Chapter 205: Chapter 209: Invasion of Reality
The torrential rain had not ceased. It had even shown signs of intensifying. The frenzied winds, carrying the cold rain, lashed against the towering outer walls of the Deep Sea Cathedral and its stained-glass doors and windows, as if mimicking the City-State’s dense and chaotic heartbeat.
In the square before the City-State, steam walkers and steam tanks had already completed their assembly. The fully armed guardians were silently sealing off all the roads.
Atop the bell tower at the rear of the cathedral, a special fire basin had been lit. Refined whale blubber mixed with shavings of Sea Breath Wood burned fiercely in the basin, the flames in the storm shining like a beacon guiding ships home. Enhanced by a special focusing mirror, this bright flame was even clearly visible across a good part of the City-State.
With the lighting of the central cathedral’s fire basin, similar flames appeared above the cathedrals throughout the City-State—even the most remote community cathedrals had towering bell towers facing those of the central cathedral in the distance, and at the top of those towers were the locations where fire basins were placed.
On this stormy day as darkness fell, one after another, the lit bell towers formed a continuous chain of beacons across the sky of Preland. And when all the lights were kindled, the melodious tolling of bells and the loud blasts of steam whistles spread throughout the entire City-State.
Every church’s boiler had been fired up, every church’s bells were ringing. Preland roared in the midst of the storm, as if civilization itself were resisting some unseen invading force in the dark. The unusual situation prompted all residents to firmly close their doors and windows, while those with greater knowledge of the Transcendent realm detected the current emergency situation from the abnormal activities of the churches across the town.
Deep within the Governor’s residence, Dante Wayne, who had just awoken from unconsciousness, first heard the intermittent sounds of bells and steam whistles ringing outside the window. Then, seeing the distant and near “beacons” in the darkness, he stood up with the help of his attendant, looking out the window in shock at the apocalyptic scene: “The cathedral has activated the reality stabilization barrier… has there been a reality invasion-level disaster?!”
“We are still investigating the situation,” an aide approached Dante’s bedside, his tone slightly tense, “The situation was very sudden. The cathedral simply stated that all districts of Preland need the highest level of lockdown—Your Excellency was unconscious at the time, and Bishop Valentin utilized emergency authority…”
Dante did not respond to the aide’s words. Instead, he seemed to suddenly realize something, his frown relaxing, “… Fenna has returned.”
“Miss Fenna?” The attending servant, upon hearing this, turned in confusion, “Miss Fenna hasn’t returned to the residence. She should…”
“I know,” Dante, realizing that others would not understand the meaning of his cryptic statement, waved his hand and then focused his gaze on the aide, “Are the City-State Guards still under the town hall’s command?”
“Yes, Bishop Valentin only took control of the security officers’ forces and a small part of the City-State Guards responsible for emergency response,” the aide immediately nodded, “The majority of the City-State Guards are still waiting for your orders.”
“Good, all City-State Guards except for the First Division should follow the cathedral’s arrangements,” Dante, still feeling groggy, nevertheless swiftly issued orders, “Additionally, initiate the highest level of martial law throughout the city, sound all the martial law bells, and after the bells ring, anyone found on the streets… regardless of who they are, treat them all as heretics.”
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The aide was startled by this order: “Mr. Dante, this…”
“Carry out the order,” Dante raised his head, his remaining eye sharp, while blood once again seeped from around his ruby prosthetic eye, “We are now in a state of war.”
“… Yes!”
The aide took his leave to carry out the order, and Dante was seized by a violent coughing fit. After a while, his coughing subsided slightly, and he spoke in a low voice to the attendant beside him: “Take me to the cathedral.”
“Mr. Wayne, your health…”
“My health isn’t important, I have something urgent to tell Bishop Valentin.”
“Yes.”
…
Nina clutched Sherry’s hand tightly, sitting behind the display window, watching the violent wind and pouring rain outside with terror. Thunderclaps exploded in the sky one after another, making all the doors and windows tremble ceaselessly. Even the usually brave Sherry couldn’t help but shiver faintly and couldn’t resist muttering under her breath, “Damn it, what the hell is this weather…”
“Sherry, you can’t… you can’t curse,” Nina was also frightened but still managed to keep a straight face and said, “Uncle said you…”
“Alright, alright, I won’t curse, I won’t curse anymore, don’t tell Mr. Duncan,” Sherry hurriedly said, and then out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed a figure appearing on the stairs and instinctively shrank her neck, “Ah, Mr. Duncan is coming down.”
“Uncle Duncan!” Nina immediately stood up and almost ran towards the figure descending the stairs, “Are… Are you done with your business?”
“Yes, I’m temporarily finished, but it’s not over yet,” Duncan said, casually patting Nina’s hair, then he turned to look towards the counter. Morris was still sitting there, but he seemed to have recovered a bit. Duncan nodded at him, “I’ve brought the person back.”
“I felt it just now, she’s back,” Morris immediately said, “Although I don’t know how you managed it, but… thank you very much for your help.”
“It’s only the beginning, it’s too early for thanks,” Duncan said, turning his head to look outside the display window, “The conspiracy has been revealed, and they have started to act ahead of schedule, invaders are attacking from behind the curtain… I reckon they’ll be here soon.”
Morris appeared deeply concerned, while Nina looked at Duncan in confusion, “Uncle, what invaders? What are you talking about…”
“Nina,” Duncan cut the girl off directly, turning his head with an earnestness and seriousness Nina had never seen before, “Do you trust me?”
Nina hardly hesitated, “I trust you.”
“Good, then believe that this storm will end safely. No matter what happens later, don’t panic, don’t get nervous, and don’t be afraid, regardless of what I do,” Duncan looked into Nina’s eyes, speaking earnestly, then raised his hand to point towards Alice, who was quietly standing by the stairs, “Alice can be trusted. If an emergency really occurs, stay with her.”
Nina nodded blankly, and Alice immediately reassured, “Please rest assured, Mr. Duncan, I will protect Miss Nina.”
“I’m not so confident in your combat abilities,” Duncan glanced at Alice, then sighed helplessly, “But there’s no one else I can entrust her to.”
Another clap of thunder suddenly exploded, and a loud crash of something collapsing came from the distant streets, accompanied by the piercing sound of alarms from an unknown source and the rapid ringing of the church bell tower even farther away.
The lights in the antique shop flickered a few times before going out entirely.
The power was out.
Darkness instantly enveloped the entire block, everything seemingly plunged into nightfall ahead of schedule amidst the storm.
In the dimness, Sherry’s voice came from not far away, “I’ll light the oil lamp! I know where the oil lamp is.”
Duncan grunted in response, but suddenly, he felt Nina grab his hand.
Her hands felt somewhat hot.
“Uncle…” Nina whispered anxiously and in a hurried tone, and soon, even the breath she exhaled carried a bit of heat, “I feel… a bit hot…”
In the darkness, Duncan’s gaze suddenly became serious.
But beyond seriousness, there was no excess panic.
He had been prepared from the start for any unexpected situations that might arise with Nina.
He simply held Nina’s increasingly scorching hand gently, and between his palm and Nina’s fingers, in the space hardly noticeable to the eye, tiny green sparks jumped around.
The sound of flapping wings came through, as the pigeon Ai Yi flew down from upstairs in the darkness and landed steadily on the counter nearby.
Sherry lit the oil lamp, and its flickering flame temporarily dispelled the darkness in the shop, but outside on the streets, the sky was already black as ink, the glory and power of the sun entirely blocked by the storm outside the City-State.
“Nina, do you remember what I just told you?”
In the darkness, Duncan’s voice reached Nina’s ears.
Nina nodded gently, “Mhm.”
“Don’t be scared later, something… pretty incredible is going to happen,” Duncan said softly with a smile.
The corner of his eye, however, looked toward something farther away.
Outside the shop window, in the streets where the rain poured like spouts, the water was gradually taking on an abnormal shade of crimson, the red bright and flickering as if it were a reflection projected from another dimension into the real world.
But he was not looking at the rain, which had started to turn abnormal, nor was he concerned with any “reflection” that might be casting itself through the curtains.
His gaze passed over the uneven buildings of Prand City and the coast, fixed on the direction of the Endless Sea.
The ethereal silhouette of the Homeloss was gradually emerging in his pupils.
…
At the moment the thunder sounded, Heidi instinctively shrank her neck.
She was nestled on a bench in the main hall of the cathedral, clenching the crystal pendant that served as an amulet in her hands, silently reciting the holy name of the God of Wisdom Rahm, but then she stopped halfway through, looking up at the statue of the Storm Goddess not far away.
“The Goddess is merciful… she probably wouldn’t mind.”
She murmured softly, then continued reciting Rahm’s name.
But suddenly, she stopped, an odd palpitation making it difficult for her to concentrate any longer.
Heidi rose from the bench, looking around amid the inexplicable palpitations.
She saw the guardians gathered near the main entrance, a small group of commoners who had come to the cathedral for shelter because they couldn’t make it home in time were seated on the benches in front of the statues, several priests were moving around the main hall, and Bishop Valentin with his staff was standing quietly in front of the statue, his gaze calm and steady.
Everything appeared normal, but… where did the palpitations come from?
Unconsciously, the crystal pendant around her neck seemed to heat up slightly, but Heidi seemed not to notice, merely moving subconsciously to a window nearby, looking through the clear panes at the edge of the stained glass window at the square outside.
The young mental health specialist suddenly widened her eyes.
“Fire… fire!” she exclaimed in shock and terror, “The rain has turned into fire!”