Chapter 601

Chapter 601: The Growing Dream of the Nameless One

It was as if Taran Ael only became aware of what was wrong with the surroundings when Lucretia spoke. He turned his head to the window in shock. He stared for a long time at the lush tree that blocked most of the sunlight outside, then his expression changed. He quickly walked to the window.

He stood there and looked out at the tree. Doubt showed on his face. It seemed he still could not tell whether his memory or the world of the Mortal Realm in front of him was wrong. After a moment, he finally reacted and shook his head at once. “No. There was no such tree.”

The Grand Scholar spoke and pointed toward the roof of the building opposite the tree. “Remember when the Sun went out? I jumped out of this window and landed on that roof across the way. There was definitely no tree in the way then.”

Lucretia also came to the window and looked down at the base of the tree. She saw it rooted in one corner of the yard. Its position looked especially abrupt. Yet part of its roots pushed out of the soil and merged into the nearby steps and paving, as if it had been growing there for many years.

She turned back and saw the grave look on Taran Ael’s face.

“The Nameless One’s dream is still growing, my lady,” the Grand Scholar broke the silence. His tone was serious and low. “Some of its parts have already spread into the Mortal Realm in broad daylight.”

“Not just spreading, Master,” Lucretia reminded him. “If I hadn’t called your attention to it, you still wouldn’t have noticed anything strange about this tree. And even I only realized something was wrong after quite a long time. Remember? It was already there when I walked into this room.”

Taran Ael said nothing. He just looked out the window with a heavy expression. He watched the nameless tree that had taken root in the Mortal Realm, the streets and roofs beyond it, and all the parts of the city he could see.

“It’s very hard for people to notice how strange a dream is while they’re inside it… The subconscious will rationalize everything bizarre in the dream, to keep us from being scared to death by our own dreams,” the Grand Scholar finally turned back after a long silence. “The boundary between the Mortal Realm and the dream is blurring, my lady. Maybe before long, the whole of Lightwind Harbor will never wake up again. No one knows whether the city will still exist then, or in what form… We have to stop the Nameless One’s dream from growing any further.”

“Take your notes and your clear head, sort out your thoughts, and go find Governor Sara Mell. He needs help right now,” Lucretia said. “You should also go see Ted. That Truth Keeper is probably at his wits’ end too.”

“I’ll set out right away,” Taran Ael said at once. But then he could not help glancing at Lucretia. “…And you?”

This “witch” did not belong to Lightwind Harbor, but she had clearly stepped into this matter already. From what Taran Ael knew of Lucretia, she would never just stand aside at a key moment.

“I have no fewer things to do than you,” Lucretia waved her hand. The edges of her figure were already starting to blur. “The Nameless One’s dream will definitely appear again. I have to prepare for tonight – and my eyes are not only on Lightwind Harbor.”

Before Taran Ael could respond, the Witch’s figure suddenly burst into a flurry of colorful paper. The paper swirled up in a sudden whirlwind and flew out of the room.

In the Harbor district, on the upper deck of the Radiant Star moored by the shore, those flying scraps of colored paper spun into the cabin and came together again as the Sea Witch’s figure.

A tin sailor pieced together from scrap iron plates, bolts, and water pipes hurried up to her. Its steps creaked and squeaked as it bowed to the captain. “Mistress, Mr. Tyrian was looking for you. A call came an hour ago.”

“I know. I felt it,” Lucretia said quickly. “Go find a few helpers. Move all the camera apparatus from the warehouse up onto the deck and aim them at the docks of Lightwind Harbor. Set the timers. After nine o’clock tonight, record the changes in Lightwind Harbor. Go.”

The tin sailor bent at once. “Yes, Mistress.”

The rusty sailor left. Its squeaking footsteps faded into the distance. Lucretia frowned slightly at its retreating back and muttered under her breath: “You need oil…”

Then she shook her head, stepped to the scrying crystal, and raised her hand to light it.

After a short wait, Tyrian’s figure appeared inside the scrying crystal.

“Looks like you’re busy over there too,” Tyrian spoke as soon as he saw her. “Is the situation in Lightwind Harbor still getting worse?”

“Today I saw a tree outside Taran Ael’s lab. A tree that has ‘grown’ from the dream into the Mortal Realm,” Lucretia said calmly. “The city is slowly falling into the Nameless One’s dream. Or the Nameless One’s dream is slowly surfacing from the Mortal Realm. Either way, things really are getting worse here. But tell me about your side first. You sent word so early. It seems what I was worried about has still happened.”

“In the elves’ residential quarter near Cemetery No. 2, there have been three reported cases of ‘Sleep Sickness,’” Tyrian did not bother to build suspense. “Three elves have fallen into a sleep they can’t wake from, and no other illness can be found. Their condition is very close to that Sleep Sickness case you mentioned before in the city of Pland. But this time, the psychiatrist’s hypnosis and dream-intervention methods are all useless.”

“hypnosis and dream intervention are useless…”

“Yes. According to the psychiatrist’s report, the three elves look very much like ‘the Dreamless’ – you should know that special ‘congenital defect’ among elves,” Tyrian nodded. “The psychiatrist simply can’t find any entrance to the three patients’ dreams. It’s as if their minds have fallen into endless nothingness and already vanished from the Mortal Realm. If all methods of waking them fail, we can only rely on drip-feeding nutrients to keep their vital signs going.”

Lucretia’s brows slowly drew together. She stayed silent in thought.

Tyrian’s voice went on: “I’m not worried about the situation right now. Three unconscious patients are not enough to put real pressure on the city. What I fear is what happens next. Frostholm is on the northern border, and elves have always liked borderlands. There are thousands of elves registered in this city, spread across all the districts. If this ‘sleep’ spreads quickly, the order that Frostholm finally managed to stabilize will face another shock.”

“I know. But you’d better prepare yourself,” Lucretia finally spoke. “Dad is trying to find the source of the Nameless One’s dream, but that will take time. From what you’ve said, the reach of this dream is not even limited to Lightwind Harbor. It acts directly on the race called ‘elves’… Some clues show it points to the elves’ original faith and involves a god. You know how troublesome that is.”

The corner of Tyrian’s mouth twitched. After a few seconds of silence, he said very carefully: “If – and I mean if – in the worst case you really have to face an Elder God in a runaway state over there, not one of the Sun’s spawn, not some replica in the Deep Sea, but a deity trapped in a race’s memory… do you think Father…”

Lucretia knew what her elder brother wanted to say.

They had not worried about their Father for many years – or rather, they used to worry, but in a completely different way.

After several seconds, Lucretia finally let out a light breath. “I’ll shout ‘Come on!’ for him, then stand far away and watch.”

Tyrian: “…”

“What else should I do?” Lucretia glanced at her elder brother in the scrying crystal. “Rush up there like you and get smacked by Dad in passing? How many poisonous mushrooms would I have to eat before I went to meddle in a battle at that level?”

Tyrian’s expression turned very awkward. “…I know. But can you stop bringing up how Father smacked me…”

“Then I’ll bring up how you got caught by Dad watching that exotic dance.”

“…Let’s change the topic.”

Lucretia casually ended the connection.

The Sea Witch had a pleased look on her face.

Her elder brother still looked quite energetic. That was good.

She sat in front of the scrying crystal for a while and sorted out her thoughts. Then she raised her hand and tapped on the surface of the crystal again.

“Rabby, I know you’re listening.”

A faint light stirred deep inside the scrying crystal. A moment later, Rabby’s sharp, girlish voice came from within the sphere: “Mistress~ shhh~ Rabby is moving in secret right now…”

“Looks like you’ve already found where they’re hiding,” Lucretia said quietly. “Can you tell which city it is?”

“Doesn’t really look like a city,” the light inside the scrying crystal slowly brightened and dimmed as Rabby spoke in a pleased tone. “Looking through their memories, it feels more like a ship…”

“A ship?”

“Mm~ these cultists built a ship,” Rabby said proudly, dragging out her words on purpose in a rhythm that made people want to punch something. “They built a ship, and there’s blood e~very~where~~!”

Lucretia froze for a moment. She ignored Rabby’s deliberately annoying tone. Instead, a look of pleasant surprise slowly appeared on her face.

Rabby had found one of the cultists’ sea bases.

…

Waves slammed against the hull outside the cabin. Steam pipes hissed through relief valves in the bulkheads. From the direction of the engine room came a harsh, irritating noise. A thin man sat up from his bed. His gloomy mood made his already sinister face grow even darker.

He sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for a while, then casually picked up the cup by his side and drained it in one gulp.

Last night’s operation had not gone smoothly. Their careful plan had been broken by a sudden accident. The girl who had acted together with the hound from the Abyssal Deep had suddenly burst out with a terrible, strange power from within her body and destroyed those Remnant Folk of the Sun in an instant. That was beyond anything anyone had imagined.

The choking terror brought by those wildly spreading flames still clung to the hearts of every Church comrade who had been near the scene.

The gloomy man let out a sigh, put down the cup, and rose from the bed.

Resting in his room all morning had not eased the pressure. Maybe he should go see how the others were doing.

He shook his head, cleared his thoughts while standing by the bed, then turned and walked toward the door.

But just then, something caught the corner of his eye. His steps stopped without him thinking.

He bent down and looked at the soft white mass at the foot of the bed –

“Cotton?”