Chapter 4: The Unclean Ones (1)
How was I supposed to accept this horrific and nauseating revelation? Rotting corpses and gleaming gold. It was a sickening and sinister temptation, yet at the same time, cruelly, an opportunity for someone.
‘Reminds me of those oil tycoon children.’
To protect my mind from this unpleasant sight, I recalled something that had deeply shocked me in my childhood. When I was young, I harbored a vague fantasy about the mysterious Middle East.
‘I especially loved the Arabian Nights.’
Then one day, an interesting news article on the internet caught my eye. It was about an oil tycoon from a Middle Eastern country and his children. My eyes had sparkled then, but the story didn't resemble the fairy tales I loved.
‘It was about how the siblings were killing each other for the massive inheritance they were to receive.’
The article described it as suspicions, but what are the odds of a series of wealthy, healthy people all dying in accidents? The story of assassinations among those who shared the same blood, even if their mothers were different, was a great shock to me in my youth. As I grew older, I learned that such things happen all the time.
[They are above. Easy things like those. Easy offerings. Offer a sacrifice and prove your worth.]
[Accept this blessing.]
What pulled me from that memory—whether it was nostalgia or shock—was a jarring voice I felt as a pollutant sprayed directly into my brain.
"Shut up! You’re really good at spouting nonsense."
[Fool.]
[Answer this. Do you think you will enjoy such wealth and glory in your life?]
No, I won’t. And I don’t need to.
"I don’t need any money I’d have to get that way! Besides, the one you worship is..."
The moment I tried to recall that name.
All my instincts screamed danger, as if a red warning light had been lit. I had already figured out the identity of these black things, as well as the Outer God they served.
But.
‘I must not utter the Outer God’s name... just thinking about it might drive me insane.’
Before, writing his name or saying it out loud wasn't a problem at all... but in this world, they had truly become divine beings.
[As expected of the Messenger of the Ominous Star.]
[To know the Great Name and not collapse.]
[Show respect when you think of Him. He is [The Sleeper in the Netherworld].]
[We are merely. Byproducts He created.]
"...Shut up. Do you think I’d serve your lazy, evil god who demands human sacrifices?"
When I drew a decisive line, the images of corpses and treasures in the black masses vanished. Instead, they seemed about to try something else.
[Look.]
[And know that you cannot afford to be lost in delusion, chasing false virtues.]
So easily that my powerful willpower became meaningless, my consciousness was sucked into the darkness. Not just into the darkness, but to a place where something was being displayed.
A jolt. The carriage shook every time its wheels hit an unknown obstacle, and a clattering sound came from the people inside. The source of the noise was their armor. Inside the carriage were four knights armed with steel plates emitting a cold sheen, and one priest in neat, somber attire.
"You look nervous?" the priest asked one of the knights, who was particularly stiff. The knight looked younger and less experienced than the others.
"Yes... th-that’s right. This is my first mission."
"Your first mission... I see. But there’s no need to worry. Of all the trials you’ll face, this will undoubtedly be the easiest and simplest," the priest said with a benevolent smile. The priest who said this was also very young.
"But... we're going to a place where there's a heretical scripture, aren't we...?"
"That’s right."
"But why recover it? No, why was it in a nest of vermin like that in the first place...?"
The novice knight’s words were very harsh, but no one seemed uncomfortable or corrected him. Vermin. The unbaptized were not human, so such an expression was, if anything, appropriate for them.
"It seems you haven't been briefed on this matter." The priest smiled and looked at the man sitting opposite him. It was the knight wearing armor with particularly ornate decorations. The man, who was clearly of high rank, spoke calmly.
"He’s still a novice. We don't know if he can maintain secrecy."
"Ah, I see. But it's fine. This young man is a member of the 'Knights of the Stigma,' after all. He has the right to know."
The Knights of the Stigma. This knightly order, affiliated with the Church of Life, was small in number but was notorious for one thing compared to other orders: its cruelty. They didn't take on ordinary missions, but rather the ones everyone else hesitated to handle. In other words, they were the butchers who took care of the dirty work.
"Sacred relics and scriptures of heresy are desecrating objects, but some branches are allowed to study them in order to deal with heresy. The scripture we left in that orphanage, the 'Volume of Five Impurities,' is one such object."
At the priest's explanation, the novice knight remembered the unsettling thing that was inside the black box. Although nothing unusual had happened, perhaps because it was a heretical scripture, he had been plagued by anxiety during its transport.
"Among heresy, the most malignant are those who worship the Outer Gods. Since this is the book of the madmen who serve those calamities from another world, many sacrifices have been offered. But at the same time, we learned what can be gained through it."
The priest smiled, and lifted the pendant around his neck with his hand. It was a symbol worn by every believer of the Church of Life—a pendant shaped like a light, usually made of wood, but the priest’s pendant was of gold.
"Gold... you mean?"
"Not just gold, but all kinds of rare gems as well. The entity worshiped through that scripture was one that granted such wealth to its followers. In exchange for human sacrifices, of course."
"It demands human sacrifices..."
"Yes, a truly wicked being." He said the words, but his voice carried no trace of disdain or disgust.
"But as you know... such wealth is always required by the Church of Life. Isn't that right? Caring for orphans, educating believers... donations alone are not enough." The novice nodded quietly in agreement.
"Furthermore, no famous saints have emerged from this region, so the saintly relics we sell aren't particularly popular." The priest let out a sigh. "For us, that heretical scripture was a very useful tool, but at some point, it stopped giving us treasures and only demanded more sacrifices. Many young brothers were lost."
It was unfortunate, but the priest was indifferent. Only the gleaming gold held in his hand brought a smile to his face. "So, we devised a way to gather the funds we so desperately needed without offering any sacrifices on our part."
"H-how do you mean?"
The priest gave a calm smile. "It’s a simple method, really. All we have to do is leave that filthy scripture in a suitable place."
"That dangerous thing?" The novice was bewildered. Shouldn't something like that be tightly sealed or destroyed?
"Yes, we just have to place it in a gathering place for unbaptized sinners like this." The priest thought of this process as being like a farmer planting a seed. "Then, before long, those who cannot overcome their filthy nature will emerge. They will ignore our warnings and requests and lay their hands on the scripture. Without fail."
Four days, at most. As far as the priest recalled, it had never taken longer than that.
"And what do you think those vermin will do? They will sacrifice the other vermin around them to obtain gold and jewels." Just as insects devour each other when trapped together. This is the nature of filthy creatures. "All we have to do is confiscate that ill-gotten and hideous wealth."
The novice was impressed. According to the priest, it was a way to kill two birds with one stone: a dangerous tool that would have required sacrifices anyway was now being used to eliminate vermin and obtain precious wealth. But something was still bothering him.
"S-so, we just have to kill the remaining vermin after the ritual... is that right?"
"Exactly. Usually, that vermin is either dead or on the verge of death itself." In such cases, there was no problem at all, but unfortunately for the novice, there were other scenarios. "Sometimes, they lose their minds, reveal their true nature, and become aggressive monsters. And in very... very rare cases, they transcend being monsters and become abominations."
The novice flinched at the word 'abomination.' The other knights showed no reaction. "It might be an unnerving thought for a novice, but it's a rare occurrence. Even if it becomes an abomination, it's like a monster that’s a bit harder to kill."
"I-if that’s the case, shouldn't we need the help of the Luminaries, the specialists in hunting demons...?" The priest shook his head at the novice’s words.
"The members of the Knights of the Stigma are more than enough to handle it. Besides, we have with us the genius who is expected to one day become the Grand Master, Lord Alvega, don't we?"
The veteran knight in the relatively ornate armor, who served as the leader for this mission, nodded.
"Novice. Remember who we, the Knights of the Stigma, are. Why do we exist?"
"We sinners exist to carry the sins of the Church of Life, to commit evil in their stead until the day we die, and through our death, wash away the sins of everyone!" the novice knight boldly recited.
The emblem on his clasped hands—a nail piercing through the back of a hand, the symbol of the Knights of the Stigma—seemed to shine more brightly.
"This work is light, even for us. We brought you along to gain some good experience, so relax. This is literally about killing vermin." The novice knight nodded at Alvega's confidence-boosting words. His anxiety vanished, and his chest swelled with pride as a member of the Knights of the Stigma.
"Knights of the Stigma...?" I repeated the name of the people I had seen in the darkness I was pulled into.
[You have seen the disrespectful ones.]
[Those who, out of greed, slighted our Master and showed no courtesy.]
[Those who disturbed His peace and slumber too many times are approaching.]
[Do you think you will be safe in the face of their desires?] the black masses said, as if mocking me.
It was clear that even if I tried to run, such a knightly order would catch me in no time. it was as if they were trying to leave me with no other choice.
"I... will not offer a sacrifice."
[Even if it means your end?]
[You will only die at their hands.]
I shook my head and stared at the formless, pitch-black creations. "No! You will have to grant me a miracle, a way to defeat them. Even if I refuse to offer a human sacrifice."
My fear gradually faded. Anger flared within me, yet my head became cold. I spoke with conviction.
"Isn't that right? I am the Messenger of the Ominous Star. Your Master must want something else from me than just a simple sacrifice. That’s why you’re showing this extraordinary amount of interest."
The transcendent entities of the Cthulhu Mythos, with rare exceptions, pay little attention to humans or creatures of similar intelligence. But even if I had been born with the <Apostle of the Ominous Star> trait, their showing this level of interest was highly unusual. Receiving the attention of the Outer Gods—cosmic calamities and malignant deities in their own right—was never a good thing... but for now, I could use it.
"It would be a problem for you if I died and that scripture fell into their hands again, wouldn't it? If you could handle them yourselves, you would have done so already. Am I wrong?"
[That is true.]
[Elys. There is no falsehood in your words. He has granted you a miracle.]
[But do not forget. There is a path for you to earn His favor.]
[Do not deceive yourself into thinking you can use power without a price.]
Finally, the 'Formless Creations' relented, and their sinister scripture appeared before me again.
"Ah..."
The moment I opened the scripture, the sound of viscous water filled my head. My mind sank into the sound of a thick, nauseating gel moving.
‘I can read the words now. I can understand. I understand, I understand, I understand...’
A viscous black wave, clinging relentlessly the more I read. Even as I felt the agony of drowning in water that smelled of rotting corpses, my eyes did not stop reading the scripture. Until the filth swallowed me whole.
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