Chapter 632

Chapter 632: Nightmare and Rupture

Duncan noticed the anomaly on the elderly elf before him. He saw that the other man’s body was turning half-transparent, as if he might disappear from this world at any moment.

The change in Duncan’s expression clearly fell into the old elf’s eyes.

“As you can see, Captain, some interesting changes are happening to me,” Rune said calmly with a smile. He even raised his hand to show the palm where the transparency was worst. “A mighty power is trying to take me over to ‘Her’ side.”

Duncan’s expression changed slightly at once: “Atlantis’s power— I didn’t expect even you, the ‘pope’, to be affected.”

“After all, I am also an elf. It seems that whatever is rooted deep in the soul of our race does not care whether I am a ‘pope’ or not,” Rune said in a calm tone. “I felt that powerful invitation—Atlantis is calling all elves back to the Mother Tree.”

Duncan frowned. He had found something that did not quite fit: “But you are still clear-headed. That is not the same as the other elves I heard about.”

“Because I’m not going,” Rune said with a gentle smile.

“…?” Duncan looked at him.

“As a ‘pope’, I should have some special privileges. At the very least, for a time, I can still refuse Atlantis’s ‘invitation’,” Rune said as he lifted his head to look past Duncan. “Captain, would you mind if I came aboard to talk? I know a little about the current situation.”

Duncan did not refuse. He stayed silent for a few seconds, then nodded. He stepped aside to make room while calmly turning his gaze on the old man’s eyes: “As long as your doctrine does not mind you stepping onto a Subspace Shadows ship.”

“The scriptures come from the god,” Rune said unhurriedly. He walked to the end of the gangway and stepped onto the deck of the Vanished without any concern, then went on: “But it is people who interpret them. I can smooth it over when I meet with the bishops later.”

The corner of Duncan’s mouth twitched. He suddenly realized this pope was not quite what he had imagined. Then he noticed that all the attendants Rune had brought were still standing on the gangway and did not seem to plan on coming aboard. This surprised him: “Are your attendants and guards not coming with you? You plan to board alone?”

Rune had already walked several steps ahead. He looked back when he heard Duncan: “They won’t come. Some things are better if fewer people know about them.”

This old gentleman did not look worried at all. Seeing how calm he was, Duncan had no reason to object. He waved to the people still on the gangway, then turned and walked to Rune’s side. Still, as they crossed the deck, he could not help asking one more thing: “You came here all by yourself. Aren’t you worried about your safety without any guards?”

Rune looked up at Duncan: “If you truly meant me harm, could a few guards really keep me safe on the Vanished?”

Duncan thought about it seriously and answered plainly: “They would have trouble keeping themselves safe.”

“Exactly. I am a practical man. That is the basic discipline of any scholar,” Rune said casually, then followed Duncan toward the captain’s cabin.

On the way, Duncan roughly explained the current situation to this pope. He told him about the disappearance of Lightwind Harbor and the state of the city-state.

As they were about to reach the aft deck, Rune stopped. He lifted his head and looked over the Vanished’s rail toward the wide sea on the other side of the hull.

That was where Lightwind Harbor had once been.

But now there was only sea water slowly turning golden under the sunset, and, far away, a glowing geometric body floating quietly on the surface.

Duncan could still see countless invisible strands floating above that sea, as dense as hair. But to Rune, the sea there was completely empty.

“It was already like this when I arrived,” Duncan said casually when he noticed Rune’s gaze. “You don’t think I made it disappear, do you?”

“…When we first reached this sea, some people did think so. If Banster were here, he would be even more certain,” Rune said after a pause, his tone a little odd. “Please understand, a whole city-state has vanished into thin air. That is truly hard to believe, and the Vanished is still on the scene. Even though we know this is related to the Nameless One’s dream, people cannot help letting their thoughts run wild.”

Duncan said nothing. He stepped forward, opened the door of the captain’s cabin, and gestured for Rune to enter.

With clear curiosity on his face, Rune followed Duncan into this place that, for the outside world, was wrapped in countless bizarre tales, horror, and mystery.

“Captain, you’re back!” Alice, who had been waiting in the cabin, rushed over first. She happily ran to Duncan, then suddenly stopped. “…Who is this old man?”

Rune stared in some surprise at the doll that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

But he reacted quickly and matched her to the information in his mind: “If I am not mistaken, this must be Miss Alice?”

“Yes,” Alice nodded a little and stared curiously at the strange old man who had just come in. “Who are you?”

“The God of Wisdom’s servant,” Rune said with a polite smile. “You can just call me Rune.”

“He is Mr. Morris’s teacher,” Duncan added casually at the side—he knew Alice would understand that better.

“Oh! Mr. Morris’s teacher! Then you must be amazing,” Alice said, suddenly enlightened. She quickly ran over to the small tea stove like she always did. “I’ll make some tea!”

Rune watched in amazement as the terrifying doll, labeled as being in a runaway state in official records, bustled around the room. He also looked curiously at the furnishings in the captain’s cabin. Then, suddenly, a strange feeling of being watched caught his attention. He turned his gaze without thinking and saw, on the chart table in the middle of the room, a jet-black wooden carving of Goathead lying quietly there—the eerie “sculpture” was fixing him with a gaze. Its eyes, like obsidian, were hollow and deep, and a faint, uncanny light flickered in that gaze.

Rune seemed to freeze. He stood still, staring at the strange black “wood carving” without blinking.

After who knew how long, Goathead finally moved. It suddenly spoke: “What are you looking at? Never seen a work of art?”

But Rune seemed to wake from a dream. The moment Goathead’s words fell, he let out a low cry and quickly turned his gaze away. He braced one hand on the table, carefully avoiding looking back at the “wood carving,” and raised his head to Duncan: “She saw it!”

Duncan reacted at once: “Atlantis?”

“Yes, Atlantis saw it. I… don’t know how to describe the feeling, but just now I felt Atlantis’s ‘gaze’ suddenly focus here. She was looking at this place through my eyes. She… I could not understand what she was trying to send. Confusion, fear, anger… countless chaotic emotions…”

He suddenly stopped and waved his hand in front of his eyes, as if trying to drive some unseen interference out of his mind. Duncan noticed that the old elf’s body had become a little more transparent in the last few seconds, but soon Rune returned to “stability.” He lifted his head, the chaos in his eyes slowly clearing: “She has left for now, but I don’t know how long I can hold her back. Captain Duncan, we have less time than I expected. Listen to me first.”

It seemed Rune had used a willpower no mortal could imagine to drive out the part of Atlantis that lingered in his mind. Then he sat down by the chart table and spoke quickly—

“Atlantis is calling all the elves in the world. This call is rooted deep in our souls. While I was under its influence, I also touched part of her thoughts.

“I saw… a Doomsday, something that destroyed everything, burned deep into her memories. That Doomsday led to her gradual runaway state… Fear, anger, and helplessness in the face of her own destruction—these things had slept in her mind for a long time. Now she is slowly waking up, so those sleeping fears and memories of Doomsday are waking up with her. But that is not the only reason…”

He stopped, as if it took great effort to steady his thoughts again. After resting for a few seconds, he went on: “In her anger, I also felt a strong emotion aimed at us elves. It was strange and confused, full of a sharp sense of tearing… I felt a strong will to protect. She ordered the elves to return to the World Tree to receive some kind of ‘shelter.’ But at the same time, she felt huge resistance and even… terror toward this ‘protection,’ as if she was treating us as some kind of…”

This time Rune paused even longer, as if he had to struggle to find a word that could describe the strong feeling he had “touched” in Atlantis. After opening his mouth several times, he finally spoke again: “Some kind of… not-quite monster…”

He slowly turned his head and looked at a point outside the window—that was the sea where Lightwind Harbor had vanished.

In theory, he could not see Lightwind Harbor, and he could not see the invisible threads floating above the sea.

But he kept staring in that direction, as if some invisible call was sounding in his mind, making the old elf look toward the World Tree that existed only in the race’s memory.

“I can feel it…” Rune spoke softly, as if he were talking in his sleep. “She is going mad in this tearing pain, but… there is also…

“It feels like something else, on the ‘other side’ of that Doomsday. There seems to be another being that has gone mad… sending me a faint call…”

With a clatter, something fell to the floor by the small tea stove.

Alice looked up and stared at the window in fright.

“Captain! Those threads are moving!”