Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 723 - Chapter 723 Chapter 720 Open the Door

Chapter 723: Chapter 720: Open the Door Chapter 723: Chapter 720: Open the Door Begin praying now–toward your lord.

The brain within the crown of bones suddenly convulsed, and the “Saint” sensed immense danger and terror from these words–it didn’t know the nature of this fear, yet the warnings of a dark fate weighed on its subconscious like a mountain!

It struggled violently in an instant, its strong will even momentarily broke through the layers of restrictions placed within it by the witch, and the bone spurs at the edge of the skeletal cage began to emit crackling noises. With this brief loosening of the restrictions, its perception finally began to recover, and it finally became aware of its surroundings–the familiar aura of Holy Land Island.

It realized where it had been taken, and in that moment, deep despair enshrouded its already crazily mutated mind like the night!

“Holy land!” The terrifying brain swelled and writhed, the air around it trembled and let out cascading, frenzied roars, “Holy land! You have desecrated the holy land! You heretics… The lord will punish you, none of you will escape!”

Duncan and Lucrecia merely watched the enraged “Saint” expressionlessly. After a moment, Duncan lifted his right hand, his palm cradling a ball of fire, the edges of the flame dancing, thin streams of fire descending to the ground, part of it creeping toward the dark stone gate, another part silently spreading beneath the Saint’s feet, beginning to burn slowly.

It wasn’t until the flames began to spread that Duncan broke the silence, “Two things, first, your ‘holy land’ needs no desecrating by others–your foolish brethren have dug through the earth’s surface, awakening the flesh of the ancient gods, and now they have indeed ‘returned their souls to The Saint,’ in every sense of the word.

“Second, I’m not concerned about what your lord thinks of this matter, but I do indeed have something to discuss with your lord–so begin praying now, this is probably the only time in your life you can genuinely relieve the ‘Profound Saint’ of worries, and personally… this might make the following matters slightly more bearable for you.”

The flames spread, a ghastly green spiritual fire climbing up the dark, massive stone gate, the flow of the flame like water seeping into the grooves on its surface, burning there, making the entire gate appear to come to life, presenting a trembling, shaking illusion. Another stream of fire ignited the limbs of the “Saint’s” skeleton, slowly spreading throughout its body!

A fear that corroded even the soul swept over the monster’s mind; it struggled with all its might, yet the witch’s restrictions instantly suppressed all its resistance–it could only watch the flames spreading; but apart from the physical pain, another touch, more terrible and darker, filled it with utter despair–

It felt itself establishing a connection with the dark stone gate, a “link” more profound and incomprehensible than physical contact was forming. It felt itself gradually becoming a part of that gate, a part of the world behind that gate–its consciousness, its memory, everything rational and capable of maintaining “self,” was transformed into data for that gate…

In a daze, a hollow voice echoed, a strange low hum that reverberated on the verge of its faltering consciousness. The Saint felt parts of its identity rise once again from this deformed and twisted body; it felt its hands and feet once more, the sensation of breathing, the sound vibrating the eardrums–those aspects of its humanity which it had once willingly forsaken seemed to return to this world in illusion.

“Pray to your lord…”

A voice echoed and reverberated in his consciousness, making him lift his head in a daze and bewilderment, yet the resistance in his subconscious persisted, his teeth clenched as he struggled to break free from the influence of that voice–still, the voice continued to come, trembling in all directions, even trembling within his own subconscious–

“Pray to your lord…”

He lifted his eyes in the darkness and saw the majestic Black Portal standing before him, as if it were the beginning and the end of everything. The surface of the door rippled and undulated, like ripples spreading across a pond, and in the flickering light of those ripples, he saw countless shattered and blurred images–

He had studied in the City-State, and like any ordinary person, he had bustled through the streets and alleys. He had longed for many things and was swallowed by a greater emptiness the moment he acquired them. In his wanton indulgence, he realized the falsity of his corporeal shell and attained brief enlightenment through a baptism of blood–he saw his first victim, a small body lying quietly in the bleeding trough, twitching for the last time. He also saw his last victim, that mass of misshapen remains with only a pair of eyes filled with fear and desperation, within which reflected the figure of a powerful being, transcending the human form…

And all of this was gradually being devoured by the Black Portal–his humanity, his inhumanity, everything he had experienced, everything he had fled from… was slowly being uploaded to the source…

“Pray to your lord.”

Beside the Black Portal, a giant filled with starlight looked down upon him. The giant had no facial features; countless brilliant milky ways flowed within it, and clusters of dazzling stars and faint nebulae sketched its indescribable countenance. It bent slightly forward, and a tendril-like river of stars stretched out, flowing in front of The Saint, where the end of the luminous tentacle soundlessly opened, with countless eyes twinkling and blinking within the starlight, scrutinizing The Saint’s spiritual body.

Beside the star giant, the Black Portal slowly opened, revealing a being with a tower-like majestic core, surrounded by countless massive tentacles, casting a glance upon the mortal world.

Why resist prayer? The Saint is right there… They cast billions of benevolent gazes.

A great emotion pried open The Saint’s heart–he finally forgot where he had come from, forgot what he was to do. Before that towering presence, he bent his waist, then prostrated himself to the ground, whispering softly, “O Lord…”

Green flames rose into the air, and the dark stone door instantly transformed into a slightly rippling black mirror surface–in the undulating mirror, one could faintly glimpse a vast world within its depths.

Duncan turned his head and saw a cluster of withered black remains burning quietly on the vacant ground before the Black Portal. Its vitality had already faded, but the parts that remained within the residue… seemed as though they could burn for a very long time.

“The Saints really do burn longer.”

He sighed involuntarily, his gaze shifting to the “black door” that rippled like the surface of a mirror–in front of the door, the presence of Sherry and A-Dog was still active and growing ever clearer.

He stepped forward, reached out, and touched the pitch-black mirror surface, which sent ripples spreading, yet his fingertips felt no sensation.

It was like touching an illusion.

“Is this the portal to the Mysterious Deep Sea?” Maurice couldn’t help but lean closer, observing the black door with a furrowed brow, “It looks… somewhat similar to the ‘rift’ opened by the Profound Demons, but it’s clearly much more stable…”

“In essence, this is a rift opened by a Profound Demon–the Saint has become one and, of course, has the power to open a passage to the Mysterious Deep Sea,” Duncan said casually, “What I did was to stabilize the rift after it opened and, taking advantage of the nature of the ‘connection point’ in this cave, locate the door as close as possible to where Sherry and A-Dog are–now I can feel that they are somewhere on the other side.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Alice beside him, as well as Maurice and Lucricia opposite him, already formulating a plan in his mind.

“Alice, you’ll come through the door with me. Maurice and Lucy, you stay outside.”

“Don’t you need me to accompany you?” Lucricia immediately expressed her concern.

“No,” Duncan shook his head, “I’m not going to fight, just to look for people and to talk with the Profound Saint. It doesn’t make much difference whether I bring one more person or one less–the side of the door, however, needs to be guarded.”

He paused, then thoughtfully added, “This rift will be open for a long time. Before we return, some Profound Demons are bound to detect this passage. Something will then come out of the door–so you and Maurice need to stay here. Not only the door itself, but the whole Holy Land Island might undergo some changes because of this rift. You must inform Fenna and the people of the Mysterious Deep Sea and the Death Church that until the door closes, this area is likely to see many ‘visitors.'”

Listening to her father’s arrangements, Lucricia’s expression turned serious, and she nodded slightly,

“I understand–I and Mr. Maurice will keep this place secure.”

Duncan nodded, said nothing more, but turned and beckoned to Alice.

“Hold on to me and don’t let go,” he whispered to the puppet who followed.

Alice immediately nodded, grasped Duncan’s arm tightly, but a smile appeared on her face–not showing any sign of nervousness. Instead, she seemed very happy, as if… she was not going to a place of horror and terror for ordinary people, but going on an outing with the captain.

“Aren’t you afraid?” In front of the undulating black mirror surface, Duncan noticed the smile on Alice’s face and couldn’t help but ask softly.

Alice smiled cheerfully, “Not scared!”

“Good.”

Duncan nodded and, without hesitation, stepped through the black door with the puppet.

A strange sensation washed over them.

It was as if they had passed through a layer of illusory mist, with no hindrance, no discomfort, just a cool breath that quickly surfaced and then vanished in an instant. In that brief moment, it felt as if they had crossed through an infinitely long tunnel in the blink of an eye–

Alice’s eyes widened in astonishment as she held tightly to the captain’s arm, seeing many shimmering lights before her eyes. But what surprised her even more than the wondrous lights was that she seemed to “hear” something.

As they passed through the “tunnel,” on their way to the other side, a voice entered directly into her mind–

“Identity verification, Y=#@Y=&%&… approved;

“Identity verification, LH-03, Navigator Number Three, approved.”

(Book recommendation time, from a group member TATA. The title is “Stars of Sand and Green Oasis of Iron,” a road-trip genre book… according to the author’s recommendation, it’s a story about a white-haired girl adventuring in a desolate post-apocalyptic world driving a huge vehicle?)