Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 526 - Chapter 526 Chapter 527 Pollution and Recession

Chapter 526: Chapter 527: Pollution and Recession Chapter 526: Chapter 527: Pollution and Recession Frankly, Lucresia’s mind went blank at that instant–it took her nearly two to three seconds to regain her ability to think and realize what the situation before her eyes actually was.

More terrifying than being trapped in a nightmare corrupted by the Scions of the Sun was suddenly encountering her father, who had returned from the Subspace; but even more frightening was that her own scythe was hacking towards her father’s neck.

Now, the scythe had lost control, a faint green fire creeping along its pitch-black blade and long handle, as if it had entered another dimension and could no longer be grasped by her. Lucresia’s body stiffened as she struggled to maintain her grip on the scythe, and after much effort, she managed to blurt out, “Your… your scythe is really unique…”

“Do you always stop using your brain when you’re nervous?” Duncan finally let go of his grip, the green flames dissipating with it, “What’s the situation here?”

As the flames receded, Lucresia finally felt the scythe, formed from the powers of the Dreamscape and the Curse, returning to her control. She hastily grabbed it, stepping back and preparing to answer her father’s question, but in the next second, a sudden sense of crisis fiercely attacked her from nearby!

The “degenerates” of the Scions of the Sun had finally reacted, and clearly, they weren’t going to give their enemy the chance to have a leisurely family chat. Accompanied by light shadows flickering and leaping in the sunlight, several shadows pounced towards Lucresia from behind!

Almost without a chance to think, Lucresia abruptly turned around. The scythe in her hand instantly transformed into a long whip wrapped with thorns; however, just as she was about to fiercely lash out with the whip, the several pouncing shadows suddenly paused mid-air and revealed their forms, dropping to the ground as if they had lost their power source, and began to struggle violently!

At the same time, Heidi, who was barely managing the control over several Personality Clones, suddenly felt the pressure around her lighten.

She transferred “herself” from a dying Personality Incarnation to another, which was in better condition, and then stared in astonishment as those figures in black cloaks fell to the ground one by one, struggling painfully on the ground like fish being scorched by the intense sun.

Their black cloaks of unknown material kept swelling and writhing, and those terrifying limbs began to rapidly decay and disintegrate, accompanied by nauseating sounds, a foul stench, and filthy pus slowly spreading from their bodies.

Even as a professionally trained psychiatrist, Heidi couldn’t help but step back two paces when faced with this scene. Then, as if sensing something, she instinctively looked up at the sky–but when about to do so, she forcefully controlled her impulse.

The terrifying experience of seeing the Scions of the Sun when she had previously looked up was still deeply etched in her mind, preventing her from verifying her guess.

Just then, she heard the stranger who had suddenly appeared in front of Lucresia say to her, “It’s alright, the sky is already safe.”

For some reason, those words seemed to carry a powerful force, and although unreasonably, Heidi instantly formed a strong impression: the sky was safe now.

She slowly looked up at the “Sun” that was still hanging high in the sky, glowing and radiating heat.

That “thing” still floated silently above the forest, its many twisted tentacles and pale eyes piled up like a wildly growing mass of flesh, with its light flickering like flames–yet deep within that blaze, a tinge of faint green was spreading and rapidly covering the entire surface of the entity.

Upon seeing those twisted tentacles and pale eyes, a flicker of fear uncontrollably emerged in Heidi’s heart, but soon, she realized that her mind had not been corroded from this “sighting.”

The contamination of the Scions of the Sun seemed to be blocked by the spreading green flame, or rather… corroded and assimilated by the latter, thereby rendering it harmless.

The struggling and shrieking of the “degenerates” tormented Lucresia’s eardrums, those humanoid yet unhuman beings dying rapidly under the mutating sunlight, disintegrating as though in strong acid. Confused, she watched this scene and turned to Duncan, “What’s happening here?”

“I contaminated their temporary sun, now, this sunlight is ‘toxic’ for them.

“It’s an experience I learned from the ‘Black Sun Event’ in Prande–these ‘remnants’ can only survive under specific ‘sunlight.'”

Duncan spoke calmly, then lifted his head and gazed at the twisted entity still floating quietly above the forest.

He remembered the “Black Sun” he had glimpsed through the “Golden Mask,” considered the pale ancient god dying under the corona’s scorch. Yet compared to the “Black Sun” he had seen initially, the entity currently suspended in the sky of this Dreamscape was evidently much smaller in size and notably weaker in power.

So… it seems that this is the Scions of the Sun that those mad Heretics spoke of.

Now, the Scions of the Sun were rapidly being consumed by corrupted flames, its own light and heat transforming into something potent enough to incinerate itself, yet this bizarrely terrifying “creature” showed no signs of pain or fear, remaining merely silent and still in the sky, as if utterly devoid of emotions of pain and fear.

Merely glowing and heating, just like… a true Sun.

However, as Duncan stared into its pale eyes, he always felt that this creature was indeed sentient–it was thinking, observing, had a purpose, and was rational. It didn’t just wish to extinguish itself like the dying Black Sun, nor did it crazily desire to destroy the entire world like the Heretics.

What was this “creature” thinking at this very moment?

“What are you thinking about?” Duncan couldn’t help but ask in his mind.

“Can I go back now?” Within the depths of the fuzzy information transmitted back by the ghostly flames, he heard a voice, calm and gentle, “There’s nothing here that I’m looking for.”

Duncan’s eyes widened slightly in an instant.

However, the next moment, just as he wanted to establish more communication with this “Scion of the Sun,” a surreal roar suddenly came from the sky. Shortly thereafter, the burning flame seemed to collapse inward abruptly, shrinking into a small point, and the next instant, the ghostly flames scattered explosively without a target.

The “false sun” hovering above the forest vanished.

A dim and slightly reddish twilight Sky Light replaced the formerly “sunny” sky, plunging the entire forest into a twilight-like ambiance.

Lucresia’s surprised voice came from beside him, “Did you destroy it?”

“No,” Duncan shook his head gently, relaying the information he had perceived in that instant, “It left. That wasn’t its real body but merely a projection formed by a Scion of the Sun in the Dreamscape, like a sensory tentacle–now it has withdrawn that tentacle from the Dreamscape.”

Lucresia nodded thoughtfully, but soon she suddenly realized something else: “Wait, what about that heretic just now?!”

“He ran,” Duncan casually said, “As those ‘inferior beings’ died, he was continually diminishing his presence, and then he took the opportunity to escape amidst the chaos when that false sun in the sky collapsed.”

Lucresia immediately frowned, unconsciously surveying the forest now dipped into twilight dimness, “Damn… I got distracted too… I should have left a Curse on him…”

“It’s okay,” Duncan just waved his hand, “Let him run for a while.”

Lucresia paused slightly and looked up at Duncan, “Did you… let him go on purpose?”

Duncan did not answer her directly but squinted slightly, as if sensing something, then smiled and shook his head, “He’s already seen me anyway.”

He then paid no mind to the change in Lucresia’s expression for a moment but turned to look at Heidi, who stood about ten meters away, continuously trying to diminish her presence, looking quite anxious.

He approached this young spiritual healer–strictly speaking, a group of Heidis–then first checked her condition.

About seven or eight Heidis bore various injuries, three of whom were severely injured, lying on the ground floundering like dying fish; their personality parts had apparently withdrawn, leaving only some reflexive death twitches behind. Two other Heidis looked fine, one standing in place with a blank expression, and the other nervously dodging Duncan’s gaze.

Duncan swept over this “large group of Heidis” with an expressionless face, internally remarking how wildly unconventional the path of spiritual healers in this world could be, more fragmented than schizophrenia itself. He then directly walked past the anxious, dodging-gaze “Heidi” towards the young spiritual healer standing blankly.

“Are you alright?”

The blank-faced “Personality Incarnation” was startled, her face suddenly burst with vivid expressions, “How did you know…”

She had already guessed who the imposing, endlessly pressure-inducing man in front of her was, and was extremely nervous inside. She initially thought to somewhat conceal it by using a Personality Incarnation to avoid direct conversation with this fearsome “Subspace Shadow,” yet she hadn’t managed to deceive him even for a second.

“You use Personality Clones to protect yourself when you’re nervous,” Duncan said with a friendly smile and a congenial demeanor, “Of course, I didn’t expect your ‘Personality Clones’ to be so… formidable. Now I’m impressed.”

“Sometimes… psychiatric patients can be challenging to handle, less splitting isn’t enough to overpower them…” Heidi instinctively explained, but then she realized something, “Wait, how did you know…”

Duncan smiled, lifting his finger to point at the amethyst pendant on Heidi’s chest.

“In a strict sense, I gave that pendant to you.”