Chapter 267 (1): This Is Justice

Creak!

The short door swung open, and a mass of black wriggled slowly out. It straightened its bizarre form to a height exceeding three meters. It was all black, covered in bulging growths and vein-like patterns, with yellow fluid flowing through them.

The monster had three thick tentacles on the upper part of its body, each as thick as an average person’s thigh, arranged in an inverted triangle. The two upper tentacles hung down from both sides. One tentacle had fish gills and insect-like mouthparts at the tip, while the other tentacle was slightly higher with tiny tendrils covering the tip with two eyes that protruded out like a snail’s feelers. The human eyes stared straight at the newcomers.

The lower central tentacle resembled a trumpet flower. When opened, four thinner tentacles extended from within.

The monster’s lower body was covered in what looked like an insect’s chitin or a black snail shell, crawling with yellow veins. By the look of it, it was meant to protect the soft body.

Wriggling tendrils left trails of slime on the ground while carrying the shell forward, moving faster than a regular human’s walking speed. The monster waved its tentacles at Wayne as it approached.

Holy shit, that’s creepy!

No wonder Vera was pale with fear. Anyone would be startled after suddenly encountering this thing.

Wayne narrowed his eyes. They glowed red as two beams of fire elements shot out without warning. The monster’s four slimmer tentacles spread open, forming a defensive barrier similar to a shield conjured with thoughts. It crumbled after blocking the heat vision.

“Outsider, I mean you no harm. Stay your hand.”

The monster’s unsettling eyeballs stared, its lower tendrils opened to reveal a human mouth with a drooping tongue. Saliva and slime dripped as it spoke, its words slurring together.

It was speaking Windsorian!

Wayne was shocked. Even monsters had to master foreign languages in this day and age. Competition was fierce everywhere, it seemed.

“Outsider, this isn’t where you should be. The great Thoggua[1] is about to awaken. Turn back while there’s still time!”

The monster spoke incomprehensible words, its two eyeballs examining Wayne and Vera separately, pupils dilating to different degrees for maximum creepiness.

“Who is Thoggua, and... what are you?” Wayne asked.

“That’s not for you to know. Put your curiosity aside. The more you know, the deeper you’ll fall.” The monster licked its mouth with its long tongue, feeling a desire to feed on Wayne while speaking.

Wayne’s lips quirked up. “Want a bite? Tackle me, and I’ll satisfy you.”

He hadn’t found the Sun Knight’s power, but he had encountered an extremely talkative NPC who expressed hostility. That pleased him.

See, the despicable local struck first, and he only fought back after being cornered.

Roar—

The monster hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering the success rate of preying on the humans. Ultimately, it failed to resist its desire to feed and lunged forward while waving its tentacles.

Crash! Bang! Clatter!

Clang!

Soon enough, the black snail shell spun in place like an overturned turtle or a wobbly tumbler. Wayne had flipped the monster upside down, and all three of its tentacles had retracted into the shell.

At the bottom, wriggling tendrils frantically retreated, but the top and bottom appendages couldn’t all fit. As the walking tendrils retracted into the shell, the three thick tentacles got pushed out. When the three tentacles squeezed back in, the tendrils popped out in clusters.

Wayne’s sharp eyes spotted a ⊗ among the tendrils.

“Kekekeke—”

He laughed heartily, waving to Vera behind him. Without missing a beat, she drew the knightly greatsword and held it out.

Then she stopped.

Valkyrie was holding Vera’s arm down from another angle in exasperation. One must not become too much like Wayne. She could learn from anyone but Wayne.

Disappointed, Vera sheathed the sword on her back, giving Wayne a pointed look.

Their knight teacher was too much of a stick-in-the-mud!

The two of them reached a consensus. With a sigh, Wayne spread his fingers and gathered earth, fire, water, and wind elements, condensing them into four elemental greatswords of distinct colors.

“I understand what you mean, Teacher. Interrogation must be thorough, and I should not show mercy to the weak out of a misguided chivalrous spirit.” Wayne shifted the blame to Valkyrie. Picking up the earth greatsword first, he thrust it straight at the ⊗ of the monster.

“You’re quite stubborn. Let’s see if this will make you talk!”

Squelch!

A muffled scream rang out. Soon, angry roars resounded and echoed from all directions. The doors of the short houses opened one by one, and monsters with almost identical appearances emerged.

The locals banded together, drooling as they surrounded the newcomers.

Wayne’s eyes lit up. With a gleeful grin, he strode toward the monsters before they could form an encirclement.

Crash! Bang! Clatter!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Before long, a hundred snail shells had been flipped upside down, boldly displaying their ⊗s.

Wayne rubbed his hands together, putting on a serious expression as he raised his hand and shouted, “Swords, come on!”

This time, he conjured only fire greatswords.

“You’re amazing, Wayne!” Vera clapped enthusiastically.

There was no doubt that she was the most black-hearted one among the trio of magical girls. She was a typical agent of chaos.

“Outsiders, please stop tormenting them. They were originally just like you, humans who mistakenly entered this place. Only through faith in the great Thoggua did they transform into their current forms.”

The first monster propped itself up with its tentacles and flipped over, pulling out the earth greatsword and tossing it aside. Its eyeballs extended as it said in resignation, “Besides, they have all lost their minds, with chaotic thoughts and no memories. You won’t get anything from questioning them.”

“Got it. I shouldn’t torment them, so I’ll torment you!” Wayne charged forward to unleash a critical strike with a fire greatsword.

Valkyrie could no longer stand his antics. She sent a telepathic message to Wayne, telling him to behave himself. Even though these were monsters, even though they needed intelligence urgently, they shouldn’t abuse the weak as knights.

What? There are so many of them. They’re clearly the children bullying the weak, taking turns to play with me

[2].

Wayne swallowed his gripes. Valkyrie was too merciful to see things clearly. If he hadn’t been strong enough, he would’ve become the monsters’ meal.

He should fix their low compatibility by making her fall!

Since his teacher had intervened, he had to show her respect. He dispersed most of the fire elements, keeping only one sword in his hand. He pointed it at the monster and said, “What’s your name, what are you, and who is Thoggua?”

“My name is Knight—at least I believe so. I trespassed here two years ago and was taken in by everyone. Due to the omnipresence of Thoggua, I became what I am now...”

Knight smiled bitterly as he explained that all intruders would eventually become like them. Because he had been here for a relatively short time, he still maintained his rationality. However, hunger would occasionally drive him to madness. One day, he would lose his sanity and become a complete monster.

“Are you not hungry now?”

“Death is more terrifying than hunger.”

“You’re straightforward.” Wayne decided to tentatively believe the monster. He narrowed his eyes and said, “What exactly is Thoggua?”

“God’s messenger!” Knight said in admiration.

“What god?”

“...”

Knight thought for a moment, helplessly spreading his tentacles. “We’re slaves, the lowliest marginalized existence here. We are in no place to perceive Thoggua.”

Wayne nodded, starting a group chat with Vera and Valkyrie.

Vera was a terrible student who had only graduated thanks to Veronica’s help, so she had little to offer. Valkyrie suffered from severe amnesia and had basically nothing to contribute to the discussion. Thus, Wayne had been the only one to voice his speculations throughout, while the two of them nodded along.

Judging by Knight’s appearance, he had nothing to do with the five goddesses, Hell, or Heaven. Thoggua didn’t belong to the mainstream faiths of the Chosen Land, which meant they were most likely an evil god from the Astral Plane.

Like the Lord of the Void, who handed out free eggs.

Since this place was inextricably connected to the seal of the Frozen Land, Thoggua had to be more powerful than the Lord of the Void. If the two monsters had come face to face, the latter would have been killed in an instant.

“Also...” Wayne said gravely. “Based on my understanding of the Astral Plane’s corruption, madness is inevitable. If Knight isn’t lying, and an ordinary person like him has not only retained rationality for two years but also gained superpowers, the god Thoggua worships must be extremely powerful.”

Worst-case scenario, Thoggua could be a follower of an ancient god. That meant that the Frozen Land was sealing an ancient god...’s follower!

It couldn’t have been an ancient god, or never mind the three chosen knights—even if the five goddesses had personally gone to the Frozen Land, they would’ve ended up mothering tentacle children.

“Of course, that’s only my speculation. Thoggua might just be a Void Wanderer who has regained reason. Having witnessed a wider universe, they thus worship the void.” Wayne shrugged, sharing the more optimistic theory.

“No matter what lies ahead, we must retrieve the Sun Knight’s power,” Valkyrie said firmly.

Wayne nodded. The tip of the mystery iceberg was terrifying enough, which proved how dangerous the seal in the Frozen Land was. He would do everything in his power to recover all of the Sun Knight’s power.

Auston was right: order was paramount. The world was messy enough as it was. It couldn’t descend further into chaos!

1. Likely a reference to Tsathoggua, a fictional entity in the Cthulhu Mythos created by writer Clark Ashton Smith. He’s described as a lazy entity who does not awaken unless threatened or disturbed. Then he’ll eat the intruder or sacrifice that the intruder offers instead. ☜

2. This is a play on Du Fu’s poem,

My Thatched Cottage was Destroyed By Autumn Winds

. The ‘children bullying the weak’ is ‘the children from the south of the village bullying me for being old and weak (lao-wu-li)’ originally, which is the line referenced from the poem. In the subsequent line, the author writes ‘play with me’ in English, which rhymes with the last word of the previous Mandarin line. ☜