Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

"Secret research?!" Liu Xing looked somewhat surprised at Sirius.

Sirius nodded solemnly and said, "I believe Mr. Liu Xing, you are already aware that our Ancient One clan was the first mythical creature race to arrive on Earth. At that time, Earth was barren, so initially, our Ancient One clan thrived here. However, the good times didn’t last long. Soon, a great turmoil erupted on Earth, with a large number of mythical creature races and the Great Old Ones descending upon it. We, the Ancient One clan, were astonished by this, as we believed that a planet like Earth, although rich in resources, wasn’t worth the conflict among so many mythical creature races and Great Old Ones. Therefore, we realized that there might be something undiscovered on Earth."

"So, as the Chief Researcher of the Ancient One clan on Earth, I led an elite team to explore. Soon, we discovered something amiss beneath Fisher’s Village. You see, the Ancient One clan has its own set of colonization rules. When colonizing a new planet, we use a detection device to scan the entire planet, determining its terrain and resource quantity. However, the underground situation of Fisher’s Village was completely different from what we had scanned. Thus, I was certain that there must be something special underground."

"At that time, Fisher’s Village was still a high mountain. So, I decided to establish a temporary military base there for cover and began excavating the interior of the mountain. While constructing the military base, we also investigated the interior of the mountain. Soon, we made a certain discovery—a wordless stone tablet. According to our investigation, the specific materials of this wordless stone tablet were not recorded in the database of our Ancient One clan. Moreover, the formation time of this wordless stone tablet was likely at the dawn of the universe... Most importantly, this wordless stone tablet wasn’t entirely devoid of inscriptions; rather, the original inscriptions on it were concealed by some mysterious force. Despite our efforts, we couldn’t bring the words back."

"So, we had no choice but to set aside this wordless stone tablet for the time being. However, its appearance reinforced our belief that there were more secrets hidden within that mountain. After all, the formation age of this wordless stone tablet was much older than that of Earth, indicating it was placed there by some powerful entity. Consequently, I brought in additional manpower from elsewhere and expedited the excavation. Soon, we discovered another batch of wordless stone tablets. These wordless stone tablets were similar to the first one, almost identical in size and thickness. In fact, our Ancient One clan’s most advanced detection devices couldn’t detect any differences among these wordless stone tablets."

"At that time, I believed that these wordless stone tablets likely recorded the deeds of a powerful entity in the universe. However, for some reason, these wordless stone tablets were abandoned and cast onto Earth, with the inscriptions originally on them concealed by that powerful entity. Because these wordless stone tablets might contain Magic Spells on how to summon that powerful entity. I came to this conclusion because our Ancient One clan had once communicated with a mythical creature race skilled in using magic. I heard from the priest of that mythical creature race that certain powerful entities in the universe could be summoned through the Magic Spells they left behind, and as long as a certain price was paid, benefits could be obtained from those powerful entities."

"Of course, some powerful entities are reluctant to lend a hand easily, so they would cover their tracks. Just like these wordless stone tablets. Therefore, we intended to decipher the secrets of these wordless stone tablets. After all, at that time, our Ancient One clan was in dire straits, on the verge of complete defeat in all aspects, unable to contact our brethren in the universe to request reinforcements. So, both the magistrate and I felt that if we wanted to turn the tide on Earth, we must seek the help of that powerful entity."

"Unfortunately, as soon as we began studying those wordless stone tablets, the Deep One clan discovered our military base. After repelling a small wave of Deep One soldiers, I originally intended to move all those wordless stone tablets back to the capital of our Ancient One clan on Earth. But then, the Shoggoth rebellion erupted. Although the Shoggoth rebellion was quickly suppressed, the capital suffered severe damage. Soon, crucial facilities turned into ruins. Thus, the magistrate decided to temporarily seal off the capital for repair work. Therefore, I had no choice but to leave those wordless stone tablets in the military base."

"Soon after, the Deep One clan launched another assault, this time with the assistance of their allies, the Star Kin. I believe, Mr. Liu Xing, you are aware of the strength of the Star Kin. Therefore, with the protection of the Star Kin, the Deep One clan’s soldiers quickly breached the military base. As our Ancient One clan was not adept at close combat or urban warfare, and at that time, those in the military base were mostly researchers and ordinary clerks, naturally, we were driven back by the Deep One clan. But at that moment, when I was almost desperate, a mysterious force suddenly killed those Star Kin, freeing up our troops to return to the military base and annihilate the Deep One soldiers."

"At that time, I believed that the mysterious force was likely from the owners of those wordless stone tablets, or perhaps it was simply the magic inherent in those wordless stone tablets. As one of the top researchers in the Ancient One clan, I have witnessed many miraculous things. Items capable of automatic counterattacks like this are actually quite common, differing only in the intensity of their counterattacks. So, I attached even more importance to these wordless stone tablets. But I also knew that the Deep One clan and the Star Kin were likely to launch another attack, so I decided for the second time to evacuate with those wordless stone tablets. Even if we couldn’t return directly to the capital, we had to go to other major cities to place these wordless stone tablets. However, when I tried to take these wordless stone tablets out of the range of Fisher’s Village on that island, I felt a strange force preventing us from doing so."

"Of course, initially, we wanted to forcibly take away these wordless stone tablets. But as long as these wordless stone tablets crossed the boundary, a black hole with a diameter of ten meters would appear around them, absorbing everything within its range. Then, these wordless stone tablets would return to the place where we excavated them. As for the things sucked into the black hole, no one knew where they went. So, because we couldn’t move away those wordless stone tablets, I had no choice but to opt for the next best thing—disguising the military base as if it had already fallen. After all, when constructing such a military base, we had made preparations in advance, setting up a partition between the military base and the excavation site."

"In the beginning, we did manage to deceive the new batch of Deep One soldiers and Star Kin who came to attack. We made them believe that the military base had already been captured by other mythical creature races. So, those Deep One soldiers hastily investigated and then followed the Star Kin to a new battlefield. Meanwhile, I led the remaining personnel to continue researching those wordless stone tablets and conduct further excavation. This time, we made a new discovery—a very strange egg-shaped small box. Although this small box was formed much later than those wordless stone tablets, its formation time still predates the appearance of Earth."

"After a brief study, we found that this small box seemed to contain some powerful force. So, I decided to temporarily abandon the research on those wordless stone tablets and focus our remaining scientific resources on this small box. However, at that moment, perhaps due to battles between other mythical creature races outside, one side of the mythical creature races deployed some high-tech weapons, cutting off the power supply to our underground research facility. And then, I heard screams coming from the laboratory, along with the roar of some unknown monsters. Sensing that something was wrong, I activated the Soul Casket, and then I suddenly died..."

Liu Xing furrowed his brows. If Sirius wasn’t lying this time, then it seemed that the turmoil on Earth was indeed the handiwork of the scapegoat Nyarlathotep. Because the egg-shaped small box Sirius discovered before his "death" was likely the legendary "glowing dipyramid."

In the Cthulhu RPG Game setting, the glowing dipyramid is the essential item for summoning Nyarlathotep’s incarnation—the night demon, as the night demon is sealed within this glowing dipyramid. Moreover, when the glowing dipyramid is in darkness, the night demon will automatically appear.

However, as one of Nyarlathotep’s many incarnations, the night demon should be considered one of the weakest, in a sense, because its weakness is quite apparent—it fears light. Even a faint light can reseal the night demon back into the glowing dipyramid.

So, the night demon can only act in complete darkness. Therefore, players encountering the night demon shouldn’t despair too much, as long as they can run to a place with light to evade the night demon’s pursuit... Of course, as an incarnation of Nyarlathotep, the night demon’s combat prowess is still formidable. Many times, players are instantly killed by the night demon in their first round of combat.

But I digress.

Since Sirius and his team dug out the glowing dipyramid, it means that Nyarlathotep is definitely involved. After all, during that ancient era, the glowing dipyramid should have been in Nyarlathotep’s possession.

Therefore, those wordless stone tablets should also be related to Nyarlathotep. However, Liu Xing couldn’t recall what information might be recorded on these wordless stone tablets, because in both Cthulhu mythos and the Cthulhu RPG Game setting, it seemed that the existence of these wordless stone tablets had never been mentioned.

Liu Xing rubbed his chin and said, "I see. If what you said, Sirius, is true, then I can understand why you didn’t tell me the truth from the beginning. After all, this information is too explosive. However, on another note, Sirius, you should be able to perceive the situation outside the Soul Casket, right?"

Sirius nodded, with a slightly embarrassed smile, saying, "Indeed, I can observe the outside situation through the Soul Casket. Because I modified it myself, or rather, added some auxiliary functions to this Soul Casket, such as automatically sending distress signals, detecting the situation around the Soul Casket, and receiving feedback from the outside. That’s how I knew you had learned about the Soul Casket from Chrisiano."

Liu Xing looked at Sirius teasingly and then said, "If it weren’t for meeting Chrisiano this time, I’m afraid you still wouldn’t want to tell me the truth, Sirius. But now I want to ask you a question, Sirius—do you think Chrisiano was telling the truth?"

Although Chrisiano’s words seemed plausible, Liu Xing still worried that Chrisiano might have lied, after all, as the saying goes—’different folks, different strokes.’

Sirius nodded and said, "I did hear about Chrisiano’s deeds before. However, at that time, I was no longer in the capital, so I had never actually met Chrisiano. But information about Chrisiano was only known to the high-ranking members of the Ancient One clan on Earth, so we can rule out the possibility of Chrisiano being impersonated. Moreover, Chrisiano was indeed expelled from the Ancient One clan. However, the reason Chrisiano was expelled from the Ancient One clan was because after gaining immense power, Chrisiano’s mentality became somewhat inflated."

"So, Chrisiano made a demand to the magistrate—to become the Grand Marshal and manage all Ancient One forces on Earth. This was a demand that the magistrate could never agree to. However, Chrisiano’s power was something the magistrate couldn’t give up either. So, the magistrate appointed Chrisiano as a senior officer, which, in human military ranks, would be equivalent to a major general. Unfortunately, Chrisiano was still not satisfied and even began to aspire to become a king on his own. That’s why his powers were sealed, and he was imprisoned."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that Chrisiano wanted to become a king.

Of course, now Liu Xing was inclined to believe Sirius’s explanation. After all, most mythical creatures also have their own desires and ambitions. It’s inevitable for someone like Chrisiano, who was originally a low-level clerk, to become somewhat arrogant after gaining immense power.

[Thanks for reading at Patreon.com/maxnkoga , if you supporting this novel, a heartfelt thankyou, enjoy the content!]

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!