Pop—crackle.
Pop—crackle.
The campfire spit and snapped, the sound sharp in the narrow tunnel.
He had to admit it—fire grease worked surprisingly well for kindling. Even though snow had piled everywhere in the passage, the little space around their fire had already melted clean enough to reveal bare stone beneath.
Nearby, Torrent munched on Rowa Raisins and let out a pleased whinny. Nothing made the steed happier than those dried berries.
Roderika, too, had leaned gently against Torrent's leg, curling up beside him as if the giant warhorse was a warm pillar.
Seeing it, the Tarnished couldn't help picturing Torrent in battle—stomping, kicking, trampling soldiers into paste with casual ease.
Honestly…
A normal soldier took one hoof to the chest and that was the end of him.
And this girl still dared to rest against Torrent like that.
Fortunately, Torrent showed no sign of lashing out. If anything, he looked mildly smug, as if he enjoyed being used as a pillow.
Once everything was settled, the Tarnished opened the group chat.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Everyone, I've dealt with it."
Chika Fujiwara: "Huh? Weren't you at war? That fast? If Hu Tao knew, she'd definitely be really depressed…"
He didn't know what Chika meant by Hu Tao being depressed, but his instincts screamed that it wouldn't lead to anything good.
Best to ignore it.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "It was just a small hassle. Anyway, why were you looking for me?"
"A small hassle…?"
In her classroom, Chika tilted her head at the message.
It was a war, yet he called it a small hassle?
But she didn't dwell on it. After everything she'd seen since joining the chat, even the most ridiculous things no longer shocked her. She wasn't the same Chika Fujiwara she used to be.
Chika Fujiwara: "Okay! It's actually Otto who wanted you—he said he already collected the books you asked for. @Otto Apocalypse."
Otto Apocalypse: "Yes. The books you requested have all been gathered. Shall I send them to you now?"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Sure. Send them now."
A private chat window from Otto popped up in front of him.
A red pouch icon floated there—so this was the "red packet" function.
Curious, he tapped it.
Ding. Successfully received the red packet.
As the system chime sounded, a heap of books appeared out of thin air in front of him—then dropped with a heavy thud.
The pile hit the ground like a small landslide.
Roderika jolted awake.
"…Tarnished?" she murmured sleepily, blinking as she stared at the mound of books now nearly as tall as her line of sight.
"Sorry," he said quietly. "Did I wake you?"
"…No. It's fine." She shook her head, then looked at the books again, confusion and curiosity mixing on her face. "Tarnished… these are…"
"Oh. I'm just curious about a few things. Something to read when I have time."
"Then… do you want me to help?" she offered hesitantly, earnest as always.
"No need. I'll just skim a little. Get some more rest—we still have traveling to do."
"…Alright."
Roderika leaned back against Torrent's leg again and closed her eyes, quickly slipping back into a light sleep.
The Tarnished watched her for a moment, then quietly stored the books away.
It wasn't that he didn't want her help.
If anything, he did.
But if the contents truly matched his suspicions—if these books really pointed toward the same thing he'd been circling around for so long—then the danger wouldn't stop with him.
Roderika would be dragged into it, too.
And the things lurking behind that possibility were not the sort of enemies one survived through bravery alone… even for him, even now, there was no absolute certainty he could stand against them.
Especially that existence spoken of only through the Finger Reader Crone's fractured words—the Greater Will.
The same force that had once cast down Astel, Naturalborn of the Void to annihilate an Eternal City; the same will that had bound Marika within the Erdtree to keep the remaining Order turning, grinding on like a machine that could not be allowed to stop.
Just thinking about it made his jaw tighten.
Right then, the main chat window began scrolling again.
Chika Fujiwara: "@Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife, Tarnished, are you interested in myths and legends?"
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Not really. I just saw something in what you call the Cthulhu Mythos that might be connected to my world."
He didn't have to guess where the question came from—Chika had probably asked Otto already.
Still, it wasn't anything worth hiding.
Chika Fujiwara: "Wait—Cthulhu Mythos is connected to your world?!"
Gilgamesh, the Oldest King: "Oh? Could it be that the newcomer, like me, has had his mighty deeds passed down and sung by future generations?"
On his throne, Gilgamesh looked delighted.
Even if parts of The Epic of Gilgamesh weren't entirely accurate—and even if it included a few embarrassing sections—being remembered at all was a pleasure. Especially when that record came from Chika's world.
His pride swelled so quickly that he threw his head back and laughed, no longer even reading the chat.
Below the throne, Siduri could only rub her forehead and sigh.
Wonderful. Her king was having one of his episodes again from overwork.
What was she supposed to do now?
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Uh… not like that. It's more that some creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos resemble monsters I've seen here."
Chika Fujiwara: "Then can you tell us? Maybe I can help!"
Yukari Yakumo: "My, that's true. Chika is quite clever—she even knows an absurd amount about Gilgamesh back in his Age of Gods, and she's surprisingly well-read on youkai lore too."
It was largely thanks to Chika that Yukari had been able to navigate her own world's shifting landscape more smoothly, even forming a sizable faction.
Northern Northern Northern: "Agreed.jpg"
Chika Fujiwara: "Hehe. My family won't let me play video games and stuff, so when I'm bored, I end up reading about things like this."
Sōsuke Aizen: "Indeed. Chika is very intelligent. And if you share what you know, we can think through it together."
The Tarnished stared at the screen for a second, then exhaled.
Tarnished Who Wants to Save His Wife: "Alright. If you really want to know… I'll tell you."
So he did.
He spoke about Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. About the Omen. About the grotesque hand-creatures lurking around Caria Manor, the Carian Study Hall, and the colder reaches near the great cauldron in the mountains. About the tentacled things he'd seen out in the wilds—shapes that didn't belong under any sane sky.
He included even the fragments he'd gathered through experience and bitter trial.
There was no point in keeping it to himself, and if someone in the group could connect the dots, that would be far better than him wandering in circles alone—ending up like Sir Gideon Ofnir, who chased knowledge to its end and went mad after glimpsing Marika's true intent.
But when he finished, the group fell into silence.
For several breaths, no one spoke.
What kind of world was this?
Even Yukari, with her long years and strange insight, and even Gilgamesh, who understood gods better than most, found it difficult to process.
Yukari knew well enough that gods fought over faith—her world was tangled in similar struggles.
But stealing laws…
Was that something a god could truly do?
Among them, Otto looked the most shaken.
The red wine in his glass rippled slightly, as if reflecting his mood.
From the Tarnished's description, that "Greater Will" sounded… uncomfortably similar to the will Otto knew as the Honkai.
And that thought, more than anything else, made his stomach sink.