The scene took a sudden, drastic turn.
The green liquid in the basin glowed with an eerie green light, casting its reflection onto her soft, cute face. It made her twisted, wicked smile look all the more hideous. Her smooth, long hair and her crisp, sweet voice instantly became ethereal and unstable, carrying an illusory echo. It was as bizarre as a whisper from the Dreamlands.
The little girl, who had just been soft, delicate, and crying her eyes out, had suddenly become so sinister and hideous. The jarring contrast gave Lynch a jolt that almost stopped his heart.
He was practically scared to tears, okay?
Though he didn't know what she was doing, any brainless idiot could tell such a bizarre change was nothing good. Recovering from his shock, Lynch immediately lunged forward, swinging his cane down toward the little girl.
He had to stop her.
However, just as he got a few steps closer, the doll in the basin suddenly snapped its eyes open. It wore a hideous grin perfectly synchronized with the little girl's. The two girls, one big and one small, opened their mouths together, letting out a bone-chilling laugh from their delicate red lips.
Boom.
The green light in the basin suddenly flared. The illusory glow slammed into the oncoming Lynch as if it had physical form. Lynch felt like he had been hit head-on by a steam locomotive. He flew backward like a cannonball, his back slamming heavily against the cabin wall. Searing pain wracked his entire body, making even breathing exceptionally difficult.
“Giggle, giggle.”
Amidst the little girl's eerie giggling, she had already let go of the doll. Yet, the doll seemed to have come alive. Its feet stepped on the churning green liquid, its body floating on the surface of the water as it stared at Lynch with the same sinister grin.
As they laughed, Lynch glared with fury. He noticed a bizarre shadow emerging within the green liquid, and immediately after, several tentacles reached out from the basin.
The tentacles were extremely thick, yet they somehow squeezed out of the tiny basin. The concepts of big and small became distorted here and now. The sense of cognitive dissonance in his mind made Lynch's chest tighten with irritation, driving him near madness.
In just a brief daze, the tentacles quickly slithered onto the doll, wrapping around it bit by bit. The little girl outside the basin giggled, her hands gently caressing the rim of the basin. Every movement she made stirred the water inside into a greater frenzy.
The doll in the basin also began to move on its own. Standing on the water, it spread its arms to its sides and threw its head back. A hoarse, low chanting echoed from its tiny body.
“La, la, Cthulhu, fhtagn. La, la, Cthulhu, fhtagn.”
“Fhtagn your sister!”
Hearing the familiar chant, Lynch endured the dull pain in his chest, drew his gun, and fired. After six consecutive shots, without even waiting to check the results, he swapped to the flame and acid bullets prepared by Miss Valente and emptied his cylinder once more.
Yet, the little girl only giggled as she rubbed the basin, and the doll in the water continued its chanting.
The twelve bullets, upon entering the range of the green light, slowed down rapidly as if they had penetrated some viscous liquid. They soon ground to a halt, floating gently in midair. In the next instant, a tiny hand pinched one of the bullets.
The doll was moving.
The shadow in the basin and the doll on the water's surface were linked together by the tentacles. At this moment, the doll exuded a distorted, violent pressure that inspired sheer despair. Thick tentacles wriggled and climbed behind its tiny body, taking up almost more than half of the captain's quarters.
“Uncle, go help me find Mommy and Daddy, hehehe...”
Accompanying the crisp, childlike voice, the doll suddenly opened its mouth wide, and a piercing shriek erupted from it. Just as the sound waves shook Lynch so hard he nearly coughed up blood, the tentacles behind it seemed to receive a signal and lashed out, coiling toward him like lightning.
Holy shit, how is a human supposed to deal with this?
Not to mention the tentacles themselves—even the sheer, immense pressure naturally radiating from them made Lynch's entire body go soft. He could barely even lift his cane, only managing to keep from falling by leaning heavily against the wall.
Yet, just as despair filled his heart, a surge of fierce, savage energy erupted from his chest.
Dammit, who are you looking down on?
I am Lynch Levive. I am the neighbor of the crimson moon for tens of thousands of years. I am a transmigrator from my homeland!
“If you want me dead, a little monster like you isn't enough. At least have a few evil gods descend first!”
Spurred by his pride as a transmigrator, the pressure of the bizarre and the distorted was forcibly shattered, and strength flooded back into his body. Lynch roared, throwing himself into a desperate roll, narrowly evading the coiling tentacles at the very last second.
The tentacles slammed violently into the cabin wall, piercing the thick wooden planks as if they were paper. The wood was easily shredded by the tentacles, which then whipped around in midair to pursue Lynch relentlessly.
But Lynch didn't even spare them a second glance. After dodging the tentacles' attack, he flashed an equally hideous grin at the giggling little girl.
Then, he threw the bizarre statue in his hand.
“Did you really think I was clinging to powerful allies for nothing? I have a doll too!”
The statue of the Yellow Apostle, small enough to fit in one hand, was hurled directly at the little girl beside the basin. The green light that had blocked the bullets seemed completely nonexistent before the statue, allowing it to fly straight toward the girl behind it.
The girl's expression changed drastically. She seemed to want to block it, and the tentacles controlled by the doll rushed back at top speed to assist. However, moving now was a step too late. The girl and the basin seemed to possess some sort of attractive force that pulled the statue toward them, causing it to collide at extreme speed.
Thump. Thump.
The very space itself seemed to shudder violently.
The statue, the tentacles, the doll, the girl—everything seemed to freeze in place.
In the next instant, the statue exploded into fragments, and an extremely bizarre mark composed of a ball of light appeared out of thin air where the statue had shattered.
The Yellow Sign—the gaze of the King in Yellow.
A gaze filled with malice radiated from the mark, and countless bizarre, rustling whispers echoed in his ears.
Then, countless streams of light and shadow erupted from the Yellow Sign like brilliant spotlights on a stage, slamming head-on into the pursuing doll and tentacles, tangling fiercely with them in midair.
Hm?
The unexpected turn of events left Lynch stunned. He subconsciously looked toward the girl, who happened to be looking back at him. The smugness and hideousness on her face had long since vanished, replaced by sheer panic. Realizing Lynch was looking at her, she suddenly turned and ran.
Where do you think you're going? You haven't spat out the gemstone yet!
With a flick of his wrist, Lynch's cane transformed into a segmented whip, wrapping accurately around the little girl. With a sudden burst of strength, he dragged her back, locked his arm tightly around her neck, and pressed his pistol against her head.
“Behave, or I'll send you to see your mommy and daddy.”
Yet, the little girl paid no heed to Lynch's pistol. Her eyes were bloodshot as she struggled frantically like a maniac, even bowing her head in a desperate attempt to bite Lynch's arm. For a moment, Lynch was at a loss for what to do.
I'm really going to shoot! Worst case scenario, I'll just go back to the beginning and search again.
He thought ruthlessly in his mind, but he couldn't actually bring himself to do it. As a shut-in transmigrator from a peaceful world, facing a delicate, lovely human-looking little girl—even knowing she was likely a monster—actually pulling the trigger required a great deal of mental struggle. Not to mention, right now...
Boom.
Several large holes were suddenly blasted through the wall leading to the seabed. A few tentacles made of human heads wriggled in, shrouded in gray fog, with several Deep Ones rushing in right behind them.
It seemed the Deep Ones had realized something was wrong and finally came back to help.
Through the holes, a humanoid figure made of writhing meat and tentacles could be seen hot on their heels, though it had failed to stop them.
“Don't move, or I'll shoot right now.”
Holding the little girl tightly, Lynch took a step back against the wall, putting some distance between himself and the intruding Deep Ones and head-monsters. The enemies did indeed stop, confronting Lynch but not daring to draw closer.
He wasn't just blindly trying his luck. In fact, after the events of the last few minutes, he had remembered the information about Deep Ones that Mr. West had shared with him before. It mentioned that a young Deep One was identical to a human from the inside out, only far more beautiful than human children.
Lynch hadn't fully understood what "identical" meant before, but now he realized exactly what kind of creature he was dealing with. Moreover, judging by her ease of access to important locations, she was likely a juvenile Deep One of very high status.
Fortunately, he hadn't fired earlier. Now, he at least had a hostage in hand and room for negotiation. Otherwise, surrounded by so many monsters, thinking he could survive for even a single second would be a complete lack of self-awareness.
The Yellow Apostle outside also noticed the situation here. He didn't attack rashly, instead quietly keeping watch nearby. However, the little girl never stopped struggling, growing increasingly frantic as she shouted at the returning Deep Ones:
“Don't listen to this robber's accomplice's nonsense! Ignore me and kill him! Take our gemstone and go back to the tribe, quick!”
Huh? Who's the robber here? And, “our gemstone”?
“Adults are talking, kids shouldn't interject. Shut up first.” Lynch's heart skipped a beat, a faint sense of unease creeping over him. He tapped the little girl's head with his gun barrel, then turned to the white-haired old Deep One who had come to the rescue. “Let's make things clear first. Don't go pinning the label of 'robber' on people. We didn't rob any merchant ships. Besides, back on the beach, you were the ones who attacked us with dreams first. We didn't do anything to provoke you.”
“What beach? Who attacked you?” the old and young Deep Ones spoke in unison, their voices filled with surprise. “We have an agreement with someone else. We have never set foot on Lande's shores.”
Hm?
Lynch's heart sank. He realized that an invisible hand seemed to be guiding him toward an uncontrollable situation.
Rate on N.U.
