Chapter 424.

Chapter 424 Moving Forward
It was the deep, dark ocean floor, and beneath the city-state, the ancient god probed His tentacles into the real world and grew stronger day by day in that unnameable darkness-

He was visible, and the tainted and ghastly tentacles of flesh and blood were His entity, cold and chilling, but He was invisible, for His upward-spreading will had long since crossed the abyss of the dark sea and penetrated the thick rocks and soil of the city-state, and its inconceivable might had been burrowing into the city and stabbing deep into the depths of these boiling gold mines for the past fifty years, and even longer.

“Lady Gatekeeper, we are within it now – it was once rock, yet the power of the Ancient God has transformed the rock here into a part of His flesh and blood, and this dark substance pulsates with its source at the bottom of the sea across more than a thousand meters of rock and seawater, and with each of its beats , is pulling that mirror city-state further into our reality …… Hear that? Plop, plop …… flesh and blood are writhing, shrinking, dreaming, this place …… is thinking.”

Winston murmured softly like a prayer, slowly raised his hands, like a hug pointing to the endless darkness around, as well as those in the darkness like thorn bushes like intertwined, refutation of the “branches”, and in those branches, the dark points of light is still like a stream of fireflies as fast as swimming, gradually, Agatha really seems to hear that low voice –Puff, puff ……

This anomalous area of unknown extent, buried deep in the boiling gold mine, was emitting the sound of a heartbeat.

Even her own heart seemed to be affected by this heartbeat sound, to resonate and beat.

However a faint warm current suddenly appeared in her heart, causing Agatha to snap out of it, and realizing that her humanity had just returned from the tipping point of madness, she suddenly changed her expression and stared at Winston’s eyes in death.

“Your sanity is no longer normal, Consul Winston – you are under the influence of this place.”

“Ah …… is that so? Maybe,” Winston, however, just waved his hand indifferently, “I thought at first that I could quiet this ancient god again like the Queen, then I thought I could at least stall it for a while, then I thought I could at least stay awake until the end, but it turns out… . that I’ve failed without realizing it?”

“Silencing this ancient god like a queen?” Agatha, however, keenly noticed the key in the consul’s words, her eyes suddenly changed slightly, vaguely realizing the real reason for this consul’s presence here, “You mean, the Frost Queen from half a century ago had succeeded in causing the power of the Profound Holy Lord to go into a deep sleep?”

Winston laughed, “…… What do you think, what happened to the sea cliff collapse back then?”

Agatha was stunned for a moment and spoke hesitantly, “The sea cliff collapsed ……After the queen was beheaded, the entire penal colony crashed into the sea ……That wasn’t an accident?!”

“It was a sacrifice to the Queen herself, as well as the first speculators who chose to betray her after the outbreak of the revolt – along with the entire group of executioners and quite a few rebel officers who were buried with her, of course,” Winston said calmly, “The Queen herself, as well as the first speculators who chose to betray her after the outbreak of the revolt,” Winston said. “We blocked the details of that year, so very few people know the details of what happened after the sea-cliff collapse-thousands of people died in that accident-but the truth is that almost all of the civilians survived that collapse, and those who were caught in the waves . …even if they were only a meter away from the shore, they were instantly ‘sucked’ into the bottom of the sea without a chance to struggle.

“And after that collapse, the anomalous area in the Boiling Gold Mine stopped expanding for a time, and it wasn’t until then that the Primordial Consul realized that it was all part of Rae Nora’s plan – the icy truth was transferred to the Consul through the key left behind by the Queen, and, as she said… Now it’s our turn.”

Agatha fell silent, and after a few moments, her eyes became a little complicated, “You came here to recreate that sacrifice of the year ……”

“‘He’ is coming up to the surface, the knowledge carried in the key tells me that to inhibit this process, I must touch ‘His’ mind, fifty years ago, His power was still sleeping in the deep sea, so the queen could only offer herself to the deep sea Sacrifice, and to this day, His power has pierced deep into the city-state, so this is the perfect place to touch – this is the method the Queen left in the key, and every consul will be haunted by this responsibility after taking the key, and then prepare for this for the rest of his life, and I prepared everything for this as well, but I didn’t anticipate a single thing ……”

Winston tugged at the corner of his mouth, and it really wasn’t much of a smile.

“Not everyone, is Rae Nora.”

Agatha listened in silence, then lowered her head, gazing silently at the brass key still lying in her hand.

It was something the Frost Queen had created with some kind of extraordinary power – in the form of a solid body, she had gathered the “knowledge” she had touched and a part of her “mind” inside the key. Inside the key.

But for some reason, Agatha always felt that this key …… should have another purpose.

It should not only exist for the purpose of tying the successive rulers of the Frost City State to a responsibility.

But at this moment, Consul Winston was clearly unable to answer more questions for her – and she, herself, seemed to have no way back.

After learning the truth about this dark space, Agatha realized this: she had not passed through that stone wall to arrive somewhere, but had herself been incorporated directly into a huge mass of anomalous matter.

What awaited Winston here was death, and what awaited herself was return and assimilation.

She looked into her palm and saw that the skin of her hand that was in contact with the key had vaguely shown signs of softening and deformation, and some black substance with a sticky texture was seeping out of her skin and covering the key a little bit.

But she still wants to go further, she is here, some …… curiosity. “Is there anything else we can do?” Agatha lowered her head and looked at the city-state consul who had stopped speaking, “You’re going to wait here until death comes?”

“Death has already come, ma’am – we are merely reviewing our failed lives before we take our last breath,” Winston shook his head, “There is nothing left to do, sit down and rest, as I have done Rest.”

“…… You’ve actually done what you had to do, as Consul of Frost, you at least faced this so-called ‘curse’ bravely,” Agatha said calmly. “Being less than forceful is not the same as doing nothing.”

Winston, however, merely shrugged in self-deprecation, “Incompetence is a sin.”

“…… I’m going to move on, I’m going to go through this ‘thorn’ to where that tentacle is,” Agatha said, “Do you want to come with me? come?”

“It means nothing more to me, ma’am,” said Winston softly, “if you want to go, go, and leave me here – my path is over.”

Agatha stared at him for a few seconds and handed over the brass key, “Here’s your stuff.”

Winston didn’t reach for it, but looked up, gazing into Agatha’s eyes, “Take it, you’ve taken it, it’s yours, that’s how we’ve passed it on to this day.”

Agatha was silent for a moment and put the key away.

“Alright then, I’ll be on my way alone.”

She said goodbye to Winston, then turned around, propped up her cane, and took a step through the dark, empty space.

“Ms. Agatha,” Winston’s voice suddenly came from behind, “does this really make sense?”

Agatha looked slightly sideways, “Why do you ask?”

“Even if you knew more of the truth up ahead, even if you did manage to get through this ‘thicket’ and touch the limbs of that ancient god, what would it change? You can no longer stop this, or even transmit what happened here to the outside world – the investigation is over, and without being able to pass on information, there’s no point in knowing any more than you do.”

Agatha’s steps stopped, and after a moment of reflection, she spoke softly, “I’m the Gatekeeper of Frost, it’s my duty. And ……”

She paused, and the hand that clutched the brass key unconsciously pressed against her chest.

It was still cold all around, and the feeling of her blood gradually freezing was stronger than ever, but for some reason, she had always felt a slight heat beating in her heart since just now, as if …… there was an invisible fire leaping there, supporting her forward.

In her mind, the thoughts that do not belong to herself are gently jumping, the strongest of these thoughts is an obsession – an obsession that points in the direction of the direction of the thorn bushes outside, that illusory and incomparably huge “tentacles”.

“Meaningful, I’m not alone in advancing – although there is no evidence, but I think …… everything I see here will eventually be known.”

“Oh really, that’s great …… Ms. Agatha, it’s enviable that you still held beliefs to the very end.”

Winston’s voice stopped, and there was no more movement in that direction.

Agatha looked back and saw a small lamp shining in the darkness, illuminating a dry “stump” where a middle-aged man in a dark blue coat was quietly leaning against it.

His temple was pierced by a bullet hole, and in his drooping hand he held a beautifully crafted revolver.

(End of chapter)