Deep Sea Embers

“I didn’t expect you to personally lead the team.” Heidi looked at the heavily armed Vanna in surprise before eyeing the church elites behind her, “And you brought so many people?”

“It’s not an ordinary case for a museum to go up in flames,” Vanna said before eyeing Heidi up and down several times. Then sighing in relief at her friend’s safety, “Looks like your vacation is up in smokes again.”

“Mhmm, it’s ruined again!” Heidi said with a sad and resigned face, “Why am I always so unlucky… uuhuuu….”

It’s then Vanna noticed the uniquely large bump on Heidi’s head. Stepping forward, she reaches out with a finger to gently caress the wound with a blessing of her own: “Did you just get out of there?”

“I was saved… Whew, that feels so much better…” Feeling the pain on her forehead gradually subside under her friend’s power, Heidi’s attention slowly focused and turned fearful. She’s remembering something, which she promptly passed the news onto her friend: “Vanna, I need a quiet and blessed environment right away, preferably in a church or chapel.”

Seeing her friend’s suddenly serious expression, the inquisitor didn’t waste a second of time and promptly turned to call for a priest: “Take over the scene for me. Block off the museum and raise the corruption level to spirit class…”

But before she could finish speaking, Vanna heard Heidi cut in with a low and hurried voice: “Isolation class.”

“Adjust to the isolation level, and expel all uninvolved citizens to two hundred meters around the square!” Vanna was inwardly shocked but swiftly issued the order regardless. Then turning to the regional priest with the grizzly beard: “Take us to the nearest chapel. We need a separate prayer room with #16 incense candles lit.”

The priest, who had just escaped from the fire, immediately bowed his head: “Yes, please come with me. It’s near the square.”

Vanna quickly left with Heidi and drove to the community church a street over. Before arriving at the church, Vanna noticed that Heidi’s face had started to flush abnormally.

“What’s going on?” Vanna’s brows furrowed and touched Heidi’s forehead. The high temperature of the fingers instantly changed her tone: “Why is it so hot?!”

“I may have been exposed to something in the museum,” Heidi said quickly, “I used self-hypnosis to block some information in the depths of my memory. Just now the effect ended… I’m gradually starting to recall the memory.”

Listening to Heidi’s story, Vanna’s eyes widened slightly as she quickly made a judgment call – severe corruption of a supernatural anomaly or vision.

“Stop recalling immediately and slow down your thoughts!” Vanna reached out and pressed Heidi’s shoulder, “Look into my eyes and turn your attention elsewhere! If you really can’t, hypnotize yourself again!”

“I’ll try.” Heidi gently inhales and stares deeply into Vanna’s eyes, seeing the ocean waves as a reflection of the power bestowed upon those blessed with the storm goddess’s power. Unfortunately, try as she might, the doctor couldn’t do it. Gradually, the waves were replaced by waves of burning flame, a sea of searing heat that erupted from the dark void and oozed through her wound.

This was dangerous, a critical junction point that none wanted to reach. But then something unexpected occurred. A slight coolness from Heiti’s chest broke the illusion, sending the doctor into a sobering shudder.

Subconsciously glancing down, she realized it was the fake crystal pendant given to her by her father from the antique shop. It’s faintly glowing at an imperceptible level… However, it was enough to subdue whatever foulness at play.

The next second, she heard the priest’s voice coming from the front: “We have arrived at the chapel!”

Under the personal escort of Vanna, a powerful saint, Heidi was quickly sent into the sacred building and into an isolated prayer room, the incense candles already lit and sheltering the room from corruption.

“The Goddess is watching…” Vanna gasped after she entered as well. In that split second, she heard the illusory sound of waves ringing in her ears, a direct sign they were being protected by the goddess herself. “It’s okay now. You’re safe. Go ahead and release your memories and let me see.”

The doctor didn’t speak, only slightly nodding as she carefully took off one of her earrings. There’s a little mechanism at the end, which she pressed with her fingernail. A tiny spike popped out as a result of her action.

Without hesitation, Heidi clenched the item against her palm, allowing the blood to seep out from the tiny wound.

This was the most profound psychological impression she made on herself after beginning her career – when the spike pierced the palm, all the impurities sealed in the memory would be released.

In the next second, the illusory and cascading sound of waves in the prayer room suddenly became very obvious. As the burning candles became dim and flickering due to this change, the entire room took on a fuzzy and dark air like it’s been shrouded under a veil. Layers upon layers of veils swayed around the statue, and a vague mirage began to reflect over it——

It was a scene that Heidi had urgently sealed in her memory, a glimpse of the momentary truth.

In that shaking illusory veil, Vanna saw what Heidi had seen: in the pitch-black void, a stream of sky-rushing flames erupted. More intense than any flame in the world, more thrilling than any great power created by humans, and like a massive wave of purgatory wave, it swept through all things in sight. Even for a saint like Vanna, her muscles had tensed up involuntarily!

How far did that flame reach inside the void? Hundreds of thousands of kilometers? Millions of kilometers?

But what is that exactly? Is it merely pure flame? Or is it more primitive, some sort of power that can touch the ancient truth?

Vanna didn’t know when she was watching. It’s too out of this world. Even so, the illusion eventually subsided, allowing her to relax as the sea breeze moisturized her mind. Again, it’s the power of the goddess activating and a much-needed help in this situation.

“This… is what you saw in the museum?”

“Probably…” Heidi felt her heart pounding. Even though it was a picture extracted from her own memory, it was still beyond her imagination due to the effect of self-hypnosis, “But this thing… it’s not like a ‘collection’ that can be placed in a museum…”

“This can’t be an item from the ‘collection,\'” Vanna said quickly. “Even if I can’t tell how big it is, intuitively, I know it can’t be stored in any building… You can’t see something like that in the real world.”

Heidi was stunned, her brows tightly furrowed until she eventually spoke unsurely: “I may have seen it during my unconscious state… and the self-hypnosis was performed during that time. Perhaps what I experienced isn’t a direct encounter but a projection on the spiritual level.”

“Are you sure?” Vanna looked at her friend worriedly, “I’m not questioning your abilities as a psychiatrist, but… it is not easy to complete the temporary containment seal when you’re unconscious.”

“I have confidence,” Heidi nodded slowly but firmly, “I have received rigorous training in this area at the Academy of Truth. However, the containment of dangerous information will cause me to forget important key details due to my main consciousness being down. I cannot tell or show you more than this.”

“…… Okay, I trust your professionalism.” Vanna stared at Heidi for a moment longer before exhaling softly, “It seems… you’ve seen something amazing.”