Chapter 508: The Secret of the Church Ark
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.com
In Lune’s eloquent words, “Our world’s recorded history as we understand it begins with a critical event known as the Great Annihilation, an event of monumental significance that occurred long ago. The Great Annihilation isn’t just a historical event; it represents a distinct dividing line in the chronicles of time, splitting history into two periods.”
“The eras before this disastrous event are shrouded in mystery, remaining unknowable even to the most erudite and tenacious archaeologists. Despite their meticulous explorations and intellectual expertise, scholars have failed to uncover any significant knowledge about the world before the cataclysm known as the ‘Great Annihilation’. Our world lacks historical artifacts, archives, or even simple etchings on stone that could shed light on the pre-Annihilation era.”
This impenetrable barrier, which has stymied countless scholars over ten thousand years, has been aptly named the ‘Limited Field of Vision’ by Duncan, a recent returnee from subspace. Among those aware of this metaphorical wall, Lune, head of the Academy of Truth and Pope of the God of Wisdom, understands its profound implications more deeply than anyone else.
“Our world seems to have appeared out of nowhere, emerging only after the Great Annihilation. The sporadic and inconsistent historical accounts we have only serve to confirm the existence of this ‘limited field of vision’.”
In a conversation with three close friends, Lune reveals his thoughts, “From the rise of the city-states back to the Dark Ages, countless scholars have tried to dig into the past, to unearth the origins predating the Great Annihilation. They’ve explored the depths of the earth, only to be blocked by this perplexing barrier.”
He further expresses his disappointment, “The time before the Great Annihilation, even the briefest moment, remains a riddle-filled void that defies understanding. Even the ‘Book of Blasphemy’, a document obtained by Captain Duncan from the followers of Annihilation, which hints at the ‘Three Long Nights’, only provides historical insights from the time of the Great Annihilation up to the establishment of the ancient Crete Kingdom. A vast gap in knowledge about the epoch before the ‘limited field of vision’ still persists.”
“Using the teachings of heretics as source material is dangerous,” retorted Death Pope Banster. Lune meets this with a dismissive shake of his head. “The threat lies not in the teachings themselves, but in their potential to spread misinformation and stir up malevolence. Studying the ‘Three Long Nights’ is valuable if we can filter out these harmful elements. Much of what we know about the Dark Ages, which followed the fall of the ancient Crete Kingdom, comes from our investigation of the Dark Sun and Annihilation Sects.”
Frem adds, “So, in essence, you’re saying you can’t explain the phenomena concerning the behemoth beneath the city-states. Nor can the leviathan behemoths, the entities responsible for carrying the Arks, provide us with any answers.” He continues, “Since this event occurred before the Great Annihilation, all evidence connected to it remains elusive, immeasurable, and unverifiable.”
Without uttering a word, Lune tacitly concedes to Frem’s assertion. A heavy silence ensues as everyone seems lost in thought before Helena breaks the quiet with an abrupt question, “But you can still tell us about the Academy of Truth’s discovery of the four leviathans. These colossal beings carrying the four church arks were indeed discovered and reawakened by you, weren’t they?”
Lune responds, “They originated from the borders, following a monumental ‘border collapse’.”
“The Eastern Sea?” Banster’s confusion is evident.
“Yes, near the former location of the Thirteen Islands of Witherland,” Lune confirms. “Since the catastrophic subspace disaster a hundred years ago, the eastern Eternal Veil has been a vulnerable spot. The dense fog there often collapses, or unusual zones appear over the sea, a fact you all should be familiar with.”
Helena and Frem nod silently while Banster remains contemplative. None of them interrupt Lune’s narrative, implicitly urging him to continue.
Lune recounts, “While the Academy of Truth was conducting its border patrols, one of our vessels encountered an anomaly. The precise details remain unclear, as the crew experienced severe cognitive disorientation and memory loss during the incident, rendering them unable to provide an accurate account. However, a hastily penned log from the ship survived, documenting part of the events.”
“According to the log, the sea suddenly crumpled inward, resembling the rim of a strange, placid ‘bowl’. The water appeared to solidify, but the ship did not descend into the recessed sea. Instead, it floated in mid-air over the depressed water body.”
“The ship was immobilized, unable to advance or retreat, and eerily hovered a hundred meters above the sea. From this sunken sea emerged a gigantic entity resembling a life form.”
“That’s the account hastily inscribed by one of the crew members before cognitive disorientation and memory damage took hold.”
“Later, another crew from our fleet discovered the lost patrol ship. It was slowly drifting out of a thin fog, devoid of all power, the steam core cold. Everyone on board was found unconscious, and through the dissipating fog, the rescue team saw four gigantic entities.”
Lune reveals, “Those were the leviathans we unearthed from the sea depths – mythical creatures mentioned in the Storm Codex that were believed lost to time, the heralded Apostles of the Storm Goddess.”
He continues, “As you know, the Academy of Truth succeeded in ‘resurrecting’ these legendary titans. We built massive church arks atop these behemoths, which the four divine churches now use.”
Frem and Banster remain thoughtful after Lune’s narrative, while Helena furrows her brows, saying, “So, the leviathans are a relic of the border regions. No wonder you’ve been reticent about sharing these details. It’s tied to the border collapse.”
Lune nods, “The recognition of the border collapse increases the likelihood of such an event occurring within the civilized world. The more recent the memory, the higher the probability. This principle was deduced by Duncan Abnomar during his career as an explorer a century ago. However, decades have passed since the Academy of Truth uncovered the leviathans and that border collapse incident. It’s less risky to divulge these matters now.”
Frem interjects, “I have some reservations. The church arks are massive, but compared to the city-states, they are significantly smaller. If the biological structures beneath the city-states are indeed leviathans, their size surpasses the church ark leviathans by a considerable margin. Can they really belong to the same species?”
“Who can say?” Lune replies with a shrug. “Perhaps the four leviathans we discovered in the borderlands are ‘smaller specimens’ or ‘juveniles’ of their kind?”
Helena shakes her head, “Theoretically, that shouldn’t be the case. I frequently interact with the leviathan of my ark. Despite its occasional erratic behavior, it doesn’t seem to fit the juvenile narrative.”
Lune suggests, “Then the issue may lie with the biological entities beneath the city-states. Perhaps they are extraordinarily large mutant specimens. That could be a possibility.”
“The underlying cause could be related to the enigmatic blueprints found in the deep sea,” Lune conjectures. “If the data from the Vanished is accurate, then all the city-states floating on the Boundless Sea today can be seen as the handiwork of the ancient gods. It’s even possible that the biological structures beneath the city-states are the products of the Nether Lord’s secondary engineering.”
However, Lune abruptly stops his discourse, shaking his head in a somewhat self-derisive manner. He places a hand over his eyes in a prayer-like gesture to the God of Wisdom, Lahem: “May the Lord show leniency, for it feels strange to entertain these heretical ideas.”
“May the Lord show leniency,” Helena and Frem echo, performing their own prayer-like gestures to the Storm Goddess and the Eternal Flame.
As heads of their respective churches, they could consider these topics taboo and even heretical from an elevated standpoint. They could dissect information derived from heretical fanatics with a composed demeanor and a pragmatic approach. But as envoys of the four gods, they were also bound by the tenets of their respective orders and their faith. When delving into certain dangerous topics, a sense of dissonance and resistance was inevitably stirred within them.
Only the representative of the God of Death, the tall, gaunt, and aged Banster, remained quiet, appearing lost in thought since the beginning of the conversation.
“Banster?” Lune turns his attention to the silent envoy of the God of Death, “You’ve seemed preoccupied since we began.”
“I’ve been pondering over a matter, Lune,” Banster finally raises his head, his sunken eyes resembling a deep, dark abyss. “The Thirteen Islands of Witherland – the vicinity where those leviathans were discovered. Doesn’t that strike you as noteworthy?”
Lune responds with a calm nod, clearly anticipating that Banster would single out this detail.
“I know what you’re getting at – the Vanished,” he says.
The elderly elf slowly articulates, “A century ago, the Vanished opened the door to subspace at the Thirteen Islands of Witherland, ensnaring all the islands and their inhabitants into the terrifying depths below. This incident also rendered the space-time fabric of the entire sea highly fragile with frequent anomalies. From this perspective, the incident that the Academy of Truth patrol ship experienced decades ago shares a causal link with the incident.”
At this point, he pauses, then raises his head to meet Banster’s gaze with profound seriousness, “However, we can’t hastily conclude that the Vanished transported the leviathans into our world. This assertion lacks evidence and sufficient theoretical backing.”
“Yet, it is conceivable that those four leviathans entered our reality due to the lingering influence from the Thirteen Islands of Witherland incident. Lune, this matter has been fraught with risks from the beginning.”
“So, are you suggesting we abandon your church ark?”
“No, I want to keep it!”
If the arks didn’t exist before a century ago, where’s the headquarters of each churches I wonder.
On the city states.