Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 782 - Chapter 782 Chapter 779 Memories Lurking on the Island

Chapter 782: Chapter 779: Memories Lurking on the Island Chapter 782: Chapter 779: Memories Lurking on the Island Having passed those black “islands” that crowded the surrounding waters, Homeloss and Brilliant Starship gradually drew closer to the “central main island,” constructed from piled-up dark stones, resembling a sort of man-made colossal structure.

A thin mist around the two ships flowed slowly like a living thing, drifting over the nearby sea surface. The light breeze that blew through the fog seemed to carry with it a faint, whispering murmur and overlapping, dream-like chatter.

Fenna stood at the edge of the deck, staring at the Island of Black Stone that was growing larger in her sight, her hands unconsciously tightening their grip. The soft sound of waves, at some point, echoed in her mind. In a trance, she felt as if she had returned to many years before, to the moment she first heard the sound of those waves–in the cathedral’s chapel, before the holy icon of the goddess, having just completed her baptism, when that soft voice swept into her heart like a sea breeze:

“Ah… my little fish… you’ve come…”

Fenna suddenly awoke from her reverie, realizing that it was not an illusion; indeed, a voice had risen from the depths of her heart, and at almost the same time, she saw a change occur on that dark and somber island–the magnificent “palace” seemed to sway gently, and countless huge limbs stretched from every door and window of the palace, reaching towards the sky and dipping into the ocean, stirring the waters and weaving the mists.

Then, the tentacles suddenly vanished, as if retreating back into the palace, and many large and small, hazy shadows emerged near the island, resembling gathered ships. Countless shaking figures disembarked from the island’s edge, holding torches and banners, stepping onto those dark stones like pilgrims, entering the temple from two side doors…

Fenna thought she heard music, a celebratory flute and percussion resonating together, and visions unfolded before her eyes only to dissolve again–

She saw pilgrims arriving, then the scene shifted to artisans constructing the palace. She saw sea monsters and humans gathering together near the vast coastline for a pilgrimage, saw people in splendid attire lighting lamps on high platforms, while the distant sky was being devoured by a red glow–she saw war, peace, heroes, voyagers, young warriors shielding the crowd to reach the sacred hall, who then never woke from their slumber on the second morning…

Trying hard to keep her eyes open in the visions, she watched the colossal shadow deep within all the phantoms. She saw the palace, built from black and dark green stones, opening its great gates to her, a shape-shifting entity emerging and transforming before her into the “Still Sea Maiden” with open arms: “We have waited for a long time…”

A deep rumble suddenly came from the depths of the ark, and Helena opened her eyes from her meditation.

The main light wasn’t turned on in the prayer room, only an oil lamp burned quietly before the icon, its flickering flame casting shifty shadows as if hiding many whispering figures within the play of light.

Helena’s gaze swept around the room, the whispered voices in the dark gradually subsiding, and then she approached the icon of the goddess, gazing at a dark red “pillar” emerging from the floor–that was a neuro-index, stretching all the way here from the bottom of the ark.

“I think I just heard His voice,” she whispered.

“They have arrived safely,” an old, sluggish voice entered Helena’s ears, “My kin… they are elated, and even the Queen is pleased.”

Helena was puzzled, “Didn’t Sea Song also reach there before?”

“It’s different this time, little girl,” the elderly voice seemed to carry a smile, “The visitor this time, the Queen has been waiting for many years.”

“Many years?”

“Yes, since the day the ‘Sun’ rose…”

Homeloss circled a quarter way around the black island, finally finding a suitable stone gap to dock and land–sailors carefully steered the helm, bringing the vessel to a stop near the coastline. After that, a small boat was lowered from Homeloss, carrying Duncan and others onto the island.

“Let’s go see the island; you stay here and don’t wander,” Duncan turned his head and said to the small boat that had brought them ashore.

The boat nestled in a small “bay” formed from rectangular black stones, bobbing its bow up and down with the sound of water upon receiving the captain’s order.

Then another gust of wind approached from the sky, a whirlwind carrying countless colorful pieces of paper flew from the direction of Brilliant Starship, and descended in a spiral about ten meters from Duncan, condensing into the figure of Lucresia.

Now, everyone had gathered on the island.

With a firm sensation beneath their feet, landing on solid ground somewhat alleviated the unease of having arrived at the world’s end. Duncan stood on a rectangular black stone protruding from the ground, assessing the path toward the palace. Fenna’s voice came from beside him–

“This is a place of pilgrimage. I saw many people coming here by boat from distant lands, lighting large bonfires in various directions of the island, and decorating the road before the sacred hall with banners…”

Recalling the sights she’d seen in her visions, she moved next to Duncan on another boulder, raising her hand to point towards a broad walkway made up of continuous stones.

“The path leads directly to the temple; pilgrims start ascending the island from morning, a procession in full regalia stretching from the coast to the palace doors–this island itself was also constructed by people, using a craft I can’t comprehend to melt and recast deep-sea stones into these boulders, and they had commanded some kind of leviathan to construct the island with these heavy stones…”

Duncan listened silently to Fenna’s description, imagining what this place might have looked like in those ancient, forgotten years. He jumped down from the rectangular block of black stone and slowly led the team forward–following the “Pilgrim’s Path” Fenna had seen in her vision, toward the temple.

“What else did you see?” Sherry, walking beside Fenna, looked up and asked curiously.

“Land-dwelling humans coexist with the giants of the sea–they regarded those colossal sea creatures known as ‘leviathans’ as deities and messengers of gods, yet it wasn’t merely religious belief, but something… more intimate,” Fenna slowly spoke while organizing the sudden influx of knowledge in her mind, “They also lived alongside many other giants, those of the sky, beneath the ground, masters of mountains and glaciers…

“They made contracts with all the ancient beings and drew power from these giants, power sufficient to remake rivers, lakes, seas, and the very fabric of the earth, as well as create many inconceivable marvels… But I don’t know how to describe those things in detail, I only saw many fragmented snippets and some knowledge out of thin air, and I can’t imagine what that all would look like, those… seem to be only ‘Its’ memories, ‘It’ showed me those memories…”

Fenna suddenly fell quiet here, her expression turning sorrowful as she looked towards the palace.

“…Its condition is dire, ‘It’ showed me only those things and then went silent.”

Duncan stopped by the roadside.

He noticed something beside the path–a shrunken mass of black material that resembled dried seaweed, seemingly unremarkable.

Yet he still furrowed his brows, fixated on the shriveled “seaweed mass,” as if sensing something, his expression pensive.

“What’s with this thing?” Nina noticed and stepped toward the “thing” as if wanting to pick it up for a closer look, but she cautiously refrained from reaching out, instead turning questioningly towards Duncan, “Did you notice anything?”

After furrowing his brows for a long time, Duncan finally bent down and reached out to the shrunken black mass–and something astonishing happened.

The black material suddenly began to change, accompanied by a kind of dizzying visual distortion. It started to unfold and reassemble, and by the time the captain touched it, it had transformed into a rough cylinder. When the captain picked it up, intricate and complex patterns began to emerge on its surface, along with structures resembling buttons and indicator lights.

Duncan looked thoughtfully at the intricate cylindrical device in his hand, then pressed the most prominent button on its top.

Light, lively music emanated from within the cylinder–drumbeats, ringing bells, and bagpipes.

Duncan quietly observed the cylinder for a long time before he said nothing, just held it in his hand and continued to walk forward.

Fenna was momentarily lost in thought, as the “memories” that permeated the island once again overlapped in her vision. She seemed to see the device’s former owner–a child staggering and stumbling behind adults seeking refuge, the child’s hand lifted, being led forward by an adult, with the intricate little devices tinkling in his hand, producing a cheerful melody.

The vision faded again, and she found the captain had walked ahead, so she quickly stepped forward to catch up.

They finally arrived in front of the solemn black temple, a vast circular plaza spreading before them–with a figure standing silently at the center.

Lucricia reacted instantly, her short baton raised in hand–but before she could make a subsequent move, the figure at the center of the plaza, as if guarding the temple from the previous era to the last moment, silently crumbled away.

It turned into a pile of ash that drifted on the wind, vanishing into the air, and Lucricia did not even get a chance to clearly see what the last guardian looked like, whether it was man or woman.

“…That was the deputy commander of the guard,” Fenna suddenly said.

“The guard?” Morris asked reflexively.

Fenna frowned and shook her head after a few seconds: “…I don’t know, the thought just popped into my mind…”

Her words were interrupted by a gradually distorting sound.

The melody emanating from the small cylinder in Duncan’s hand suddenly began to twist and screech, and its surface started to lose color, rapidly shrinking and distorting. In just two or three seconds, the melody vanished, and it reverted back into a shrunken black mass resembling dried seaweed.

(Damn!)