Chapter 69
Hitler and Goebbels, huh.
Weren't they the war criminals who once nearly shook the entire continent's balance of power? It was absurd that those bastards had recognized mysteries and even used them.
“Mysteries have been used in every war throughout history. Since when do you think sorcerers have existed?”
Meanwhile, Seoa didn't seem especially surprised. She calmly opened the lid of the bottle she had brought out, dipped a finger into the pure white bone powder, and slowly smeared it over her face.
“......All those absurd incidents recorded in history? They were all the result of magic users, shamans, astrologers, and the like using their power. There was even a huge uproar during the Crusades over the Necronomicon.”
“......Back then, mages were active in the open more often.”
“Exactly. Once the modern era came around, and the Clock Tower and a few other organizations were created, they started moving in the shadows. When information control was a joke, mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
After saying that, Seoa used the bone powder on her face to turn her skin ghostly pale. Not content with that, she pricked her finger and painted her lips red with a little blood.
“......All those absurd incidents recorded in history? They were all the result of magic users, shamans, astrologers, and the like using their power. There was even a huge uproar during the Crusades over the Necronomicon.”
“......Back then, mages were active in the open more often.”
“Exactly. Once the modern era came around, and the Clock Tower and a few other organizations were created, they started moving in the shadows. When information control was a joke, mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
“Exactly. Once the modern era came around, and the Clock Tower and a few other organizations were created, they started moving in the shadows. When information control was a joke, mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
“Exactly. Once the modern era came around, and the Clock Tower and a few other organizations were created, they started moving in the shadows. When information control was a joke, mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
“Exactly. Once the modern era came around, and the Clock Tower and a few other organizations were created, they started moving in the shadows. When information control was a joke, mages were a common sight on battlefields.”
After saying that, Seoa used the bone powder on her face to turn her skin ghostly pale. Not content with that, she pricked her finger and painted her lips red with a little blood.
Seeing her like that, Ian asked with a sour expression.
“More importantly, what have you been doing this whole time?”
“Getting ready to cast magic.”
Seoa answered casually as she took out a pen and drew a magic circle on the table.
“Have you ever heard of a clash of mysteries?”
“......I think I saw something like that in a book. Isn't it the theory that when mysteries of the same type meet, they summon something similar and drain power from both sides?”
The dictionary definition was complicated, but in truth, it wasn't that difficult a concept.
For example, say there's a nasty aberration. A bastard who storms into a convenience store and causes a scene can put on a top-tier performance when facing a part-timer.
But what if the part-timer is also an aberration? What happens when an aberration that smashes heads whenever it dislikes a customer meets an aberration that smashes heads whenever it dislikes a part-timer?
The answer is weakening. When opposing or similar aberrations meet in the same place, both sides grow weaker.
It was a kind of territorial dispute. A fight that continues until one of the two is absorbed. The winning side absorbs the defeated side's concept and grows into a stronger mystery, but the defeated mystery simply vanishes.
It was a method sorcerers who dealt directly with mysteries often used when taming another mystery. Unleash the tamed mystery to weaken another mystery. Either let it devour the other and grow stronger, or seize the weakened mystery and dominate it.
Either way, it was a frequently used method.
However, for Seoa, who wasn't even a mystery mage, it was impossible. She had neither a mystery to summon nor a tamed aberration—so how was she supposed to summon another mystery?
But contrary to Ian's thoughts, her expression was brimming with confidence.
“We're on a cruise ship. That means it still falls under the category of a 'ship.' And there are actually quite a few aberrations related to ships.”
Seoa generously poured bone powder over the magic circle and said as she let blood drip onto it.
“There's the Ship of Theseus, shipwrecks, turtle soup, the curse of the Titanic, and so on. Just counting the big ones gets you this much. If you count the little ones, there are way more. Oh, and there's the kraken too.”
“......Aren't those all literally aberrations? Necromancy wouldn't be able to bring them in, much less lure them here.”
“Right. But there is one famous aberration related to ghosts.”
As Ian was about to ask what it was, he let out a dry laugh at a sudden thought.
“......No way, right?”
“Outlaws of the sea! The fools who lived as pirates and, even after dying, couldn't stop plundering! Evil spirits, aberrations, and a notorious ghost crew that smashed several warships whole during the World Wars!”
Ignoring Ian's words, she grinned and placed her hand over the magic circle.
“Ghost pirate ship! Those bastards will come here to plunder the cruise!”
“I'm losing my mind.”
Ian gripped the grimoire in his hand and shook his head, while Seoa closed her eyes and began to chant.
It was a spell to summon uncontrollable evil spirits. It was usually a dangerous kind of magic that people didn't often use, but she didn't hesitate.
“You who crave blood and flesh. You who are cursed. You who are made of grudges. Come here; I have prepared the banquet you desire. Indulge to your heart's content, feast, and revel in pleasure.”
BWOOOOOOOO!!
From somewhere beyond the window, something like a ship's horn began to sound faintly. The sea currents grew even more violent.
“As priest, shrine maiden, master of mysteries, and the one holding the leash, I command.”
Seoa opened the eyes she had closed and smiled faintly.
“Come. Everything you desire is here.”
The moment the chant ended, the magic circle flared and scattered bone powder in all directions. As soon as Seoa confirmed that the magic had activated, she roughly wiped her face with the tablecloth and shouted,
“Let's go! It's coming!”
“Where are we going, and what are we supposed to do...?”
KWA-AA-AANG!!!
Ian's words were swallowed by the sudden blast. With a sound like a shell slamming into the ship, the cruise rocked, and Ian frowned sharply as he turned to the window.
[Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!]
Far away, beyond the sea fog, the silhouette of a huge sailing ship slowly began to emerge. Beneath banners fluttering in the wind, the blurry shapes of sailors with telescopes and massive sniper rifles came into view.
The sniper rifle in his hands looked anything but ordinary. It wasn't one of those flintlocks commonly used in the Age of Discovery; the bastard had a semiautomatic sniper rifle in his hands. The sleek black lump of metal clicked as it moved.
“This is fucking insane!”
Ian blurted out.
“Why are the weapons modern?!”
Sssshhwoosh-!
With a sound like something slicing through the air, the dining room window shattered and glass fragments scattered everywhere. Ian gritted his teeth and sprinted out of the dining room together with Seoa. She let out a startled yelp and shouted loudly.
“They must've looted them after devouring other ghost ships and warships! Run faster!”
“What about the civilians!”
“I let the ghosts out! They'll guide them to safety!”
“You've got a plan for everything, don't you!”
“I'm a veteran in this line of work!”
KWA-AA-AANG!
Another cannonball struck the cruise ship's hull. Ian staggered, then barely managed to regain his balance.
When he turned his head, he saw the ghost ship that had already come frighteningly close.
A sailing ship made of pitch-black mist. Packed on top of it were all sorts of ghost pirates, gripping modern weapons and old weapons alike as they licked their lips. Some of them were even wearing bulletproof vests and bulletproof helmets pulled down low.
It was nothing like the ghost ship Ian had imagined.
The ghost ship he had pictured was skeletal pirates creaking along with scimitars, flintlocks, and grappling hooks in hand, not those guys strutting around with rifles and RPGs.
Looks like the pirate standards are disgustingly high these days. Ian cursed inwardly and gripped his revolver.
[Kya-ha-ha! Plunder! Murder! Treasure!]
[Kill the women, and kill the men too! Make them all into our crew!]
[What about the child and the old folks, Captain!]
[Throw them into the sea and feed them to the fish! They're useless anyway!]
The rather savage conversation drifted through the air. The pirates threw grappling hooks into the cruise ship's broken windows and climbed aboard, laughing uproariously.
Seoa merely turned her head a little to stare at the pirates illegally boarding the cruise, then shouted loudly.
“Protect the living, and kill those things! That's an order!”
The moment she spoke, ghosts in white mourning clothes began bursting out of the ceiling, walls, and floor. Grim reapers in black hanbok strode forward, and grotesque evil spirits, drenched in blood, laughed madly.
Ghosts clashed with ghosts. Savage screams, gunfire, and shrieks rang out clearly. Seoa wiped away the nosebleed that had leaked out from overusing her magic and turned to Ian.
“Let's split up and find the main body of the cruise ship aberration! I'll go down! You go up!”
“Is it okay for you to go alone?”
Ian said this with the gun pointed behind him. Seoa took out a glass bottle as if to say there was no problem.
“This much is easy to handle! If I find anything, I'll send a signal, so don't die!”
Saying that, she gave Ian's shoulder a light tap and ran toward the stairs. Ian watched her back for a moment, then leapt through the elevator doors just as they arrived.
With a rather noisy clatter, he got into the elevator, pulled out the grimoire, and sprang upright.
At that moment, he sensed a gaze on the back of his head and turned around.
“......”
“.......”
The newlywed couple who had been making out in the elevator since morning were staring at him without blinking.
Ian spotted the long earthworm-like silhouette flashing quickly across their pupils and immediately pulled the trigger.
Bang-! Bang-!
The bullets, which pierced both of their foreheads and blasted out through the backs of their heads, slammed into the wall. The two died before they could even transform, collapsing face-first onto the floor, and blue worms crawled out through the blood.
CRUNCH!
Ian stomped it dead on the spot, then sent a bullet into the leg of a pirate charging from the far end of the corridor and pressed the elevator button.
He placed his hand over the door that had started to close and used magic.
“Be reborn.”
CRACK!
With a ferocious sound, the opening elevator doors fused together as if they had been sealed from the start. A sword stabbed through the closed door, but the elevator rising upward was faster than the blade could be swung.
“Phew....”
Wiping away his sweat, Ian put a cigarette between his lips and lit it. As the hot smoke seeped down his throat and into his lungs, his pounding heart gradually calmed.
The situation had suddenly turned urgent, but he didn't particularly blame Seoa. From the start, he hadn't planned to handle the aberration by the book anyway, and if they were just going to quietly investigate for a few days, rampaging was far better.
Why waste time sitting still and waiting for something to happen?
The man who had lost his memory and died had been alive on day two, only to die the next day. That meant the situation could grow even trickier as time passed.
So finishing everything today in one swift strike wasn't a bad option.
“......”
Ian held a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth, loaded his revolver, and waited for the elevator to stop.
A moment later, with a ding, the elevator came to a halt. He spun the cylinder of the loaded revolver and placed his hand over the elevator door.
As he chanted the familiar spell, the door split open violently to the side. Ian blew out cigarette smoke at the corridor packed with worms, infected survivors, and pirates beyond the open doors.
A cruise ship where those Blood-Tongue Cult bastards or whatever were laying low.
And yet the captain and the rest of the crew still hadn't shown themselves.
If he wanted to ask them something, finding them first was the priority. He shoved the revolver into the holster and extended the Hand of Re-Creation, his lips moving softly.
“I, the Great One's companion, beacon, and servant. Grant me the grace of the Great One and the spear to punish our enemies.”
As he chanted, he smeared pieces of aberration flesh over the grimoire and dripped a little blood onto it. The grimoire began to tremble, emitting a pale white light.
“And thus shall I open the path for you. Great One, please lend me your hand.”
Thud.
The moment the chant ended, the magic-circle materials atop the grimoire evaporated and vanished. In their place appeared a pure white cube.
KEEEEK!
[A living one! Kill it! Kill it!]
Sensing Ian's presence, the aberrations charged at him, but Ian didn't even blink and ordered the cube.
“Open a path.”
[I obey.]
The cube answered in a woman's voice as it flared with light.
Then, transforming into something disc-like, it compressed and sped forward at high speed.
KWA-AAAAA!!
Rushing forward like a gale, it tore apart everything in its path and disassembled and reassembled it. The ones whose limbs and organs had been grotesquely twisted convulsed, then went limp.
[Completed. Erased.]
With the enemy gone, the compressed cube also dispersed into a shower of light.
It was a type of attack magic recorded in the Hand of Re-Creation. It had drawbacks—single-use, it consumed quite a lot of materials, and it caused fatigue every time it was used—but with power like this, it was more than worth it.
Ian smiled in satisfaction and spat out the cigarette he'd been holding.
“Let's go.”
[Humm.]
The grimoire vibrated as if answering Ian's muttered words.
At that moment, the status window switched on by itself and began to change.
[EX. CHAPTER 2 – Shipboard Murder Case]","[Summary: Instead of uncovering the truth behind the murder case, you decided to destroy the cruise ship together with Seoa. And you even dragged in the ridiculous enemy known as pirates. Because of that, the passengers have begun to bear murderous intent toward you. But you ignore them and go off to find the captain. Will you be able to find what you want?]","[ENTER. CHAPTER 3 – The Thing Sleeping Beneath the Sea]","[You begin roaming the ship, looking for the captain and crew. Then a question suddenly occurs to you. Why is there a monster like this on the cruise? What are these worms? Why do they parasitize humans and mutate human bodies? It was perfectly reasonable curiosity. Will you be able to solve it? Oh, you have a feeling this won't be easy.]","A chapter summary and guide stuffed with personal opinions.","Ian stared at them blankly for a moment, then snickered and raised his middle finger.","[......ha.]","The status window vanished, letting out a hollow laugh at his blatant swearing."],