“I will be outside. Then, may the two of you have a reverent conversation.”
Creak, thud.
The nun bowed to Ian and Gim Yul, then went out. So only the two of them were left in the room.
The office with a view of the sea. Far away, on the sea surface, something like a blackened anglerfish briefly poked its head out and disappeared. Where its teeth should be, humans praying with clasped hands were densely packed; on its tongue, someone’s limbs were attached. As a bonus, newborn babies’ legs were attached where its tail should be.
No matter how you looked at it, it was not the appearance of a normal fish.
Ian clicked his tongue, smelling the sea breeze mixed with the scent of blood, and sat opposite Gim Yul. She had been fixating her gaze only on Ian since earlier.
“…….”
The boundary between iris and pupil was blurry. There was no vitality.
The original Gim Yul didn’t have particularly lively eyes either, but at least she gave off the feeling of a living person. Now, not at all.
Eyes of a corpse. Though she was alive, breathing, and moving her body, the current Gim Yul was essentially no different from a corpse. What controlled her brain was not her own will, but Dagon’s voice.
Erasing wasn’t difficult. Besides granting physical death, Ian could sufficiently manipulate a human’s mind. He just didn’t prefer it because it was more troublesome and bothersome than killing directly.
He had intended to do the same this time, but seeing Gim Yul’s condition, he thought it would be better to postpone immediately summoning a creature of the Outer Sea. Fixing her mind first was the priority. Thinking so, Ian fiddled with the lantern hanging at his waist. The elegant silver lantern sparkled in the sunlight.
“She called you a saint?”
“Yes! I’m the proud saint of Lord Dagon! I heard that I have the highest compatibility! Ehehe, isn’t it amazing?”
Gim Yul smiled brightly and stretched her hand into the void. Then a turquoise grimoire appeared with bubbles.
“…….”
The Embrace of Dagon and the Sea.
It stared at Ian and distorted its cover. It was an expression as if it didn’t know why he was here.
‘Was it not intentional?’
Since it had blatantly scattered seawater, he thought it had intentionally transferred him, but looking at its reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case. It seemed he had been swept along.
‘It might be that I was forcibly brought here due to the peculiarity of the sea, or the Outer Gods wanting Dagon’s death, or it might just be a coincidence…’
The reason didn’t matter. What was important was that Dagon hadn’t anticipated his presence, and there was more than enough possibility that it would act as a variable. Ian wiped the twitching corner of his mouth and tapped his thigh with his fingers.
The situation wasn’t flowing too badly.
Seeing that Dagon wasn’t showing himself directly, it seemed certain that he too was under some constraint, and thanks to that, he had gained a little leeway.
Though it was a leeway that wouldn’t last long, at least it was enough to talk with Gim Yul and dig out information. There was no need to fix her mind immediately.
He revised his plan. Instead of knocking her head around without asking, Ian pretended to be a true apostle of Dagon, putting on airs and leaning forward.
“May His blessing cover our flesh. May a single fin guide our path.”
“Wow… what a wonderful sentence! Is it a new doctrine? I’ve never been taught this prayer by Lord Dagon!”
“Something like that. Engrave it in your mind. More importantly, you’ve been saying things like ‘He told me’ since earlier, is there a way to directly communicate with Him? For a mere human?”
“Yes! If you pray while submerged in the prayer room, Lord Dagon conveys His voice directly through the water! Don’t you, an apostle, need such a procedure?”
“I don’t need it. I live by His side. Rather, it’s so talkative that it’s almost annoying.”
Ian leaned back against the chair with a smug face. Gim Yul burst out in admiration, “Ohh…”, and Dagon’s grimoire trembled.
[How dare a presumptuous worm like you spout such nonsense…!]
A voice flowed from the grimoire. Gim Yul flinched, and Ian summoned the Deep Sea Travelogue with a cold expression and tapped it.
…Crack.
Then, in an instant, the entire office was covered in black shadow. Everything forming the ink-black was droplets of the Outer Sea.
…Gurgle.
Over the Outer Sea’s surface that had encroached on the space, someone’s head briefly appeared.
There was no face. Instead, a maw stretching from jaw to crown gaped open, searching for prey, and blood-red eyes split into hundreds before returning to one.
The eyes with blackened sclera lingered for a few more seconds before vanishing silently. The same with the mouth and face. As if they had never existed from the start, only black seawater wriggled on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some of it clung to Ian’s shoe and cried, “Daddy…”
[……!]
Dagon’s grimoire vibrated.
It wasn’t a vibration to convey something. It was a physiological reaction due to instinctive fear.
When it had faced the Touch of Re-creation before its eyes, it had spoken its piece articulately, but now, witnessing a grimoire of the same type, it couldn’t move. It was proof that the Deep Sea Travelogue was far superior to Dagon’s grimoire in both rank and compatibility.
“Hmm.”
Ian narrowed his eyes and stared at the grimoire, then closed his eyes and tapped it once more.
Then the office regained its color. The black seawater was sucked into the grimoire as if absorbed, and the fish inside the turquoise grimoire’s cover clattered its teeth.
“Uweeeeek.”
Gim Yul vomited blood.
She had been motionless until just now, but as soon as the Outer God’s aura vanished, she clutched her stomach and groaned in pain.
“Ugh, ughha… urp, gurgle, krheu…”
Even at a glance, she wasn’t in a normal state. Ian watched her and hesitated for a moment, then sighed and took out a potion from his pocket.
“Drink. It’ll help a bit.”
A recovery potion made by the Cartel.
It was an item with side effects of a dry throat and stomach cramps after the effect wore off, but it could perfectly heal internal injuries.
Without much suspicion, Gim Yul took the potion with a pale face and gulped it down.
“……Pwah.”
The glass bottle filled with blue liquid was emptied in an instant. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked, and Gim Yul looked up at Ian with a slightly more relaxed expression.
“Ugh… as expected, you’re amazing… I don’t know what you did, but suddenly I felt like my mind was being torn apart… my organs were ripped too…”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, do you know when Lord Dagon is scheduled to descend here?”
Ian casually broached the subject. Gim Yul’s possible answers were only two.
Either Dagon was really scheduled to descend, so she would tell Ian the date, or she would react as if she didn’t know.
If she didn’t know, Ian had no other choice. First, he would knock her head around to bring her back to her senses, then establish the next plan. Or he could recite the summoning ritual to call Dagon himself.
All Cthulhu-related grimoires have summoning rituals related to their respective authors or associated entities.
The High Priest calls upon Shud M’ell, the Necronomicon calls upon Yog-Sothoth, the King in Yellow calls upon Hastur.
Likewise, Dagon’s grimoire would be able to summon Dagon.
It would take some time and require sacrifices and various conditions, but to definitely summon Dagon, he had to bear it.
But if Dagon’s descent was already scheduled.
Then there was no need for separate preparation. He just had to wait quietly until the bastard showed himself.
‘Personally, I hope there’s a schedule.’
Ian thought so and waited for Gim Yul to speak.
“Umm…”
She let out a groan and tapped her lips with her fingers as if recalling a memory.
1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds. Finally, after 4 seconds, she let out an “Ah” and lightly clapped her hands.
“It’s about time He comes. Not only do we have to offer sacrifices, but we also have to perform the saint’s ceremony. We need to open a passage to the outside to create an environment where Lord Dagon can be much more active, and we also need to replenish ‘food’ from outside. Mm! Thinking about it, there’s so much to do. Ugh, I want to rest.”
“…Not bad. When exactly is the descent?”
“Probably July 23rd. Today is July… what day is it.”
Gim Yul made an awkward face and picked up the calendar on the table.
July.
Reality had just passed May, but time here had already far passed July. It meant the flow of time inside and outside wasn’t the same.
“Ah, today is the 22nd.”
Gim Yul smiled brightly, still holding the calendar. Ian also smiled slyly.
“So it’s tomorrow.”
“Yes! It’s tomorrow! But didn’t you know either, apostle?”
“No, I was testing you. Of course I knew He was coming… Hmm, never mind. If it’s tomorrow, there’s no need to keep up the act.”
“Huh? What act?”
At Ian’s murmur, Gim Yul tilted her head. Instead of answering, Ian clamped her mouth shut with his hand and pushed her down onto the sofa as if pouncing.
“Uwup?!”
At the sudden forceful action, Gim Yul’s eyes widened. Regardless, Ian looked down at her with a cold expression and pressed down on her head.
A strong pressure was felt on her lips and the back of her head. Out of instinctive fear, Gim Yul flailed her limbs, but Ian deflected them and grabbed both her wrists, pinning them above her head.
“Uwup! Ugh! Ugeuk!”
“Stay still. I’m trying to fix you.”
Ian climbed on top of Gim Yul. Then he quickly moved his hand and drew the tomahawk from inside his coat.
“What are you doing-!”
Shing.
Before Gim Yul’s cry could continue, Ian brought the blade of the axe right in front of her eyes.
Gim Yul flinched at the axe that gave off a faint scent of blood.
“Shh.”
Ian tilted his head and whispered in her ear.
“It’s my first time too, so it might hurt a little, but it’s for your sake, so don’t struggle. If you keep resisting, I won’t have a choice.”
“……You.”
“I’ve been pretending not to notice, but hearing you speak formally to me feels really strange.”
Ian chuckled and put the axe blade between her teeth. Gim Yul resisted briefly, but when Ian’s grip on her wrists tightened, she obediently opened her mouth.
“Good. Well done. If you just do as I say, it won’t hurt much, so don’t worry. A little pain is unavoidable.”
“…….”
“Then let’s begin.”
Ian lightly loosened his wrist, placed the grimoire near Gim Yul’s head, and bit his finger slightly. Gim Yul looked up at him and panted heavily.
“Huff… huff… haa…”
It was a breath too sweet and sticky to be a reaction from fear. Ian glanced at her flushed cheeks and slightly parted legs and let out a hollow laugh.
“…That’s not what I’m doing. I’m going to bring you back to your senses and grab that bastard Dagon’s main body and kill him.”
“Uwup! Uu!”
At Ian’s words, Gim Yul showed blatant disappointment.
Ian shook his head.
“You little shit, you’re not actually mind-controlled, are you.”
*
Creeeak.
The firmly closed front door of the house was opened, and three men and women slowly entered.
“If you move one step to the right there, a trap will activate. It’s better to go around through the yard even if it takes a bit longer.”
“Hoo, this is why I hate entering a wizard’s house. Why do they install so many traps so gloomily?”
“Preparing for intruders is the right thing. It’s not gloomy, it’s smart.”
“Haneul, whose side are you on? Ours or the wizard’s?!”
“Ian’s side.”
“Enough chatter. Seeing that there’s absolutely no sign of anyone inside, it’s certain no one is here. So we’ll grab the items that give off an ether reaction and quickly flee before the owner returns. Follow me.”
The only man in the group, Jonas, said so and led the way. Greta and Haneul followed behind.
“Huu, leaving a grimoire behind. We’re lucky. He probably planned to summon it later, right? With traps laid all over the house, he wouldn’t have worried about theft.”
“Don’t get too excited. There might not be a grimoire.”
“Nei, nei. Got it.”
Greta answered slyly, and Jonas clicked his tongue.
“…Huh?”
Haneul had been quietly following behind them when she smelled a familiar scent and stopped dead. The two turned to look at her.
“What is it? Do you sense something?”
“Haneul?”
“…….”
Haneul didn’t answer. Instead, she repeatedly sniffed the air and the scent on her sleeve.
For a long while.
“…Ah.”
A radiant smile bloomed on her face.
“It’s Ian’s scent…!”