I Became a Genius Mage in the Cthulhu Game - Chapter 163: Dragon King Festival (4)

“Greuk! How is this possible!? How!?”

An Oriental-style ceremonial robe contrasting bizarrely with a Western crown.

And a grotesque scaly face that somehow resembles a turtle.

The True Person of the Tortoise, the governor of Insu Village and the priest of the evil Dagon cult, screamed at me with a horrified expression on his face.

“Was it all a ruse!?”

A ruse?

Brainwashed by the power of the [Mask of the Deep Sea] until I became an idiot?

Fainting at the sight of True Person of the Tortoise’s horrific appearance?

And being quietly carried in that cursed golden palanquin all the way to the temple?

Was all of that my scheme, my ruse, my deception to create this situation?

“Hahahaha—!”

I laughed loudly. Bright yellow light emanated from the four eyes of the mask.

“Yes, it was all a ruse. Watching you babble excitedly was ridiculously amusing.”

“You vile land creature!”

The True Person of the Tortoise couldn’t contain his rising anger and trembled with fury. This was quite fun.

Though, I really almost died.

It had been a dangerous gamble.

The brainwashing employed by the [Mask of the Deep Sea] wasn’t a big problem.

As expected, the [Madness of the Abyss] had activated and protected me.

But the real danger is something else.

Now I had two problems to overcome.

One is the memories that were fading and entangling even at this moment.

And the other is…

A complete deep-sea person and that turtle-like bastard triggering my ichthyophobia.

In the end, the moment I realized the village chief had activated the brainwashing spell, I let go of both problems.

I pretended the brainwashing worked and acted like an idiot.

They planned to offer me as a sacrifice. Some might want to vent their anger on me, but the real dangerous harm would be prevented by the chief.

Yes.

Up to this point.

Up to this point, it had indeed been a strategy to deceive them.

But everything that happened after that was purely a gamble.

The seizure that occurred when I met the True Person of the Tortoise was real.

With three seizures and the subsequent side effects of memory loss, my mind became a complete mess. Even though I resisted the brainwashing, I had temporarily become an idiot.

The events that happened while I was being carried in the palanquin to this place were only vaguely remembered.

If the past Kim Shin-hwa hadn’t set a specific course of action for the golems, things probably wouldn’t have gone so well.

Anyway!

Now, I no longer had ichthyophobia!

The attack by the spirit golems was considered my doing, and the madness had vanished. There were still unclear aspects of how the system handled madness, but for now, it worked in my favor, so I decided to let it pass.

Moreover, this wasn’t the time to think more deeply about such things.

“Grrr! You despicable, vile human scum!”

“Grrr, grrr! Kill him! Tear him to pieces!”

“Grrrrr! We’ll make you fish food!”

The deep-sea people whose faces were covered with scales, and the hybrids who would grow to look like them, all roared in unison.

About half of the gathered creatures were unarmed, but each one was already a cultist; they were monsters that had transcended their humanity. Even their claws alone could massacre a fully armed human.

Occasionally, sinister-looking spears and bows were visible. There were no guns or cannons, but their weapons would be even more powerful.

“Greuk! Grrrrr!”

“Greuk, grrr grrr!”

But they couldn’t quite bring themselves to charge.

They’re hesitating.

It was because I had an overwhelmingly advantageous position. Behind me was the temple. The temple was just a building, but inside…

“What’s this, asking for help from the Dragon King’s ritual? Are you worried I might harm your precious sacred sea well?”

“Grrr, grrrr! How dare you!”

“Grrr! Get away from the sacred place immediately!”

It was quite amusing. It felt like I had become an evil kidnapper. If I couldn’t hold back, I might burst into a wicked laugh, “Keh! Ha! Ha!”

The reason they hesitated to charge wasn’t just the sacred site.

I looked at my friends standing between me and the deep-sea people.

Crack, snap! Crunch!

To disguise the golems as humans, I had to remove as many attachments as possible.

In that state, they could cause a brief surprise but couldn’t perform at full capacity.

“But still, the charm of robot stories lies in transformation and combination.”

All sorts of gadgets poured out of Doldol’s body. They flew around and attached to the spirit golems before they became their new appendages.

Even those dismantled by the deep-sea people were reassembled as if given new life. Though they consumed a significant amount of my magical power in the process…

The modifications and research so far are paying off.

The magical power efficiency of the golems increased more than tenfold. Even though seven golems absorbed magical power at the same time, my energy remained unaffected.

I swung the Great Justice Tiger Sword like a baton and gave instructions to the golems.

“Alright! I’m resetting the orders. Listen well!”

Then I pointed to the temple behind me and spoke.

“That’s a temporary base! Prevent those stinking guys from approaching the temporary base. Smash all the nuisances. End of orders.”

In fact, I can issue orders without speaking out loud. The real orders, the ones the enemy must not know, were conveyed in a more specific and clear form.

But why bother to shout out fake orders?

“Greuk, the temple! They’re trying to stop us from reaching the temple.”

“How dare they? How dare they! greuk! Our sacred place!”

“Greuk! Stop them! That mage! That heretic!”

“Greuk, greuk, greuk! Kill them!”

It’s to provoke them.

The deep-sea people and the hybrids don’t blink. Two hundred big round eyes like the rotting eyes of fish came rushing in. Their eyes were filled with burning hatred.

If I still had that ichthyophobia, I might have fainted.

I no longer have ichthyophobia. But…

Kim Shin-hwa

Class: Mage Gazing into the Abyss

Level: 44

Magic Order: Fourth Order

Mental Illness: [Mask Obsession (Dormant)]

I have no idea what the guy behind the message window is plotting.

A lot of time had passed, but the next mental illness had not yet appeared.

Is it waiting to observe a bit longer?

Or was it waiting for a more decisive moment? Perhaps something had happened to the one behind the message window.

Whatever it is, I need to move as quickly as possible.

Not knowing what kind of absurd mental illness might attach itself to me next, I had to deal with everything before the next mental illness introduced any strange variables.

“Alright! Come on, you fish bastards, give it your all and come at me! Don’t you have to perform the Dragon King Festival before it’s too late?”

“Geurk! geurk!”

“Geurk, geurk, geurk!”

Swish! Whoosh—

Spears and arrows with deadly power flew toward me.

[Protective Circle]

[Distortion Field]

I cast defensive spells and retreated. Seven makeshift monsters blocked the enraged fishmen.

Crash, slash!

“Aaargh!!”

The golem (teeth) that were equipped with restraints and torture tools like saws, axes, and hammers, enthusiastically embraced the deep-sea people.

Ratatatatata! Ratatata!

Blood poured from their heads and chests as they fell. The golem (shooter) perched on the roof of the temple and wildly fired dozens of guns attached to its eight limbs.

Shwoooosh- KABOOM!

Ah, did I mention it also had a rocket launcher taken from Yong-soo?

Booooom! Booooom! Booooom!

The massive golem (brute) made of huge stone mortars and heavy iron bars rampaged through the ranks of the deep-sea people.

Whirrrrr—

Golden shadows leaped and danced in every direction. This was the dance of the golem (dancer), created by combining the limbs of a golden dancer. Each bizarre yet beautiful dance move resulted in a deep-sea person’s head being severed.

“Achilles!”

Crunch!

[The unique effect of the S-rank magical tool ‘Staff of Beacon’, ‘Binding of the Living Flame’ has been activated.

// Binding of the Living Flame: Grants the owner the ability to summon and control the followers of the ‘Living Flame’.]

Balls of fire that trailed long tails like will-o’-the-wisps emerged. These were the minions of the [Living Flame] and they were moving under Achilles’ control.

They flew toward the deep-sea people, who screamed in terror.

“Uhryyyyyyyyyy!!!”

“Uhraaaaaaaaaa!!!”

One hundred deep-sea people? Even if there were twice as many, we could handle it. Of course, that’s assuming these deep-sea people were just “ordinary”.

“Yong-soo! Pulao! What are you doing?”

The leader of the deep-sea people, the True Person of the Tortoise, shouted.

Yes, the Nine Sons of the Dragon. They also have powerful named deep-sea people.

Fortunately, not all of them have appeared.

“Guaaaaah!”

The deep-sea person resembling a whale Pulao screamed. But it was already injured and got tangled up and thrown away by the golem (brute).

And Yong-soo…

Yong-soo who had lost both hands was still rolling around on the muddy ground. His mouth was agape and his pupils were trembling. Well done.

[Heavenly Sight]

I sent half of my consciousness into the fog.

Flap–

Red who had been hiding beyond the fog flew in.

“Red? Can you hear me? You did very well. Now, I have one more request. Do you see that fool rolling around over there? No, the one with green skin. Green. Yes, that one. Good. Approach it.”

A distant wailing sound reached my ears.

Good, that’s taken care of. I need one more thing.

Where is the village chief? Where could the village chief be?

“Grrrrk! Get lost, all of you!”

A splendid ceremonial robe and an even more splendid crown. A body bigger than the others. A face more like a turtle’s.

It was the True Person of the Tortoise.

KABOOM!!

An incredible burst of magical power.

The golem (Brute) soared into the sky. Oh? It flew too far away. A distant explosion resounded from beyond the fog. I hurriedly sent part of my consciousness after it.

“How far did it fly? Near the village?”

It had flown too far. It would be difficult to retrieve it immediately. Given the situation…

I assigned a new command to the golem (Brute) as I thought.

Hmm, to face that turtle guy head-on?

By the standards of Masquerade’s ranking system, that turtle guy was a cultist of the judge class.

Even if it’s a judge, I’ve already taken down two.

Moreover, the Hollow Lord was much stronger than the turtle guy.

But that wasn’t a head-on battle.

I had employed various methods to prevent him from showcasing his true abilities. If I had fought fairly, defeating the Hollow Lord at that level would have been impossible. Even now, it wouldn’t be easy.

“Greuk, Dragon King! Dragon King of the murky seas! Protect the descendants of the sea!”

The True Person of the Tortoise desperately shouted toward his god.

[System: The penalty trait ‘Feast Offering’ has been activated.]

[A being of the abyss grants power to its minion.]

Rumble.

A sudden change in the weather happened.

Rain began to fall.

“Grrrrk-”

“Grrrrrrrr-”

“Grrk, grrk-”

And then the frogs started croaking in unison.

“Hey, Mr. Turtle. Calm down, will you? I’ve told you from the start, I’m here to help with the Dragon King Festival.”

“Grrrrk! Turtle?”

The True Person of the Tortoise ignored my words and charged at me with a roar.

The True Person of the Tortoise had an unnecessary backstory of being a quarter deep-sea turtle, which made him dislike being called a turtle. Did he have some painful childhood memories? No, this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.

Booom!

Suddenly, a wave mixed with mud surged up.

“Dieee!”

The True Person of the Tortoise flew straight at me; his body was covered in tough scales that served as a weapon in itself. Using magic while engaging in close combat—I’m envious!

[The unique effect of the L-rank garment ‘Winged Robe of the Night Veil’, ‘Wings of the Heavenly Steed’ has been activated.

// Wings of the Heavenly Steed: Automatically casts the ‘Flight’ spell.]