Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 811: Erosion by the Wind and Sand

Ashes... it's easy to be assimilated into ashes...

The young nun's words made Vanna stunned for a moment. In that brief moment, she felt as if something in her mind seemed to loosen a little, but just when she was about to ask something else, the nun in the black dress in front of her suddenly gave her a faint smile, and then turned into ashes that drifted away in the wind in front of her.

"Ding... Ding Ding..."

The familiar knocking sound came from somewhere again, and soon after, Fanna felt another presence appearing in the church. She suddenly looked in the direction of her perception, but only saw a hazy black shadow standing at the door of the church.

Then, the dark shadow slowly walked towards her - with every step, the outline of the shadow became clearer, and she finally saw clearly that the dark shadow was an old priest with a slightly hunched back, wearing an old church uniform.

The old priest was holding a dim lamp in his hand, and his palm had a metallic texture in the light. He seemed to have lost his arm in a battle many years ago and replaced it with a steam-powered prosthetic arm. He walked slowly towards Vanna, but his eyes never fell on the latter - those slightly sunken eyes seemed to be always looking at something farther away.

An inexplicable sense of familiarity suddenly came over her. Vanna couldn't help but stand up from the bench and walked towards the strangely familiar figure: "Hello, may I ask where is this..."

The old priest finally stopped, his eyes still fixed on a certain place behind Vanna, and he said calmly: "You have entered the wrong branch of history, Inquisitor - find a way to leave here quickly, before you become ashes here... He can no longer tell."

"He can't tell anymore? Who is he?" Vanna asked subconsciously.

“The god who records history…” the old priest said softly. As he spoke, his figure quickly turned into ashes that drifted away in the wind. Only vague sentences floated into Vanna’s ears, “…everything…will flow into the final chaos…”

A wisp of slightly warm ash was blown by the invisible wind and passed over Vanna's fingertips. The moment she touched the ash, Vanna was suddenly startled!
She still couldn't remember her past, couldn't remember where this place was, but she sensed the warning in her heart... She couldn't continue to sink here, she had to find a way out!

The next second, she suddenly took a step and rushed towards the church door.

The door of the church was ajar and was pushed open by Vanna. The boundless night suddenly filled her vision - the day ended at some point, and the endless desert had ushered in the night. The heat had faded from the sea of ​​sand, and the cold night wind began to dominate this forgotten yellow sand. The wind blew chaotically from afar, rolling up dust like fine blades and whistling past. The sand grains slapped on the surrounding ruins, and also slapped on Vanna's arms and cheeks, causing sharp pain.

The skin that was strong enough to withstand small-caliber ammunition was scratched by the sand blown by the wind, leaving tiny wounds. Vanna looked at her arm in surprise. She saw that no blood was flowing out of her wounds, but fine ash like black smoke was floating out from them, and it seemed to be absorbed by the whole world and constantly dissipated into the air.

She is being "absorbed" by this world.

At this moment, she instinctively thought of the plan of temporarily retreating to the church, but the next second, she remembered what the unknown nun and the old priest had said to her, and a warning sign suddenly emerged.

Sinking in a shelter is far more dangerous than facing the wind and sand - a safe place will wear down one's will and dissolve one's existence at a higher efficiency.

Let's leave this city first... These "ruins" standing in the desert cannot provide any protection from the wind and sand. On the contrary, their existence itself is dangerous... This is counterintuitive. It may be safer in the barren yellow sand...

Countless thoughts flashed through Fanna's mind in an instant, but she acted without any hesitation. After simply using her tattered cloak to block the wind and sand, she took a step forward and strode towards the exit of the city in her memory.

The yellow sand around her began to undulate and wriggle, as if something was disturbed, or perhaps this city did not allow "leaving" from the beginning. Vanna suddenly saw something sticking out from the sand out of the corner of her eye, and the next second, a hand tightly grabbed her ankle.

A human body made of sand emerged from the yellow sand and grabbed Vanna like a soulless evil corpse. It crawled on the ground, its face that kept flowing and deforming suddenly raised up, emitting a series of indistinct roars and mutterings!

However, the arms formed by sand could not stop Vanna's steps at all. She took a big step and broke free from the obstruction of the "sand man". Then she stomped hard on the ground. With a loud bang, the violent shock wave tore apart the body crawling on the ground and dispersed a large area of ​​yellow sand around it.

In the flying dust, Vanna saw something exposed from under the yellow sand. It was a stone pillar that had been buried for who knows how many years. On the stone pillar, one could vaguely see a line of words engraved: "... Wilhelm... The black sun has descended... We have failed..."

The astonishment lasted only for a moment, but Vanna did not hesitate at all. She forced aside all the thoughts that suddenly arose in her mind and continued to run forward without hesitation.

The wind suddenly howled, and all kinds of sounds were heard in the air. Those vague and layered noises seemed like the cries of countless vendors, as well as the sounds of pedestrians and carriages.

In the ruins of the sand city under the night sky, countless lively sounds surrounded Vanna. An invisible prosperous city was waking up beside her. She could almost imagine the lively, prosperous and vibrant scene beside her at this moment, and imagined a city that was still full of vitality in the night. At the same time, she saw lights appearing in the distance out of the corner of her eye.

Star-like lights were lit up in the ruins of the city. Light sources floating in the air appeared among the broken and collapsed walls. They looked like street lamps and lights in the windows of shops along the street. There were lights floating higher up, like thousands of lights from residential buildings.

This scene is like after the city is destroyed or even completely forgotten, the lights that once lit up in the city still stubbornly remain in the same place, remaining in the memory of history. Whenever night falls, they will still light up in the place where they once shone...

The city outlined by lights woke up in the night. The lights illuminated the broken bricks and collapsed stone pillars covered with yellow sand. Many blurry figures appeared in the lights, coming and going, making unclear sounds.

Vanna held the sword and passed through these phantoms. No matter what illusions surrounded her, she ran forward with a clear goal, without any pause or hesitation.

But her body was still being uncontrollably assimilated and devoured by the invisible ashes around her. Her wounds became more and more numerous, and even when there were no grains of sand scratching her, her body seemed to be damaged by itself, and black smoke and ashes continued to escape from her body. With each escape, she could hear the surrounding sounds more clearly and see the surrounding scenes more clearly.

After a certain moment, she suddenly heard a clear conversation. The voice was right next to her ear, and it even seemed to be talking to her.

"Have you heard? The Thirteen Islands of Veselan have disappeared... News came from the north a few days ago... That terrible ship opened a rift to the warp..."

Vanna ignored the voice in her ears. She waved her arms, and the strong wind blew away the dust around her. Then a torn leaflet appeared out of thin air in the dust and flew past her eyes. There was a familiar face printed on the leaflet.

It was a wanted poster. Tirian Abnomar's face appeared on the flyer, and below the portrait was a string of astonishingly large numbers - countless zeros. Rather than a bounty amount, it was more like a horror joke deliberately made to show that "this person is infinitely dangerous."

Suddenly, a rhythmic music sounded from the night. A huge crowd seemed to appear at the end of a distant street. Vanna heard someone shouting something over there. She vaguely heard the sound -

"...Frost has welcomed a new queen... Her Majesty Lenora will be crowned today. May we bathe in the queen's glory, receive her protection, and be loyal to her..."

Then, all kinds of voices were heard, all kinds of relics appeared, and all kinds of information surrounded Vanna as if they had consciousness.

On one side of the road, it was the day when the Frost Queen Lenoir was crowned. On the other side of the road, it was the day of the Frost Rebellion. On the street below, people were discussing the wanted order for the former Frost General Tirion. On a high platform not far away, relics from the ancient city-state era were being displayed. A great historian was giving a speech to the crowd. He was one of the most important discoverers of the ancient city-state era, but Vanna didn't know him...

And in front of her, a figure suddenly emerged from the wind and sand. It was a man in tattered clothes, unbalanced behavior, and a dazed look in his eyes. He was holding a crumpled paper roll and a pencil head in his hands, standing there blankly, as if frightened by the surrounding environment.

He kept bowing and saluting to the people around him, as if he was stopping passers-by to ask something. He muttered to himself and sometimes suddenly shouted loudly, like a madman.

Fanna walked past the figure quickly, but suddenly stopped. She heard the ragged man holding a pen and paper asking passersby: "Excuse me...what year is it here? Does anyone know what year I am in now?"

Fanna immediately looked at the man who seemed a little unconscious, but saw that the latter also raised his head and looked over here almost at the same time.

"Hello, my name is Puman," the crazy man waved his arms. Despite his unbalanced behavior and dazed eyes, he still maintained proper politeness. "I'm dreaming again, but this time I can't find the exit... May I ask what year it is this time?"

Pullman...the famous "mad poet" Pullman?
Vanna was in a trance for a moment, and the next second, she saw the man who called himself "Puman" disappear in the wind and sand out of thin air.

Only the crumpled paper roll and pencil stub that he had been holding in his hand fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)