Deep Sea Embers

Duncan glared at the old gentleman in front of him. However, he soon realized that Morris did not understand what the gushing flame meant or what it implicated. In fact, the old teacher most likely regarded Nina as another “transcendent being” that ran out of subspace and nothing more.

“Nina, she…” Morris sounded a little hesitant due to the worry for his student.

“Nina is different from me. She’s an ordinary person, always has.” Duncan shook his head and slowly grew severe in his expression: “She doesn’t know what is special about her. As for the flame you mentioned… that could be ‘something else’.”

“I… don’t quite understand.”

Duncan eyed the old gent some more. Once he’s confirmed there’s no lie, he finally decides to drop the subject and go around the sun fragment. “Do you know anything about the so-called ‘real sun god’ worshiped by the Suntists?”

“Real Sun God?” Morris frowned, not knowing why the other party would suddenly lead the topic here. “Of course, there are quite a few texts about this subject. Those cultists existed for far too long, so many have tried to research this topic.”

“The true sun god is what they call their God, but the rest of us don’t call it that. We usually refer to it as the Black Sun or Dark Sun God. Actually, there’s a third name for it from some older texts by ancient scholars. They called it the Creeping Sun Wheel.”

“Creeping Sun Wheel?” Duncan raised an eyebrow. He had heard of the Black Sun, but the name “Creeping Sun Wheel” was the first time. Also, this name made him recall the incident with the sun mask – a glorious dead eyeball covered by dead limbs constantly roasted by flames.

“Yes, outside the professional field, this name is rarely mentioned because this is a record handed down from the ancient kingdom. Its original manuscripts were written in Cretan script, which tends to draw certain mystical tendencies from unwanted shadows.”

Morris nodded like a lecturing teacher and seemed to have forgotten he’s still talking to a great being like Duncan. In fact, the buzzing interfering with his brain had stopped as well.

“The ancient kingdom of Crete…” Duncan was surprised, “Those cultists actually have such a long history?!”

“…… Yes, while this is unbelievable, those heretics do date back to the heydays of the ancient kingdom, surpassing even Vision 001 when it rose from the sea….” Morris paused to ponder if he should continue, “Actually, the four main churches have always been reluctant to discuss the subject, but when you consider the age of Vision 001, the Black Sun is in fact older…”

Duncan didn’t say anything for a while because he didn’t expect to get this bombshell so suddenly. Turns out the four churches are the blasphemous ones, and the Suntists are the actual righteous cause if going by status and age…

After half a minute of silence, Duncan suddenly spoke up, “…… So, the preaching from the Suntists is true. Before the Deep Sea Age, it was their ‘Lord’ who was shining on this world.”

“There are many factions and theories in academia, and this is the most divisive of all the deviant claims. You can even say it’s half a foot on the border of heresy,” Morris sighed, “but the existence of many manuscripts in the Kingdom of Crete makes it impossible to avoid this question.”

“Let’s just assume those cultists held some truth and leave it at that.” Duncan shook his head slightly, “But that doesn’t change the fact that their beliefs are now very dangerous to the current world. After all, no matter what their Lord was like before the Deep Sea Age, his current state is…”

Morris pricked up his ear at the last bit and grew sharp: “Hold on, your meaning…”

“I happened to meet it once,” Duncan felt it was necessary to come up with some weighty information to get this gentlemen’s attention. He had already gained so much knowledge from this scholar. If this friendship were to last, he must also give something in return.

“How to say it… That thing was so miserable that I couldn’t bear to watch. There’s no hope of recovery for sure, and whatever act these Suntists are doing, it will only push their Lord toward a crazier and twisted direction.”

He paused and glanced at the old gentleman opposite to him: “Do you want me to tell you what he looks like now? Maybe it will…”

Morris instantly exclaimed and cut Duncan off: “No need!”

Immediately afterward, he noticed how offensive his behavior was and quickly coughed to clear the air. “This is not a knowledge I should be exposed to.”

“…… Oh yes, apologies,” Duncan returned to his senses and quickly waved the subject off. “Then let’s not discuss this topic in the future. So, about the Black Sun faith, what achievements have they made throughout history? Have they ever succeeded anywhere after performing so much human sacrifice?”

“The Suntists caused a lot of damage. There’s no question about that. As for resurrecting the Black Sun, I can only recall a few records with wide-ranging effects.”

“The earliest records are at the end of the chaotic era. Due to the long-term accumulation of a vast number of historical legacies after the collapse of the ancient kingdom, several city-states continued to break out into fighting and famine. The Suntists took advantage of this void to create a big blood rite within a city-state called ‘Charon’. They summoned a huge fireball that hovered over the island for five full days. At the end of it all, the entire city had become one big piece of glass.”

“Another time occurred in the era of the classical era. The exact cause is no longer known, and the result was that several smaller city-states on the edge of the civilized world disappeared overnight. Witness records show huge luminous fissures in the sky, in which the Creeping Sun Wheel rose and stripped the ocean of these islands with gravitational force.”

“The most recent one occurred at the beginning of the new calendar, and it was also the strangest one because there was no evidence left of the incident. In fact, no one even remembers what exactly happened and where…”

Duncan listened with a stunned look and couldn’t resist asking for more: “No one can remember its occurrence? Then how did everyone know the Suntists were behind such a large-scale event?”

“That’s the weird part. This is already beyond the field of what most scholars could dabble in. However, my status within the Truth Academy allowed me to peer into some relevant information within the library.” Morris nodded and then made a grim face, “That event did occur. There’s no question. Because on one random morning, a message suddenly appeared on the most sacred artifact of the Flame Bearers – the ‘Chronology Pillar’.”

“The line refers to a city-state that does not exist at all, and there is only one sentence in total: Wilheim’s last message – they finally summoned the Black Sun from history. We’ve failed.”