When the bell rang, Vanna had just finished her evening prayers on the deck - she came to the corridor, ready to return to her room, but saw Morris who also hurried to the corridor.
At just one glance, she guessed something from the serious expression on Morris's face.
"You also heard the call of the Swift Bell?"
"Yes, it seems you heard it too," Morris nodded. "The bell has rung for the third time - I am about to perform the psychic resonance ceremony."
"...But it is still the Deep Sea Church's duty period." Upon hearing this, Vanna's eyes widened slightly. "How did you hear the bell?"
Morris exhaled softly: "I don't know, so it is necessary to go to the rally to find out what happened... It seems that this time there is an unprecedented situation."
Looking at the slightly solemn expression on the old scholar's face, Fanna thought of a series of disturbing events that had happened recently. Then she nodded silently, and the two passed each other and returned to their rooms.
The gentle sound of waves echoed in her ears, and the feeling of being submerged in the sea water gradually enveloped her. Vanna hurried back to the room to hold the ceremony, watching the candlesticks burning and expanding in front of her eyes. The dancing flames turned into a hazy light and shadow. Her slightly restless mood gradually calmed down with the sound of the waves.
After a brief dizziness and sensory resetting, she opened her eyes again and found that she had arrived at the sacred and ancient "assembly ground" in the form of a soul projection - towering and solemn stone pillars stood at the end of the huge square, chaotic dark shadows and never-ending streams of light shrouded the stone pillars, the ground was covered with mottled and broken ancient stone slabs, and in this huge assembly ground, there were soul projections of saints who gathered here in a hurry.
Vanna stood in a corner of the square in a bit of astonishment, staring with wide eyes at the countless figures in all directions - she had never seen so many soul projections appearing in the assembly hall at the same time, and there was no doubt that they could not all be saints of the Storm Goddess.
Mr. Morris was obviously not the only “believer of a different god” who heard the bell during the Deep Sea Church’s rotation period.
All the saints from the four major churches have gathered together!
The number of people is still increasing, and more and more soul projections are appearing in the open space of the square. Many of them seem to have arrived in a hurry. Although it is indeed the rotation period of the Deep Sea Church, every saint who received the "Swift Bell" still did not hesitate to implement the iron rules agreed upon by the Four Gods Church, and responded quickly after the bell rang and came to the gathering place.
The bewildered soul projections gathered together, buzzing about this unusual situation. Vanna walked among her compatriots, listening to the discussions of those around her while walking towards the center of the square.
A hazy figure walked over and greeted her: "Vanna! I'm looking for you - what is going on?"
Vanna looked in the direction of the voice and immediately recognized that it was the soul projection of Bishop Valentine. She saluted him and then shook her head: "I don't know either, but it seems that all qualified 'saints' in the four major churches have heard the summoning bell... Mr. Morris should also be at this gathering."
"...The sound of the Swift Bell was emitted by the Pilgrimage Ark, but its source came from the 'direction' of the Nameless King's Tomb. All saints received the summons. The only explanation is that the Nameless King's Tomb took the initiative to release a strong signal of 'summoning everyone'..." Bishop Valentine's tone was solemn. He turned his head and stared at the center of the square, which was still empty. It took a long time before he looked away. "This ancient contract ceremony has been running stably for thousands of years, and this has never happened before."
"...Perhaps this is related to the recent 'sun extinction'. Some huge changes are approaching..." Vanna whispered, and then she suddenly felt something and looked to the side.
Another hazy but familiar figure appeared in her sight.
That was Morris's soul projection.
Fanna immediately walked towards the other person, and before she got close, she heard the other person speak: "It seems that the situation is just as I thought. I am not the only one who heard the extra bell."
"Yes, it looks like all the saints are here... Perhaps we should sigh that luckily this place is spacious enough," Vanna exhaled and said in a subtle tone, "Now the real body of the 'mausoleum' has not appeared yet. When it appears... I wonder what it will announce to the outside world."
Maurice said nothing, but nodded seriously. He greeted Bishop Valentine, whom he had not seen for a long time, and then turned with Vanna to look towards the center of the square.
At this moment, four special figures appeared in the vision of many saints one after another.
Helena, Rune, Banster, and Frame - the representatives of the four gods entered the assembly hall. Among the countless hazy and illusory soul projections, their clear figures were particularly eye-catching.
The appearance of the four popes caused a brief disturbance at the scene, but it soon subsided. The saints restored order and quickly calmed down with the appearance of their respective leaders.
The situation today is unusual, and many saints who heard the extra bells were confused and uneasy, but in any case, the appearance of the leaders is a reassuring signal, which at least shows that the current situation is still under the control of the church.
Then, Vanna noticed that the four Popes were walking directly towards her.
Her expression suddenly became a little subtle.
Amidst the gazes and greetings from many people around them, Helena, Luen and the other four came to Fanna. Helena was the first to speak: "Has the mausoleum not appeared yet?"
Fanna was a little dazed: "Um... not yet..."
"Okay," Helena nodded, "Then let's wait a little longer."
Fanna didn't react, so she nodded confusedly: "... Yeah, okay."
Then the four popes really turned around and began to wait patiently with Vanna for the ancient and mysterious tomb to appear.
Fanna felt a little weird. She felt that old Mr. Morris next to her seemed to be looking at her with some doubt. However, she didn't know how to explain this matter. She could only smile awkwardly. She didn't know whether Morris could see her complicated smile in this hazy soul projection form.
At this moment, an exceptionally tall figure came to Fanna's side and patted the judge on the shoulder: "Do you need to wait a long time?"
Vanna didn't even look back, and answered naturally, "I'm not sure, but usually the mausoleum will appear within a few minutes after all the saints arrive at the venue..."
She stopped suddenly.
The surroundings seemed to be quiet for a moment.
Banster and Frame's expressions froze, while Helena and Rune turned their heads slowly with stiff necks. Vanna turned her body sideways little by little and looked in the direction where the sound came from.
Duncan stood there, looking at the familiar faces in front of him with a harmless (self-perceived) expression.
After a moment of silence, Vanna finally broke the silence with a cry of surprise: "Captain?! Why are you here?!"
This exclamation was like a stone falling into water, and the brief silence in the assembly hall instantly turned into a boiling excitement that spread rapidly - exclamations came one after another from the surroundings, and discussions exploded. Many soul projections retreated in astonishment, and the emotions of tension, vigilance and astonishment spread in the blink of an eye and permeated the crowd.
Expected situation.
Duncan looked back at the movement in the square, then turned around and spread his hands helplessly: "To be honest, I didn't expect there would be so many people at first."
Vanna felt that her brain was not enough, but the several popes present had reacted quickly. They immediately shouted in unison -
"quiet!"
A tremendous power was released from their words - the will of Helena, Rune, Banster and Frame swept across the entire assembly hall. Duncan didn't know what they did, but he could feel that the "crowd" around him that was in chaos a second ago seemed to understand and comprehend the current situation in an instant. Although there was still uneasiness flowing in the air, order in the assembly hall had been restored.
After order was restored at the gathering place, Helena was the first to turn around and stare into Duncan's eyes: "How did you get here?"
Duncan thought for a moment, then raised his hand and waved lightly in the air beside him.
A giant skeletal bird covered in dark green flames flashed by in the darkness.
"I came here by pigeon."
Helena: “……?”
"I heard the bells," Duncan noticed the wonderful and subtle expressions on the faces of the popes, and after a little thought, he added, "Don't ask me the specific reason - when the bells rang, I heard them. Then I noticed the gathering of spirits, probably because the four pilgrimage arks happened to be in Breeze Harbor. This 'gathering' was very obvious to me, like the lights in the night... I have always been interested in your 'gatherings', so I tried it, mainly trying to track Vanna's soul starlight, and ended up tracking it here."
Helena was stunned: "...This is also possible?!"
Duncan thought about it carefully and nodded: "I think so."
Helena: "..."
Vanna seemed to be used to it. After Duncan said "I think it's OK", she took it for granted that the current situation was in front of her (mainly because athletes have strong ability to adapt to the environment), and casually asked: "What do you think of today's special situation?"
"I don't know," Duncan said calmly. "This is my first time here. What do you usually do after a meeting? Is there a procedure?"
"Wait for Vision 004 - The Tomb of the Nameless King to appear," Frame's deep voice sounded from the side. He always seemed to be calm and steady, even at times like this, he was very serious. "Then, a gravekeeper will appear, and the chosen one will be led to the tomb."
Duncan listened with interest and nodded slowly.
And as if to confirm Frame's words, at this moment, a low roar finally sounded from the center of the square, interrupting everyone's communication!