Chapter 71
“…….”
By the grace of the Great One.
There was no need to even wonder who the Great One he was talking about was. Ian stared at him blankly, pipe tobacco in his mouth, dragged over a half-broken chair, sat down, and took out a cigarette.
Sizzle.
With practiced ease, he lit it, and acrid smoke rose into the air. The captain snickered at the sight.
“Calmer than I expected. Think you’ve already got me in the bag?”
Ian didn’t answer. Instead, he examined the man’s appearance in detail.
Judging by the eye patch, he seemed to be one-eyed. Blood stained the cluster of blue tentacles that had pierced through his elbows, and another person’s head was jammed into his shoulder like a stake. Worms and blood writhed inside their gaping mouths.
Whether he had once been human and ended up like that, or had been born that way, frankly, Ian didn’t care.
Whatever the case, it was clear his condition was abnormal. Ian pinched the cigarette between his fingers and slowly spoke.
“Are you part of the cult?”
“My glorious faith. The Crawling Chaos, the One Who Howls in the Dark, the God of the Blood-Soaked Tongue, and so on. He is called by many names, but to me He is simply the absolute god I must praise.”
The captain answered as he stuffed fresh tobacco into his pipe.
“He grants us the power to rule the world. A magician like you, the Administration that twists the world’s rules, and the Vatican that believes in a false god. He gives us the power to crush all of them.”
“…….”
“So how could I ever not worship Him?”
“Why did you seize this cruise ship?”
Ian didn’t bother discussing religion with him. What mattered to him was the connection between the mystery blanketing the cruise and the cult.
The captain didn’t seem interested in a deep theological debate with an apostate either, so he shrugged and looked out the window.
“What you’re probably guessing is right.”
“…….”
“A giant altar. We sacrifice the people aboard the cruise one by one and conduct a ritual to summon a god as an offering. Bringing light to the world is my mission, the duty bestowed upon me.”
“A fanatic.”
“I’m devout.”
The captain chuckled and blew smoke into the air. Ian leaned forward slightly.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t create this space either. We merely used an existing mystery. According to the one who supplied it, the mystery is called ‘Illegal Copy USB.’ Sacrificing dozens of humans makes it possible to turn a space you want into something like a game.”
“…….”
Turning reality into a game...
It was probably because of that ability that the status window had appeared and the mental domination called a role had been forcibly imposed.
The game was probably Lovecraftian in genre. There were too many strange points for it to be just a simple detective game. The tentacles and worms running around the deck were one thing; the presence he felt beneath the sea was another.
Ian didn’t have any ability like fantasy protagonists do—sensing killing intent or feeling eyes on him—but he could sense the grimoire’s will.
[…….]
Deep-Sea Chronicle.
This grimoire, written by the lord of the Outer Sea and originating from the sea itself, was itching to tear apart whatever was beneath the water right now.
There was no vicious killing intent or hatred. It was simply the ordinary feeling of wanting to kill the disgusting bug that had invaded its territory.
The Hand of Re-Creation stayed still, but that didn’t mean it was mocking Deep-Sea Chronicle’s attitude. It meant it shared a similar thought.
“…….”
Based on everything up to now, grimoires didn’t seem to react much to aberrations or mysteries. At the hospital alone, there had been a fairly powerful aberration called the Director, but the grimoires hadn’t paid him any mind at all. They had shown no reaction whatsoever.
But now they were reacting. That could only mean one thing.
The being under the sea was powerful enough to be irritating even to grimoires.
It probably wasn’t an ordinary mystery. Even if it was a being derived from the mystery called ‘Illegal Copy USB,’ its strength would likely be enough to easily outclass the Director.
Whatever it was, it was still something that had to die. If killing the captain didn’t end the situation, then in the end Ian would have to deal with it too.
He wasn’t worried.
Naturally. One of the grimoires he possessed specialized in underwater environments—what was there to worry about?
He didn’t know what exactly was lurking beneath the sea, but at the very least it was probably weaker than the summon recorded in Deep-Sea Chronicle. Killing it wouldn’t be difficult.
So for now, he needed to focus only on the captain.
Ian pinched the cigarette he’d smoked down to the butt between his fingers and flicked it toward him. The butt flew, scattering ash, and stuck to the captain’s beard before dropping off.
“Oh dear.”
It was an insulting gesture, but the captain laughed without the least hint of irritation and picked up the fallen butt, bringing it to his mouth.
Crunch!
Along with the sound of flesh being crushed, blood seeped from between his lips. The foul smell of blood billowed out, and Ian grimaced and aimed his revolver at him. The captain chuckled and raised both hands.
“Sorry. I’ve got rather a lot of tongues, you see. Whenever I chew something like this, I can’t help but chew my tongue too.”
“……Why are you picking that up and eating it?”
“I was just curious what kind of cigarette someone under another Great One’s grace would smoke.”
“……What?”
“It’s a joke. I meant nothing by it. I just get the urge to eat whatever I see.”
The captain slowly rose to his feet.
Only then did Ian notice that he had three legs. Two ordinary legs stained red, and one living leg protruding from his tailbone. From the maw at its tip, a long tongue crawled out and pointed at Ian like a spear.
“…….”
Ian exchanged a glance with the captain for a moment, then stood up, recreated the broken chair, and gripped it like a dagger as he shook the blood off his hand.
“You’ve got a lot of information to cough up.”
Bang! Bang!
Ian shot and shattered the window inside the wheelhouse. Glass shards sprayed everywhere, widening the space available for battle. The amount of pooled seawater increased a little more.
“I want the name of the provider who gave you that mystery. And I want the cult’s structure too. You’re going to spill it all.”
“That won’t be easy.”
Crack.
The captain’s arm split vertically, and a bright red tongue shot out from inside. Red flesh crawled out of his gaping mouth, writhing like maggots. In an instant, his face was covered by a tongue smeared with saliva and blood.
“I’ve dragged this out long enough. So let me make one proposal too.”
He said while tearing at his own neck and pulling out the hardened tongue.
“Have you any intention of joining our cult?”
“…….”
“Someone of your caliber is always welcome. Since you’re favored by the Great Ones, receiving our miracles should be easy for you. You might even become an apostle. You’d gain an intangible blade capable of bewitching others through speech and killing them with nothing but your voice. You could do it. I can even write you a recommendation.”
“……Mm.”
“What do you think?”
The captain asked, licking his lips. Ian pretended to think in silence for a moment, then grinned.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Figured you’d say that.”
The captain grinned back and stomped hard on the floor.
KRAAANG!!!
Clusters of living tentacles shot up like spears from the wheelhouse floor and struck Ian’s body. A heavy thud rang out as they pierced his coat, and before Ian could react, the charging captain slammed into him.
Kuuung!
Ian’s body was sent flying and smashed into the wall. A thunderous crash erupted, and dust and sea mist spread thickly. The captain stared at where he’d been flung and smirked.
That was enough force to bring down a concrete wall with ease. No matter how skilled a magician he was, he couldn’t have come out unscathed after taking that hit. Even if it hadn’t killed him, it should have left him half-dead.
“So why put a magician on the front line?”
The captain laughed as he put the pipe back in his mouth.
“Don’t worry. Even if you die, I’ll pluck out your tongue and offer it as a sacrifice. Ah, and I’ll take the grimoires you have too. They’re cursed objects, so I’m sure He’ll like it if I offer them.”
“…….”
“No answer. Dead?”
The captain scratched his head, casually sweeping away the dust with his hand as he stood before the shattered wall. Then he clicked his tongue at Ian’s slumped head below.
“You’re dead. You put on a hell of a front, but in the end were you just a worm?”
Muttering to himself, he crouched down, then grabbed Ian by the hair and lifted his head to pull out Ian’s tongue.
“If I handle this quickly and then catch another magician to use as a sacrificial offering for the cult, that’ll be the ideal—”
“Summon.”
The captain’s muttering cut off as Ian’s voice vanished. The captain’s eyes flew wide open, and Ian, who had slowly opened his own eyes, placed a hand on the captain’s shoulder and smiled softly.
“Be reborn.”
CRACK!!
The Hand of Re-Creation, now settled in his hand, blazed as the magic activated. The captain’s shoulder swelled like a balloon and burst, scattering blood, fluids, and flesh in all directions. Soaked in blood in an instant, Ian didn’t flinch and grabbed the revolver he had set down nearby. He unloaded bullets into the man’s head and heart.
Ratatatata!!
Rapid-fire magnum rounds rattled out. Instead of dodging the shots, the captain clenched his teeth and severed his own shoulder before the explosion that had started there could spread to his upper body. The detached arm burst like a balloon in midair, and he roared as he thrust his tongue like a spear toward Ian’s head.
“Ghh!”
He barely dodged it. His cheek was torn open and blood streamed down, and the pain only sharpened his senses.
Ignoring the tongue embedded in the wall, Ian drove a long kitchen knife into the regenerated lower jaw beneath his head.
Squelch!
The gruesome sensation of tearing flesh traveled through his grip.
But perhaps because he’d already gone beyond the bounds of a primate, the captain didn’t die just because a knife had been driven into him.
As expected, Ian abandoned his position without hesitation and slid across the floor. Rather than retrieving the tongue stuck in the wall, the captain cut it free and turned his head toward Ian.
“Huuuuuu……!”
“……Phew.”
Their gazes collided in midair.
The coat, which had been rippling like water under the spell that absorbed impacts, returned to normal. Tossing aside the crushed cigarette pack he’d kept in his inner pocket, Ian grinned.
“This is my first time fighting a humanoid, so don’t die too quickly. I need to gain some experience, after all.”
Blood ran down his cheek to the tip of his chin, then dropped off. Ripples spread across the pooled seawater on the floor, and the captain shouted as he rushed toward him.
The same pattern as before.
As Ian switched grimoires, he hurled the revolver.
Swoooosh……
The seawater pooled at his feet churned as if it had met a predator.