Chapter 1249 Titanic Ship

Chapter 1249 Titanic Ship

So... this is it, then.

The Tomb of Ariel had been built from the remains of the Stone Titan, while the Great River created from its blood was contained within it, illuminated by the seven suns made from its broken soul cores.

The secret hidden at the Estuary was the truth that Ariel had wished to forget. The Nightmare Desert was the result of the battle between him and the unholy creature.

Looking at the blue sky above them, Sunny couldn't help but wonder...

So the daemons were capable of creating artificial worlds?

Then, a sudden thought made him shiver.

What is the difference between a real world and an artificial one, though?

Was there even a difference? And if there was not... had the rest of the worlds been created by someone, as well? The daemons? The gods? The unknown?

He sighed, then shook his head.

Do I really have time to ponder the cosmic origins of the world?

Right now, they had more practical questions to answer. Many of the mysteries of the Third Nightmare had been revealed to them, but many more remained. At least they now knew where they were, and what their next step had to be.

Travel downstream, find the syblis, and learn how to conquer this Seed.

Well... that is easier said than done, though.

Sunny stared at the waters of the Great River and saw the sharp blades of the azure serpent's dorsal fin break its surface as the great abomination hungrily circled the corpse of the titanic turtle.

A dark expression appeared on his face.

After a bit of silence, he said: "Neph... do you think we can kill this thing?"

She smiled faintly. Sunny had expected to hear some kind of a crazy answer, like always, but she unexpectedly gave him a sober one instead.

"...It's late. We should probably rest and take another look at the situation in the morning, with fresh eyes. I don't know about you, but I am thoroughly exhausted. I haven't slept in a long while, and the battle between the turtle and the snake took a lot out of me."

Sunny smiled crookedly.

He was tired, too... he had not done anything in the last couple of days except drift through the sky, but as it turned out, doing nothing was very exhausting. Especially when one was suspended between the surface of a mystical river and the sky, having to keep an eye on both lest some terrible creature swallow them whole in one bite.

"Yeah. I'm tired too."

Some time later, the two of them were hidden from the wind and the piercing gaze of the ancient serpent in the familiar fissure on the shell of the dead behemoth. There was a small fire burning between them, casting shadows on the black rock.

The shadows were dancing,

There were not a lot of things on the dark island that could be used as fuel, but Sunny had a few bricks of compressed synthetic firewood stored in the Covetous Coffer. Once again, his loyal alloy chest had come in handy... sadly, it was already almost empty.

Nephis made a dish from some of Sunny's last provisions, and the two of them enjoyed a late supper as the world was slowly consumed by darkness. The soft glow of the water was not visible from inside the fissure, and it seemed as though nothing at all existed outside the small circle illuminated by the fire anymore.

There were no stars in the black sky, and so...

Sunny couldn't help but remember a similar night from many years ago, when Nephis and he had first met on the Forgotten Shore and shared a conversation in the dark.

Gods... almost four years had passed since then, hadn't they?

A small smile appeared on his face.

"Hey... do you remember how you told me about the adventures of Odysseus?"

Nephis looked up from her food and hesitated for a moment. A distant expression appeared on her beautiful face.

"Sure. Why?"

Sunny shook his head and shoved a spoonful of the fragrant, thick soup into his mouth.

"No, nothing. That Odysseus guy... I don't think he had gone through half the crap we had to go through, though..."