Chapter 426: Joyful Friends Under the Sea! (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 426: Joyful Friends Under the Sea! (4)
“If I take care of those things for you, what is the Dragon Palace going to give me in return?”
Grand, magnificent music and the dancing of all sorts of beautiful fish.
Ignoring everything they had prepared to welcome us, those were the first words I spat at the Dragon King, who was about to offer me a deep bow.
The Dragon King, who had rushed forward calling me a distinguished guest and was frozen mid-bow, broke into a cold sweat as he lifted his head to look at me.
“Well…”
I had wondered since he hadn’t been on the throne for long, but I wasn’t sure if I should really call him a king. I couldn’t read his thoughts directly, but his poker face was so abysmal that it wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking.
He must be bewildered.
He probably heard that Sun Wukong was coming, but Sun Wukong was nowhere to be seen. Instead, some human was leading the pack, and to top it off, he likely never expected his grand hospitality to be so utterly ignored.
But usually, if you want to get the answer you want, it’s advantageous to throw the other party off balance.
Normally, I would at least pretend to be grateful for the welcome, but the current situation didn’t really allow for that.
“Ah, I’d play along under normal circumstances, but I’m a bit busy. So, why don’t we just get straight to the point?”
The Dragon King’s pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.
He was probably thinking, What kind of crazy bastard is this?
Nevertheless, he quickly adjusted his attitude to match mine. It was likely a calculation that he couldn’t afford to offend someone who had suddenly appeared to fight a mysterious enemy for them, combined with the fear that I might go on a rampage.
“Please tell me what you desire first, and I will do my best to accommodate you.”
“First, if I resolve this matter, don’t interfere with the businesses humans are running. In fact, let’s agree that you’ll actively cooperate with them.”
“Understood. Actively… no, I give you my word that I will uphold this no matter what.”
I like how fast this is going.
He knows all too well that playing petty mind games here would only make things exhausting for both of us.
“Right, then. Since I’ve stated one thing I want, shall we hear what you can offer us?”
This is where I exploit the information gap.
I know he’s in a hurry, but he doesn’t know that I am too. Since I’ve already established an image of someone who hates tedious scouting for information, he’ll carefully consider the best card he can play.
Of course, he’ll try to use his head to resolve this without taking too much of a loss, but…
“A Dragon Orb.”
…Huh?
— Wh-what?
“Whether it be a natural-born dragon or one that ascended through cultivation, it is a treasure that can only be obtained once in a lifetime. I will give you an ownerless Dragon Orb currently kept in our Dragon Palace.”
‘…I’m asking because I don’t really know, but is a Dragon Orb something you can just give away that easily?’
— Don’t talk nonsense. This goes beyond being generous; I have to wonder if my friend’s son has something wrong with his head. It is a treasure that symbolizes all the divine abilities a dragon wields and is often regarded as a symbol of enlightenment.
“…If that is not enough, I will add a little more on top.”
‘…He says he’ll give more if it’s not enough.’
— Unless that fellow is insane, it means the war with those things is a more urgent problem than the Dragon Orb, or…
‘It means there’s a reason he has to resolve this quickly.’
A treasure regarded in the Buddhist Realm as a symbol of the enlightenment held by Bodhisattvas, and a gem that even a dragon—the king of phantasmal beasts—can only possess one of upon ascension.
Naturally, its value was beyond words. According to legend, if a human possesses a Dragon Orb, they don’t just gain power; it even grants wishes.
I didn’t know how many such treasures the Dragon Palace possessed, but at the very least, if this were a problem that could be solved slowly, he wouldn’t have offered such a treasure right off the bat.
If I were to think about this cynically, I could interpret it as there being even more to squeeze out of him, but somehow, the urgency I felt in his eyes made me think there was a story behind it.
“You’re in a hurry, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. I’m in such a hurry that I’d actually welcome the fact that you, distinguished guest, dislike formalities.”
“If I keep playing hard to get, were you planning to ignore us and just go to war with them?”
“If you weren’t going to cause a major scene, I suppose I would have had to consider that.”
Oh, this doesn’t seem like a bluff. There’s no reason for him to bluff in the first place.
“Let’s place a restriction on you so you won’t betray us.”
“…Pardon?”
“I don’t think you will, but if I come back after dealing with those things and you suddenly play dumb, I think I’ll get very angry.”
I thought it was a fairly arrogant attitude, but the Dragon King nodded immediately as if he actually preferred it.
“May I take that to mean you will help us?”
“Yeah. I didn’t come here to kill you guys anyway. If someone is offering a Dragon Orb and even more on top of that, of course I have to help.”
In truth, it was something I had to deal with regardless.
“Then, while you are helping us, may I ask for just one more favor?”
I wondered what kind of trick he was trying to pull just when things were going well, but his request was too simple to be a trick and seemed to have a deep reason behind it.
“…When you face them, there is a blue-haired woman who looks like me. I ask that you kill her as painlessly as possible.”
It wasn’t a pleasant sight to see a grown man speaking with such a miserable expression, but I felt like I could see his thoughts, which should have been invisible.
Was it an acquaintance who had suffered a mental breakdown?
Judging by how he was asking me to kill her with such a resentful face, what he truly wanted to say probably wasn’t to kill her painlessly.
Even so, the reason he specifically asked for her death was likely because that blue-haired woman was already beyond saving—it was too late.
“Fine.”
In that case, there was nothing more for me to ask.
“I’ll send her off as painlessly as possible.”
If she couldn’t be saved anyway, asking who she was or why I had to do it would only leave a bad aftertaste.
“Yes, thank you. Then, we will calculate the forces we can draft from the Dragon Palace and the earliest possible date…”
“No need.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said there’s no need for support. Honestly, you won’t be much help.”
In fact, having mediocre people around when fighting Cthulhu is more troublesome than the enemy if their minds break. It’s better to have a small elite group or only those with high mental immunity.
“We would be grateful for that, but will you really be alright…?”
This guy was probably so desperate that he didn’t even properly assess the enemy and planned to fight with a large army. If he had, the Dragon Palace would have been destroyed whether they won or lost the battle.
“Yeah.”
And well, honestly, besides them not being helpful, if I show them us taking down monsters they couldn’t easily defeat, they won’t even think about rebelling, right?
I looked back to see if anyone needed preparation, and as always, they all had determined faces, ready for battle.
Mhm, mhm. That’s how it should be.
Since no major preparation was needed…
It’s time for some octopus hunting.
* * *
Some might harbor doubts at this point.
I have the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils and have surpassed the human realm, so I’m safe from mental pollution, but what about the others I brought along?
The answer is simple.
It’s because our side has a counter to Cthulhu that surpasses even me.
“Hey, you ready?”
“Yeah, just give the signal.”
Lilac.
His first talent, an ability specialized in protecting something.
The light possessed by the Most Upright Holy Sword has the power to repel all foul energy and purify all kinds of corruption.
If the ancient entities known as the Great Old Ones are beings that spread harm and madness to the world just by existing, Lilac is someone who benefits the world just by existing—though it’s usually not obvious.
Of course, if the main body appears instead of just Cthulhu’s subordinates, Lilac alone might find it a bit tough, but unless a malicious evil god intervenes, that shouldn’t happen.
And even if one did intervene, as long as I’m here, the compatibility between Lilac and Cthulhu won’t be reversed.
As he drew the Holy Sword, the brilliance spreading from it illuminated the deep sea, and a portal hidden in the darkness appeared.
A portal leading to R’lyeh.
Technically, destroying that would solve the immediate problem…
As if they had no intention of taking it lying down, amorphous monsters surged from the surroundings, and countless corruptions appeared from beyond the portal.
People often mistakenly think Cthulhu is an octopus, but that’s not entirely accurate.
Cthulhu is an amorphous monster with no clear shape—closer to a slime, really.
It’s just that the common image of a monster with an octopus-like head and a giant body has spread, leading to that misunderstanding.
Anyway, thanks to Seo-ha, who set things up to avoid misunderstandings in that regard, Cthulhu’s subordinates here mainly consist of two types.
The first are those resembling black slimes, and the second are the fish-man-shaped monsters commonly called Deep Ones.
Well, you probably don’t care what those disgusting things look like.
The important thing is their method of attack…
As I mentioned before, those things use telepathy to confuse their opponents or dominate marine life in battle.
“Can you handle it?”
“Yeah, I think I’m okay for now.”
I’ve fed Lilac so many good things; there’s no way he’d be breached by such crude mental manipulation.
“Lilac. Your role is very important for this raid.”
“Got it. I’ll take the lead and…”
“You’re a totem from now on. The others can resist to some extent, but it’ll be dangerous if the Holy Sword’s light goes out. Just stand here quietly and hold the Holy Sword.”
“…Huh? What? That’s it?”
“What do you mean ‘that’s it’? Do you know how vital this mission is? It’s something only you can do.”
“Uh, um, huh?”
He was looking at me with a very subtle expression, but I didn’t care.
“Lee Yu-na, you stay next to Lilac and make sure those things don’t touch him.”
“Okay.”
I just needed to put a guard dog next to him so he wouldn’t do anything else.
With this, Lilac would perfectly fulfill his role as a totem.
As for the rest.
“So. I just have to catch those things?”
“Yeah, will you be okay underwater?”
“Hmm, using a sword is a bit annoying.”
Ha-ni, who was swinging her sword around, replied with a bright smile.
“Well, thanks to the candy we got from the Dragon Palace, I can breathe, and I can think of it as training.”
“Ga-eul is…”
Judging by how she was already tormenting the Deep Ones with her whip of demonic energy, she seemed fine.
Everyone else was continuing the battle without issue as well.
Cathy Noona was particularly impressive. Perhaps she had been practicing her control since her mana capacity increased, but she was cutting through the water at a speed on a different level from the others, mimicking the body parts of marine creatures with her mana to slay the enemies.
…I raised them, but I really raised them well.
Are these really the same kids who barely beat mid-rank monsters at first?
While I was feeling moved by the growth of my party, a more significant foe began to move, perhaps realizing that mere grunts couldn’t stop us.
At first, it probably intended to just watch from beyond the portal, but our kids are probably a bit too impressive.
It must be even angrier since its specialty, mental manipulation, isn’t working.
Deep Ones vary greatly in size, and there are descriptions of adults large enough to take down a whale with one hand.
But even those adult warriors would be hopelessly small and weak compared to that being.
Forcing its way through the narrow portal, a grotesque monster appeared, looking like a giant swimming through the water, yet also like a mixture of fish and amphibian.
The progenitor of the Deep Ones, the Great Old One who first appeared in the stories written by Lovecraft.
Dagon.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the cliché of encountering a massive creature underwater and falling into chaos started with him.
As one of the Great Old Ones, he naturally brings chaos and madness, and his power is so immense that he is said to serve as the gatekeeper of R’lyeh…
The fist swung by the massive body was faster and more powerful than one would expect underwater.
“Block it. Ruyi.”
Should I say it was as expected? It wasn’t to the point where I needed to release the second stage of the seal.
That’s because, as is the case with Dagon’s setting in most media…
In the end, he is weaker than Cthulhu.
Considering that in some works he’s just portrayed as a slightly large fish, he’s actually at a decent level here.
The creature seemed a bit flustered when its fist was blocked by a giant wall of iron and tried to create distance.
“Catch him.”
It trembled violently as that giant iron wall turned into chains and bound it.
Now then, you ancient creature whose only specialties are mental domination and being a bit strong.
“Let’s see if you’re strong enough to break Ruyi, shall we?”
If you can’t break it, it’s unfortunate, but you’ll have to die.