Deep Sea Ember

Chapter 48 Vigilance

In front of the icon of

the storm goddess Gemona, the blessed candle burned peacefully, and the sky light from the dome shone around the icon, making the bishop of the city-state dressed in pitch-black robes seem to be bathed in divine grace.

Bishop Valentine raised his head in the light, quietly staring at Vanna's still determined gray eyes, his words seemed to carry some kind of magic, vaguely, Vanna heard the gentle sound of waves rising and falling in her mind, followed by a thunderous sound - with the help of external forces, the power of the goddess finally broke through the curtain and exploded in her heart.

Vanna suddenly took a sharp breath, as if she had suddenly returned to land from a state of suffocation in deep water, her chest rose and fell violently, her heart was pounding, and the sense of the god's gaze was overwhelmingly suppressed, and in a semi-trance state, she heard Valentine's voice continue to reach her ears:

In the case of both of these points, your normal reaction should first assume the existence of the threat, and then seek a solution - but you just subconsciously questioned whether the lost country really existed, which shows that you subconsciously avoided the message that the omen dream conveyed to you in your subconscious.

"Inquisitor, you subconsciously deny the existence of the Lost Home, this is the evidence of the real existence of that ship - it seems that it is indeed close to the borders of the civilized world."

Vanna felt a layer of fine sweat on her forehead, but the "curtain" that always covered her and the goddess seemed to have disappeared, which made her feel a lot more relaxed, and the words of the bishop of the city-state made her realize what was happening:

Before she knew it, she had been affected by the loss of her homeland!

This is exactly the characteristic of many visions or anomalies with terrorist tendencies: they confuse the contact's cognition, produce subconscious neglect and denial, and unconsciously affect them more and more!

This kind of subconscious ignorance and denial is originally an instinctive reaction of intelligent creatures to protect themselves, and it is an avoidance mentality towards danger, but when in contact with abnormalities, this instinctive reaction will become the source of paralysis and carelessness, and eventually lead to unknowingly becoming a victim of visions and anomalies!

As an inquisitor who often deals with extraordinary powers, Vanna knows this knowledge well, but she never thought that she would also fall into this "psychological trap" - her strong willpower did not have the slightest effect?

"I don't know when I was affected," she said calmly, in front of the bishop who was also a devout believer, she did not shy away from her weakness exposed this time - it is normal to fall into psychological abnormalities under the influence of anomalies or visions, and shame and concealment do not help, "I came here directly after waking up from the dream of omens, and I have never spoken to anyone in the middle, and I have never touched any books or antiquities. I don't think I've been eroded by the outside world in the process.

"But you did show your deliberate avoidance of the Omen Dream just now...... So the impact should have occurred earlier," the bishop stared intently at Vanna's face, as if observing the changes in her eyes and the fluctuations in her breath from time to time, "Have you been exposed to anything abnormal recently?" That could be from the Lost Home...... Pollution, leaving an anchor in your subconscious in advance.

"Recently...... Vanna frowned, and then suddenly recalled the "sacrifice" that fell at the scene of the Black Sun Sacrifice, recalled the green flame flashing under the other party's eyes, and her own severed finger.

Her eyes widened and she stared at the bishop suddenly: "I led the team to clean the black sun sacrificial site in the sewer the day before yesterday, and after I came back, did I report that there was nameless pollution at the scene?" Has there been a report of a contaminated 'sacrifice' on site?

The bishop shook his head: "...... No, you sent those cultists to the church and went straight back.

Vanna's heart fell: "Then have anyone else who participated in the operation that day reported this matter?"

"No reports came - all the case files only recorded things related to the Dark Sun heresy."

Under the icon of the goddess, the bishop looked at Vanna, and Vanna also looked at the bishop.

"It seems that we have found the time when the pollution first 'went ashore'," the bishop exhaled softly, his expression still calm, but his eyes were brewing with strong power as if a storm was about to come, "In the holy name of my lord Gemona, Inquisitor, is your memory of that night still clear and complete?"

Vanna took a deep breath: "In the holy name of my lord Gemona, I still remember all the details of that night.

The

bishop nodded, turned around and lit a special incense, and then said in a calm voice while placing the copper incense burner at the foot of the icon, "What happened then?"

So, Vanna revealed everything that happened in the sewer sacrifice in her memory - she didn't let go of any details, and with the help of the sacred incense, her memory and thinking became clearer than ever, and the experience of that night was as clear as her own body......

She still remembers the sacrifice suddenly opening her eyes, she still remembers the green flame jumping in the eye socket of the sacrifice, she still remembers the flame falling on her fingers, but she was immediately purified by herself, and on the way back to the church, she silently told herself that the pollution had been completely cleaned, the pollution had been completely cleaned, and the pollution had been completely cleaned......

She was muttering this sentence all the way, and all the guards who walked with her were also muttering this sentence!

No one thought there was anything wrong with this!

Looking back now, what a terrible and eerie scene it was—a squad of church guards walking through the silent streets in the dark night, everyone whispering the same sentence to themselves until they returned to the church.

In the process, they still think they are doing things normally: watching over the heretics they have just captured, cleaning up the filthy sacrifice site, and escorting the cultists back......

“…… The physical purification brought about by the spiritual flame falling on the soul and cutting off the limbs is ineffective, and you get only a deceptive consolation - the correct thing to do is to immediately light the spices, sprinkle the holy oil on the ground to set up a temporary holy place, and then invoke the power of the goddess with a prayer ritual to perform the purification of the 'spirit'. ”

“…… It's my fault," Vanna said in a heavy tone, "I should have been more vigilant and alert."

"It's a mistake, but it's not a mistake," the old man shook his head, "You have great power, but as an inquisitor is a little less experienced after all." Fortunately, you are now free from the influence, which shows that the 'pollution' remaining on that sacrifice at that time was not too strong, it only interfered with you on a psychological level...... Through the incense ritual just now, I can roughly judge its intensity.

Speaking of this, he paused, as if he was considering and judging something: "The guards who were acting with you at that time should be less affected, they just stood around you, and the influence should have subsided quickly with the prayers in the church."

"Overall, although the pollution you received at that time was dangerous and weird, but because the source has been cut off, the follow-up impact is not terrible, according to your performance just now and the feedback from the incense, even if you don't come over today, you will notice something is wrong after a few days。

"What we need to worry about more than this is the future."

"...... to come," Vanna repeated the bishop's last words, her expression slowly becoming serious.

Yes, in the future, this matter is not over yet.

The picture revealed by the Omen Dream was a warning from the goddess - what I was currently exposed to was probably just a prelude to a storm.

"The Lost Home has not appeared in the sight of the civilization territory for many years, and many people think that it has returned to subspace and has become a member of the many shadows in the deepest part of the world, but now it seems that Captain Duncan's obsession with the real world still exists."

Bishop Valentine said slowly, turning around and staring at the icon of the Goddess of Storm.

"A century ago, the Lost Homeland crashed into the depths of subspace, although there is no clear evidence, but many eyewitness reports mention that there was a big storm wandering in the nearby waters, and the ship's fall was affected by the storm in some ways......

"The storm is the authority of my lord."

Vanna frowned: "Do you think that Captain Duncan wants to ...... Revenge on God?

"It's hard to say - even if it is a ghost returning from subspace, it is unthinkable to seek revenge on the gods, the gods live in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is hidden above reality, and everything in the world only falls from the bottom of the world, I have never heard of anyone who can go in reverse to the 'kingdom of God' higher than reality......

"But if that Captain Duncan wants to seek revenge from my lord's agents on earth...... The possibility is very high.

"The Holy Storm Cathedral has been patrolling the world on behalf of the Lord in the infinite sea, and has spent most of its time in the hidden lanes, where no one can find its trace, compared to ...... The city-state of Plant is the largest anchor of the belief of the storm goddess in the world, besides the Storm Cathedral...... It is also a faith anchor that everyone can visit.

"From this point of view, it is only natural that the vengeful ghost chose to land in Prade."