Chapter 180 Characteristics and Dreams

Despite being evil cult organizations, the Solar Sect and the Annihilation Sect have distinctly different characteristics, which means that when dealing with these cultists, Duncan must consider their "characteristics."

The essence of the Annihilation Sect is that of "humans" who gain power and transform themselves through contracts with demons. Although these dark cultists explicitly believe in the Deep Lord, their "god" does not respond to this relationship. Therefore, apart from the blasphemous supernatural power, the Annihilation Sect is still essentially a group of mortals, and their actions and limitations are based on their identity as "humans"—no matter how loudly they shout the name of the Holy Lord, these lunatics actually have little to do with the Ancient Gods.

If their cult were divided into a "tower structure," then from the ordinary believers at the bottom with no power, to the priests who can summon demons, to the so-called "saints" at the top who seem to have completely lost their human form, each layer is striving to climb to the so-called "truth" on the higher levels—but the "Deep Lord" at the top of the tower does not want to pay attention to them.

The Solar Sect is not like this—the "structure transmission" of the Solar Sect is top-down.

At the top is the dying "Black Sun." This Ancient God, in a dying and dormant state, has spawned powerful descendants called "Offspring." These "Offspring" closely monitor and protect the humanoid monsters called "Remnants," which are fragments of the sun. Further down are the vast numbers of Solar Believers, who are mentally disturbed. These mortal believers did not spontaneously worship the Black Sun; rather, the power of the Black Sun leaked into the real dimension, causing the mental distortion of a portion of humanity, which then spontaneously transformed into believers.

Therefore, from a certain perspective, the entire "Solar Sect" can be regarded as an "excrescence" of an Ancient God, a branching structure of the Black Sun's power and flesh.

When facing the Annihilation Sect, they should be considered humans. When facing the Solar Sect, "it" should first be regarded as a chaotic Ancient God—every Offspring, every Remnant, is one of the Ancient God's tentacles, twitching and spasming unconsciously in its sleep.

These tentacles sneak into the dreams of the Nameless. A certain "instinct" originating from the upper layers drives them to steal the "sun" in the dreams of the Nameless. Considering their upper-layer essence, these guys' methods of entering the dreams of the Nameless may be simpler and more brutal than those of the Annihilation Sect... and more dangerous.

Duncan took a light breath, temporarily setting aside those complicated thoughts.

"After this dream of the Nameless ends, have Rabi confirm where that ship is as soon as possible," he said to Lucretia in his heart, "The sooner the better—provided you are careful not to disturb that 'Saint'."

Lucretia's voice hesitated for a few seconds before it came: "Are you... worried about the elves who are being used as sacrifices?"

"Judging from the dream ritual, their lives are not in danger for the time being, but those cultists may also hold other rituals, and there may be more than just those two elves on that ship," Duncan said seriously. "This is one reason, and another reason is that I am very concerned about the 'goat head' in their hands—the essence of the goat head may really be a 'fragment of an Ancient God'. If this is the case, then this fragment must not continue to remain in the hands of a group of cultists. Who knows what new operations they will come up with next that will lead to their own death?"

Whether it was an illusion or not, Duncan felt a faint... emotional change coming from Lucretia's "mark" as soon as he finished speaking. The witch seemed to be in a better mood for some reason?

"Understood, I will plan this matter carefully with Rabi," Lucretia's voice sounded. "I will find that ship within a few days."

"Okay."

Duncan responded in his heart, then took a breath and turned to look at the nautical chart table.

The black goat-head wood carving was quietly watching him—although it looked motionless at the moment, it had already turned its angle once just now.

It has awakened, but has not yet spoken.

Duncan walked to the nautical chart table and glanced across the surface.

The lush, mysterious forest projected onto the nautical chart has replaced the previous ocean markings and sea lanes. The ship's phantom representing the Vanishing Sail is slowly moving in the sky above the forest sea.

The goat head on the edge of the table slowly moved its gaze, following Duncan's footsteps.

After an unknown amount of time, this taciturn goat head (to be honest, Duncan felt that this word was a bit out of place on the goat head) finally broke the silence: "You've come again, friend... you seem to have changed a bit."

"Changed?" Duncan raised his eyebrows. "What kind of change?"

"I can't say, but you now seem to make me feel safer than before," the goat head said slowly. "Before, when you appeared here, it made me confused and nervous. I couldn't understand your existence, but now, although I still don't know who you are, that confusion and nervousness are gone."

Duncan quietly stared into the goat head's eyes.

He knew that his "method" had worked.

Before nine o'clock at night, he entered the reflection of the Vanishing Sail through the mirror, just like Agatha did—and when the transformation occurred after nine o'clock, he directly became a part of this "dream ship" along with the reflection.

In other words, he went from an "intruder" to one of the "our own" in this dream.

After many attempts, Duncan finally found the real way to "enter here." Now he can finally let go and act freely here—whether it is exploring this ship or taking the helm, or driving this ship to explore the dark mist, it will no longer awaken Syrentis, nor will it awaken the goat head.

"Maybe it's because we're finally getting familiar with each other," Duncan laughed. Of course, he couldn't reveal the existence of this dream to a mental entity sleeping in a dream, so he changed his explanation. "That's a good thing."

"Familiar?" The goat head turned its head slightly, seemingly thinking briefly because of Duncan's words. Compared with the last time they met, its dazed, half-dreaming state seemed to have lessened a bit, but it was still a little slow to react. "Ah, that does seem to be a good thing... we are better friends now."

Duncan thought for a while, gave up the idea of going to the bridge to "take the helm" now, and sat down on the high-backed chair behind the nautical chart table.

He looked at the goat head, which was silently watching him, and cautiously asked a question: "Where is Syrentis now?"

The goat head turned its head, seemingly surprised by Duncan's question—it was rarely hesitant. After this almost human-like reaction, it slowly opened its mouth: "Syrentis is here, everywhere."

"Here? Everywhere? Can you explain it more clearly?" Duncan frowned, then added, "I don't have any malice. I just want to... talk to her. I don't know if you can understand, but she is in danger. A group of people with bad intentions want to hurt Syrentis. I hope to find her before them."

Duncan didn't know if his explanation had any effect, but after a moment of silence, the goat head did speak.

"...This is Syrentis," it stared into Duncan's eyes. "You are already in Syrentis's body—you are in her thoughts, you are in her memories. This is the border, and it is also the heartland, but... you cannot see her."

Listening to the first half of the goat head's words, Duncan instantly understood something, but the other party's last sentence stunned him: "Why?"

"Because Syrentis has not remembered herself yet—before she remembers everything, she is not a clear existence... and now, she doesn't want to wake up."

"You mean, Syrentis is now scattered in this dark mist in the form of some kind of mental body. Because she cannot form a complete consciousness of herself, she is an invisible existence at this moment?" Duncan immediately understood what the other party meant, and then couldn't help but ask, "Then are there any other ways for me to see her? Or just to establish communication."

He remembered his previous experience of "taking the helm" on this dream ship, remembered the streamers of light that appeared in the darkness and the voices in the streamers—he could be sure that those were Syrentis's thoughts, but those "thoughts" seemed to be located in another dimension and did not respond to his calls at all.

This time, the goat head was silent for even longer than before.

After an unknown amount of time, it finally spoke—

"Let her sleep a little longer, just a little... it doesn't need to be too long, let her settle them down..."

……

Disordered winds suddenly blew in his ears, and the diffused dust instantly enveloped his vision.

However, before Vanna subconsciously raised her hand to block the dust, the wind and sand stopped in front of her, and a voice came from the wind: "Traveler, we meet again."

Vanna immediately looked in the direction the voice came from.

In the gradually stopping dust, the giant's figure became clear.

He was sitting among a pile of collapsed and dilapidated black boulders, with his huge, exaggerated "staff" placed next to him. The "bonfire" that had been burning for an unknown amount of time had already been extinguished. At the giant's feet, there was only a pile of ashes left, still emitting slight heat and sparks.

Vanna raised her eyes and looked around.

It was still the place where she had bid farewell to the giant before, still the wind shelter, still the bonfire. She had returned to this "location" very accurately, and the giant seemed to have been waiting for her all along.

"I said we would meet again soon," the giant smiled gently, wrinkles piling up on his face. "Look, the fire is still warm."

"Have you been waiting for me here all the time?" Vanna was a little surprised. "I thought..."

"It's just a little waiting," the giant said calmly. "Anyway, only barrenness is left here, and I have nothing else to do—waiting is somewhat meaningful."

He paused, then raised his head and looked into the distance.

"It's good that you're here, traveler... If you don't have any goals at the moment, I'd like to take you somewhere."

(Asking for monthly tickets during the double period!)

(End of this chapter)