Chapter 34
Cthulhu Cult 3
The two sat in heavy silence.
No sound filled the room except uneven breaths and thoughts raging within their minds.
Thoughts clashed inside Arthur's head like a storm striking earth and sky at the same time.
'Damn everything…
Couldn't they have waited a day or two? Why today of all days?
Damn it… I'm exhausted, truly exhausted.'
Howard raised his gaze toward Arthur and gave him a weary smile that concealed deep anxiety.
"And now… what will we do, Arthur?"
Arthur let out a strained sigh, as though his chest were weighed down by a stone. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them with deliberate calm.
"Alright… we know where they are, we know the location of their headquarters, and today is the appointed day."
He stepped forward, his voice growing firmer.
"I'm certain they'll send nearly all their members to retrieve the clay and perform the incantation by any means necessary."
Then he smiled coldly, without a trace of humor.
"So… we'll strike first.
Why wait? Let's go and smash their heads in until they're dead."
Howard felt a strange sense of relief spread through his chest, as though that simple decision had lifted a long-carried burden. He smiled with reassurance, and the two of them stood to prepare.
Howard began taking out weapons and equipment, then picked up the clay and looked at Arthur.
Arthur smiled in return and took the clay from him.
He intended to place it in the safest place possible… the storage.
But—
unfortunately, and complicating the situation—
The moment he tried to store it, a window appeared before him.
It was not the clear blue he was accustomed to,
but twisted red, emanating an eerie dread.
| This clay contains a portion of the power of the mysterious entity Cthulhu.
You cannot place it in storage.
You cannot destroy or consume it, for it is part of an element possessing absolute cosmic power—pure power that has never been refined. |
Arthur's eyes widened in shock as he saw it.
'Damn it…
If I could just consume it, I'd use the Blood Demon technique on it.
But I can't consume it, can't destroy it, can't even store it.
Then why don't I just go hand it directly to the Cthulhu Cult?
Bastard system…'
Then he paused.
'But… how was Cthulhu's energy placed inside it in the first place?
And how did that strange man manage to do it without dying from terror?
Or is there something else…?'
Doubt began to seep into Arthur's mind, turning into deep and serious contemplation.
'From what I understood… Cthulhu is currently confined within a dimension he cannot break through.
A world was created specifically for him, where he lived and created whatever he wished inside it.
But he could not shatter the barrier or escape that empty dimension.'
'Who is great enough to imprison an entity like Cthulhu?
How was that dimension created? And when?
And how did Cthulhu's energy reach this clay?
Something is missing…
Something is wrong.
I feel it… but I can't grasp it.
All the pieces of the picture have come together… except for one.
What is it? Did I forget it? Or did I never discover it at all?'
Arthur sank into thought, his mind surging violently like a raging flood.
The outside world ceased to exist in that moment.
If a child had come and stabbed him now…
Arthur would not have felt a thing.
That was how deeply he was lost in the sea of thought.
'To begin with… how was Cthulhu able to communicate with humans of this world?
Does the dimension merely prevent him from leaving?
Or can he communicate with other planets and galaxies?
Or has the dimension—'
"Arthuuuur! What are you doing?!"
The shout tore through his thoughts violently.
Arthur opened his eyes abruptly and looked at Howard, whose face had turned pale with terror.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at your hand, Arthur!"
He raised his left hand…
nothing.
Then he raised his right—
And froze in place.
The clay was glowing with a strange light.
A demonic light…
and sacred at the same time.
An unbelievable aura pressed against his chest and disturbed his mind.
He did not understand what was happening.
At the very moment he fully regained awareness—
The light vanished.
It dissipated into the air,
as if nothing had ever happened.
The clay returned to its normal state.
A few seconds later, a window appeared before Arthur's eyes.
| Unconsciously, your body attempted to consume the power of the mysterious entity Cthulhu from the stone.
You nearly lost your body to Cthulhu's power.
Had you not returned to awareness at the last moment,
you would have been completely taken over. |
Arthur set the clay aside, his mind spinning rapidly.
'I was certain… and now I'm completely sure.
Most members of the Cthulhu Cult are under Cthulhu's control.
They are not entirely loyal to him…
but they are controlled.'
Arthur thought further, and finally understood.
'Perhaps there are a few madmen who follow him of their own will…
But the rest—
are tools. And that's why humans of this world were able to obtain a portion of Cthulhu's power and remain alive.
They are not truly alive.
They are merely empty puppets—
shells devoid of any human soul.'
Arthur picked up the clay again and handed it to Howard.
"This stone isn't safe with me.
You carry it."
Howard froze, confused.
"Why, Arthur?"
"First… my body is drawn to the power of Cthulhu inside it.
If it stays with me, my body will unconsciously attempt to consume that power."
"And if that happens…"
He paused for a moment, then said with deadly seriousness,
"I'll turn into a madman… like the rest of the cult members."
"Second… I'll be busy fighting the entire cult.
It's not safe for me to carry it.
The safest place for it… is with you."
Arthur made his decision based on what he had experienced himself.
But—
there was a missing piece in his equation.
A small part…
yet in truth, it was the most important and most dangerous part of Cthulhu's scheme and summoning.
After the two finished their preparations,
they left the house
and headed toward the headquarters of the Cthulhu Cult.
And the wheel of fate…
had begun to turn.
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