Chapter 240: Stopping Them
Inside the Sycamore Inn, Moria exited his room. He first glanced at the room opposite, which was quiet. He assumed Miss Mephistopheles had already taken action alone.
After confirming this, he went downstairs. A few scattered travelers sat in the lobby. Highness Victoria was seated by the window, leisurely reading a book. It seemed to be a travel journal, judging by the cover.
Without disturbing her, Moria left the inn. The air outside was filled with a restless aura, as if foreshadowing that something was about to happen today. He walked along the stone pavement towards Fog Bell Alley, his steps firm and unhurried. Several sailors by the street were murmuring to each other, and he faintly caught words like “shipyard” and “explosion.” Moria didn’t stop, but he silently filed this information away.
After turning a few street corners, the dilapidated outline of Fog Bell Alley appeared before him. The two guards in grey and white robes at the alley entrance were nowhere to be seen. Moria paused briefly at the entrance, and after confirming there were no ambushes, he slowly walked in.
The damp alleyway was even quieter than yesterday. Even the sea breeze was blocked by the dilapidated buildings on both sides. His boots made faint sounds as they stepped on the slippery stone pavement. Deep within Fog Bell Alley, at the door of Sivell’s residence, the Seashell Wind Chime swayed gently in the breeze, emitting a dull clanging sound.
Moria stood before the door, not in a hurry to knock. He listened intently. The room was still deathly silent, but a faint fluctuation of mana permeated the air. He hoped the worker had already given the Holy Emblem to Ms. Sivell.
After a moment of hesitation, Moria raised his hand and lightly knocked a few times on the door panel. To his surprise, before anyone could open it, the door swung open on its own. Had it been left ajar all along?
Moria gently pushed the door open. The room was dimly lit, with only a few rays of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains. The air was filled with a mixed scent of sea salt and old incense, with a hint of imperceptible chill. He walked in slowly, his boots creaking faintly on the old wooden floor. The room was simply furnished. A round table covered with a dark blue tablecloth was placed in the center, with a few faintly glowing shells and crystal balls scattered on it. In the corner, a gaunt figure stood with their back to the door, bent over and sorting something.
“Ms. Sivell?” Moria called out softly.
The person turned around, revealing a wrinkled yet exceptionally sharp face. Her eyes were an unnatural deep blue, as if holding the profundity of the entire ocean.
“Eldest Son of the Holy See,” she said, her voice hoarse yet strong. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Moria noticed she was tightly gripping the Holy Emblem he had given her yesterday, her knuckles turning white from the exertion. “You knew I would come?”
“Sometimes it’s you, sometimes it’s a girl in a hooded cloak,” she said, her ancient voice echoing in the room with an indescribable ethereal quality. “The tides at night always tell you things in the mist; they are intangible yet always accurate.”
Moria didn’t answer directly. He noticed her left leg was stiff when she walked. “Did the Eternal Life Cult imprison you for information about Black Reef Bay?”
The old fortune-teller suddenly began to cough violently. The liquid seeping from between her fingers was not blood, but a dark blue fluid resembling seawater. She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Since I began my apprenticeship under my teacher, I have dreamt of that sea area every full moon night,” she said. She pushed open the window, and the salty sea breeze, along with the clamor from the distant shipyard, rushed in. “They were not the first, nor will they be the last.”
“Do you know why they are obsessed with Cape of Submergence?”
Sivell retrieved a yellowed sea chart from the depths of a wooden cabinet. The edges of the ancient parchment bore traces of being soaked by seawater. Her fingertips traced a distorted area heavily outlined in dark brown ink.
“A long time ago, this sea chart was circulated in the Port Beren area. Legend has it that the kingdom’s once prosperous city of Lorentine and the countless treasures that sank to the deep sea with it were buried there. The greedy flock there, but they don’t know…” Her voice grew low, filled with the heaviness and sorrow of witnessing the truth. “What is buried there is more terrifying than death… No one has ever returned, and no one who has attempted to reach it has ever returned.”
“Something that should not be awakened lies dormant there,” Sivell’s deep blue eyes flashed with a gloomy expression. “The people of Port Beren, after paying countless blood and tears, finally forgot about it. Only the oldest elders still dream of that sea area of death at certain times, but that’s all. The nightmares have long since left Port Beren… until the arrival of those with ambitions…”
Moria’s gaze fell upon the repeatedly drawn area on the sea chart. The ink on the parchment had blurred, but the words “Black Reef Bay” and “Cape of Submergence” could still be discerned. Several lines of faint small text were also marked beside them – “Strong currents,” “Reefs like knives.”
“The people of the Eternal Life Cult have prepared ships,” Moria said softly. “They plan to set sail at midnight tonight.”
Sivell’s fingers trembled slightly on the sea chart. A flicker of fear flashed in her deep blue eyes. “They will be consumed… That sea area will consume all intruders…”
“Can you tell me more about that sea area?” Moria’s voice remained calm, but his eyes became sharp. “For example, why do you dream of it?”
The old fortune-teller remained silent for a moment, then turned towards the window. The sea breeze lifted her greyish-white hair, revealing a hideous scar on her neck.
“My teacher…” her voice suddenly became hoarse, “was one of the three Archmages involved in the sealing back then. He told me this secret before he died, like a curse… Every full moon night, I can feel the call of the thing at the bottom of the sea.”
“So the Eternal Life Cult imprisoned you to use your knowledge of that sea area?”
“They want to find a safe route, but I will never tell them,” Sivell sneered, her wrinkles deepening. “They don’t understand. There is no safety there at all. Everyone will be buried at the bottom of the sea, without even a corpse to be found.”
“And if they do find a safe route?” Moria said softly.
The old fortune-teller said nothing, only piercing him with her sharp gaze. But she quickly conceded in the brief silence. She sighed, a hint of hesitation in her tone. “If such a day comes, then Port Beren is bound to face its doom. The monster there, upon waking, is enough to overturn the kingdom.”
Moria shook his head. If that were truly the case, there was nothing more to say. “I will go to stop them, or to stop him.”
His voice was calm, yet it carried an irrefutable sense of conviction. Sivell opened her mouth, but in the end, she only said, “If you can return, I promise to help you with your divination.”
