Chapter 39

“What do you mean when you say He resembles you?”

“His expression. His body language.” Ode still got chills down his spine just thinking about it. “You know I come from a noble family—even if it’s fallen on hard times, you can’t escape those etiquette classes.”

“How to sit properly, how to stay elegant even at a picnic, how to flash an approachable smile or a politely distant one… All of that was drilled into me bit by bit, practicing in front of a mirror from childhood.”

“And yet, I saw a reflection of myself in Chorazin—Cthulhu’s avatar?”

“Can you imagine how horrifying it was to realize that?”

“Hmm…” Elder Zhong pondered for a moment. “But maybe it has nothing to do with you? Even noble etiquette classes wouldn’t invent a whole new set of mannerisms for every single person, right?”

“But smiles do adapt.” Ode shifted his position to face Elder Zhong. “Everyone has different features and temperaments. Someone with a wicked-looking face has to find just the right angle for a believable smile. Someone with overly soft features has to learn how to smile without coming across as weak or timid.”

“The smile on Chorazin’s face was exactly like the one I wore every day in school. It suited my face perfectly, but it clashed completely with His temperament—”

“On top of that, remember what He said when He tossed me in front of that crowd of hostages? That line about the ‘little gift’?”

“Yeah… I’ve been waiting to see when His ‘little surprise’ would show up.” Elder Zhong tugged thoughtfully at his beard, unable to hide his curiosity.

Ode licked his lips. “What if that was the ‘little surprise’ He had in mind? You know, letting me show my face in front of all those dignitaries, swoop in to save the day, play the hero. That kind of stunt would turbocharge my career, send me rocketing up the ranks.”

“Swap in any other Great Old One—even an avatar—and who would think to butter up a bunch of human politicians like that? No one! The very idea of pandering to humans isn’t even in their wheelhouse.”

“That brings me to two more issues—”

Ode leaned forward again. “First one.”

“Back in the first round, when Faust dragged me from the bank to GORCC, he said my Charm Value was too high, that it would pollute anyone around me.”

“So, where’s the pollution?”

So far, not a single person who’d interacted with Ode had shown any signs of mutation or madness—not even Faust, who’d spent that exam period getting ridden like a horse day after day.

“You’ve got more experience than me. You know that’s impossible—Charm Value over 60 causes mild pollution, and 80 means severe pollution.”

“My Charm Value was off the charts, beyond what even Eva’s instruments could measure. By all rights, I should be a walking catastrophe! Polluting everything in my path. That’s why Faust brought such a massive GORCC contingent to the bank that day and took me down with brute force—”

“But where’s the pollution effect?”

Elder Zhong frowned in thought. “I do remember discussing this with Faust and the others, but we never reached any conclusions.”

“That’s because we never lost those 2000cc of blood samples—in your round. Right?”

Ode steadied his racing heart and lowered his voice. “Think about it this way: the thief broke into Eva’s lab, ignored all those other samples and research, and took only my blood. That means their target was me, doesn’t it?”

“At that time, who might’ve had it out for me?”

“Hmm… The Ghouls? Because you trashed Qian Ning Mansion? Nah, they don’t have the chops to infiltrate Eva’s base.”

Elder Zhong mulled it over. “Then Nyarlathotep? Because you foiled His raid on the supply depot? No… If it was Him, He’d have made a much bigger mess on purpose.”

“Or…” Ode said with a meaningful tone, “because of Dagon’s death and Khirra’s disappearance—the death curse that had been tracking Dagon wanted to find me through Chorazin.”

“He got my blood sample. But!”

Ode emphasized each word. “He never came after me—not until two days later, when I boarded the ship with Faust. What do you think held Him up for those full two days?”

Elder Zhong caught on. “You think… your blood polluted Chorazin? That your blood is what turned Him into… this?”

“All the contradictions fall into place, don’t they?” Ode spread his hands and shrugged. “Why do I have a Charm Value that breaks all limits, but no one shows signs of pollution? Because my pollution only humanizes the target. People who interact with me are fine, but monsters end up acting weird—”

“Dagon stopped caring about preparing the perfect vessel for His master and just wanted the groom meant for the little princess. Chorazin stopped treating survival as a core instinct and started gambling His life for freedom.”

“They’ve all changed—changed against their nature, become more like—”

A human.

Elder Zhong’s mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed, “…That’s a pretty wild theory. I was going to say ‘completely outlandish.’ So you’ve been letting everyone mess around with the Behemoth to…?”

Ode finally stood up. “You know a guess is just a guess until it’s proven. For a being like Cthulhu, whose true form and avatars share one mind, I can only run the experiment once—on the avatars or the main body. Either don’t test any of them, or go straight for the source. Otherwise, if I use it on an avatar first, the main body will be on guard.”

That meant he had to draw Cthulhu’s attention ahead of time. What better way than executing the Behemoth?

“…You know you could only kill the Behemoth because you had home-field advantage in your Phantasmal Dream Realm, right?” Elder Zhong narrowed his eyes, half-hiding his face with his fanlike hand. “Outside the Dream Realm, you couldn’t even take one down. And now you plan to go straight up against Cthulhu?”

“Yeah.” Ode stretched his limbs, ready to reclaim control of his soul and go collect the Behemoth’s corpse. “By the way—do you know where I can get my hands on something like Dragon Gauze fabric?”

·

Clothing… or rather, fabrics and accessories. By the time Ctharnid found Ode, he had finished all his pre-departure preparations.

Ctharnid was supposed to escort Ode out of the Phantasmal Dream Realm, but instead, Ode slung an arm around the waist of the elderly gentleman—who’d frozen solid at the sight of his outfit—and stepped right out. The moment his bare feet hit the empty old deck, Ode released the still-stunned Ctharnid and tapped his earpiece.

“Get in touch with Chorazin somehow. Have Him share the memories of what we did earlier with Cthulhu.”

【—What?? Why! Do I need to remind you, I’m the one in charge around here—】

“Splash…”

Ode vaulted barefoot onto the railing and plunged straight into the pitch-black Treacherous Sea below.

The seawater filtered out all sound—the thunder rumbling across the overcast sky, Faust’s heartbroken roar of frustration. Only a familiar chill enveloped him, steadily feeding oxygen to whatever passed for his breathing organs, wherever they were.

Faust’s voice crackled clearly through the earpiece: 【Fuck!】

Ode actually chuckled despite staking his life on this gamble, choosing not to mention the countless left hands adorned with gold jewelry littering Corpse Mountain. “Sorry, but I already passed my graduation exam. Maybe next time you should seize the moment and have your fun.”

Faust’s cursing spiked several octaves higher, finally landing on: “At least try to lure Cthulhu onto land!”

“No…” Ode gazed into the lightless depths below. “It has to be in the water. If the gods are kind, maybe a few more of His avatars will show up too.”

【?? What the hell are you—】

“Goka ya mgepog…”

Cthulhu’s voice reverberated from the deep, even more muffled, like a massive drum made from the Earth itself.

Ode closed his eyes briefly to steady his heartbeat, then released a fragment of the Behemoth from the Alchemy Space.

In the next instant, a torrent crashed over him!

Ode nearly got swept away by the current, but before he tumbled back more than three meters, a colossal tentacle—as massive as a full-grown Dagon—whipped out of the darkness, barreling straight toward him!

—On the deck.

“Shit shit shit!!” Faust’s composure had tanked with his mood. Right now, he wasn’t bothering with any gentlemanly pretense. After unleashing a string of curses, he snatched up his phone. “Abort the mission! I said abort—no attacks!”

If the phone weren’t still useful, Faust would’ve smashed it by now. Instead, he just panted with fury and whipped around to the slowly recovering Ctharnid. “Rewind time for me! Just mine is fine!”

The request sounded trivial enough. Ctharnid shrugged and granted Faust’s demand amid his furious shouting.

Time rewound. As the blurred streaks of the surroundings froze, Faust hurriedly pulled the materials for a Sacrificial Ritual from the Alchemy Space and set up the simplest altar.

He strode into the array and slapped his raised left hand down at its center. “Ya, ya, Chorazin…”

Down in the depths.

Chorazin was still stewing over the memory of Ode flaying the Behemoth alive, questioning whether he’d bet on the wrong horse this time.

Given Ode’s style, even if He won the gamble, could He really walk away unscathed once it was all over?

Just then, He heard Faust’s absurd demand transmitted via the Sacrificial Ritual. “What do you want me to do?? Share with the main body… Why the hell should I help you with this?”

He could guess Ode’s goal was seduction. The only question was, did He even want to keep partnering with Ode?

For one, even if the seduction worked, the damage to Cthulhu would be minimal. For two… after watching that execution, did He really want Ode to succeed?

Dark thoughts bubbled up from the depths of His mind like viscous froth. Maybe He should just play dead. Let Ode get killed by the main body. His lifespan was endless—He could wait for the next opportunity.

【Don’t forget, you don’t have the option to back out midway anymore.】 Faust’s tone was downright nasty. He harbored an unusual hatred for monsters anyway. 【You want the main body to know about your independent thoughts? You want to get fused back in and cease to exist?!】

“…” Now Chorazin wanted to curse too. He spat silently, still trying to resist. “I can’t exactly smash those memories into the main body’s forehead, can I? He’d notice something was off—”

【You’ll get the right opportunity.】 Faust said confidently. 【He’ll create one for you.】

“What are you talk—” Chorazin’s unusually irritable words caught in his throat.

He saw a vision, the perspective once again from below.

Vast expanses of seawater faintly reflected flashes of lightning, the waves shimmering. Amid that gorgeous light, like the stained glass of a cathedral, He glimpsed a slender, lithe figure with arms slightly spread, plummeting toward the seafloor in the pure, obedient pose of a sacrificial lamb.

His mind didn’t even muster an alert in that first instant. Instinctively, He followed the line of sight of whoever was seeing this, his gaze sliding from the half-veiled expanse of pale chest beneath sheer gauze, down the flat abdomen to that slim waist that looked narrow enough to span with two hands.

—So white. That was Chorazin’s first thought.

Heavy, lustrous jewels refracted an ambiguous, hazy glow underwater, but that faint brightness couldn’t tear the eyes away from the vast stretches of skin like flawless mutton-fat jade.

It looked so supple, gleaming like a Tahitian pearl, oily and translucent—and you just knew it would be soft, couldn’t help imagining the feel of a palm pressing against that skin.

As for the jewelry—those damned chest chains, armbands, waist rings—they were downright infuriating. They cinched so tightly around that mesmerizing body, their hefty weight digging beautiful depressions into the soft flesh… Why not swap those pointless trinkets for His own—

【Chorazin.】 Faust’s warning yanked him out of the shared sensation in an instant.

【The timing!】 Faust reminded him.

“…” Chorazin drew a deep breath.

Meanwhile, in the seawater.

A tentacle massive as a building loomed right before his eyes, and Ode’s heartbeat nearly stopped as death and its foreseeable agony barreled toward him.

But in the next moment, the tentacle lunging at him suddenly halted. It twitched in tiny spasms for a moment before slowly withdrawing. Ode’s heart hadn’t even steadied when a massive black shadow slammed into him from behind and below, swift as a star shark!

Agony exploded across his back and ribs, a huge cloud of blood blooming in his mouth.

【Ode!】 Faust’s voice hit a pitch higher than it had ever climbed since their first meeting.

Ode floated limply in the water, sensation lost from his upper body, until the second strike came. In the final second, he barely mended his wounds and tapped the earpiece with a coded signal: [Within the plan.]

The next instant, teeth several meters long speared through his abdomen like stakes.

More blood mist billowed rapidly through the seawater, shrouding the Father of Sharks and drifting hazily toward Cthulhu’s position.

【2000cc, 2500, 3000… Ode!】 Eva’s voice grew frantic. 【You can’t keep this up—you’ll die!】

But Ode had no strength left even to reply with “I won’t.”

Blood gushed endlessly from his impaled body, turning the lightning-lit clear seawater the rich hue of red wine, staining the Father of Sharks’ black hide deep crimson and Cthulhu’s nearby tentacles leaden gray.

“…” Back in the Dream Realm—his home ground, where he wasn’t participating in this hunt—Chorazin’s sense of foreboding grew ever stronger, yet he still couldn’t fathom why Ode was throwing himself into the lion’s den. Did Ode not realize that a Great Old One like Cthulhu, with instincts so primal and ingrained, wouldn’t be swayed so easily by seduction?

For one split second, He nearly spoke to his avatar: Whatever else, abandon that human first and get away from him.

But right then, the red-haired young man—whose limbs had dangled powerlessly in the shark’s jaws—twitched faintly. He lifted his head and flashed a smile toward… somewhere.

The on-site hunters didn’t grasp the meaning of that smile, dismissing it as blood loss hallucination. But Chorazin felt a chill like a human’s hair standing on end.

It was a threat—nothing could have made it clearer. The guy was warning Him: I’m not that easy to kill. Anytime, I can drag you down with me by your weakness.

“…” Chorazin had no choice but to shut his mouth.

No one knew how long the standoff lasted—save perhaps Faust and Eva on the deck, where every second dragged like a year as they watched the stopwatch.

Ode’s consciousness shuttled back and forth between shallow and deep layers. In the shallow, he struggled feebly on purpose, twitching to spread the blood faster through the water. When he sank to the deep layer, he sat amid the endless Corpse Mountain within his soul, watching the soul power sustaining him bid farewell to the surrounding “neighbors” one by one, dissipating into the barren winds of the wasteland.

One hour. Two hours…

Doubt crept in, a flicker of questioning his own guesswork and plan, but reason shoved it aside, forcing him onward.

Five hours. Six hours…

The unbearable agony kept him in the deep layer longer, staring at the desolate boneyard, the soul power scattering like dandelion seeds on the wind.

The eighth hour.

Abruptly, Ode spoke to the bones beside him, voice hoarse: “Maybe I shouldn’t squander your power like this. Maybe I should come up with a more foolproof plan—one that lets you rest in peace, hating out your vengeance like those souls killed by the Behemoth before.”

The bones turned their skull toward him with a clatter, tone dismissive—Lola’s voice: “And you think up a more foolproof plan?”

“…” Ode had to concede he couldn’t.

In the end, how could a human possibly devise a “foolproof plan” to slay Cthulhu? GORCC kept human society airtight, oblivious to monsters like these—what battle had ever been won without piling up lives?

The bones clattered their skull back around, even more dismissive: “Besides, do you really think we chose self-sacrifice just so you’d avenge us?”

Lola’s skeletal form said calmly: “You know what we want.”

Victory. The long-awaited victory.

The thirteenth hour.

Even Cthulhu’s Dream Realm had shifted from night into dawn.

Faust sprawled shamelessly on the deck, hair a wild mess, cross-checking combat layouts with the external support teams. Eva clutched her phone—freshly upgraded to almost function like a full computer—tapping away at some code while eyeing Ode’s blood loss: “You know—did I go too easy last time? Next round, maybe I can draw a bit more—”

The sea surface suddenly churned violently, as if some colossal thing had yanked itself from the water. The void it left surged with surrounding seawater, birthing a fierce whirlpool.

“What the hell?!” Faust sprang up from the deck. “Plan success or failure?! Damn… that little bastard! Says nothing, relays zero intel!! Is that what they teach in culture class?! Waiting with a write-up when you get back!! Three years’ salary docked!!”

Ode, just clawing his way out of deep coma, vaguely sensed something coiled around his waist, holding him against a firm chest as they sank steadily toward R’lyeh. He smiled silently and tapped the earpiece:

【Cool your jets, Chief. How about a live audio of me eating grapes?】