Flames surged.

As if a mountain of fiery springs gushed forth from the darkness, the last remnants of the World Tree instantly turned into ashes and illusions in the fire. Then, the fire meandered and flowed, transforming into a boundless sea of fire in the dark and chaotic space. This sea of fire eroded the last boundaries of the Nameless Dream, restoring everything to its "correct position" in the real dimension.

The Boundless Sea appeared, its endless waters rippling in the undulating flames. The sky appeared, dispelling the darkness above the fire and gradually brightening. The city-state appeared, its solid form taking shape amidst the surging flames, and as the fire subsided, gradually lighting every lamp.

The entire world seemed to "float up" from the darkness, gradually emerging from the sea of fire and reintegrating with the real dimension. Duncan stood on the bow of the Vanishing Sail, watching all of this. For some reason, he suddenly recalled the ancient legend of the elves – how in Sasroka's first dream, all things in the mortal world were shaped from the dark chaos.

The scene before him was like that "Genesis" of legend happening again.

And at the end of the Genesis, sunlight appeared on the vast expanse of the sea.

The flames had gradually subsided, and the morning sun was spreading from the far distance, magnificently and beautifully covering the boundless sea and the city of Porthaven, which was gradually awakening in the morning. The nightmare receded, and everything that had been swallowed by the nightmare would return to the real world as the sun rose – and those that had briefly reappeared in the dream, it was now time for them to return to their original state.

The giant black billy goat, treading on the waves, arrived beside the railing of the Vanishing Sail in a single step. This ancient deity, once regarded as the "Creator," lowered its head slightly, resting its sharp horns on the towering mast.

A wisp of ghostly green flame danced at the tip of its horns, returning to the Vanishing Sail.

"I return the flame, Captain."

"Actually, I could have done it," Duncan said, looking at the black goat. "You didn't have to..."

"But it is most fitting for me to do this personally," the black goat shook its head. "Long, long ago, I created her, and now it is time for me to see her off on her final journey."

Duncan didn't speak, but nodded gently.

"...There is no need to feel regret," the black goat continued. "This is something that was destined to happen, and in a sense, it has already happened – Silindis had ceased to exist long before the Deep Sea Era began. What appeared in the nightmare was just an out-of-control shadow. Allowing that shadow to grow would be the greatest insult to her. And..."

He suddenly stopped, and Duncan was curious: "And?"

The black goat seemed to smile slightly: "And... you have already taken her away, haven't you?"

Duncan raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He immediately understood what Sasroka meant, which surprised him somewhat: "It seems you have noticed something."

"Not very clear, but I can sense it vaguely," the black goat said slowly. His eyes reflected the ghostly green flames rising from the deck of the Vanishing Sail, and not long ago, he had been briefly granted that flame and felt a trace of Duncan's true power from it. "Your flame has taken Silindis to a 'place' that I cannot understand. I don't know where that is, but my intuition tells me that the place is good, very suitable for my little sapling to have a good sleep."

The sunlight gradually brightened, and the magnificent dual-rune ring of Anomaly 001 was gradually rising above the sea. The morning sun shone on the black goat's body, bringing a crystal-like, translucent, illusory quality to its huge form.

"The dream is over, it's time to get back to work," the black goat raised his head and glanced at Anomaly 001 in the distance, his tone filled with emotion. "They really have created something incredible..."

The next second, the black goat's body quietly shattered in the morning glow, like a soap bubble being popped in the sun, silently dissipating in the wind.

Duncan stood on the deck in a daze for a while, then turned his head and glanced at Luen, who was standing not far away – the elf elder's body had returned to normal, and he was standing in the rosy light, slightly bent over, his expression still somewhat dazed.

"I thought you would come over and say hello to Sasroka," Duncan said casually. "This is your legendary creator, and you might be the last elf to see his mythological form – I don't have that much energy to let him return to mythological form often."

Luen finally woke up from his daze, glanced at Duncan somewhat slowly, and then suddenly slapped his thigh in annoyance after a moment: "Hey! I didn't react just now!"

Duncan: "..."

After being stunned for two seconds, the corner of his mouth twitched: "It's not a big problem, you can still communicate with him, but after that, you can only go to the captain's cabin to chat with my first mate, Goat Head."

After saying that, he ignored the suddenly subtle expression on the "Pope's" face, waved his hand, and walked towards the deck.

Nina was already running happily towards him: "Uncle Duncan!"

Duncan raised his hand to catch the "little sun" jumping over from mid-air, then raised his head and looked at the others who were also walking this way.

"Porthaven seems to have been restored," Vanna came to him, pointing to the city-state not far away that was bathed in sunlight. "I just don't know what the situation is like in the city now."

"I'll go ashore to check the situation in the city later," Lucrezia said. "In theory, according to the previous rules of the Nameless Dream, everything will be restored after the dream ends, but the scale of this incident is too large, and there will probably be some 'sequelae' left behind."

Morris also walked over, his gaze falling in another direction – the "church ship," which resembled a small city-state, was sailing in from the waves, its destination obviously the Vanishing Sail, which was staying on the sea.

"The Academy Ark is approaching," Morris said. "It looks like they want to communicate with us."

"Normal, their 'Pope' is still on our ship," Duncan said, pointing to Luen, who was walking towards the captain's cabin. "That's good, you can also say hello to your mentor, you should not have seen each other in reality for many years."

Morris nodded and walked towards the captain's cabin.

Duncan then turned his head and glanced at Vanna, asking with some concern: "Are you okay? Don't you need to go back to your room and rest?"

He clearly remembered that the beautiful muscle girl had exhausted her energy when he brought her back to the ship, and even walking had become difficult, but now she looked alive and well.

Vanna also looked down at her body. She jumped twice on the spot, moved her hands and feet back and forth, and then patted her chest, with a proud smile on her face: "I'm fine, I've rested for a while just now, and my energy has been completely restored."

The corner of Duncan's mouth twitched, and he didn't know what to say for a while. Shirley next to him muttered in a low voice and sighed: "Damn it, sports students are really awesome... Let the sun burn you to death twenty-seven times, and sitting on the deck for a while will restore you..."

"It's twenty-eight times," Vanna immediately corrected with a serious face. "I was a little confused just now, and I miscounted once when I told you."

Duncan: "...?"

He silently watched Vanna and Shirley walk away while chatting about "whether it was twenty-seven times or twenty-eight times." After a long time, he shook his head with a smile.

"That's great."

He heard Alice say softly not far away.

Duncan turned around and saw the doll lady sitting on a large wooden barrel on the edge of the deck – she was facing the direction from which the sun was coming, raising her head and squinting her eyes, letting the sunlight fill her face, her legs gently swaying on the edge of the barrel, and her body also gently swaying.

"That's great..." she sighed softly again.

"What's great?" Duncan walked over and suddenly asked beside the doll.

Alice "ah"ed, and almost fell off the barrel on the spot. After noticing that it was Duncan, she felt relieved and grabbed the latter's arm, using the force to sit firmly again: "You scared me."

Duncan smiled and reached out to press the doll lady's hair: "What are you sighing about?"

"It's great to be normal," Alice thought for a while, pointing to the city-state. "There's no fire, and no strange trees. Everything is how I remember it. The ship is back on the calm sea, and I don't have to fly over the strange and terrifying forest... I can wash the deck like usual, and go back to the kitchen to cook."

Speaking of this, the doll lady seemed to suddenly remember something, and immediately jumped off the barrel, waving to Duncan without looking back as she ran into the distance: "The sun is rising! I'm going to make breakfast! Captain, you wait!"

Duncan looked in astonishment and amusement as the gothic doll ran across the deck in such a hurry, watching her being tripped over by a suddenly emerging cable in the middle, bumping into Shirley and Agou, causing a chaotic commotion. Vanna quickly ran to find the doll's head, which she didn't know where it had rolled...

Almost in the blink of an eye, the Vanishing Sail returned to its usual "vigorous" appearance.

After a long time, Duncan shook his head with a smile, retracted his gaze, and glanced at the large wooden barrel that Alice had been sitting on just now, raising his foot and kicking the edge of the barrel: "Don't you guys also think it's good to return to daily life like this?"

The wooden barrel swayed in place, and the barrel lid suddenly popped open.

The inside was filled to the brim with a whole barrel of wave amulets.

Being used as a container for storing amulets by the sports student, used as a chair by the doll, and usually also possibly turned into a desk for Agou to do homework and a target for Shirley to scribble on, the barrel didn't seem very happy.

Duncan's expression was a little subtle, and he silently put the lid back on the barrel.

Then he also sat on the barrel, quietly gazing at the distant sunlight.

The world has returned to peace, temporarily – but it's really good.

(End of this chapter)