Deep Sea Embers

Hearing Agatha's undisguised distaste for the Annihilation Cultists in Agatha's tone, the old guard's expression did not change - he focused more on the latest information.

The "samples" taken from the cemetery... in the laboratory showed the properties of the "elements" described by the cultists.

No matter how crazy those heretics are, no matter how unethical their fallacies and heresies are, as a member of the Orthodox Church, the old guard must understand the information of those heretics, their crazy teachings and highly polluting knowledge system , and in the entire set of heresies of the Annihilation Cultists, there is always a core around them:

Holy Lord Youshen, and all kinds of "miracles" created by Holy Lord Youshen.

Annihilation believers firmly believe that the earthly world favored by the gods is not a "peaceful paradise", but is actually a "land of exile" that has been severely corrupted and completely distorted. They believe that the brightness and prosperity of the real world are woven by the gods Visions, the true home of mortal souls and "unpolluted reality" are not here at all, but in the depths of the world - the Abyssal Realm.

On this basis, they believe that the Lord of the Deep and the demons represent the purest, original, and unpolluted attitude of the world, and believe that only by purifying their dirty bodies can mortals "return" to the deep and return to the original place .

However, the world is blocked by the gods, and there is a barrier between the "distorted real world" and the "true real world (that is, the deep sea)". The flesh and blood of mortals is the concrete manifestation of this barrier. Trapped in this body and subjected to a lifetime of constant "pollution", it is impossible to return to the deep.

Therefore, the Holy Lord of the Deep will send down a miracle called "Element" - the heretics believe that this kind of holy substance is the foundation of all things at the beginning of the birth of the world, and the blueprint of the Holy Lord when planning the "real world" is all Hidden in the microscopic scale of "element", and only "element" can resist the curse in the flesh and blood of all beings in the world, and let mortals return to "the pure posture at the beginning of birth".

And regarding this substance called "element", the Annihilation Cultists described it like this:

"...it will present all the characteristics of all things in the world, and it will always be in a constant evolutionary cycle. It represents all the plans and blueprints of the Usher Lord when shaping reality, and short-sighted mortals will never be able to measure any of the elements. The exact nature of the item..."

The old guard suddenly raised his head and stared into Agatha's eyes: "...do you think that's 'element'?"

Agatha replied without hesitation: "The element is just the nonsense of those heretics, it is probably just some new substance that cannot be explained by our current knowledge system, and its property change may be some kind of natural phenomenon , or maybe some kind of extraordinary power—but it can't be some kind of 'miracle' descended by the Lord Youshen."

However, in the face of such an answer, the old guard's expression did not change at all, and he just quietly looked into the gatekeeper's eyes: "Do you think that is 'element'?"

Facing the second questioning, Agatha finally fell silent for a short time, and after two or three seconds, she exhaled softly: "But I have to admit, at least in nature...the collected samples are consistent with the group of heretics. describe."

The old guard raised his head and looked at the morgue not far away.

The fine snow has gradually grown larger after nightfall, and snowflakes are constantly falling from the dark night sky. Walking sticks stand in the dark cemetery, and the lanterns on the top of the sticks reflect the scattered snowflakes around, as if to add to everything. hazy texture.

And his gaze passed through these scattered snowflakes and lights, and landed on an empty mortuary table not far away.

A special corpse was once parked there.

"Those samples... used to be a person, at least they used to look like a person," the old guard seemed to be talking to himself. "You personally led the team to bring him here, you should still remember."

"Of course I remember," Agatha said softly, "very few corpses need to be transported by the 'gatekeeper' himself, and that corpse fell into the deepest part of the mine, which is the deepest place in the entire city-state, and it was brought out from there. The dead... are special."

"But his special degree is still beyond everyone's expectations." The old guard turned his head and looked at the young gatekeeper. "You found the real person who fell into the well the next day, so the body is obviously only the real dead person." No wonder the 'replicas' made of 'elements' attract the attention of those heretics of Annihilation."

"Perhaps it didn't attract their attention, but the whole thing was their handiwork," Agatha shook her head, "We suspect that the accident that fell into the shaft was caused by the cultists, and the purpose was to use it in the depths of the mine. Victims come to make 'replicas', which is similar to some kind of sacrificial ceremony, but obviously, something went wrong in their plan, which led to the replicas being discovered by accident, and even sent to your cemetery by us. "

The old guard shrugged: "It also attracted the attention of an indescribable 'visitor'."

"...Yes, an indescribable visitor." Agatha's always calm expression finally changed a bit, and her tone became cautious, "We still don't know what is the purpose of his visit."

The old guard looked up at the sky, and after a moment of silence he said, "It's getting late at night."

The cemetery fell into silence for a while, and the unspeakable treachery and silence shrouded between the path and the platform, soaked in the night wind wrapped in snowflakes.

All were waiting—for an unnamed visitor, or a peaceful sunrise.

I don't know how long this silence lasted. Just when Agatha was about to persuade the old guard to go back to the hut to rest, a light knocking sound suddenly sounded in the night.

A clear and deep voice came from a nearby coffin:

"Why don't you continue talking?"

Such a voice suddenly came from the silent cemetery, even well-trained church guards could not avoid a moment of horror and astonishment, Agatha even felt that even the snowflakes falling in the lights seemed to be still for two seconds—— —The next second, all the guards quickly came to the coffin that made the sound, and the sound of boots stepping on the snow was heard intensively.

Agatha turned into a pale shadow almost instantly, and appeared beside the mortuary table as if teleporting, staring fixedly at the coffin that made the sound. After taking two deep breaths, she let her voice be as calm as possible. Speak up: "Are you a visitor from ... the day before yesterday?"

"I'm taking the liberty to come here, I hope I didn't scare you," Duncan in the coffin thought for a while, and greeted casually, "I did come here once two days ago, but there were cultists making trouble at that time, and the contact with that guard It didn't go well."

Footsteps sounded from the side, and the old guard with gloomy eyes cautiously came to the side of the coffin. He quickly glanced at the dark coffin from the corner of his eye, and quickly retracted it in the next second.

Although this time he did not lose control of his spiritual vision due to the influence of the incense, and he even used anti-spiritual pollution medicine in advance, but the psychological shadow caused by the last "contact" was really serious, especially for him, a seasoned veteran. At this moment, he also seemed extremely cautious.

"...Did you arrive just now?" After calming down for a while, the old guard finally broke the silence.

"When you started discussing the 'element'," Duncan's voice came from inside the coffin, "I felt that I heard very interesting information—but you suddenly stopped talking about it."

Agatha raised her head, and looked at the old guard with a surprised expression.

Her lips moved slightly, but her voice came directly into the mind of the old guard: "Is this visitor... so approachable?"

The old guard shrugged and moved his lips slightly: "I don't know."

The two priests of the church briefly completed the exchange, and immediately afterward, Agatha waved her hands gently to the surroundings.

The black-clothed guards gathered around the coffin immediately spread their footsteps slightly to prevent this overly cautious response from being regarded as some kind of provocation by the "visitor" who descended on the dead body.

Duncan had already sensed the surrounding atmosphere in the coffin. He had been lying there for more than a few minutes. Ever since the old guard and the young woman started talking about the "element", he had been patiently and curiously Listening in, at this moment, he felt the breath around him spread out, so he smiled and said casually: "There are quite a lot of people here tonight."

"...We didn't intend to offend you," Agatha responded cautiously immediately. She was unable to confirm the origin of this "visitor" for the time being, but at least the other party did not show initial hostility. God" exists, and showing enough politeness is the first step in communication. "The arrangement here is only to protect our own sanity."

"Oh, I understand. People often have brain problems while talking to me. Frankly speaking, it's quite troublesome." Duncan said with a smile in his tone, "You know how to protect yourself, which is very good."

Agatha frowned.

She has dealt with a lot of extraordinary beings, many of whom are vicious or chaotic, but it is the first time that she chats with herself like this....

"Can we know which existence you are...?" After a moment of hesitation, she finally mustered up the courage to ask.

Duncan in the coffin pondered seriously.

Then he recalled the glorious achievement of the Lost Homelander in dragging the thirteen islands of Viserand into the subspace, and the connection between the thirteen islands and the Death Sect that he had learned about while chatting with Maurice and Fanna.

"It's just a nameless traveler, so don't be curious about my name—it's good for us."