EP.109 The Answer We Had Been Searching For Was Not Far Away (5)
“The monster fish layer will… rise to the same level as the sea surface…?”
“Yeah. Just as you heard. Based on the current rate of rise, the monster fish layer will reach the same height as the surface within three months at the latest, or as soon as two weeks.”
“Why… why is this happening? What’s the reason? Is it just a natural phenomenon? Or did that eyeball cause this?”
“I think it’s probably related to this.”
Snap!
When Alice snapped her fingers, the floor right next to where Parang and Alice were sitting split open with a rumbling sound.
There was an empty space the size of a coffin below, and Parang’s expression turned to shock when she saw what was inside.
“This, this… How is this possible…?”
Inside was the corpse of World Government President Yoo Sungjun, whom she had seen on the news just days ago.He was covered in white cloth except for his face and bare feet, his eyes closed.
“He was abandoned on the Indian Ocean coast. I found him through Capulus and brought him here. That was a week ago. When discovered, the body had been dead for about a week.”
“So this person… died two weeks ago…?”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“That’s impossible… But just a few days ago, on the news…!”
Just four days ago, Parang had clearly seen Yoo Sungjun giving a speech on the news.
Wearing that unpleasant toothy smile, boldly giving a speech in front of citizens.
While watching, she had suspected that the Yoo Sungjun on screen might not be real, but she never imagined that the real Yoo Sungjun would be dead and abandoned in the ocean like this.
“It’s such a shame I couldn’t use ‘Mind’s Eye’ through the screen.”
“Huh? ‘Mind’s Eye’? What’s that?”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, it was natural that Alice wouldn’t know about Parang’s newly acquired skill.
“It’s a skill that sees the true nature of things. I’m not sure exactly how it works yet.”
“The true nature of things… I see.”
Alice nodded and seemed to think about something, but instead of delving deeper, she returned to the original topic.
“Anyway, this corpse is related to the fundamental reason for the monster fish layer’s rise. Here, look at this.”
Alice reached out and pulled back the cloth covering Yoo Sungjun’s body.
“Ugh…!!”
Parang recoiled instantly at the revolting sight before her eyes.
The corpse was exposed except for the vital areas, and red writing densely covered the bare skin.
Looking closely, it wasn’t written with ink, but carved into the flesh.
Parang knew very well what a corpse decorated in this way meant in this world.
“A sacrifice… for a ‘ritual’…”
‘Ritual.’
It’s not complicated. Humans, sometimes multiple humans, are killed in horrible and cruel predetermined ways and offered somewhere as sacrifices.
This can trigger supernatural phenomena.
Natsuko had once performed a ritual using a pregnant woman and a starving goat to summon the original work’s boss demon ‘Barbatos’ early.
The ‘Ascension Ritual’ performed by Han Siwoo and the Slayers also falls into this category, though that was quite exceptional in that they sacrificed their own bodies rather than human lives. ɌàΝ∅ᛒĚ𐌔
“That’s right. This corpse was used as a sacrifice in a ritual. The content of that ritual was probably the rising of the monster fish layer. Can you see the text written here?”
<Qui in altissimis habitat. Spero te venturum esse, ubi manemus, et voluntatem tuam pandimus.>
These words were carved into Yoo Sungjun’s chest.
“What… what does this mean?”
“It’s Latin. Translated, it means ‘O Dweller of the Deepest Place, we pray that you will rise to where we remain and reveal your will.’ Something like that.”
“‘Dweller of the Deepest Place’…”
“Yeah. It has to be that eyeball. Or maybe the Kraken.”
Alice pointed to various parts of the corpse as she continued.
“Look carefully. There are no bruises or burst blood vessels on the body. This means there was no physical struggle. He consented to being sacrificed.”
“My God…”
“You said you saw him on the news earlier, right? I don’t know exactly what happened, but it’s clear that person was fake. Whether it was created as an illusion, someone in disguise, or… something far more terrible.”
“How did the World Government know about this ritual…?”
Parang’s question was reasonable.
Though the method is horrific, there would be people lining up around the world willing to sacrifice a few humans if it meant wielding supernatural power. Yet rituals aren’t rampant in this world because discovering the methods and results is incredibly, truly incredibly difficult.
So there are two main ways to successfully perform a ritual. Either sacrifice people over and over with tiny hints until it works, or spread people throughout the world to search for the ritual method.
And the fact that they were able to do it means…
“Right. It means things have gone completely off the rails within the World Government.”
“…What should we do now?”
“First, the stagnant layer is rising most rapidly near the Indian Ocean coast. It seems related to where the corpse was dumped.”
“The Indian Ocean…!”
The Indian Ocean is the only gap in Oceanos’s underwater surveillance network. This is because their residences are mostly concentrated in the Pacific and Atlantic regions. Though Xiao claims to be monitoring extensively with his network, that’s not as easy as it sounds.
Whether by chance or design, the World Government had exploited this gap perfectly.
“It’s not very noticeable now, but the rate of rise is gradually accelerating. If we keep ignoring it, things might become truly irreversible. I’ll do my best to help too.”
“*sigh*… Alright. I’ll look into ways to deal with the stagnant layer’s rise too. Let’s move on to the next topic.”
“You mean about the ascension?”
“Yeah. In my memories, you told me to ‘ascend.’”
“That’s right, I did.”
“Is ascension absolutely necessary to catch that monster?”
“I don’t know.”
“…Huh?”
Alice’s answer was so straightforward that Parang momentarily lost track of the conversation’s direction. Her pupils seemed to dilate slightly.
“I don’t know why ascension is necessary. I just know that in every future where Yu Parang wins, she has completed the ‘ascension ritual.’”
“…Really? That’s it?”
“Yes. Even if it doesn’t seem convincing, that’s all there is to it. I won’t make up stories.”
“Hmmmm…”
Her head was spinning with complexity.
“Of course, I’ve looked into information about ascension too. I’ve searched every ocean, examining anything that seemed even slightly related. But as you can see, with my body in this state, I can’t leave the water.”
“So there was no information in the ocean.”
“That’s right.”
“I see. About the ascension… I’ll think about it.”
Though Alice didn’t seem to be lying, Parang felt she needed to be cautious, knowing what had happened to the Slayers when they attempted ascension.
“Let’s move on to the next topic.”
“Right. Next is… that strange presence that’s been appearing in your dreams recently.”
Parang nodded.
When it came to strange presences in her dreams, there was only one.
“You’ve been betrayed.”
That ominous Yu Parang, taking her form while emanating malevolent energy.
She confirmed Alice’s answer.
“…Yeah. Something unpleasant, evil, wearing my face appeared in my dream last night. And once before that, vaguely.”
“What did it say to you?”
“That I was betrayed by the person closest to me. That I’m not human, but a monster…”
Parang’s shoulders trembled slightly as she spoke.
Those words that were unpleasant just to recall, yet somehow impossible to ignore.
Words that mercilessly dug into the deepest fears in Parang’s heart.
After hearing this much, Alice placed her hands on both of Parang’s shoulders with a serious expression.
“Don’t believe what that being says. Don’t listen to it, just ignore it.”
Parang knew this intellectually. That she shouldn’t believe such words. That she shouldn’t doubt the people who had stayed by her side. But.
“But…”
Past memories flashed through Parang’s mind. Natsuko’s skills, absorbed through the Kraken.
The more she thought about it, Parang could clearly feel it. She wasn’t summoning the Kraken.
She was pulling it out from inside herself.
This fact drove Parang crazy.
What if Parang really wasn’t human, but a monster?
“What if… people who learn this leave me…?”
The most terrible worry lying dormant in Parang’s deepest core.
Her trauma and phobia.
The dream entity had precisely identified this and ruthlessly torn apart Parang’s heart. That’s why Parang couldn’t ignore its words.
“What if… that really happens…?”
These thoughts kept coming endlessly.
Gradually, her breathing became labored. Her chest felt tight and constricted. It felt like a massive stone was crushing her.
“Huff… huff…!”
It felt like someone was strangling her. It was scary and horrible.
Just as Parang was about to fall into an abyss of negative emotions.
*SLAP!*
“Huh…?”
Parang held her stinging cheek and looked at Alice with a bewildered expression.
The shock had abruptly interrupted her negative thoughts, bringing her consciousness rushing back to the surface.
“Sorry for hitting you. It was the only solution I could think of.”
“No, no. Thank you…”
“Parang. You are absolutely not a monster.”
Alice’s eyes gazed sharply at Parang. Though her gaze was fierce, there was clearly warmth within it.
“I understand well what you’re worried about. I know what it feels like to have a monster’s part inside my body.”
Only then did Parang look at Alice.
She had forgotten due to Alice’s composed attitude, but Alice also shared the same pain as Parang.
What thoughts must have gone through Alice’s mind as she watched, trapped in her cocoon, as the monster’s body flowed into her?
Probably not much different from Parang’s.
The pain of having something else, something that wasn’t herself. Having a monster mixed into herself.
The identity crisis of possibly being a monster.
And the fear that her friends might leave her because of it.
But unlike Parang, Alice appeared confident. Her eyes still shone as they always had.
Just like before they parted.
“How, how can you be… so composed?”
Parang asked Alice haltingly.
What filled her question wasn’t jealousy or envy.
Hope.
Parang was desperately searching for hope in Alice.
Desperately.
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