Chapter 637 – Sailing in the Nightmare of the Ancient Gods

Chapter 637: Sailing through the Nightmare of the Ancient Gods
The Lost Country ship began to accelerate in the direction of Silantis – against the huge waves that were one layer higher than the other, against the terrifying whistles and storms that were constantly coming from the direction of that gigantic tree, this ghost ship began to charge under the wrapping of the roaring flames.

Silentis seemed to notice this sudden change, for the dream invasion of the resistance instinct immediately began to play a role – huge waves on the surface of the sea rolled skyward, by the giant tree affected by the seawater into a channel as if covered with sharp teeth and sharp blades of the sky barrier, in an almost crushing attitude towards the bow of the Lost Country slammed down, and in the huge waves whistling between the storm also began to emerge! In between the roaring waves, countless hazy phantoms began to appear in the storm, those phantoms seemed to be an ancient army, mixed with countless bird and animal phantoms that had been distorted to the point of not being able to see what they looked like, and they crossed the gap between the waves like a mountain of mountains and waves, rushing towards the ghost ship that was burning in the violent winds and huge waves.

However, the Lost Country ship did not shy away from the oncoming storm, instead, its sails puffed up further and its speed increased further.

Ghostly green flames erupted from every deck gap, every cabin window, and every gun door of the ship, as if it was going to ignite the entire surface of the sea, and this mass of living fire that swept across the sea slammed directly into the storm made up of nightmare phantoms.

The monstrous waves were scorched by the flames, steaming into huge gaps, the blades wrapped in the wind and waves were swallowed up by the invisible force and dissipated into harmless water spray in the next gust of wind, and the phantoms that surfaced in the storm were transformed into real phantoms in the flames –

They passed harmlessly through the hull of the Lost Country, the spiritual fire seeming to do them no harm, and they were unable to have any effect on the Lost Country, except that in the trailing flames of the Lost Country as it sailed by the phantoms gradually came to a halt again, and, as if awakening from a long dream, they dispersed noiselessly into the wind.

And then the Lost Country sailed into a greater storm, more visions, and a nightmare closer to the nature of Silantis.

Just as one can never know at what moment one’s sleep begins, after a moment that is imperceptible to the senses, the entire world outside the Lost Country was plunged into chaos and darkness, the infinite sea disappeared, the sky disappeared, and the “sunlight” that had permeated the distant sea disappeared at some point.

All that was left around was the illusion of a storm that was constantly swirling in the darkness, as well as a huge “tunnel” that seemed to be intertwined by countless vines and roots that appeared from time to time in the storm, and the Lost Country ship was sailing rapidly through this unnameable “tunnel”.

After another imperceptible moment, the sound disappeared, and the whole world outside the Lost Country fell into silence.

However, the illusion of the storm was still there, it just churned in silence, but it seemed even more bizarre and terrifying than before.

The Lost Country continued to sail through this intertwined fabric of vegetation, the entire ship seeming to float in a void, and in front of this void, only the massive shadow of Silantis remained.

It was as if it had become the only remaining entity in the world, as if it was the only, last tree after the entire world had collapsed and everything had fallen into silence.

Or, the original tree.

Lune felt a little better – after the imperceptible “dreaming moment”, or perhaps after the sudden “transformation” of the ship, he realized that the one in his mind that had never been there, had not been there. He found that the incessant call in his head had diminished, and he felt his consciousness stabilizing, and even heard the heartbeat in his chest once more.

He lowered his head and saw that his body was indeed recovering a little.

When his eyes looked through the window, he could then see the giant tree that stretched for thousands of miles in the dark space.

Even though he was still trapped in this dangerous and terrifying “Dream of the Ancient Gods”, and even though he knew in his heart that Silentis was still trying to “protect” or kill every elf in the world, the old man still couldn’t help but let out a soft mutter like he was talking to himself: “…… It’s beautiful ……”

A voice came from the side, “Yeah, it’s beautiful ……”

Lune looked to the voice, but saw that it was the eerie goat’s head on the nautical table that was looking out the window with an exclamation – ghostly green flames were flowing and rising between its wooden structure, while yet another flame coalesced beneath it, as if a vague, twisted spine, along the table connecting it to the deck below.

“In the beginning, I planted her in a darkness-as it is now,” the eerie carved wooden goat’s head continued softly, as if it were steeped in recollection and picking up those fragments carefully from the depths of its memory, ” But she wasn’t so big …… then just a little sapling, crooked and even a little …… ugly.

“I didn’t know then what she would grow into, much less what she should grow into – she molded herself, and all I did was just let her grow and grow.

“Then it was that I learned to imagine more things, more trees, and plants that grew with the trees, and all kinds of beings that lived among the plants …… I placed them everywhere in that darkness, and so somehow the darkness subsided, and the world began to flourish, many …… things beyond what I had first imagined began to happen, and on the whole, it was fun – much more fun than a boundless and meaningless emptiness.

“So some creatures that grew out of the forest and possessed spiritual intelligence gave me a name, and they called me ‘The Creator.’

“But I didn’t quite understand this name they gave me, and I didn’t quite understand a lot of the things they said – and they would do some very strange things that I couldn’t understand.

“They gathered and danced, and laid their bounty of game at the feet of male goats carved out of roots, and they erected great waterwheels beside the rivers, and adorned them with brilliantly colored cloths, and when at last they had mastered the power of flying in the sky, they leaped down from the branches of Silantis with their huge craft, and glided over the whole range of hills, and arrived at Silantis with cheers of joy at the The End of Silantis’ Gaze ……

“They say it is to please the Great Creator, so that the Creator will not depart.

“But I don’t really understand what they’re doing, and I don’t really have any interest in their …… performances or gifts, ever. “But when I saw how much fun they were having, I thought that was good.”

Loon quieted down, he slowly opened his eyes wide, with an unbelievable gaze, looking at the table that reveals the eerie atmosphere of the goat’s head.

He opened his mouth, yet mixed emotions clogged up all his words – he just got an odd grunt from his throat.

Then a crackling pop that suddenly resounded through the captain’s cabin interrupted all subsequent movements and words of the elderly elf.

A pale green spiritual fire flared up out of nowhere, and a tall figure was outlined in the flames as Duncan stepped out of the fire, his gaze falling on the goat’s head, “Do you remember all of this?”

“Broken, confusing, only generalized impressions, and a portion of flickering images,” the goat’s hair made a slight wooden scraping sound and slowly turned his gaze to Duncan, “I can sense that there are many more ‘pieces’ scattered elsewhere.”

“Planning on putting them all together?” Duncan asked casually.

“…… Doesn’t matter,” Goathead was silent for a couple seconds, but shook his head to Duncan’s surprise, “At least not something to think about right now.”

“…… Good,” Duncan gave Goathead a deep look before looking out the window, “prepare for ‘contact’, we’re close to the ‘trunk’ not far away.”

“Are you going to take the helm yourself?” Goathead asked.

“No,” Duncan shook his head, “I’ll probably never find where Silantis is hiding if I take the helm – since you’ve already remembered part of what’s going on, you’ll remain at the helm, and I think this part of the ‘memories’ should be enough to get you pointed in the right direction.”

“Understood.”

Goathead replied succinctly.

Seriously, Duncan was still feeling a bit uncomfortable with how succinct the guy suddenly spoke.

But he soon put that odd thought at the back of his mind.

The Lost Country was beginning to pass through the layers and layers of silent stormy visions, the tunnels and curtains of countless vines and roots – the ghostly ship that sailed on the edge of the Dreamlands had wandered around the edge of this dark curtain many times before, but this time, it had finally found that right direction.

Duncan, for his part, craned his head to look at Pope Lune.

After a moment of slightly awkward staring, he beckoned to Alice, who was standing next to him in a state of delirium, “You’d better come over and untie the old man ……”

“Oh.” Alice agreed and regretfully came over to “untie” the elf old man who was still tied to the pillar by the rope.

Lune, on the other hand, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and while hiding his embarrassment, he calmly spoke, “Actually, I think it’s okay, Ms. Alice’s actions also have a certain …… professionalism in them. …… “

However, just as his words were in mid-sentence, a violent vibration suddenly spread throughout the entire ship!
It was as if the sailing Lost Country had instantly crashed into some unseen massive object, an unprecedentedly huge shock came violently from the bow of the ship and was accompanied by a piercing noise that almost made one suspect that the ship was going to disintegrate in the collision, and immediately after, the masts began to sway violently, the auroral sails erupted into intense flashes of light amidst the flickering, and flames streaming on the decks violently burst out of thin air!
Duncan reacted instantly to this sudden onslaught of invisible impacts, pressing down on the nautical table in front of him, first stabilizing the entire ship with a psychic blaze, and at the same time crying out quickly, “Hurry up and tie it down again!”

Alice’s reaction this time was faster than ever: “HEY!!!”

“You guys wait!” Lune only had time to let out a shout before he was tied up again by Alice – the pope, who was in a strangely poor state, was no match for the living dolls on the Lost Country ship.

And almost at the same time, out of the corner of his eye, Duncan swept past the window, past the dark nothingness surrounding Silantis.

Spiritual flames erupted from around the Lost Country, as if “smelling” something, spreading madly toward the darkness.

In the layers of light and shadow produced by the spiritual flame, he saw …… a shadow even larger than Silentis!
(End of chapter)