Chapter 56
That night.
The expedition members who had spent the day scattered throughout the city returned to the temporary base inside the Burrow Well.
Everyone except Yohan shared what they had learned.
“......This is the worst.”
That was the conclusion.
“Bulsum hasn’t entered hibernation at all. His Apostle, Ugthun, is almost certainly immortal. They have a huge number of slave soldiers, and all of them are armed with advanced weapons.”
Danforth sighed.
“We’re finished.”
“F-Finished?!”
“You people are.”
“......”
Unlike the gloomy expedition members, Yohan looked remarkably calm.
Danforth, who had heard the full situation from Alshun, spoke seriously.
“Either way, they’re preparing something huge. War is about to begin. We need to get to the lower floor before that happens. There’s no other option.”
Yohan clearly disagreed.
“I’m not so sure.”
“...Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t hide here forever. Those bastards know the geography much better than us. We’ll be discovered soon.”
“It might be better if they discover us.”
“...What?”
Yohan crossed his arms.
“Bulsum tempts people with a sweet fragrance. Anyone who falls for that temptation becomes an immortal slave.”
He continued despite the unrest spreading through the group.
“Which means if we can avoid falling for the temptation, they could carry us straight to Bulsum without us spilling a drop of blood.”
“......”
“......”
It was a completely new approach.
But everyone still reached the same conclusion.
It was reckless.
Belvar frowned.
“That might work for you, but there’s practically no chance all of us can resist. Records say even the fanatics of the Dagon Cult and the Deep Ones struggle to resist temptation when standing before Bulsum.”
Yohan raised one finger as though he had been waiting for the objection.
“There’s another way to resist Bulsum’s temptation besides fanaticism.”
“...There is?”
“W-What?”
Yohan glanced at the goddess sitting on his shoulder.
Then he gave the same wicked smile she often wore.
“Fear.”
After that, Yohan explained his strategy for fighting Bulsum and its Apostle in considerable detail.
“......”
“......”
The reactions fell into two categories.
Some were horrified.
Others were worried.
Of course, the worried ones were also horrified.
Yohan looked at them and calmly closed his eyes.
“If you hate my plan, go directly to the Apostle and request another gate-opening condition.”
“......”
“Anyone who doesn’t like my method can visit that Apostle Ugthun and ask him yourselves. We still have a few days before their operation begins.”
The answer was practically predetermined.
Still, it was also true that they had no better alternative.
Some expedition members who had safely passed through this area in the past did not strongly object for exactly that reason.
General Kalkerak agreed first.
“If the ruler of this floor has already decided on war, persuading the Apostle is impossible. The will of the divine being becomes the Apostle’s will. The god’s desire becomes the entire reason the Apostle exists.”
“There’s only one way to suppress them anyway.”
Yohan looked around.
“Bulsum’s hibernation. Nothing else will work.”
“...Can you actually force that?”
“That’s why I brought the ‘Black Pharaoh Idol.’”
After that, nobody seriously opposed him.
Sitting around worrying would change nothing.
There were uncertain parts.
There were dangerous parts.
Still, they had to move together.
The expedition members quickly began preparing.
“We don’t have much time. Move quickly. There’s no chance this floor will let us pass as leisurely as the twelfth.”
“It would be nice if we could move our supplies closer beforehand.”
“If we knew where their base was, we would’ve prepared already. Damn it. Who expected them to hide it this thoroughly?”
“What about this? We separate several people and use them only for transportation. Once they capture us, their base will naturally be revealed. Those people can move everything to nearby rooftops before joining the battlefield.”
The discussion continued for quite some time.
Yohan silently watched them before leaving the warehouse.
He needed to verify whether the magical item that would be central to the coming battle still functioned properly.
At the same time, inside a house somewhere in Devermos...
Asenas Waite sat cross-legged on the carpet in the middle of her bedroom.
She opened a path deep inside her consciousness.
A private channel used only by her companions.
A channel for believers of Dagon.
For the Deep Ones, who were His offspring and loyal servants.
The person Asenas had communicated with for the longest time was the brave and meticulous Brother Robert Olmstead.
He protected Innsmouth, the home and territory of the Deep Ones stretching from the fifteenth to sixteenth floors.
He was also an Apostle.
Asenas focused her consciousness.
She turned her thoughts into a voice and sent them telepathically to Robert two floors below.
It was a transcendent method of communication available only to Deep Ones.
Several minutes passed.
Then Robert Olmstead’s voice filled her ears.
So? How were Devermos’s alien creatures?
This was her sixteenth regular report.
Asenas opened her enormous Deep One eyes.
“Brother, your prediction was correct. They’re planning a war.”
