Deep Sea Embers

Of course, according to strict doctrinal distinctions, the “goddess” in the underground sanctuary was the other side of Gomona – it should be called the “Maiden of Tranquility”.

Duncan stared at the cold stone sculpture, certain he had not misheard the voice. It sounded like a whisper from a dream, illusory yet real.

However, Shirley and Dog, who were close at hand, had not responded at all. Apparently, only he had heard the voice somehow.

“Mr. Duncan?” Shirley had picked up on the man’s strange behavior, causing her body to shiver and cling to the hound, “Did you find something?”

“Say, did you hear anything just now?” Duncan casually extinguished the flame at his fingertips and asked. He drew closer to the statue to look for oddities.

“Hear something?” Shirley and Dog exchanged looks, then both shook their head in unison, “No.”

The goddess did not respond to Duncan’s approach and left him worried he might’ve been a little reckless this time.

He assumed the goddess’s connection had been severed from this church due to nothing happening when they summoned Dog. It’s the main reason he loosened up and went wild. To think he would actually attract Gomona’s attention was something he didn’t expect.

I need to keep a better guard next time. This is too reckless.

And while he reflected on the blunder inside, the ghost captain had other questions that popped up.

Looking at the situation of this church, this place was obviously abandoned and forgotten. At least before Shirley and I came in, Gomona’s connection was also blocked since she didn’t react to my flame. So what’s going on? Instead of completely erasing the goddess’s connection with the church, my flames instead strengthened the connection after it burned?

The more Duncan thought about it, the more confused he became. Nevertheless, he didn’t dwell on the issue for long.

In the end, he couldn’t be sure whether the vague whisper just now was genuinely Gomona’s voice or not. It’s just speculation on his part, and the priority remains to be on what to do with the church here.

After so many findings, Duncan has gotten enough information to conclude this to be an important node for the veil shrouding over the sixth block. He would love to pry part the curtain, but neither he nor Shirley had the power to do so. Well, he technically could, but the power transfer was limited due to the distance from the Vanished.

After weighing his options, Duncan got a faint idea of what to do.

It’s time to be the “Enthusiastic Mr. Duncan” again!

This church has been hidden to this day, and some inexplicable force blocked prying eyes from looking inside, but what if... he forcibly lifted the lid off?

He’s curious about how the Storm Church would react and even more curious about what the Storm Goddess would do. Since he couldn’t open the curtain here, why not blow it up in the news and let someone else do it?

Of course, it may not be enough to merely find a few patrolling night guardians to make the report. The shadow here may simply kill off the first batch of investigators who come in. Now, what’s the most reliable and effective method to slap this onto the news.... That’s something worth deliberating.

After thinking over his options, Duncan unconsciously formed a grin. This was the smile of a happy person planning something fun. Unfortunately for Shirley and Dog, this smile didn’t escape their eyes, especially the latter, who had clamped his tail behind the butt.

“Mr. Dun-Duncan, do yo-you have something in mind?” Dog stutters this out.

“It’s nothing much. I’m only planning to make a contribution to the order of the city.” Duncan waves his hand like it’s nothing special.

Dog gurgled like he just ate a lemon, thinking not a single demon in the deep sea would believe this saying. Just now, the big boss was obviously planning sinister. He’s sure of it based on that creepy grin....

“Okay, there’s nothing else to see here now.” Duncan didn’t care about the reactions of Shirley and Dog and turned around to give one final glance at Gomona’s face. After leaving a meaningful look, he ushered the two to begin going, “This place is not suitable for staying any longer.”

The group quickly moved, but just before leaving the underground room, Shirley couldn’t help but stop and ask: “Mr. Duncan, this... what about this dead nun?”

Duncan also stopped and quietly eyed the lady that died in battle.

She was still very young, so young that it’s a pity to have such an ill-gotten fate befall her.

But then Duncan suddenly realized a problem.

Nun...... Why is it a nun who guards the church? Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t there be a team of specially trained guardians stationed here?

He recalled what he had seen in the main hall.

The group of guardians seemed to have died in the main hall of the church... they weren’t killed in battle, at least not in a struggle. Instead, they just suddenly died while praying on the bench. Then nun here. Instead of overseeing the prayers, she’s down here alone and fighting a battle on her own with a huge sword. None of this made sense....

“I’m sorry, I can’t put you to rest. You will have to stay here for a little longer. Maybe someone will come to investigate and figure out the truth later.” Duncan said softly to the nun’s body.

In his view, a professional’s hand was necessary in this matter.

With his mind made up, Duncan didn’t give any more room to stall. Placing his hand on the girl, he began to push Shirley out with the girl protesting: “AH, are we really going to leave her here?”

“It’s called preserving the crime scene,” Duncan didn’t look back, “let’s go, the investigation here is not over yet, but we don’t need to do it ourselves either.”

Shirley merely nodded and followed the ghost captain’s direction. The party of three quickly made their way up the stairs, but just before they exited, a slight creaking sound suddenly came from behind them.

Duncan abruptly stopped and returned his head to the source.

It’s a dark wooden door with reinforced steel and rivets. Sacred rune patterns were also faintly etched on the door handle.

Shirley also glanced back after they stopped, which caused her eyes to widen in horror.

“The door... The door...” Shirley raised her finger and pointed at the door, her mouth ajar at not knowing what to say.

“I can see it.” Duncan interrupted the girl, then walked back to the dark wooden door that should’ve burned away due to his ghost fire.

He tried gently pushing like in the first round. It’s locked, and there’s clearly something holding the door on the other side too.

Duncan didn’t know exactly what’s happening, but after a few seconds of contemplation, he resisted the urge to light another fire. They already got the general idea of what happened inside, and the strangeness here made him give up any desire to keep trying.

“The warped space here is really strong....”

At the same time, in the main storm cathedral of the upper city, Vanna had just finished her daily routine of praying to the goddess with her subordinates. Following this would be to do some paperwork inside the church’s archive. In a sense, the library not only contained the administrative works of the church but also the history of Pland.