Chapter 233 – Tirion’s Memories
Chapter 233 – Tirian’s Memories
After listening to Vanna’s narration, Tirian fell into a short silence.
Without seeing it with his own eyes, he was unable to analyze from these words what kind of plan the ghost returning from subspace had at the moment, and how he had changed, but one thing was certain – the “Captain Duncan” described by Vanna was definitely not the same as the “Captain Duncan” who had died half a century ago on the Sea Mist in the cold. But one thing was certain – the “Captain Duncan” described by Vanna was definitely not the maniacal monster that the Sea Mist had encountered half a century ago on the cold sea.
Nor was it quite like the great explorer father he remembered from a century before.
“Captain Tirion,” said Vanna’s voice, interrupting Tirion’s thoughts with a sudden sound after a long silence in the parlor, “what do you think?”
“I …… can’t believe this could actually happen, but since it has, it’s a fact that can only be acknowledged for the time being,” Tirian’s brow slowly furrowed in thought as he said, “From your description, it seems that he indeed be in a state of clear thinking, possessing reason and humanity, but his power …… that cursed flame is correspondingly more powerful.”
Vanna nodded, “I don’t know if that green flame is a curse, but that thing is indeed very powerful.”
“That flame is related to subspace,” Tirian said, “He gained this weird power after falling into subspace, so there’s no problem calling it a curse.”
“…… So the fact that the flames are more powerful than you ever saw them half a century ago means that that Captain Duncan’s connection to subspace has become deeper than ever before,” said the old Bishop Valentine thoughtfully, “so he didn’t break free from the effects of subspace, but rather he has sunk deeper into it – but in contrast to that, he has recovered in the process?”
“…… That doesn’t fit with what we know about subspace.” Tirian shook his head.
“It’s a common saying among Rahm’s followers,” Valentine said, “that the only thing we know about subspace is that we never know enough about it – that for thousands of years, no one from the reality dimension other than the Lost Country or anyone or anything else has been able to return to this world after entering subspace, and apart from a few indirect observational records and the mere words written down by those insane scholars of the ancient Kingdom of Crete in their madness, even less people know exactly what’s all there in subspace. …… Our ‘summary of the laws of that place’ ‘ is, in fact, meaningless in itself.”
Saying this, this erudite old man paused for a moment, and then leisurely sighed, “Even, we can’t be sure whether subspace is a ‘place’ or not–
“Sixteen hundred years ago, the mad scholar Byrmin was devoured by the unseen in full view of the public for reading an ancient scroll, and before disappearing he shouted, ‘Subspace is the shadow of the back of the world,’ and at that time he shouted this one sentence to the madness of one hundred and forty-two eyewitnesses, but with the one hundred and forty-two eyewitnesses of the madness as a ‘sacrifice,’ he was able to make a sacrifice. madness as a ‘sacrifice’, this intelligence also became the greatest step forward in our understanding of subspace in thousands of years.
“Until now scholars are still trying to construct a theoretical model of subspace based on Byrmin’s dying cry …… And your father, not only did he really go into that place, but he is even now returning to our world in his right mind.”
“Yeah, year after year of research, people die, and those who die are quickly replenished to continue the research …… So I do admire those scholars at the Truth Academy who don’t want to die, in a completely positive sense,” Tirian sighed and shook his head, then his voice was slightly “So now my ‘father’ may have become a valuable specimen? A specimen who has actually traveled to subspace and is sane enough to communicate?”
“That would be wishful thinking,” Valentine spread his hands, “We can’t count on ‘Captain Duncan’ to cooperate with mortal research, not to mention that, while he’s sane now, we can’t just assume that his sanity is biased in favor of the human species. ‘s sanity is on the side of the humans – if he’s a sane subspace invader, that would be far more frightening than those Chaos projections that can’t think.”
Tirion didn’t speak for a while, as if he was in deep remembrance and contemplation, and only after an unknown period of time did he suddenly speak, “Before he went on his last expedition, he had a period of time in which he acted as if he had been anxious …… No, technically speaking, it was as if he had been anxious for some time, from an unknown period of time, about about something, and made many …… chilling preparations for it.”
Valentine immediately exchanged a glance with Vanna, and their expressions became grave at the same time.
This was perhaps the first time in a century that anyone had heard these vital secrets from a descendant of Captain Duncan!
Vanna couldn’t help but ask, “What was he anxious about? And what is he preparing for?”
“The end of the world.” Tirian said calmly as he looked up.
Valentine frowned slightly, “The end of the world?”
“I know it sounds like a bit of a cheesy expression, like the crazy talk of the doomsayers that pop up every year, but it really was one of the things the world’s greatest explorers were thinking about around the clock a hundred years ago.”
Tirion sighed softly and continued.
“He would bring it up occasionally from the day Lucrecia and I took command of the Sea Mist and the Radiant Star.
“He seemed to think that there was something …… like a countdown, or some kind of time limit, in our world, and that although the earthly world appeared on the surface to be secure and peaceful, this countdown was in fact nearing its end, and that as soon as the moment arrived it would rapidly go into collapse, into finality, and that no one could reverse or stop the process, and he believes …… that our age is the last frame of the countdown.”
Valentine frowned, “Frankly, I don’t think our world counts as ‘peaceful’ ……”
“But in my father’s mouth, he referred to today’s earthly world as ‘the last idyllic age’.”
Vanna thought for a moment and asked, “So, he fell into subspace in search of a way to stop this ‘countdown’?” “No, he was trying to find the Anomaly 000 – he thought that the Anomaly 000 could end the distortion of the world and jam that countdown, and to do so he went through the ‘Eternal Curtain’ at the end of the world. ”
Valentine was taken aback, “He went through the Eternal Curtain?!”
“Yes …… but I can only confirm that he did enter that mist without knowing if he actually succeeded in ‘penetrating’ it,” Tirian said. “He refused to be followed by all the frigates at the time, and all I can say for sure is that he did return from there alive – in a state of dyed-in-the-wool madness. As for falling into subspace …… was after that.”
Valentine and Vanna fell silent in unison, and it was another moment before Vanna took the initiative to break the silence, “So did he find the so-called anomaly 000? You know, theoretically ……”
“Theoretically there are no anomalies or anomalies numbered zero, I know, and he did return with no success,” Tirian said calmly, “so I’ve always thought that he might not have been quite normal when he decided to go looking for anomaly 000.”
Vanna thought for a moment and asked, “And do you know what your father’s initial reason was for believing that there was a ‘countdown’ to the world? When did he develop this perception? Was it exposure to any triggers, or …… something he discovered?”
Tirian recalled carefully for a moment, and said with a little less certainty, “I …… am not quite sure, it’s too long ago, but I vaguely remember him hosting a few people on the Lost Country and talking to them all night long – the first time he ever brought up the end of the world with us was after that day.”
“Received several people?” Valentine immediately became serious, “What kind of people? What was the situation at the time?”
“All dressed in gray and white coarse cloth robes, barefoot, I remember …… that they were very thin, the kind of withered as if after undergoing hard training, as if they had experienced quite a long journey, they suddenly appeared on the ship during the voyage of the Lost Country, as if they had long ago made an appointment with my father to board the ship as a guest in general. “Tirion spoke slowly, “And after a long talk all night, father said that the guests had left, but I did not see them leave the ship, it was as if those people had disappeared into thin air.”
Valentine’s expression was a bit odd, “The Final Preachers? That sounds a lot like ……”
“Your Excellency Bishop, do you think that I would not recognize the Final Preachers after living for a hundred years?” Tirion, however, gently shook his head, “I suspected as much, but those people are definitely not the Terminal Preachers that you and I are familiar with – they are sane and friendly, and they are not tainted with any madness.”
“Sane and friendly?” Valentine blinks, thoughtfully, “It’s true that I’ve never heard of sane Endbringers in existence …… Are there any other characteristics of those people?”
This time Tirion recalled longer, and it was several minutes before he suddenly looked up, “One of them spoke to me then, I can’t remember the details, it was just a very unusual greeting, but I remember them calling themselves ‘humble seekers’ and ……”
Tirian paused and looked around, “Got a pen?”
“Yes,” Vanna immediately took a pen and paper from the side, “Here you go.”
Tirian took the pen and paper and lowered his head to trace a pattern on the coffee table as Valentine and Vanna both curiously moved over.
They saw a hexagonal emblem, and in the center of the emblem there was a fragmented, as if a criss-crossed pattern, Tirian’s line had a clear hesitation when he was tracing that cross, as if his memory had been blurred.
“That’s roughly the pattern – one of them wore an amulet like that, which seemed so important that he wouldn’t allow me to touch it, saying only that it was a guide and shelter on the path they sought.”
Vanna frowned at the pattern for half a second and looked back at Valentine, “You’ve seen more, do you recognize this?”
“…… Never seen it before,” Valentine looked at it carefully for half a second and shook his head hesitantly, “Doesn’t look like any kind of known religious marking or something used in the classical city-states.”
“Is that so ……”
Vanna mumbled softly, her gaze still fixed on the piece of paper.
The odd patterns on the paper were reflected in her eyes.
Along with it, there was a faint cluster of ghostly green sparks that were barely perceptible to the naked eye.
(End of chapter)