Chapter 729

Chapter 729: Contact the Elder Gods

A sharp streak of blade light flashed past. A lump of flesh that kept swelling and shrinking, a “fear demon” that whispered and murmured in eerie tones, was cut clean in half, then quickly turned into rising smoke and slowly twitching scraps.

But more ominous auras were still gathering in the cave. Whispers and overlapping howls that could corrupt the mind of any ordinary person continued to pour from deep within that black door.

More and more Abyssal demons had sensed this crack leading to the Mortal Realm. They were invading through the gate one after another. Their invasion was triggering chain reactions across the entire Sacred Isle and had begun to change the “environment” of the island.

Lucretia flicked the black residue from her scythe and lifted her head, staring with a grim face at the black gate that kept heaving and writhing. She said in a low voice: “…I feel like the ‘atmosphere’ on the island is changing.”

“Vanna just sent word. Abyssal demons are appearing in the valley,” Morris said quickly. He was holding a complex brass device in his hands, its surface carved with layers of intricate sacred sigils. While he spoke, he kept a wary eye on the movements within the black door. “They’re showing up in the mist. Some have already begun to take on solid bodies.”

Lucretia frowned: “We clearly took care of all the demons that came out of the door… Could there be some other ‘entrance’ on the island?”

“It’s the ‘breath’ of the Abyssal Deep,” Morris shook his head. “This island sits on the border. It was never a stable part of the Mortal Realm to begin with. Now this black door is slowly dragging the entire Sacred Isle over to the other side. The aura leaking out of the gate is changing the ‘depth’ of this whole region… The deeper it gets, the more easily Abyssal demons grow out of thin air.”

Lucretia’s face was dark as water. She glanced at the pile of ghost?green flames still quietly burning before the black door, then calmly lifted the scythe in her hand: “It’s not a big problem. There’s still a fleet outside and a whole crowd of professional Church warriors. These demons won’t be hard to deal with. You just keep watch here. I’ll handle whatever comes out of the door. Father should be back soon.”

Morris neither agreed nor disagreed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw new outlines slowly forming on the surface of the rippling black door.

More demons were entering the Mortal Realm. At first, a few odd, misshapen creatures—missing limbs, twisted bodies—came stumbling out of the gate. They were easy to deal with. But after that, all that squeezed through were “fully formed” Abyssal demons, the type Morris knew well.

They were savage, powerful, and filled with uncontrollable rage. Any one of them breaking into a city?state would mean a horrible slaughter.

Worse still, these chaotic, dull?witted demons were almost immune to all spell effects based on “wisdom” and “knowledge”.

But that was not a big problem either.

Morris pressed the “mechanical device” in his hand against his own shoulder. The delicate mechanism, which seemed to be made of brass, sank into his body like a phantom in an instant. Right after that, the sounds of gears turning, pistons moving, and valves venting gas came from inside him.

With a soft benediction to Rahm, the God of Wisdom, the old scholar’s bent, aged body seemed to be filled for a short time with the strength of steel and oil. His back slowly straightened, and his spine gave off clacking sounds like metal parts snapping into place. A metallic sheen spread over his skin, shining with the unique luster of brass. His eyeballs melted away. Two carefully cut rubies rolled out of his Sorting Engine brain and were pushed into his eye sockets by mechanical arms.

Morris flexed his arms. Steam hissed from his joints, and thin white mist puffed out. He lifted his head toward the shape squeezing through the black door—a huge, floating skull covered in savage bone spurs—and strode forward.

He passed Lucretia and drove his fist into the horrifying skull demon. With a shriek from the venting steam valves and a crisp crack of shattering bone, that demon, which had been in the Mortal Realm for less than half a second, was punched straight back into the Abyssal Deep by the old gentleman.

Lucretia lifted her head and stared blankly at the usually gentle and mild old scholar: “…?”

“When I was young, I often went seeking knowledge in dangerous secret realms and even into Vision zones,” Morris turned his head, the brass shell of his face showing a faint smile. Fine brass gears and shining springs spun and trembled in the gaps along his jaw. “Out in those places, far from the civilized world, you often ran into crude enemies who lacked the brains they needed. Back then, I learned a truth—fools are immune to the baptism of wisdom.”

He turned around and slammed another punch onto the head of a Abyssal Hound that was just sticking out of the door, smashing the demon’s skull straight down into its chest.

“The knowledge of Rahm’s divine blessing can’t leave even the tiniest mark on their smooth brains.” Morris shook his wrist, letting the steam?pressure tubes in his joints reset. “But a Steam?Powered Iron Fist blessed by Rahm can.”

Lucretia kept the same blank look: “…”

And to think she had once believed this gentle, good?tempered old mister was the most normal person on the Vanished… so in the end, there was not a single normal person on Dad’s ship?!

…

When the Abyssal demon that had suddenly emerged from the thick mist was flattened in the blink of an eye, Amber still had not reacted to what had happened.

She did not even know how Vanna had rushed from one end of the valley to the other in a single instant.

After swatting a demon to death, Vanna walked over as if nothing had happened. She was holding the greatsword in one hand as she stopped in front of Amber: “The demons are gaining physical bodies. This ‘Sacred Isle’ has already sunk deeper toward the Abyssal Deep. Inform the warships near the shoreline that they must stay alert for large entities appearing in the nearby waters. No matter what they look like, if they dare come close, sink them.”

Amber froze for a moment before she finally snapped out of her brief daze and nodded in a panic: “O?okay!”

Seeing this, Vanna frowned. Years of serving as an inquisitor made her scold without thinking: “Focus, nun. We’re on the demons’ turf.”

“Yes!” Amber straightened her back on reflex and answered loudly.

Vanna waved her hand and did not say anything more. She simply looked around with a grave face, watching the thick mist that was slowly flowing through the valley.

Ever since half an hour ago, strange and shifting shadows had begun to appear from time to time within the fog. Those shadows swam and twisted, sketching out many disturbing demon shapes.

On the nearby rock walls, clusters of stone as grim as exposed bones were also giving off faint tremors, as if they were slowly becoming active.

And just a few seconds ago, demons had condensed into solid bodies out of the shadows in the mist, “born” directly into the Mortal Realm.

All these signs showed that this “Sacred Isle” was rapidly drifting away from the Mortal Realm and “sinking” toward the side of the Abyssal Deep. This change was clearly related to the captain’s actions.

Vanna did not feel uneasy. She trusted the captain. But the others on site clearly did not know enough about the Vanished fleet.

“Is everything okay over on the Vanished?” Amber leaned closer and asked in a worried whisper.

Vanna frowned, looking puzzled: “…What are you talking about?”

“I know that ship is strange and powerful, but Captain Duncan is away right now, isn’t he?” Amber hurried to explain. “If demons really come close… should we ask the Tide to help watch over it?”

Vanna understood Amber’s concern, but her expression only grew more complicated. After a brief silence, she shook her head: “It’s fine. There’s someone staying on that ship.”

Amber stared, as if she still wanted to say something. But just then, a sudden burst of intense light rising from the direction of the shoreline cut her off.

The marines and priests stationed in the valley all jumped and turned toward the source of the light. For a second, they even thought they were seeing a blazing sunrise.

A glaring fireball was slowly rising into the sky. In the scorching, terrifying light, it looked as if many tiny things were burning in the flames, turning into thin threads of smoke.

After staring in a daze for a long moment, Amber finally broke the silence in a hesitant voice: “…What is that?”

“That’s ‘Nina Gets Spooked’.” Vanna pressed her lips together, narrowed her eyes at the fireball, and spoke in a very calm tone. “She jumped really high this time… Looks like the Abyssal demons that showed up in the nearby waters are ‘in luck’ today…”

…

In the sudden assault of darkness and chaos, Duncan, Shirley, and Dog felt as if they were traveling through an endlessly long tunnel. Only an instant seemed to pass, yet their senses told them this “journey” went on without end.

At the far end of that “tunnel”, when the darkness began to fade, countless bizarre visions rushed toward them. Twisted starlight poured into their eyes like a waterfall. Shirley and Dog were stunned at once by the scene, both grand and eerie. Duncan, however, suddenly had a strange association.

The jump had ended.

The moment that thought appeared, he once again felt solid ground under his feet. The long tunnel and the flashing starlight vanished from his sight. In their place came the gloom at the deepest point of the Abyssal Deep, and the massive, mountain?like, awe?inspiring “Elder God” that slowly came into view as his vision cleared.

He had arrived before the Abyssal Lord.

He could see only a small part of this Elder God.

A low “mountain range” stretched across his field of view. In truth, that “mountain range” was a single immense, dark?colored tentacle. Dim blue light flowed over its surface, and many irregular points of light were set between those streams, brightening and dimming slowly like a breathing pattern.

This giant tentacle stretched off into the depths of the darkness. There, it split into many branches that connected to several shattered floating islands hanging nearby, wrapping around and piercing deep into those drifting lands. At the other end of the tentacle stood a structure like an immense, towering pillar. It was the point where many similar tentacles met. The whole thing looked like some strangely shaped “starfish”. At its center, the “main body” rose high, covered with countless points of light, like millions of eyes slowly blinking in the dark, gazing down at the uninvited guests who had come here.

Duncan lifted his head and quietly looked up at the Elder God lurking in the darkness. After a long time, he spoke softly: “I came to find you.”

Ripples spread over the surface of that dark “mountain”, and a low murmur answered him. Within that murmur, Duncan heard a voice:

“We finally meet, ‘Flame Usurper’… and you as well, LH?03. It has been a long time.”