Chapter 60
Shhhhhhh...
SHHHHHHH...
“It’s pouring like the sky broke open... Well, probably just a shower. Let’s wait a bit.”
“......”
The expedition members stood in a long line pressed against the building wall.
Everyone wore cloaks and hoods to avoid the rain.
Yohan alone leaned against the railing.
He looked toward the harbor below.
Rain washed the blood and bodily fluids from his body.
He closed his eyes.
Then he focused on the horrible smell of this place.
The salty, fishy scent of the sea mixed with the smell of rotting corpses.
Together, they created a nauseating stench.
The smell represented this entire city.
Innsmouth.
A port city.
A land mixed with Deep Ones.
A land carrying the blood of Deep Ones.
A land ruled by Deep Ones.
The city possessed an unusual geography.
The harbor occupied one side.
A mining region occupied the other.
Several tall spires rose around the mining district.
Parts of their steep roofs had collapsed.
Rain leaked through.
One building that looked like a clock tower had a huge circular hole where its clock should have been.
Yohan could see large warehouses used to store mined minerals, tools, and other supplies.
Below them, rows of houses stretched tightly together.
Not a single chimney produced smoke.
Like the thirteenth floor, many buildings had almost no windows.
There were no signs of people inside the buildings near the expedition.
The farther down Yohan looked, the emptier everything felt.
Eventually, his gaze reached the pier.
Yohan frowned openly.
The beach was filled with sand mixed with gravel and broken bones.
Along the seawall surrounding it sat several hunched figures.
They stared toward the ocean.
Their heads twitched strangely.
Occasionally, they turned toward one another and raised their heads high.
That was enough for Yohan to recognize them immediately.
He looked away.
A long, smooth gray-white tower stood nearby.
It had probably once served as a lighthouse.
The waves had eroded its lower section.
Every iron railing beside it had rusted into a dull color.
Higher up, several roughly placed wooden boards could be seen.
Something resembling warnings had been written on them.
Yohan could not tell whether the writing had been erased by rain and wind or simply belonged to a nonhuman language.
The goddess looked over the scenery as well.
Her judgment was simple.
[Nothing has changed here. It’s still filthy and disgusting.]
...True.
She hummed with a fishy smile.
[What now, Yohan? Are you going to wipe them all out immediately? Or...]
I haven’t recovered enough strength yet.
Yohan’s eyes remained on the harbor.
As weak as I am now, I can’t fight all of them alone.
[Weak, huh... I’m not sure whether you mean your body or your mind. Hehehe.]
......
They remained there for more than ten minutes.
The damp, depressing atmosphere of Innsmouth slowly affected the expedition members.
Everyone looked gloomy.
Almost miserable.
Their expressions matched the city around them.
Shhhhh...
Shhh...
Drip.
Drip, drip...
Drop.
...Drop.
The heavy rain slowly weakened into drizzle.
A pale mist still covered the city.
Many places remained impossible to see clearly.
But they could not delay forever.
The expedition resumed moving.
It took another thirty minutes to find a hall large enough for everyone.
Part of the emptiness could be explained by the fact they had arrived near the boundary between night and dawn.
Even taking that into account...
Innsmouth felt almost abandoned.
They saw only two people entering a house several hundred meters away.
Both had their faces completely wrapped in hoods.
Nobody could tell whether they were human or another race.
The expedition opened the large hall’s rusty, creaking doors.
Several sewer rats scattered in surprise.
The wooden floorboards were covered in mold.
They groaned and sank slightly with each step.
Marks from dried, unidentified fluids covered the interior.
Red letters had been painted across windowless walls.
Perhaps residents had been forced to write them under orders from the Deep Ones.
Nobody knew what they meant.
The expedition members found cleaning tools in a storage room on the left.
They swept away the worst dust.
Then they began setting up camp.
By now, the process was familiar.
They removed luminous stones that had cracked after losing all mana.
They replaced them with fresh ones.
Dim light finally spread throughout the hall.
At the far end, they gathered piles of bones, branches, rotting meat covered in flies, and other garbage.
Everything was thrown outside.
Once the rough cleanup ended, the expedition members gathered in the center.
The few large windows shook in the remaining wind and rain.
Something seemed to move beyond the dark glass.
Something sinister.
But surely...
It was only their imagination.
“......”
“......”
Everyone looked exhausted.
That did not mean they intended to collapse and do nothing.
Yohan certainly did not.
Neither did the other commanders.
“It feels like all my strength is being drained away.”
Danforth rubbed his face.
“Like walking through mud that refuses to let go. Is this place normally like this?”
“You said you reached the fifteenth floor before, didn’t you, Danforth?”
“I barely touched the floor before turning back. We mostly stayed on the fourteenth.”
“Hmm... the fourteenth isn’t exactly easy either.”
“There was a village of residents from the Empire. It’s probably gone by now, but they helped us a lot.”
“I see.”
Once Danforth and Belvar’s conversation ended, General Kalkerak spoke.
“Bulsum and its slave soldiers wanted to conquer the Underground City.”
He folded his arms.
“Naturally, their first real target would have been Floors 15 and 16. Innsmouth and the forces of the Deep Ones.”
