Their trip to Egypt was destined to be bloody.
First of all, every member of the team was an evil god. More specifically, Outer Gods. To be even more precise, the three original proto-gods plus the Lord of the Universe.
This kind of lineup was like a bulldozer through a mudslide, not to mention they were only exploring a tomb. This was a group that would have no trouble destroying entire galaxies.
Not to mention the tomb they were exploring belonged to one of the team members.
According to the story, Nyarlathotep built his pyramid like an impenetrable iron wall. He wanted to prevent future generations from digging up the secrets of the Black Pharaoh, or maybe he just wanted to watch grave robbers die from their own greed.
The evil god of chaos personally took charge of designing hidden traps for the pyramid, guaranteed to make tomb raiders pay with their lives. The results could be imagined.
Not only did Nyarlathotep use mechanical devices, he wove malicious curses and magic spells into the tomb.
The curse of the Pharaohs caused a commotion in Europe a century before. According to reports, when an archeological team entered a tomb they saw a warning: “If you dare to disturb the Pharaoh’s rest, death will befall you”. Later the curse was fulfilled. Without exception, the team members died one after another for unknown reasons, which inspired fear among the public.
The mummy of a princess named Amen-Ra also had a powerful curse attached to it.
After the mummy was exhumed from its tomb, it passed through the hands of several different individuals and institutions. None of them escaped the curse.
The owners died in strange ways, all of them apparent accidents. When the mummy was shipped to the British Museum, there were several incidents of haunting. In the end, the mummy was transported on board the ship of the century—the Titanic. The ultimate fate of this ship was well known.
Behind these curses and hauntings was the handiwork of Nyarlathotep.
Over the years, a number of archeological teams and tomb robbers tried to break in to the Black Pharaoh’s pyramid in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, trying to gain access to the hoard of treasures inside. The occult world had also organized several teams of investigators specializing in the Black Pharaoh. They’d lost a lot of talented people, but each time the team gained a bountiful harvest.
Since this team consisted entirely of evil gods, there was no need for an airplane. They could tear through space or just stealth up and fly over.
This was especially true of Zong Yan, who had the assistance of the Lord of the Gate. That morning he slept in, lazily pushed away a large, unidentifiable object from his body, and slowly put on his clothes.
That was the good thing about Yog. With him as your boyfriend, you could leave for your destination any time you wanted, no matter the distance. Yog could even jump around the timeline, and if you wanted to visit another planet, it was totally on the menu.
By the time Zong Yan finished washing up and getting dressed, he stepped directly through a portal in space, ready to get started.
On one side of the portal was a simple, brightly decorated villa, and on the other was a vista filled with yellow sand and scorching sun.
After Zong Yan became the Lord of the Universe, Nyarlathotep once tried to smuggle himself back into the villa.
Of course, the Lord of the Gate didn’t want his and Zong Yan’s private world to be disturbed by anyone, so he secretly folded space around the villa into its own dimension, using the special methods of the Lord of Time and Space to make sure this applied only to evil gods and not humans.
So Azathoth’s number one fan couldn’t do anything but watch.
“Is this the place?”
As soon as he stepped through, Zong Yan saw the massive structure looming above a horizon of yellow sand.
This pyramid didn’t look like any other pyramid he knew of. Although each dynasty had its own style, this was the best-looking pyramid Zong Yan had ever seen.
Its shape was completely streamlined. Despite more than three thousand years of wind and rain, every enormous stone block was still perfectly in place, without the slightest hint of movement.
Zong Yan had previously only seen pyramids in photos. The one that impressed him most was in his high school history textbook, but in pictures it was hard to get a frame of reference.
Now, when he stood before the pyramid in person, he truly felt how magnificent it was.
If he was forced to make an analogy, it was a significant fraction of the size of Cthulhu’s true body.
Nyarla and Shub had been waiting here a long time.
One was wearing a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses. There was a cheery smile on his face, and he had the air of a polished scoundrel. The other had his hands in his pockets, was dressed in black, and wore sunglasses on his face.
Of course, today’s deal was buy one Nyarla, get one half-price.
So Zong Yan once again had the pleasure of meeting another of Nyarlathotep’s avatars.
This avatar looked like a little girl in a ragged princess dress. Her hair was light blonde and her facial features were exquisite. When she met Zong Yan’s eyes, she immediately gave him a sweet, adoring smile.
Zong Yan: “…”
As expected, Nyarla was adept at role-playing. Each of Nyarla’s incarnations had its own surprises, all of them in line with its character settings and not a single trace of OOC.
Who would have imagined this little girl with such a sweet smile and flouncy princess dress was actually a terrifying Outer God hiding the ghastly, frantic tentacles of a monster?
Just give that skirt a tug. You couldn’t imagine what was underneath.
Today, Yog hadn’t created additional sleeping time for Zong Yan. He deliberately tangled with his lovely black-haired young man longer than usual last night and succeeded in making Zong Yan sleep a full ten hours.
Of course, the Lord of the Gate told the other two evil gods they were meeting first thing in the morning. The two stood here waiting hour after hour. Anyway, they were waiting for His Majesty, their Father God. Who would dare to leave?
When Zong Yan stepped out of the portal and the wind swept up from the ground, Yog pretended to casually straighten the black-haired young man’s collar.
Last night the Lord of the Gate’s assault had been utterly fierce, but fierce as it was, Zong Yan hadn’t actually been forced to return to his evil god form.
Therefore, it was inevitable that multiple traces of their pleasurable encounter were visible on the young man’s pale skin.
Alluring red marks dotted his delicate skin like fallen plum blossoms on snow, one demonic flower blooming after another.
Nyarlathotep’s face turned green. As the Outer God who was closest to humans, it was impossible for him not to know what had caused those marks.
He looked at Yog with a scowl, then turned his head and seamlessly broke into a smile.
“Your Majesty, why don’t you switch your form today? The environment inside the pyramid really isn’t suitable for a human body.”
That was true.
In order to toy with humans, Nyarla installed all sorts of concealed mechanisms in the Black Pharaoh’s pyramid.
Aside from poison and hallucinogens, the deadliest thing was the lack of oxygen inside the tomb. In addition, some of the magic patterns might have unpredictable consequences.
If Zong Yan switched back to evil god form, he’d be in the body of the Lord of the Universe, and he could stroll inside without any effort. The hidden traps installed by Nyarla weren’t likely to work on him, and his physical and magical resistance was solid.
Zong Yan hesitated for a moment. “Okay.”
The black-haired young man closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his hair had become brown and draped behind him, his eyes were now a chaotic variety of shades, and his temperament abruptly shifted.
The main reason he was able to accept his new identity as an evil god so easily was because, unlike his previous Cthulhu form, this body didn’t subtly alter his thinking.
When Zong Yan was inside the shell of Cthulhu, his thoughts became cold and ruthless, indifferent to human beings. But Azathoth’s body didn’t affect Zong Yan’s mind. Aside from feeling a little lazy, it wasn’t that much different from Zong Yan as a human.
Nyarla’s eyes immediately lit up.
To be honest, both Nyarlas gave Zong Yan a bad feeling.
Their eyes were fanatical, like a pair of crazy believers paying homage to the Lord they worshipped.
Especially the little girl Nyarla.
Zong Yan kept thinking she was going to open her arms at any moment and beg for a hug from the Father God.
Knowing Nyarla, he was shameless enough to do it.
However, Zong Yan in the form of the Lord of the Universe was incredibly lazy. He swept the other party an indifferent glance and gave the order. “Let’s go.”
With just this glance, the dark-skinned evil god’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if a thousand treacherous things were swarming inside.
Zong Yan didn’t pay attention to this. Rather, he had no need to pay attention.
Most of the time, Azathoth’s indolence stemmed from his power.
The reason he was at the mercy of these evil gods in the beginning was because he was too weak. Now he didn’t have to care at all.
In the face of ultimate power, everything else was empty talk.
Forget about two Nyarlas. Even if countless Nyarlas joined together, Zong Yan wouldn’t break a sweat.
But he wondered a little—
Zong Yan had once traveled to the beginning of time and participated in the creation of the universe.
The Nameless Mist eventually split into Yog-Sothoth, and when he looked at the others, he saw the telltale signs of their origins, too.
Shub-Niggurath was born from Darkness, and Zong Yan had reservations about him. Before, when Zong Yan was shooting the movie, he’d kicked the Black Goat with a Thousand Young into the dark depths forcefully enough to make the evil god feel like he’d been born again. It was vengeance for Shub-Niggurath’s near-destruction of the Earth.
Lastly, there was Chaos, which unlike the others had split directly from Azathoth’s body. Otherwise known as Nyarlathotep.
According to the familial relationships recognized by humans, the Black Goat with a Thousand Young and the Lord of the Gate would actually be ranked as grandchildren. Only Nyarlathotep was a proper son.
How was it possible that his only actual son was so crooked?
Zong Yan lazily leaned his head in his hand and turned his eyes away.
—
The pyramid was huge in size, but the tomb door wasn’t buried deep underground like in an ordinary pyramid. Instead, the entrance was on top, with a specially built ladder to give humans easy access.
It was the same as telling future generations, “Come on in! You don’t need to find the door, it’s right here”. If you consider what Nyarlathotep left inside the pyramid, it made one appreciate his sinister intentions.
There were groups of tourists visiting nearby, but the five evil gods just pulled open the door and swaggered inside. The humans remained oblivious.
“Father God.”
After reaching the interior of the pyramid, they arrived at a passage that went through the middle of the tomb. The floor was strewn with human bones, both decayed and fresh.
Nyarla deliberately slowed his pace. One of him held back while the little girl took action. She crept closer to Zong Yan and lowered her voice. “I know humans very, very well.”
These words could be interpreted countless ways. Everyone knew that Nyarlathotep, whose favorite hobby was toying with humans, was skilled at playing with their hearts, too.
“?”
The Blind Idiot God cocked his head.
“If you like the way humans mate—” Nyarla licked his lips, his eyes glittering with excitement—”I won’t be worse than Yog.”
—
The author has something to say:
Nyarla: We Outer Gods have no sense of shame! If I saw Yog and the Father God doing something unmentionable, I’d cry out in a loud voice—let me join in!!
TL Notes:
Amen-Ra – 亚曼拉 – Yàmànlā – According to Google, the Titanic wasn’t actually carrying such a mummy, although it’s a popular story
polished scoundrel – 斯文败类 – a refined rascal — a black sheep of the literary circles; polished scoundrels; ruffians in scholars’ gowns
OOC – This was in the raw – “out of character”, a role-playing term for behavior that isn’t in line with the character a person is currently acting out
Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:
Amen-Ra – 亚曼拉 – Yàmànlā
The Black Pharaoh:
Image source: Call of Cthulhu, French version – H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]
Their trip to Egypt was destined to be bloody.
First of all, every member of the team was an evil god. More specifically, Outer Gods. To be even more precise, the three original proto-gods plus the Lord of the Universe.
This kind of lineup was like a bulldozer through a mudslide, not to mention they were only exploring a tomb. This was a group that would have no trouble destroying entire galaxies.
Not to mention the tomb they were exploring belonged to one of the team members.
According to the story, Nyarlathotep built his pyramid like an impenetrable iron wall. He wanted to prevent future generations from digging up the secrets of the Black Pharaoh, or maybe he just wanted to watch grave robbers die from their own greed.
The evil god of chaos personally took charge of designing hidden traps for the pyramid, guaranteed to make tomb raiders pay with their lives. The results could be imagined.
Not only did Nyarlathotep use mechanical devices, he wove malicious curses and magic spells into the tomb.
The curse of the Pharaohs caused a commotion in Europe a century before. According to reports, when an archeological team entered a tomb they saw a warning: “If you dare to disturb the Pharaoh’s rest, death will befall you”. Later the curse was fulfilled. Without exception, the team members died one after another for unknown reasons, which inspired fear among the public.
The mummy of a princess named Amen-Ra also had a powerful curse attached to it.
After the mummy was exhumed from its tomb, it passed through the hands of several different individuals and institutions. None of them escaped the curse.
The owners died in strange ways, all of them apparent accidents. When the mummy was shipped to the British Museum, there were several incidents of haunting. In the end, the mummy was transported on board the ship of the century—the Titanic. The ultimate fate of this ship was well known.
Behind these curses and hauntings was the handiwork of Nyarlathotep.
Over the years, a number of archeological teams and tomb robbers tried to break in to the Black Pharaoh’s pyramid in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, trying to gain access to the hoard of treasures inside. The occult world had also organized several teams of investigators specializing in the Black Pharaoh. They’d lost a lot of talented people, but each time the team gained a bountiful harvest.
Since this team consisted entirely of evil gods, there was no need for an airplane. They could tear through space or just stealth up and fly over.
This was especially true of Zong Yan, who had the assistance of the Lord of the Gate. That morning he slept in, lazily pushed away a large, unidentifiable object from his body, and slowly put on his clothes.
That was the good thing about Yog. With him as your boyfriend, you could leave for your destination any time you wanted, no matter the distance. Yog could even jump around the timeline, and if you wanted to visit another planet, it was totally on the menu.
By the time Zong Yan finished washing up and getting dressed, he stepped directly through a portal in space, ready to get started.
On one side of the portal was a simple, brightly decorated villa, and on the other was a vista filled with yellow sand and scorching sun.
After Zong Yan became the Lord of the Universe, Nyarlathotep once tried to smuggle himself back into the villa.
Of course, the Lord of the Gate didn’t want his and Zong Yan’s private world to be disturbed by anyone, so he secretly folded space around the villa into its own dimension, using the special methods of the Lord of Time and Space to make sure this applied only to evil gods and not humans.
So Azathoth’s number one fan couldn’t do anything but watch.
“Is this the place?”
As soon as he stepped through, Zong Yan saw the massive structure looming above a horizon of yellow sand.
This pyramid didn’t look like any other pyramid he knew of. Although each dynasty had its own style, this was the best-looking pyramid Zong Yan had ever seen.
Its shape was completely streamlined. Despite more than three thousand years of wind and rain, every enormous stone block was still perfectly in place, without the slightest hint of movement.
Zong Yan had previously only seen pyramids in photos. The one that impressed him most was in his high school history textbook, but in pictures it was hard to get a frame of reference.
Now, when he stood before the pyramid in person, he truly felt how magnificent it was.
If he was forced to make an analogy, it was a significant fraction of the size of Cthulhu’s true body.
Nyarla and Shub had been waiting here a long time.
One was wearing a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses. There was a cheery smile on his face, and he had the air of a polished scoundrel. The other had his hands in his pockets, was dressed in black, and wore sunglasses on his face.
Of course, today’s deal was buy one Nyarla, get one half-price.
So Zong Yan once again had the pleasure of meeting another of Nyarlathotep’s avatars.
This avatar looked like a little girl in a ragged princess dress. Her hair was light blonde and her facial features were exquisite. When she met Zong Yan’s eyes, she immediately gave him a sweet, adoring smile.
Zong Yan: “…”
As expected, Nyarla was adept at role-playing. Each of Nyarla’s incarnations had its own surprises, all of them in line with its character settings and not a single trace of OOC.
Who would have imagined this little girl with such a sweet smile and flouncy princess dress was actually a terrifying Outer God hiding the ghastly, frantic tentacles of a monster?
Just give that skirt a tug. You couldn’t imagine what was underneath.
Today, Yog hadn’t created additional sleeping time for Zong Yan. He deliberately tangled with his lovely black-haired young man longer than usual last night and succeeded in making Zong Yan sleep a full ten hours.
Of course, the Lord of the Gate told the other two evil gods they were meeting first thing in the morning. The two stood here waiting hour after hour. Anyway, they were waiting for His Majesty, their Father God. Who would dare to leave?
When Zong Yan stepped out of the portal and the wind swept up from the ground, Yog pretended to casually straighten the black-haired young man’s collar.
Last night the Lord of the Gate’s assault had been utterly fierce, but fierce as it was, Zong Yan hadn’t actually been forced to return to his evil god form.
Therefore, it was inevitable that multiple traces of their pleasurable encounter were visible on the young man’s pale skin.
Alluring red marks dotted his delicate skin like fallen plum blossoms on snow, one demonic flower blooming after another.
Nyarlathotep’s face turned green. As the Outer God who was closest to humans, it was impossible for him not to know what had caused those marks.
He looked at Yog with a scowl, then turned his head and seamlessly broke into a smile.
“Your Majesty, why don’t you switch your form today? The environment inside the pyramid really isn’t suitable for a human body.”
That was true.
In order to toy with humans, Nyarla installed all sorts of concealed mechanisms in the Black Pharaoh’s pyramid.
Aside from poison and hallucinogens, the deadliest thing was the lack of oxygen inside the tomb. In addition, some of the magic patterns might have unpredictable consequences.
If Zong Yan switched back to evil god form, he’d be in the body of the Lord of the Universe, and he could stroll inside without any effort. The hidden traps installed by Nyarla weren’t likely to work on him, and his physical and magical resistance was solid.
Zong Yan hesitated for a moment. “Okay.”
The black-haired young man closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his hair had become brown and draped behind him, his eyes were now a chaotic variety of shades, and his temperament abruptly shifted.
The main reason he was able to accept his new identity as an evil god so easily was because, unlike his previous Cthulhu form, this body didn’t subtly alter his thinking.
When Zong Yan was inside the shell of Cthulhu, his thoughts became cold and ruthless, indifferent to human beings. But Azathoth’s body didn’t affect Zong Yan’s mind. Aside from feeling a little lazy, it wasn’t that much different from Zong Yan as a human.
Nyarla’s eyes immediately lit up.
To be honest, both Nyarlas gave Zong Yan a bad feeling.
Their eyes were fanatical, like a pair of crazy believers paying homage to the Lord they worshipped.
Especially the little girl Nyarla.
Zong Yan kept thinking she was going to open her arms at any moment and beg for a hug from the Father God.
Knowing Nyarla, he was shameless enough to do it.
However, Zong Yan in the form of the Lord of the Universe was incredibly lazy. He swept the other party an indifferent glance and gave the order. “Let’s go.”
With just this glance, the dark-skinned evil god’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if a thousand treacherous things were swarming inside.
Zong Yan didn’t pay attention to this. Rather, he had no need to pay attention.
Most of the time, Azathoth’s indolence stemmed from his power.
The reason he was at the mercy of these evil gods in the beginning was because he was too weak. Now he didn’t have to care at all.
In the face of ultimate power, everything else was empty talk.
Forget about two Nyarlas. Even if countless Nyarlas joined together, Zong Yan wouldn’t break a sweat.
But he wondered a little—
Zong Yan had once traveled to the beginning of time and participated in the creation of the universe.
The Nameless Mist eventually split into Yog-Sothoth, and when he looked at the others, he saw the telltale signs of their origins, too.
Shub-Niggurath was born from Darkness, and Zong Yan had reservations about him. Before, when Zong Yan was shooting the movie, he’d kicked the Black Goat with a Thousand Young into the dark depths forcefully enough to make the evil god feel like he’d been born again. It was vengeance for Shub-Niggurath’s near-destruction of the Earth.
Lastly, there was Chaos, which unlike the others had split directly from Azathoth’s body. Otherwise known as Nyarlathotep.
According to the familial relationships recognized by humans, the Black Goat with a Thousand Young and the Lord of the Gate would actually be ranked as grandchildren. Only Nyarlathotep was a proper son.
How was it possible that his only actual son was so crooked?
Zong Yan lazily leaned his head in his hand and turned his eyes away.
—
The pyramid was huge in size, but the tomb door wasn’t buried deep underground like in an ordinary pyramid. Instead, the entrance was on top, with a specially built ladder to give humans easy access.
It was the same as telling future generations, “Come on in! You don’t need to find the door, it’s right here”. If you consider what Nyarlathotep left inside the pyramid, it made one appreciate his sinister intentions.
There were groups of tourists visiting nearby, but the five evil gods just pulled open the door and swaggered inside. The humans remained oblivious.
“Father God.”
After reaching the interior of the pyramid, they arrived at a passage that went through the middle of the tomb. The floor was strewn with human bones, both decayed and fresh.
Nyarla deliberately slowed his pace. One of him held back while the little girl took action. She crept closer to Zong Yan and lowered her voice. “I know humans very, very well.”
These words could be interpreted countless ways. Everyone knew that Nyarlathotep, whose favorite hobby was toying with humans, was skilled at playing with their hearts, too.
“?”
The Blind Idiot God cocked his head.
“If you like the way humans mate—” Nyarla licked his lips, his eyes glittering with excitement—”I won’t be worse than Yog.”
—
The author has something to say:
Nyarla: We Outer Gods have no sense of shame! If I saw Yog and the Father God doing something unmentionable, I’d cry out in a loud voice—let me join in!!
TL Notes:
Amen-Ra – 亚曼拉 – Yàmànlā – According to Google, the Titanic wasn’t actually carrying such a mummy, although it’s a popular story
polished scoundrel – 斯文败类 – a refined rascal — a black sheep of the literary circles; polished scoundrels; ruffians in scholars’ gowns
OOC – This was in the raw – “out of character”, a role-playing term for behavior that isn’t in line with the character a person is currently acting out
Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:
Amen-Ra – 亚曼拉 – Yàmànlā
The Black Pharaoh:
Image source: Call of Cthulhu, French version – H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]
