Chapter 81: A Nod (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 81: A Nod (1)
"!"
Wooo—!
As a resonant hum vibrated through the invisible depths of the sea, Alon felt an instinctive terror begin to claw at his brain.
His entire body trembled as if standing before a supreme predator. His mind grew hazy, and a single thought began to dominate his consciousness: he had to flee this place immediately.
And he wasn't the only one.
‘No—I—can’t—if I run—’
‘Mustn’t run—’
‘Run... away.’
‘I have to... run!’
Ladan was the same.
His thoughts were warping. As if possessed, Ladan’s subconscious took over, looping a single command over and over in his mind.
‘Ihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetofleeihavetoflee—’
Driven by pure instinct, Ladan flailed his arms and grabbed onto something nearby.
It was a piece of wooden debris from a pirate ship sunk by the fishmen. Seeing its jagged, sharp end, Ladan felt a wave of relief wash over him.
‘I can escape.’
With that thought, he raised the debris in his right hand and aimed it at his own throat without a moment's hesitation.
"Guh—!"
At the last second, Ladan’s consciousness flickered back. He bit his tongue hard and twisted the wooden shard he had been moving instinctively, plunging it into his own forearm instead.
Blood welled up along with a sharp, stinging pain.
‘That was close.’
Realizing he had almost been claimed by the entity in the deep, Ladan grit his teeth.
But soon, a sense of confusion took hold.
Until just a moment ago, the massive eye in the abyss had been pulling him down, projecting endless waves of terror. Now, however, anyone could see that the eye was filled with a completely different, alien emotion.
Dazed, Ladan turned his gaze.
He realized there was another person in the water besides himself and the green scales dragging him down.
It was the Great Moon. He held a glowing blue potion in his mouth, his hands poised to form a seal.
Though he must have felt that same incomprehensible terror, the Great Moon’s face remained unchanged.
He was simply... indifferent.
It was as if that level of fear couldn't even touch him in the first place.
As Ladan watched Alon with an expression of involuntary awe—
Stop!
Everything came to a sudden halt.
The green scales dragging Ladan into the depths froze instantly. The turbulent currents stilled.
And then.
[-!]
The eye, which until moments ago had held the cold, emotion-less gaze of a fishman, was now different.
[The one... who contains... the stars?]
Ladan could see the eye being dyed with vivid confusion and terror.
And then.
[-̷̛̪͕͓͚͕̐̔̆͂̿̽̉̓Yoǔ̦̱̥̟͔͖̈̑̉͒͗̏͗̕͜͝,̴̧̩͍͚͈̤̜̓͆̏͘͟͟͠ͅ hoẁ̶̧̧͇̹͈̲̹̻̋̓͛̂̑̑̊̀̕͜ darè̶̞̥͎͎̻͈͙̖̌͗̌̊,̷̢͙͓̭̬̰͗̒̈̉͆͡ͅ yoư̴̠̜͈̜̹͙̹͔͊͌̌͆̎̾̓͟-̷̢̢̥͙́͗̎̔̅͢ͅ...]
Along with a bizarre, skin-crawling voice, the massive eye dragging Ladan down began to slowly close.
Emotions flickered across the closing lid.
Astonishment.
Fear.
...And reverence.
[If͔̰̜̠̝͍͙̞̗͙̓̄̎̔͝ only̢͎̺̟̘͎͓̽̇́̈̂̍͗̇͟͡,͈̻͙͐̍͛̎͆͌͢͝ͅ there̡̤͇̭͇̝̤̭͊̓̄̄̅̿͢ͅ had ̙̣͕̫̟̻̱̪̻̉̂͊̾̄̾ͅ been̵̨̛̥̣̖̠̣̙̳͍͗̍͂̒̀̑͢͞ timȇ̴̡͎̫̲͉̣̖̃͐̎̂́̒̆͑͒̏͂́̌͟͢͢͡-̷̦̜...]
Finally, the eye in the darkness of the deep sea vanished completely.
Kalak-Kul, the entity that had been pulling him down, was utterly annihilated.
“....”
Ladan stared blankly at the spot before turning his head to look at Alon—no, at the Great Moon.
However, Alon, the recipient of Ladan’s reverent gaze, was having his own thoughts.
‘...What just happened?’
In truth, he hadn't fully grasped the situation. He had been struggling against the mind-gnawing terror himself, trying to form a seal to cast a spell and stop Ladan from being dragged away, when Kalak-Kul suddenly made its exit.
‘I think I heard it say something about a Star Eater through all that noise...’
He recalled the eerie voice with a puzzled expression for a moment, but then pushed it aside.
‘I’m alive...’
Deciding to be satisfied with the fact that he had survived, Alon swam toward the surface to get some oxygen.
* * *
About a week later.
To summarize the results: Ladan had successfully unified the 7 Archipelagos, and Alon had to suffer through the aftereffects of mana depletion for the entire week.
Of course, compared to the penalty of mana poisoning, which takes a full six months to heal, this was a relatively mild(?) price to pay. Alon didn't mind it much, especially since he usually ended up half-crippled whenever he dealt with an Outer God.
Naturally, the fact that he had handled Kalak-Kul so easily was largely because the entity had only recently manifested and hadn't inherited its full power yet.
More importantly, the human sacrifice hadn't been properly completed. Regardless, for Alon, the significant takeaway was that he had dealt with a demigod without sustaining any major injuries.
...Anyway, during his four days of recuperation, two major changes occurred.
The first was the way the pirates looked at him.
Since arriving at the archipelagos, Alon had been aware that the pirates didn't exactly view him with friendly eyes.
But after that day—
“Ah, good morning! Big Brother!”
“Have you eaten well, Big Brother?!”
“...Yes.”
—the pirates had started calling Alon "Big Brother."
And it wasn't just the rank-and-file pirates.
“Heh, if it isn't Big Brother! Are you feeling better now?”
“Tariq.”
Even the Pirate Lords, who were Ladan’s direct subordinates, were doing it.
“If you need anything, just say the word. I’ll have the boys on it immediately.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Hahaha! It’s nothing! Of course we’d do that for Big Brother!”
Alon wore a complicated expression as he watched the Pirate Lord of the 4th Archipelago walk away with a boisterous laugh.
The pirates, who only a few days ago were shooting him disgruntled looks, now regarded him with clear trust and respect. And for some reason he couldn't fathom, they had all collectively decided to call him "Big Brother."
‘...It’s not a bad thing, but I feel like I’ve become a mob boss.’
The second change was Pellin Kraysinne’s attitude.
Aside from their very first meeting, Pellin hadn't been particularly hostile, but he hadn't been friendly either. Their relationship was best described as "distant."
However, since the incident, Pellin had also been looking at Alon with eyes full of deep respect.
...To be honest, it was becoming a bit burdensome for Alon.
‘Well, it’s not a bad thing to build a positive relationship with a talented mage.’
Still, the 180-degree flip in attitude left Alon feeling a bit bewildered.
Regardless, after four days of recovery and adjusting to these changes, Alon felt well enough to head toward the eastern coast mentioned by the entity.
“Big Brother, are you feeling better now?”
He went to find Ladan.
“Do you happen to have any information on a coast at the eastern end?”
“The eastern coast?”
“Yes.”
“Well... I’m not sure if it’s the place you’re looking for, but there is an eastern coast on an island in the Sipra Archipelago.”
“Sipra?”
“Yes, it’s about a six-hour journey from here. Are you familiar with it?”
“To some extent.”
Alon nodded at Ladan’s words.
It made sense, as the Sipra Archipelago Ladan mentioned was a place Alon had visited at least once in every playthrough of Psychedelia.
‘The Sipra Archipelago, also known as the Island of Criminals.’
Much like the underworlds of Asteria and Ashtalon in the United Kingdoms, the Island of Criminals, Sipra, was a place where all sorts of criminals and pirates gathered.
Alon had frequented the place during his playthroughs to use the black market there. The Sipra black market often sold a good number of unappraised relics.
Recalling this, Alon asked, “I’d like to go there immediately. Is that possible?”
“If you want to move, Big Brother, we can leave right now.”
“Please. Ah.”
Nodding at the immediate approval, Alon let out a small exclamation as he remembered something.
“Come to think of it, I haven't given you this yet.”
Alon placed a small box on the desk.
“It’s a gift.”
“...A gift?”
“Yes. I intended to give it to you at the start, but things got delayed.”
Ladan looked at the box with a surprised expression.
“If it’s a gift from you, Big Brother, I will accept it with great gratitude.”
He took the box with a smile.
Shortly after, Alon set off for the Sipra Archipelago with Ladan.
* * *
The journey to the Sipra Archipelago was peaceful. This time, Penia and Pellin joined them of their own volition rather than at Alon’s suggestion.
From what Alon heard, they had some matters to investigate in the Sipra Archipelago as well.
After about six hours of sailing, the sun was high in the sky when they arrived at Sipra. Alon decided to move alone once they reached the island.
Going to the eastern coast was a task he had to handle by himself.
‘Though, it being the Island of Criminals makes me a bit uneasy.’
The island’s reputation was rough, but since it was essentially a town, he figured it would be safe enough. Alon was the first to disembark.
However, it didn't take long for him to regret going alone.
‘This place is a damn maze.’
The paths in the Sipra Archipelago were far more complicated than he had anticipated. Despite not being bad with directions, he found himself circling the same spot several times.
‘Seriously, I go left and end up back here. I go straight and end up back here. I go right and I’m still back here. How does that even make sense?’
It was absurd.
He stopped in front of a sign for a pub called ‘Abundance of Rum,’ which he had already seen several times. On a whim, he decided to ask a group of four men drinking at an outdoor table.
“I’d like to ask something. Do you know the way to the eastern coast?”
It was a polite enough inquiry.
“Huh? How the hell should I know, you moron!”
“Pwahahaha! He sure looks like a moron. A total softie! A softie! Ahahaha!”
As expected, the response was hostile. Alon realized he wouldn't get an answer from them and had no choice but to keep walking.
About twenty minutes later.
“...Ah.”
Alon let out a low sigh.
Even though he had definitely moved to a different area, what greeted his eyes was the ‘Abundance of Rum’ sign for the fifth time.
Just as Alon was considering whether he should just turn back—
“Excuse me—”
“?”
Alon turned toward the voice and saw a man.
He realized it was one of the men who had been sitting in the corner of the pub mocking him earlier. Alon looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Unlike twenty minutes ago, the man was smiling, but his face was clearly strained with extreme anxiety. He spoke quickly.
“Um, you were looking for the eastern coast, right? If you follow this road straight and take the left path at the fork on the right, you’ll find it.”
“....”
The man was now offering the answer he had refused to give earlier.
Furthermore, that smile, which didn't suit a face that looked like it had seen its share of violence, instinctively made Alon suspicious.
“I-I’m serious. Once you hit that fork on the right, you’ll be able to see the path to the beach over the hill anyway, so you can check for yourself.”
The man added quickly, as if sensing Alon’s doubt.
“...You were mocking me just a moment ago. Why are you telling me this now?”
“Ah, that—well, I thought about it and felt I was a bit too harsh, so I just wanted to let you know.”
It was a very awkward excuse. Alon made a skeptical face, but—
‘Well, the path he mentioned is a main road, not some back alley, so it’s unlikely to be a trap... I might as well try it.’
Alon wanted to get out of this place after wandering for nearly an hour, so he decided to follow the man’s directions.
“I’ll say thanks for now.”
With those words, Alon began walking down the main road as instructed.
And then.
Only after confirming that Alon had left did the man’s smile vanish. His face paled with terror and anxiety as he turned his gaze toward the alleyway next to the pub.
There, his companions—who had been laughing and joking with him just moments ago—were sprawled out, beaten into bloody pulps. They were in such a horrific state it was impossible to tell if they were even alive.
“....”
And there stood the Pirate King, staring at him with a gaze so chilling it made him want to piss himself.
And then.
Nod.
The Pirate King gave a single nod and turned to vanish into the shadows.
Thud!
The man collapsed onto the ground right where he stood.
He had fallen in a pathetic, undignified heap, but he didn't care.
Instead—
‘I’malivei’malivei’malivei’malivei’malive—’
The man simply offered infinite thanks to the gods for the fact that he was still breathing.