Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 173 “The Fire Is Spreading”

The pollution of subspace does not subside on its own, just as justice does not assert itself. After so many years of fighting the distorted shadow of the deep sea, Vanna knows this all too well.

If this chapel had been polluted by subspace, and the nun on duty in the church had already lost in the event, then what invaded here would never have died on its own. Considering the weird “remnants” of the nun in the church’s main hall and the atmosphere that was not quite right in the entire sixth block, the door to the underground sanctuary obviously failed to block the intruders inside. In that case, where did the invading subspace forces run off to?

Vanna raised the lantern in her hand that’s filled with the whale grease containing divine power. Wherever the light shone was what she saw: blade marks and bullet holes. It’s as if someone had a story to tell by writing down these markings.

Writing…?

Vanna furrowed her forehead as a jolt zapped her brain.

If the nun had foreseen her death when she closed the door, wouldn’t she have tried to leave a message to those coming to investigate later? That’s the basic taught at the priesthood!

“Examine everything here again,” she raised her head abruptly and instructed the guardians beside her in a loud voice. “Check all the details. Sword marks, bullet holes, blood stains, all of them. This sister probably left some kind of message before she died!”

“Yes Inquisitor!” The guardians moved with swift familiarity. They each carried a lantern of their own so it didn’t take long to cover most of the underground sanctuary.

Vanna herself was certainly not idling either. After realizing that the fallen nun might leave a message somewhere, she returned to the place where the other party had initially died. Her first point would be the ground and walls near the main doorway beside the stairs. As to why she doesn’t believe the message would be on the destroyed door, it’s rather simple. The runes used to put up a protective ward were also on the door. If the deceased nun had written something over the runes, it would only decrease its potency.

Vanna crouched down next to the nun and carefully examined the whole body. Then going by the posture and orientation of the body’s position, she’s able to figure out the angle at which she was leaning before they came inside. Using this knowledge, she crouched down to the most likely spot to investigate.

Suddenly, her movements stopped at a spot next to the nun.

There’s a series of small sword marks, which at first glance seem to be just a messy depiction made by a dying person holding a sword unsteadily.

In previous inspections, Vanna and her subordinates had dismissed these findings as nothing, but this time, the young inquisitor finally realized that these seemingly messy scratches were actually a “message” that had been repeatedly carved at after failing to get an imprint on the first try.

“Here!” She raised her head and shouted to the guardians who were searching around, “1885…”

Turns out the message was just a string of numbers.

The gathered men all stood beside Vanna right now, their faces obviously unable to figure out why the nun would go to such lengths for this number. Eventually, it was the bearded guardian who asked with a confused voice: “Inquisitor, this string of numbers… Inquisitor?”

He saw the stunned look on Vanna’s face then—the latter’s eyes had widened the moment she saw the number and couldn’t contain the shock of what the message implied.

Vanna did eventually wake up to the cries of her subordinates. Taking a sharp gasp, she promptly recalled back to the memory of her rummaging through the archives alone. She remembered finding strange records of heresy worship, remember taking out the files of 1889 and earlier, and the missing 1885 records…

“It was 1885… she’s reminding us that she actually died in 1885…” Vanna muttered softly and caused a series of weird looks among the subordinates.

“But why did she emphasize this specifically?” The bearded guardian still didn’t understand.

“In order to prove that she didn’t die in 1889…” Vanna said subconsciously, but as soon as she was halfway through the sentence, the lady realized something was terribly wrong with that theory. Showing an incomprehensible expression, “Yes… why did she emphasize that year specifically … If she had died in 1885, she wouldn’t have known that there would be a catastrophe in the city four years later…”

The young inquisitor was so confused now. A large number of clues had emerged through the investigation, and it seemed to be faintly conjoining in one place, yet a huge ravine had appeared in the middle to prevent the crucial connection line.

If the number left by this nun is to illustrate the year of her death, then this year must have a special meaning. It must hold the warning she wants to convey, but… what kind of warning that it must correlate with 1885?

Was it because the nun saw something before she died? Had she foreseen the 1885 record would disappear from the cathedral’s archives? Or does she know why the record disappeared?

Unfortunately, the truth has long disappeared into history with this cold case. All that remained was this series of difficult-to-understand numbers.

“I have been to the cathedral archives before,” Vanna explains to her wary and concerned subordinates. “In the archives, all the materials from 1885 are somehow missing, and now it seems that this year is absolute…”

She stopped suddenly.

For some reason, the scenes of rummaging through the archives had cropped up again. Then, the sound of gentle waves hit her ears, causing the lady to widen her eyes in astonishment.

She still couldn’t recall anything other than going through the archives alone, but she realized that something may be wrong with her memory – her spiritual gifts were warning her, and the goddess was warning her!

“Back to the cathedral,” she suddenly orders, “I’m going to the archives!”

The guardians all looked at each other, not knowing what could cause the inquisitor to become so alarmed. Even so, it won’t hinder them from following orders.

Just as these guardians were about to leave, one of them glanced down at the ground next to him, which caused him to exclaim: “The numbers are disappearing!”

Vanna immediately followed the directed voice and choked at the sight of a subtle green spark vaporing up into the air. Imagine a pencil mark being erased from a piece of paper. That’s exactly what’s happening right now. The pencil marks are the numbers left by the nun, and the eraser would be the ghostly green flames.

At this moment, endless speculations appeared in Vanna’s mind, including the theory about the Vanished and its captain being involved. However, she still couldn’t figure out why the flames would erase the clues in her face like this. She’s already seen it, so what’s the point in doing so now?

I must return to the main cathedral immediately! This place is too dangerous to linger around!

“Don’t go near that plot of the floor, and keep your distance from that flame if you ever encounter it.” Vanna reminded her men, “Now evacuate this chapel this instant. The second team will stay outside the church and set up a blockade until further notice. The others will return to the cathedral with me.”

“Yes Inquisitor!” The guardians all replied in unison.

Vanna nodded before issuing another order: “In addition, inform the standby troops in the neighboring block to… barricade the entire sixth block.”

Done with the arrangement, the lady began leading her team back outside. First, they went up the stairs, then through the chapel’s main hall. However, right as they’re passing the goddess statue, one of the more youthful guardians had subconsciously glanced to the side out of reflex. Immediately, the guy exclaimed in shock and caught everyone’s attention: “The praying ‘nun’ is also gone!”