Chapter 20 The Collapsing Island

The "Black Gate" located deep within the cave had been closed, but an increasing number of abyssal demons were still emerging throughout the sacred island—this island, formed from a part of the Abyssal Saint Lord's limbs, was trembling. Deep rumbles and strange buzzing sounds echoed through the thick fog like the rumblings of a giant beast's stomach, and countless bizarre figures appeared and disappeared in the mist. Every second, shadows materialized,肆意attacking the unwelcome guests who had set foot on the island.

Duncan and his party left the cave, successfully reunited with Vanna, Amber, and the others who had remained in the valley, and began to retreat towards the coastline.

The earth was shaking, and the valley was filled with the crackling sounds of rocks bursting apart. Chaotic screams and whispers echoed like a nightmare, and indescribable shadows coalesced in the mist. The omnipresent malice was carried by the cold air, howling through the jagged rocks on the cliffs on either side—in the swirling fog, the stones on the cliffs seemed to gradually come alive. Huge limbs slowly drooped from the high mountains, twisting and trembling like vines, making strange sounds of swallowing and chewing. Filthy mud dripped from their surfaces, hissing and emitting bursts of black smoke when it touched the ground.

Even the church warriors who frequently operated in the border seas couldn't help but become nervous at this moment. The marines, armed with enchanted steel swords, lanterns, and amulets, advanced while guarding against the restless shadows along the road. Amber walked beside Vanna, chanting the prayers of the Storm Goddess in a low voice as they moved forward. The gentle sound of the waves protected the warriors' minds, preventing them from being bewitched and corrupted by the demons' whispers. The death priest, covered in countless tattoos, walked at the front of the group, holding the holy ash casket—beside him, the mist briefly receded, and the demons' figures also appeared dimmer, opening a temporarily peaceful path for the return journey.

Realizing that these church warriors were indeed capable enough to handle the troubles along the way and return safely, Duncan relaxed and walked at the back of the group, focusing more on his thoughts.

After a while, they successfully passed through the wild areas deep within the island and finally stepped onto the road leading to the pier—the coastline was very close.

The sounds of cannon fire and explosions came from deep within the mist ahead, and from time to time, huge flames could be seen rising into the air, illuminating and reddening large areas of the sky like a sunrise. It was a breathtaking sight.

"Ship-like 'fakes' and wandering large demons have begun to appear on the nearby sea. Our fleet is fighting those monsters," Amber walked over, the young priestess carrying a long sword in one hand and a lantern with storm patterns in the other, her expression looking quite serious. "They reported that one side of the sacred island is slowly... deforming. Parts of the sea cliffs seem to be softening and gradually collapsing. Although it hasn't affected this side yet, the entire island is obviously 'coming alive' in some way..."

Duncan raised his head, looked at the giant rocks in the mountains that were constantly being animated in the swirling mist, and the black tentacles that grew out of the nearby slopes, curling and spreading towards the low-lying areas, and nodded gently.

"The situation on this island is as Shirley said. It is indeed a 'piece of flesh' of the Abyssal Saint Lord. The entire island is a part of one of his tentacles that has pierced into the real world—as for now, he seems to have begun to repair this 'error'."

"...It's a pity about the countless truths buried here," Amber pursed her lips. "If we had more time, we could have explored the island thoroughly. Those Annihilation cultists have been entrenched here for at least several centuries. There must still be countless secrets of darkness and sin hidden here... maybe even secret strongholds and personnel lists of their agents lurking in the city-states..."

Listening to Amber's somewhat resentful mutterings, Duncan did not respond, but couldn't help but recall the magnificent, grand, yet shrouded in desolation and darkness, immense "mountain range" he had seen in the Abyssal Depths as he looked at the collapsing and deforming island.

Ten thousand years had passed... "Navigator One," once used to reshape the ecosystem, had become a twisted and grotesque behemoth in its uncontrolled growth. Its limbs pierced through the Abyssal Deep, pierced into the subspace, and pierced into the real world, yet it still had not stopped growing.

This made Duncan wonder if, even if this boundless sea had not encountered a "malfunction," even if Anomaly 001-the sun could continue to support it, the constantly growing Navigator One itself would have been enough to become another doomsday.

Moreover, this "doomsday" was obviously not far away—perhaps one day in the next hundred years, Navigator One's exponentially growing body would fill the entire Abyssal Deep, and then spread to all dimensions at a frantic speed. Its tentacles would pierce through every city-state, meandering across the entire sea, entangling all the ships sailing on the sea, until everything in the mortal world was once again devoured by their "creator," and once again became a part of that black mud and writhing tentacles.

...Was this what those Annihilation cultists saw in their mentally deranged visions? Just as they proclaimed—one day in the future, the Abyssal Saint Lord would return to this wretched world, "element" would gush out from the depths of the world, and transform the entire world back into its pure, primordial form...

In a sense, those mentally deranged fanatic cultists did glimpse a part of the "truth" of this world, perhaps in a brief connection with the Abyssal Saint Lord, or in the process of transforming themselves into demons,肆意touching the "element"... They glimpsed the future, and interpreted that terrifying future in a way they were willing to understand.

Duncan took a deep breath and slowly shook his head.

Navigator One invited him to "take over" this sanctuary, and hoped that in the process he would burn away his completely out-of-control, immense body... To this, Navigator One frankly admitted that this was a kind of "liberation," a liberation from a long mission.

It seemed that supporting this sanctuary was indeed a long and difficult mission, even enough to make an ancient "machine" feel tired and desperate.

Duncan reaffirmed his idea of finding another way out.

Maintaining this sanctuary was definitely not a good choice—at least not the best one.

After a safe and uneventful journey, the landing party finally returned to the secret pier hidden by the inner bay and sea cliffs. The small boats they had arrived in were still safely docked on the shore, rocking left and right in the turbulent water.

The landing craft released from the *Lost Country* rocked the most conspicuously—it was rocking upright.

In short, the bow of the entire boat was facing the sky, sticking in the shallow water like a foxtail, rocking and bouncing. Only when Duncan and his party appeared did it "bang" and fall onto the water, and then it whipped its oars and tail to the shore, slapping its hull with its oars while shaking excitedly.

Duncan: "..."

Lucrezia silently watched the small boat for a while, then lowered her head and muttered to Duncan, "Dad, I don't really want to get on that boat..."

"It's a little embarrassing," Duncan was silent for a few seconds, then sighed softly, "But let's still get on it. We've already come this far. If we ditch it and take a pigeon in front of it, this thing might just sink itself on the spot—there are already enough ghost ships in this world, and it would be difficult to explain to the world if we had one more resentful landing craft..."

Lucrezia sighed and could only board the small boat with a complicated mood, following her father.

The three speedboats left the pier, speeding towards the thick fog at the exit of the small bay, towards the flashes and loud noises.

Just as they left the bay exit and could already see several main warships parked on the nearby sea, Shirley seemed to suddenly sense something, and abruptly turned her head from the small boat to look at the island.

She slowly widened her eyes, which were filled with scarlet light—

"The island is starting to sink!"

In a series of muffled thunder-like rumbles, the entire sacred island was collapsing and crumbling like some kind of soft substance that had lost its support. Its sea cliffs flowed downwards like they were melting, and black mud seeped outwards from every inch of soil and rock. Huge tentacles and jagged limbs pierced through the softened cliffs and coasts, thrashing and waving wildly in the rising seawater, while countless chaotic demons ran and roared between the collapsing rocks and cliffs, seemingly wanting to escape, but were drawn by an invisible force, unable to leave the island's area, and could only "sink" with the entire island...

Duncan noticed that the sacred island was not actually sinking into the sea, but was "dissolving" on the sea level as if it were melting.

Navigator One was slowly "withdrawing" this limb that had mistakenly extended into the real dimension.

Even though the collapse of the sanctuary was imminent, and even though its own loss of control was irreversible, it was still repairing the system's errors to the best of its ability, delaying the critical point of final collapse.

But... how many more times could this "delay" be effective?

Duncan and Alice sat at the stern of the small boat, looking back at the sacred island that was almost completely "dissolved" in the seawater. Its last outline swayed in the increasingly dense fog, like a dream that was gradually fading away.

And before that outline completely disappeared, Duncan faintly heard a voice—it was a low vibration, carried by the breeze.

"Don't forget our agreement, Fire Thief..."

Duncan felt someone grab his arm. He turned his head, and the clearest thing in the fog was Alice's deep purple eyes.

"I heard him speaking, Captain."

"I heard it too, Alice. Can you still find the place where he is?"

"Um," Alice nodded, but then scratched her hair. "But I don't know exactly how to do it. I just feel... If you need it, I can still take you to find him, because I remember... the 'way'."

Duncan nodded gently, "That's enough."

Alice hesitated, then asked cautiously, "Then... will we go back to find him?"

"I think... we will."

"Then about when?"

"...At least before the end of the world."

(End of Chapter)