Chapter 210: Reality Invasion
Chapter 210 – Reality Invasion
The rainstorm still hasn’t stopped, and even has the sign of getting more intense, the wild wind wrapped in cold rain beat against the towering facade of the Cathedral of the Deep and the windows and doors inlaid with stained glass, as if it was the dense and chaotic heartbeat of this city-state.
In the square in front of the city-state, the steam walkers and steam tanks had finished assembling, and the heavily-armed guards were blocking all the intersections in silence.
In the bell tower at the back of the cathedral, a special fire pit was lit, purified whale blubber mixed with pieces of hibiscus wood blazed in the fire pit, the flame lit up like a beacon guiding the ships back to their home in the storm, enhanced by special spotting mirrors, the bright flames were even clearly visible in half of the city-state.
And along with the lighting of the fire bowl in the central cathedral, similar flames appeared over churches in all parts of the city-state – even in the most remote neighborhood churches, there was a towering bell tower opposite the central cathedral, and at the top of that tower was the place where the fire bowl was placed.
On this stormy day of darkness, one lit belfry after another formed a continuous beacon over Prand, and the moment all the lights were on, the mellifluous sound of bells and loud sirens spread throughout the city-state.
The boilers of every church were activated, the bells of every church chimed, and Pland roared in the storm, as if civilization itself were fending off some unseen invading force in the darkness, an unusual circumstance that was more than enough to cause all the inhabitants to keep their doors and windows well closed, while those who possessed more knowledge of the transcendental realm perceived the present critical situation from the strange movements of the churches all over the city.
In the depths of the consul’s residence, Dante Wayne, who had just awakened from unconsciousness, heard the bells and whistles outside the window, and saw a “lighthouse” in the darkness, he got up with the help of his attendants, and looked at the scene outside the glass window in shock, as if the end of the world was approaching: “The cathedral has activated the reality stabilization barrier …… a reality invasion level disaster?!”
“We’re still investigating the situation,” an auxiliary officer came to Dante’s bedside, his tone slightly tense, “The situation was so sudden that all the Cathedral authorities said was that all the urban areas of Prand needed to be locked down at the highest level – you were in a coma at the time. Bishop Valentine used his emergency authority ……”
Dante did not respond to the auxiliary officer’s words, only as if he suddenly noticed something, his brows stretched, “…… Vanna is back.”
“Miss Vanna?” The attendant tending to the side turned his head in confusion after hearing that, “Miss Vanna didn’t return to the mansion, she should ……”
“I know,” Dante knew that the bystanders should not be able to understand what he meant by this headless sentence, so he waved his hand, his eyes then fell on the auxiliary officer, “Is the city guard still under the mobilization of the city hall?”
“Yes, Bishop Valentine has only taken over the sheriff’s forces and a small portion of the City State Guards responsible for emergency response,” the Auxiliary Officer immediately nodded, “The majority of the City State Guards are still awaiting your orders.”
“Good, except for the first division, have all city-state guards obey the cathedral’s arrangements,” Dante felt that his mind was still groggy, but still quickly ordered, “In addition, the entire city enters the highest level of martial law, pull all the martial law bells, and after the bells are rung, anyone appearing on the streets …… no matter who it is, all of them will be treated as cultists.”
The auxiliary officer was instantly taken aback by the order, “Mr. Dent, this ……”
“Execute the order,” Dent looked up, his only remaining eye glaring sharply, while the slightest hint of blood seeped around that ruby prosthetic eye once more, “This is a state of war.”
“…… Yes!”
The auxiliary officer led the order and left while Dante coughed violently, it took a long time for his coughing to subside a little and whispered to the attendant beside him, “Take me to the cathedral.”
“Mr. Dent, your health ……”
“My health does not matter, I have something important to tell Bishop Valentine.”
“Yes.”
……
Nina tightly grasped Shirley’s hand, sitting behind the window and timidly looking at the scene outside the fierce winds and torrential rains, one after another thunderbolt exploded in the sky, so that all the doors and windows could not stop trembling, this horrible scene even made Shirley, who had always been very courageous, not be able to help but shiver vaguely, and couldn’t help but curse in low voices, “I’m X’d up, what kind of fucking hellish weather is this? ……”
“Shirley, can’t …… can’t curse,” Nina was also very scared, but still boarded up her face and said, “Uncle said you …… “
“Well well well I don’t curse, I don’t curse anymore, don’t tell Mr. Duncan,” Sherry said hurriedly and quickly, and right after that, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed the figure that appeared on the stairs and subconsciously shrunk his neck, “ah, Mr. Duncan is coming down.”
“Uncle Duncan!” Nina instantly stood up and almost flew towards the figure that was coming down the stairs, “Have you …… finished your errand?”
“Well, busy for now, but things aren’t quite over yet,” Duncan said, casually pressing Nina’s hair, then turning his head to look over at the counter, where Maurice was still seated, but his face looked a little better, and Duncan nodded to him, “The man has been brought back. ”
“I just felt it, she’s back,” Maurice said immediately, “I don’t know how you did it, but …… thank you so much for stepping in.”
“This is just the beginning, it’s a little early to say thank you,” Duncan said while turning his head to look out the window, “The plot has been foiled, they’ve already started to move ahead of schedule, and the invaders are launching an attack on the other side of the curtain …… It’s expected to come soon.”
Maurice looked worried, while Nina looked at Duncan in confusion, “Uncle, what invaders? You said ……”
“Nina,” Duncan, however, directly interrupted the girl’s words, he turned his head, with a seriousness and gravity in his demeanor that Nina had never seen before, “Do you trust me?”
Nina barely hesitated, “I do.”
“Good, then you have faith that this storm will end peacefully, and whatever happens in a moment, don’t panic, and whatever I do, you don’t get nervous or scared,” Duncan said seriously as he looked into Nina’s eyes, and then lifted his hand to point to Alice, who was standing silently by the stairs, ” Alice can be trusted, if an emergency does occur, you stay with her.”
Nina nodded blankly while Alice immediately stated, “Please don’t worry Mr. Duncan, I will protect Miss Nina.”
“I’m not really sure about your fighting ability,” Duncan glanced at Alice, then sighed helplessly, “but there’s no one else to trust.”
Another burst of thunder exploded suddenly, and there was a loud crash of something collapsing in the distant street, accompanied by a shrill alarm bell coming from nowhere and a sharp chime from the church bell tower further away.
The electric lights in the antique store suddenly flickered a few times and then went out. The power was out.
Darkness instantly enveloped the entire neighborhood, and everything seemed to go into the night early in the storm.
In the dimness, Shirley’s voice came from a short distance away, “I’ll light the oil lamp! I know where the oil lamp is.”
Duncan hmmmed, but suddenly he felt Nina grab his hand.
Those hands looked a little hot.
“Uncle ……,” Nina whispered nervously and sharply, and soon even the drafts of air coming out of her breath took on a little burning heat, “I feel …… a little hot ……”
In the darkness, Duncan’s gaze grew steeply serious.
But aside from the seriousness, there was no extra panic on his part.
From the very beginning, he had been prepared for the unexpected that could happen to Nina.
He just gently held Nina’s increasingly hot hand, and between his palm and Nina’s fingers, there were dots of ghostly green sparks jumping in the cracks of the fingers that were hard for the eye to notice.
The sound of flapping wings came as Aye the pigeon flew down the stairs in the darkness, coming to rest firmly on the counter next to him.
Shirley lit the oil lamp, and the wavering flame temporarily dispersed the darkness in the store, but in the streets outside, the sky was already as black as ink, and all of the light and power from the sun had been blocked from the city-state by the storm.
“Nina, remember what I told you earlier?”
In the darkness, Duncan’s voice reached Nina’s ears.
Nina nodded softly, “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t be afraid later, something …… awesome will happen.” Duncan smiled and said softly.
Out of the corner of his eye he looked further away.
Beyond the windows, in the streets of the torrential downpour, the inverted rainwater has gradually dyed between a layer of abnormal crimson, the red bright jumping, as if from another time and space projected into the real world of the reflection.
But he did not look at the rain that had begun to be abnormal, nor did he care about the “reflection” projected through the curtain.
His gaze went beyond the high and low buildings of Prand and the coast, and he looked in the direction of the infinite sea.
The illusory silhouette of the Lost Country was gradually emerging in his pupils.
……
Heidi subconsciously scrunched her neck the moment the startling thunder rang out.
She nestled on the bench in the main hall of the cathedral, her hands subconsciously clutching the crystal pendant that served as an amulet, and silently recited the holy name of Rahm, the God of Wisdom, but she stopped halfway through the consecration and looked up at the holy statue of the Goddess of Storms not far away.
“The Goddess of Mercy …… shouldn’t mind.”
She mumbled softly, then continued to recite the name of Rahm.
But suddenly, she stopped, a strange palpitation making it hard for her to concentrate any longer.
Heidi rose from the bench and raised her eyes in inexplicable palpitations.
She saw the guardsmen gathered near the main entrance, a small group of civilians who had come to the church to seek shelter because it was too late for them to return to their homes were positioned in the pews in front of the iconostasis, a few priests were walking around the main hall, and Bishop Valentine, with his long staff in hand, stood silently in front of the iconostasis, his gaze stoic and leveled in front of him.
Everything is as usual, but …… where did the palpitating feeling come from?
Unconsciously, the crystal pendant on her neck seemed to be slightly burning, but it was as if Heidi didn’t care about that, she just subconsciously came to the window not far away and looked at the situation in the square through the transparent pane on the edge of the stained glass window.
The young psychiatrist’s eyes suddenly widened.
“Fire …… fire!” She lost her voice and exclaimed with horror, “The rain has turned into fire!”
(End of chapter)