Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Chapter 487: Arson in the Deep Sea Chapter 486: Chapter 487: Arson in the Deep Sea Lei Nora's tone was indifferent and calm, as if many years ago she had already planned all the end scenarios for her destiny–whether being forever trapped in a nightmare or suffering eternal exile were just inevitable parts of her planned future.

Just as Duncan had thought, the Frost Queen had never prepared for her own “resurrection”–returning to the human world was never a part of her plan.

Yet, this sacrificial attitude made Duncan feel strange.

“Are you truly willing to give everything for Frost, even sacrifices greater than life itself?” He turned his head, curiously looking into Lei Nora's eyes. “You lived in a dungeon beneath the church for over a decade, regarded as human only after you turned twelve. You were surveilled, shackled, and tested; every thought and every murmured dream treated as a potential betrayal of humanity. You did everything you could, and in the end, you were still branded as the 'Mad Queen' and sent to the guillotine… I don't want to judge anyone from a grim perspective, but at least logically, I'm surprised by your decision.”

Lei Nora fell silent, leaning on her bed, looking up at the canopy above, her thoughts seemingly drifting far away. After what seemed like a long time, she suddenly smiled and shook her head, “Right… why would I do that…”

She turned her head, quietly gazing into Duncan's eyes.

“Do you know, they could have actually burned me alive–long, long ago, the day I first woke from a nightmare, before I learned to say 'daddy' and 'mommy,' before I realized I was human… Captain, perhaps my statement has led you to a misunderstanding, you think that I should resent that cold city, but in fact… it was that city which strived with all its might to keep me alive.

“And from a broader perspective, it is our delicate yet fragile 'civilized world' that is striving with all its might to keep everyone alive–including natural Spiritual Energy bearers like me, even if they have to use chains, iron cages, and confine me in a dungeon for ten years; they never expected me to die in that cold place… they hoped I could return as a human.

“I have never harbored resentment towards anyone, Captain, they did not treat me cruelly–because this world is cruel to everyone, and everyone is just doing their best.”

The former Frost Queen sighed softly, then finally slowly got up from her cage-like bed–compared to the ten years she spent in the cathedral basement, the only difference with this bed might be the absence of bars.

She walked to the end of the room, came alongside Duncan, and gazed out at the chaotic, dark abyss outside.

“My parents and the people in the church tried their best to keep me alive, and I, along with my supporters, tried our best to ensure the safety of the City-State. Governor Winston and his predecessors tried their best to complete the task I could not–however, often trying our best does not guarantee success; failure naturally comes with its price.”

She slowly raised her arm, pointing to the vast tentacles emerging from the darkness.

“Even ancient gods face failure, don't they?”

“…If your theory is correct, then there will inevitably be new Replication entities that awaken from the creations of this world,” Duncan pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, “Destroying the erroneous Replication here won't solve the root problem of the entire world.”

“There will be others who will 'try their best,'” Lei Nora calmly said, turning her head to look at Duncan. “What about you? Will you make a move?”

Duncan remained silent. After a moment, he softly broke the silence, “I'll try my best.”

“That's enough,” Lei Nora smiled, “Then let's get started. I've slept for too long; it's time to wake up from this nightmare… it's also time to liberate 'It.'”
Her tone carried an urgency, as if she was in a hurry.

Duncan hesitated for a long while before finally nodding silently.

The next second, a cluster of pale green flames suddenly appeared beside him, the flames twisting and expanding, gradually morphing into a vortex-like doorway.

He walked towards that door, and just then, Lei Nora's expression subtly changed.

She stared blankly at the rising green flames, as if looking back on a distant, hazy memory, and then suddenly turned her head to Duncan, about to head through the door, “Is it you?!”

Duncan paused, and after a brief moment of confusion, he finally realized why the Frost Queen had reacted so.

“I suppose this shouldn't count as contaminating history,” keeping his posture as if about to step through the door, he slightly turned his face, “Don't you think?”

“So this is how it is… so this is how it is…” Lei Nora murmured to herself, her expression changing rapidly several times as if many long-troubled matters had suddenly become clear. Then, as if a faint light gradually emerged in her eyes, she showed a genuinely heartfelt, radiant expression for the first time and lifted her head to look at Duncan, waving her hand as if bidding farewell to an old friend years ago, “Go ahead, do what you must, I think… we are making the right decision.”

Duncan gave the Frost Queen one final, deep look, then without saying anything further, he stepped forward into the swirling gateway of flames.

Lei Nora stood quietly, watching his figure disappear from the room.

Just like many, many years ago, when that knowledgeable and kind old man disappeared into the morning light.

Slowly, she withdrew her gaze, turned around, and stood at the shattered end of the room, looking at the ancient deity's tentacles that were in a state of stasis, looking at the nightmares of her past half-century, and all the fate and responsibilities it entailed.

Threads and strands of eerie green firelight began to emerge from the dark abyss on the other side, initially small as fireflies, but quickly expanding and intensifying in a rapid spread, and started to permeate and burn toward the entire “column.”

A slight tremor emerged underfoot and quickly intensified as time passed.

The mansion was shaking, the power that supported this dreamscape was fading, the “connection point” between the “Drift Land” and the outside world was rapidly disintegrating, disappearing, and the darkness outside the room seemed to suddenly surge up, with countless layers of ripples and light wildly expanding, then retreating back into the darkness, while the “ancient god's tentacle” began to change amid the suddenly unbalanced light and shadow–it seemed to bend, and a blurry structure extended, grew from its top, and crossed the uncertain boundary, reaching down and getting closer to this broken room.

Yet Lei Nora simply stood still in front of this terrifying scene, watching the illusory, newborn, small tentacles continuously bend toward her, watching them finally reach the invisible boundary, where the black “flesh” adhered to the surface of the intangible barrier, opening up.

Lei Nora slowly reached out her hand, placing her palm on the pulsating, unsteady surface of the flesh, feeling, through the barrier of the dreamscape, everything it transmitted–confusion, tension, unease, and a bit of regret.

“Yes… I know you didn't want to appear in this world… it will all end soon, think of it as a dream, you'll return to where you belong…

“I'll be leaving too, soon, when the anchor breaks, it will be time to detach… I might go far, there might never be another destination, even if my calculations are correct, this will probably be an unimaginably long journey… So, if there's scenery to be seen, I'll enjoy it.”

The silent communication continued in the dreamscape, in these last moments before waking, Lei Nora suddenly felt somewhat sentimental.

“After all this time, I never asked for your name,” she stared at the tentacle beyond the dreamscape boundary, feeling the chaotic, fragmented messages coming from it–most of which couldn't even be called complete “thoughts,” more like the random flashes of inspiration from a fractured soul struggling to think, “Of course, I know the title 'The Saint,' and I know you have other names… but that's not your name…

“Do you have a name? Whether it's yours or that of your 'original self'… never mind, I was just suddenly curious.”

Amidst a great deal of chaotic noise and murmurs, a particularly clear thought suddenly came through.

Lei Nora listened quietly, as she did when she was a child, between those cold railings and shackles, listening to the indistinct murmurs coming from the depths of the tide–a name, seeming to emerge in her mind in a state between dreaming and waking.

A gentle smile slowly surfaced on her lips: “LH-01… ah, what a strange name… Leading Navigator One? Is that your original name?

“Alright, I'll remember that, nice to meet you, Leading Navigator One. So… farewell, good morning.”

A tsunami-like blaze surged from the depths of the darkness, in the blink of an eye engulfing the tentacle that was touching the “Drift Land,” burning in the flames, the ancient deity's incorrect replication returned to dust, to earth.

The raging flames even briefly eroded the barrier of the dreamscape, blossoming around Lei Nora's feet, in the air beside her, at the edge of the room, into a series of strange yet brilliant fireworks.

Lei Nora curiously watched those leaping flames of the Spiritual Body, reaching out to touch their edges.

The warm fire dissipated at her fingertips.

In the dark and cold deep sea, the suddenly rising Spectral Flame almost like a solar flare, illuminated the entire sea area, illuminated the dark floating island in the deep sea, illuminated those human-shaped husks floating in the dark water like a swarm of bees.

Duncan floated quietly at the edge of the dark floating island, watching the vigorously burning Spectral Flame that he had ignited, its force even made him, the “arsonist,” feel deeply shocked.

Chapter end

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