In a tense effort to manage the fragile paper boat, Lucretia carefully navigated it toward the Vanished—a majestic ship that hovered just above the forest canopy.
From a distance, the crew of the Vanished observed the unstable paper boat as it wobbled and drifted erratically through the air, appearing as if it might crash at any moment. Despite its considerable size, the Vanished displayed remarkable agility, powered by an unseen force, and quickly positioned itself under the descending trajectory of Lucretia and her group.
As the paper boat, now battered and swaying wildly, made some final adjustments, it crash-landed clumsily onto the deck of the Vanished.
Shirley and Dog were thrown from the boat, rolling across the wooden planks. After several disorienting tumbles, they stood up. As they regained their balance, a tall figure approached—it was Duncan. He showed concern as he offered a hand to a disoriented Shirley, while Nina also received his assistance nearby.
Brushing off the confusion, Shirley exclaimed, “Good heavens, that was a close call. I really thought we were goners.”
Upon recognizing Duncan, Nina joyfully shouted, “Uncle Duncan!” and ran to embrace him tightly.
Duncan warmly returned the hug and patted Nina’s head. He then turned his attention to Morris, who stood firmly with one hand on his cane and the other holding a complex device resembling a gyroscope. Their exchanged smiles brought comfort. Meanwhile, Lucretia, having anticipated the crash, had jumped from the boat in time, catching briefly on one of the ship’s masts before descending gracefully.
Duncan chuckled at the sight of his group, “You all certainly know how to make an entrance. Navigating the turbulent skies in a makeshift paper boat is quite the achievement.”
Dusting herself off, Lucretia admitted with a sheepish smile, “Yes, I concede that the enchantment on that boat needs some fine-tuning.”
Caught up in the excitement, Nina tugged at Duncan’s sleeve and pointed upward, “Look, Uncle, up there!”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Duncan nodded in acknowledgment, “Yes, I’ve seen it.”
Above them stretched a magnificent barrier made of pure sunlight, dividing two distinct worlds. It loomed protectively over a vast desert below.
Morris approached with a serious expression, “Vanna might be trapped on the other side,” he said gravely, “This powerful barrier is marked by the Black Sun. Whoever established this clearly targets the ‘Sun’ that Vanna mentioned. We’ve inadvertently become part of their plan…”
Duncan met Morris’s earnest gaze and nodded, “I’m aware. This barrier is specifically designed to block me.”
Hearing this, Nina looked between the two men, her curiosity heightened, “So, what’s our next move? Can we just push through?”
Duncan glanced down at her with a playful smirk, “It seems Shirley’s penchant for reckless actions is spreading. My dear, brute force isn’t always the answer.”
As he spoke, Duncan’s attention was drawn once again to the glowing “Sunlit Veil” above them.
Suddenly, a deep, strange groan emanated from the ship’s core. The Vanished was enveloped in a shimmering, otherworldly glow and ascended into the vibrant light display above.
What ensued was a dramatic shift in gravity. The Vanished trembled violently within the light barrier, reacting to the sudden change as it transitioned between the two worlds.
Regaining her footing on the deck, Shirley blinked in confusion, struggling to comprehend her new surroundings. The Vanished now hovered perilously close to the turbulent surface of the light barrier, with a vast desert below and the lush green forest—and the distant echoes of Atlantis—seemingly inverted above them.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The Sunlit Veil, acting as a protective barrier between realms, responded swiftly to the intrusion. As it had with the paper boat’s approach, the sunlight morphed into roaring flames that surged menacingly toward the Vanished as it breached its threshold. These flames rose high, boiling and towering as they converged.
Unexpectedly, each flame that neared the Vanished transformed, emitting an eerie green glow. These turned into calm spiritual fires that encircled the ship.
In an instant, this spectral green fire began to dominate the barrier, spreading rapidly like a rampant infection, quickly overwhelming its golden expanse.
The once majestic and radiant barrier began to dissolve before their eyes!
Nina, completely enthralled by the unfolding transformation, watched in awe as the golden barrier was overtaken by a growing sea of ghostly green flames. She murmured in amazement, “Incredible…”
Meanwhile, Duncan remained contemplative, his gaze fixed on the shifting boundary between the worlds. He was deep in thought about the peculiarities he had experienced during the abrupt gravitational shift.
The change in gravity was sudden and disorienting. Instead of a gradual transition between two gravitational fields, there was a momentary “equilibrium” where gravity seemed to pause, followed by a sudden switch as they approached the boundary.
This phenomenon suggested a more complex interaction than a mere physical merging of two worlds. It wasn’t just two cosmic entities brushing against each other. Although alarmingly close, the gravitational influences of the two domains remained remarkably independent, almost as if they were fundamentally incompatible.
In this stark comparison, both the lush forest and the barren desert worlds showed signs of mysterious “deterioration.” Reality began to warp, giving rise to undefined creatures from hidden recesses. Remarkably, the ancient tree of Atlantis began to fragment and ignite even before it reached the hovering desert. The entire experience resembled a form of “spiritual corruption” on a cosmic scale.
These were two distinct worlds, seemingly incapable of recognizing, accepting, or coexisting harmoniously. Their proximity led to mutual distortion.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Duncan’s gaze shifted upwards to Atlantis, the World Tree, now disintegrating amidst the clouds, its once grand appearance marred beyond recognition. As it decayed, the elven homeland showed signs of succumbing to a growing shadow, descending into chaos.
This elven realm, often described as the “Dream of the Nameless One,” portrayed Atlantis caught in a relentless nightmare. The scene unfolding before Duncan depicted the depths of that nightmare.
This was a time before the Deep Sea Era, during the Great Annihilation when two worlds collided.
Duncan became contemplative. “Two worlds? But are there really only two?” he wondered.
His thoughts drifted to visions of an armored warrior, a realm dominated by magic and swords that faded as dusk settled, the “moon” that lit his homeland’s night sky, the perpetual mist enveloping his apartment, and the varied yet contradictory historical accounts preserved across different city-states. Ancient texts from a forgotten age, filled with peculiar myths, untraceable lost civilizations, inexplicable relics from unknown eras, and the profound corruptions these relics harbored.
Certain relics appeared inherently “noxious” to their surroundings, capable of distorting and corrupting the environment.
Some were so dangerous that they couldn’t be allowed to manifest physically. There was no way to contain or neutralize them; their immediate destruction was the only option. These were feared and known as the “Blasphemous Prototypes.”
Duncan stood still on the deck of the Vanished, caught in the narrow gap between two worlds on the brink of mutual destruction. Amidst this eerie calm before the impending apocalypse, he seemed to grasp the true essence of the Great Annihilation, devoid of all the myths and legends.
Almost instinctively, Lucretia sensed a troubling change in the atmosphere.
The deck seemed to be caressed by an invisible wind, with a dense and overwhelming presence slowly forming around her.
She quickly turned toward the source of this intense feeling.
A soft starlight shimmered nearby, taking the shape of a vague human figure. Although it seemed close enough to touch, there was a feeling of infinite distance. The figure wasn’t large, but it emitted a profound vastness, as if its edges were incomprehensible.
Lucretia remembered seeing this same glow before during a critical moment at her recent reunion with her father. Briefly, she had glimpsed the “reality” hidden behind her father’s physical appearance.
But now, the situation felt different.
The usual rules of sight and perception seemed inadequate against this mysterious starlight. To her astonishment, Lucretia’s vision began to warp and bend within this light, filled with mysteries beyond her grasp. She tried to look away, but it was as though her eyes were captivated by the starlight itself.
Just when she thought she might lose herself to the overwhelming brilliance, the light started to fade.
After a moment of disorientation, she felt a familiar touch—it was her father’s protective hand.
Clasping his hand for stability and comfort, she cautiously moved it aside, her eyes searching for where the radiant figure had stood just seconds before.
The glowing form had changed back into the familiar figure of Duncan.
“There’s no need for fear,” her father’s soothing voice reassured her, “I’m right here.”
Still shaken by the encounter, Lucretia asked, trying to hide her unease, “What was that? A moment ago, you… you were…”
“It’s alright,” Duncan interrupted softly, “I just had an epiphany of sorts.”
