The chaotic and fragmented memories were like a flash of light that suddenly exploded in the darkness. The flash of light illuminated countless shadowy things that had been hidden. Although they were fragmented and incomplete, Gwen's intuition that surged from the depths of his heart made him instantly realize what it was.
It was a record of that mysterious voyage, or rather, a portion of the voyage record!
Victoria's voice drifted into the distance, but Gwen's consciousness had already immersed itself in the depths of the dissipating scene.
He "saw" an unknown beach. The beach was filled with strange rocks, and it was desolate. There were winding cliffs and steep slopes covered in gravel that extended from afar. On the other side, the sea gently undulated as tiny waves slapped against the reefs near the beach. The glow of dawn was rising from the sea, and a faint, magnificent sunlight shone on the cliffs and steep slopes, gilding the entire world with a golden glow.
There was a huge three-masted ship parked on the distant sea. Its hull was wide, and its hull was covered in runes and mysterious lines. The symbol of storm and sea indicated that it belonged to the Church of Storms. It steadily stopped on the gently undulating sea, and the tiny waves were unable to shake it in the slightest.
When Gwen "walked" into this memory, he found himself standing on the beach. There were many shadowy figures standing around him. Those figures were shrouded in a hazy black fog, preventing him from seeing their faces. They were discussing topics about voyages and the weather. Every voice gave Gwen a faint sense of familiarity, but he couldn't even remember a corresponding name.
It was as though these names had been completely erased from his subconscious. Even if he recalled some memory fragments, he couldn't retrieve them.
Memories couldn't be interfered with or modified. Gwen didn't know how to make these shadowy black shadows into clear figures. All he could do was follow the guidance of his memories and continue "walking" deeper.
The time to set off seemed to have come.
Unknowingly, a small boat for boarding had appeared on the beach. Gwen and the figures shrouded in black fog boarded it together and sailed toward the large ship in the distance.
The sun was gradually rising from the surface of the sea. The night had almost completely receded, and the scene on the sea became clearer. But even so, there was still a hazy lantern hanging at the front of the boat. The seemingly unnecessary lantern swayed at the bow of the boat, as if dispelling some kind of non-existent darkness. Gawain's gaze was involuntarily attracted by the hazy lantern, and the conversation of the people around him entered his ears.
"… This is probably the last time the Child of Storm is sailing … I hope everything goes smoothly …"
"It will be successful. It has the best Navigator Priest, many Navigator Priests, and a final blessing …"
"But the navigators can also get lost in the depths of the ocean … Now that everyone has lost their protection, the people of the ocean are no exception."
"It doesn't matter. There's … there's protecting the priests' minds. Even if one of them goes crazy … there's always another one to replace him."
"What if they all go crazy?"
"… Then we only have courage left …"
"Ha, then it looks like the situation isn't too bad."
Someone laughed heartily. The laughter had a sense of openness and richness like the waves of the sea. Gwen "saw" himself in his memories laughing as well. These laughing people boarded the small boat for boarding as they welcomed the light of dawn, as if they were heading for a banquet worth looking forward to. But a word popped up in Gwen's mind: Going to the Dead.
After being stunned for a moment, he realized that the word was not something he thought of. It came from Gwen Cecil's deepest memory. It was the deepest impression the pioneer from seven hundred years ago had before he boarded the large ship.
Then, the scene shattered. What followed was a relatively long period of darkness and complicated chaotic light and shadows.
Gwen thought that was all he could see, but after a period of darkness, there was a follow-up to this memory.
A three-masted ship was anchored near the coastline. Gwen recognized that it was the ship that was about to set sail in his previous memory.
However, compared to the beautiful and spectacular appearance when they set off, this ship was now in ruins. More than half of the protective runes on the ship's hull were extinguished, a mast was broken, and the broken sails dragged on the side of the ship like a shroud. The wooden deck and hull that were blessed by magic were full of shocking cracks and holes, as if the entire ship was on the verge of disintegration.
It seemed that it had encountered more than one terrible storm, and the storm made it on the verge of collapse. If it was not for a very weak and thin layer of light shrouding the hull, blocking the turbulent sea and barely maintaining the hull structure, it would have disintegrated and sunk before it reached the coastline.
In a flash, Gwen found himself sitting on the small boat again, but this time, the small boat had left the large ship and was approaching the coast.
The giant sun had set, and the bright red light of the setting sun splashed out from the side of the cliff and sprinkled on the sparkling sea. The sea seemed to be soaked with blood, soaking into people's hearts.
The dim lantern was still hanging at the bow of the ship, swaying in the sunset as if it was dispelling some kind of invisible darkness.
Except for Gwen himself, there were only three figures left on the small boat. All the other seats were empty.
No one spoke, and the atmosphere was terrible. As a passerby in the memory, Gwen could not take the initiative to break the silence.
Until the small boat was about to reach the shore, a figure broke the silence. "We're almost there."
Someone next to him echoed, "Yes, we're almost there."
"There will always be a time to say goodbye," said the third figure. Although the figure was hazy, his eyes seemed to be falling on Gwen. "The situation is not bad, at least you came back alive."
Gwen felt his throat move. Overlapping with the memory, he heard a familiar yet strange voice coming from 'his' mouth. "You have paid a great sacrifice."
"… That's expected. It's just that I didn't expect that the ocean turned out to be such a dangerous place when completely without protection … "said a figure." As for our sacrifice … Don't take it to heart. Compared with us, your sacrifice is equally great. "
Gwen Cecil's voice was low and solemn. "I hope it's all worth it."
The figure who spoke first shook his head. "There's no such thing as whether it's worth it or not, only whether to do it or not. We are small creatures, so maybe we can only do some small things. But compared to waiting for death, it's always more meaningful to take some active action."
A figure next to him teased him. "Ha, 'philosopher', you're forcing yourself to say such profound words again!"
However, the figure who was teased and seemed to be nicknamed 'philosopher' did not speak again. He seemed to have fallen into deep thought.
After a period of silence, the small boat finally reached the shore. The four of them jumped on land and looked at each other in silence.
This time, it was Gwen Cecil who broke the silence first. "What will happen in the future? Have you thought about it?"
"I can't think of it now." A figure shook his head. "… It's already gone. At least … find … our compatriots …"
The sounds and images in his memory suddenly became intermittent, and the light around him became dimmer and dimmer. Gawain knew that this fragmented memory had finally come to an end. He tried his best to focus and distinguish every syllable that he could hear clearly. He heard a vague voice amidst the sound of the waves.
"That wall can still hold for hundreds of years, or even thousands of years … Maybe before that, our descendants will develop. What troubles us today may not necessarily trouble them."
This was the voice of Gwen Cecil.
Then there were those inexplicably familiar voices, but he could not remember their names.
"I hope so …"
"It's time to say goodbye. I feel like I should say something, but I can't think of what to say."
"Then don't say it. Anyway … everyone will forget in a while."
"That's true. Then I wish you all a safe journey …"
All the sounds faded into the distance. The indistinct voices, the soft sounds of the waves, and the sound of the wind by his ears gradually returned to silence. In his rapidly jumping and darkening vision, Gawain could only see a few blurry and incoherent scenes.
The small boat with the hanging lantern returned to the surface of the sea and sailed towards the ship in the distance.
The two remaining masts of the ship hung up the sails and slowly turned towards the sea filled with blood-red light. It gradually went away into the darkness.
Gwen Cecil turned around and walked slowly towards land with heavy footsteps.
In that direction, there seemed to be someone coming to pick him up.
That was the end of the memories that surfaced in his mind.
…
Gwen took a soft breath and his consciousness returned to the present. He was still sitting in the magic carriage, close to the central area of Cecil. In the seat opposite him sat Victoria, who seemed to be faintly worried.
Gwen frowned. The images and voices were still clear in his mind. Just now, he had entered a strange and wonderful state. The surging memories swallowed his consciousness like a half-awake dream. He seemed to be immersed in an immersive scene, but he did not completely lose contact with the real world. He knew that he should have been in a daze for less than a minute in the real world, but this minute of dullness had already attracted Victoria's attention.
Seeing that Gwen had returned to his senses, Victoria could not help but ask, "Your Majesty, are you all right?"
Amber's figure immediately appeared in the seat beside Gwen. "Don't worry, it's all right. He's like this occasionally."
Then she looked at Gwen and asked, "Are you all right?"
"I suddenly remembered something …" Gwen waved his hand, indicating that he was fine. Then he said slowly, "Amber, do you remember that I mentioned to you that I once had an experience at sea, but I can't remember the relevant details?"
"Ah, I remember." Amber blinked. "I also helped you investigate the case files in this area. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything. It was 700 years ago, and it might have been a secret operation. There were no traces left. "
"I suddenly remembered something just now." Gwen glanced at Victoria as he spoke.
"The estuary you mentioned just now, the place where the Duchy of Holy Dragon and the northeast part of Cecil borders … is called Dragonfjord, right?"
"It does have such a name. It was named after the Duchy of Holy Dragon."
"I … went to sea from there." Gwen exhaled and frowned. "The people who went to sea with me were the Sons of Storm."
This time, even Victoria could not maintain her usual cold demeanor. She even exclaimed, "What?! The Sons of Storm?! "
"Strictly speaking, they should be the Sons of Storm who have not fallen into darkness yet," Gwen said slowly. "And I suspect that they are the last batch … In my memory, they were already fighting against madness when they sailed with me."
According to the information currently available, the three dark sects should have three mental states in the process of facing the gods and falling into darkness:
During the ceremony at the Ancestral Peak, before the three cult leaders came into contact with the gods' knowledge and brought madness back to the human world, they were awake.
After the ritual, the three great cults were corrupted by the knowledge of the gods. The members of the three great cults either rushed into the wastelands of Gondor or fled and disappeared. During this period of time, they were in a frenzy. This process lasted for several years or even longer.
After a period of madness, some of the members of the three major cults seemed to have regained their "sanity" and regrouped with their compatriots. They completely turned into dark sects and began to carry out those "plans" in extreme paranoia. This process continued until today.
According to Gwen's judgment, the figures in his memory should be the Sons of Storm. This was supported by the details of the ship and the conversations of those people. And their state … should be changing from the first stage to the second stage.
They were gradually being contaminated by the gods' knowledge and were gradually going crazy.
This process should have been very fast. Many of the cults only took a moment to go from the first stage to the second stage. But those who traveled with Gwen seemed to have lasted longer.
Something sheltered their hearts and helped them temporarily resist the madness.
Suddenly, the hazy lantern hanging at the bow of the ship flashed in Gwen's mind.
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