A blizzard swept through the Olfactory Museum.
Snowflakes froze the senses of humans. But the Forerunner, as if none of that mattered, snorted and devoured the world. The world was swallowed by the maw of a colossal whale, and everything vanished.
With this, only the art museum remained. Following Ian’s will, the Forerunner hurriedly seized space and tore it open, then flung itself through the attic door that appeared. Ian endured the shock pouring over his entire body and opened the grimoire.
‘The messengers’ location is… east, then.’
The total number of messengers Ian had released was six. He had split them into three groups of two, but now they were all gathered together. They wouldn’t possibly be ignoring orders and slacking off, so it was safe to assume that all the remaining survivors had gathered there.
He wasn’t sure how many survivors there were, but he had confirmed Kim Yul and the others were alive while passing through the art museum, so it did not matter greatly. Ian’s sensitivity was not rich enough for him to sincerely grieve the deaths of agents he had barely met.
“Let’s go where the messengers are. The aberrant bastards shouldn’t have regenerated yet.”
Ian said, patting the Forerunner’s back. The Forerunner answered in a low frequency and slowly swam through the sky.
The world spread out below was truly a magnificent sight.
A blood-red earth. In an empty clearing, a pure-white art museum stood all alone. Aside from that, there was nothing that could be called a building. No—not even a single blade of grass existed.
Emptiness, in the truest sense.
In that hollowed-out space, only the art museum stood aloof, keeping its place.
Beyond the horizon, constellations glittered, but neither sun nor moon could be seen. And yet sunlight poured from the sky. As if to make it obvious that this was a space created by an aberration, it was grotesque beyond measure.
‘Are most workshops created by aberrations that have learned magic like this?’
The thought suddenly occurred to him. But Ian immediately brushed it away.
Magic was not permitted to aberrations. The fact that Lyrie, who had already completely fallen into being an aberration, used not magic but a bizarre power was proof enough of that.
If she had been able to use magic, there was no way she would have stupidly used only flowers. She would have attempted an attack by chanting a spell or doing something of the sort.
So if the girl who currently possessed the Submergence of R’lyeh were to become a complete aberration in time, there was a high possibility that the nature of this damned museum would change.
It would probably, with high probability, transform into a space belonging solely to even more grotesque and cruel aberrations.
If he could deal with it before then, dealing with it was the right thing to do. Thinking so, Ian slowly descended with the Forerunner toward the half-destroyed art museum.
At that moment, the Bureau agents gathered in the central hall with its ceiling blown away looked up at the sky as the Forerunner’s shadow covered the entire space.
“What the hell is that?!”
“A-a whale? Moby-Dick…?”
“Moby-Dick isn’t that big! And in the first place, that thing only exists in the sea!”
They were horrified. It was only natural, since a whale larger than a mountain was freely swimming through the air. Watching them raise the weapons in their hands one by one, Ian patted the Forerunner’s side.
“I’ll go down for a moment and come back. Wait here.”
[Yes, Father. The time remaining is currently one hour.]
“Right. Thanks for letting me know.”
Whoosh.
Ian flung himself from the tip of the Forerunner’s fin. The six messengers gently wrapped his falling body in their tentacles. Thanks to that, he landed on the ground without taking any damage and loosened his stiff wrist as he looked around at everyone.
“The survivors?”
“Everyone is alive. The injured have been gathered over there.”
Kim Iseo answered. Ian glanced at her missing wrist and asked,
“Aren’t you injured too? It must be hard for you to move properly.”
“This much is fine. More importantly, aren’t you injured as well, Shin Ian-nim? Shin Ian-nim’s condition shown on the device was not good either. It said your organs had suffered considerable damage.”
“Ah.”
She was talking about the internal injuries he had sustained in the process of summoning the Forerunner.
The pain had not been as severe as he expected, so he had not realized, but it seemed he had been injured quite badly. Then again, he had spat out things that looked like chunks of organs along with blood, so it was not strange.
‘Once this is over, I’ll be forced into recovery again for a while. I should avoid using my body.’
Ian let out a deep sigh and brushed the dust from his coat.
“I can still manage for now. More importantly, among our group, are you the only one hurt?”
“Namgung Minhyeok-nim is not in perfect condition either. But he has passed the critical point, so it is not serious.”
“That’s a relief.”
He nodded and stroked the messengers clinging to his side. It was an indifferent touch, but as if even that pleased them, the messengers let out low cries. Mika looked down at them with an expression of disgust.
“They look disgusting, and they’re capable of tearing a person apart whole, so seeing them act cute makes me want to vomit…”
“I have one favor to ask. Gather the relatively uninjured and secure Irene’s painting.”
Ignoring Mika’s words, Ian spoke calmly. Kim Iseo nodded.
“Understood. What should we do after securing it?”
“You know how to get out of here, right?”
“Yes. After praising the painting, we pass through the front door while walking backward. It is not as difficult as I expected. However, after one person exits, the next can only leave five seconds later, so it will take some time.”
“That’s fine. I’ll buy time.”
Beyond the gaping ceiling, the red clouds tore apart, and the girl’s heart began to reveal itself. The Forerunner let out a high cry, rushed toward her, and struck her with its tail. With a boom, the girl was shattered until her form was barely recognizable. Ian watched the sight and continued speaking.
“Take these with you. They may look like that, but they should be able to deal with Watchers easily enough.”
“Understood. Is Irene’s painting the only one we need to secure?”
“That’s all I want. Once you’ve secured it, get out of here immediately. Rather than worry about you getting caught up in this for no reason, it’s better if no one is here.”
“Confirmed. Then I wish you good fortune.”
Kim Iseo bowed and withdrew. Mika sighed and followed her, while Venus held an axe and Park Mina held a shotgun, letting out breaths laced with tension.
Instead of following them right away, Kim Yul approached Ian and hugged him tightly once. Ian frowned slightly at the sudden embrace, but Kim Yul paid it no mind and whispered in a mumbling voice.
“Don’t get hurt. I’ll be waiting.”
“…”
“You being an incredible mage and me worrying are two different things. I don’t want to lose a friend I finally made here.”
At her sincere voice, Ian gave a bitter smile and hugged her back.
“Yeah. See you outside. I’ll be out within the hour.”
“…Heh, you hugged me. How is it? I don’t smell, right?”
“…Yeah, you don’t.”
“I told you.”
Kim Yul gave Ian a peck on the nape of his neck, then ran toward Kim Iseo and the others, who had gone on ahead. Then she said to the messenger walking beside her,
“Want to try calling me Mom?”
[Kkiieeeeeeeek!!!]
At the word “Mom,” the messenger had a fit. Ian watched the scene with a faint smile.
Then the Deep-Sea Travelogue in his hand vibrated, and as before, a blank page opened by itself.
[Don’t cheat on me.]
[I love you.]
Brief sentences written in clumsy Hangul. Ian chuckled and closed the grimoire.
Perhaps because he had summoned the Forerunner, the being closest to the Master of the Outer Sea, he felt as though her interference had grown a little stronger.
In the past, she had never spoken to him so directly, but perhaps because the situation was special, she was being quite proactive.
‘Even if the words are brief, she’s probably throwing an incredible tantrum in reality.’
Ian gave a short bow to the creatures of the Outer Sea who would be struggling to deal with her hysteria, then climbed onto the Forerunner’s fin as it descended, pressing down on the art museum, and shouted to the remaining agents.
“You all get out of here right now. If you stay for no reason, you’ll only get in the way.”
At a glance, the words could have sounded insulting, but everyone here was a veteran who had crossed the threshold of death several times.
They knew better than anyone that if they put pride first for no reason, even things that could be done would fail. So they immediately nodded, transported the injured, and began the escape process.
Ian looked down at them moving busily, then turned his head toward the Forerunner. The Forerunner whispered in an irritated tone.
[Mother has just sent a message.]
“Just now?”
[Yes. She says she loves you more than anyone, and that you should stop mingling with those insects and come to where she is as soon as possible.]
“…”
[Ugh, I heard Mother’s voice. How irritating.]
The Forerunner clicked its tongue and swung its tail back and forth. Ian let out a snicker.
“You really hate your mom, don’t you?”
[I have no reason to like her. More importantly, Father, is that the only thing we need to deal with now?]
She asked while staring at the girl, who had begun regenerating. Ian nodded.
“Yeah. For now, just buy time. Toying with her moderately should be enough. You can do that, right?”
[Of course I can.]
The Forerunner answered briskly and summoned the sea of the outer cosmos from its mouth, compressing it.
[Praise me when this is over, Father.]
Kwaaaaaaaa!!
The compressed seawater shot out in the form of a stream. The overwhelming torrent tore the regenerating girl’s body to shreds.