Chapter 325

Chapter 325: Handover

A weak yet strange power was resisting Duncan’s command over the body.

It was even trying to drive him out of it.

This power seemed to have been there from the very beginning, but it only became stronger and clearer after Duncan had the thought of going to Frostholm.

Duncan stopped in surprise. Even though that resisting force was still there, he still managed to shuffle step by step to the edge of the wreckage and look down at the now-calm sea.

He spoke softly: “I thought you had already faded away. Normally, after the heart stops beating, the soul leaves quickly.”

Then he fell quiet, feeling that faint but stubborn power. After a short silence, the body’s lips moved twice: “Leave…”

Duncan slowly closed his eyes.

On the oil-streaked sea, the body’s reflection was suddenly wrapped in a layer of ghostly green flame. In the flame, the ruined face flickered, then shifted into Duncan Abnomar’s stern, deep features.

“Hello,” Duncan said in the reflection on the sea, his gaze fixed on the body standing at the edge of the Sea Swallow’s wreckage. His voice was calm. “I think this way it will be easier for us to talk.”

The ruined body stood rigid and straight. The last trace of Belazov’s mind stared at the face in the water and at the ghostly green fire around it. His lips trembled again and pressed out the same stubborn word: “…Leave.”

In the water, Duncan seemed thoughtful. “You’re not asking me to leave your body. You are telling me to stay away from Frostholm?”

Belazov’s body stayed silent. The body that should already have been fully dead still stood there, firm and unmoving, refusing Duncan’s command to return to Frostholm.

“…You’re the first to resist me—at least, the first to resist strongly enough that I can feel it,” Duncan said calmly. “But you should know this weak resistance is meaningless. You’re only burning out your soul faster. At most, you’ll slow me down by a few seconds.”

Belazov’s body remained motionless, as if truly dead. But in those half-open eyes, a tiny spark of light still lingered.

“…I take that back. Your resistance does have meaning,” Duncan said at last with a sigh. “Go in peace. I am not an enemy of Frostholm. I came here to help your city and your people.”

He then fell silent for a few seconds. Looking at the still figure, he thought for a moment, then spoke softly: “Reinforcements have arrived.”

Belazov’s body swayed slightly, twice. Perhaps Duncan’s words really reached him, or perhaps the last stubborn bit of his soul finally faded. The burly body lifted its head one last time toward the distant city lights. Then it fell straight backward with a crash.

Duncan sat up and roughly straightened the burned scraps of cloth on his body. Then he looked down at his hands.

That faint resisting force had vanished.

A whirl of spreading firelight suddenly appeared beside him. The sound of beating wings came from the vortex-like gate of flame. The huge skeletal bird rushed out of the spinning fire and circled over the nearby sea.

Almost at the same time, Goathead’s voice sounded in Duncan’s mind: “You didn’t need to ‘negotiate’ with him. That was only a weak mortal soul.”

“Weak, but worth respecting,” Duncan said as he reached out his hand. AI flew to his side at once. The blazing ghostly green flame at Duncan’s side rose and twisted, forming a doorway. “I’m heading to Frostholm, and I’ll focus most of my attention there. You’ll command the Vanished. And tell Alice to prepare some bandages and a large coat. Have her wait for my orders.”

The spirit form flames roared outward. Duncan’s body merged with the fire and, in the next second, turned into a column of burning light beside AI. Then a meteor-like streak of fire rose from the sea and shot straight toward Frostholm in the night sky.

…

At the same time, in the warm southern seas, lay the technical city-state of Lightwind Harbor, ruled by elves.

It was still deep in the night. Most of the city was covered under the endless veil of night. But on the eastern edge of Lightwind Harbor, a hazy and gentle glow still shone on the buildings and streets. Elegant, sharp-topped towers and houses with tall, steep roofs, full of elven style, were bathed in that glow. Vines hanging between the houses and the trees growing in the narrow spaces between lots looked lush and green.

This dreamlike scene in the Mortal Realm could make one think of the landscapes described in the elves’ ancient books—those old scenes woven from forest dreams and strange tales.

Of course, such a sight was not a natural part of the city’s scenery. The warm glow covering the eastern districts came from the sea near Lightwind Harbor.

A mountain-sized geometric structure, shining with endless golden light, was floating quietly on the sea near the elven city-state. Even though its outer boundary was still more than ten nautical miles from the city, the strange radiance it released was enough to change the light over almost half the city.

At the edge of this giant geometric body stood the temporary research facilities built by the city-state’s authority. Enormous floating-barge harbors drifted on the calm sea. Steam and smoke spurted up from the engines along the edges of the floating platforms. Complex mechanical work towers were busy loading and unloading cargo from the ships moored inside the harbor. Small fast boats were constantly running back and forth between the floating base and the glowing geometric structure, never resting.

Those small boats went deep into the interior of the luminous geometric body. They carried supplies and personnel to the research ship near the “core stone sphere”, or brought back important data.

All of these complex, busy, and efficient processes were calculated and coordinated by the giant steam-powered Sorting Engine in the center of the floating base.

At this moment, a “magic warship” very different in style from the local vessels was moored beside the elven-built floating base.

It was the sea witch Lucretia’s ship, the Radiant Star.

Clockwork doll Lunie walked lightly up to the upper deck of the Radiant Star. Her mistress was standing on the deck, looking toward the tall and delicate central tower of the sea base.

“Mistress,” Lunie said as she stopped behind Lucretia and bent in a small bow, “the research team led by scholar Taran Ael has already returned from near the core stone sphere. They are now resting in the base. When do you plan to meet him?”

“In the afternoon,” Lucretia said without turning her head. “Let that elven scholar rest a bit more. Ever since we dragged this luminous core to Lightwind Harbor, I haven’t really seen him rest. I’m actually worried he’ll drop dead on my ship.”

Lunie thought for a second. “We could meet him in the sea base instead. We don’t have to let him come on board.”

“…Lunie.”

“Here.”

“Your sense of humor has improved.”

“Thank you for your praise.”

The corner of Lucretia’s mouth twitched. She glanced again at the tall tower in the center of the base. Jets of mist were spraying from the relief pipes on both sides of the tower’s top. That meant the power system of the Sorting Engine was automatically balancing its load. It seemed Master Taran Ael had indeed brought back a large amount of useful data this time.

“Elves really do have outstanding talent in mathematics and machinery. Dragging that thing to Lightwind Harbor was the right choice,” Lucretia said softly. “Only here can we gather a research team of this size at any time, and only here can we provide facilities at this level.”

“Morka could also do it,” Lunie said. “After all, that’s the headquarters of the Academy of Truth. The number of scholars there and their research conditions are even better than here.”

“It’s too far, and too close to the Central Seas—and I don’t plan to let the Radiant Star drag a giant ‘Visitor from Beyond the Sky’ along the main shipping lanes,” Lucretia said, shaking her head. “It would spook those inland city-states that haven’t seen any real storms. And besides, the Four Gods Church is still guessing that this thing is a fragment that fell from Visions 001. An object on that level… is best studied on the edge of civilization.”

Lunie thought it over, then bent a little lower. “Your judgment is most careful.”

Lucretia showed no reaction to the doll maid’s flattery. She only stood there, quietly thinking about something else. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something, and her expression changed slightly.

“I need to step away for a bit. My dear brother is looking for me.”

As soon as she said this, the sea witch turned into a swirl of colorful paper scraps, whirling over the deck like a small storm. She spun through an open window in the distance and flew back into the captain’s cabin.

On the table in the center of the cabin, a lens-and-scrying-crystal device with a complex frame was already glowing faintly and giving off a soft vibration.

Lucretia’s body reformed from the colorful scraps of paper. She walked up to the crystal device and raised her hand to activate the image inside the crystal sphere.

The face of “Steel Vice Admiral” Tyrian appeared in the scrying crystal. The background behind him did not look like any of the rooms she was used to seeing.

“Brother?” Lucretia frowned. At first, she did not pay much attention to his surroundings. “Why did you suddenly call me?”

Tyrian smiled in a mysterious way. “Guess where I am?”