Chapter 244: Ancient Ones
Chapter 244: Ancient Ones
The buildings where the common people were sheltered were pseudo pocket dimensions designed to prevent the corruption of the Madness.
Even though these buildings could resist the traces of 'Distortion Madness', they had the flaw that they were totally isolated places so the Buddhists didn't know what was going on inside the buildings.
Normally this wouldn't be a problem since in the entire sect's terrain there wasn't a single spy from another organization or faction of cultivators, but again, overconfidence is another name for stupidity.
Thanks to the spatial distortion arrays, each building could hold about 10 million people so the place looked gigantic when there were no people.
"Come on Tsubaki, technically I saved nine million people" - I sighed.
Tsubaki didn't answer, she is angry because I entered this building and spread the black blood to absorb all the people.
Tsubaki would be mad if I use kind souls for my experiments so I had to improvise.
Nobody died since I sent the minds of these millions of people to the church of my personal world where the followers of the Church of Orthrus will be in charge of brainwashing those people.
Those millions of people have pure souls and kind hearts so they will be excellent farmers focused on taking care of spiritual plants.
Tsubaki is mad at me because I technically kidnapped millions of people to make them labor slaves, but she will calm down in a couple of days so I keep working.
The barriers that protect this place are so strong that the monks outside will not be able to detect the rituals that I am about to perform.
To start, I spread black blood to form a transmutation circle on the floor using a setup Abby taught me.
Abby has extensive knowledge of something called the 'Chaos Arts', a form of dark arts that uses Madness energy. Even demons dare not use these rituals carelessly as the price is the complete loss of mind.
"Remember, you promised all the desserts I want for a week…" – Nyaruko looked at me nervously as she hugged an oxidized copper box.
I sighed and pulled out a tray of cookies. - "It's a deal"
Nyaruko smiled and took the cookies as she handed me the copper box.
Each Outer God has her own interests and hobbies.
BB loves to annoy others and her skill to alter Concepts is possibly my biggest trump card when facing Higher Entities.
Abby has the most knowledge of forbidden arts as she likes to study new cultures when she travels.
Nyaruko is a treasure chest as her 'Collector's madness' causes her to kleptomania. She has all sorts of things ranging from complete trash to real treasures that even Paradise would envy.
Nyaruko would rather die than give up her treasures so I have to bargain with her to get the things I need.
In fact, she has the necessary materials to rebuild BB's body so we are still negotiating.
Sure, I can use Contracts to force her to give me her belongings, but that would only make her hostile towards me and I'm managing to win her affection through patience as I'm apparently the first person who doesn't try to hit her when she says or does stupid things.
For some strange reason, she is afraid of forks...
I stopped thinking about stupid things and opened the box.
What I saw was three pages of an ancient book with meaningless scribbles, but due to [Reader's Madness], I saw words and long sentences in each scribble.
Looking at the pages, my title [Outer God] felt a certain comfort, but my human lineage felt an unpleasant sensation similar to having thousands of spiders walking inside my skin...
[System Notification: A link has been established with the artifact 'Necronomicon (Pages: II, V, VII)'. The user can use Chaos Spells without depleting one's life energy.
Warning: Using this artifact will cause mind deterioration until all traces of consciousness are destroyed (Effect negated by the title 'Outer God')]
[System Notification: The energy 'Reader's Madness' has been synchronized with the artifact 'Necronomicon (Pages: II, V, VII)'. Holding the artifact will increase the effectiveness of Chaos Spells]
So this is the Necronomicon...
Although the three pages seemed simple, only entities with the title 'Outer God' could hold these pages without taking fatal damage to the mind, even a Buddhist monk would need to constantly meditate to suppress Madness in case of touching the artifact.
"With this, you officially have the highest rank among the followers of the Outer Gods, which is ironic since you yourself are one of us…" – Nyaruko spoke while eating cookies.
Abby frowned. - "Do not talk with your mouth full"
She was also eating cookies as they are her reward for giving me a lot of information about the Ancient Ones and how to trade with them.
BB smiled. – "Although the Ancient Ones are normally useless, at least they will be good cannon fodder until we heal our wounds"
I raised an eyebrow. – "Didn't you mention that some Ancient Ones are just as strong as the Outer Gods? Also, they are supposed to be superior in number compared to us"
BB shrugged. – "Cthugha, Hastur, Atlach-Nacha, and others have decent strength, but most are living jokes, for example, Dagon is a stupid tuna while Eihort is a pervert with a tentacle fetish"
…
I sighed in disappointment, my expectations are dying.
"Don't worry senpai" – BB patted me on the shoulder. – "When this kohai returns to the level of a final boss, senpai just has to put on an apron and cook a lot of food for the lovely BB-chan~ I'll take care of the problems~♥"
I rolled my eyes. – "You only know how to cause problems, if I leave you alone for five minutes you are capable of starting a multidimensional war"
BB smiled. – "How is the war that senpai is going to cause?"
"Technically this is your fault" - I replied apathetically.
"I know" – BB smiled proudly.
… Whatever.
I continued with the preparations.
First I took out two million human corpses, Ortro keeps them as emergency food.
Even though this will be detrimental to my Karma, I also took out two thousand human souls.
I put all the materials in the center of the transmutation circle.
Ortro made sad sounds to which I sighed. – "Later you can replenish your emergency supply"
Around the circle were red candles made from coagulated human blood while 200 ceremonial knives made from black blood appeared at specific points.
"Good luck senpai~" - BB smiled and returned to my mind with Nyaruko and Abby.
I used [Mythomania] to hide my identity as an Outer God and posed as a human corrupted by Madness, basically a priest who worships the Outer Gods and Ancient Ones.
I opened a spiral portal where 200 people came out with black robes covering their faces, these were followers of the Church of Orthrus. 'Church of the Dog' seems like a stupid name to me so I prefer to use this name.
Since these people have been totally influenced by my [Reader's Madness], I can connect my mind with them to perform the ritual.
Each person stood in front of a knife, knelt down, and waited for directions.
I held up the pages of the Necronomicon and began the ritual.
"MER SIDI… MER KURRA… MER URULU… MER MARTU… ZI DINGIR ANNA KANPA… ZI DINGIR KIA KANPA…" – The two hundred people spoke in perfect synchronicity as they used the knives to make symbols on their left palms.
My right hand held the pages while my left hand pointed to the center of the transmutation circle. – "IA ANU… IA ENLIL… IA NNGI… ZABAO"
The transmutation circle activated causing the corpses and souls to start writhing grotesquely.
The human flesh joined together to form something similar to a tree, but instead of its branches bearing leaves, they curled up to form a huge mirror of blood.
This ritual is called 'Invocation of the Four Gates', it allows the priest to create a Dimensional Gate through a sacrifice.
This Gate has two uses, it can be used to move between Worlds as long as I have the coordinates of the other World, or it can be used to contact Outer Gods and Ancient Ones.
Spells in the Necronomicon are powerful in that they allow mortals to use a minuscule fraction of the power of the Outer Gods and this particular spell mimics Abby's skill to create Dimension Gates.
To tell the truth, these spells are useless to me since I can use these abilities myself without the need for complex rituals, but it is important to create the right environment.
I even gave Navi a lot of food to make sure the asshole doesn't cause trouble.
Once the mirror was formed, I prepared the offering to contact my first target.
I took out a glass vial containing a drop of Nyaruko's blood and threw it into the blood mirror while raising my voice. – "Great Cthugha! In your infinite grace, I beg you to listen to the words of this insignificant priest!"
The mirror absorbed the bottle, now it remains to wait.
[System Notification: A Higher Entity has detected the user. The entity approaches. The entity is not hostile, but it is recommended to escape]
The heat increased considerably, but it was still humanly tolerable so Cthugha must be holding back her power.
[System Notification: The 'Reader's Madness' energy has suppressed the harmful effects of the 'Arsonist's Madness' energy]
Through the mirror, I saw a red-haired brat who looked to be 14 years old. I'm not even surprised...
"Nee, look, your girlfriend is here" – BB mocked Nyaruko.
Nyaruko ignored everything and concentrated on enjoying her cookies.
"Human, speak, where did you get Nyaruko's blood?" - Cthugha spoke authoritatively.
Although she didn't show hostility, it's clear that she will become aggressive if I don't give a satisfactory answer.
I respectfully knelt as I lifted my right sleeve to reveal a strange mark on my right arm. – "Great Cthugha, I am the servant of the great Nyarlathotep…"
When an Outer God recognizes a follower, they usually mark them as a sign of ownership.
To tell the truth, the Outer Gods do this for fun since they don't really care about having followers since the life of mortals is so short that they don't develop attachment even for the most devout priests, moreover, it is common for an Outer God to exterminate his followers during a dementia attack.
Cthugha looked at the mark without much interest, her attention was really focused on the pages of the Necronomicon as Nyaruko never lets go of her treasures and if I possess this artifact it means she holds me in high regard.
Cthugha frowned, she is as jealous as Nyaruko mentioned...
Before Cthugha impulsively attacked me, I began to speak in a pleading voice. – "Oh great Cthugha, my master has been captured by cruel enemies so I beg the great Cthugha to help my master"
Cthugha froze as the temperature rose.
"Who dares capture my Nyaruko?!" – Cthugha yelled furiously making the space tremble despite the fact that she still hasn't crossed the Dimensional Gate, her strength is no joke.
"My master was ambushed by the Buddhist cultivators of Eternal Heaven Immortal … I managed to infiltrate the grounds of the Buddhist sect and opened this portal." – I maintained a pleading demeanor. – "Although it is very dangerous to attack the main base of the Buddhist cultivators, currently the great Azathoth is attacking this place so it is the perfect opportunity to rescue my master"
"Azathoth?" - Cthugha paused for a moment.
It seems that her fear of Azathoth outweighs her obsession with Nyaruko.
"That's right, great Cthugha" - I pretended not to notice her fear. – "All the leaders and guardians of the Buddhist sect are fighting against the great Azathoth, although this left the sect unprotected, there are still entities that exceed my power so I cannot search for my master, but with the help of the great Cthugha it will be possible to rescue my master"
Cthugha was silent for a couple of minutes to analyze the whole situation.
Although she appears to be an impulsive and temperamental person, this situation requires deep consideration as the risks are great.
If Azathoth defeats the cultivators, then this place will be destroyed including the Outer Gods and Ancient Ones, but if the cultivators win, then we will be locked in among many enemies.
I expected that so I showed an expression of adoration and respect. – "My master ordered me to look for the great Cthugha in an emergency, the great Cthugha must be a very important entity for my master, so I beg the help of the great Cthugha"
Cthugha's mouth trembled many times and at last, she sighed.
Cthugha walked towards the mirror of blood and entered this World.
What surprised me was that her flames were able to withstand most of the suppression of the defensive Laws of this world, no, it is better to say that her flames were burning the Laws.
Cthugha stood and looked at her hands for a moment. – "Buddhist energy… This is unpleasant… Oh, Nyaruko, the things I do for love…"
"I want to throw up…" – Nyaruko had a disgusted expression.
"If you vomit in my mind I'll take your cell phone" - I sighed internally.
"NOO! There's an event in Azu■ Lan■ and I don't want to miss the Illustriou■ banner!" - Nyaruko screamed in agony.
Although I don't understand what she is talking about, I know how to deal with a useless otaku who lives glued to the internet since Umaru is the same.
I went to the entrance and opened the door respectfully.
I made sure no monks were near this area earlier so I can do another three or four rituals before I'm discovered.
Cthugha looked out of the building and her face paled at the sight of Azathoth fighting the Buddhists, but she managed to calm down as she noted that the blind monster was unable to break through the barrier that protected the sect.
"I'll look for Nyaruko, you wait here and take care of the Gate, this will be our escape route" – Cthugha sighed and spoke authoritatively to me.
I knelt like a religious fanatic. – "Thank you great Cthugha! I will guard this place with my life!"
"Just call me Kuuko" – Cthugha sighed. – "Nyaruko changed her name so I want to do the same… Ah, Nyaruko ♥…"
I nodded. – "Great Kuuko, I will make sure to protect this place"
Kuuko nodded and disappeared.
"I thought senpai would be more jealous and possessive" – BB spoke curiously. – "You know, that loli yuri wants to steal senpai's property"
I sighed wryly and closed the door to the building. – "She is strong but too impulsive, she did not even ask me about Nyaruko's location so she will get into trouble, when she is badly injured it will be time to negotiate"
"Senpai is so handsome when he's a treacherous rat~" – BB smiled like a maiden in love.
System Goddess nodded. – "It is true, seeing that you kneel so easily is fascinating, your non-existent pride makes you more attractive than arrogant men who prefer to die rather than lower their heads, that kind of man is only courting death"
"We are in the base of entities that are natural enemies of Outer Gods and a single mistake can get us in trouble" - Abby grabbed another cookie. – "He is not totally rational either"
"Well, that's true" – System Goddess shrugged. – "But if Luis were totally rational then he would have sacrificed us to protect his own life"
"Senpai is the middle ground between an idiotic psychopath and a pragmatic psychopath~" – BB seemed more and more in love.
I smiled wryly, I can't deny it.
In this way, I called the next Ancient One.
Although the dementia attacks mainly affect the Outer Gods, some of the Ancient Ones also suffer from this problem so my [Anti-Rasen] served to negotiate the same way it did with Nyaruko and Abby.
Such is the case of Hastur.
According to Abby and BB, Hastur's mind is totally divided into two personalities that fight all the time to take complete control of the body.
Hastur splits into two personalities.
The first personality is a tsundere but reliable older sister who is easily embarrassed and enjoys playing harmless little pranks on her friends.
The second personality is basically chaos personified. She's unpredictable, random, cheerful, and overly energetic, basically a brat with a sugar overdose.
In this case, it suits me to contact the chaotic personality as the kind personality will not want to start a war on Buddhist territory.
Fortunately for me and unfortunately for this world, I was able to contact the chaotic personality.
"Haachama-chama!~"
…. It took me two seconds to regret this decision.
"Hey, can this really silence that nuisance?" – A pretty blonde girl in a gothic dress asked me happily as she held a purple bracelet.
The bracelet was a chain of [Anti-Rasen] that could stabilize the minds of Madness-wielding entities.
While I would have liked to place Hidden Contracts on the bracelet, it would be dangerous to incur the fury of an Ancient One in my current situation so this artifact contained no traps.
Still, to think that the fearsome Yellow King would be such a lovable girl… The multiverse is stupid.
I respectfully nodded. – "Great Hastur, this is an offering specially prepared to stabilize the problems of Ancient Ones and Outer Gods, my master Yog-Sothoth wishes the cooperation between both groups to eliminate the enemies who have had the audacity to start a hunt against the great beings"
"Eeeehhh? Oh~ I see~" – Hastur nodded with a smile. – "You talk funny, you sound like a theater presenter, you are funny~"
I bowed. – "Thank you for your kind words, great Hastur"
"Just tell me Haachama~" – Hastur smiled and put on the bracelet. – "No more Hastur, no more Haato, just Haachama~ Forever~"
I feel like I just caused a mess...
"Don't you have a prettier design?" – Haachama looked at the bracelet.
"I'm sorry I didn't prepare a better design, I beg the mercy of the great Haachama" - I knelt down.
"Huh? Oh, don't worry, I like this" – Hastur patted me on the shoulder. – "Well, as we agreed, I will help you destroy this place a little~ Hehehe, it will be fun~"
Hastur, well, Haachama, agreed to help me destroy the Buddhist sect in exchange for the method to suppress her second personality.
This girl is too dangerous, she does things that she finds fun even if they are dangerous, she didn't even care that Azathoth was around, she just wants to cause chaos while having fun.
In reality, she and BB used to get along, but Haachama's second personality constantly held back Haachama's destructive impulses, in fact, Haachama is the representation of the dementia attacks while the other personality named Haato is the real personality.
I made the hallucinations suppress the main personality…. Well, I don't have a certified psychiatrist, so it doesn't matter.
Haachama left the building and the first thing he did was approach a group of monks who were trying to put out the fire that was destroying several buildings.
Haachama pointed at a monk causing his head to explode.
From the pool of blood a spider came out which was picked up by Haachama, then she ate the spider...
What a bizarre method to devour minds…
"We have two" - System Goddess sighed when she saw how the territory of the sect turned into chaos. – "The alarms have already been activated so we can only summon another Ancient One before other factions of cultivators to decide to provide reinforcements"
I nodded and closed the door to repeat the ritual.
"Which Ancient One will join us without hesitation?" – I sighed. – "Kuuko is doing a great job destroying everything in his path and it was easy to negotiate with Haachama so it doesn't matter to have a weak ally, we just need numbers"
"Mmmmm" – Abby thought for a moment. – "Could you call Cthylla… Although… Um…"
"What is the problem?" – I raised an eyebrow.
Let's see, even though the Outer Gods are different from Lovecraft's mythology, Cthylla is supposed to be the daughter of Cthulhu so she must have decent strength.
BB smiled. – "Well, maybe, just maybe, her father disappeared because of me~"
… What?
Abby sighed. – "You always cause problems"
Nyaruko nodded. – "You complain about me, but you are the biggest idiot"
"It's not my fault!" BB pouted. – "By chance, Cthulhu met a human woman in Gaia and fell in love, ha, loser… Anyway, that stupid octopus asked me for help to enter Gaia without alerting the Will of the World so I showed him a crack in the barrier from Gaia in exchange for all his belongings including the worlds he had collected… In the end, that idiot hasn't appeared since then so he must have become a takoyaki~"
"Sounds delicious" – Ortro began to drool.
Crack in Gaia's barrier?
One problem at a time...
Somehow I had a bad feeling. – "How long ago was this?"
"Time is relative in the multiverse" – BB shrugged. – "Although if I take the flow of time in Gaia as a reference, that was 14 or 15 years ago~"
…
The Outer Gods and the Ancient Ones use Madness as their main source of energy, which is why many people confuse them…
Mr. Ichijo's wife was killed by an Outer God 14 years ago...
Oh damn… The entity sealed in Mount Fuji is Cthulhu?!
[System Notification: The skill 'Paranoia' sighs and sympathizes with the user's problems]
…
Shit.
I massaged my forehead. – "Then it will not be Cthylla"
"Actually no problem" - BB smiled nonchalantly. – "Cthulhu was a shitty father and her daughter was just a life insurance to be reborn in case his body was destroyed, she knows it so she was never attached to her father~"
"Seriously?" - Abby spoke with surprise.
BB sneered. – "Heh, I'm the best at collecting personal information and embarrassing secrets~"
That's not something to be proud of...
"Anyway" – BB shrugged. – "Senpai can call Cthylla, although it will be more effective if senpai shows her true appearance, it would even be better if senpai looks a couple of years younger~"
I currently look like a 30-year-old man as that is the average age of a priest of the Outer Gods as it is very rare for a Madness bearer to live more than 35 years and people too young could not resist doing a Necronomicon ritual.
I sighed. – "What are you not telling me?"
"How can you think that this pretty kohai would do anything to piss off senpai?!" – BB pretended to cry. – "I just want to help senpai! *Totally real crying*"
…
"Abby, Nyaruko, do you know anything about Cthylla?" – I sighed.
"SENPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAI!"
Nyaruko had her cheeks full of cookies like a squirrel. – "No, nobody cares about the Ancient Ones"
"No, I'm sorry" – Abby looked down sadly.
"Don't worry, you've already helped me a lot" - I kept sighing.
[System Notification: The skill 'Paranoia' cannot predict the actions of the entity 'Cthylla', but it can ensure that it is a good idea to follow the ideas of the entity BB'... Possibly...]
That doesn't reassure me...
"Neeeeee senpaaaaaaaaaaaaai"
…..
"Fine" - I sighed heavily. – "But if this causes problems then I will add four months to your punishment"
"Senpai should only trust this cute kohai~" - BB smiled giving me a bad feeling.
I sighed and went back to my Luis look.
Although I know this will be stupid, I changed my appearance a bit to go back to my appearance when I was 13 years old, a year before I arrived in Japan.
"Senpai shota is so cute!"
...…
I heard a camera... I hope it's my imagination.
I sighed and activated the ritual.
At first, the mirror showed only darkness as a distorted voice asked me about my intentions.
I explained the situation.
Large organizations like Paradise, Hell, and Immortal Eternal Heaven have started a hunt against Madness-carrying entities, so the Ancient Ones and Outer Gods need to work together to deal with this disaster.
Cthylla wasn't willing to get involved in this alliance since it's impossible to work with the Outer Gods due to dementia attacks so I sent a sample of [Anti-Rasen] to show that I have the cure for that problem.
I mentioned that Kuuko and Haachama joined this attack because Azathoth had turned hostile against the Buddhists.
I showed the marks of Nyaruko and Abby that showed the cooperation of the two Outer Gods.
For now, I will keep it a secret that BB is still alive as she is essential in a fight against an entity far superior to my strength.
"I see..." - The distorted voice she thought for a while. – "Okay, I will join this alliance, but I have one condition"
I have a bad feeling…
"I will try to fulfill any condition to the best of my abilities" – I bowed respectfully.
[System Notification: The 'Reader's Madness' energy has negated the mental corruption effects of the 'Onee-san's Madness' energy.]
…This has to be a fucking joke…
A beautiful woman with black hair and a seductive expression emerged from the mirror. – "Impressive, you are the first entity able to stand in front of me, adorable children usually lose all trace of sanity and die when I get close~"
She sounded sad so those children must have died accident…
Anyway, I have already confirmed why BB suggested I do this, Cthylla is a woman with pedophile fetishes…
I sighed and resigned myself to my fate, I have some time before the monks discover that this is the entry point for the Ancient Ones.
Cthylla licked her lips as her fingers ran over my face. – "My condition is that you survive the love of your Onee-san~"
It's not my first time on this kind of stage so I don't care… My childhood really sucked.
"Hey Listen! It's time for the fanservice!"
I couldn't reply since black tentacles held my hands and legs forcing me to lie on the ground.
"Ara ara~ Don't worry~ Onee-san will be nice~"
And that's how an Ancient One abused me...
"BB stop taking pictures!" - This damn girl...
"Teehee~"
Well, whatever, at least she's a beautiful woman and she's not using her tentacles to abuse my orifices. This is not so bad.
"Hey Listen! Call the UN! A crazy pervert woman is raping an innocent and stupid shota!"
…
Ah, whatever, I'll just stay and enjoy, I need to release some stress.
---
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Author's Note:
List of Ancient Ones and Outer Gods:
Outer Gods:
- Daoloth: BB (Fate/Grand Order)
- Yog-Sothoth: Abigail Williams / Abby (Fate/Grand Order)
- Nyarlathotep: Nyaruko (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)
Ancient Ones:
- Cthugha: Kuuko (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)
- Hastur: Haachama / Akai Haato (Hololive)
- Cthylla: Chiyo (Ane Naru Mono)