Chapter 749: Misplaced Phantom

Chapter 747 – The Mirage of Passing by the Wrong Side of the Body

The meteor that flew backwards gradually faded away and was finally out of sight.

Only the figures of Tirion, Aiden and Agatha were left on the wide coast.

The “lost star” from the ancient times is still floating quietly on the beach, the surface of the cloud flow slowly, constantly emitting seemingly nothing, as if a soft whimpering like whistling, and more than ten meters away, there is the calm sea – sea water in the light of the light golden sunlight like a slow undulating Under the light golden sunlight, the sea looked like a slowly undulating mirror, and the fine waves were much calmer than usual.

In this long dusk, Tirian finally broke the silence, “Lady Gatekeeper, do you think that if the sun really disintegrates completely, the power of the church will still be enough to maintain order among the city-states?”

Agatha, however, did not open her mouth, and she was quiet for a long time in front of this overly sharp question – but if it were her a year ago, she would have given an affirmative answer without hesitation.

Agatha knew that she wasn’t as pious and steadfast as she once was; that unconditional piety had developed a crack in Frost’s plague of mirrors, and the thoughts took advantage of it.

But after some hesitation, she gave a slight nod, “I trust my brothers and sisters to do their best …… and so will He.”

“A thoughtful answer isn’t as resolute as a devotee’s answer, but it is a bit more reassuring in this situation,” Tirian exhaled slowly, a small smile appearing on his face, “We’ll do everything we can no matter what, and I’m sure the other city-states will as well. ”

Agatha didn’t say anything, just nodded silently, then she turned around, her figure dissolving into a swirling, pale wind that passed with her.

Aiden, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, spoke hesitantly at this point, “…… What are your next plans?”

“First, have City Hall prepare everything possible before sunset, I want everyone in the city-state to get through the next long night in peace; second, order the fleet to be ready, I want every battleship in tip-top shape, no matter how long this next night is going to last, they must be in a state where they can fight at all times; third ……”

Tirian paused for a few seconds, glancing down at the bag in his hand.

“Third, tell everyone to eat and sleep and live well – the city builders of ten thousand years ago built city-states in the Dark Ages following the collapse of the Ancient Kingdoms, and there must be a way for us to get through this as well… . the end is not here yet.”

“Aye, Captain!”

The flames cut through the setting sun, leaving a flickering bright trail between the clouds before crashing down onto the ramp in front of the cemetery, the spirit flames dissipating as Duncan’s figure coalesced and took shape from the flames.

Alice had returned to the Lost Country, and Duncan had returned to the cemetery alone – he walked slowly up the ramp that he had walked up many times before, his shadow drawn long in the sloping and darkening evening sun, swaying on the aged stone path.

It was quiet around him, most of the people in the city should have returned home by now, there were hardly any vehicles on the distant avenues, only a few steam walkers could be seen sauntering through the streets, the staff sent by the city hall were checking the streetlights and gas pipes, the black-clad guards with lamps were checking the status of the various “night shelters”, it looked like a busy time. The black-clad guards with lanterns in their hands were checking the status of the “night shelters” and seemed to be busy.

Duncan withdrew his gaze into the distance and continued slowly up the street.

He stopped at the entrance to the cemetery.

An unexpected but familiar figure was standing outside the gate – a girl of thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a thick light gray winter coat, with a fuzzy woolen hat and mittens, wrapped up like a soft ball of wool – and she stood in the doorway, stomping her feet every now and then, walking around the entrance and then looking in the direction of the ramp.

It was Annie, and she looked as if she had been waiting here for a long time.

Duncan frowned and walked briskly towards the cemetery gates – Anne saw him too, and the little girl’s face instantly took on a happy look as she darted towards the ramp.

“Uncle Caretaker!” Annie greeted happily, stopping at the edge of the clearing at the cemetery gate, “I just came by and saw that no one was in the caretaker’s hut, and the black-clad guards said you were out ……”

“The curfew is about to start and the town hall has informed all residents to go home, so why are you still running here?” Duncan frowned, his voice low under the bandages, sounding more than a little serious and intimidating, “It’s not safe out there.”

“I know, I was just about to go home,” Anne nodded her head immediately, she wasn’t afraid of Duncan’s all-black, bandaged, brooding, serious look, instead she reached into her arms and fished out a small packet of something and shoved it into Duncan’s hand, “It’s herbal tea . . you take it, and then …… I probably won’t be coming for a long time.”

Duncan looked a little surprised at the paper packet Anne had slipped into his hand, and was silent for a few seconds kind of before he slowed his tone and spoke, “Do you know what’s going to happen?”

“The …… sun isn’t quite right, is it?” Anne looked up into Duncan’s brooding sunken eyes, “The sunset has been going on for a long time now, and it hasn’t gone down completely yet …… I heard from one of the nun sisters that if the sun goes down this time, it could be a long, long time before it comes up again after that… …Mom says the temperature may stay down then, or it may stop halfway down, and the worst case scenario is the farm ……”

She paused, as if the knowledge after that point became too complex for her to understand and retell.

Duncan was silent for a moment, bending down slightly, “Scared?” Anne shook her head, but paused immediately afterward, nodding hesitantly.

She didn’t really know much about what was happening now, or how things would turn out afterward – a slowly sinking sun was a much more incomprehensible catastrophe for a thirteen year old to comprehend, as opposed to a simple, straightforward threat like the mud monsters spreading through the city.

But she could sense in the adults’ reactions the same kind of tension and depression as in the Mirror Plague – she’d experienced it once before.

“If the sun never comes up, will we need to carry lanterns and have runes pricked on our eyelids to go out?” Anne asked, “It’s like those ascetics – they keep to the dark places ……”

Duncan didn’t know how to answer that question for a moment, he thought about it and after a long time spoke softly, “…… The sun will come up, and if it doesn’t, something else will light up the sky.”

Annie didn’t seem to understand, but then seemed to think of something and her eyes widened in wonder, “Is that you? You will light up the sky?”

“…… Go home,” Duncan smiled, though it was covered by layers of bandages that only showed a little curve at the corners of his eyes, and he reached up to pat off the dust that had somehow gotten on Anne’s clothes while looking up at the distant rooftops that were already a little darkening haze, “It’s almost dark – and thanks for your herbal tea.”

“Uh-huh!”

It was almost dark-though it might be a while yet.

Outside the windows of the antique store, the remnants of the sunset’s splendor had dimmed somewhat – but it still wasn’t meant to be completely dark.

Duncan withdrew his gaze from the front of the cemetery ramp to the north to watch Anne leave, but his eyes passed back through the quaint old store windows to look out onto the streets of Prendergast in the early evening.

The streets were long empty, even the loudest children had been taken home by adults by this time, and the ever overcrowded and bustling streets of the lower city now seemed as cold and empty as if it had become an empty city.

But the silence outside the window was broken by another steam walker – with the clacking sound of the steam mechanism in operation, the huge spider machine slowly walked through the streets, hissing steam coming from the exhaust port at the end of the walker, the scripture cloth bands hanging from the sides of its armor plate undulating in the wind, and two guardsmen dressed in the uniform of the Church of the Deep stood at the back of the walker, announcing the announcement just made by the Cathedral. Two guards in the uniform of the Church of the Deep stood on the backs of the walkers, announcing the “Night Notices” that had just been issued by the Cathedral – including the new curfew and adjustments to the city’s functioning during the nighttime hours.

Even after the Black Sun Incident and the safety of the night, the city of Prand is still haunted by an atmosphere of tension.

No one knows if the city’s “safe night” will remain so safe after the night extends to dozens of days, and no one knows if something else will grow in the dark sea and invade the city-state by taking advantage of the night to climb up onto the beach in the absence of sunlight for a long period of time.

Even Pland was in such an atmosphere, what would the other city-states on the infinite sea look like now?
Duncan’s thoughts couldn’t help but wander a bit in the darkening sunset, and then he put down the newspaper in his hand and prepared to get up to twist on the electric light near the stairs.

And just then, a …… figure suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye.

Right next to a certain shelf in the corner of the first floor of the antique store, that figure suddenly emerged – as if it was a hunched traveler who had been walking for an unknown amount of time on a long journey, draped in a tattered white robe that could no longer be seen in its original form, with his body slightly leaning forward, he took one step at a time in the direction of the counter.

Duncan slowly stood up and looked fixedly at the figure that was walking towards him.

However that figure seemed to not see Duncan, it was as if he was walking in another parallel dimension of time and space, his eyes were focused on a distant and intangible place, he walked straight through the shelves and slowly walked forward like a ghost.

And in the process, Duncan finally gradually saw the traveler’s appearance – he saw a pale face, deep wrinkles and nearly withered skin as if frozen in time, but violently, that pale face regained its youth, turning into the appearance of a young man who had just embarked on a journey, and even the hunched posture became upright.

The next second, he was an old man again, his figure crossing the counter, about to pass Duncan.

But then, quite suddenly, he stopped.

He seemed to see Duncan – or just an illusory figure – and he stopped stiffly, his eyes wide and staring straight over.

Duncan found himself unable to discern even a single genuine emotion in that trembling countenance – was it surprise? Was it fear? Was it despair? Or was it a sudden glimpse of hope?

It was as if all the emotions a man could possess were compressed into that one brief gaze – the dusty traveler just stared at him dead on, before his figure faded away.
(End of chapter)