“……Haa.”
The breath he let out scattered beneath the sea. Bubbles swam up toward the surface, diffusing a beautiful rainbow sheen. Ian quietly looked up at the sight and let all the strength drain from his body.
“……Tch.”
There was no problem with his breathing. It was thanks to the spell he had cast just before being submerged, allowing him to breathe underwater. His vision was a little blurry, but that couldn’t be helped. Unless he had brought goggles, underwater visibility could never be perfect.
Still, it was clear enough to properly face the world. He alternated his gaze between the sky where light fell and the deep sea where light held its breath, then stretched a hand out into empty space.
“Summon.”
He called forth the Deep-Sea Travelogue. The Deep-Sea Travelogue appeared, scattering red light, and vibrated as though it would swallow the entire ocean whole. Black seawater from the outer universe leaked from its corners, devouring the blue water in real time.
[……!!]
The sea cried out. In the literal sense of the word, the sea cried out. To put it another way, the world cried out.
“Ugh.”
At the shock, as if an earthquake had struck, Ian’s body spun once in the water. Fortunately, seawater did not surge backward into his nose, but even so, whether because of the impact or the water pressure, his head throbbed fiercely.
He was not in good condition. So, for the moment, he took a pen from his pocket and swiftly drew a magic circle onto a page of the grimoire.
A spell to ignore water pressure. It was a spell he had neglected because he had thought he would never have reason to enter the deep sea, but he had never imagined he would end up using it in a place like this. He carefully opened his bag, picked up one of the pieces of anomalous flesh floating inside, and smeared it messily over the magic circle.
“The sea is your embrace, so I beseech you, hold me gently.”
The moment he recited the incantation, the sensation crushing down on his body vanished as if it had been a lie. Ian breathed out, closed his bag, and gathered his thoughts while holding the grimoire.
If he had been in the middle of drowning, he would have swum up to the surface without a second thought, but thanks to magic, there was nothing especially uncomfortable for the time being. At most, his vision was slightly blurry and his ears felt muffled. He had more than enough leeway to organize his thoughts.
‘Like a spatial anomaly, is this another world too?’
Theme parks, libraries, general hospitals, school ghost stories, and so on. Spatial anomalies formed in various shapes.
Their origins were all different, but they were the same in that they were reverse worlds divorced from reality. This place was probably no different.
‘Even if I was transferred here through the grimoire as a medium, it isn’t strange. The methods of entering spatial anomalies were all bizarre to begin with.’
Gurgle.
A fish swam near Ian. The moment it came into contact with the black seawater flowing out, it grotesquely twisted and evolved into a monster with four maws.
Where scales should have been, a carapace grew, and inside its mouths, thousands of awl-like teeth clung together.
Evolution, or perhaps mutation, unfolding in real time. The fish that had come into contact with the Outer Sea glanced sidelong at Ian, then swam down into the depths of the ocean. In the dark deep sea, unknown gleams of eyes repeatedly bloomed and vanished.
“…….”
Dagon.
Originally a being from Mesopotamian mythology, but in the present day, distorted into a divine entity belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos. Though its form varied depending on the medium, it always lived in the sea.
And when it came to the sea, there was one god Ian knew very well. He slowly stroked the grimoire in his grasp and narrowed his eyes.
If this place really was a spatial anomaly, eliminating it was actually not especially difficult. If he simply scattered a single Forerunner here, it would disappear on its own.
But that did not mean he could use the Forerunner like a deus ex machina. At the art museum, he had been able to summon it because there had been a definite method of escape, but that was not the case here. If he summoned it carelessly and failed to escape within the time limit, he would simply die. Then he would open his eyes blankly beside the master of the Outer Sea.
[Woong!]
The grimoire, having read Ian’s thoughts, vibrated brightly and slapped itself against his cheek. Ian smiled bitterly and pulled it away.
“I’m not going. If you want to come, you come here. I’ve already decided the wedding venue will be Earth.”
[Woooong!!!]
The grimoire cried as though dissatisfied.
He ignored it. Ian tucked the grimoire into his coat, then summoned the other grimoires as well and placed them inside his bag.
The two grimoires rocked left and right as if displeased by the sea, but soon quietly entered the bag.
“……Let’s go up first.”
He lowered his head slightly.
A dark sea. All he could see were wriggling fish and a deep ocean whose bottom was nowhere in sight. There were no special structures, nor any sign of Kim Yul.
‘Swimming through the sea to search for Kim Yul is practically nonsense. If I had gotten some of Kim Yul’s blood in advance, maybe, but without knowing the exact location, blindly searching the sea is meaningless.’
The sea was vast. Excessively vast, even. And since this was a world created by an Outer God called Dagon, there was a high possibility that it was even wider than Earth’s seas.
Wandering around such a place without a single trace? He would surely collapse from exhaustion before finding Kim Yul.
So first, he needed to check above the surface and see whether there was any land nearby. If there wasn’t, it would not be too late to think of another method then.
‘Someone of Kim Yul’s level should be able to take care of himself well enough. There’s no need to rush.’
Having organized his thoughts, Ian swam up toward the surface. When he stuck his head out, a bright sky welcomed him.
A clear day without a single cloud. Seagulls leisurely flew through the sky, and the sun generously scattered its light. Ian frowned at the sudden brightness, then narrowed his brow when he saw the silhouette of something far away.
“……A ship?”
It was a ship.
A huge vessel commonly called a steamship was sailing over the sea.
It did not seem to be…… a ghost ship. It was far away, so he could not see clearly, but there were several human figures running about on the steamship. They were all living people.
They were probably anomalies inhabiting the inside of this space. Anomalies that took human form were fairly common, so it was not particularly surprising. Even in the school ghost story, hadn’t every student and teacher been in a state no different from anomalies?
Whether they had originally been human or not was not especially important. All that mattered was what state they were in now. Ian exhaled and turned his head in the direction the steamship was heading.
“…….”
There stood a shabby harbor city, all alone.
It was not modern in appearance. Rather, it looked at least a century earlier. Similar to the nineteenth or early twentieth century.
Shabbily dressed citizens carried fish, while people who seemed to be of relatively high status wore suits and directed the others.
An empty, open sea. A small island-like harbor city placed at its center. At the sight of it, which could practically be considered a nation, Ian let out a hollow laugh and tilted his head.
“What a damned mess. Isn’t this the perfect country to destroy itself?”
A country surrounded on all sides by sea, whose main industry was fishing, and which was not even large. By common sense, it would not be strange if such a place had perished long ago, but the exterior of the harbor was quite intact. Aside from the fact that things resembling Dagon’s symbol were scattered everywhere.
‘……Is this where Dagon’s followers live? Or are they simply people who were dragged here?’
Either way, they would clearly not be friendly toward Ian. He breathed out and slowly swam underwater toward the city.
Fortunately, the city was not far, so he was able to arrive quickly. The fact that he could breathe underwater made swimming a little more comfortable, which helped.
Ian glanced up at the emerald-shining surface, then confirmed the harbor pillars that extended all the way down into the deep sea where the bottom could not be seen, and clicked his tongue.
He had wondered, but as expected, this was a place where common sense did not apply.
Not only was there no way pillars for forming a pier should be driven all the way into the deep sea, but it was also absurd by common sense for the ocean clinging right to an island to boast a depth on the level of the Mariana Trench from the very beginning. If Earth’s scientists had seen it, they would have clutched their heads and screamed.
‘Should I just crush it as it is? Or should I at least try talking, just in case?’
Ian thought quietly underwater, then decided to speak with the people first. Since there was a chance he might gain even a little information about Kim Yul or about escaping, it did not seem bad to attempt at least the bare minimum of communication.
……Splash.
Having organized his thoughts, he poked his head out into the space where ships docked.
“Huh?”
At that moment, a man who had been standing still and checking the fishing boats coming in spotted Ian. Ian swept back his wet hair and looked up at him.
“…….”
“……What the fuck. Is that a person?”
A thick curse flowed from the man’s mouth. Ian quickly chose what to say, then shouted loudly with a brazen expression.
“I have come in response to Lord Dagon’s call! Bring forth honey, milk, and meat for me!”
Paaang!!
As a bit of performance, Ian waved the grimoire around beneath the sea. Then the Outer Sea flowing from within the grimoire spread like a plague, dyeing the surface black.
It was a color that seemed capable of driving one mad if looked at directly. The man’s pupils trembled as though he were hallucinating red eyes rising above the blackened sea.
“A, aaaaah……!!”
“Know your place, ignorant human. My time and your time are not the same, and thus know that my mercy and your mercy are likewise not the same.”
“Uweeeek!!”
As Ian continued speaking, the man vomited a gush of blood. It was a reaction beyond his expectations, but Ian swallowed his surprise inwardly and tilted his head expressionlessly.
“Clear the way.”
“Kh, hrr…… hrrr……!”
The man’s hands and feet trembled violently. As he did, he touched the rolled-up ladder and let it unfurl. Ian stared silently at the man for a moment, then put away the grimoire and climbed the ladder onto the harbor himself.
Tap.
The moment he set foot on land, a familiar sense of fulfillment rose through his body. Ian let out a long sigh of relief, then looked back at the man, who had calmed down somewhat.
“A-Apostle…….”
The man could not even look up at Ian. Instead, he knelt and bowed his head deeply.
It was not only him. Dozens of people who had seen what Ian had done in the sea all knelt toward him at once, their bodies trembling.
“O Apostle…….”
“Proxy of Him…….”
“Son of the Sea…….”
Murmuring voices came from all around. Some prayed, and some slammed their foreheads against the ground again and again. The blood that flowed seeped into the floor pattern shaped like Dagon’s head and vanished without a trace.
Being worshipped by so many people did not feel particularly bad, but at the very least, it was not an atmosphere suited for conversation.
So the moment he opened his mouth to give some order or another, someone came running over in a fluster from afar. Ian turned his head toward her.
A woman bloated with fat. Incongruously dressed in a nun’s habit, she bent her waist at a right angle before Ian and shouted loudly.
“I-I apologize for the commotion, Son of the Sea! We are truly sorry that we were unprepared for your sudden visit!”
“Are you saying you are displeased that I came?”
“N-No! Absolutely not! Our glorious nation of the sea is sincerely delighted by the Apostle’s visit!”
The nun blurted out in a panic. Ian tapped the grimoire with his hand.
“How are you certain I am an apostle? Though it is odd for me to say this, if I were you, I would have doubted my existence first.”
“Please do not say such a thing. How could one who wields such immense power not be His apostle? The moment you revealed yourself, twenty-five of our priests died at the same time. All of them were normally people of exceptionally high divine power. Fortunately, I did not die, but as you can see…….”
The nun slightly lifted her abdomen. Between the pieces of flesh that were not merely rotting but melting away, a glimpse of the layer of fat beneath could be seen.
“Since it was enough to affect even me, your identity has effectively been proven, Apostle. So please withdraw those words that seem to doubt our loyalty.”
Even as pieces of her flesh were falling away in real time, the nun bowed her head without the slightest sign of pain. Ian stared down at her for a moment, then turned his gaze away.
“I shall accept your faith. Dagon will bless your lives.”
“Ahh, thank you, thank you……!”
“The preamble has gone on long enough. I have words for the ruler of this city. They are His message. Guide me there quickly.”
Ian spoke. The nun wiped away the tears running down her face and smiled brightly.
“Understood. Please follow me.”
And so they did.
Click, clack.
Ian walked a little distance behind the nun leading the way. Countless people living in the small city had come out onto the streets and prostrated themselves before him.
“Mayoursinsdissolveintotheseaandvanishandmayourlivesbeabundantㅡ”
“Forgiveusoursinsmayhungerdisappearandmaytensofthousandsofmenandwomenoldandyoungchildrenblesstheirlivesㅡ”
“YourlovetouchesourbelliesandmeltsourstomachssothatImayreturntotheseaandbecomeonewithyouㅡ”
They muttered rapidly in a language he could not even understand.
“…….”
A chill ran down Ian’s spine at the instinctive revulsion he felt. But he did not show it. With an expressionless face, he walked straight ahead, lightly flicking the grimoire.
Before long, Ian and the nun arrived before a cathedral.
A Gothic cathedral.
Ian did not have any particular expertise in such matters, but at the very least, he could tell that the building before him was enormous enough to resemble Notre-Dame.
“The abundance of the sea shall fill our bellies.”
The nun recited a prayer before the cathedral and entered without hesitation. Ian followed after her.
Crunch! Crack! Rip!
From all directions came the sounds of something being crushed and torn apart, like hymns. When he glanced to the side, he saw priests processing offerings that looked half human and half fish. The moment their eyes met Ian’s, they vomited a gush of blood, then immediately dropped to their knees and trembled all over.
“…….”
Whether they truly thought he was an apostle, or whether it was because they had seen the Deep Sea Travelogue, he did not know. Either way, it did not matter much. It was only right to make use of their goodwill for now.
How much time had passed after he thought that?
After they passed through a corridor whose entire walls were adorned with stained glass, a narrow terrace came into view.
And atop it, a woman in a revealing dress and a black veil was gazing out over the sea beyond the terrace, humming to herself.
“Hmmm~”
A sweet voice.
At the same time, it was a voice familiar to Ian.
“……Hah.”
A hollow laugh slipped unconsciously from his mouth. The nun glanced at him, then turned her head toward the woman with a gentle smile.
“Saintess. Lord Dagon has sent us an apostle. He says he bears a message from Lord Dagon.”
“Hmm? Lord Dagon did?”
Saintess.
The woman called by that title stopped humming and slowly turned around. Ian frowned when he saw her face.
Unkempt black hair, left wild without care. Black eyes that resembled the deep sea. A decadent air that could not be erased despite what looked like a little makeup. Dark circles.
“He didn’t tell me anything separately…… But, well, He’s always been willful. That can happen.”
Kim Yul.
She turned her head toward Ian. Then her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Oh my.”
“…….”
“How could someone so perfectly to my taste come to me like this…… As expected of Lord Dagon…… To send me someone to whom I can offer my maidenhood like this…….”
She cleared her throat, then subtly composed her posture and smiled faintly.
“Hello, Apostle. I am the leader of the Order and its Saintess. My name is Kim Yul. It’s nice to meet you.”
“…….”
“Perhaps Lord Dagon wishes for us to be married? Don’t worry. I’ll accept. Ah, for the record, I’ve never even held hands with a man before, you know? Hehe. Don’t you think I have considerable value as a woman?”
There was not a single trace of life in her eyes. No matter how one looked at her, she was under mind control.
And yet the Kim Yul before him was so exactly like the Kim Yul Ian knew that, without thinking, he let out a small laugh.
“Ah, you smiled. I knew it! You like me too, don’t you, Apostle? Hm? Don’t you?”
Kim Yul poked his cheek with a finger and giggled.