Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 397

Chapter 397: Chapter 401 Fog? Chapter 397: Chapter 401 Fog? At the center of the City-State, at the highest point of Frost, the Silent Sanctum stood solemnly atop the mountain, its foreboding silhouette made all the more oppressive by the gloomy weather, as if silence added to its suppression. Its array of spires stood amidst the mist, like thorns and blades, overlooking the entire city.

A tall figure, conspicuous among the crowd, strolled across the square in front of the church as if he were just an ordinary tourist, casually surveying the surroundings.

Before long, an elderly gentleman, dressed in a dark brown coat and exuding a scholarly and gentle demeanor, emerged from the crowd and walked straight toward the tall figure.

Having spotted Morris coming through the crowd, Fenna quietly moved to a relatively secluded spot.

“There's nothing unusual around the church square,” Fenna leaned against a streetlamp, her eyes on the church's main door nearby, speaking softly.

“The same holds true for the city hall area, at least on the surface. There are no signs of mental or cognitive contamination among the people here,” Morris wiped his monocle, “but I've noticed a situation.”

“A situation?”

“Some people nearby the square were discussing the authorities' recent exploration of the sewer systems. If I'm not wrong, they were talking about the second waterway,” said Morris. “During their conversation, they mentioned Gatekeeper Agatha–she is personally leading the team.”

“Gatekeeper Agatha?” Fenna's expression shifted slightly. “But the captain has said…”

“The real Agatha should be trapped in a mirrored version of Frost City-State right now,” Morris said in a low voice. “The one leading the team… is most likely a fake.”

Fenna took a deep breath, then suddenly looked up in the direction of the Silent Sanctum.

The majestic and solemn building stood against the grey sky, its spires silently piercing the mist.

Her expression became grave. “…There are no anomalies at the cathedral, so there are only two possibilities, either the fake has deceived the cathedral's eyes, or…”
“Or the Frost Church is no longer reliable, at least there's a serious issue inside the cathedral,” Morris nodded slightly. “Regardless of which case it is, the Frost Church evidently has lost control over the situation–we should leave now, we must inform Mr. Duncan immediately.”

Fenna nodded silently and walked with Morris toward the edge of the square. Before leaving, she looked up one last time at the open space opposite the Silent Sanctum.

That was where the city hall was located; the palace once known as the “Winter Queen's Court” stood there on the mountaintop. As the fog thickened slightly, Fenna saw that building, too, stood silently under the sky like the Silent Sanctum, its spires towering above, silently overlooking the city.

Fenna suddenly stopped.

Morris immediately turned. “Fenna? What did you see?”

Fenna stared intently at the hazy mist.

Through the swirling fog, the city hall had returned to its original form, a palatial building with various arched domes, its majestic grey-white main building surrounded by long halls and continuous arches extending out like wings on both sides.

There were no dark black spires, no forest of tall towers.

“Fenna? What's wrong?” Morris's voice sounded again.

“I just saw another cathedral–at the location of the city hall,” Fenna said suddenly in a low voice, her expression particularly grave. “It was only for a moment, but I'm sure I wasn't mistaken!”

“Another cathedral?” Morris was startled, instinctively looking across the square, but all he saw was the city hall, appearing perfectly normal.

But he did not doubt Fenna's judgment.

“This isn't a good sign,” the old scholar's voice was low as he raised his hand to adjust the top hat on his head. “It appears that only you saw that scene just now. This might be due to your clerical ability to see spirits far beyond ordinary people–that vision being directly around the cathedral is evidence that the Corrosion is getting worse.”

Fenna remained silent, she just furrowed her brows, her gaze shifting towards the city area below the mountain, and after a long while she slowly began to speak: “The fog is rising, it's everywhere.”

The fog rolled in, starting in the central area of Frost City-State, and soon began engulfing the entire city district. What began as wisps of light mist quickly turned dense within a few hours, shrouding the city in haze.

“Wow, there's a thick fog outside!”

Sherry leaned out of the second-floor bedroom window, looking out over the street with a surprised expression on her face.

A dog pressed its ugly bony head against the window beside Sherry, squinting outside for a long time before bursting out with a string of words, “Fog in urban areas usually happens due to significant diurnal temperature variations, and human activities cause water vapor to rise and air dust to increase, meeting sudden temperature drops between buildings…”

Sherry looked puzzled. “What are you talking about, Dog?”

“Dog is quoting chapter two of 'The Logic Behind Nature'; it's been reading that book for the past few days,” Nina, who was writing homework at the desk nearby, turned her head to glance and casually mentioned, “You should try reading some simple books as well. It's really helpful for mastering vocabulary–if not, you can start with picture books.”

Sherry thought for a moment and said uncertainly, “Are you mocking me because I know so few words and can only read picture books up to now?”

Nina's attention returned to her homework. “Not at all, because you actually can only look at picture books. Stating a fact isn't mocking…”

Sherry glared, as if she wanted to get angry, but then the intensifying fog outside the window distracted her again, waving her hands, “Hey, I'm not talking about that–come and look! The fog is really thick! I haven't seen fog like this in Prand…”

“Prand has a small diurnal temperature variation, and mornings and evenings are windy; it's not prone to fog,” Nina answered without looking up from her work. “I'm not looking, my homework isn't finished yet. The set Morris teacher assigned is really tough, and the multiple-choice questions are so confusing. I keep feeling like I'm choosing the wrong answers…”

“Hey, if you're stumped by a question, just pick C,” Sherry blurted out, her eyes darting around as if a new idea struck her. “Nina, do you want to go out? Just nearby, not far–there's a pastry shop across the street. With this kind of weather, there probably aren't many customers; maybe we can get some cake for cheap…”

“I'm not going,” Nina replied offhandedly. “You can go if you want, but if Uncle Duncan comes back and I don't tell him…”

She was interrupted mid-sentence by a strange rustling sound in the room.

“Did… did you hear something just now?” Sherry quickly hopped down from the windowsill, looking around cautiously.

Nina tensed too, and as she instinctively surveyed her surroundings, she noticed something odd on the test papers and textbooks in front of her.

The text was moving, the symbols spinning; the clear-cut ink marks trembled as if coming to life, and around those quivering lines, a dark shadow spread like blooming ink, rapidly filling the entire paper.

Within an instant, all the books and papers Nina had been looking at started to shudder violently, a low murmuring mixed with the rustling echoing throughout the room!

“Ah! The books you were looking at are cursed!” Sherry exclaimed, instinctively raising the chain linking her to the Dog. At the moment of her cry, something demonic that had been drawn by the scent of knowledge and seeking entry to the real world entered the room!

Black smoke swirled frenziedly, physical forms emerging from the vapor; skeletal fragments clattered to the floor and in the blink of an eye, transformed into ugly and terrifying demons–three Abyssal Hounds landed on the floor, emitting frightening growls with their chaotic, crimson eyes filled with madness and chaos!

Then, they saw the dog lying bewildered by the window.

The Abyssal Hounds looked at each other–Sherry even thought she detected a moment of confusion in the dim-witted “Original Demons.”

But this didn't affect her reaction at all.

With a clatter of the pitch-black chain, Sherry raised her arms high, swinging the Dog around like a meteor hammer. The next second, it whistled through the air and slammed into the demon closest to the window!

“I'll whip your ass!”

With a thunderous crash, two dog heads collided earth-shatteringly, and the demon that had just emerged from the Mysterious Deep Sea clearly couldn't stand up to the Dog that had been training in combat with Sherry for years–be it in terms of skull hardness or reaction time.

The first Abyssal Hound was smashed into pieces instantly.

The second Abyssal Hound just managed to open its mouth, unable to let out a growl, when it suddenly felt an onslaught of high temperature.

A fiery blaze kicked in from the side; Nina delivered a 6000degC kick.

Chapter end

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