Charles felt as though he were having a dream.
An incredibly realistic dream.
He dreamed of the depths of a dark, sunless ocean.
There, beneath the endless sea, was a vast, dry, foul-smelling seabed stretching for millions of miles, covered with countless grotesque and jagged rocks.
At the far end of that seabed, Charles dreamed that an enormous ancient city was sleeping.
An ancient temple stood at the center of the city.
From behind its tightly sealed gigantic doors came all kinds of grand, fanatical, and absurd whispers.
Amid those whispers, Charles was certain he heard a familiar word.
“R’lyeh…”
Before drinking the Ascension Potion, Dark had told Charles that he could find the remnants of the Ancient Ones in R’lyeh, which could be used to create the Ascension Potion.
And now, in this dream, that same word had appeared once again among those strange whispers.
Charles stood within this unfamiliar world, feeling his mood sink lower and lower.
Could the crazed shouting from Dark that he had heard before losing consciousness actually have been real?
Had the Ascension Potion succeeded?
But even if it had succeeded, the power unleashed by the Eternal Blazing Sun should have reduced Dark to nothing but ashes.
Just as this thought arose, Charles saw a disgusting mass of flesh writhing across the seabed within his dream.
In only a brief moment, a black-robed Dark grew out of that mass of flesh.
But unlike before, several thin tentacles now extended from Dark’s body.
Drops of green slime constantly dripped from him.
Charles’s pupils contracted violently.
“Dark!”
“You’re not dead?”
“You did all this?”
Dark also seemed extremely confused.
“Charles, my friend, what kind of expression is that?”
“It was you who showed me the path toward ascension.”
“Look at me.”
“I now possess a beauty beyond anything I have ever known.”
“Why do I feel that you’re so repulsed by me?”
The next moment, Dark seemed to suddenly understand.
“Ah, of course.”
“It’s because you haven’t undergone ascension yet.”
“So you’re still stubbornly clinging to those primitive human prejudices.”
“How tragic, my friend.”
“Such an extraordinary soul trapped within a human body.”
“But fortunately, I’ll soon be able to set you free.”
Dark spoke with tremendous excitement.
“The Ancient Ones who once ruled this world…”
“Their era is about to return.”
“Under the witness of the Ancient Ones, I have already established a connection with you, my friend.”
“The true me will descend into this mortal world through you.”
“After that, the Ancient Ones will gradually return.”
“You will become the gateway that opens the way to this magnificent new era.”
As he became more excited, the tentacles extending from Dark’s body began waving uncontrollably like the tentacles of an octopus.
Some even waved directly in front of Charles.
Listening to Dark’s excited rambling, Charles’s body began trembling slightly.
Dark sighed with an obvious sense of superiority.
“Do not attempt to escape.”
“The connection established under Their gaze cannot be severed, even though I have already undergone ascension.”
“Charles, whether you’re willing or not, embrace me.”
“Embrace the Old Ones.”
“This is your only choice…”
At the same time, Charles stared at the tentacles waving before him.
An unavoidable thought began emerging in his mind.
“The main ingredient of the Ascension Potion was that disgusting green slime.”
“According to Dark, it was a remnant left behind by the Ancient Ones.”
“Judging from Dark’s current condition, this stuff probably isn’t particularly precious to the Ancient Ones.”
“In other words, the amount of Deduction Points it can provide probably isn’t very high when compared to the Ancient Ones themselves.”
“So…”
“What if I eat one of these tentacles?”
“The Deduction Points I get should be much higher than what I obtained from the Ascension Potion, right?”
Once this thought appeared, Charles no longer found the tentacles waving in front of him disgusting.
Instead, he felt as though enormous piles of Deduction Points were waving around right in front of him.
Charles called out inside his mind.
“Deep Blue.”
The mechanical notification that followed finally allowed Charles to relax completely.
He didn’t know what method Dark had used to create such a realistic dream or how he had appeared inside Charles’s dream to perform his strange act.
But since the Deep Blue System was still responding…
Charles could finally eat in peace.
At this moment, Charles raised his head and stared at the tentacles before him.
He could no longer hold himself back.
He licked his lips and revealed a passionate smile.
“Embrace?”
“No, no, no.”
“Dark, I’m far too happy for that.”
“An embrace isn’t enough to express my joy.”
“I’m going to celebrate in my own way!”
The next moment, Charles reached out and grabbed one of the tentacles waving back and forth in front of him.
“Something this tempting, yet you keep waving it around in front of me…”
“I’ve decided.”
“You’re going to be my first victim!”
Instantly, Charles opened his mouth and bit down.
The moment he took that bite, Dark, who had been enthusiastically preaching about the glory of the Ancient Ones, suddenly froze.
Countless tentacles began flailing around in panic.
“Wait!”
“Charles!”
“Charles, what are you doing?!”
“What have you done?!”
Charles hugged the tentacle and buried his head in it, chewing away.
With every bite he swallowed, the Deep Blue System continuously sounded inside his mind.
“Deduction Points +200…”
“Deduction Points +200…”
Yet the Deduction Points that had been completely exhausted when he deduced the Eternal Blazing Sun suddenly skyrocketed by more than 30,000 points!
Charles’s eyes practically turned green with greed.
His gaze was filled with longing.
If just a few bites gave him this much…
What if he ate the entire tentacle?
And what if he ate every tentacle growing from Dark’s body?
Wouldn’t that give him hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of Deduction Points?
And what if he ate the Ancient Ones and Old Ones that Dark claimed would gradually descend into this world through him?
Wouldn’t his Deduction Points completely explode?
Charles raised his arm.
“Dark, my dear friend!”
“You’re really too generous!”
“Even after becoming rich, you didn’t forget about me.”
“Having a friend like you is truly a blessing for me, Charles.”
“Come on, my friend.”
“Let me have a few more bites.”
“I’m genuinely hungry!”
At this moment, after Charles had bitten off a section of his tentacle, Dark fell into a state of unprecedented panic.
“My form…”
“It disappeared?”
“What exactly are you?!”
Just as Charles opened his mouth wide, preparing to take another huge bite of the tentacle, the tentacles on Dark’s body rapidly retracted.
His entire body also began disappearing at an incredible speed.
Charles looked around.
First, confusion appeared in his eyes.
Then it turned into resentment.
“Dark?”
“My friend, where are you?!”
“Why did you leave?”
“Weren’t you going to let me embrace you and congratulate you?”
“My welcome ceremony isn’t even over yet!”
“How could you leave already?”
“You wouldn’t even let me finish eating one tentacle!”
“You lied to me!”
“You never considered me a friend at all!”
“Dark!”
“Don’t leave!”
“Let me have another bite!”
“Just one more bite!”
Then Charles spoke in a low voice.
“But don’t forget.”
“Just as you said, we’ve already established a connection under the watchful eyes of the Ancient Ones.”
“Even you can’t sever it.”
“We’ll meet here again.”
“Dark, you can’t hide from me forever.”
“No matter where you are…”
“I’ll find you.”
(End of Chapter)