Deep Sea Embers

Two cars drove out of the Underwood family’s mansion under this weather, one heading straight up the avenue and towards the city center while the other swerved onto the side street to the lower city.

Morris sat in the driver’s seat and cautiously steered the vehicle along the roads while constantly keeping track of the weather outside.

The sky had grown even darker than just now, and the chaotic downdraft caused everything to flap and howl with a sense of eeriness.

This unsettled the old historian inside. From what he recalled, the last visit to the antique shop was exactly like this – bad weather.

Raising his right hand and patting his head to refresh himself, Morris glanced at the string of stones on his wrist using the corner of his eye.

Between the intricately structured knots, only four colored stones remained. These divinely blessed stones shimmered faintly in the groggy skylight, carrying an atmosphere that calmed his soul.

Lahem’s protection allows scholars to temporarily save their lives in the face of incomprehensible knowledge, but the usage had limited utility in the face of truly dangerous entities. Morris didn’t know what awaited him at his final destination or whether the stones could protect him like the last, but he still decided to go.

As long as you control your curiosity, as long as you don’t open your “true eyes”, as long as you don’t observe Mr. Duncan and all the things around him, you are safe Morris. The subspatial shadow is friendly. As long as you don’t cross the line, he will not harm you and may even offer help.

Morris took a gentle breath and let his pounding heart to slowly calm down.

He knew that he had touched upon some terrible truth beneath the peaceful surface of the city-state, but instead of choosing to report it to the church himself, he rather go meet an unspeakable being from subspace.

This was undoubtedly a rebellious or even heretical act.

But he still made this bold decision.

Heidi had already gone to the cathedral to seek refuge with that cryptic message he ordered her to convey. If Lahem’s will permits and prevails, it should raise the vigilance of Bishop Valentine. That’s all he could do in that regard. Right now, his duty lies in reaching the antique shop down in the lower city. He’s already certain something has happened to Vanna. If the foe could take down the inquisitor, it implies even the church itself may not be enough to handle the enemy this time.

As a man of wisdom and knowledge, Morris couldn’t place all the eggs in one basket. He must seek reinforcement!

A thunderous bang suddenly rumbled across the sky, jolting Morris back to attention as he drove. The noise startled him of course, but he was even more surprised by the faintly rising smoke in the distance.

It seemed that the falling thunder had set a roof ablaze somewhere.

Grumbling irritably after realizing the flame would hinder his route since it’s up ahead, the old historian cursed and drove into the closest turn for another path.

However, he did not get far before several crazed dogs suddenly sprang out of an alley and caused him to stomp the brakes. This wouldn’t be so bad since it only gave him a light scare, but another man had suddenly stomped out of the shadow with a club in hand. The person was clearly drunk in the way he was cursing at the stray dogs and waving his weapon like a maniac.

“What a madman…” Morris frowned, honking the horn hard to get the drunk out of the way. However, the other party didn’t seem to hear his horn and ignored it. In fact, the noise seemed to anger the drunk, who suddenly smashed the front of the car with that club.

Morris was surprised by the hit, but the shock only lasted a second before his eyes locked onto the drunken man’s frothing gaze. Immediately, he recited in a low, harsh voice: “The geometric law of Modazzoro!”

Huge chaotic knowledge suddenly poured into the drunken man’s head, sending a brief but substantial informational storm inside the consciousness of the drunk. Without a fiddle, the reckless and drunk man issued an agonizing roar of pain before running off in the opposite direction.

Morris restarted the car immediately and pumped the gas to ditch the barking dogs in the rear. He’s grown edgy and alarmed now, which he rightfully should since a ditch pipe in his field of vision suddenly popped out of nowhere. The escaped steam instantly blocked his view, sending the car to swerve wildly at the lack of vision.

He’s sure of it now. It’s not the bad weather, poor luck, or his bad state of mind, but rather someone’s trying to stop him from moving forward!

This was not a strict blockade, nor was it an outright lethal threat, but a series of unexpected events akin to a “stress response”, like an alarm rule set by the creator.

How does this alarm rule come into effect, and how did “they” find out? Is it because of our awakening? Or a specific action?

I only vaguely glimpsed into the truth and did not even have the chance to confront the shadow in the background yet, and the response is this strong? Then what about Vanna? What did she discover to be erased from reality itself?

Morris silently recited Lahem’s holy name, catching a glimpse of the colored stones still shimmering on his wrist. Then, once confirmed he was not under anyone’s influence, he cranked the gears and changed course toward the main street of the fourth block, knowing various obstacles may come out of nowhere at any second.

What will they do if I go out in the open?

Morris blinked after that thought, suddenly catching a figure sitting directly behind himself through the rearview mirror.

It’s a “man” dressed in tattered ascetic robes with a thin and shriveled build like that of a skeleton. Currently, this individual was making a grotesque smile at Morris.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Morris,” the shriveled figure spoke suddenly, still polite but creepy, “where are you going?”

“I should have known… When I discussed the ‘Wilhelm Summons Affair’ with Mr. Duncan, I should have thought of your kind, Ender Missionaries…!” Morris slammed on the brakes and swung his head around to confront the intruder in the back seat, “… When did you get inside my car?”

“It’s hard to say, it could have been yesterday, or maybe it was 1889, or even the day when you and your wife bought this car.” The thin man seemed to be pleased by the hostile glare from Morris and showed a wrinkled grin from that shriveled-up face, “Is there something of importance to be in such a hurry?”

Morris replied with silence, but the thin Ender was unimpressed and continued to speak politely: “Apologies, but I cannot allow you to reach your destination. I won’t take your life though; after all, you did pray to subspace during that great fire too. From a certain perspective, you’re also a partial compatriot… Oh forgive me, you didn’t know, did you? You didn’t know who you were praying to?”

Morris’s face became ugly and white before finally showing a wry smile: “So that’s why…”

“As we always say, subspace is the Promised Land, which will respond to all wishes of the living…” The Ender raised a hand and said reverently before gazing at Morris, “What will you do next? Try to expel me? I have learned about the power of the God of Wisdom. His believers are given the power of the word, right? You can turn your knowledge and memory into power, shooting out words like bullets. I would love to see…”

“Bang, Bang!”

A series of six deafening gunshots exploded within the car, and before the Ender could finish speaking, he was already turned into a corpse by a large-caliber revolver. Two bullets had made a hit, one entering the heart while another landed in the forehead.

As the shriveled body quickly turned into pale fragments and scattered like dust against the wind, Morris raised his right hand with a smoking revolver gun in hand.

“I have all the bullets I need here. Why should I waste words on you…” After muttering those words, he casually reloaded the bullets and started the car again.

He knew his journey was still difficult, and something might still be blocking him ahead. Therefore, killing a single Ender would not end everything. In fact, this same one might just return tomorrow and continue pestering him. He knows this because the fact that the other side dares to show up in his car means his death meant nothing.