Chapter 34: Abyss of the Deep Sea
“Abyss of Anos?” Joshua repeated the term softly: “Some canyon? How have I never heard of this place?”
That was strange. Although Joshua was not a qualified transmigrator and had many things about the Mycroft Continent’s setting unclear, if it was information related to a large organization like the Church of the Seven Gods, he could not possibly forget it.
“It’s not a canyon… My mistake.”
Sensing the issue, Loranda shook his head with a wry smile: “Even within the Church, very few people know of this place, let alone the Northern Empire…”
Saying this, he glanced around, frowning: “The smell here is too pungent… Let’s go up first.”
The dungeon was indeed not a place for conversation. No one objected, so the group ascended the corridor and arrived at the church hall.
The mages led by Muir had already left, but Joshua could still faintly sense the residual space-time ripples from the teleportation.
Since advancing to the Ultimate-rank as a warrior, his eyes had become far keener. Now, not only could he see the trajectories of energy flow and the flames of life, but he could even perceive cracks in space-time—just like when he had quickly detected the natural teleportation passage leading to the Ilgena World at the bottom of the Great Aias Volcano. Of course, the warrior was now even more perceptive than he had been back then.
This was not far from the [All-Seeing Eye] he had possessed in his previous life. As long as he had the chance to take a trip to the Abyss and kill a few Eye Demon elders, Joshua could gather the materials for the [Omniscience Ritual], rendering all conspiracies and darkness unable to hide from his sight.
There were not many worshippers in the church during the early morning, but perhaps due to the need to deal with the cultists who had been interrogated earlier, the Church’s knights appeared quite busy. Avoiding the crowded areas, the group found an empty room, each taking a seat, and then Loranda began to explain.
“Let me finish the matter of the cultists first. I’ll make it brief.”
The paladin was still preoccupied with the cultists he had interrogated earlier, his brows tightly knit: “Miss No. 3 had already captured over twenty cultists before this. They clearly belonged to a single cult—the Plague Church. As everyone knows, the Plague Church has allied with the Five-Colored Dragon Clan. It can be basically confirmed that their purpose in coming here is a derivative of the Dragon Clan’s revenge.”
Joshua nodded at this point; he thought the same. Cultists would not cross half the world for no reason. Even if they wanted to spread panic and plague, there was no need to start from the Northern Lands, the most remote corner of the world. But if it was a request from the Five-Colored Dragon Clan for revenge, then it made perfect sense.
“But the group of cultists I interrogated earlier were not followers of the Plague Church.”
Loranda continued: “They came from an old blood-sacrifice cult in the Western Mountains. They came to Moldavia because they heard the ‘revelation’ of their god—that is, a certain Greater Demon in the Abyss.”
“Revelation?”
Before the warrior could react, Atanis spoke up first, his face filled with concern: “What was the content?”
“Unclear. These were all small fry. Coming to Moldavia was merely to scout the path. The real higher-ups are probably still watching from afar.”
Shaking his head, Loranda indeed seemed troubled. All night, no matter how he tortured them, those cultists could not provide any more information. It seemed they truly knew nothing. However, the paladin did manage a smile: “You could say these guys were unlucky. They didn’t know that another group of their ilk had already come to Moldavia before them, putting us on alert. Otherwise, they would have waited a while to avoid the heat.”
“We must not let our guard down.”
The old bishop was unexpectedly serious. He said solemnly: “Demons capable of issuing revelations possess the power to transmit information across the Abyss’s seals. They are genuine Greater Demons, overlords in their own right within the Abyss. If it has some design on Moldavia…”
At this point, Atanis’s words paused. He turned his head and glanced at Joshua, who was sitting upright in his seat.
—Well, it probably couldn’t do much anyway…
Not long ago, the complete avatar of that Greater Demon from the Imperial Capital had already been fully teleported over. For a demon cult, that was almost equivalent to a divine descent. And yet, wasn’t it still smashed to dust by this guy right here?
“In any case, caution is paramount.”
The old bishop somewhat awkwardly ended the topic. He stroked his white beard and said in a deep voice: “The issue of the cultists is more or less understood. After several assassination attempts, the Five-Colored Dragons still want to target Joshua. Besides that, there is a demon cult watching us for unknown reasons… Now, let’s talk about the Abyss of Anos.”
“Indeed.”
Hearing this, the warrior nodded in agreement: “I am very curious. What is so special about a place that would make the Church of the Seven Gods dispatch an Ultimate-rank great knight and an entire order of monks to guard it?”
“The Abyss of Anos is not a canyon, nor is it even on the continent. In fact, it is the name of a sea area in the eastern part of the Far Sea. That sea is perpetually stormy, with treacherous currents and countless whirlpools and undercurrents. Even the most seasoned sailors dare not claim to understand its patterns. Thus, very few people pass through there, and it is not well-known in the world.”
Loranda replied crisply. Since this was not information that required secrecy, he spoke without reservation: “Originally, we called it the Abyss of Anos because the discoverer’s name was Anos, and the place was full of dangerous undercurrents, like facing an abyss.”
“But now, it lives up to its name.”
The paladin’s expression turned extremely solemn. He emphasized with a heavy tone: “At its center, there really is a space-time rift leading to the Abyss.”
About seventy years ago, at the center of this southern sea area, a space-time rift suddenly appeared, connecting to a great sea in one layer of the Abyss. It was exceptionally tiny, too small even for a living creature to pass through, but the power of the two worlds could seep through each other via this connection.
If the Church’s fleet had not accidentally discovered many corrupted creatures in this sea area while traveling, humanity might have noticed this matter even later.
Although the connection between the Abyss and the Mycroft Continent had been completely sealed by the Sage in the previous era, over a thousand years had passed, and even the tightest seal would develop flaws. The Abyss of Anos was a representative example. Because the space-time rift was located in the deepest part of this dangerous sea and was extremely small, it was difficult even to find, let alone seal or destroy. The Church of the Seven Gods had to settle for the next best option, sending personnel to build fortresses on the surrounding islands to guard it.
“Due to contamination by the power of the Abyss, the center of this sea area has become a different realm similar to the [Plague Lands]. The Church’s garrison there is just like how your family guards the seal in Moldavia, Joshua.”
As Loranda spoke, everyone listened quietly. However, Joshua’s expression shifted slightly, as if he remembered something, but he continued to let the paladin speak: “Without special divine arts for protection, ordinary creatures are easily harmed by the power of the Abyss… Even with divine arts, prolonged stays can cause problems. So, several knight orders usually take turns on guard duty. To avoid panic, the Church has also kept this information under wraps.”
At this point, Loranda seemed to suddenly come back to his senses. He sighed and said somewhat listlessly: “I’m probably overthinking it. If something really went wrong at the Abyss of Anos, I would have received news by now. Maybe the captain and Sister Saya and the others just left temporarily because of the Dragon Calamity.”
He had only just remembered that the black-haired man before him was a noble of the Empire and the lord of the Northern Lands. No matter how much Joshua cared about the Far South and the Church, he could not change the situation. An entire continent away, even with teleportation arrays, it was simply too far.
—Perhaps.
Loranda could not help but think: It was time for him to return.
Even if the Church did not need his combat power right now, the paladin wanted to face the current difficulties together with his comrades.
Joshua, however, did not pay attention to Loranda’s sudden change in attitude. He simply lowered his head, stroking his chin, as if recalling something.
“One of the three great Abyss gates of later eras…”
The warrior thought silently to himself: “The Abyssal Maelstrom.”
“So at this time, it was called the Abyss of Anos.”