of this madman, the scene around Pland was a whole different matter. Everything touched by the ghostly green flame was recovering at an incredible speed!

Buildings destroyed by the fire quickly returned to its regular form, roads torn apart by the melting heat are healed, the flaming rain has stopped, and the doomsday clouds hovering overhead dissipated, returning the sky back to the blue open ceiling.

Then, at long last, the chimes of the other bells begun to ring again.

As Captain Duncan said, he told them to get lost, so the false reality did.

Vanna’s eyes widened into utter shock as she watched this incomprehensible scene unfold in real time. But just as quickly, she soon realized what in essence this “repair” was – the corruption caused by the Enders and Suntists are being stripped away, and the false history expelled by the captain’s power!

She gawked at the towering figure standing in the near distance, the latter only calmly gazing down at the Ender, who was still preaching his nonsense despite being roasted.

“Everything can be polluted, except subspace…” Vanna muttered softly.

Despite being twisted into a creature that’s no longer recognizable as a human, the Ender didn’t die yet of course: “You… turned the city-state into part of the Vanished?!”

“The Vanished is the promised ark, I think we can expand upon the idea of the ‘Ark’,” Duncan smiled and bent down slightly to meet the creature’s gaze. “If a ship that encounters the Vanished at sea can be assimilated and absorbed, then… why can’t Pland be the same? What differs Pland from any other ship?”

As if exactly on cue, a loud gong of the mentioned ship’s arrival had arrived from the ocean.

Vanna subconsciously looked up into the distance, and in the next second, she saw a scene that was enough to shock her for the rest of her life – it’s a big black ship.

The Vanished has appeared from the Boundless Sea, burning with its monstrous ghost fire that stirred the ethereal sail.

The ship crossed the coast, over the port that was rapidly recovering, and directly into the city-state of Pland through illusory waters, which had already been covered with green flames. Yes, it’s no longer sailing on water, it’s actually levitating over land now!

“You… you may have saved the city… but you can’t stop the sun from falling…” came a faint sound from the pile of twisted ash on the floor that had once been the Ender. “Even if it is only a small fragment summoned from history… it’s enough… to destroy… end…”

The sound eventually faded after the Ender’s vitally became exhausted, forcing his already crumbling body to shatter into the wind.

Vanna, on the other hand, got quite nervous and worried after hearing that dying whisper. She stared up at the “Black Sun” that looked like a mouth from the abyss, swallowing the world and the city with its presence.

The flames of the Vanished have removed the historical pollution suffered by Pland, but the desecrated sun… It was never a part of Pland from the start, rather a projection of history summoned by the Enders with the support of the Suntists. It’s an independent existence!

“Something is awakening in the black sun!” Vanna loudly reminded “Captain Duncan” despite their opposing position, “It will…”

Duncan just waved his hand at her gently.

Then, Vanna saw the ghost captain turn and face the blasphemous sunwheel hanging in the air. With a raised hand as if beckoning someone to come over, he spoke softly in a cooing voice: “Come to this side… that’s right, don’t worry, you won’t fall, just move forward like we practiced. Remember how you ride a bicycle? Just like that… Yes, keep moving and I’ll hold you.”

In the next second, a bright golden arc of flame suddenly stung Vanna’s vision as she witnessed a gap being torn open from the edge of the sun. It jumped over to Captain Duncan’s presence, and with the departure of this flame, a mournful roar suddenly sounded from within the blasphemous sun!

As if some kind of giant beast had suddenly suffered a blow through the heart, the black sun’s core was promptly riddled by countless eye stinging cracks. Then in a blink of an eye, a swarm of dark green flames rushed forward and rapidly invaded the sun wheel through this wound.

The agitation in the dark core dissipated following this invasion, and the faint vitality that could be felt seconds ago almost died off completely. In fact, one could actually see a gaping hole in the thing, leaving the wound to drip forward a constant stream of boiling substance that was instantly devoured by the green flames before it touched the city ground.

Accompanied by continuous screams, roars, and crackling explosions, the deformed and desecrated sun eventually disintegrated, leaving only a few residues and debris falling into the ripples on the edge of the Vanished.

The huge ghost ship had sailed to the center of the city by now and gradually approached the cathedral bell tower with its towering structure.

It’s here, in this second, Vanna heard the bells ringing next to herself – the bell tower at her feet also broke free from the pollution of history, and the device charged with ringing the bell now ran automatically.

The figure of Bishop Valentine also gradually reappeared in the air – the bishop who guarded the city-state until the very last moment successfully returned to reality, proving that the branch of history that pointed to destruction has completely disappeared.

Vanna’s gaze did not rest on the bishop though; instead, she was still staring at Duncan not far away, who had now turned around – he was surrounded by the jumping arc of flame, and the warmth and brightness brought by said flame softened even his gloomy and majestic face.

“I thought you were going to come up with a jump strike,” Duncan smiled, as if chatting with friends, to Vanna, “just like the last time.”

“…… I’m not a brainless person.”

“Really? I thought you loved jumping; after all, every mature warrior can’t resist the urge to make a jumping chop on the opposite side,” Duncan casually joked and stretched his hand out to sooth the slightly restless flame around himself. Then giving Vanna a nod, “I’m done, see you next time.”

Vanna was startled and subconsciously stepped forward: “Wait! You can’t just…”

Duncan had already turned away, waved his hand, and strode into the air beyond the platform of the bell tower – the towering stern of the Vanished slowly moved past the tower as well, and next to the rudder on the deck was the captain who was personally at the helm.

Here, Duncan’s projection wrapped in ghost flames directly stepped onto the ship and became one with his own being.

He stood on the helm, holding the steering wheel in his hand, smiled and nodded to Vanna.

Then the huge ghost ship gradually accelerated, sailed over the sky of Pland, and sailed to the coast on the other side of the city-state for the Boundless Sea.