Chapter 487: Lenora’s “Friend”
Chapter 487 – Rai Nora’s “Friend”
The brass key left behind by Rae Nora was actually a gift from a friend – this was completely out of Duncan’s expectation.
It also aroused his great curiosity.
Who had made that key, and for what purpose? What was the nature of that key? After touching the key, what happened to the vision of the ship crashing into the earth and disintegrating in an explosion?
He couldn’t wait to find out, and luckily – the Frost Queen didn’t hide what she knew, but told her frankly:
“It was a friend I made shortly after I left the Cathedral, when I was plotting to take power, and from time to time I met with all sorts of people or got involved in the public sphere, and the old man showed up at a fundraising rally ……
“He was not on the guest list, but easily bypassed all the security and eyeballs, and I assumed he was a professor from the university because of his scholarly robes and his elegant and decent demeanor – I didn’t know he was blending in, and made small talk with him, and the depth of knowledge he displayed learning was amazing until …… the assembly s bodyguards finally reacted and threw him out.
“But after that, the old man began to appear frequently in my line of sight, sometimes at gatherings of high society, sometimes at private meals organized by friends, and he would appear when everyone’s eyes shifted, and then calmly climb into conversation with me, discussing things in the fields of history, mathematics, and the occult, and leaving quietly before anyone could interrupt him –with the exception of being spotted by the bodyguard at our first meeting, he could always hide himself from everyone’s view.
“Isn’t it incredible? A friend that only I know, a knowledgeable counselor, a …… air friend.
“I never revealed his existence to the public, at first, for fear of causing concern to the church, that the bishops would suspect that it was my psionic gift that was out of control and put me back in the cellar – I knew that my powers were not out of control, and I wasn’t worried about confinement, but I felt that my time was too valuable to continue to waste it in the cage, and by the time …… I began to gradually grasp the power of the city state, it was even more important not to expose the existence of this ‘secret advisor’.
“This state of affairs lasted for about three years, and I became an ungrateful friend of the mysterious old man, but just when I thought he would continue to be my ‘special staff’ until the coronation, he suddenly appeared before dawn one day and bade me goodbye.
“Here’s what he said – ‘The window is over and this is the last time we’ll see each other.’
“He then handed me a brass key and told me that the key was a conglomeration of distortions, a key that could create a connection in time and space, which in turn could carry knowledge and memories that would surely come into play at some future date ……
“After telling me many things related to the key, my ‘friend of the air’ then just turned away and walked towards the first light of the rising sun – he disappeared the second the sun rose above the sea horizon, and that was the last time I saw him.”
Duncan listened to this account of Rae Nora’s story in stunned silence, his mind already flooded with a myriad of associations, all of which quickly pointed to a single term, and by the time the Frost Queen in front of him had finished speaking, he immediately spoke up, “Wait a minute, the person you’re describing sounds like someone who is simply a …… “
“Yes, the Ultima Preacher, Captain Duncan,” Rae Nora smiled up, “I guessed that after the first few times we met – I’ve been exposed to countless books during my years of training in the church, and naturally I know what the Final Preacher is.”
“You’ve become friends with an Ultima Preacher, and he’s ……” Duncan said with a frown, but just as he got halfway through the sentence, he realized the incongruity, “Wait, no, it’s not like a normal Ultima Preacher ……”
“That’s right, as you said, although very similar in ‘nature’, that old man’s state is nothing like that crazy cultists, he’s sharp-minded, clear-sighted, gentle and friendly, and the only thing he shares with the Endbringer is the ‘ Nonlinear Intervention and Disappearance’ that’s all.”
“…… Normal Terminal Preachers can’t think or communicate calmly because the tear in the timeline has long since disrupted their perceptions, and the worship of subspace has destroyed their sanity,” Duncan responded quickly, “and the one you know the one that is the opposite ……”
He stopped abruptly.
For at that very moment, he recalled something else, something about himself!
Tirion had mentioned to Vanna and Valentine that a century ago, on the eve of Duncan Abnormale’s last voyage, there were some mysterious visitors on board the Lost Country, dressed in monk-like robes, who suddenly appeared on the ship and spent the night with then-Captain Duncan. Captain Duncan”, and then mysteriously disappeared at sunrise the next day. ……
Tirion has always believed that these mysterious visitors were the direct cause of the Lost Country’s last voyage towards the Frontier.
And those mysterious visitors …… were described as a group of clear-minded, gentle and friendly “preachers of the end of the world”!
The body that Duncan was using at the moment could not express complex expressions, but his momentary silence and the slight change in his eyes did not hide from the Frost Queen’s keen observation, and Rei Nora immediately reacted: “Did you think of something?”
Duncan lifted his head and did not speak for a moment, but simply gazed silently into the other man’s eyes.
The “friend” that Rei Nora knew was not an isolated case – in the group of Endbringers, which was generally regarded as a group of vicious and crazy cultists, there was indeed a group of individuals with sanity and unknown purpose, and they traveled through the timeline, taking advantage of the window period called “window period”. They travel through the timeline, interfering with earthly affairs through what are known as “window periods” of contact!
With countless thoughts flashing through his mind, Duncan finally broke the silence: “They have also visited the Lost Country.”
For the first time, Rae Nora’s eyes widened instantly. It looked like she hadn’t completely lost the emotion of surprise, as she had said at the beginning.
“You’ve also come into contact with a delirious Final Preacher?” Rae Nora said quickly, “What have they told you? They are ……”
“Unfortunately, I do not remember,” Duncan interrupted the other woman’s hurried inquiry, “That part of my memory has been lost with the erosion of subspace, and it was only from other sources that I learned that I had even dealt with them.”
A look of regret that could not be hidden appeared on Rae Nora’s face.
Duncan, on the other hand, quickly gathered his thoughts and brought the topic back on track: “After realizing that the other party was a special Endbringer, did you not discuss the issue of his true identity with him? You didn’t ask him about his purpose?”
“Of course I asked-but do you think I would have gotten an answer?” Rae Nora sighed helplessly, “We get along well, he is my elder who is also my mentor and friend, and is happy to answer most of my questions, but whenever I try to steer the conversation to his …… ‘identity’, he would always use a phrase to put it off –
“It’s not time yet, don’t touch things outside the ‘boundaries’ too soon.”
“Don’t prematurely touch things outside the boundaries ……” Duncan repeated this seemingly profound statement in a low voice, then frowned slightly, “That you could make friends with someone so suspicious under these circumstances is something you would called …… broad-minded.”
“I need a boost, and most of the things that can be called ‘power’ in this world are dangerous,” Rei Nora looked calm, “Compared to the ones I’ve been exposed to since I was a child in the ‘dream worlds’ than I’ve been exposed to since I was a child, an Endbringer is just too mild and harmless.”
Duncan didn’t say anything else, he just got up again and slowly made his way to the darkness at the end of the room.
“…… One last thing, what are your plans for your future ……?”
Rae Nora frowned softly, “Future?”
“Do you need to stay in this room known as ‘Driftlands’ forever?” Duncan said, lifting his chin again and pointing to the huge ‘tentacle’ in the dark depths, “Do you need to stay here forever, using the dream world to inhibit the activities of this ‘errant replicant’? ”
“You have another way?”
“Perhaps there is, but not sure,” Duncan said, “What would happen if I could completely destroy this error replicant?”
“…… Freedom,” Rae Nora was silent for several seconds, nodding solemnly and slowly, “Both He and I, will be freed.”
“And after that?”
“I don’t know,” Rae Nora shook her head, “that’s beyond my comprehension – and I’ve never imagined what it will be like after this long nightmare is finally over. Perhaps this ‘floating place’ will lose that connection and it will reconnect to something else, or perhaps I will lose my connection to the real world and no longer be plagued by nightmares, becoming a wandering soul with nothing to do, waiting for the day when this room will be opened up again.”
“That doesn’t sound as if it would be a happy ending,” Duncan’s tone became grave, “Eternal exile, that’s not much better than sinking into a nightmare.”
“In fact, it’s rather worse, as this room is not under my control, and it’s more likely to sink into the subspace side as it drifts out of control than reconnect to some ‘connection point’ in the real world.”
Duncan fell silent for a long time.
Rae Nora, however, took the initiative to break the silence after a few moments, “But even so, I still recommend that you do so – and if you really can, end this, while I still have time.”
Duncan gazed into the eyes of this Frost Queen, “…… You confirm? Even if it will cause you to suffer eternal exile?”
“An eternally trapped nightmare is, in fact, an eternal exile,” Rae Nora smiled up, “Being relieved of this would at least be a real solution to the long-lasting threat facing Frost – at least for quite some time, my city-state and my people, are safe.”
(end of chapter)