Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 680

Chapter 680: Chapter 677 “Pilgrimage Chapter 680: Chapter 677 “Pilgrimage Pilgrimage Ark–Ever since Duncan had laid eyes on these “giant ships” that resembled small City-States, ever since he learned of their unceasing pilgrimage across the sea, he'd harbored doubts about these astonishing creations.

What did the Pilgrimage Arks truly signify, and their peculiar “pilgrimage” activities… Were they merely “patrolling”?

People in the City-States often said that the Pilgrimage Arks represented the mighty powers of the Four Gods, they were the symbol of the Church's highest military force, as well as the “mobile palaces” of the four true gods in the mortal world. The Church commanded the arks to patrol the Endless Sea, to deter the heretics, to protect the City-States from contamination by malevolent beings from Subspace. Initially, Duncan hadn't doubted this explanation, but the more he dealt with the Church of the Four Gods, especially after learning more and more inside information from Fenna, Morris, and Agatha, he began to notice discrepancies.

The ones truly responsible for combating heretical abominations were the Judges and the guardian system of the City-States. The ones really responsible for intercepting heterodox believers at sea and for rescuing mariners were the conventional fleets of the Church of the Four Gods. The ones in charge of guarding against subspace contamination and fortifying the City-States' Defenses were the chiming of church bells, the bishops' prayers, and the strictly planned church-belltower system. Meanwhile, the four awe-inspiring Pilgrimage Arks… In fact, never partook in any affairs related to the mortal world.

They spent three-quarters of the year patrolling on some secret routes, invisible and immeasurable to the mortal world, seemingly situated between the fissures of reality, far from any city. And during the remaining time, they took turns patrolling near the “Eternal Veil” on the borders, only minimally communicating with the Church's border fleets, never dealing with any City-States–and even deliberately avoiding the patrol fleets of the border City-States.

Only on the rarest occasions did these arks anchor at City-States–such as after a major event like the Black Sun crisis in Prand–only then would they appear before the eyes of the world.

Apart from this, the arks had no further contact with the mortal world, even within the upper echelons of the four grand churches, they were always shrouded in a veil of mystery–most clergy spent their lives without ever setting foot on a Pilgrimage Ark, only those designated as “saints” were privileged enough to be taken to an ark during their apprenticeship, but even they were restricted to certain areas and after completing the necessary studies and training, they were sent back to their original cities–these “saints” never had a chance to encounter the true secrets of the arks.

These clues indicated that the very existence of the “Pilgrimage Arks” was fraught with tremendous doubt–their true purpose had always been hidden.

Now, Duncan had finally found the answer.

“…The current four Pilgrimage Arks were constructed decades ago, and before these 'giant ships' were put to use, there actually were previous generations of 'arks' within the four grand churches, but those could not bear comparison to these four church ships of today…”

Frem's voice was deep, his words flowing as if from stone, carrying a certain convincing firmness that made one subconsciously relax and believe.

“The previous generation of the Church's 'arks' were really just big ships. Back then, they were merely part of the papal sea patrol fleet, an element of armed forces, not as mysterious as today, nor as… isolated from the mortal world.

“Today's 'church ships,' however, are on a completely different level. Instead of saying they are four 'big ships'… to be precise, they are more like four 'anchors,' used to keep the reason of the gods anchored to some 'balance point' outside the mortal realm.”

Duncan remained silent, his expression serious and earnest as he watched Frem–knowing that Frem's explanations were meant for him alone, while the other pontiffs and bishops present at the meeting were from the Pilgrimage Arks, apparently the “in-the-know” bearers of truth.

“…Who exactly first noticed the truth cannot be traced, it came from a series of 'revelations' and 'inspirations'. We heard muttered truths during prayers, saw dark corruptions accumulate in the illusions brought by incense. Our spirits felt the 'pullof something beyond this world more than once, guiding our thoughts to a place of chaos and vastness, allowing us to see the deaths and shadows of the gods… And during this process, the connection between the mortal clergy and the Four Gods began to experience frequent interruptions… It was probably around the year 1822.”

Frem paused briefly, and Lucresia, seated not far to the right of Duncan, seemed to suddenly recall something, “1822… The 'Cold Harbor Silence' incident?!”

“Yes, the Cold Harbor Silence incident–it's well-known but actually just a snapshot, a prominent and remaining snapshot from a series of worsening events that couldn't be fully rectified.”

The one who answered was not Frem, but Banster, seated next to Frem, the death pontiff draped in a black robe, his voice hoarse and his age-worn face deathly pale.

“All the clergy of the entire City-State suddenly lost contact with the god of death, Bartok. During the 'silence' that lasted twenty-four hours, they heard a continuous hollow howling and screeching in their minds, audible only to themselves, and then tainted blood flowed from the 'Holy Vault'. The Archbishop of the City-State sacrificed himself to protect the grand cathedral, melting into the tainted blood–afterwards, it was recorded that a total of seventeen clergy martyred during the 'silence', with another seventy-seven falling into permanent insanity, their minds shattered by glimpses of things beyond the real world…

“Based on my judgment, 'silence' events like these continued to have lasting repercussions over the next twenty years–The momentary disappearance of divine protection weakened the reality dimension defense in the Chill Sea region, allowing influences from Subspace, the ethereal, and the Spirit Realm to seep in. Centered around Cold Harbor, the number of 'natural spiritual energy wielders' born in the City-States of the Chill Sea during that time nearly surpassed the combined total from all other City-States in the world.”

Banster stopped and turned his gaze toward Rune.

“Yes, just as Banster said, the Silent Incident at Cold Harbor in 1822 was only a snapshot,” Rune nodded, “The true situation is that for a considerable length of time, across the entire Endless Sea, contact with the gods has become difficult, and even dangerous. Daily prayers often go unanswered, but worse are those 'responses' that should not exist. The protection afforded to the City-States is weakening, and strange occurrences on ocean voyages have multiplied. Through successive revelations and visions… we finally ascertained the terrifying 'state' of the gods.”

The hall fell into silence.

The gods are dead–Duncan knew this, his followers by his side knew it, the four Archbishops and the bishops aboard the Pilgrimage Ark also knew it, but when this matter came directly to the fore, when all intelligence and past events were laid out and linked to the Great Extinction, an unusual, oppressive atmosphere still inexorably spread through the room.

“…So, you constructed the massive Pilgrimage Ark to strengthen the link with the gods and to slow Their 'decay'…” Duncan spoke up, breaking the silence, “I'm not interested in the specific 'mechanics' of the process, I just want to know what 'effect' your efforts have had. Did it really work? Frem earlier mentioned that the Ark's 'delaying' effect has reached its limit, what's that about?”

“It worked, at least initially,” Helena nodded, “The ark is an anchor point for the gods, and the 'death' of the gods is a lengthy and complex process. Strictly speaking, this process of death is essentially unstoppable–it's like the inexorable turning of the laws of the world, but the presence of an 'anchor point' could at least maintain the gods in a relatively stable state until They completely 'vanish.' And according to our initial estimates… it should have worked for several centuries, even a millennium.

“Our initial thought was that if we had such a long 'buffer time,' we might have the opportunity to find other ways to further delay the decay of the gods, or even find… find…”

Helena suddenly stopped, as if some words were too difficult to speak aloud, as if despite the actions she and the other Archbishops had already taken, she still did not wish to acknowledge certain “facts.”

Rune, Banster, and Frem also fell silent with complex expressions on their faces.

Beside Duncan, Lucrecia frowned in confusion, Nina and Sherry could not help but show their curiosity, and Morris opened his mouth thoughtfully but then hesitated to speak.

Soft, ethereal waves sounded in Duncan's ears, murmurous whispers as though from behind a thick veil murmuring to him. He was momentarily lost in thought, looking down at the table before him.

A faint trace of moisture appeared on the table, and then rapidly vanished.

He watched the trace, then raised his head to look across at Helena.

“Finding a substitute, right?”

Helena's eyes widened in shock at Duncan.

But Duncan just shook his head, offering no explanation, and after a few seconds of silence, he spoke thoughtfully, “…But now, only a few decades have passed, a far cry from the 'several centuries' you anticipated.”

“Yes, the situation has deteriorated more rapidly than we imagined,” Banster's voice was hoarse and somber, “We had thought that the gods' current 'balanced state' could possibly last a millennium, but the forces of decay and deterioration have begun to invade the whole world. The Ark's 'pilgrimage' was initially for strengthening the link between the gods and the mortal realm, but now, we spend half our time trying to 'filter' out the contamination they emit during Their decay…

“This fills us with… profound sorrow.”

Banster ended his words with a sigh.

After a moment of contemplation, Duncan broke the silence, “So, you've taken new actions–those fleets assembling in the bordering seas?”

Chapter end

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