Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 784

Chapter 784: Chapter 781: Lifeline in the Hourglass Chapter 784: Chapter 781: Lifeline in the Hourglass To be honest, for a brief few seconds, Duncan even entertained a ludicrous and unsettling thought–had he arrived too late?

Just because he was a little slow to depart, or delayed on the way, had the Storm Goddess, already in a state of “delayed” death for ten thousand years, just missed his entrance and died here for real and utterly? Had her will dissipated?

But this somewhat absurd thought quickly vanished from Duncan's mind–he confirmed that until the Homeloss docked beside this island, Fenna had still “read” the thoughts of the Storm Goddess, Gomona, which indicated that at least at that time, the latter was still in some kind of “operational” state…
Could it really be such a coincidence?

Duncan looked up at Fenna with a subtly expressive gaze, only to see Fenna also turning to look at him, their eyes briefly meeting before awkwardly shifting away.

“…Let's not think too much about it for now. Let's go down and take a look,” Duncan murmured, taking the lead and stepping forward, with the others closely following behind him.

They stepped into the round “hall” that was so vast it made one doubt the laws of architectural structure, descending the spiralling steps that seemed to lead toward a vortex ending at a pool of water below. The gigantic and pale tentacles of the “Leviathan Queen” stretched out nearby, its smaller offshoots intertwining with the dark “stone” blocks that made up the building before withering away between the stairs.

Duncan suddenly had a feeling, as though the massive palace, and even the black island bearing it, were a huge, man-made “shell,” with the divinely attributed Ancient Sea Beasts as the flesh within the shell. When the behemoth died, the flesh withered and contracted, leaving many “chambers”–the corridors, the rooms, and the halls.

They walked within the “shell” of the giant beast, treading across the voids left by the withered flesh, inching closer to the beast's stopped heart.

Gloomy green flames burned along the steps, driving away the surrounding darkness. Duncan reached the spot where the round pool met the stairs and noticed a slightly elevated, curved stone platform around it. A mass of pale flesh, about the size of a church roof in a city block, emerged from the pool and lay lifelessly on the platform. And beside it, on the edge of the platform…
There were remnants resembling tables, chairs, and altars, as well as…human skeletons?!

Lukecrecia was the first to notice the bones. She paused momentarily, then quickly moved to the side of the stone platform, carefully observing while frowning slightly and speaking slowly, “These aren't the standard human or elf skeletons, but they're similar in structure…at least some kind of humanoid.”

Duncan too came over, frowning at the situation on the platform.

Next to the corpse of the Leviathan Queen, those skeletons were so insignificant and scattered in a corner that no one noticed them when they first entered the hall.

“Who could have left these?” Nina asked, nervously and fearfully, instinctively hiding behind Duncan. “A previous explorer who arrived before us? The Sea Song?”

“No, Miss Lukecrecia just mentioned that these aren't standard human or elf skeletons–I don't think they look like those of the Senkin People either, as the Senkin People have a single piece of bone for the breastplate,” Exception 077 immediately broke the silence, “And I remember… the sailors from the Sea Song dissolved in the mist and foam near the island, finding 'tranquility'. They couldn't possibly have left any remains inside the temple.”

Without a word, Duncan continued to solemnly inspect the items scattered around the skeletons–pieces of armor or clothing, remnants of weapons and ritual implements, and the dilapidated small altar.

Fenna, standing by his side, suddenly noticed something and softly broke the silence, “These clothes…they look very much like what I saw in the illusions, those who had made pilgrimages on this island…”
“People who made pilgrimages on this island?” Duncan sounded somewhat surprised. “From the generations before the Great Obliteration?”

What Fenna had seen in the illusions was undoubtedly a scene from when the Storm Goddess, Gomona, was still the “Leviathan Queen,” before the Great Obliteration occurred, a record left by a civilization that had co-existed and developed with the Leviathan Beast, like the elven civilization before the fall of Silantis or the era in Tarrikin's memory… Could the “material” from that time have survived until now?

With a trace of surprise, Duncan examined the items scattered around the bones–outside the palace, everything from the old era had already become that bizarre black shriveled substance, or like the sailors described, turned into mist and foam of the sea, transformed into forms beyond human comprehension.

Why had these bones and artifacts been preserved?

Just then, Alice's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Duncan's train of thought, “Captain, look! What's this?”

Duncan immediately moved next to the automaton, following the direction she was pointing. In the corner of the altar, there was an object covered with dust and torn fabric.

It was an intricately-crafted, ancient hourglass.

After a moment of hesitation, Duncan reached out, picked up the hourglass, and blew the dust off it.

The intricate symbols and texts on the surface of the hourglass were clearly visible.

“An hourglass?” Morris looked at the object in the captain's hand in surprise, the lenses extended from his eye sockets adjusted slightly, and then it seemed as if he noticed some kind of disharmony, “Strange…”

Fenna spoke subconsciously, “Strange about what?”

Morris thought for a moment, “…It feels out of place with the overall style of this temple, especially the text on the hourglass… There are many runes on the outer wall of the temple, but they are clearly not from the same system as those on the hourglass. This thing actually looks a bit like…”

Listening to the old scholar's analysis, Duncan was pensive and then suddenly noticed something:
The overall contour of the hourglass, when viewed from the side, resembled two inverted triangles, and the decorative frame together with the hourglass itself formed a shape that seemed to be… The Gate of Death crafted by Bartok.

“…Like some of the Holy Artifacts of the Death Church!” said Morris quickly.

The Holy Artifacts of the Death Church… creations of the Death God Bartok?

Duncan's expression became serious, and he vaguely guessed something, then considering the skeletal remains and relics preserved within this palace, an idea slowly emerged.

After a moment of contemplation, he turned around, gazing at the lifeless gargantuan remains near the pool, and then gently flipped the hourglass in his hand.

The pale gold fine sand in the hourglass made a rustling sound, imperceptible to human ears, drifting like a mist from the container, flowing between the two inverted “Gates of Death.”

The next second, the entire world fell silent, as if some force had divided the world into parts of life and death–everything in Duncan's view turned into black, white, and grey hues resembling the Spirit Realm, and at the edges of each object, layers upon layers of constantly wavering phantasms spread out; within these illusions, all other people vanished, leaving only himself holding the hourglass and… those skeletons that were rapidly reassembling and sprouting flesh and blood.

The remains transformed into living beings–two tall men in armor, with stern faces and silent demeanors, and a young woman in white robes, smiling gently at herself.

Duncan looked at these three figures who had “reversed life and death” before his very eyes with amazement, but before he could say anything, the young woman in white robes shook her head at him and quietly moved aside.

At the edge of the pool, the large pallid limb, similar to a church roof, shook slightly, and then its surface rippled with a watery sheen. A gentle voice then penetrated Duncan's mind–
“We finally meet, Usurping Flame.”

“Gomona?” Duncan responded immediately, looking at the hourglass in his hand with some astonishment, “I didn't expect it to actually work. I was just trying it out.”

“Yes, thank you for trying it out–Inside the flow of time in the temple, I exist in a state of complete death. The hourglass contains a brief spark of life, used to converse with you when necessary… Bartok had said when making the hourglass that you would surely turn it.”

Listening to the gentle voice that echoed in his mind, Duncan raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Wait, are you saying… you knew I would come here, would turn this hourglass, and would converse with you here… everything was predestined?”

“From the day this Shelter was born, its time became a closed loop, Usurping Flame… In our eyes, time within these narrow confines is not a river, nor a line; it is a spread-out plane–on this laid-out 'Scroll of Time,' all possible events have already concluded…”

The gentle voice paused for a few seconds, then continued softly:
“As for you, Usurping Flame, your arrival is the one event at the end of this Scroll of Time that can certainly occur, yet how it ends remains undetermined.”

“I have come to understand quite a bit about the flow of time… I can imagine what you're saying, it's just hard to connect it to reality at first,” Duncan said, looking up to survey the area, “The flow of time within the temple, huh… No wonder, after we stepped into this temple, neither I nor Fenna could sense any of your 'activity.' And upon seeing those on the platform…”

He glanced subconsciously at the figures standing to one side, then quickly averted his gaze.

“…those skeletons, I had a hunch that there seemed to be some kind of 'difference' between inside and outside the temple–after stepping in here, it's as if we entered a unique 'branch of choices.' Why did you do this?”

“To delay the 'decay' of the external barrier,” Gomona said softly, “We are rotting, Usurping Flame, we must find a way to 'encase' our decay; otherwise, before the lifespan of the Shelter reaches its limit, this world will be fully eroded by the 'Corrosion' we release.”

Chapter end

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