Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 507 - Chapter 507 Chapter 508 The Secret of the Church Ark

Chapter 507: Chapter 508: The Secret of the Church Ark Chapter 507: Chapter 508: The Secret of the Church Ark All known history of this world begins with the “Great Obliteration” of the Ancient Era.

If the “Great Obliteration” is viewed as a wall, then this invisible barrier is clearly more than just a simple “event node”; it factually “cut off” the entire historical timeline.

All that predates the Great Obliteration is unknown. Archaeologists have exhausted all their wisdom and effort, but are unable to recover even a trace of information from before that time point; one cannot even find any historical relics pointing to the period before the Great Obliteration–not even a stone fragment etched with characters.

This “black wall” of despair has stood in the eyes of scholars for ten thousand years, and now Captain Duncan Ebnomal, who returned from Subspace, has given this barrier an apt name.

As the leader of the Academy of Truth, the Pontiff of the God of Wisdom, Rune felt the presence of that black wall and the subtlety of the “limit of vision” more deeply than anyone else.

“Our world seems to have been ‘created out of thin air’ at some moment after the Great Obliteration. The fragmented and contradictory history only serves as ironclad proof of the existence of that ‘limit of vision,'” Rune spoke with a hint of emotion in front of his three old friends, “Ever since the rise of the City-States, even from the beginning of the Dark Age, countless scholars have tried to trace back to the past, to find that ‘source’ before the Great Obliteration. They dig deep into the darkness of the earth, only to be blocked by that invisible barrier.

“One second, even just the second before the eruption of the Great Obliteration, is a blank, unverifiable. Even the ‘Book of Desecration’ that Captain Duncan got from the hands of the Obliteration Sect, which mentions the ‘Three Long Nights,’ only describes the history between the Great Obliteration and the establishment of the Ancient Crete Kingdom–regarding the information before the ‘limit of vision,’ it’s still a complete blank.”

“Using the heretical and deviant teachings of the Heretics as reference material is a dangerous thing,” the Death Pontiff Banster couldn’t help but interject.

Rune shook his head slightly: “The danger of heretical teachings lies in their seductiveness and the motivation to commit evil. Once you remove these influences, ‘The Three Long Nights’ is still a topic worth studying. Our many achievements concerning the Dark Ages after the collapse of the Ancient Crete Kingdom have been built on the study of the Solar Sect and the Obliteration Sect.”

“…So what you’re saying is, you can’t explain the ‘Leviathan’ beneath the City-States, and those Leviathan Beasts that carry the Church Arks can’t give us an answer either,” Frem broke the silence, “because this happened before the Great Obliteration. All information pointing to it is unknowable, unmeasurable, and unverifiable.”

Rune did not speak, which was as good as an affirmation of Frem’s statement.

After a moment of thought, Helena suddenly spoke up: “But you can at least tell us where the Academy of Truth found those four Leviathans–at least those beasts that carry the four Church Arks were indeed discovered and ‘resurrected’ by you, right?”

“…They come from the Borderlands. After a massive ‘Border Collapse’,” Rune finally gave a definitive answer, “The specific location… is near the Eternal Veil in the eastern territories.”

“The eastern territories?” Banster frowned unconsciously.

“Yes, near the site of the old Veseran archipelago,” Rune nodded, “Ever since the terrible Subspace disaster a century ago, the Eastern Eternal Veil has always been a vulnerable point. The dense fog there often collapses inward or temporary anomalies appear above the seas, something you should be aware of.”

Helena and Frem silently nodded, while Banster’s face showed a contemplative expression, but none of them interrupted Rune; instead, they indicated for him to continue.

“While the Academy of Truth was responsible for patrolling the Borderlands, one of our ships encountered an anomaly there,” Rune continued as he sorted through his memories, “The specifics are now beyond reach, as the crew suffered severe cognitive disarray and memory loss during the incident, and consequently could not accurately recount what happened. However, there was a hastily written log on the ship, noting part of the situation at that time–

“The sea suddenly dipped inward, like an uncanny bowl. The edges of the ‘bowl’ were smooth and calm; the water seemed to be frozen in place. Yet, instead of sinking with the hollowed-out sea, the ship floated above this sunken area of the ocean… The ship lost power, unable to move forward or backward, suspended in the air a hundred meters above the water in a terrifying manner… From that sunken part of the sea emerged a colossal creature, as if it were a living being…

“That was what a crew member on that ship wrote down in haste, amidst cognitive confusion and memory damage.

“Later, another fleet of ours found the missing patrol ship drifting slowly out of a thin mist, powerless, its steam core cold, with all aboard asleep. Behind that ship, vanishing into the dissipating mist, stood four massive creatures caught in the eyes of the rescuers.

”

“That was the Leviathan we found at sea–the ancient beast that was recorded in the Storm canon and had long disappeared into the annals of history, an apostle of the Storm Goddess.”

“After that, you all know what happened. The Academy of Truth found a way to ‘revive’ those legendary beasts, and they built the massive Church Arks on their bodies, which were then turned over for use to the Church of the Four Gods.”

Rune’s narration ended, and while Frem and Banster were still pondering, Helena began to frown, “So those Leviathans are one of the relics from the frontier… no wonder you’ve been avoiding these details before, as they relate to frontier collapse.”

“The understanding of frontier collapse increases the likelihood of it occurring within civilized worlds; the closer the time, the higher the probability. This was a rule summarized by Captain Duncan Ebnomal a century ago when he was still a grand explorer,” Rune nodded, “But now, decades have passed since the Academy of Truth encountered that frontier collapse event with the Leviathan, and it’s no longer as dangerous to talk about these matters.”

“…I have some doubts,” Frem suddenly spoke, “The scale of the Church Ark is indeed large, but obviously, it’s not on the same level as a City-State–if the biological structure underneath the City-State is truly made of Leviathans, then they would be several times larger than the Church Ark Leviathans… Are they really from the same species?”

“Who knows?” Rune spread his hands, “Perhaps the four Leviathans we discovered at the frontier were some kind of ‘small variant’? Or maybe ‘juveniles’?”

“…Theoretically, it shouldn’t be so,” Helena shook her head, “I often communicate with the Church Ark’s Leviathans, and although it’s unclear about things before the Great Obliteration and the truth beneath the City-States, it has clearly stated that it is an adult Leviathan.”

“Then, the problem lies with the biological structures beneath the City-States–perhaps they are ‘mutants’ of exceptionally large scale, or possibly… they are tied to the influence of those ‘blueprints’ deep in the sea,” Rune speculated, “After all, if the reports from Homeloss are true, then all the City-States on the Endless Sea nowadays can be considered the ‘creations’ of ancient gods, and even the biological structures beneath them are likely the result of ‘secondary processing’ by the enigmatic Saint…”

At this point, Rune suddenly stopped, then shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, and passed his hand over his eyes, making a praying gesture toward the God of Wisdom Rahm, “May the Lord forgive me, it feels so strange discussing such heretical topics.”

“May the Lord forgive us.”

Helena and Frem also made praying gestures and confessed to the Storm Goddess and the Eternal Flame behind them.

As leaders of the Church, they could observe these topics that bordered on taboo and could even be called heretical speech from a higher perspective, and they could analyze the information from heretical madmen with a cooler attitude and a more practical viewpoint. However, as spokespeople for the Four Gods, they were also bound by the commandments of their sects and constrained by faith–when discussing certain dangerous topics, a sense of discord and resistance in their hearts was unavoidable.

Only the Death God’s spokesperson, Banster, tall and thin with an aged visage, remained silent as though he had been lost in thought since the conversation began.

“Banster,” Rune’s focus turned to the silent spokesperson of death, “you’ve seemed distracted since this conversation started.”

“I’ve been pondering a question, Rune,” Banster finally looked up, his eyes as deep as the night within their hollowed sockets, “The Vesseran Thirteen Isles–the discovery of those Leviathans was near the maritime zone of the Vesseran Thirteen Isles incident. Don’t you find that worth noting?”

Rune nodded calmly, clearly, he had anticipated Banster’s attention would fall on this detail.

“I know what you’re getting at–Homeloss,” the elderly elf said slowly, “A hundred years ago, Homeloss opened a gate to Subspace at the Vesseran Thirteen Isles, dragging all the islands and their inhabitants into the depth of a terrifying world. This incident also caused the area’s time-space structure to be exceptionally fragile, with anomalies occurring frequently… From this standpoint, the incident the Academy of Truth’s patrol ship encountered decades ago has a certain causal connection to the Vesseran Thirteen Isles incident.”

He paused, then raised his head to look seriously at Banster before continuing, “But we cannot simply assume that ‘Homeloss brought the Leviathan Beasts into the real world.’ There is a lack of evidence, and not enough theoretical support.”

“But those four Leviathans could indeed have entered our real world due to some lingering effect of the Vesseran Thirteen Isles incident. Rune, this matter has actually been risky from the start.”

“…You don’t want your Church Ark anymore?”

“I do.”