How cute.
At a time like this, the first thing on the human’s mind was being responsible, rather than fleeing in terror from the evil god’s surging, twisted emotions.
Yog sighed to himself. His fingers gently stroked the black-haired young man’s face, wandered down to the nape of his neck and lingered there.
This young man had actually told the Lord of the Gate that he didn’t want to promise anything right away because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to return to fulfill his promise, and that was irresponsible.
It was beyond logic and reason.
But Zong Yan was unaware of the dark thoughts swirling in the mind of the evil god before him. His face was blushing, but his black eyes were earnest.
“I know you’re an evil god, and maybe you don’t care about things like this, but for me it’s important that I’m able to fulfill my promise.”
As the black-haired young man said each word, the lips that had just been kissed were delicate and wet, like rose petals soaked in dew.
In the past, Zong Yan had imagined what his future partner might be like.
Maybe he’d always been somewhat lacking in this area. No matter how much he thought about it, the only thing he came up with was that in the future, he’d probably be with someone who was gentle.
He’d never been able to refuse someone who was good to him. A gentle person would be good to him. Perfect.
Anyway, forget all that. Gender didn’t matter to evil gods either. Strictly speaking, evil gods were genderless beings. Among Nyarlathotep’s millions of avatars there were both men and women. When Zong Yan had turned into the half-self of Cthulhu, he was able to change his gender at will.
But even if he didn’t have a gender, this guy Yog-Sothoth was worlds apart from the word “gentle”! He wasn’t even a member of the human race!
Zong Yan thought he must be an extremely optimistic person. It only took him a few minutes to make a decision after realizing his feelings, and he hadn’t changed his mind because of their different positions.
But that didn’t mean he could just be irresponsible ah! Maybe evil gods didn’t have such concepts, but for Zong Yan, making a promise to someone about the future when his own life and death were in doubt was completely against his principles.
“You’re not allowed to laugh!” When he saw that the gray-haired evil god’s mouth was curling up and his eyes were slightly smiling, Zong Yan gave him a cross look and said, somewhat daringly, “This is all your fault!”
By now his face was as red as a ripe apple. He felt like his head was a big steamer basket with hot vapor streaming out.
For all kinds of reasons, he’d decided to give the other person a light kiss. He hadn’t expected to be kissed so deeply, unambiguously, and intensely in return. And the other party was so skillful, not like an Outer God at all.
“Very well, I won’t laugh.” The Lord of the Gate restrained his smile and pushed a lock of the young man’s unruly black hair behind his ears. The action was extremely tender.
Meanwhile, the crowd of evil gods and otherworldly beings who stood below the altar were incredibly confused.
Because they were too far away, they hadn’t heard the heartfelt confession at the altar just now. They had no idea what was going on.
What were those two doing? Was it some kind of disagreement? A fight? They even bit each other mouth-to-mouth! So ferocious!
It wasn’t just the evil gods who were bewildered. The lower species didn’t express their feelings with their mouths in such a bizarre fashion either.
Alien creatures generally retained the most traditional method of reproduction. Exchanging bodily fluids on random occasions didn’t factor into it.
On the contrary, it was the learned Yibb-Tstll who looked over the collar of his cloak and glanced at Yog-Sothoth with a trace of surprise.
He knew very well what the behavior just now represented among humans. And precisely because it was so absurd, the Outer God couldn’t help revealing his astonishment.
But this Outer God wasn’t the type who liked to cause trouble. He obviously had some scruples, so he slightly retracted his sharp claws beneath his cloak and remained silent.
“Now that we’ve said everything, I’m ready.”
Zong Yan released their clasped hands and walked to the very center of the altar.
“Very well.”
The golden eyes of the Lord of the Gate stared at him. Feeling suddenly at ease, Zong Yan smiled back. Without any hesitation, he placed his hands into the stone basin on the altar.
Zong Yan had imagined multiple scenarios, such as the possibility of reaching out and feeling something extremely hot, or being instantly pulled into another dimension. Unexpectedly, when he lowered his hands, all he felt was the sensation of passing through ordinary water.
If he was forced to name something, it was that the water in the basin was warm, and the temperature was well-suited to the human body.
“Weird, I don’t feel—ah!”
Zong Yan was about to look up when his eyes suddenly froze.
At some point, fine spots of blood had oozed from his skin and stained the basin red.
Strangely, he didn’t feel any pain.
Artemis, the goddess of the crescent moon, was one of those who stood below the altar watching from a distance.
“Odd, why do I seem to sense the aura of my elder brother….”
Artemis was one of few surviving gods of the Greek pantheon. After being sheltered by Nyarlathotep, she now lived in the Dreamlands. As for her brother, the Sun God, he’d fallen in the great war of the Twilight of the Gods.
She stared into the distance in disbelief, then shook her head and dismissed her thoughts.
It was Yibb, standing to the side, who narrowed his eyes.
This seemingly insignificant stone basin was actually the sacred, eternally-flowing pool of the altar of Kadath. Anyone who dared to disturb its peace would experience something more terrible than death.
All the gods knew this sacred pool was the key to the power of the Dreamlands.
Anyone who received its recognition…
Soon, there would be an answer.
A moment later, the bloody water in the basin suddenly converged, and a streamer of multi-colored light soared into the center of the sky.
There was a blinding flash, and the entire sky divided into a seven-colored wheel. Everywhere the streamer of light touched there was a brilliant, bizarre shimmer, like the reflection from a mirror.
Zong Yan opened his eyes wide. Suddenly he reached out towards the mirror-like shimmer.
He recognized this multi-colored streamer of light. He knew it all too well, had drawn cards from it countless times, and used those cards to fight one thrilling battle after another.
The shimmering, reflective fragments didn’t resist him at all. They slowly gathered over his hand until they were suspended on his palm, obedient and docile.
Then the light shot into the sky again, and the entire Realm of Dreams suddenly turned from day to deepest night. Only the small section of sky directly above the altar remained bright, continually fed color and light from the rest of the heavens.
All the creatures in the Dreamlands raised their heads. Even the people of MU, who were bustling about in the border region, stared up at the sky with disbelief written on their faces.
After the swirling colors had coalesced in the sky somewhat, they suddenly roared down, enveloping Zong Yan in a vast array of seven colors.
The black-haired young man floated up from the ground.
His eyes were no longer black but glowed with multi-colored light. He was surrounded by pure, immense energy, and a pillar of light rushed into his torso and swept around his body.
In the depths of the darkness, Zong Yan perceived the truth behind the mysteries.
As the Lord of the Gate had said, his card-drawing ability, his superpower, was a gift from the Dreamlands.
Zong Yan tried to remember when he first got his ability. He recalled seeing a cartoon on the old TV set downstairs in the tube building when he was a child. After he got home, he vaguely made a wish while lying in bed. And then, all of a sudden, he really had a superpower.
The Dreamlands could turn fantasy into reality. When he was a child, he made a wish and defined the rules for his own ability. And then, whenever he made another wish, it was the Dreamlands that granted it.
For example, he’d drawn the A-rank Night Watchman card after he was suddenly found by the Dragon Group and entered the occult world. He was full of apprehension one night and drew a powerful new card.
Zong Yan was too lacking to travel to the center of the Dreamlands to actually retrieve his authority. The most he could do was open a small rift.
If he’d been bolder, if he were able to open a gap large enough for a person, he could have entered the Dreamlands directly.
He sensed that he was able to control this space as he wished.
Zong Yan didn’t understand what strange connection he had to Azathoth, but he now felt that the Dreamlands had belonged to him from the very beginning, and he was the only master of this space.
The moment he recognized this, he issued an order.
‘Send the Earth out of here.’
At once, a gap opened around the huge planetary sphere hanging in the sky. A crack appeared around it, the fissure grew clearer and clearer, and the Earth began to grow more and more transparent.
Was it really gone?
Zong Yan was a little surprised.
He turned his head to look again and saw the black city that stood alone on the Dreamlands sea.
Even after being underwater for so many years, thanks to the power of the evil god, R’lyeh hadn’t lost any of its glory.
It was just as Zong Yan remembered it, unclean and evil, yet full of grandeur and ancient majesty.
Maybe the Great Old One was standing in front of the tall black tower even now, summoning his believers?
The Lord of the Dreamlands, who’d just regained his power, began to imagine nonsense.
With his current ability, he could pack up R’lyeh immediately and eject it from the Dreamlands.
But Cthulhu was already awake. If Zong Yan sent R’lyeh back to Earth, innocent human beings would suffer. He immediately dismissed the idea.
He floated freely in the air, withdrew his divine sense from the sky, and returned his awareness to his body.
“Congratulations on your return, Lord of the Dreamlands.”
All the creatures before the altar knelt in greeting. Even the Elder Gods and Great Old Ones bowed slightly to show their respect and submission.
Zong Yan didn’t pay them any attention. The black-haired young man controlled his body and jumped down lightly from the air, opening his arms to the Lord of the Gate.
“I did it—”
The young man swooped into the gray-haired evil god’s arms like a joyful bird, ruffling the latter’s trench coat.
Zong Yan looked up, like he was about to share his happiness with his new lover, but something suddenly happened.
The Lord of the Gate stared down at his empty hands, felt the warmth that was already fading, and the expression in his eyes was unreadable.
TL Notes:
Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:
Artemis – 阿尔忒弥斯 – Ā’ěrtèmísī
elder brother – 兄长 – xiōngzhǎng
Yibb-Tstll:
Image source: Call of Cthulhu, French version – H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]
How cute.
At a time like this, the first thing on the human’s mind was being responsible, rather than fleeing in terror from the evil god’s surging, twisted emotions.
Yog sighed to himself. His fingers gently stroked the black-haired young man’s face, wandered down to the nape of his neck and lingered there.
This young man had actually told the Lord of the Gate that he didn’t want to promise anything right away because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to return to fulfill his promise, and that was irresponsible.
It was beyond logic and reason.
But Zong Yan was unaware of the dark thoughts swirling in the mind of the evil god before him. His face was blushing, but his black eyes were earnest.
“I know you’re an evil god, and maybe you don’t care about things like this, but for me it’s important that I’m able to fulfill my promise.”
As the black-haired young man said each word, the lips that had just been kissed were delicate and wet, like rose petals soaked in dew.
In the past, Zong Yan had imagined what his future partner might be like.
Maybe he’d always been somewhat lacking in this area. No matter how much he thought about it, the only thing he came up with was that in the future, he’d probably be with someone who was gentle.
He’d never been able to refuse someone who was good to him. A gentle person would be good to him. Perfect.
Anyway, forget all that. Gender didn’t matter to evil gods either. Strictly speaking, evil gods were genderless beings. Among Nyarlathotep’s millions of avatars there were both men and women. When Zong Yan had turned into the half-self of Cthulhu, he was able to change his gender at will.
But even if he didn’t have a gender, this guy Yog-Sothoth was worlds apart from the word “gentle”! He wasn’t even a member of the human race!
Zong Yan thought he must be an extremely optimistic person. It only took him a few minutes to make a decision after realizing his feelings, and he hadn’t changed his mind because of their different positions.
But that didn’t mean he could just be irresponsible ah! Maybe evil gods didn’t have such concepts, but for Zong Yan, making a promise to someone about the future when his own life and death were in doubt was completely against his principles.
“You’re not allowed to laugh!” When he saw that the gray-haired evil god’s mouth was curling up and his eyes were slightly smiling, Zong Yan gave him a cross look and said, somewhat daringly, “This is all your fault!”
By now his face was as red as a ripe apple. He felt like his head was a big steamer basket with hot vapor streaming out.
For all kinds of reasons, he’d decided to give the other person a light kiss. He hadn’t expected to be kissed so deeply, unambiguously, and intensely in return. And the other party was so skillful, not like an Outer God at all.
“Very well, I won’t laugh.” The Lord of the Gate restrained his smile and pushed a lock of the young man’s unruly black hair behind his ears. The action was extremely tender.
Meanwhile, the crowd of evil gods and otherworldly beings who stood below the altar were incredibly confused.
Because they were too far away, they hadn’t heard the heartfelt confession at the altar just now. They had no idea what was going on.
What were those two doing? Was it some kind of disagreement? A fight? They even bit each other mouth-to-mouth! So ferocious!
It wasn’t just the evil gods who were bewildered. The lower species didn’t express their feelings with their mouths in such a bizarre fashion either.
Alien creatures generally retained the most traditional method of reproduction. Exchanging bodily fluids on random occasions didn’t factor into it.
On the contrary, it was the learned Yibb-Tstll who looked over the collar of his cloak and glanced at Yog-Sothoth with a trace of surprise.
He knew very well what the behavior just now represented among humans. And precisely because it was so absurd, the Outer God couldn’t help revealing his astonishment.
But this Outer God wasn’t the type who liked to cause trouble. He obviously had some scruples, so he slightly retracted his sharp claws beneath his cloak and remained silent.
“Now that we’ve said everything, I’m ready.”
Zong Yan released their clasped hands and walked to the very center of the altar.
“Very well.”
The golden eyes of the Lord of the Gate stared at him. Feeling suddenly at ease, Zong Yan smiled back. Without any hesitation, he placed his hands into the stone basin on the altar.
Zong Yan had imagined multiple scenarios, such as the possibility of reaching out and feeling something extremely hot, or being instantly pulled into another dimension. Unexpectedly, when he lowered his hands, all he felt was the sensation of passing through ordinary water.
If he was forced to name something, it was that the water in the basin was warm, and the temperature was well-suited to the human body.
“Weird, I don’t feel—ah!”
Zong Yan was about to look up when his eyes suddenly froze.
At some point, fine spots of blood had oozed from his skin and stained the basin red.
Strangely, he didn’t feel any pain.
Artemis, the goddess of the crescent moon, was one of those who stood below the altar watching from a distance.
“Odd, why do I seem to sense the aura of my elder brother….”
Artemis was one of few surviving gods of the Greek pantheon. After being sheltered by Nyarlathotep, she now lived in the Dreamlands. As for her brother, the Sun God, he’d fallen in the great war of the Twilight of the Gods.
She stared into the distance in disbelief, then shook her head and dismissed her thoughts.
It was Yibb, standing to the side, who narrowed his eyes.
This seemingly insignificant stone basin was actually the sacred, eternally-flowing pool of the altar of Kadath. Anyone who dared to disturb its peace would experience something more terrible than death.
All the gods knew this sacred pool was the key to the power of the Dreamlands.
Anyone who received its recognition…
Soon, there would be an answer.
A moment later, the bloody water in the basin suddenly converged, and a streamer of multi-colored light soared into the center of the sky.
There was a blinding flash, and the entire sky divided into a seven-colored wheel. Everywhere the streamer of light touched there was a brilliant, bizarre shimmer, like the reflection from a mirror.
Zong Yan opened his eyes wide. Suddenly he reached out towards the mirror-like shimmer.
He recognized this multi-colored streamer of light. He knew it all too well, had drawn cards from it countless times, and used those cards to fight one thrilling battle after another.
The shimmering, reflective fragments didn’t resist him at all. They slowly gathered over his hand until they were suspended on his palm, obedient and docile.
Then the light shot into the sky again, and the entire Realm of Dreams suddenly turned from day to deepest night. Only the small section of sky directly above the altar remained bright, continually fed color and light from the rest of the heavens.
All the creatures in the Dreamlands raised their heads. Even the people of MU, who were bustling about in the border region, stared up at the sky with disbelief written on their faces.
After the swirling colors had coalesced in the sky somewhat, they suddenly roared down, enveloping Zong Yan in a vast array of seven colors.
The black-haired young man floated up from the ground.
His eyes were no longer black but glowed with multi-colored light. He was surrounded by pure, immense energy, and a pillar of light rushed into his torso and swept around his body.
In the depths of the darkness, Zong Yan perceived the truth behind the mysteries.
As the Lord of the Gate had said, his card-drawing ability, his superpower, was a gift from the Dreamlands.
Zong Yan tried to remember when he first got his ability. He recalled seeing a cartoon on the old TV set downstairs in the tube building when he was a child. After he got home, he vaguely made a wish while lying in bed. And then, all of a sudden, he really had a superpower.
The Dreamlands could turn fantasy into reality. When he was a child, he made a wish and defined the rules for his own ability. And then, whenever he made another wish, it was the Dreamlands that granted it.
For example, he’d drawn the A-rank Night Watchman card after he was suddenly found by the Dragon Group and entered the occult world. He was full of apprehension one night and drew a powerful new card.
Zong Yan was too lacking to travel to the center of the Dreamlands to actually retrieve his authority. The most he could do was open a small rift.
If he’d been bolder, if he were able to open a gap large enough for a person, he could have entered the Dreamlands directly.
He sensed that he was able to control this space as he wished.
Zong Yan didn’t understand what strange connection he had to Azathoth, but he now felt that the Dreamlands had belonged to him from the very beginning, and he was the only master of this space.
The moment he recognized this, he issued an order.
‘Send the Earth out of here.’
At once, a gap opened around the huge planetary sphere hanging in the sky. A crack appeared around it, the fissure grew clearer and clearer, and the Earth began to grow more and more transparent.
Was it really gone?
Zong Yan was a little surprised.
He turned his head to look again and saw the black city that stood alone on the Dreamlands sea.
Even after being underwater for so many years, thanks to the power of the evil god, R’lyeh hadn’t lost any of its glory.
It was just as Zong Yan remembered it, unclean and evil, yet full of grandeur and ancient majesty.
Maybe the Great Old One was standing in front of the tall black tower even now, summoning his believers?
The Lord of the Dreamlands, who’d just regained his power, began to imagine nonsense.
With his current ability, he could pack up R’lyeh immediately and eject it from the Dreamlands.
But Cthulhu was already awake. If Zong Yan sent R’lyeh back to Earth, innocent human beings would suffer. He immediately dismissed the idea.
He floated freely in the air, withdrew his divine sense from the sky, and returned his awareness to his body.
“Congratulations on your return, Lord of the Dreamlands.”
All the creatures before the altar knelt in greeting. Even the Elder Gods and Great Old Ones bowed slightly to show their respect and submission.
Zong Yan didn’t pay them any attention. The black-haired young man controlled his body and jumped down lightly from the air, opening his arms to the Lord of the Gate.
“I did it—”
The young man swooped into the gray-haired evil god’s arms like a joyful bird, ruffling the latter’s trench coat.
Zong Yan looked up, like he was about to share his happiness with his new lover, but something suddenly happened.
The Lord of the Gate stared down at his empty hands, felt the warmth that was already fading, and the expression in his eyes was unreadable.
TL Notes:
Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:
Artemis – 阿尔忒弥斯 – Ā’ěrtèmísī
elder brother – 兄长 – xiōngzhǎng
Yibb-Tstll:
Image source: Call of Cthulhu, French version – H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]
