Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Two Looming Stormclouds

The gods dwelled in the Divine Realm, far from the world of the Mortal Realm. People believed that special dimension was the keystone of the world. Unlike common belief, this “keystone” did not sit at the bottom of everything, but at the very peak of all dimensions.

In the records left behind by the ancient kingdom of Critt, their scholars described the structure of the world they knew like this:

The world’s keystone lay at the very top, guarded by eternal truth and order. The Divine Realm rested within that keystone, existing by itself from the beginning.

Below the Divine Realm lay the Mortal Realm, where all living beings dwelled. The people of the dust enjoyed the afterglow of order at this level and could live in a world that was relatively stable and rich.

Below the Mortal Realm lay the Spirit Realm, which slowly slipped away from mortal understanding. In the Spirit Realm, the gods’ divine blessing had already thinned. Twisted, uncanny forces started to gain the upper hand.

Below the Spirit Realm lay the Abyssal Deep Sea. It was no longer fit for living things. Strange, weird powers ruled there, and it hardly counted as part of the material world at all. It was more like a hollow reflection of nothingness.

Beyond the Abyssal Deep Sea, lay the very bottom of the world: the depths of Subspace, where the shadows of all things gathered. The true bodies of extremely dangerous Elder Gods and many other wicked beings lurked within Subspace.

In the records of ancient Critt, the gods made a covenant within the keystone. That covenant was the source and standard of all laws in the world. Order flowed down from there. It set the rules by which the world operated and soaked into all things. As one went deeper and deeper, the power of order weakened and was gradually overcome by the forces of Subspace. The “keystone” where the gods resided and the depths of Subspace were like the upper and lower ends of the world. Order flowed one way between those two ends.

This was the ancient gift left to later ages by that brilliant civilization that had led the way in the era of the Deep Sea ten thousand years ago. Over the long ages since, countless Scholars studied this “layered structure” with all their strength and never found a fault in the model. By now, it had already become the world’s accepted “World Standard Model”.

In this standard model, mortals of the dust could fall into deeper places, but there were very few who could return from the deep layers to the “shallows”. Every once in a while, there might be one or two lucky souls who returned to the Mortal Realm from the Spirit Realm. But no one had ever heard of a being who defied the heavens and traveled from the Mortal Realm to the keystone dimension where the gods dwelled.

Because of this, the return of the Vanished from Subspace to the Mortal Realm became the most outrageous Vision in this world. Its return voyage broke everything people believed about the World Standard Model.

But on the other hand, the existence of the Vanished also fit that classic doctrine about Anomalies and Visions: the law of permanent misalignment for Anomalies and Visions.

No matter how one looked at it, Bishop Valentine and Vanna did not believe that ghost captain had the power to take revenge on the Storm Goddess herself. Even if he had the heart for it, he still could not do such a thing.

For the keystone and the world of the Mortal Realm were not continuous. Unlike the link between the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Realm, or between the Spirit Realm and the Abyssal Deep Sea, there was no chain of steady falling or direct exchange of matter between the keystone and the Mortal Realm. So far, no Scholar had found any proof of a direct connection between the keystone and the Mortal Realm. Not even a deity could descend with its full self. At most, a deity could send down projections or commands as symbols of its will.

So how could a single ghost ship ever “strike back” at the Divine Realm?

If the ghost captain could not take revenge on the Storm Goddess herself, then of course the only choice left was the Goddess’s Believers in the world of dust.

The Storm Grand Cathedral, as the headquarters of the Deep Sea Church, was a Pilgrimage Ark that sailed hidden on the Boundless Sea. It appeared and vanished without a trace. The Pope, His Eminence who sat upon that ark, held the power to wield the storm in the Lord’s name, and he was not an easy target.

So the city-state of Pland, fixed upon the sea, obvious to all, and open to the outside, naturally became a better choice. In this city-state, eighty percent of the people were Believers of the Storm Goddess.

Vanna had already decided in her heart that the ghost captain had come for revenge. After all, a hundred years ago, the Vanished had fallen into Subspace in a storm. Aside from revenge, she could think of no other reason to explain why the Vanished, which had been missing for so many years, would suddenly return to the Mortal Realm and point its prow at the city-state of Pland.

But what exactly did that ghost captain plan to do?

Vanna frowned and, deep in thought, slowly spoke: “Bishop Valentine, do you think… the Vanished is connected to the recent unrest among the Suntists in the city-state?”

After speaking, she paused and then added: “In last night’s dream, I saw a burning Sun appear in Pland together with the Vanished. Two disasters arriving at the same time may be the prophetic vision the Goddess gave me…”

“But don’t forget, in the underground ritual site, that ‘sacrificial victim’ who had been corrupted killed the Black Sun priest,” the Bishop said with a shake of his head. “That priest was an ‘Envoy’ who had undergone baptism. At least at that ritual site, the Vanished and the Black Sun seemed to stand on opposite sides.”

For a moment, Vanna said nothing, only sank into thought at the Bishop’s words. Across from her, after a brief silence, the old man spoke again: “As for those cultists who worship the Black Sun, I did receive some reports about them this morning from the city-state of Lunsa…”

Vanna immediately looked up: “Reports?”

“The Sun heretics are not only rising again in Pland,” Valentine said with a nod. “They have been stirring in many city-states lately. A large number of Sun heretics have recently passed through Lunsa and Morka Harbor as transfer points and are gathering toward Pland. Some of them were caught. During interrogation, those heretics mentioned ‘Sun fragments’.”

“Sun fragments… the remains that flaked off after that so-called ‘true Sun god’ in their mouths broke apart?” Vanna reacted at once. “They believe one of these Sun fragments is hidden in Pland?”

“That is how it seems for now,” Bishop Valentine said. “No one knows where those heretics got their information. It might have been some ‘revelation’ they received in their crazed state. In any case, they are now convinced that part of their ‘lord’s’ remains lies hidden in this city.” His expression stayed calm. “They see this as the hope for the Black Sun’s revival.”

“…That group of madmen,” Vanna muttered a curse under her breath. “To revive that dark, blasphemous Sun, how many lives have they already taken?”

“‘Black Sun’ is what we call it. In their minds, the Sun god shines with brilliant light and represents the truest order,” Valentine said, shaking his head. “You cannot expect that pack of deranged cultists to keep any conscience when their hands drip with blood. They are sure that everything they say and do is righteous. When dealing with them, only two languages are useful. One is caliber. The other is poundage.”

Hearing this remark, which carried a very Deep Sea Church style, Vanna could not help but twitch the corner of her mouth: “Sounds like we are going to be busy.”

“The Boundless Sea was never peaceful, and the city-states sit in the Boundless Sea as well,” Valentine said. “Captains must face the storms of the ocean. We must face the storms brought by fools on land. Inquisitor, be ready. The city-state of Pland may be facing a challenge.”

“Two challenges,” Vanna corrected him very seriously. “Aside from the Black Suntists, there is also that strange and terrifying ghost captain. If the Vanished and the Black Sun really are not on the same side, then our troubles have gone from one to two.”

Bishop Valentine paused in thought: “There is another possibility. Going by what happened at the sewer ritual site, the Vanished might end up fighting the Black Suntists.”

“…Then two troubles would merge into one world-ending trouble, Bishop Valentine,” Vanna said as she looked at the old man, whose thoughts were clearly starting to drift. “A ghost ship returning from Subspace and a group of cultists fighting over Sun fragments, all clashing inside the city-state of Pland, and possibly joined by a Black Sun descent in the middle of it… I can’t imagine anything worse than that.”

Valentine sighed and admitted that Vanna was right.

“In any case, we should first work with the Constable forces and round up all the Sun heretics who have slipped into the city-state,” Vanna said. Now that she had thrown off the mental interference of the Vanished and moved into her area of expertise, her thoughts grew noticeably sharper. “We should remove the threat of the Black Sun before the situation grows serious. That is a goal we can realistically achieve.

“As for that ghost ship… we have no idea what it plans to do next, so there is nothing we can do for now. All we can do is strengthen our monitoring of the Spirit Realm and the seas around the city-state…”

Here, the young Inquisitor could not help but shake her head. Her expression was serious yet helpless: “Damn it, who could ever guess what a ghost captain plans to do next…”

…

“I want to add a bit more ketchup…” Duncan waved to Nina across the table and said: “Pass it over, I can do it myself.”

Nina quickly handed the ketchup bottle over: “Okay, Uncle Duncan.”

It was already noon. Duncan and Nina sat in the small kitchen on the second floor, eating lunch. The food in the antique shop was very simple—a kind of salty fried pancake that was a local specialty of Pland, served with ketchup or hot sauce, plus a thick vegetable soup. It was hardly some fine feast, but both Duncan and Nina ate with real enjoyment.

Duncan had not eaten such a normal lunch in a very long time. Nina also had not eaten such a normal lunch in a very long time.

Duncan felt that he had begun to like this place.