Chapter 539: Sailing Towards the Sun

After listening to the lengthy explanations from Taran El, Duncan pondered deeply.

Without a doubt, the tales of the elves in this world are special. These ancient legends are unique, if not solely for one reason: their completeness.

After the Great Annihilation, the world entered the Deep Sea Era. The old world crumbled and toppled, a new civilization emerged, and communication between city-states had been severed for a long time. The Dark Age, with its numerous upheavals, led to the fragmented histories of nearly all city-states in the vast sea. Practically no race had managed to retain a complete lineage or tradition.

The worship of the Four Divinities, which emerged only after the onset of the Deep Sea Era, surged in prominence precisely because there was a break in the transmission of legacies and a void in mythologies across city-states.

However, among the elves, ancient myths were preserved and passed down. Even as the faith in the Four Divinities spread worldwide and older belief systems were condemned as heretical, these legacies remained intact. Although limited in numbers, the city-states occupied by elves accounted for only a small fraction of the vast sea’s territories. Moreover, their settlements were scattered, yet within these limited and dispersed elven territories, their culture, customs, and mythological systems remained consistent.

Could their success in preserving these legends be attributed merely to their “longevity”?

“Such a complete mythological system... might reveal truths about the world before the Great Annihilation,” Duncan murmured to himself.

“Many scholars have believed this for a long time. Elves are the only race that has retained a complete ancient belief system. Even though many of our ancient texts have been ‘corrupted’, our orally passed down myths remain mostly in their original form,” Taran El said, spreading his hands helplessly, “However, despite this, we can only study them as ‘stories’ and cannot directly use them as historical records from before the Great Annihilation.”

Duncan frowned, recalling words spoken to him by Morris long ago: “The vast contradictions between history and reality.”

“Yes, every scholar attempting to trace back to the Great Annihilation will face the brutal challenge of ‘contradiction’,” sighed Taran El. “We feel this deeply. The more complete the elven mythological system is, the harder it becomes to reconcile it with the present state of the world. The biggest point of contention is that during the creation of the world by Saslokha, there was no mention of humans or the orc people.”

Duncan remained silent, lost in serious contemplation.

Taran El continued, “Not just in Saslokha’s creation tale, but also in some of our other, less complete legends. Whenever the world’s description comes up, there is never any mention of the ‘humans’ or the ‘orc people’. You should understand how unusual this is.”

Duncan slowly nodded in agreement. Yet, for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, his mind was drawn to an image he had seen before—the moon.

Lifting his gaze towards the window, a pale golden “sunlight” permeated across the sea’s surface. In the distant undulating waves, he could faintly make out a glowing boundary resembling a cliff stretching horizontally across the ocean.

That was where the fallen object that Lucretia retrieved from the “border” was located; it was the site of the “mysterious orb.”

“Do you want to take a closer look at that object?” Lucretia immediately noticed Duncan’s focused gaze and promptly offered, “There’s a temporary research facility set up by Wind Harbor nearby. I’ve spoken to the folks there; they can evacuate non-essential personnel from the core area.”

Duncan hesitated for a moment, then lightly nodded, “Arrange it. That’s the reason I’m here.”

“Alright, I’ll contact the research facility to have them pull their people out,” Lucretia responded, then promptly rose and left the room.

...

After a journey that wasn’t too lengthy, the Bright Star neared the “glowing fallen object” floating near Wind Harbor.

Now, the ship sailed past the makeshift dock.

Duncan stood on the ship’s front deck, watching the grand golden brilliance grow in his vision, appearing like a vast cliff soaring skywards, coming closer by the moment.

This was his first time seeing the “fallen object,” which until now had only existed in Tyrian’s descriptions, and that too from such close proximity. The overwhelming presence of the massive entity combined with the surreal luminosity it emitted felt both awe-inspiring and suffocating at the same time.

Duncan could easily envision the immense shock that Lucretia must have caused the elves of the area when she initially brought this entity near Wind Harbor.

Yet, as time went by, the elves seemed to have adjusted to the presence of this new “neighbor.”

“Is this dock what you referred to as the ‘research facility’?” Duncan asked, raising an arm to point at the temporary floating harbor on the nearby sea surface, seeking confirmation from Lucretia.

“Yes,” Lucretia nodded, “Due to concerns about the potential dangers within the ‘fallen object’, we’ve decided to conduct all our research over the sea. Master Taran El is one of the key figures responsible for this port. Additionally, there’s a small permanent outpost at the core of the fallen object, but the people stationed there have since been recalled.”

“I understand. Not everyone can handle close contact with a ‘subspace shadow,'” Duncan said with a chuckle. “Mr. Taran El has indeed handled it impressively.”

Hearing this, Lucretia hurriedly clarified, “It’s not entirely like that. After you’ve subdued your flames, you don’t look much different from an ordinary person. Most people won’t recognize you in this state... My main concern was that unrelated individuals might bother you...”

“It’s alright. Don’t be so anxious,” Duncan responded with a reassuring smile. “It’s natural for some to be fearful. I’ve grown accustomed to it.”

Lucretia quickly nodded, then glanced at the approaching luminous barrier, “We’re about to enter the luminous body. We need to navigate cautiously. I’ll have to take the helm personally.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

Nodding, Lucretia suddenly transformed into countless swirling, colorful paper fragments, spiraling toward the ship’s bridge.

Duncan stared in amazement at this display, witnessing Lucretia’s magical ability for the first time. As the paper fragments fluttered in front of him, he instinctively reached out and grabbed one, examining it with curiosity.

Almost instantly, a surprised cry echoed from above. The scattered paper fragments rapidly converged, reforming Lucretia’s figure.

The young witch landed on the deck in a rather disheveled manner.

And she slid quite a distance.