Ch.108Ch.7 – Elegy to Reason (15)

“That’s strange.”

Scully muttered.

“I may not be a geologist, but I know this isn’t a normal earthquake. Every earthquake has precursors, and they don’t come this short and—”

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

“Short, multiple times, and irregularly like this. Moreover, if it were real, it should have been detected by seismographs…?”

Mayor Allen was still at his post in the tent reserved for high-ranking city officials and council members. Judging by his bewildered expression as he surveyed his surroundings, such events seemed unfamiliar to him too. Scully gently tapped Allen’s shoulder, as if not wanting to cause unnecessary alarm, and called him behind the tent.

“Has anything like this happened in Innsmouth before?”

“No. Never. What’s going on?”

“The electricity is out. Phones are down too. I’ve already sent military police outside the city.”

Creak… THUD!

This vibration was more definite. People from civic groups and Innsmouth residents were all panicking and running around in confusion. Others from Congress were the same. Only one person remained unperturbed—Aide Klein. Catherine Scully climbed onto the platform.

“Aide Klein. I’m sorry, but we need to suspend the event temporarily.”

“Why?”

“Volcanic activity has been detected beneath Innsmouth, and there’s a warning of an impending earthquake. Electricity and communications are already down.”

“Electricity and communications are down?”

Aide Klein asked in surprise.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. I’m certain.”

Surprisingly—truly surprisingly—Klein smiled.

Click

Awakening <7/12> / Doom <8/12>

Scully’s eyes narrowed.

“Aide Klein? This is hardly the time to—”

“I have to laugh.”

Klein cackled. His maniacal laughter echoed through the amplifier for everyone to hear.

“I have to laugh. When else would I laugh? I thought I was dying of boredom. Let me say one thing since we’re at the end. This city is truly a piece of shit.”

RUMBLE!

The ground roared again in response to the merciless insult. Everyone stared blankly at Klein.

“What… did you just…”

“A-piece-of-shit-city.”

“Aide Klein!”

Mayor Allen climbed onto the platform, unable to contain himself any longer. Other council members followed suit.

“Apologize. Apologize right now! What kind of outrageous statement is that!”

“Klein, that’s going too far!”

Others from the congressional investigation committee protested as well. Klein raised both hands. But he still firmly gripped the microphone.

“Yes. Yes. I apologize. I’ll apologize. I’ll speak into the microphone. Everyone. I am truly sorry. None of you will leave Innsmouth alive. All of you must become the wombs for the new species that He will create.”

Click

Awakening <8/12> / Doom <9/12>

“What?”

In her shock, Scully could barely string words together. Aide Klein turned to Mayor Allen.

“How utterly pathetic. Allen. Pathetic. Dagon gave you so many chances, yet you failed to meet expectations in the slightest.”

“What… what are you saying?”

Mayor Allen trembled. Klein’s voice deepened and grew more ominous.

“He sent me personally. He sent me to question you about the disappearance of His priests. To rebuke the older generation for their failures, as the young choose extinction rather than bearing His offspring. You didn’t even listen to the words of your ancestors.”

“You…!”

Klein shouted into the microphone.

Tekeli-li!

T̨̤̮̜̙͍ȩ̰͓̜ͅk̢͚̗͔ͅͅe̡̙͉̲ͅl̢͇͍͇̜i̧͔̲-̢̲̝l͚͓̰̲͜ͅi̲̫͚͢!̨̞̫̫̫̰

T̴͓̤̱̝̪̆̂̍̕͢e̵̡̛̦̠̱̬͔̥̙͉͂̀k҈̦͉̤͗̄͛̉̕̚͢ȩ̶̤̦̜͓͛̔͠l̶̢̘̞͔̣̘͆̌̕i҈̮͈̘̳͎̾̂̿͂͐̀̕͢-҈̟̣̍̔̑͆̃̏̓̕͢l̴̖̳̉̿̔̋̆̇̂͢͝i̷̡͍͎̩̝̇̔̓͠!҉̡̫̱̜͌̍͂̒̉̑͡

It wasn’t a human language. It was the howl of a wild beast that gouged into the heart, burrowed between the left and right brain, drooling as it gazed at humanity in the cave. Purple light emanated from Klein’s eyes. He shouted his final cry into the microphone.

T̶͖̩͉͈͈̦͍͉̜̲̩͔̬̲̙̤͙̣͛͌̉́͋̾͗̾̉̃̃͂͒̋̍̅̽̓͊̏͛̒̋̚ͅe̸̳̳͕̭̜͙̥̙̝͈̮̥̗͍̰̳͎͙͇͉͖͂̊̄̉̒̽̇̃͋͑͌̄̚ͅͅk̶̗̝̝͎̲̱̦̞͍͍̝̭͖͍͙̟͈̜͒̋͊̏̾̔́̊̊̍̑̐̑̇̓͛̄̏͊̐̃̉ē̷̤͙̭͖̪̠̮̙̭͈͉̭͈̲̗̟͇͚͚͕̗͓̓̒̓̅̏̀̅͂̉̊̊̾̊̀̀ͅḽ̷̣̙̗͚̦̣̤̳̩̫̲͚̲̞̰͓̦͛̂̋̍͐́̓̋͆̿̆͗͐͂̉̉i҉̩̠͖̟͖̘̦̱͕͍͖̯͎̟̝̬͙̖̬̲̽̿̓͋̊͂̏̊̓̌̓̚-҉͇̩̬͇̞͓͚̠̮̗̰͉̲̯͍̠͖̭̫̅̄̔̅͛̽̔̎̊̏̎̏̆̋̏̈́͒́̚l̸̝̝̰͎̟̘͕̠̦͎̣̱̝̲̮̯̥͚͚̃́̂̈́̆̓̍̓̈̾̏̚i̴̩͚̣͈̩̫̙̪̣͓̟̗͉̎̌̾̐̾̀̓̀̊̍̑̑̈́̄͛̏̚̚!̸̠͔̘̳̙̬͍͎̭̥̦̣̩͆͐̔͌͑͊͑̆̊̊̿́̿̆̀͐͋́͗

“Ugh… aah aah… aaaaaaah!”

The first young person ran away screaming.

The second young person ran away screaming.

The third young person ran away screaming.

The fourth young person ran away screaming.

The 5th the 6th the 7th the 8th the 9th the 10 11 12 13 15 18 19 24 32 45 frightened terrified clutching their stomachs dragging their legs staring at burning bellies blankly staring at the sky

Crack

CRACK!

CRUNCH!

THUD!

THUD!

It’s fine if the 1st one’s head explodes

It’s fine if the 2nd one’s body bursts

It’s fine if the 3rd one’s body is torn to shreds with flesh splattering onto others

It’s fine if the 224th young person is afraid terrified waiting for their fate to come even if they realize too late that what was implanted in their body wasn’t beauty but a bomb!

“AAAAAAAH!”

People screamed. Some fainted while wiping flesh splatter from their faces, others retched after realizing they had someone’s finger in their mouth. Some pulled fragments from their bodies. Floating in the air, the ominous words

T̶͖̩͉͈͈̦͍͉̜̲̩͔̬̲̙̤͙̣͛͌̉́͋̾͗̾̉̃̃͂͒̋̍̅̽̓͊̏͛̒̋̚ͅe̸̳̳͕̭̜͙̥̙̝͈̮̥̗͍̰̳͎͙͇͉͖͂̊̄̉̒̽̇̃͋͑͌̄̚ͅͅk̶̗̝̝͎̲̱̦̞͍͍̝̭͖͍͙̟͈̜͒̋͊̏̾̔́̊̊̍̑̐̑̇̓͛̄̏͊̐̃̉ē̷̤͙̭͖̪̠̮̙̭͈͉̭͈̲̗̟͇͚͚͕̗͓̓̒̓̅̏̀̅͂̉̊̊̾̊̀̀ͅḽ̷̣̙̗͚̦̣̤̳̩̫̲͚̲̞̰͓̦͛̂̋̍͐́̓̋͆̿̆͗͐͂̉̉i҉̩̠͖̟͖̘̦̱͕͍͖̯͎̟̝̬͙̖̬̲̽̿̓͋̊͂̏̊̓̌̓̚-҉͇̩̬͇̞͓͚̠̮̗̰͉̲̯͍̠͖̭̫̅̄̔̅͛̽̔̎̊̏̎̏̆̋̏̈́͒́̚l̸̝̝̰͎̟̘͕̠̦͎̣̱̝̲̮̯̥͚͚̃́̂̈́̆̓̍̓̈̾̏̚i̴̩͚̣͈̩̫̙̪̣͓̟̗͉̎̌̾̐̾̀̓̀̊̍̑̑̈́̄͛̏̚̚!̸̠͔̘̳̙̬͍͎̭̥̦̣̩͆͐̔͌͑͊͑̆̊̊̿́̿̆̀͐͋́͗

trying to shoot at Klein but trying to shoot but trying to shoot but not a single bullet reaches its target all rejected!

Te

ki

li

li

!

When the foul-smelling liquid-shaped beasts shouting burst through the ground and revealed themselves when the earth burst like thin crackers when lava and seawater surged back up along the paths the beasts emerged from when the ground rumbled, rumbled, RUMBLED and split apart clearly and distinctly for all to see when buildings collapsed from top to bottom with a CRASH! when foundations danced chaotically and fell one THUD two THUD three THUD four THUD!

“Dagon!”

“Will take!”

“This city!”

Click

Awakening <9/12> / Doom <10/12>

Click

Awakening <10/12> / Doom <11/12>

People scattered in all directions, screaming. Shoggoths that had burst through the air descended upon the scattered people. The Shoggoths “devoured” the scattered people, crushing them from above. People trapped in the jelly monsters’ bodies flailed their limbs, rolling their eyes through the translucent bodies,

Tekeli-li!

Tekeli-li!

Tekeli-li!

Becoming one! Becoming one! Becoming one!

“Integration!”

Klein, Dagon’s priest, howled in ecstasy.

“Integration! Father Dagon! These are your new offspring. New and strong offspring! Take them. Take Innsmouth! Let it go where it belongs!”

“Deputy! Scully!”

Crayfield pulled Catherine Scully and me.

“Let’s get to safety! We have to leave that one behind!”

But Catherine Scully was trembling. Her empty gun just clicked. Clicked in her hand.

“Snap out of it!”

“C-Crayfield. What… what am I seeing?”

“It’s sinking!”

Crayfield shouted.

“Innsmouth is sinking! The Shoggoths that tunneled from below have leaped upward. They’re going to shatter Innsmouth like a cracker, that one is!”

“We have to stop it!”

Scully shouted. Aide Klein saw us. As he chanted an unknown spell, the liquid monsters around him—five jelly monsters the size of decent trucks—turned toward us.

They charged at us.

Crayfield and I fired our guns.

The five Shoggoths screamed, emitting a foul stench, secreting acidic slime that released toxic fumes upon touching the ground, as they rushed toward us relentlessly.

Crayfield fired his last shot.

Ping.

The Shoggoths all stopped abruptly. They twisted their bodies strangely, then

Plop

Collapsed lifelessly. Thick fluid flowed from their severed bodies. Even Klein held his breath as he stared at us.

A human figure rose from the pile of Shoggoth corpses. Parts of the body had been dissolved by acidic solution, but that didn’t seem to matter.

The legs were steel blades, the body solid metal plates with loudly moving bearings, belts, and gears. In the middle of the protruding chest, a ticking spring moved noisily. The leather that had marked it as human had completely dissolved, revealing the mannequin’s true nature. Surprisingly, it even had eyes—pupils fixed and unchanging.

“Clarice Holmes?”

Catherine Scully mustered her strength.

“You Americans.”

A strange, distorted voice emanated from her.

“Are always so noisy.”

Clarice Holmes glared at Klein.

“You Americans talk about freedom with your mouths, yet your bodies long for the days of slavery—how accurate that is. Why would you volunteer to be a slave to an evil god?”

A strange moan escaped from Aide Klein’s mouth.

“…Come at me, you metal bitch.”

“How rude. Slave.”

Swish.

In an instant, Klein’s body was wrapped in wire. Despite his struggles, the steel wire enveloping his entire body slowly consumed him. The light emanating from Klein’s eyes soon enveloped his entire body. Clarice busily worked her hands while looking at us.

“Do you have so much time to spare that you want to watch me instill manners into this insolent slave?”

RUMBLE!

The ground shook again. In the distance, a mountain could be seen crumbling and collapsing. The frozen Shoggoths around us all lunged at Clarice at once. Clarice’s waist and legs rotated fiercely, grinding any Shoggoth that came close. They seemed to pay no attention to us.

We ran. We moved far, far away from the city hall.

“Where… where should we go?”

People lamented. There was nowhere to go. Shouts and screams could be heard from the streets. From the beach, towering waves could be seen approaching. With every crack and crash, buildings collapsed. From the cracks in the ground, flames and lava erupted, while seawater leaped from other fissures.

But I could see it. While everyone was rolling on the ground, buildings collapsing, the earth splitting with lava and flames erupting, and a tsunami approaching from the distant sea—the thoughts of the woman in white remained unwavering.

[You must go to the Devil’s Reef]

Emma Scully’s thought whispered to me*you*. She held a violin in her hand.

[They’re rising from the sea. He will come too]

I asked her, “What do you plan to do?”

[There]

Emma Scully’s body became transparent.

[Release me]