Ph'nglui mgl'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh gah'nagl fhtagn！

The red pupils opened, the muscles began to spasm unconsciously, and Joshua O'Neill woke up from his nightmare.

Gasping for air.

What did you just see-

The young Glory Man pressed down on the left atrium that almost jumped out of his chest, and looked around in disbelief.

That's a dream...... It's a dream, right?

After making sure that he was safe, the silver-haired and red-eyed young man breathed a sigh of relief: it was not that he was confusing the line between reality and illusion, but that the dream was too real and palpitating.

As if in the depths of the ocean, the whole world was surrounded by endless and substantial darkness, but strangely his vision was not hindered by the lightless environment, and he could see as much as day—and so, he saw...... I looked at some kind of distorted, heterogeneous form.

It was a tentacle, and it was only a tentacle.

A tentacle extending from the concept of infinity, or rather, something indescribable, appeared to him in the form of a tentacle.

You can't think just by seeing, and madness just by seeing it.

Although it is not certain, it is certain that this should never be something that should exist in an ordered world.

So—run!

Yet the body seemed to be dominated by some malicious will, and in its hysterical trembling and madness, it did not listen to it at all, but only repeated some murmurs that were neither logical nor meaningless, and did not sound like a human voice.

See, learn, see, see......

It was as if the sound of snakes crawling on the ground came from the ground, and with it there was a suffocating coldness approaching the Glory, and just by hearing the sound, just perceiving its proximity, Joshua O'Neiens's spirit began to be confused, and his consciousness began to blur, and in the fog, he seemed to hear a voice, a voice that seemed to be awake, a voice that seemed to be like a dream.

Like thunder, he or she or it or he said:

“Ph'nglui mgl'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh gah'nagl fhtagn！”

It is a speech that human beings cannot understand, and it is a blasphemy that human beings cannot accept, just hearing it, the brain is as if it is crazy, and there is nothing left of human reason, sensibility and intellect at this moment.

And then—

Under the scorching blood of order, he opened his eyes.

Then, the dream woke up.

But...... Was that really a dream?

"It's so unreal. The young Glory Man looked at his haggard self in the mirror, and subconsciously sighed, but after the words fell, he couldn't help but be stunned, and only after about three breaths did he readjust his mentality, looking at the bloodshot red pupils that appeared in the mirror, "It seems that it is not a simple nightmare." ”

That's right, it won't be a simple nightmare.

Just now—just now, albeit only for a moment, he did blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy, creating the illusion that the real world was not the real world.

It's kind of incredible.

Can a mere dream really do this? And what does the last sound that is not like a human being, like a mantra, mean it...... Really, really, really caring.

Is it some kind of psychic attack, or something else?

Shaking his head, Joshua O'Neill didn't dwell too much on this matter, maybe this matter deserves to be specially written and submitted to the giants of the council in the form of a document for review, but it is more intuitive than the uncertain possibility, or the threat posed by the Chaos Sect.

The fierce battle has been more than a week, although limited by the urban terrain and the tactics of the enemy blooming on all sides, the way of fighting is mostly squad-fighting, and the large-scale annihilation war has not broken out, but even so, the glorious man who grew up in the era of peace also feels the cruelty of war - at the beginning, he was in an elite team of five people, led by a middle-aged uncle in his early forties, who is said to have participated in the encirclement and suppression of the dark wizard Alfred decades ago, and is a real combat person.

Surprisingly, however, he died in the third battle the team encountered.

There was no rhetoric, no fierce fighting, just a moment, no different from the usual, and then he died, clutching the blood flying from his throat, looking at the passing enemy in front of him in disbelief, and finally ...... Without even a decent resistance, he fell to the ground and never got back up.

And the last words left behind are only-

"Run, don't look back. ”

Joshua O'Neill did so, so he was lucky to survive, and his two companions were so enthusiastic that they did not heed the captain's advice, and then, only a moment later, the sound of blood rushing was heard again.

This time it's two.

They died, almost at the same time.

This isn't the first time the Glory has experienced combat, and among his peers, he's definitely experienced, but ...... Only then did he know how fragile life was, so humble.

In the end, he was the only one who returned to the agreed meeting point alive.

It has nothing to do with strength or weakness, he is just luckier than others, that's all.

It wasn't that he didn't think about joining another team after that, but during the battle, he gradually discovered that he was better suited to serve as a sharp knife than to work as a team, and to plunge directly into the enemy's henchmen.

So, he became a lone ranger, and to this day.

Turning over, Joshua O'Neill got up from the stiff wooden bed, gently shook off the dust from his tattered trench coat, then got up, picked up the candle in his hand, and walked outside.

"It's been a long night's sleep. ”

Glancing over the darkness outside the window, he thought, and pushed the door open.

With the fire stone in his hand completely dimmed, the darkness outside the door invaded the entire house like a living thing, and the glorious man at the door was slightly stunned, and then his brows were deeply raised.

Is it a coincidence?

No, something is wrong.

The night shouldn't feel like this.

The uneasiness grew in his heart, and after a moment of hesitation, Joshua finally stepped into the darkness, for the darkness had consumed him the moment he opened the door.

"Puff-puff-"

In the vague and vague darkness, all the Glory One could hear was the sound of his own breathing and the pulse of his heart, and the whole world seemed to have been swallowed into the stomach by some monster, and he could feel nothing but something formless and insubstantial wriggling.

"Sure enough......"

After walking in the dark for a few minutes, he couldn't help but whisper to himself, "Something terrible has happened. ”

Subconsciously, he linked the culprit of the mutation with the indescribable thing he saw in his dream in the depths of darkness - only a monster of this level could invade his spiritual world and drag the upper area protected by fire into the darkness.

Maybe it's the Chaos Sect's secret weapon.

Fist clenched, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to return.

Although this level of affairs is not something that he, a hairy boy who has just come of age, can participate in, the darkness that is so thick that it cannot be dissolved seriously hinders the collection and acquisition of intelligence, and if it continues, it will only be like a headless fly scurrying around, and the result will be half the effort.

Therefore, it is necessary to go back.

Whether it's understanding the cause and effect of the event, or discussing what to do next, this trip is indispensable.

However, he had only just turned back halfway to his feet, and his pace couldn't help but stop.

"Bell—"

The sudden sound of a bell shatters the dark silence.

There is no doubt that the bell comes from the Municipal Building, from the ...... The Great Bell Tower.

Counting the time when the life and death of the city lord Duke Goldsworthy were unknown, it was the second time in this period of time, if I guessed correctly, this time it must be aimed at the ominous and treacherous darkness in front of me - without solving this problem, there is no way to talk about annihilating the Chaos Sect.

But contrary to his expectations, after a brief pause, the bell rang again.

"Bell—"

This is the second tone.

Then, without waiting for him to look surprised, the third bell rang again.

This is......

The emergency that can make the municipal building ring the bell of the Great Bell Tower has not been encountered even once in decades, and the gravity and urgency of the vast majority of these situations can be encapsulated by a single bell.

Even three bells have been ringed since the beginning of Hemtika's history, only once in the last few hundred years—the fall of the Misty, the bones of thousands of the Glory, the displacement of tens of thousands, so that the whole of Hemtika has since grown old like an old man dying in the woods—and at that time, only three times.

The dire nature of the situation is evident.

However, it seems that he is still too optimistic about the situation.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth bells rang with a little haste throughout Khmtika.

Joshua's movements froze completely, and even the red pupils lost their lustre.

What's the joke......

It is said that a thousand years ago, when darkness fell, the royal capital Prometheus was dragged into darkness by the beast of six-six-six, and the bell tower of Hemtika City only rang seven times.

And now there are six voices...... No, it's seven, eight, nine.

Hitomi couldn't help but disperse, and the young glorious man couldn't help but lose his words.

Nine Rings - Thousands of years ago, when Leviathan, the Lord of the Seven Seas, who was galloping in the Sea of Chaos, nearly dragged Hemtika into the sea, it only rang nine times.

But now, it seems, is far from over.

Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth—

Joshua was just silent, and his brain had lost the ability to think.

Until...... The thirteenth bell rang.

Once again, the world was quiet, and the bell never rang again.

It's just that it wasn't until this moment that the Glorious One pursed his lips in hindsight, allowing his lips to be bitten, and red blood trickling down the corners of his mouth.

Slightly salty.

Thirteen Ah......

His pupils were slightly in focus, and Joshua O'Neill let out a long sigh with a complicated expression.

There is no other reason, just because the number thirteen symbolizes the end, and the thirteen bells themselves also have a special meaning, that is-

Hemtika, coming to an end!