Deep Sea Embers

The torrential rain has not stopped, and there are even signs of intensification. The frenzied wind and cold rain slap the towering outer walls of the Deep Sea Cathedral and the doors and windows inlaid with stained glass, as if it is the dense and chaotic heartbeat of this city-state.

On the square in front of the city-state, steam walkers and steam tanks had already assembled, and heavily armed guards were silently blocking all intersections.

On the bell tower at the back of the cathedral, a special brazier was ignited. The purified whale fat mixed with pieces of sea breath wood burned blazingly in the brazier. Enhanced by a special condenser, this bright flame can even be clearly seen in most of the city-state.

And as the brazier of the Central Cathedral was lit, similar flames appeared over churches all over the city-state—even in the most remote community churches, there was a towering bell tower facing the Central Cathedral far away, and in that tower The top is where the brazier is placed.

On this dark and stormy day, bell towers lit one after another to form a continuous lighthouse over Purland, and when all the lights are lit, the melodious bells and loud whistles spread throughout the city-state .

Every church boiler was fired, every church bell was tolling, and Purand roared in the storm, as if civilization itself was resisting some invisible invading force in the dark, which was unusual. The situation made all the residents shut their doors and windows tightly, and those who had more knowledge of the supernatural domain realized the current critical situation from the changes in the churches throughout the city.

In the depths of the Consul's mansion, Dant Wayne, who just woke up from a coma, immediately heard the ringing of bells and sirens outside the window, and saw "lighthouses" far and near in the darkness. He got up with the help of his attendants , staring in astonishment at the scene outside the glass window as if the doomsday was approaching: "The cathedral activated the reality stability barrier... a disaster of the level of reality invasion occurred?!"

"We're still investigating the situation," an assistant officer came to Dante's bed, his tone slightly tense, "The situation was sudden, the cathedral only said that all towns in Prand needed the highest level of lockdown - you were in a coma at the time, Bishop Valentine invoked emergency authority..."

Dante didn't respond to the auxiliary officer's words, but seemed to realize something suddenly, and his brows stretched: "...Fanna is back."

"Miss Fanna?" The attendant who was taking care of him turned his head in confusion after hearing this, "Miss Fanna didn't return to the mansion, she should..."

"I know," Dante knew that others might not understand the meaning of his nonsensical words, so he waved his hand, and then his eyes fell on the auxiliary officer, "The city guard is still under the mobilization of the city hall. ?"

"Yes, Bishop Valentine has only taken over the sheriff's force and a small part of the city-state guards responsible for emergency response," the auxiliary officer nodded immediately, "most of the city-state guards are still waiting for your order."

"Okay, let all city-state guards obey the arrangement of the cathedral except the first division," Dante felt that his mind was still dizzy, but he still ordered quickly, "Also, the whole city has entered the highest level of martial law, ring all the martial law bells, After the bell rings, anyone who appears on the street... no matter who they are, they will be dealt with as cultists.”…

The assistant officer was startled by this order: "Mr. Dante, this..."

"Execute the order," Dante raised his head, the only remaining eye was sharp, and the ruby ​​prosthetic eye once again oozes traces of blood. "It is now a state of war."

"……Yes!"

The assistant officer took the order and left. Dante coughed violently. It took a long time for his cough to calm down, and he whispered to the attendants beside him, "Take me to the cathedral."

"Mr. Dante, your body..."

"My health is fine, I have something important to tell Bishop Valentine."

"Yes."

……

Nina held Shirley's hand tightly, and sat behind the window, looking out in fear at the scene of violent wind and heavy rain outside. One thunder after another exploded in the sky, making all the doors and windows tremble uncontrollably. This terrifying scene even Xueli, who has always been very courageous, couldn't help but tremble slightly, and couldn't help cursing in a low voice: "I'm fucked, what the hell is this..."

"Shirley, you can't...you can't swear," Nina was also very scared, but still
Then said with a straight face, "Uncle said you..."

"Okay, okay, I won't swear, I won't swear, don't tell Mr. Duncan," Shirley said quickly, and then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed the figure appearing on the stairs, and subconsciously shrank his neck, "Ah , Mr. Duncan has come down."

"Uncle Duncan!" Nina stood up immediately, almost running towards the figure who was coming down the stairs, "You... have you finished your work?"

"Well, I'm done for now, but the matter is not over yet," Duncan said, caressing Nina's hair casually, and then turned to look at the counter. Morris was still sitting there, but his face seemed to have recovered. At one point, Duncan nodded to him, "The man has been brought back."

"I just felt that she came back," Morris said immediately, "Although I don't know how you did it, but... thank you very much for your help."

"This is just the beginning, it's too early to thank you now," Duncan said while turning his head to look out of the window, "The conspiracy has been revealed, they have already started their actions ahead of time, and the invaders are launching an attack on the other side of the curtain... probably Coming soon."

Morris looked worried, while Nina looked at Duncan in confusion: "Uncle, what intruder? You said..."

"Nina," Duncan directly interrupted the girl's words. He turned his head, with a seriousness and seriousness that Nina had never seen before, "Do you believe me?"

Nina hardly hesitated: "I believe."

"Very well, then you firmly believe that this storm will end safely, and no matter what happens, don't panic, no matter what I do, don't be nervous, don't be afraid," Duncan looked into Nina's eyes and said earnestly, Then he raised his finger to Alice, who was standing quietly by the stairs, "Alice can be trusted. If there is an emergency, you will stay with her."

Nina nodded blankly, and Alice immediately said: "Please rest assured, Mr. Duncan, I will protect Miss Nina."

"I'm really worried about your combat power," Duncan glanced at Alice, and then sighed helplessly, "but there is no one else to trust."…

Another burst of thunder suddenly exploded, and there was a loud noise of something collapsing from the street in the distance. Accompanied by the loud noise, there were sharp alarm bells from nowhere and the rapid chiming of bells from the church bell tower farther away.

The lights in the antique shop suddenly flickered a few times and then went out.

The power went out.

Darkness instantly enveloped the entire block, and everything seemed to have entered the night ahead of schedule in a storm.

In the darkness, Xue Li's voice came from not far away: "I'm going to light the oil lamp! I know where the oil lamp is."

Duncan hummed, but suddenly he felt Nina grab his hand.

Those hands seemed a little hot.

"Uncle..." Nina whispered nervously and hastily, and soon, even the air she breathed was a little hot, "I feel... a little hot..."

In the darkness, Duncan's eyes suddenly became serious.

But apart from being serious, he didn't panic extra.

From the very beginning, he was prepared for the unexpected that might happen to Nina.

He just gently held Nina's hotter and hotter hand, and between his palm and Nina's fingers, in the gaps between his fingers that were hard to detect, a little green sparks were jumping.

There was the sound of flapping wings, and the pigeon Ai flew down the stairs in the dark, and landed firmly on the counter next to it.

Shirley lit the oil lamp, and the flickering flame temporarily dispelled the darkness in the shop, but on the street outside, the sky was already as black as ink, and the brilliance and power brought by the sun had all been blocked by the storm before the city-state. outside.

"Nina, do you still remember what I told you just now?"

In the darkness, Duncan's voice reached Nina's ears.

Nina nodded lightly: "Yes."

"Don't be afraid later, something... very powerful will happen." Duncan said softly with a smile.

Out of the corner of his eye, he looked further away.

Outside the window, on the street where the rain is pouring, the room of the upside-down rainwater has gradually been stained with an abnormal layer of crimson.

The red is bright and jumping, as if it is a reflection projected from another time and space into the real world.

But he didn't look at the abnormal rain, nor did he care about the "reflection" projected through the curtain.

His gaze crossed the high and low scattered buildings and the coast of Pland, and he stared in the direction of the boundless sea.

The illusory silhouette of the Lost Homeland was gradually appearing in his pupils.

……

Heidi shrank her neck subconsciously the moment the thunder rang.

She nestled on the bench in the main hall of the cathedral, her hands subconsciously clutching the crystal pendant as a talisman, silently chanting the holy name of the God of Wisdom Rahmu, but stopped in the middle of the prayer, looked up Not far away is the icon of the Storm Goddess.

"The goddess is loving... I don't think you will mind."

She grunted softly, then continued to chant the name of Raheem.

But suddenly, she stopped, and a strange palpitation made it difficult for her to concentrate.

Heidi got up from the bench and looked around in inexplicable heart palpitations.

She saw the guards gathered near the main entrance, a small group of civilians who came to the church to seek refuge because they had no time to return home were placed on the pews in front of the icon, and several priests were walking in the main hall, holding a Bishop Valentine with a stick stands quietly in front of the icon, looking straight ahead calmly.

Everything was as usual, but... where did the palpitations come from?

Unknowingly, the crystal pendant on her neck seemed to be slightly hot, but Heidi didn't seem to care about it. She just subconsciously came to the window not far away, looking through the transparent pane on the edge of the stained glass window. According to the situation in the square.

The young psychiatrist's eyes suddenly widened.

"Fire...fire!" she exclaimed, with horror, "The rain turned into fire!"