Chapter 161: Dragon King Festival (2)

The palanquin made from cursed gold pushed through the fog.

"Shiii-!"

"Shiii-!"

"The Dragon King's envoy is coming!"

It was indeed a bizarre procession.

The booming sound of drums. The strange grating breaths that sounded like "grrrrk, grrk." The atmosphere was as noisy as if a festival were happening, yet not a single "person" living in the village dared to look out.

"Hiik, hiiiiik!"

Occasionally, the groans of someone succumbing to madness from within their house could be heard.

The houses where "people" lived had their gates sealed with mud and golden strings. Those who had confined themselves inside held their breaths. They were praying that the dreadful procession would pass by.

"Shiii-!"

"Shiii-!"

"The Dragon King's envoy is coming! Those who wish to meet the Dragon King by way of the sea well, follow us!"

The horrifying procession of those who had abandoned their humanity for an immortal life passed through.

The procession soon left the village and reached the mountain path where Kim Shin-hwa had wandered. The fog was thick with sticky humidity and poisonous vapor.

It was a place where any human would feel pain after merely a brief walk, but no one in the procession felt any discomfort.

On the contrary, the grating sound grew louder as the humidity increased.

The True Person of the Tortoise inhaled the moist and fishy air, made the grating sound for a moment, and then spoke.

"Grrrk... Last year, there were at least some who resisted, but this year is unbearably dull."

The True Person of the Tortoise spoke to the village chief walking beside the palanquin.

"So, when is Yong-soo coming?"

"He sent word. He'll arrive before the ritual ends."

"Hmph, what a foolish half-wit."

Yong-soo was the liaison connecting Insu Village to the outside world.

He was a hybrid of deep-sea humans, the True Person of the Tortoise's disciple, and a cultist worshipping Dagon.

He had been tasked with transporting the goods from Insu Village to Incheon and "buying" sacrifices, but instead of Yong-soo, a strange outsider had appeared.

"Bixi is—"

A sudden, unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

What? The True Person of the Tortoise turned to look in the direction of the voice.

Kim Shin-hwa who was lying sideways in a corner of the golden palanquin was muttering to himself.

"One of the nine sons of the dragon. Resembles a turtle and likes to bear heavy burdens."

"Grrrk-"

The True Person of the Tortoise scratched the scales under his chin with his claw-like nails as he examined Kim Shin-hwa.

"There was a legend that a dragon with evil power resided in Gyeonggi Province or Chungcheong Province. The dragon began to dig a tunnel under the mountain to bring calamity to the world—"

"Grrrk, what are you talking about?"

"—and when that tunnel finally reached the distant West Sea, a great flood would occur."

"Grrrrk, grrrrrk..."

The True Person of the Tortoise convulsed in a bizarre manner. While his movements were enough to instill fear in others, he was merely bursting into laughter.

It seemed like he was speaking meaningfully, but it was just the ravings of a madman.

"You walked in proudly and played your tricks, but in the end, you've fallen to this state."

Kim Shin-hwa continued to mutter with a blank expression.

It happened occasionally. There had been other outsiders who came in the name of curiosity but ended up either going mad or fainting after they were unable to endure the hideous appearance of the True Person of the Tortoise and the eerie atmosphere of the Dragon King Festival.

As soon as Kim Shin-hwa encountered the True Person of the Tortoise in the yard, he had a seizure and collapsed.

"Yes, you land beasts were born with weak minds from the start."

The True Person of the Tortoise grabbed Kim Shin-hwa's wrist with his large, scaled hand. On his thin wrist were nail marks.

Yes, yes.

There had been others who pretended to be fearless and strong, but their end was always the same. They could not resist the madness that burrowed into their minds.

"It would be much more joyful to become one with the sacred sea well than to continue a miserable life."

As if responding to those words, Kim Shin-hwa muttered again.

"...the villagers discovered a well with brackish water, believing it to be a well that reached the Dragon King of the West Sea. They offered sacrifices, calling it the Dragon Well or Sea Well."

"Grrrrk."

It felt strangely unpleasant. Kim Shin-hwa's voice was growing clearer.

The procession finally reached a large wooden house prepared on the mountain. Sensing something, Kim Shin-hwa shuddered briefly.

It was the sacrificial temple.

"Grrrrrk. Can you feel the great power of the sea? Look, human."

The True Person of the Tortoise grabbed Kim Shin-hwa's head and turned it with his large hand.

"Do you see that prison? Seven of your kind, whom you offered to us, are locked in there. Grrrk, grrrk."

Kim Shin-hwa did not react. But the True Person of the Tortoise continued to speak with sadism.

"Grrrk, I don't know what plans you made or what you prepared, but it's over now. Grrrk. You infiltrated us by selling out your kind, but you failed and ended up like this. Now, you and your kind will be thrown into the sea well. Do you understand?"

Kim Shin-hwa spoke.

"By counting the stars, seven sacrifices were offered, and by offering one more, it became eight. This is a number that pleases the Dragon King."

"Grrrk, enough; shut your mouth now, human."

He was a lunatic anyway. It was getting boring now. If it weren't for the situation requiring his limbs to be intact when offered...

The True Person of the Tortoise smacked his lips, released Kim Shin-hwa's head, and stood up.

If he had been a bit more cautious, he might have noticed something strange about Kim Shin-hwa.

Underneath the mask mimicking the face of a deep-sea person, Kim Shin-hwa's pupils were moving slightly, as if reading something.

The True Person of the Tortoise shouted toward the ritual hall.

"Grrrk! Descendants of the sea! Open the doors of the ritual hall! Let's complete the ritual for the Dragon King!"

With a heavy grating noise, the huge doors of the ritual hall opened.

A grrrk sound and then a splashing noise echoed from beyond the doors.

The beings emerging from the ritual hall were complete deep-sea people like the True Person of the Tortoise.

They looked like fish, frogs, turtles, sharks, crocodiles, and whales.

Monsters with pale scales and large round eyes lined up as they walked out.

There were already more than thirty of them.

Including the hybrids who would one day grow into deep-sea people, nearly a hundred sea monsters had gathered.

The True Person of the Tortoise thought of words that would please them.

"After today's ritual, we no longer need the humans from the village! You have followed well so far! Tonight, let's have a feast with the meat of the land beasts!"

"Waaaah!"

"Aaaah!"

"Grrrk, grrrk!"

"Grrk, grrk, grrrk!"

The True Person of the Tortoise spread his arms wide as if to savor the cheers of the deep-sea people with his whole body. Yes, yes. Rejoice more, shout louder.

"Pulao! Come out and bring the sacrifices!"

Thud, thud!

Heavy footsteps echoed.

The side door of the ritual hall opened, and a deep-sea person called Pulao emerged.

"Guoooo!"

He let out a bizarre roar.

This deep-sea person had a distinctly different appearance from the others. He was about twice the size of the other deep-sea people, with thick black scales, a protruding large forehead, and a wide-open gigantic mouth. He somewhat resembled a whale.

But Pulao's strange appearance was not important.

What mattered were the seven humans being dragged out, tied to a rope held in Pulao's hand.

The cheers of the deep-sea people reached a fever pitch.

The village chief who had been cheering by the palanquin suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

Why do those humans look so calm?

Hysteria, screams, incontinence, fainting. Those were the usual reactions. During previous Dragon King rituals, capturing humans who went into fits of frenzy had become a form of entertainment for the deep-sea people.

But these humans were only cowering and trembling, without even the usual screams.

The village chief was the only one who felt that something was off.

The others were responding to the True Person of the Tortoise's speech and agitation. They were trembling with religious ecstasy.

Pulao who was dragging out the live sacrifices suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

What... is... that sound...

Pulao was not a hybrid born between humans and deep-sea people.

He was a monster born between a whale and a deep-sea person. Because of this, his intelligence was lower than others. However, along with his distinctly different appearance, he had a few special abilities.

One of them was his hearing.

Pulao had hearing so sensitively that it was close to a supersense.

Creak, crackle. Creak.

Pulao turned his head to look at the humans following him. There was a strange sound coming from their bodies. It was a strange sound, like the friction of glass, metal, stone, and wood.

To be precise, it was a sound coming from within the humans' bodies.

The priest who had been savoring the cheers of the deep-sea people suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

What is that?

Thick fog lay all around the place and it made visibility extremely narrow.

He saw a strange shadow-like thing on the roof above the altar.

What is that? A bird? A bat?

No, if it were such a trivial creature, he wouldn't have paid any attention. From this land animal that looked like a bird or bat...

He felt the magical power of the deep sea?

The flag bearer who was holding a flag embroidered with Dagon's emblem suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

Why is that human moving like that?

One of the sacrifices being dragged by Pulao began to shake his head violently from side to side. Despite being a descendant of the sea, he was originally human. He could recognize that this movement was not human-like.

The human sacrifice who was shaking his head from side to side opened his mouth towards Pulao and made an "Ah- Aaaa-" sound.

Ah, that's right. It's a common thing to happen in the ritual. A human would become terrified and go berserk before screaming. It's one of the key entertainments of the Dragon King Festival.

And then, another deep-sea hybrid suddenly felt a strange sense of discomfort.

His mouth is opening too wide?

What is that? What's happening?

The mouth of the human following right behind Pulao opened to an unusual extent. His mouth opened so wide that... his mouth, no, the skin of his face tore to reveal a bizarre metallic structure.

A huge frame? A torture device? A trap for hunting bears? Nails, saw blades, thorns, knives, and shards of glass were horrifically embedded in the metallic structure of the jaw.

Crack!

Splatter!

An enormous amount of blood spurted out. The human who was supposed to be a living sacrifice bit into Pulao's nape.

"Grrr!? What, what is that!?"

A scream from a deep-sea person echoed.

"Gwoooaaah!!"

This was Pulao's scream.

With a crunch and a rip, the powerful bite tore off scales and flesh in one go, but the nape was too thick to reach the bone.

"Gwoooaaah!!"

Pulao shouted and tried to shake off the human biting his nape. Was this even a human? It was a monster with a huge metallic structure attached to its body.

Triggered by the commotion, the living sacrifices tied to the rope started moving in bizarre ways all at once.

Crack, snap—

Their joints moved in ways that neither humans nor deep-sea people could imitate. Some even twisted their necks around or bent their spines backward.

The movements were excessively alien and grotesque.

Finally, one of the deep-sea people screamed.

"Grrr! Monsters! They're monsters!"

Crack, rip—

The skin of the living sacrifices tore apart to reveal saw blades, thorns, and other hideous junk protruding from their bodies.

Then they charged at the deep-sea people. These were terrifyingly shaped monsters. Even a slight brush against them could mean death!

Screams and shouts erupted from the deep-sea people on all sides.

"Grrr! Wh-What are those monsters!?"

"How can a human? Grrr, how can they transform into such monsters!?"

"Grrr, grrr! They were pretending to be human all along!"

The deep-sea people, who were experiencing religious visions and extreme elation, couldn't comprehend the sudden change in circumstances and fell into uncontrollable chaos.

Chaos. In the thick fog, nearly a hundred deep-sea people screamed and ran in all directions.

"You half-wits! Get a grip! What are you doing?!"

The True Person of the Tortoise tried to control the panicked deep-sea people by shouting, but it was all in vain.

"Stop! This is the last sacrifice! Stop! What is happening! Why is this happening!?"

Then, a human voice was heard from behind him.

"Hey, someone's shocked that humans turned into monsters. Is that really something you 'guys' should be saying?"

A mocking voice. It was Kim Shin Hwa.