Chapter 681: Madness?

Chapter 681: Madness?

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Frem was completely mesmerized by the enormous staff in front of him. He stared at it, spellbound, for a long time before whispering, “...The Eternal Flame...”

After a moment of silence, he looked up at Vanna and Duncan and asked, “You brought this out, didn’t you?”

“Actually, it was Vanna’s idea,” Duncan responded, stepping back slightly. “She believes the staff should be in the care of the Church of the Flame Bearers.”

Frem looked at Vanna, the Inquisitor, with surprise.

“Ta Ruijin gave me this staff as a keepsake from the past, but he wasn’t aware of the Deep Sea Age,” Vanna explained calmly. “The Ta Ruijin I met might have been just an echo, or perhaps the beings from the Deep Sea Age were merely copies created after the Third Long Night. Nonetheless, some things truly belong to those who continue their legacy. This staff is an artifact of an ancient civilization, not just a personal souvenir. Giving it to the Church of the Flame Bearers is more meaningful than keeping it for myself.”

The group fell silent. Helena, Lune, and Banster exchanged knowing glances and chose to remain quiet as Frem slowly extended his hand. His stone-like fingers gently touched the staff’s rough surface.

The detailed carvings on the staff seemed to halt time itself, silently narrating the story of a forgotten civilization that rose to greatness and then decayed.

Frem could not understand the ancient script on the staff. Each symbol felt deeply familiar, as though ingrained in his soul, yet also completely foreign, as if from another world.

A rush of complex emotions overwhelmed him.

“The elves had a similar experience when they discovered those scrolls on the islands,” Lune said, breaking the silence. Watching Frem’s changing expressions, the elderly elf added softly, “We’ve been through this before. I understand.”

“This script represents a full evolution of characters; we’ll definitely decipher it,” Frem murmured, “The Flame Bearers excel at such tasks.”

He then looked directly at Vanna.

“I’ll make impressions of all these markings to study the forest kin’s language and history. Taking these impressions will suffice.”

Vanna’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion. “But, the staff...”

“This staff was given to you by my lord, and it is his wish for you to keep it,” Frem stated slowly. “And Miss Vanna, the true legacy of a civilization isn’t this mystical staff, but the history these markings record.”Discover new chapters at novelhall.com

“Wait, wait, wait, I only said it happens occasionally, just occasionally,” Duncan quickly clarified, gesturing with his hands to calm the intense reaction, “It’s not exactly direct contact, but... it’s quite distinct. And about this noise and interference you mention, I haven’t experienced it at all.”

The popes exchanged baffled glances.

Duncan didn’t conceal his experiences of sporadically hearing or seeing messages from the gods. He described the instances when he had received these messages, including the eerie, dark space where these divine communications had occurred.

He, however, chose not to disclose the specific contents of these communications.

A deep silence then descended upon the hall.

After a significant pause, it was Frem who finally broke the silence. The usually composed forest kin turned to Lune and said, “...This at least seems to suggest that They are indeed still capable of rational thought.”

“Yes, they still have rationality.” Lune suddenly came out of his brief reverie, starting to piece together his thoughts, “If this is indeed the case... and if my earlier speculation isn’t too far-fetched...” He paused, quickly organizing his thoughts, “Then we might interpret the situation as follows: The gods retain their rationality, but Their rationality has drifted away from the minds of mortals, even from our world as a whole. This is why we find it hard to connect with Them, and perhaps why the world itself is starting to feel Their distorted influence. On the other hand, Captain Duncan, perhaps due to some unique aspect of his being, remains unaffected by this cognitive drift...”

Lune abruptly stopped, seeming to hit a snag in his theory, a look of puzzlement crossing his face as he pondered over the potential inconsistencies or unknowns in his hypothesis.

Just then, Duncan remembered another related point. “I recall... according to the current understanding of scholars and the church, the Nether Lord in the shadowy depths of the deep sea is considered a completely insane, uncontrollable ancient god, right?”

“Absolutely,” Lune affirmed quickly, “The Nether Lord, along with the Black Sun, is deemed entirely irrational. We have concrete evidence of this. Even though humans cannot survive in the abyssal deep sea, we’ve been able to observe those depths through complex and perilous rituals...”

“I’ve actually spoken with the Nether Lord,” Duncan interjected with a shrug, “To be honest, I found His mental state to be quite coherent, though He did mention feeling somewhat overwhelmed recently.”

Lune: “...”

Duncan looked around at the stunned expressions on the faces of the popes and hesitated but decided to forge ahead. The conversation had already reached such an supernatural juncture.

“And as for the ‘Black Sun’ we were discussing earlier, I’ve met Him as well. We only had a brief exchange, but He seemed genuinely burdened.”

The reactions of Lune, Helena, Banster, and Frem were a mix of shock and disbelief, their faces a tableau of astonishment: “...?!”