Ashes Of Deep Sea

Chapter 328: Chapter 332: Tail the Duo

Throughout the entire house, except for the room where Brown Scott was last seen, no anomalies were found.

In fact, even in the room that had been “contaminated” by the grey-black mud, there were no remnants of any transcendent forces—beyond the visual shock brought by the strange muddy material, there was no sign of transcendent power in the building.

Everything not of this world had left with Brown Scott’s disappearance.

On the first floor of the house, Garland was still sleeping deeply. The tall Senkin person, with skin like stone, leaned in the corner of the sofa, her sleeping posture calm and gentle, a look of relaxation on her face.

In her dreams, she was still a student under her teacher, living her peaceful, usual days. Her knowledgeable and kind teacher had just ended many years of travels and had recently returned home, ready to tell her many stories from afar.

“If Heidi were here, she’d prepare some potions to at least make it easier on the girl when she wakes up,” Morris said, lowering his head to look at Garland on the sofa, his expression complex, “I can tell that she and Brown were close.”

“…The gloom will pass,” Duncan said, pausing for a moment. He fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a small crystal pendant. He placed it to his lips, whispered something, and then pressed it into Garland’s hand, “Have a good dream, everything will be alright.”

Morris watched Duncan’s actions quietly, and after a long while, he couldn’t help but speak, “You still brought these pendants here?”

“…I ordered too many last time, half a box that just wouldn’t sell, no one would even take them for free,” Duncan said blankly (mostly because the bandages covered his face), his tone nonchalant, “I thought I’d find a chance to give them away during my travels… Do you want one?”

“No, thank you,” Morris quickly waved his hand, “I don’t really wear these feminine accessories.”

“Oh, right.”

…

The cold night wind blew through the dim and silent alley. In the faint light cast by the gas lamp at the corner, Fenna vigilantly monitored the surroundings.

Alice stood by her side, also checking around—though clearly she had no idea what Fenna was looking for.

“It’s very quiet on the streets, not a soul around,” likely uncomfortable with the oppressively silent atmosphere, the doll-lady finally couldn’t help but speak, “Miss Fenna, what are you always looking at?”

Fenna replied calmly, “Some transcendent being that might appear, or suspicious shadows lingering around that building, if there are any.”

“Ah?” Alice paused, “Would there be?”

“…What do you think Mr. Duncan had us stay outside for?”

Alice thought for a bit, “Isn’t it because I’m in the way?”

Fenna replied, “…You’re right.”

She found it difficult to explain clearly to someone so simple-minded, so she simply didn’t.

But she understood the significance of their surveillance here.

A “Replication” that had returned from the Mysterious Deep Sea had been active in the City-State for many days, and that replica resided in a building nearby—those Annihilating Heretics following the Saint would not be unresponsive to this situation.

There might even be their handiwork behind this.

Mr. Duncan and Mr. Morris went to inspect the building, serving both to investigate and to lure—would any heretics be watching this place? Would the force that brought “Brown Scott” back show any activity tonight? Would shadows lurk in this alley? And if unexpected visitors showed up, could those shadows remain settled?

Fenna controlled her breathing and heartbeat, concealing her presence and power, and after confirming there was still no activity on the street, she once again concealed herself in the shadows of the buildings.

Then she saw Alice beside her suddenly think of something, leaning forward—then the doll raised her hand, holding her head and shaking it, “pop” pulling it off, then she propped herself against the wall with one hand, waving her head around in the corner toward the outside.

Even an experienced Judge, seeing this scene, couldn’t control the tremors of their eyes. Fenna stared and lowered her voice, “What are you doing?!”

Alice shook her head in the corner of the room and, after hearing Fenna’s voice, quickly brought her head back with a “pop” and settled it, wearing an innocent expression, “Just checking out the noise across…”

“Next time you have such a plan, let me know in advance…” Fenna glared at the puppet across from her, but stopped mid-sentence and waved her hand wearily, “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

Alice looked confused, but as she was about to speak, she seemed to sense something and couldn’t help but look outside, “Miss Fenna, I always feel… like there’s someone nearby, but I can’t see anyone.”

“There’s someone nearby?” Fenna became instantly alert, her nerves tense as she did not let Alice’s usual unreliable demeanor affect her caution at this moment. She sensed the surrounding aura and asked in a low voice, “Where?”

“Just diagonally across, under that street lamp,” Alice also whispered, even crouching down on the ground and raising her finger to point outside the alleyway for extra caution, “But I only saw lines, not people.”

Fenna didn’t understand at first, only staring in the direction Alice was pointing. After a couple of seconds, she suddenly snapped back, turning to look at Miss Puppet, “Lines? What lines?”

“The lines on people, everyone has them, floating from their bodies to the sky,” Alice gestured emphatically, speaking matter-of-factly, “Behind the head, on the arms and legs…”

She paused suddenly, then added, “Oh right, Mr. Duncan doesn’t have them — but that’s Mr. Duncan, so it’s normal…”

As Alice spoke, her voice gradually hesitated and faded.

Being as obtuse as she was, she finally noticed the odd expression on Fenna’s face.

“… You can’t see them?” The puppet hesitated for a moment, thinking of the only explanation, “Uh, I won’t mock you for that. The captain said everyone’s eyes are different…”

“… I can’t see them, but this isn’t the time to talk about that,” Fenna suddenly snapped to attention, shifting her focus forcefully to the nearby street lamp, “Are those lines still there?”

She knew what was urgent.

Alice could see invisible “lines” floating around human bodies, and she always assumed it was a normal phenomenon that others could see as well, making it so much taken for granted that it wasn’t until now that she casually revealed it—this might be her unique power as an anomaly 099, and there might be a more complex, sinister explanation behind it. But regardless, such matters should not be the focus now.

Someone was hiding nearby, and now they had been exposed to the puppet’s sight—this was what mattered.

“They are still there, slightly swaying back and forth,” Alice looked up at the street lamp diagonally across, whispering her report. She then furrowed her brow, “Ah, it seems like a few are missing?”

“A few are missing?” A prickle of alarm shot through Fenna’s heart. The next second, her honed instincts and the divine premonition granted by the goddess exploded in her perception, causing her to suddenly look toward a spot deep down the alley.

In a bizarre shadow not illuminated by the street lamp, a dark, writhing shadow suddenly appeared!

Almost instantaneously, a gaunt, skeletal specter emerged, followed by a deformed monstrosity connected to the skeleton through chains—

It was a person, or at least still resembled one in outline, but his body had grotesquely swollen and twisted into a shocking state, his skin blackened and curled as if scorched by fierce flames, his bones wrongly proliferating into discontinuous bone plates on his body, with sharp spikes protruding from his back, extending like the remains of some deep-sea creature. In the place where his face should be, there was only a hollow indentation, flickering with a dark red glow.

In just a glance, Fenna recognized what he was—an Annihilating Priest who had deeply symbiosed with a Profound Demon, and had “purified” his body to an extreme degree.

Heretics regarded their flesh and bones as prisons made by gods, and their way of pledging allegiance to the Mysterious Deep Sea Saint was to continuously transform their bodies with Demonic Power, “purifying” their forms. This process endowed them increasingly with demonic traits, making them less and less human—Heretics purified to a certain extent mutated so much that not even a temporary Transformation Spell could return them to human form, nor could they operate within human society anymore. Thus, they had to rely on lower-ranking followers for sustenance. However, in return, they would gain more powerful strength and a stronger, direct connection to the Mysterious Deep Sea.

Those heretics were indeed targeting this place!

This thought flashed through Fenna’s mind, and at the same instance, she leapt high into the air.

To operate in the City-State, she did not carry her blessed giant steel sword.

But for a loyal priestess of the Storm Goddess, a “sword” was hardly an inconvenient thing.

The air compressed, the moisture condensed, the breath of the sea and wind were instantly compressed in her hands into an icy blade—barely usable.

“Heretic!”

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