Deep Sea Embers

The tall, slender, and somewhat pallid face of the stranger was mirrored in his eyes. Along with it, the hovering dark chain in midair and the shadow demon at the chain’s end – the “jellyfish” – came into his view.

After a short instant of bewilderment, Belazov finally remembered a sequence of events – he recognized the figure and the moments that had been consistently hidden from his awareness. He recalled that when he arrived at Dagger Island, the tall, gaunt heretic stood on the shoreline; when he entered the “secret chamber,” the stranger walked beside him; when he returned to the Seagull, the stranger stood inside the cabin…

Belazov’s eyes widened, and his burnt skin appeared to fracture. He wanted to shout, to speak, but all he could manage was a faint hissing noise from his chest. Simultaneously, the tall, slender figure with a pale face finally lowered his gaze and looked down at the dying general.

“I concede, I was careless,” the tall, slender, pallid man spoke composedly, with virtually no emotion in his tone, as if he were addressing a decaying log rather than a person. “When you were wandering the ship, I assumed you were merely inspecting the various stations. General Belazov, I must admit, your performance was quite convincing.”

Belazov simply stared at the stranger, fury simmering within him, but he could no longer command his once-powerful body.

“What a shame, you were on the verge of becoming a ‘Messenger,\'” the tall, slender man shook his head regretfully. “Introducing the Nether Lord’s glory to the city-states, liberating the tormented commoners from their corrupted shells, and ushering in the first paradise in this defiled and twisted ‘reality’ – such a magnificent opportunity, and you squandered it… Just a little further to go.”

“He…retic…” Belazov finally forced a faint sound from his chest. His teeth and bones ground together. “You… will not… touch…”

“Conserve your energy, General,” the tall, slender man took a step forward, gazing down at the dying man amidst the wreckage. “Embrace your demise peacefully, and the Nether Lord’s blessings will grant your pitiful body new life. You have forfeited your chance to become a Messenger, but the compassionate Nether Lord will not abandon your anguished soul…”

With this seemingly enchanting murmur, the tall, slender man slowly extended his right hand, and the jellyfish floating behind him also ascended and squirmed, progressively emitting an increasingly bright red radiance from its vapor-like form. The crimson light reflected in Belazov’s progressively dimming eyes, and his body chilled – his consciousness seemed to have entirely vanished, no longer responsive to the external world.

“It required a bit more effort than expected,” the tall, slender man shook his head, eventually revealing some emotion in his voice. “Damn it, if it weren’t for that queen… Tsk.”

The eerie, viscous slithering and sliding sounds commenced, and the seawater surrounding the debris began to generate abnormal black foam. Within the foam, odd mud-like substances slowly emerged and steadily spread towards Belazov’s body.

Yet, just a second before the mud-like substances were about to make contact with his body, they came to an abrupt halt.

Even the turbulent seawater nearby seemed to freeze and stagnate.

The tall, slender man gazed in astonishment at the scene, instinctively trying to reconnect with the “jellyfish” again, hoping to harness the power of the enigmatic spell to complete the impending ritual. But in the following moment, he saw the previously unresponsive general suddenly stir.

“Your resilience is truly remarkable,” the tall, slender man couldn’t help but furrow his brow, “Wouldn’t it be wiser to accept your fate peacefully, General Duncan?”

“No,” the muscular body lying in the wreckage’s center, nearly charred to a crisp, opened its eyes again, calmly staring at the Annihilator, who shared a symbiotic relationship with the shadow demon, “Continue, ‘if not for that queen’, what were you going to say next?”

The tall, slender man blinked.

Something was amiss!

He didn’t know what had transpired, but all his instincts suddenly screamed with alarm at that instant. A dreadful sense of impending danger seemed to inundate his soul, saturating his mind. He stared intently at the body that had reopened its eyes, instinctively wanting to retreat, but discovered that his legs momentarily refused to obey!

Soon after, the tall, slender man finally observed the peculiar transformation in General Duncan’s body – his breathing was steady and robust, his voice was deep and composed, and his eyes were brimming with vigor. The man who had been on the brink of death just moments ago now appeared to have regained all his life force!

The general even sat up!

“‘If not for that queen’, what were you going to say next?” Duncan slowly rose to his feet, his imposing height allowing him to look down on the cultist before him. He stared into the man’s eyes, his tone solemn and composed, “The queen you mentioned, is it the Frost Queen ‘Ray Nora’?”

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the jellyfish hovering in midair, which had already begun to react.

The shadow demon could detect things ordinary people could not. Although the jellyfish lacked sensory organs, it seemed to “see” the truth within the scorched body. Now it trembled, the quivering growing increasingly intense, and tendrils of black shadow were already escaping its edges, prying open the passage between the enigmatic deep sea and the real world.

Duncan couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret in his heart: if it weren’t for this shadow demon, it would have been easier for him to maintain the facade of a dying general and gather more information.

“Who are you?!” The Annihilator finally grasped what was happening. The intense sense of incongruity and the persistent danger signals from the symbiotic demon were enough to alert him to the situation’s gravity. Even if he couldn’t deduce what had occurred, he could be certain that the soul within the body before him was no longer the original one, “If you’re just passing through, I have no intention of instigating conflict with you…”

“Resorting to civility now?” Duncan raised an eyebrow, sensing that the cultist before him was more cunning than the two he had encountered in the graveyard. “Then you might as well tell me what you and your comrades have planned, and how it involves the ‘Frost Queen’?”

As he spoke, he suddenly glanced up at the “jellyfish” hovering in midair, “Don’t even think about escaping.”

The vaporous jellyfish trembled violently, and the black fissures surrounding it shattered and dissipated in an instant, emitting a sharp tearing sound.

The enigmatic demonic chaos was simple-minded, but driven by instinct, it seemed to “heed advice.”

The tall and thin man realized then that his symbiotic demon had just attempted to open a hidden passage, causing a delayed fear to grip his mind. However, he had no time to communicate with his symbiotic demon now, as the “intruder” occupying the general’s body was casting a calm but cold gaze at him.

“I… am merely a nameless pawn,” he raised his head, looking into Duncan’s eyes, his face seemingly trying to muster a smile, “I don’t know the entire plan, you…”

“Then who knows the whole plan?” Duncan asked impassively, “And where are they hiding?”

“My comrades… they…” The tall and thin man spread his hands, his face displaying a strained smile, “They will be honored because of me—”

Duncan’s brow suddenly furrowed, and before he could react, a surge of intense energy erupted from the cultist’s body. The next moment, his entire body swelled like a balloon and exploded into a fireball! Duncan barely had time to raise his hand; the dark green flames transformed into a barrier, blocking and neutralizing the incoming flames and impact. By the time the explosion subsided and the surrounding sea surface gradually calmed, the cultist had already been reduced to ashes.

Only a dissipating black cloud of smoke remained in midair—that was the jellyfish rapidly disintegrating and vanishing after losing its symbiotic host.

Duncan stared in disbelief at the scene, taking some time to process it, but he could only sigh at the few fragments floating near the wreckage, “These depraved individuals are truly tenacious… What am I saying? They wouldn’t have fallen for a cult if their minds were sound.”

As he spoke, he shook his head.

The cultist had been obliterated, and there was no point in lamenting. Although he hadn’t obtained more clues from him, his own “possession” had already yielded considerable information.

And the most useful piece of this information was undoubtedly the mention of the “queen.”

It appeared that the Frost Queen, who perished in a rebellion half a century ago, had somehow caused significant trouble for the cultists. This trouble persisted until today, to the extent that they had to exert extra effort when taking action.

Duncan raised his hand to stroke his chin, musing as he looked up.

The night was dark, and the faint glow of the World’s Creation dimly lit the distant sea surface. At the sea’s edge, one could see the lights of the city-state coastline.

The location of Dagger Island remained a mystery, but it was evidently not far from the Frost mainland.

Duncan resolved to use this body to travel to Frost—it appeared terrible, but at least it wouldn’t disintegrate like the previous one while walking.

Taking a breath, he walked to the edge of the wreckage and mentally called out to Ai, preparing to have her transport him to the nearby coast.

However, the next second, his movement abruptly halted, causing him to look down with bewilderment.

This body… was resisting his commands.