Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 697: Phantoms in the Tomb

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In the dim, unsettling corridor, where a supernatural green light enveloped the entrance, the deepening darkness intensified the eerie atmosphere. There, a figure corrupted by a sinister force halted abruptly, ignoring Duncan’s remarks.

The unsettling silence that followed was shattered when the avatar, previously immobile, suddenly jerked and turned its head towards Duncan in a quick, unnerving motion.

The avatar’s face had morphed into dark, swirling voids, out of which came a mocking, piercing laughter. Its body contorted into unnatural shapes, with limbs stretching into tentacle-like forms reaching for the walls and ceiling. With a dissonant screech, the monstrous figure lunged at Duncan.

In a moment of intense concentration, Duncan released a burst of green spectral flames, filling the corridor and creating fiery barriers. The corrupted entity, laughing wildly as it advanced, was severely burned by the flames and eventually collapsed into a charred heap near Duncan, where it lay motionless.

The flames slowly died down.

Approaching the remains cautiously, Duncan found a shriveled, charred husk among the ashes, barely recognizable as one of the forest folk, save for a sinister crack that eerily resembled a mocking smile, exuding a chilling amusement.

After a moment of reflection, Duncan, with mixed feelings, carefully collected the remains and retreated from the corridor of Vision 004 to the main gate.

Outside, the anxious group quickly gathered around him, intrigued by the charred “relic” Duncan had retrieved. Helena, deeply worried, fixated on the smile-like crack and crossed herself, murmuring, “Goddess bless… Frem, that’s the most disturbing smile I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor, even now,” Banster commented gruffly, glancing at Helena before returning his gaze to the remains. “It’s tainted with subspace energy.”

“Why would subspace energy be present in Vision 004?” Lune wondered aloud, looking towards the main door of the tomb. “The tomb is notorious for its dangers and stringent rules, not to mention the mysterious guardian. But subspace energy? That’s never been mentioned before.”

Curious, Duncan asked, “Can you describe the tomb’s layout? And who, or what, is this ‘Nameless King’ everyone talks about?”

The group exchanged uneasy glances, and after a pause, Vanna responded, “The interior of the tomb is largely unknown, except for some vague ‘rules of engagement.’ Those who leave, the ‘Listeners,’ have their memories of the inside erased. They only bring back fragmented information, like scraps of parchment. We believe there’s a chamber in Vision 004 where an ancient, mysterious entity awaits the Listener. But no one knows exactly what it looks like or who the master of the chamber is.”

“Induced amnesia…” Duncan murmured, his attention suddenly captured by the main gate of the tomb.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor as a tall, ominous figure—the guardian of Vision 004—appeared!

Even Duncan was startled by its sudden presence. The guardian moved with slow, corpse-like steps, the sound of chains dragging as it approached.

Helena and the others tensed immediately, while Vanna subtly prepared for any sudden movements. The appearance of this “tomb guardian” was certainly menacing.

Despite their defensive stances, the “tomb guardian” seemed indifferent. It simply continued forward and eventually stopped before Duncan.

After a tense silence, the towering figure, shrouded in bandages and exuding an aura of being between life and death, subtly pointed towards the tomb’s passage.

Duncan raised an eyebrow. “You’re inviting me inside?”

The guardian nodded slowly.

Lune whispered urgently, “Be careful, there’s something unsettling about this.”

Duncan remained composed, meeting the obscure gaze of the guardian. After a brief pause, he challenged, “What if I refuse the invitation?”

The guardian stood motionless. Just when it seemed it wouldn’t—or couldn’t—reply, a deep, gravelly voice came from beneath the bandages, “Then when would you be available?”

Duncan paused, taken aback by the unexpected response.

As he processed the reply, the guardian spoke again, its tone serious, “He doesn’t have much time left.”

“He? Not much time left?” Duncan’s expression turned to surprise and concern. “Are you referring to the tomb’s master? What do you mean by ‘not much time’?”

The guardian remained silent again, its stillness conveying an urgent, unspoken message.

After nearly two minutes of thoughtful silence, Duncan nodded decisively, “Alright, then I’ll go meet ‘him.'”

Helena, clearly worried, immediately questioned his decision, “Are you sure? Given the anomalies inside Vision 004…”

Duncan shook his head with determination, “Subspace disturbances aren’t a concern for me. I heard the ‘bell toll,’ and it feels like it’s specifically calling to me this time—my instinct tells me I shouldn’t ignore this invitation.”

“Intuition…” Helena seemed taken aback for a moment, but then, understanding something deeper, she stepped back, her objections fading into acceptance. “Alright, I trust your judgment.”

The guardian then turned his solemn gaze over Helena, Lune, and the others.

“Maintain your distance, do not cross the facility’s boundary,” he suddenly instructed, his voice carrying a warning, “Protocol tree C-32-E7 is unstable.”

His words left Helena and the others puzzled and slightly alarmed. Lune reflexively asked, “What protocol tree?”

The guardian offered no further explanation. Instead, he stepped aside, clearing the path to the tomb’s entrance and gesturing for Duncan to proceed.

With a meaningful glance at the guardian, Duncan stepped forward. He paused briefly to look back at Vanna, who appeared concerned, and offered a reassuring nod, “Stay here, I’ll return shortly.”

With those parting words, he entered the dark, seemingly endless corridor.

The massive tomb door closed behind him with a resonant boom, cutting off all visual and auditory connections to the outside world. Dim, flickering lights along the walls cast an eerie glow, enveloping the passageway in a ghostly silence.

All Duncan could hear was the heavy, deliberate footsteps of the guardian and the unsettling scrape of chains.

As they moved forward, Duncan noticed a change; the footsteps behind him altered, and the sound of chains stopped.

Curious, he turned around, his expression changing to surprise.

A tall, silent figure with dark skin and black hair, dressed in a pristine white robe, now walked the corridor.

“…Is this your true form?” Duncan asked, startled by the transformation.

The man with dark skin met Duncan’s gaze with unusually pale golden eyes, focusing intently on him before nodding affirmatively, “Yes.”

Duncan furrowed his brow, filled with questions, but before he could ask them, something else caught his eye. At the end of the corridor, an ethereal intersection materialized out of nowhere, floating like a mirage. Suddenly, a group of figures in white robes appeared before this ghostly crossroad, moving decisively toward the unknown.

They crossed the spectral intersection and continued down the long, deep corridor, eventually disappearing into the solid wall at its end.

“What was that?” Duncan asked, his astonishment and curiosity evident.

“As the protocol tree becomes destabilized, the folding and unraveling of time streams begin reverting to their original state. That was a glimpse from the distant past of them embarking on their mission,” the tomb guardian explained.

“They? Who exactly are they?” Duncan’s mind raced with questions.

The guardian, now in his more human-like form, paused for a few seconds before responding in a subdued tone, “…They are known as the Doomsday Observers, the Doomsday Survey Team.”

Duncan stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as if a sudden realization had dawned on him, sending a flood of thoughts and connections through his mind. He took a deep breath, looking down the long corridor stretching before him. At that moment, another indistinct apparition appeared in his blurred vision.

This time, it was a young man in a white robe, with short black hair, walking confidently. His demeanor was calm yet filled with determination. As he moved through the corridor, there was a brief instant, perhaps just a trick of the mind, when Duncan felt the figure’s eyes glance toward him.

And then, just as quickly as he had appeared, they brushed past each other, continuing on their separate paths.