Guided by Eibon, Lily finally entered deep within the castle, where she soon faced an enormous gate.
Even tilting her head far back, the top of the gate was nowhere to be seen. This was no construction made for humans to use.
Rather, it was for something much larger, a veritably overwhelming presence.
In front of the gate stood a person who approached Eibon and Lily.
Below the neck, he had an ordinary human body dressed neatly in a suit, but atop his neck was a rooster’s head. He was the one who had recently been in contact with Eibon.
“He has just awakened.”
“Good work.”
“No, it was a pleasure to be able to wake him after such a long time.”
The rooster-headed man adjusted his neck. Known on the floating island of Kai as the person with the loudest voice, generation after generation of his family had held the role of waking the island’s master.
His gaze, which had momentarily shifted to Lily standing beside Eibon, returned promptly to the front. His crest was trembling.
It was a reaction born out of the fear that should he mistakenly offend the existence before him, he might never awaken from the nightmare of his life.
At that moment, a voice came from beyond the gate.
“Enter.”
It was a heavy, low voice that seemed to carry the weight of many years, with a damp, wet undertone. The immense gate began to open slowly with a weighty sound.
Even slightly open, the gate was large enough to let through several people side by side due to its immense size.
Lily walked through the narrow opening, and as she entered the room, the gate closed behind her.
Eibon and the rooster-headed man, who were looking at the closed gate,
“Phewwww…”
“Phew…”
Relieved of the tension, they both sat down without a word, grasping their still trembling legs.
Though the great archmage seemed also relieved of the tension, something was different.
“Master Mage.”
“…What?”
“Could I possibly ask if anything happened in the reception room over the past three hours?”
Eibon, pausing for a moment, replied with a weary sigh.
“Don’t ask.”
With that heavy sigh, the rooster-headed man could only nod in response.
“Yessir.”
—
Having passed through the massive gate, Lily entered a dark room.
Though the darkness was so complete that she couldn’t see even an inch in front of her, Lily walked forward with familiarity and stopped at a certain point.
“It’s been a long time.”
At this, the air in front of her rippled. A hot wind passed on either side of her, revealing the immense size of the entity by what was, in fact, just a snort.
Lily slightly frowned at the damp, fishy smell that came from the unseen presence. A substantial presence was approaching, and out of the darkness emerged a colossal shape.
The first thing visible was the enormous frog-like face. The hairy, sloth-like body behind it resembled a kind of tree sloth. The frog face had half-opened eyes and a tongue that lolled out, clearly showing signs of fatigue. The thick lips moved slightly.
“It’s been a very long time, Queen of the Night, Lily. How have you been?”
At this, Lily smiled faintly.
“…Yeah, I’ve been spending the happiest time of my long existence.”
“That’s fortunate indeed.”
If the followers outside had heard this conversation, they would have been utterly shocked. Somehow, this visitor had transported the entire island deep from within the earth to a satellite orbiting Saturn, yet here they were, talking face-to-face with their formidable god.
But given their relationship, it was a natural occurrence.
“I heard one of my contracted ones caused some trouble.”
“It’s fine. I’ve already heard the explanation from Eibon, so as long as there’s no direct harm to me, it doesn’t matter.”
“I thank you for your forgiveness.”
Taking a breath, Chaotgua opened his mouth to speak.
“Speaking of which… I’ve heard rumors in the Dreamland that your relationship with Nodens has soured?”
“That’s correct.”
“The Lord of Confusion must be pleased.”
At this, Lily’s brow slightly twitched.
“…Perhaps.”
Reading her reaction, Chaotgua quickly changed the subject.
“By the way… may I ask why you are in this dimension?”
Lily paused for a moment. Though Chaotgua was not an antagonistic deity, telling him the truth about Arthur was a different matter. Lily decided to deflect the answer.
“For food, that’s all.”
“I see…”
A brief silence passed between them.
“I’ll always say this, but I have no intention of aligning with other Great Old Ones or Outer Gods. I’m too averse to trouble.”
This was the reason Chaotgua, unlike other outsiders, did not make aggressive moves. Being someone who detested trouble, it was natural for him to dislike conflicts. Knowing this, Lily had reassured Arthur.
“So, I won’t interfere with your contractor.”
At this moment, Lily recalled the image of Callisa clinging to Arthur and impulsively added,
“-As long as your contractor doesn’t cross the line first.”
“There won’t be such a thing. I’ll make sure through Eibon.”
“Then that’s fortunate. With that, the formal matters are all concluded. I’ll take my leave now.”
“That’s right, and no need to be careful… though there’s no need for that anyway.”
Chaotgua was aware that the entity in front of him, though appearing human, was one among the few in the universe who could threaten her.
Lily turned around and walked toward the gate. Watching her intently, Chaotgua called out as something came to mind.
“Is the Crawling Chaos still bound by his prophecy?”
Stopping in her tracks, Lily slowly turned her head.
“It seems so.”
“Still holding onto a prophecy that hasn’t even shown signs of fulfillment after such a long time.”
“…”
“Honestly, I even wish the prophecy were true.”
“…What?”
“Isn’t that right? If the prophecy were real, we could advance to true eternal life.”
“The Father of our gods would be freed from his holy duties…”
“Our Father, our King, would return and the disgusting Elder Gods would meet their doom.”
“Where else could you find such a perfect story?”
At this, Lily, who had fallen silent for a moment, muttered dryly.
“That’s not aspiration, but delusion.”
“But…”
“The prophecy is false. So much time has passed since then. Spending time on such uncertain nonsense… I can’t understand it.”
With that, Lily exited the room without looking back.
Alone in the room, Chaotgua reflected on the conversation just had.
“…A delusion. I knew she had a negative stance on the prophecy, but I didn’t expect her reaction to be so strong.”
Watching the door Lily had exited through, he raised his voice.
“I’m hungry. Bring me food.”
A voice came from beyond the door.
“Coming immediately.”
After a short while, the door opened and a rooster-headed man entered. He wasn’t alone.
Behind him came a young human woman. Entering naked except for a blindfold over her eyes, she showed no signs of shyness and confidently walked across the room.
The rooster-headed man announced loudly.
“She has never seen nor touched a man in her life.”
Bowing his head, the rooster-headed man exited the room.
After the door closed, the woman was left alone in the dark room. From the depths of the darkness came a sound like wet swallowing.
“What is your name?”
“My name is Lani.”
“Remove your blindfold, Lani.”
The woman took off her blindfold and threw it toward the sound.
“Come closer.”
The woman walked in the darkness and, as soon as she felt a hot breath on her body, stopped.
“Is there anything you wish to say?”
“Please bring peace and prosperity to our race…”
With that, the woman closed her eyes.
And then,
Crunch…
Squish… Crack……Snap…
The horrifying sounds of flesh being crushed and bones cracking filled the dark room.
Gulping…
After finishing his meal, Chaotgua relished the taste.
“Indeed, humans are a wonderful race. Loyal, smart, and above all… delicious.”
He leisurely leaned back.
“If the prophecy were true, could I eat such delicacies forever… how delightful that would be.”
Not long after, a heavy, guttural sound filled the room.
“Cool… Cool…”
—
“It’s fortunate. She didn’t send you here with some strange intent.”
“Yeah, they won’t be troubling us in the future either.”
Lily’s story continued until the end of the meal.
Though the story was lengthy, Arthur listened with shining eyes.
The hellish environment of the moon, the floating island situated there, the various races that filled the floating island, and their god, the Great Old One Chaotgua— Arthur’s heart raced with the mysterious tale.
Receiving Arthur’s gaze, Lily felt a prickling sensation in her chest. The story she told him wasn’t entirely true. She had omitted the parts he should never know.
Especially the last conversation with Chaotgua was something she had to keep a secret from Arthur.
…And also the conversation she witnessed between Eibon in the reception room.
Reflecting on Lily’s story, Arthur suddenly remembered something.
“Ah? Now that I think about it, isn’t Callisa’s grandfather Eibon?”
“That’s right. The most cherished human disciple and grand mage of Chaotgua.”
Arthur recognized something familiar in that name and soon found the answer.
“I remember, in the restricted area of the library, there was a book called ‘The Tome of Eibon.’ Could it be…?”
Lily nodded.
“That’s correct. That book was written by Eibon. It contains information about Chaotgua and other Great Old Ones and Outer Gods. In a way, it’s as dangerous a grimoire as the Necronomicon.”
“Wow… he must be quite a remarkable person.”
“He’s doing well among humans.”
After finishing her words, Lily pushed her chair back and stood up to walk toward Arthur. Lily sat on Arthur’s knees and cupped his cheeks.
“So now…”
Lily’s eyes flickered in red. Arthur, who seemed to be barely holding onto his senses, swallowed hard.
“Lily, let me brush my-”
Squish
Lily sealed Arthur’s parted lips with her own, licking inside with a long tongue, seemingly offering an alternative to cleaning his teeth.
The movement of the long tongue licking inside caused Arthur to feel a jolt of electricity run through his body. Arthur tried to tightly embrace Lily, who had climbed onto his knees…
Plop
“Uh?!”
The hair that sprouted out from either side of Lily’s head had captured Arthur’s hands and tied them to the chair.
With a sticky sound, Lily let go of Arthur’s lips and caressed his cheeks.
“L-Lily, why my hands-”
“I’m sorry.”
“Can you maybe untie them if you’re sorry?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Lily…?”
“I…”
Lily licked her lips right before Arthur’s eyes, like a predator ready to feast. Arthur swallowed nervously as her eyes now fully glowed with a crimson hue.
“I might not be able to hold back anymore…”
“Let’s just talk for a moment, Lily.”
“I don’t want to. I can’t hold back anymore.”
After being apart for so long, Lily’s body was burning with desire. Even waiting until after dinner required immense self-restraint from her.
“I’ll try not to cross the line. So…”
Lily trailed off and brought her lips to Arthur’s ear.
“Let’s indulge in love… ♥”
With a sticky voice, Lily’s body collapsed onto Arthur.
