Chapter 410: Chapter 414 Connection Chapter 410: Chapter 414 Connection Boom!
A thunderous explosion erupted deep within Maurice’s consciousness, and he almost instantly lost control of his own state – even in a sheltered state of isolated consciousness and hardened mind, he was still swept up by the spreading shockwave, teetering on the brink amidst the subsequent tsunami-like barrage of information!
In that instant, his “psychological perspective,” standing behind and beside his body, began to spin. He could no longer see the words in his mind, feeling only the endless mists spiraling and ascending. The phrases he had just read seed like a swarm of uncontrollable bees, assaulting and gnawing in his mory, tearing at parts of his personality. He even forgot his own na for a mont. All that remained in his mind was the na he had seen in the last second—
The Saint.
However, in the next mont, the dizzying sensation was abruptly halted by sothing, and Maurice felt his consciousness forcefully pulled back to the real world. During this “pullback,” he saw an array of flickering lights in the thick fog, revolving around the largest red light source.
It seed like a glimpse from the God of Wisdom Rahm, but then, in the next second, the array of lights vanished rapidly, transforming into a raging tidal wave;
Imdiately after, the tidal wave transford into a roaring collapse of pale dust right before his eyes. The fine, pale ash, like the ashes of a saint, sprinkled down upon him;
Then, that pale dust ignited midair, turning into a shower of falling fire, within which countless piercing and fiery streams condensed, as if to utterly consu him with their surging arrival!
But just when the crimson flas were about to touch him, Maurice saw all the fire suddenly take on a layer of eerie green—the explosive fire abruptly softened and gradually fell beside him. A fla touched his shoulder, and he imdiately felt soone heavily pat him. The next second, he abruptly opened his eyes and realized he had returned to his own body.
The effects of consciousness isolation and ntal hardening had been forcibly terminated, and he once again returned from the brink of Madness Threshold to this world.
In the mont his consciousness recovered, Maurice resisted the urge to “take another look” and quickly closed the thick black book in his hand.
His actions were swift, but even so, the book still flipped through several pages violently before closing. In the fleeting peripheral glimpse, so trembling texts left a strong impression on Maurice’s sight—a sentence with the intense obsession of a dying mont: “We will ultimately return to that pure and holy origin.”
The black book was completely closed, and Maurice, gasping for air heavily, had the last seen texts lingering in his mind.
Fenna imdiately noticed sothing was off and quickly approached, “How are you?”
“…The daily life of a scholar, dealing with deadly knowledge and then surviving,” Maurice caught his breath and extended his hand to Fenna, “I’m fine, I’m still myself—help up.”
As soon as he stood up, he then asked, “How much ti has passed?”
“A few seconds,” Fenna nodded and replied, “I just saw you open the book and take a few glances, then suddenly close it, while your aura continued to fluctuate incessantly, and indiscernible shadows began to erge in the surrounding fog.”
“Several seconds…” Morris tugged at the corners of his mouth, his mind recalling the wondrous scenes he had seen when he was pulled back from the brink of losing control.
In the next second, a low and majestic voice erged in his mind, “Morris, what situation have you encountered?”
Morris was startled and hurriedly composed his expression. He responded in his mind, “Just now, I was reading a Book of Desecration confiscated from the Heretics and accidentally beca contaminated—Captain, was it you who pulled back at the end?”
“Mm,” Duncan responded, “I suddenly noticed your mind was under attack, so I used the ‘mark’ I left on you to check your condition. You said you confiscated a Book of Desecration? What exactly happened? And are you still together with Fenna? Where are you now?”
“Fenna and I are together; we’re still operating in the Upper City District. We discovered that the Heretics were using the fog to enter the real world and control so ‘replicas’ to attack the City-State—we’ve just located and eliminated one of the controllers,” Morris quickly replied, then organized his thoughts before continuing, “It’s very strange, after the heretic died, his body exhibited fusion with Pri Elent materials, seemingly so kind of extre ‘modification’. He was carrying a black, unnad book; the content of the book…”
Morris suddenly stopped, his tone becoming extra cautious, carefully controlling his thoughts, “The content was unsettling, written in the original scripture copied by the ‘Crow’, and I had only managed to read a small part of it before being contaminated. Sorry, I can only report this much—I can’t recall the details right now.”
Duncan’s voice was silent for two seconds, then rang out again, “That’s enough, safety first. Do not continue to recall what you saw. Bring the book along and report to in person afterward.”
Morris exhaled slightly, “Yes, Captain.”
Just then, Fenna suddenly “spoke” up, “Captain, how are things on your end?”
“I’m with Alice in the second waterway—it’s quite quiet here.”
In the depths of the central city area, within a crossroad at the second waterway, Duncan raised his head, looking towards the long-empty corridor.
A thin layer of fog was floating above the corridor, clinging to the dark do above. The fog seed to appear out of nowhere within the space and was becoming thicker over ti—though compared to the City-State surface completely enveloped in dense fog, the fog here was not significant.
“I’m waiting for the fire to be ready.”
Via the connection of the “mark,” he spoke to Fenna in his mind.
“Fire?” Fenna’s voice sounded a bit puzzled.
“The Heretics’ nest is not in the real world—the Mirror Frost is their true stronghold,” Duncan slowly stated, “Whether it’s the Mist Fleet or the Frost Navy, including the City-State Guards and the Church’s guardians, the ‘invaders’ they eliminate in the real world are only slowing down the process of erging from the mirror. Only by acting from the mirror side can we truly resolve this issue.
“Agatha has gone with the fire already—she will find the nests of those heretics, and then I will help her ignite that place.”
Fenna hesitated for a few seconds, “Then…what can we do?”
“Continue to hunt in the mist, eliminate all the counterfeits you see, find out all the puppeteers behind them, and kill as many as you can,” Duncan said, “Slowing down the invasion is aningful. You are buying ti for Agatha and also reducing the pressure she faces.”
Fenna responded imdiately, “Yes, I understand!”
After a few more seconds, her voice ca through again, “Also… there might still be a ‘Gatekeeper’ impostor active in the City-State, and the church doesn’t seem to react at all. What do you think…”
Her voice sounded hesitant.
Duncan had already known about the impostor and even had clearer information than Fenna did.
After all, he had made contact with the real Agatha.
“Don’t worry about that ‘Agatha’,” he replied after a mont’s thought, “and don’t confront her — but if you encounter her, provide help as necessary based on the situation.”
Fenna was clearly startled for a few seconds, and then speaking with astonishnt, “Provide help? Help that ‘counterfeit’?”
“Don’t forget, not all counterfeits are controlled by the Heretics. The most outstanding among them have their own wills,” Duncan’s voice remained calm, “The Gatekeeper will not easily beco a puppet of the heretics. Of course, the specific situation will still need to be judged by yourselves.”
“Yes, I understand, Captain.”
This ti, Fenna’s response carried a sort of unusual solemnity.
It was as if her sense of mission as a Judge resonated subtly with that “Gatekeeper” at this mont.
The communication with the followers ended.
Duncan exhaled softly, then raised his hand, igniting a small fla at his fingertips.
He stared at the fla and after a mont whispered, “Agatha, do you think ‘she’ will really behave as you think?”
A cold and hoarse voice rose from the fla, “She will.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because I trust myself.”
“But that’s just your Replication,” Duncan said calmly, “There might be slight differences between you two, which could lead to her making different decisions from you.”
“But you did not instruct your followers to eliminate that ‘risk’,” Agatha replied, “You trust my judgnt too.”
Duncan was silent for a few seconds before he sighed softly.
“A human nad Brown Scott once proved his humanity to , and that humanity still holds true in the ‘counterfeit’—so this ti, I don’t mind trusting again.”
“What if… I an, what if my judgnts are wrong too? Your trust will be misplaced…”
“It’s okay, it’s a minor issue.”
A minor issue…
In the cold, damp sewer corridor, Agatha lowered her head and glanced at the small fla still quietly burning in her palm.
The feeble warmth emanating from the fla seed to be the only warmth she could feel in this world—beyond the firelight, she felt the entire world as cold as a grave.
The voice of the “Captain” ca again, “Agatha, how is it on your end?”
“I’m still advancing, almost there. I can feel it, very close.”
“I an your situation; your voice sounds different from before.”
Agatha stopped walking.
She lowered her head, her gaze landing on her scarred body and wounds that no longer bled.
“It’s okay,” she said softly, her voice as cold as a grave, “It’s a minor issue.”
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