Ubermensch – Chapter 165

Chapter 165

Mason didn’t know who sent the evil spirit to the young man, but there was a simple way to find out.

“Hey, you petty demons. Come back to life.”

As the god commanded, so it was.

Two evil spirits, visibly overflowing with wicked energy, writhed in pain under Mason’s radiance.

“Kuuooooooooo…”

“Aaaaaaaagh…”

A sound that was neither a ghostly wail nor a scream pierced his ears.

Mason asked, grumbling,

“Why are you here?”

The evil spirits pointed at the young man.

The young man was bewildered.

“Me? Why?”

“The one who sent you would know.”

Mason asked the evil spirits,

“Who sent you?”

The path the evil spirit had taken shimmered with silver. This meant that if he followed it, he would find the shaman.

“By any chance, do you want to be purified? This is fate, should I purify you?”

As the evil spirits nodded, Mason caressed them. Wicked energy drained from their bodies, and milky white souls ascended to the heavens.

“I don’t know who it is, but they’re someone I don’t like.”

He didn’t know how they had become so corrupted, but the evil spirits chose to be purified the moment they were given the chance. This meant they hadn’t been doing bad things because they enjoyed it.

It seemed like the shaman was quite a nasty piece of work.

“Let’s go.”

“Excuse me? Me too? Wouldn’t it be better for me to just hide somewhere safe?”

“Logically speaking, wouldn’t being next to me be the safest place in the world?”

“That’s true, but…”

Mason crossed his arms.

“What’s the problem now?”

“I’m a hikikomori…”

“You don’t go outside?”

“No…”

“Come out here right now. If you don’t want to be dragged.”

The young man sighed and put on his shoes.

Mason made his body transparent, visible only to the young man’s eyes.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes…”

It was an ordinary city street. If he had to compare, it felt more Western than Eastern. More like an American housing complex.

“There it is.”

“…Hmm.”

When Mason pointed at a building, the young man made an uncomfortable expression.

“What’s wrong now?”

“That’s a club. It’s swarming with popular people.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“Wouldn’t I be rejected at the entrance?”

“Don’t worry. I can distract the guards for a moment.”

The young man grumbled,

“You’re not even saying I could pass with a kind word…”

“…”

Mason looked at the guards and said,

“You guys. Look away for a moment.”

The guards immediately started looking at their phones or staring off into the distance.

“…Wow. That’s amazing.”

Even seasoned mages couldn’t easily manipulate the mind of someone in their right mind.

However, Mason was one of the most prominent gods in the Dreamland Pantheon, and this wasn’t an avatar or an extension, but his true self.

He was a god, so what he willed would be done.

It took precedence over all magic or scientific laws.

“Now. Let’s go.”

The moment Mason stepped on the stairs of the building, a loud crackling sound echoed, and the entire building shook with a rumble.

The mystical barrier protecting the building had shattered, unable to withstand Mason’s divine presence.

“Well, well, well?”

Resisting the benevolent god Mason meant it was a malicious barrier erected by an evil person.

“I guess I need to give them a little flick on the forehead.”

Mason grumbled and descended the stairs.

The dark, sweltering basement was filled with thumping music. Mason, who didn’t particularly enjoy loud noises, frowned, while the young man’s eyes widened at the sight of scantily clad women.

“…Hey. Stop ogling and follow me.”

Mason grabbed the young man by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along.

The young man said with a mournful expression,”Just one grind! Let me grind just once!”

“If you keep messing around, you’ll be grinding against my pecs.”

“…Ugh.”

Mason continued on, following the trail of the shaman who had sent the evil spirit. It led to a room deep inside the club—an office.

“Oh, look at that? They even put up a camouflage barrier?”

It was a door that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to find.

Mason grabbed the doorknob.

With a crackling sound, the sealing spell shattered.

“How many layers of magic did they put on this thing?”

Mason grumbled and opened the door, stepping inside.

At that moment, he frowned.

“…?”

There was an altar prepared for an evil god. A naked woman lay on top of it, and a devil worshipper in a black robe with a bull’s skull on his head was holding a dagger high in the air.

“…”

“…”

There was a moment of silence.

Both Mason and the devil worshipper were momentarily bewildered by the situation.

“Intruder!”

The devil worshipper, having grasped the situation, plunged the dagger down.

“Eek!”

Just as the dagger was about to pierce the woman’s chest, Mason reached out his hand.

Clang!

The dagger, unable to penetrate the woman’s chest even an inch, snapped in two. Mason had cast a protective power over the woman’s entire body.

“Grr! Who are you?!”

“A god.”

Mason swung his fist, smashing the devil worshipper’s mask.

Crack!

The bull’s skull and the devil worshipper’s nose broke simultaneously.

“Gah!”

Thud!

Mason grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

“Tell me. Who are you, and what were you doing?”

Mason’s short words were literally a divine command.

Those with a talent for magic couldn’t dare disobey, let alone someone who didn’t know magic.

“I, I am Nick Peterson, the branch manager of the cult. I was trying to offer a sacrifice to the evil god and gain more power.”

“What evil god?”

“The Unspeakable Hastur.”

“…What? Hastur?”

Mason blinked.

“Hastur actually exists?”

The Unspeakable Hastur. An evil god from the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Cthulhu Mythos was originally about the Great Old Ones—evil gods who dealt in cosmic horror.

However, due to Mason, who had achieved ultimate evolution and called himself Nodens, and the insane Destroyer Mason, who called himself Yog-Sothoth, those involved in this fight had come to bear names related to the Cthulhu Mythos.

‘Well, I exist, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t…’

Mason’s divine name, Oztalon, was also one of the names of the Elder Gods.

The problem was that, unlike the original Cthulhu Mythos, there were no beings to be called Great Old Ones.

The Destroyer’s goal was the destruction of everything itself. Even if someone tried to become his comrade or follower, he would destroy them indiscriminately.

‘What’s going on?’

Things were getting strangely complicated.

Mason asked,

“Then why were you trying to kill that friend over there?”

“Because he’s a powerful archmage. I was trying to kill him in case he came to interfere with the ritual.”

“…Archmage?”

Mason looked at the young man scratching the back of his head with an awkward expression. An otaku and a hikikomori. He didn’t look very impressive. However…

‘He must be quite the archmage to have summoned me.’

To have summoned the true body of the Elder God Oztalon, he must be quite the archmage among mortals.

…Although Mason had descended because he had nothing better to do.

“Do you work alone? Or is there an organization you belong to?”

“I belong to an organi…”

At that moment, Nick foamed at the mouth and went limp.

“Gurgling…”

It seemed he was cursed. One that activated if he spoke about the organization.

It was a trick to prevent tracking and cut off any leads.

“Oh, look at that?”

The problem was that his opponent was a god.

Mason grabbed the soul trying to escape from Nick’s body and returned it to its original body.

“Gasp…!”

Nick, catching his breath, said, trembling,

“What, what have you done to me?”

“I didn’t do anything. Your comrades did.”

Mason put Nick down.

“You were under a silencing curse, and that curse activated, ending your life. So I resurrected you.”

“…You resurrected the dead so easily? That’s something even the greatest archmages can’t do!”

Nick trembled with awe.

But Mason said with an indifferent expression,

“Because I’m a god.”

Mason continued in a calm voice,

“As you can see, your comrades abandoned you. Do you want to cooperate with me and be under my protection, or do you want to fight your old comrades to the death?”

After a moment of contemplation, Nick opened his mouth.

“If you protect me, I’ll tell you everything.”

“…Alright.”

Mason drew a heptagram on Nick’s body with his finger.

“There. This will block most magic. However, if you harm anyone else, my magic will harm you. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Nick prostrated himself and said,

“Oh, great one. How may I address you?”

“Oztalon. Oztalon, the Guardian Deity.”

“From this day forward, I will become a follower of Oztalon!”

“Faith is free, so I won’t tell you not to become a follower, but it would be good for you to live in accordance with your conscience from now on.”

Mason looked at the young man.

“By the way, we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet. What’s your name?”

“Randolph. Randolph Carter.”

Mason had a subtle expression.

This was because he was a character from the Cthulhu Mythos. Moreover, he was the most famous and active human.

‘Is this a coincidence? Or… destiny?’

Anyway, Mason looked at the woman on the altar.

She was asleep, drugged with something, perhaps sleeping pills or an anesthetic. However, when Mason stroked her head, she woke up with a dazed expression.

“Where am I?”

“You’re at a club. You drank too much, so you came in here to rest for a bit.”

Mason said in a admonishing tone,

“Get dressed and go home. Don’t drink too much in the future.”

“Yes…”

The woman, still dazed, got dressed and went outside.

Mason crushed the evil god’s altar with his hand. He sat down on a chair and looked at Nick.

“So. Who’s behind you?”

“There are cultists in the underworld who worship different evil gods. Originally, people like us were organized into cells and didn’t interact with each other, but there are those who are forcibly unifying those cells with force.”

Mason had a bad feeling.

“Yog-Sothoth?”

“Ah, you already knew. Yes, that’s right.”

Nick said with a calm expression,

“Cultists are uniting under the cult of the Destroyer Yog-Sothoth.”

It was the moment when his worst fears were confirmed.