Chapter 107 - The King in Yellow, Flesh and Blood, Mad Moon (3)

Gods from beyond Earth. Outer Gods.

Though, really, they all look like the same cosmic monstrosities to human eyes, so people lump them together and call them Outer Gods.

As other writers who were drawn to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos added their own lore,

a closer look reveals two broad categories: 'Outer Gods' and 'Great Old Ones'.

'Outer Gods' are, as the name implies, true deities of the outer cosmos.

'Great Old Ones' are, to put it bluntly, aliens that have lived an absurdly long time.

In terms of lore, Outer Gods are generally stronger than Great Old Ones, but it isn't a strict hierarchy.

There are cases where a powerful Great Old One has wiped the floor with an Outer God.

Anyway, the protagonist of the Cthulhu mythos, its poster child.

The colossal cosmic octopus, Cthulhu, is also a Great Old One.

Not just any Great Old One, though.

His grandfather is Yog-Sothoth, effectively the most powerful Outer God in the universe, making Cthulhu a Great Old One of distinguished bloodline.

In terms of human mythology, he's a demigod hero carrying divine blood.

Like Heracles, or Gilgamesh.

And when talking about Cthulhu, there is one being that can never be left out: Hastur.

Cthulhu's half-brother. To put their relationship simply, they're like Naruto and Sasuke.

"Hastuuuuur!"

"Cthulhuuuuu!"

Whenever Cthulhu and Hastur threw dead-serious punches at each other out in the cosmos,

BOOM—!

the other Great Old Ones in the area would huddle together and go,

"Whoa... is this fight between Cthulhu and Hastur for real? The tentacles are getting epic."

"My gills are trembling!"

It was that kind of relationship, one that constantly generated that sort of commotion.

In any case, for reasons unknown, Cthulhu and Hastur despised each other and fought often.

Back in the age when Cthulhu was active on ancient Earth,

Hastur came looking for a fight as usual, but something unexpected happened.

As they tore into each other with everything they had, the blood and flesh ripped from Cthulhu and Hastur mingled together.

And from that, a Great Old One was born: the tentacled tree monster, Lloigor.

"Waah! Who's papa desu? Two papas, yay desu!"

Shock—!?

No matter how terrifying an Outer God might be, apparently the shock of a child being born between two brothers who hated each other was too much.

After that, the two refused to even see each other's faces, maintained a voluntary social distance, and became so estranged they no longer fought directly.

Though it seemed they still hated each other.

Hastur is said to grant magical items or power to the humans who summon him, on the condition that they deal with Cthulhu-worshipping heretics or the alien race known as the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu.

The fact that he makes deals with humans makes him arguably the most approachable of the Outer Gods.

...Of course, "approachable" or not, staying uninvolved is still better for one's mental health.

"Haah...."

I closed the copy of <De Vermis Mysteriis> in my hand, put on my coat, and got ready to head out.

It wasn't as if I had some burning sense of justice like, 'I'll protect people's peace from dangerous supernatural incidents!'

It was more like, if I heard the news that some lunatic set fire to an apartment complex in the next neighborhood over,

I'd think, 'Wow... the world's a scary place,' and move on.

But if that lunatic was right in front of me, trying to set fire to the apartment I lived in,

'Has this crazy bastard lost his goddamn mind?'

Whether I rallied the neighbors, called the cops or the fire department, or tackled the guy myself,

I'd have to stop him first, right? It was like that.

...My eyes narrowed to slits.

Well, judging by how the energy I'd sensed was only there for the briefest instant, the summoning must have been dispelled almost immediately.

Still, I intended to do a little digging into which idiot had pulled a stunt like that.

...The problem, of course, was that Seoul was currently crawling with all manner of wizards and mercenaries who were after my Grimoire.

I'd heard from Si-on that most of them had been caught by the Special Operations Division after the brawl in the shopping mall, but there were definitely some who had slipped away and gone into hiding.

"Hmm...."

I rubbed my chin and thought.

If I were with Ellie, who was affiliated with the Vatican's Cathedral, or if the sun were still up, it might be a different story.

But with the sun down, straying too far from the Cathedral was dangerous.

On top of that, if other wizards had also sensed the energy, they'd be converging on the summoning site.

"...Guess I really do need a spell or two for concealing myself?"

The moment I muttered that to myself,

two Gnomes suddenly tugged at the legs of my pants, grinning.

"Uhehehe~." "Uhihihi~."

They wore expressions that said they had something to show off.

"Master! Look at this, Gnome!"

And indeed, one of them excitedly pointed at another Gnome behind it, practically bouncing with glee.

That Gnome reached into its beard-pouch and pulled out a wax-coated, wrist-shaped candle, smiling broadly.

"Hehe~ Picked it up, Gnome!"

My eyes widened in surprise.

'That's—!?'

A magic Artifact that made the body invisible, crafted by curing a human wrist in salt and pepper for roughly two weeks.

The Hand of Pickles!... No, it was the Hand of Glory! {@PIC:816658}

Naturally, the Hand of Glory I had tried to make had been lost when the Secret Workshop, along with the ingredients I'd been preparing, was hit by the missile Yoannis fired and turned into a smoked roast, so this one wasn't mine.

The death had been so instantaneous that my memory was hazy, but....

This was the Hand of Glory that had belonged to the wizard who turned himself invisible during the brawl at the shopping mall and tried to assassinate me, only to be killed by Grizzly.

The Gnomes must have scooped it up off the ground while fleeing the mall.

"Gnome, why didn't you tell me you picked this up earlier?"

"Eh...?"

At my question, the Gnomes glanced at each other for a moment.

"Hehe~ Forgot, Gnome!"

"Master didn't ask, Gnome!"

They looked up at me and said it with bright, innocent smiles.

...Well, fair enough. Can't argue with that.

In any case, I'd just discovered a new use for Gnomes.

They were magnet pets.

I patted the Gnomes on their heads, then took the Hand of Glory and examined it.

A candle made from a severed wrist, coated in wax.

I'd only managed to get partway through making one myself, but apparently this was what the finished product looked like.

Advanced crafting notes for the magic Artifact, the Hand of Glory:

First, take the wrist of a hanged criminal from which the blood has been squeezed out, and cure it well in salt, pepper, and saltpeter for two weeks.

Next, dry it outdoors during the hottest season, when the sun is at its fiercest.

If sunlight is insufficient or the weather isn't hot enough, it can also be dried in an oven heated with bracken fern or vervain.

At this point, collect the oil rendered from the wrist.

Mix it with beeswax and Lapland sesame, that is, sesame from Northern European regions such as Sweden, Finland, and Norway.

Apply the mixture back onto the dried wrist, and the Hand of Glory is complete.

Well, in the end, I'd skipped the intermediate steps and gotten my hands on the finished product.

".........."

...Should I give it a test run to see if it actually works?

I struck a match from the room and lit the candle, then held the Hand of Glory and recited the incantation.

"Grant me the chance to seize glory."

Separately from that, I made a mental note to buy a lighter later.

Anyway.

'...Am I invisible now?'

I checked the mirror, but all I saw was myself standing there holding a weird candle.

The Hand of Glory's weakness was precisely that it showed up in mirrors, so there was no way to confirm whether I'd truly turned invisible just by looking at one.

And for some reason, getting hit with milk also broke the invisibility spell.

Occult magic, as expected, came with its quirks.

If I showed up in mirrors, I'd probably also appear in photographs and on CCTV footage.

Well, CCTV didn't exist back when the Hand of Glory was first created, so what could you do?

Strictly speaking, it was less an invisibility spell and more Perception Interference Magic that prevented other people from noticing the caster.

In any case, to continue testing, I asked Grizzly and the Gnomes.

"Hey guys, can you see me?"

Grizzly just stared at me the same as always, and the Gnomes' eyes sparkled with fascination.

"Gyaa?"

"Can feel Master's presence, but can't see you, Gnome!"

Being my Familiars, they were linked to me, so even though they couldn't see me, they could apparently still sense where I was.

I turned my gaze toward the door.

'Should I test it on a person now?'

This was, in all practicality, the most important test.

I carefully opened the door and stepped out.

"Hm hmm~."

Ellie was humming to herself as she did the dishes alone. When I quietly approached,

she turned around with perfect naturalness and looked in the direction where I was standing.

"Yo-han-ssi, do you need something? ...Huh?"

Then she tilted her head, puzzled.

"...Yo-han-ssi, I heard your breathing and your footsteps?"

"—!?"

I froze mid-step in surprise. My pupils shook.

'...She can identify people by their breathing and footsteps?'

Ellie furrowed her delicate brow slightly and reached a hand out toward me.

"...This time the footsteps suddenly stopped?"

At that, I snuffed out the candle flame and revealed myself.

"Ah! I knew it was you, Yo-han-ssi!"

Ellie beamed at me with a bright, sunny smile.

"Sorry, I was testing a spell."

"It's fine. But becoming invisible, that's like a wizard from a fairy tale! That's amazing, Yo-han-ssi!"

I glanced down at Ellie.

I had been walking around the house invisible... and this was the reaction I got.

Did she not consider the possibility that I might do something dangerous?

Or was this the composure of someone strong enough to subdue me regardless of whatever I tried?

...Well, either way, it didn't matter.

"I was invisible. How did you know which direction I was in?"

"Hm? Hmm~ how do I put it. I could sense your presence, Yo-han-ssi, but I couldn't see you, so it just felt... off, I guess?"

I nodded at Ellie's answer.

"I see. Thanks for telling me."

I had a rough idea of what she meant.

Masters of the Breathing Technique could detect others through their presence.

If something that should be there couldn't be seen, it paradoxically made it stand out.

I'd need to be careful around Breathing Technique users too.

An unexpected test result, but not a bad one.

I'd have to look into a spell for silencing footsteps later, or learn how to conceal my presence from Lee Mun-ryong.

This was enough testing for the spell.

"I'm going to step out for a bit."

"Oh, okay. Be careful out there."

Ellie didn't pry with questions, simply seeing me off in a gentle voice.

Before leaving the Cathedral, I said one more thing to Ellie, keeping my voice low.

"...Don't go outside tonight. Stay in the house."

My eyes furrowed involuntarily, narrowing to slits.

".........."

...Maybe that was an unnecessary thing to say.

In any case, I called Lee Mun-ryong on the phone to summon him, and since he was apparently nearby, he appeared quickly.

"A night stroll?"

"There's something I need to check. I'll explain on the way. Put your hand on me."

Lee Mun-ryong placed his hand on my shoulder, and I activated the Hand of Glory once more.

In a dark city alleyway, the candlelight flickered for an instant,

and the figures of a wizard in a white coat and an old spearman melted into the night.