Chapter 43 The Starry Giant

That brilliant starlight was speaking to her, walking towards her – He had been sitting on the sofa, but as he stepped forward, Agatha felt as if she were gazing at a giant that defied description. For a fleeting moment, she even lost her ability to judge size and proportion. The distorted perception made it impossible for her to comprehend the size of the house, and the giant formed by the starlight... almost suffocated her soul.

But it was just a fleeting illusion. In the next instant, Agatha awoke from her astonishment, realizing that her sanity was not affected by any presence in this room, as if... she had naturally blended into this place.

"I..." She steadied herself, gazing at the star-constructed giant before her. She knew that she was continuously observing the "truth" of this indescribable being, an act tantamount to suicide under normal circumstances, but after confirming that she was truly unaffected by it now, her courage grew, "I didn't expect you to actually still be here, I was just trying my luck..."

"Where did you think I'd go? Just swagger off when there's a mess like this to clean up? Like those protagonists in picture books who complete their missions?" Duncan chuckled, gesturing for Agatha to come in as he spoke, then paused, glancing subtly at Alice beside him, and added, "I mean those picture books with normal content."

Agatha was a little stunned. She felt like she couldn't quite keep up with the thinking of this great being, but she quickly convinced herself with the reasoning that "it's normal for mortals to not understand the thoughts of ancient gods," and stepped into the house.

Duncan suddenly stopped, looking at Agatha's hand.

"...Could you put Sherry down first?" he said with a strange tone, "Sherry, you too – why do you seem to be enjoying it?"

"Ah, sorry!" Agatha suddenly reacted, quickly putting the thin girl she was carrying on the ground, but the moment she set her down, her expression suddenly changed.

Earlier, the situation at the door had been chaotic, and she hadn't focused her attention on Sherry. Now she suddenly noticed the latter's abnormality – the limbs mutated by the Deep Sea demon symbiosis, the chains extending from within her body and hiding away, and the Deep Sea hound hiding in the shadows, secretly sizing up the outside world.

"Deep Sea..." Agatha subconsciously spoke, her muscles tensing instantly.

But before she could take any action, Duncan's voice rang out beside her: "Relax, it's just a harmless hound. I occasionally need a hound to help me find things."

"Harmless... hound?" Agatha said with a strange expression, her gaze subconsciously sweeping around.

Those figures came into view again – looking like the Chosen, seemingly blessed by the Warp, appearing to be harboring the power of the sun, and even a soulless husk that was impossible to see through...

Her gaze fell on the girl named Sherry again.

The Deep Sea hound realized it had been discovered, and was crouching in the shadows with its neck tucked in, looking pitiful.

Agatha fell silent.

The ancient god and his followers were gathered here – indeed, any Deep Sea demon would be considered harmless here.

"Don't worry, Sherry is not a member of the Annihilation cult," Duncan said patiently, seeing Agatha's silence, "She and Ah Gou (pinyin, Dog) met for other reasons, and they both act on my orders now and will not harm the city-state."

As he spoke, he pointed to a chair not far away: "Sit down, you must have a lot to say."

Agatha slowly walked over, Duncan watching her movements – she accurately found the location of the chair, but she was obviously still a little hesitant and groping when she sat down.

"You seem to need some time to adapt to your current state," Duncan said, "Is that alright?"

This mysterious being always seemed so kind and peaceful, but Agatha moved uncomfortably: "...I'm indeed not used to my current way of perceiving the world, but there's no need to worry about this body. In fact, the changes that have happened to me have some benefits. I can now see many things that I couldn't observe before, but... I need to adapt."

"I'm sorry," Duncan said with a serious tone, "I didn't expect such a change to occur – in fact, you didn't need to resort to such an extreme method of self-sacrifice in the first place."

"But it's the most efficient method," Agatha gently shook her head, "Nothing is more suitable as a vessel for your great power than a gatekeeper."

Duncan didn't say anything more, then his attention focused on the other party's special attire at the moment.

"You're very different from when we last met," he said casually, "You look... more like a priestess than before."

"I'm temporarily acting as the Archbishop," Agatha nodded gently, "Archbishop Ivan is gone. Now that the battle in the city has ended, there's a greater need for someone to lead the church to comfort the souls of the dead and the minds of the living than for a fully armed gatekeeper."

"Archbishop Ivan..." Duncan's tone was solemn, and after a brief silence, he sighed softly, "I didn't meet him, but at that time, I sensed the protection descending on the city-state... Although it was brief, his efforts did weaken the connection between the mirror image and reality for a short time. Without him, many more people would have died."

"May he find peace in Bartok's realm," Agatha said softly, "He... endured for many years, and now he can finally rest for a long time."

"He will – although I don't know what Bartok's realm is like, but as a true god, presumably He will fairly treat those noble souls," Duncan said casually, then changed the subject, "Now, tell me about the situation in the city-state."

Agatha nodded gently.

She knew that as the gatekeeper of the Church of the Dead, and also one of the few people in the city-state who could preside over the situation, she shouldn't casually reveal the dire situation of Frost to others, let alone establish more communication with an existence of unknown origin, suspected to be an ancient god, but after witnessing the huge figure standing outside the city-state's sea, and after performing that "self-sacrifice," she knew that both Frost and herself had inevitably established an inextricable connection with this mysterious being.

Now that this being obviously still had an interest in continuing to pay attention to this dilapidated city-state, she couldn't avoid it.

If her choice today was a sin, then let the church and the Lord judge her.

"The current situation in Frost... is very bad," she began, her voice low and slow, "As you know, we just lost Archbishop Ivan. The church's priests and guardians also suffered great losses in the process of defending the city-state, and now the city is filled with fear and tension, as well as various negative effects brought about by the deaths and injuries of personnel – if these are not dealt with in time, then secondary disasters are very likely to occur. Terrible things will breed from people's hearts, and with the church's lack of manpower, 'fear' itself will spread in the city-state like a snowball.

"In fact, the sunset a few hours later is likely to be the beginning of the test – in the previous mirror image invasion, Frost has not been illuminated by the sun for a long time, which has greatly weakened the city-state's protection against supernatural forces. No one knows what will happen on the next first night.

"On the other hand, the situation in the City Hall is actually worse than that of the church – in addition to the combat losses suffered by the City-State Guard and the constabulary, the most serious thing is..."

Agatha obviously hesitated here, but after struggling for a few seconds, she still said the situation – after all, the fact that the Governor was missing could not be concealed from anyone.

"The most serious thing is that the Governor is missing."

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Missing?"

"He disappeared in the Boiling Gold Mine, and I..." Agatha was a little stuck, seemingly organizing her words, and after a few seconds, she continued with a complex expression, "Another me, once led a team to investigate the tunnel where the Governor disappeared. According to the situation reported by the exploration team that returned to the cathedral afterwards, 'I' and Governor Winston both entered an abnormal area blocked by a stone wall, and did not return..."

Her tone was low and hesitant, and it was obvious that when she mentioned "another self," her mood was not as calm as she showed.

And Duncan could almost imagine the tangled, confused, and contradictory process Agatha went through when she returned to the cathedral and learned about the actions of "another self" from the other priests in these few days.

He calmly watched Agatha: "You can be more direct – the Governor of Frost City-State is dead, you have already made this judgment, right?"

"Yes," Agatha finally stopped hesitating and said frankly, "Although there is no evidence, I do 'know' that he is dead, dead in some strange and dark space, probably not even his body can be found."

"You 'know'," Duncan emphasized the word "know," then adjusted his sitting posture on the chair, "It seems that you will go to the Boiling Gold Mine again afterwards."

"There... is the place where 'she' last disappeared," Agatha nodded gently, "When she last disappeared, I felt something difficult to describe in words. I seemed to be able to sense her thoughts, I felt... she seemed to have a lot to tell me, but she didn't have time..."

Agatha stopped, and then continued: "And... the members of the exploration team who returned from the mine also mentioned some things to me, which 'another me' told them when she led the team to explore the mine. This made me even more uneasy..."

(End of Chapter)