Chapter 400

Chapter 400: Traveling the Waterway Together

Agatha instantly withdrew the Gatekeeper’s cane, then widened her eyes, staring in shock and wariness at the “replica” monster in front of her that was slowly raising its head. In that instant, she realized that this monster, whose “mud” body was made of elements, had already mutated.

Some power or will had descended into its body and instantly changed its nature. It had turned into a medium, and in this dark sewer it kept releasing a terrifying power.

Layer upon layer of noise rose up, turning in her mind into countless incomprehensible whispers and roars. Agatha felt trembling shadows spreading at the edges of her vision, and in those shadows it was as if countless eyes opened at once. This was a sign that her spirit was suffering corruption. The exhaustion and mental damage built up from continuous battles had weakened her defenses, leaving her almost unable to resist.

But this corruption lasted for less than two seconds. It seemed the master of that power had deliberately taken control and reined in the might spilling out from this avatar form. Agatha’s senses cleared and steadied again, and in that brief clarity she realized the “identity” of the person before her.

“You are… that Descended One…” She rubbed her forehead and spoke hesitantly.

“It’s me,” that avatar form said. The body of elements sludge still writhed and changed, as if it could not bear such overwhelming power, and it never managed to take on a clear, stable shape. “Just call me Captain—my followers all call me that.”

“Captain?” Agatha frowned. The aftereffects of the mental corruption made her thoughts a little slow. She felt the title was a bit odd, but soon gave up worrying about it. There were countless “captains” in the world. A high?ranking supernatural of unknown origin might call himself “Captain” just for fun. That was not something worth digging into.

“Why are you here?” she asked in confusion.

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” Duncan said. “When you suddenly vanished from the city?state, I knew something had happened to you.”

“You were looking for me?” Agatha was a little stunned. Then she quickly lifted her head and scanned the surroundings. “How are things ‘outside’?”

“If you mean the Frostholm in the Mortal Realm, then everything is as usual—as usual to an abnormal degree,” Duncan shook his head. “Do you know where you’re trapped?”

“I… I’m not sure.” Agatha propped herself up with the Gatekeeper’s cane and slowly leaned against the wall. She had finally gained a precious moment of safety and had to use it to recover a bit of strength. “This is another Frostholm, a Frostholm completely controlled by ‘replicas’. There is no Sun here, and the link to the God is very weak. But there are traces of those Annihilation heretics. I was tracking one of them and chased him all the way here…”

She stopped, panting a little, and turned to look at the “Captain”.

“A mirror world,” that temporary avatar form said. “You’re trapped inside Frostholm’s mirror world.”

“mirror world?” Agatha’s eyes widened for a moment. Then she lowered her head, looking thoughtful. “So that’s it… a mirror world…”

“They may have copied the entire Frostholm, including the waters around it. This mirror world is the source of all the ‘replicas’,” Duncan went on. “The trouble is, there are signs that this mirror world and the Mortal Realm are slowly drawing closer. That should be the Annihilators’ real plan.”

Agatha snapped her head up: “You mean…”

“The ‘replicas’ appearing so often in the city?state, the copied Sea Swallow, the vanished Dagger Island, even you being trapped here—all of that is the result of ‘mirror world Frostholm’ drawing closer and closer to ‘Mortal Realm Frostholm’. The Annihilators never meant to invade or destroy this city, Agatha. What they want is to transform the entire city into the ‘kingdom’ from the prophecy.”

“…At some point, the approaching mirror world and the Mortal Realm will collide…” Agatha drew in a slow breath and muttered. She had already thought of that possibility. “No wonder, no wonder that heretic said that when the Guardian found the ‘sanctuary’, it would mean their plan had succeeded… that moment would be the moment the mirror world touched the Mortal Realm!”

“Sounds like you already have an idea,” Duncan said. “You just said you found traces of those cultists here and were tracking them?”

“Yes. I smelled their scent—deep inside this ‘second waterway’.” Agatha raised her head and looked toward some point deep down the corridor. After a brief rest, she had recovered some strength. She braced herself, stood straight again, and slowly walked forward. “There is a heretic. He kept trying to stop me. But the longer he pestered me, the more he exposed his own trail. I feel I’m very close…”

The avatar form under Duncan’s control followed after Agatha.

“I’m very sorry.” Agatha, who was walking in front, suddenly spoke.

“Why apologize?”

“Just now… I almost attacked you.” Agatha’s tone sounded a little embarrassed.

Duncan paused in surprise, then recalled what he had seen when he had just entered this avatar form—the tin Gatekeeper’s cane in Agatha’s hand had been only a few millimeters from his head.

But he thought about it and decided it wasn’t a big deal.

At least it was better than Vanna’s jumping slash back then.

“I don’t mind. I’m already used to it.”

“…Used to it?”

“One of my followers likes to use a jumping slash whenever she gets frightened—sometimes the target is me, though she doesn’t do that anymore.”

Agatha: “…?”

The young Gatekeeper was deeply shaken. She could not help guessing what the daily life of this suspected Elder God was like with his followers, and what kind of outrageous, strange, and uncanny beings those followers were.

She thought about it for a long time, but even with her sanity score almost emptied, she still could not figure it out.

Duncan did not care about Agatha’s sudden daze and thoughts. He just kept walking forward, carefully observing the corridor as they went.

This was the second waterway of mirror world Frostholm—and it was clearly very different from the second waterway in the Mortal Realm.

He stopped and looked ahead, thoughtful, at the sewer corridor stretching on in the dim light.

“Did something occur to you?” Agatha also stopped and looked back at him in confusion.

“In the Mortal Realm, this area collapsed and the passage is blocked,” Duncan said, his tone thoughtful. “But in this mirror world Frostholm, the second waterway is intact. It even looks like it has been in constant use.”

“…Maybe it’s showing how it looked in the Queen’s era,” Agatha said hoarsely. “I’ve already noticed that many details in this mirror world Frostholm look almost like the scenes I’m familiar with, but not quite. It doesn’t look modern.”

Duncan listened to Agatha’s analysis and did not speak for a moment. After a few seconds, he finally broke the silence: “Looks like I may not be able to accompany you for the rest of the way.”

Agatha turned back in surprise.

She saw the Captain’s avatar form gradually breaking apart. The flowing, shifting black sludge that made up his body seemed to be bearing a power that was far too great. Now it was flaking away bit by bit, leaving crisscrossing, web?like cracks on the surface of that body. Between those cracks, Ghost?green flames leapt about, looking as if they were going to spill out of control.

She blurted out without thinking: “Your body…”

“Don’t worry about it. This shoddy replica can’t stably bear my power. It’s only a matter of time before it collapses,” Duncan just shook his head, his tone calm. “It’s already surprising it held together long enough for me to say this much to you.”

Then he waved his hand, stopping Agatha from speaking.

“Your state is very bad. You need more help. I’ll leave some Fire Seed here. That Fire Seed can strengthen the link between you and me. Take it and keep tracking those cultists’ lair—I will keep helping you.”

Agatha stepped forward on instinct, as if she still wanted to ask something. But before she could speak, that avatar form, which had already been pushed to the limit by too much power, finally reached its end.

In a sudden surge of eerie green flames, the elements sludge that formed the avatar form stopped flowing. The fire devoured it and tore it apart, and countless ashen fragments scattered with a roar.

In the center of the charred black elements remains, only a tiny flame the size of a finger was left.

The little flame floated in midair near the ground.

Agatha stared blankly at the flame drifting near the ground. Its ghostly green color made the Gatekeeper wary. She instinctively felt fear and tension. Yet after a moment of hesitation, she still stepped forward and slowly bent down.

“…I hope this is the right choice.”

She spoke softly and silently recited Bartok’s name in her heart. Then she reached out, as if mustering all her courage, and her fingertip touched the tiny flame.

The flame felt like a weightless petal as she lifted it into her hand.

“…I really can pick it up.”

Agatha stared in surprise at the flame resting in her palm. At that moment, she felt a connection between herself and the fire.

It was weak and strange, but real. After a brief daze she came back to herself, carefully cupped the flame in her hand, picked up the battered Gatekeeper’s cane with the other, and stepped toward the deepest part of the second waterway.