Chapter 239
He should have said no, that they were misunderstanding him.
But there was no chance to clear up Shan's misunderstanding.
Before he could say anything, Aphoom-Zhah responded indifferently.
[What are you talking about for so long sitting on the bare ground? Anyway, everyone must have agreed. Believer, come here.]
Aphoom-Zhah grabbed his arm and dragged him in front of Tika.
The ground around was muddy from too much blood loss.
He was anxious that she might die, but Aphoom-Zhah firmly grasped Tika's jaw as if such things didn't matter at all.
Her forcibly opened mouth was as black as Idra's fingernails, with fangs grotesquely protruding.
[I'll need to borrow a few drops of your blood.]
"My blood? Not yours?" [What blood does this being have? Even if you stab me, only ice fragments would come out. Don't be stingy and obediently hand it over, believer.]
"I never said I was stingy."
When he bit his thumb, stinging pain came along with blood welling up.
After safely dropping a few drops of blood into the struggling Tika's mouth,
Tika's black eyes became hazy and she collapsed on the spot, dropping her head.
Had sleeping pills been mixed in his blood?
As the ice that had pierced Tika's body slowly melted with thin smoke,
Shan hurriedly ran over and lifted the collapsed Tika.
"Do I need to drink Yesung's blood too?"
[You don't need to. What you need isn't blood.]
Aphoom-Zhah answered coldly.
But Shan didn't seem offended by Aphoom-Zhah's attitude.
Probably because he was the one who had saved Tika.
"Then what should I do? If there's something you want, please tell me, stranger."
[Human. From now on, you will serve me and uphold my name. The glory you gain will be mine, and the blessings I bestow will become yours.]
"I will do so. I will serve you and dedicate everything to you. Then what should I call you when I offer my devotion to you?"
[Call me whatever you wish. My essence is the flame that freezes everything. But what will I be to you? I can become gray flame, or the abyss within ice.]
Shan looked back at him, who was standing a step back in confusion.
That was understandable. No one could handle Aphoom-Zhah's mischief.
He didn't know why Aphoom-Zhah was being so mean to Shan, who would become his first believer,
But he had also been suddenly dragged out and asked to do this and that, so his mood probably wasn't good.
He nodded once to Shan.
Shan thought for a moment, then looked at Aphoom-Zhah again as if he had decided something.
"I understand. You are one who rules ice from a distant place we do not know. Since you have saved me and Tika, I will call you the Lord of the Extreme Realm."
It was a strangely familiar name. Had he ever told Shan that name?
Aphoom-Zhah smiled as if satisfied with the name.
His eyes were slender like a cat's.
*
He and Aphoom-Zhah decided to stay in Theem'dra for the time being.
This was because Tika had been unable to wake up since losing consciousness.
Shan looked anxious, but Aphoom-Zhah only leisurely watched the situation.
"Aphoom-Zhah, is it certain that Tika has escaped Idra's influence? Why can't she regain consciousness like this?"
[You're like a nonbeliever. The blood of a believer who made a contract with me was an effective means.]
"Could it be that she can't wake up because she's injured? The wounds were severe."
[Humans are really strange. My believer would live even if half his body was blown away. I think other humans are strangely weak.]
"We decided to call that abnormal."
[Is that so? Then the believer is abnormal.]
Leaving behind the pleased Aphoom-Zhah, he finished picking the withered fruit from the bushes.
Since Shan was nursing, he couldn't just sit around doing nothing.
Several days had passed since coming here, but Tika still showed no signs of waking up.
While shaking the rustling bushes, he looked up at the sky.
It was still overcast gray.
"The weather won't improve."
[It's because this being is on the land. If this being claims this place before disgusting Idra, it will snow and become very cold.]
"I'm already feeling sorry for Shan and Tika."
[Those who serve me must become accustomed to snow and ice. The believer likes ice too.]
Seeing the pleased Aphoom-Zhah reminded him of his hands and feet that had turned black from frostbite. Damn, he should stop.
After ending the unsatisfactory foraging and returning to Theem'dra with Aphoom-Zhah,
For some reason, Shan was outside.
Shan, who had been sitting lost in thought, jumped up when he saw him.
"Yesung."
"Why are you out here in the cold? Let's go inside quickly."
"Tika woke up. But... I think it would be good if Yesung could take a look at her."
"Me? Not him?"
Not Aphoom-Zhah but him should look at Tika?
He was puzzled but first left the basket with Shan and entered the house.
The house, which had originally been no different from ruins, had been hastily repaired to barely block the wind.
When the temporarily patched door closed behind him, the interior became dark.
Tika should have been lying on the bedding spread on the floor, but now she was sitting up looking at the wall.
"Tika."
He carefully sat beside her.
The sound of rustling clothes could be heard, but Tika gave no response.
He thought it might be awkward since they were meeting after a long time.
"Shan said you woke up. It feels a bit strange seeing you after so long."
"......"
"Hmm. It took quite a while to return to Theem'dra. Crossing the sea wasn't easy either. It rained and the boat almost capsized - it was really chaotic. But thanks to what you two made so sturdily, I was able to make the trip. How were you two?"
"......"
"I worried a lot that something might happen to you two while I was away. I wanted to return as quickly as possible, but it was difficult. Tika, are you angry that I came too late?"
It was somewhat embarrassing to be the only one talking in the dark room.
After watching Tika's mood and thinking she didn't want to talk right now, he quietly started to get up.
"Should I come back later? You must be tired from just waking up... Oh my."
As soon as he stood up, his body was pulled down.
Only then did Tika look at him with surprised eyes, firmly gripping his cape.
It was the cape they had made from a blanket when he left Theem'dra.
As he stood awkwardly blinking, quiet sniffling sounds began.
Ah. This was bad.
He knelt down again and gently pulled Tika into an embrace.
"Tika, are you angry? Did I come too late?"
"Yesung..."
The sniffling Tika leaned completely against him and began crying loudly.
Since she hugged him tightly with her injured arm as if telling him not to go anywhere,
He had no choice but to gently stroke Tika's head.
Much later.
When he came out of the house, Shan, who had been restless, saw him and his expression became very strange.
"Yesung."
"...Tika suddenly cried a bit."
The traces of Tika's crying remained completely on his clothes.
The face wet with tears and snot was imprinted directly on his clothes, making it look like a person was trapped in the fabric.
Shan, who was looking at his clothes with distress, asked again.
"Tika woke up, but she was dazed for a long time. Even when I called her, she didn't seem to hear well. Then suddenly she started looking for Yesung."
"The reason Tika feels bad is probably because of what happened when she became Idra's monster."
"What do you mean?"
"She hurt Shan, destroyed the house, and attacked me too. Those memories must have come back now."
"Ah."
"She was apologizing to Shan and didn't know what to do. It would be good for you two to face each other and talk later."
Actually, most of the conversation he had with Tika inside the house was,
-Wahhh I shouldn't have done that, sniff, but I was... why did I do that, I don't know either...
-You attacked Shan because you were hungry... That was something you couldn't resist with your own strength. Shan will understand too. He wasn't angry.
-Wahhhhh I was so scared and waahhhhhhh. I was so scared wahhhhhhh.
-You must have been very scared because I came back late.
-Waaahhhhh. Waaahhhhh. Hoooooo.
-Oh my, that must have been hard, you must have felt wronged.
...It was like that.
But well, that's how the psychology of children who had such big accidents worked.
Surprised and scared, anxious and sorry, resentful and relieved.
"She probably wants to see Shan now. She still seems not fully awake, so please hold her hand."
"Ah, yes."
Shan looked at the tear stains on his clothes and seemed worried, trying to rush inside immediately.
Ah, come to think of it.
"Wait, Shan."
"Yes? Do you have more to say?"
"This is just from excessive worry. Would Shan be okay even if Tika isn't ordinary Tika?"
"What? Is Tika going to turn into a monster again-"
"No, that's not it. It's not like that. She won't change like that again. I just suddenly thought of it and asked."
"Ahh."
Shan smiled with relief.
"Well, Tika is Tika."
"Is that so? Go in and see. I was keeping you for no reason."
When he saw him off with a smiling face, Shan went inside, forgetting even to say thank you.
While he was watching the closed door for a moment, Aphoom-Zhah quietly approached and asked.
[Believer.]
"I know. I realized it too while talking with Tika just now."
[So it wasn't just a casual question?]
"What can I do when the two say they like it? Even if I explained in detail to Shan, he would have answered similarly."
[Hmm. Is that so?]
Aphoom-Zhah looked at the house with a completely unconvinced expression and casually added to him.
[But ordinary humans and those who have opened their eyes to threads of truth are different. Those who can glimpse aspects of the universe can never return to daily life. Even so, does the believer not warn the human male?]
The awakened Tika had been gripped by extreme terror.
At first, she had been dazed as if she couldn't hear Shan's words, and when he entered, she had acted as if she didn't notice that fact.
She hadn't done it on purpose.
Tika really couldn't hear the sounds they made well.
This was because too many things were being heard in her ears.
Tika had cried and told him several times that it was noisy, and she was frightened because she didn't know where these sounds were coming from.
"I might be able to stop that."
[You speak arrogantly, believer. That thing is already a human close to an avatar. Since it has touched Idra's demonic hand, it will be irreversible.]
"So in the end, this is all because of Idra?"
[What did you expect after directly consuming Idra? Did you think disgusting Idra was some kind of health tonic?]
He had expected as much.
Even Aphoom-Zhah hadn't shared his own essence but used the blood of him, who had made a contract with him,
So if she had directly eaten Idra's body, it would indeed be difficult to live normally.
A sigh escaped him naturally.
"I'll have to find a way to protect Tika's mind before she goes completely insane."
[How? Believer, do you think there would be someone who has awakened to truth on this planet at this point? The truth of the universe is like drawing back a veil.]
"A veil?"
[You don't know when it's drawn, but once you see what's revealed through it, you can never forget it. Whether it's harmful or harmless, evil or sacred, ugly or attractive. A human who has seen it can never return to how they were before.]
"I know that. I understand it sufficiently."
[My fearless believer, then what exactly are you scheming? Before truth, everything is just crumbling dust. With what will you keep a human who has glimpsed truth at the level of an ordinary person?]
Madness was humanity's last refuge to remain human.
But Tika hadn't gone mad yet,
And he had Aphoom-Zhah.
Then there was only one thing for him to do.
"Aphoom-Zhah. This might sound crazy."
[What?]
"Remember when we defeated Shub-Niggurath's manifestation and avatar last time? But Idra has no main body. ...So wouldn't it be quite doable?"
Aphoom-Zhah looked at him.
He, who was identical to Leandros, looked at him and smiled broadly.
[This being's believer isn't quite sane either. I've known that for a long time...]
That was obvious.
There was no one who could stay normal in this kind of worldview.
If he had to pick the most insane person on this planet right now, it would naturally be him.
Him.