The Great Demon God Sasloka.

Duncan felt a vague sense of familiarity in his mind, and then quickly remembered that he had indeed heard the term—from a casual conversation with Morris in the early days.

"I remember...... This is the name of the 'Lord God' as described in the ancient belief system unique to the Elves," he said slowly, as he pondered, "This Demon God has the ability to control dreams and wander souls, and in your legends, this Great Demon God is even associated with the beginning of this 'Deep Sea Age'—"

"Yes, Captain Duncan," Taran El nodded, "According to those ancient legends, the world was originally a dream, created by the Great Demon God Saslova in a half-asleep state, and the elves are the inhabitants born in the dream, and our innate mission is to serve Sasloka in our dreams, prolonging his sleep as long as possible, so as to prevent the whole world from coming to an end due to the awakening of the Great Demon God." ”

Lucrecia listened attentively, as a learned person, she obviously also knew about the ancient and strange "heresies" of elves, which were completely different from today's mainstream beliefs, and couldn't help but interject at this time: "But Saxarca is destined to wake up - this is also part of the legend." ”

"That's right, the Great Demon God is destined to awaken, and his awakening will mean the end of the world," Taran El nodded again, continuing, "for the most part...... Less mainstream belief systems have similar 'end-of-world prophecies', but for the most part they are just a warning, a deterrent to believers, to increase their own persuasiveness and control over their followers, which is not the case with elven lore, where this 'end of the world' has already happened.

"Legend has it that the end of the world began with a nightmare in which the Great Demon God saw the Great Flood coming, so that the elves' long-term appeasement was ineffective, and he woke up, and the flood leaked from his dream to the real world, turning into an ocean......

"After that, the Great Demon God Saslova disappeared due to his awakening, and the elves could no longer return to that peaceful dream world, so they could only survive in the vast sea after the flood - this is the interpretation of the 'Deep Sea Age' in the Elven version of mythology."

Taran Eyre's account of the legend was not much different from what Morris had said at the beginning, except for a few more details, and Duncan looked thoughtful after the elven scholar's words fell.

It took a few seconds for him to break his silence in a deep voice: "Your creation myths and doomsday prophecies revolve around the element of 'dreams'. ”

"Yes, in the culture of the elves, 'dreams' have always been a very important concept," Taran El nodded, "We think that there are two worlds in dreams and outside dreams, that both worlds are real and can interact with each other, and that falling asleep and waking up is a process of traveling between the two worlds - or, more traditionally, 'journey to the homeland'. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, organized his words, and continued: "Speaking of which, I will mention one more digression - there is also a special congenital disease among the elves, called 'Dreamless'. ”

Duncan frowned, "Dreamless? ”

"Literally, people who are born with the inability to dream," explains Taran Ayer, "dreams are the instinct of mortals, and it seems to us that dreaming is as uncontrollable and unavoidable as death, and of course, some people dream more, some dream less, and some people don't even think they can dream - but research has shown that these people still dream when they wake up and can't remember their dreams at all......

"The 'Dreamless' is completely different from the above – they really don't dream.

"The dreamless are pale in their slumber, they fall asleep with nothing but nothingness, and their consciousness 'skips' through the entire sleep process as if it were a leap, and no trace of their dreams can be detected by any clever psychiatrist or priest.

"This kind of situation of not dreaming at all only occurs in the elven race, and there is about a 1 in 10,000 chance of 'onset', which is congenitally carried and cannot be cured."

Duncan couldn't help but sigh when he heard this: "...... Within a race that places extreme emphasis on 'dreams', the Dreamless will certainly be treated specially. ”

"Yes, in the eyes of most elves, the pale and empty sleep of the Dreamless is dangerous, weird, even terrifying, and there have been many unfair treatments against the 'Dreamless' in history, but that was mostly before the old city-state era," Taran El waved his hand, "Now we don't make special targets or discrimination against the Dreamless, but like you said, the influence of traditional culture is still there, and they will be more or less affected by it...... Special treatment. ”

Duncan listened to the unique culture and legends within the elves that were difficult for these aliens to understand, and after the scholar's voice fell, he thought for a moment, and slowly spoke: "But among the many legends and records about dreams, there is no 'dream of the nameless'. ”

"One possible explanation is that the 'Dream of the Nameless' is just the name of the cultists, and its correspondence has another name in the elven culture," said Taran Eyre, "This is a common situation - the elven cultural system is ancient and difficult, and some of the things that have been passed down are often misunderstood and processed by aliens, and we can't expect everyone of a race with an average lifespan of less than 100 years to understand whether a 7,000-year-old container is for wine or water." ”

Lucrecia had been thinking silently beside her, and when she heard the words of the university scholar, she suddenly raised her head and said: "If it is 'another name', could the so-called dream of the nameless refer to the dream created by the great demon god Sasloka in the legend of the elves?" ”

"The Old World?" Taran El frowned, but quickly shook his head, "That dream created by Sassarca is just a legend, there is no evidence to prove that it really existed, and even if it did, it must have been shattered and dissipated in this 'Deep Sea Age'......"

"But you and another elf far away in Poland did fall into a large and strange 'dream' at the same time," Duncan reminded, "have you forgotten the boundless forest?" ”

“…… I did think of it," Taran Eyre hesitated, still cautiously worded, "we can be so bold as to assume...... But it must be verified with sufficient evidence. If that dream is really the legendary 'Dream of Sassloca', the 'Origin World'......"

"It's not just the elven society that's going to shake," Lucrecia said lightly, "and the whole world's academic community will shake. ”

"That's right, the whole world," Taran El said with a solemn expression, "which means that among the countless speculations and contradictory historical records, there is finally a 'record' of history before the Great Annihilation, and even if we still can't break through the black wall of history that stood 10,000 years ago, a crack has appeared in that wall, which can give us a glimpse of the glimpse before the Deep Sea Age." ”

Of course, Duncan also thought of this, but he didn't interject, but thought silently, and after a long time, he spoke with a hint of curiosity: "Is there any more detailed legend about the 'Great Demon God Sasloka'?" ”

"In most legends, Saslorka is described as a giant dressed as a shepherd, holding a staff that can measure the world, but in some stories he is described as a giant of the great goat, and the Epic of Bran Marr, which is stored in the city-state of Moko, says that he is not incorporeal, and can change into any form according to the imagination of the viewers, It is the 'reflection' of the most majestic and awe-inspiring posture in the minds of mortals......

"But no matter what kind of legend, there is one thing in common: Saskoca lives at the foot of the world's giant tree 'Silandis', and the giant tree 'Silandis' is the first plant born in the whole world - Saskorka created it in a dream to be his home, and because of his loneliness, he violently shook the branches of Silandis, causing the dust, fruits, branches and leaves of the tree to fall off, and those that fell were transformed into various things in the world.

"The dust shed from the World Tree becomes mountains and minerals, the branches and leaves of Silandis turn into all kinds of birds and beasts, flowers, birds, fish and insects, and the fruits of Silandis change into the original elves, and the dust does not rot, so the mountains and minerals are eternal and incorruptible, and the branches and leaves and fruits begin to rot after they fall to the ground, so the earthly creatures have a cycle of life and death."

Taran El took a break at this point, took a sip of the tea that the puppet Luni had placed on the table, and continued: "This is the process by which the Great Demon God creates all kinds of things in his dreams, and after this initial 'creation' is completed, Sasloka begins to tour his world-

"He walked around Silandis, and determined the rules of the world with his own eyes, and He could circle the World Tree once a year, so that Silandis went back and forth in the cycle of years, and thus gave the world a distinct season, and on the last day of the year, he returned to the feet of Silandis, and on this day the elves had to dress up and show Saslovka their proudest skills and creations, and if the Great Demon God felt that those things were good, he would continue to stay in this dream world he had created, The world will survive. ”

After that, Taran El finally let out a long breath.

"That's all, Captain Duncan."

(End of chapter)