Chapter 21: Under the Sky of the Universe (1)

In front of Raydel was a white ruin located under the sky of the universe. Everything stayed silent. The only thing to be heard was the sound of waves softly embracing the shore.

He… was in Cthulhu's realm again.

Raydel blinked and looked around. He remembered that he had just laid his head on a pillow and closed his eyes. He must have fallen asleep in no time, but he never thought he would start dreaming this soon. Raydel was all alone in Cthulhu's realm now. The place was empty. There was no sign of the realm's owner.

'...I'll do as I promise, okay?. Let me dream of you tonight…'

It must have been because of what he said.

Raydel breathed in the scent of the ocean. When his instinct told him to move, he started walking.

Waves crashed into his feet, creating the sound of splashing wave. Raydel did not count how long he had been walking, but it seemed the surroundings had not changed at all. He still saw the same white ruin. The sky of the universe still expanded beyond the reach of his sight. Millions of stars still shimmered in the night.

It was a beautiful yet lonesome place.

Raydel felt a sense of sadness lingering in the air.

He looked at the sky for a while before noticing that the waves started to move.

The waves became more aggressive and more frequent as if the earth suddenly shook. White foams gathered together. Something was moving in the air. A gust of wind blew over and had Raydel shivered in the cold. He followed the waves with his gaze until he found the cause of all this, which was a fight.

Tentacles… were brutally attacking the Plague Doctor.

Because they were in Cthulhu's realm, the tentacles could land a hit on the Plague Doctor easily. It smashed him till he disappeared like a bubble being popped. When the fight ended, the tentacles would get confused because they realized that the Plague Doctor appeared again in another spot.

The Plague Doctor looked worn out but was still able to stand his ground.

The tentacles got angrier that they could not destroy the Plague Doctor no matter how many times they tried. They raised themselves high up, getting ready to attack again. The aggressive and fierce aura was so noticeable that Raydel had to curse and started running toward the two.

"Stop it now!" he shouted.

The Plague Doctor heard him and turned to him. But that gave the tentacles the chance to hit him so hard he disappeared with one single blow!

Raydel felt his heart drop to his feet. It was like watching someone die in front of his eyes. But the Plague Doctor reappeared in the blink of an eye, pitifully covered with bruises. Raydel could sense that the health point of the Plague Doctor was almost completely gone. If this was a game, the Plague Doctor would probably have only one health point left and nothing more or less than that.

Raydel stared at the tentacles that were about to strike again and thought, run! At that moment he felt like he had reached the Plague Doctor's body.

Then, the Plague Doctor disappeared from the spot and appeared at the place where Raydel thought he should run to.

He now stood between the tentacles and the Plague Doctor.

Raydel exhaled with relief. The Plague Doctor is safe now, he thought. He clenched his fist and said, "Cthulhu, will you stop this now?"

The tentacles said nothing.

It was as if they were staring at him. They slowly lowered themselves under the water and disappeared. The reflection on the surface became the image of a group of people covered in black coats. Raydel was shocked, not knowing where they came from.

The mysterious group approached him. A suspicious scent pervaded the area. His instinct told him that they were dangerous. Raydel hastily searched himself for a weapon but found nothing. He was about to summon the Plague Doctor to help him fight, but they suddenly kneeled down.

They kneeled down next to each other in a straight line as if to open a path for someone.

Raydel looked at the far end of the line and looked up. He cursed in his head.

I knew it.

This time, Cthulhu appeared in his 'full body.'

Cthulhu was a man both taller and more muscular than Raydel. His black hair draped over his cheeks. Even his clothes were black and looked modern. The only thing on him that still radiated an ancient aura was the earring on his right ear. Apart from that, his face was also so bloodthirsty that Raydel felt himself getting smaller. Cthulhu stopped before him. The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a while before something shot out of the ground and bound Raydel with itself!

"?!"

The squirming tentacles wrapped themselves around him and raised him up in the air. Raydel could not move. He felt like a sand sack being dragged around.

"You!" Raydel screamed.

"How dare you let that thing into my home," Cthulhu said. He was definitely talking about the Plague Doctor.

"The home you're talking about is your coin, right?" Raydel asked. "Then, why did you eat his home? If you hadn't done that, we wouldn't be having this problem now."

"It should have died since the moment I devoured its power. But because you have the summoning skill, it still lives."

"Then," Raydel said, "you knew."

Cthulhu narrowed his eyes. The tentacles tightened their grasp.

It hurts, Raydel thought but did not say it out loud.

Cthulhu looked at the Plague Doctor and raised his hands. Gigantic tentacles appeared out of the water and aimed at him

"I can kill it right now."

In fact, the Plague Doctor would not die. His health point would remain at one point forever. But the problem would be on Raydel's plate who had to heal him every time he summoned the Plague Doctor. He had to beg Cthulhu and hoped that the conflict about home would eventually stop.

"He just wants some space! Can't you just let him stay in a small room, like a one square meter room or something? Roommates, you know! You guys are roommates."

"Just the fact that it is here means I have to lose some power to it."

"Is that a bad thing?"

His jet-black eyes narrowed even more.

"Yes."

"Your power will make him stronger. That's not a bad thing at all," Raydel said.

"Human," Cthulhu argued, "you promised me that you'll be my tour guide. Why did you have to bring him in?"

Ah, that promise… Raydel thought. So, Cthulhu stayed with him really because he wanted him to be his guide. But how would he take him to places if they kept fighting in this realm like this? Raydel pursed his lips and thought for several moments. Cthulhu really hated having the Plague Doctor as his roommate. He could be one of those secluded people that did not want to share their space with anyone.

Like… an annoyed cat.

In Raydel's head, he saw the picture of a black cat with a grumpy face.

"He's here because you ate his home," Raydel said carefully. "I have the boss summoning skill which brought him here. You both are high-ranking bosses. I, as a hunter that can summon bosses, want you two to be able to live together."

"I refuse," Cthulhu said instantly.

"Okay, the problem is you don't want to share your home with anyone, right?" Raydel asked. "What about you let him stay here and, in exchange for that, I'll let you take over my body and use it to see the outside world?"

What Raydel said stunned Cthulhu.

After a while, he asked.

"You'll let me take over your body?"

"Yes, and you can leave your home as many times as you want. You won't have to be stuck in here all the time anymore."

Raydel knew how risky it was to offer that since he had no idea what would happen when Cthulhu took over his body. He was still an S-rank boss that could change the rank of any dungeons as he wished. That alone showed how terrifyingly powerful he was. Talking to Cthulhu in a human form like this made Raydel completely forget how redoubtable he was.

Why is he willing to talk to me, then? Raydel thought.

But he had to offer something that would stop Cthulhu and the Plague Doctor from fighting. Then, he would also need to think of a way out in case Cthulhu accepted the offer to go see the outside world using his body.

Behind Cthulhu appeared a message box that he himself did not see.

[Cthulhu is considering your offer.]

[Additional translation of Cthulhu's words.]

['Live as a human in the outside world with this kid's body?']

The man let out a loud breath, 'Huh.'

"No."

"What?"

"If I lived through your body, I'd have to protect your body since you wouldn't let me use it for free. And there must be many conditions to prohibit me from doing anything bad to the human world. And if I did, you, as the owner of the body, would have to take the blame for it in the human world. I haven't even talked about the fact that you might summon me into your body to help fight against some foes you can't defeat by yourself."

Raydel smiled awkwardly. Well, he knows.

"But it's a fair trade, isn't it?" he asked.

"If I'm to see the outside world, I want to see it with my own eyes and body."

Raydel frowned. "Huh?"

"Sacrifice an organ that will give me my own body."

"..."

Raydel was stunned. Sacrifice an organ that will give him a human body? So, sacrificing just a finger was not enough to give Cthulhu a body, was it? The first organ that came to his mind when talking about giving Cthulhu a human body… he thought of the moment an infant was born. The forming process of it started with an organ…

"I'll die if I give my heart to you!"

Cthulhu did not seem to care. "Something else, then."

"Are you those organ-trafficking criminals?"

"Your lung."

Raydel was shocked.

"Humans can live with one lung, right?"

"..."

Raydel faked a sigh. "If you really have a human body, you have to help compensate for the energy needed to summon you. You have to always be at my service. It's even worse than taking over my body. Do you really want it?"

"Having a body of my own is absolutely better than borrowing yours."

"But that will create many more annoying bonds than using my body, you know. I'm the owner of the organ that gives you your body, I may be able to control even your soul. Do you still want it?" As soon as Raydel finished, the tentacles tightened their grips to the point he almost felt his bones breaking.

"You talk too much," Cthulhu said.

Raydel tried to get out of the tentacles' grab, but the tentacles kept tightening their clasps no matter how many times he tried.

He really wants to have a human body, huh? Raydel thought. Is it that important? Why does an S-rank boss want a human body? Having his own body is different from borrowing my body. At least, he can do anything or go anywhere he wants. He will have his own will and not be attached to me, the owner of the body anymore.

Cthulhu might have noticed Raydel's expression. He asked, "what?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you may have learnt something… like the future."

[Cthulhu is suspicious of what you said.]

"Nyarlathotep, he's your cousin, isn't he? You could have heard something from him and it made you realize you need a human body."

Cthulhu had the same origin as Nyarlathotep. They were the living beings that were not related to this world. Whatever power they might hold was beyond human comprehension. Their relationships were even more unpredictable. Raydel thought of what Deather said about S-rank towers that might appear out of nowhere, and believed that there must be something more with all these bosses. Did Cthulhu stay with him solely because he wanted to travel?

"The future?" Cthulhu whispered and smiled. "In the future, I saw you lying dead on the ground."

Raydel's brows twitched. He was sure now that this guy did not like him. Of course, he liked nothing about him as well.

The message box that appeared behind him was clear.

[Cthulhu doesn't like your face.]

But if asked how much he needed Cthulhu's power, Raydel must say that it was 'necessary.' This was the kind of boss that appeared only once in a thousand year. Actually, sacrificing a lung in exchange for Cthulhu's body to reduce the amount of energy needed to summon him was a good idea. If Cthulhu was always at his service, he would be like a living shield that could guarantee his safety at all times. Wasn't that so good?

If he had a boss this high in rank as his bodyguard, becoming a high-ranking hunter would be a piece of cake.

The problem was how to make Cthulhu consider him his partner and not a host that needed to let some parasites suck his blood to death.

As he was thinking, he saw a message box that translated what Cthulhu said.

[Additional translation of Cthulhu's words.]

['This kid is so weak. He doesn't deserve to stand beside me.']

Raydel's brows twitched again.

Weak? Me? Weak? This shitty takoyaki!

"I'll get out of your tentacles and punch your freaking face," Raydel growled, wanting him to know that he was not as weak as Cthulhu thought.

Cthulhu couldn't care less about his words.

"I'd say you should or else you're never waking up ever again."

"..."

Wait. Was he saying that his soul would be trapped here forever if he could not get out of the tentacles?

[Cthulhu is bored.]

[Additional translation of Cthulhu's words.]

['If he dies, I'll just go back to live my life as I used to be.']

Raydel started to get really angry.

This asshole boss thought of humans as just worthless insects that he could step over and kill easily. Raydel hadn't even opened his mouth yet when Cthulhu disappeared and left him all alone with the tentacles and the weird group of people in their black coats. Raydel frowned. He tried twisting his body but still failed to destroy the tentacles.

He looked at the Plague Doctor who had been standing over there listening to the conversation the whole time.

"Come here," he said and frowned, feeling like his words could not get through to him.

Raydel took a deep breath and concentrated again. He thought of when the Plague Doctor was fighting against the tentacles. He believed that there was a moment that he could somehow change the Plague Doctor's place.

Was he able to move bosses?

He tried to concentrate. A minute passed. Two minutes passed. Five minutes passed. Nothing happened. Still, Raydel persisted and tried a new method. He imagined that he was looking at a chessboard and could move all the units to anywhere. Then, he imagined he was moving one of the chess pieces to a particular spot.

Raydel felt a part of his energy sucked out.

And the Plague Doctor suddenly appeared before him.

Raydel was shocked but tried to focus. He examined the wounds on him and used his leadership instantly.

"Good boy, you did really great," he said.

The Plague Doctor was stunned. A message box appeared.

[The Plague Doctor is happy.]

[Additional translation of The Plague Doctor's words.]

['Master complimented me… so happy…']