Chapter 436

Chapter 436: After the Disaster Ended.

Snow fell in drifting flakes. It was not very heavy, but it looked as if it would last a long time. The Sun’s radiance was blocked by the dark clouds. The daylight that filtered through was not very bright, but it was undeniably there.

Through the street-facing window, they could see people already walking on the road, survivors of the disaster with fear still lingering in their eyes.

These still-shaken citizens emerged from their hiding places. On the streets they checked that the people they knew were still alive, or asked after the missing. Some asked whether there was any new word from the Upper City. Others were still trapped in the terror of the mirror world incursion, shrinking away in fear from every figure that passed in front of them. They hurried out of their homes, then just as quickly locked themselves back inside.

Scarred Steam Walkers and equally battered city Guard Corps, Constable units, and Guardian squads passed the intersection. Their presence let many people finally relax a little. The loudspeakers mounted on the Steam Walkers broadcast a notice that the Visions had ended, that the mirror world incursion had receded. The whole city would now enter forty-eight hours of security control. During this time, the city’s authority would reassert control over the situation and clear hidden dangers throughout the city. Supplies, electricity, steam power, and fresh water would be restored as quickly as possible, and every district was ordered to report casualties without delay…

The loudspeaker broadcast, full of static, grew more distant. Its crude sound quality only made the streets feel colder on this snowy day. Even so, after the Steam Walkers rumbled past, many people’s nerves really did start to ease, little by little.

Shirley leaned over the living-room window, watching the scene on the street while she muttered: “I wonder how long the chaos will last… Bread is definitely going to get more expensive.”

Nina sat on the sofa beside her, mouth open as she exhaled heat so intense it made the air ripple. She turned her head when she heard Shirley’s grumbling: “It’ll definitely be messy for a while. Back when Pland was restoring order it took three days… though it won’t get too bad this time. The Constable units are still here, after all…”

“Hey, hey! Don’t talk while facing me!” Shirley could hardly stay on her feet in the blast of hot air. She stumbled back from the window, dodging as she shouted at Nina: “Your breath is like a leaking steam core right now! Why is it so hot?!”

Nina quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. Hot air still streamed from the corners of her lips as she mumbled an apology: “Sorry, sorry… I stayed in that state for too long earlier…”

Just then, Duncan’s voice reached the two girls’ ears: “I told you, Nina can only stay in the sky for a short while right now. Her condition is still unstable.”

As soon as Shirley heard his voice, she hurried to turn around and stand at attention. Nina also jumped down from the sofa and ran toward Duncan with a smile: “Uncle Duncan!”

Duncan smiled as well and gave Nina, who was still radiating heat all over, a gentle hug. Then he turned his head and nodded in reply to Morris and Vanna, who were rising from the nearby chairs and bowing to him. “Looks like you’re all in good shape.”

“In good condition,” Morris said, adjusting his blessed monocle. “And deeply shaken.”

“I thought that after the great fire in Pland my nerves were already thick enough,” Vanna added, her tone full of emotion and awe. “To be honest, talking with you like this is still more relaxing. I mean, at a normal ‘scale’.”

“Having it happen once in a while is more than enough,” Duncan waved a hand. “Though I have to admit, the view from the sky is impressive.”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on something lying on the dining table not far away.

It was a large book with a black cover. There were no words or symbols on the front. The whole book gave off a strange, dangerous feeling.

“Is this the ‘The Blasphemous Tome’ you took from that small Cult of Annihilation leader?” Duncan’s eyes rested on the book. “It really doesn’t look like anything respectable to read.”

“Yes.” Morris nodded and stepped forward to pick the book up with care. “Later, under safe conditions, I did some basic testing on it. My guess is that this isn’t an ‘original’, but a copy held by a special member of the Cult of Annihilation. If it were the original, it should have far greater power and be much more valuable. It wouldn’t have been carried into the city so casually by a minor leader.”

He paused, a note of uncertainty in his voice. “As for what this book is for… it might be used to spread doctrine, or serve as a medium in spells or rituals. It records some things related to the Abyssal Lord. That part should serve as a source of power for those cultists, but the details are only guesswork.”

As he spoke, he held the book out. “Would you like to look at it now?”

“I’ll take it back to the ship and read it there,” Duncan shook his head. “The city is still chaotic. Who knows what might happen if I open this book now. Better not add to the mess. And besides, we’ll have a guest in a while.”

“A guest?” Vanna asked curiously from the side. “Who would pay a visit at a time like this?”

Duncan glanced at Vanna, amusement in his tone. “A colleague of yours. She’s on her way here.”

After he finished, he paid no attention to the odd look that suddenly crossed Vanna’s face. He simply walked over to the street-facing window, sat down on the sofa, and settled in as if to wait calmly.

Footsteps sounded beside him. Alice walked over to stand in front of Duncan, the doll’s face wearing its usual optimistic, empty expression. “Captain! When are we going home? Are we going back after we see the guest?”

Duncan lifted his eyelids and looked at the doll with the hollow head. “You think… things here are already over?”

“Huh? Aren’t they?” Alice looked completely puzzled. “The villains are all dead, the disaster is over, and then the people who are left go off to keep adventuring. At least that’s what all the picture books say…”

The corner of Duncan’s mouth twitched. He looked up at Alice. “What else do the picture books say?”

“They also say the prince and the knight lived happily ever after…”

Duncan: “…?”

He choked for a long moment before he finally managed to speak. “Usually, in those kinds of picture-book stories, there’s supposed to be a princess or something…”

“The princess ran off with the butler…”

Duncan stayed silent for a few seconds and drew in a slow breath.

“Where did you even get picture books like that?”

Alice thought for a moment, then lifted a hand and pointed at Shirley. “She has a lot of them in her room…”

The next second, before Duncan could say a word, Shirley shot to her feet and bolted for the door. “I just saw a used bookstore going out of business, they were clearing stock and the books were really cheap so I bought a whole pile, you were the one who told me to read more and that picture books were a good place to start, I didn’t know they were all that weird, no wonder the shop went under, none of this is my fault…”

The young lady raced across half the living room wailing like a ghost. Duncan had not even decided how he meant to lecture her when she already reached the door, yanked it open with a bang, and lifted a leg to run out.

The very next second, a thud came from outside the door, followed by Shirley’s startled shout: “What the heck did I just run into…”

Almost everyone in the room was dumbfounded. Alice had not reacted at all to what was happening. Nina had been startled by Shirley’s wailing at such close range. Vanna had never imagined Shirley would be that bold. As for Morris… the venerable old gentleman was still reeling from the story about the princess running off with the butler.

Only Duncan still sat calmly on the sofa. He did not chase after Shirley, and he was not even curious about the noise at the door.

He simply turned his head and looked toward the entrance.

Footsteps sounded, and a young lady walked in hesitantly.

She wore a black priest’s robe marked with the sigil of the Church. Her eyes were covered by a thick black cloth. Her long hair hung loose down her back. On the exposed skin of her arms and neck, there were still crack-like scars. Wounds that should have been horrific instead carried a kind of sacred air, like stigmata.

More importantly, she was holding Shirley in one hand, dangling the girl as Shirley flailed and kicked.

“Sorry,” Agatha lifted her head, a little nervous as she “looked” at the figures in the room. “I meant to knock, but… she suddenly rushed out.”

As she spoke, her gaze swept the room.

In the house that had lost all color and turned into shades of black, white, and gray, one figure after another with a powerful presence entered her sight.

She saw the dim outline of an old man. Streams of colored light flowed around him, and matrix-like points of light flickered inside his body. It was as if Rahm had cast his divine gaze upon the mortal world.

Beside the old man stood a tall figure. Inside its outline, everything was dark and chaotic, filled with ominous lights and shadows that made one think of Subspace. Yet a wisp of ghostly green flame leaped among those shadows, holding the figure together.

A bright arc of flame stood near the window. The fire seemed to have no occult properties, but it released pure light and heat. Just gazing at it made her feel as if her very soul were being scorched.

There was also a hollow shell of a body standing in the room. Countless faint threads spread out from it. It seemed to be turning a curious gaze in this direction. Under that gaze, Agatha even felt a fear that her soul would be caught and turned into one of those thin threads.

And among these figures was the strongest of all.

A field of dazzling starlight rose and walked toward her.

“Welcome. I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

The starlight spoke to her.