“The royal capital is past our western gate.”
“According to the note found at the fanatics’ base, their goal is to set up an outer one as their ruler. If those conditions include overrunning the royal capital, you’ll be lucky if any part of this town still stands when they’re finished with it,” I tell her.
The summoning takes place in the east, while the route to the royal capital is in the west. That puts the town directly in the path of Shub-Niggurath’s destruction.
Unless we all attack her at once with enough magic spells to take out her HP, she can probably wipe us out with a single attack.
However, Shub-Niggurath is said to be fairly reasonable. Assuming the fanatics don’t interfere somehow, she shouldn’t pose a threat to us. The source material describes her as almost benevolent toward humans, so it’s very possible that she’s a friendly being in this game. Of course, that hopeful outlook assumes Management designed her based on that source material.
“Now what about the best possible outcome?” Mr. Alf asks.
“We speak with the outer one and convince her to join our side. However, I doubt my race will have any effect on that outcome,” I speculate.
The only time I was offered grace in this event was when it came to moving the Time-Clock, and that item was nothing more than a little joke. I doubt I can use my Book of the Elder Keys on Shub-Niggurath or the Our Ladies of Sorrow, or else I would be completely breaking the event. But it’s more fun this way, so I don’t particularly mind.
“That sounds right to me,” Mr. Alf replies.
“Now what’s most likely to happen?” the twins chime in.
“I think we can stop Scarlet Circle from activating. Our goal must be to rescue the missing townsfolk.”
“Will we really have to fight an outer one?” Mr. Skelly asks.
“I doubt we’d stand a chance, even with the thousands of outsiders we have here in town. I think the goal will be to play defense, unlike a normal battle. At least, I hope,” I tell him.
I’m sure we could take out at least one Dark Young, but considering it will probably begin wiping us out from the moment we attack it, I can’t imagine it will be much of a “fight,” per se. We had a similar problem with the goblin general from the first defensive war; the Dark Young is of course vastly more powerful, but the point is, our tanks won’t be able to carry out their usual roles.
“This is impossible!”
“You need really experienced scouts to infiltrate here. Otherwise, it’ll be a true nightmare if they catch you.”
“So it’s a stealth mission about who finds who first?”
“We’re learning how the Blessed attack this way. They’re really good at hiding too, so it’s gonna be a nightmare to get past ’em.”
“What if we fly in from the sky?”
“But it’s all over if they ever spot you up there.”
“Hmm, and there’s no way to hide either.”
The union leaders are exchanging information. It seems the area in the east will need to be penetrated with stealth.
“Ah!” I cry.
“‘Ah’?” the other four ask in unison.
“I think I’m going to try and get a look at the east.”
I almost forgot. I have the best reconnaissance skill of them all—my subspace travel.
The documents didn’t say anything about the Dark Young or the Blessed having access to subspace. That means I’ll probably be fine, but perhaps I’ll emerge from the sky just to be safe—as far away from the ground as I can get.
There’s the forest, the mountain—oh, found them!
Information has been shared with you.
Scouting of the east was successful.
At the foot of the eastern mountain, you’ve spotted a Dark Young, suspicious figures dressed in black robes, and six people resembling those who went missing in town. You’ve also noted what appears to be the stolen lumber.
Nothing resembling the Blessed of Shub-Niggurath seems to be lurking around, but they’re likely to be what’s obstructing your path in the forest.
For now, retreat back to town and prepare until the time of the summoning. If a battle breaks out, you imagine it will be a most hellish battle indeed.
I see the group of people in black robes, obviously the remainders of the fanatic group, as well as six children lying on the ground. The children look repulsed by the Dark Young, but their mouths are covered, so they can’t scream.
The Dark Young appears to be just under six meters tall, assuming the nearby men in robes are fully grown adults. That seems rather large, based on the information we previously received.
None of them are speaking with each other. I think I’ll return to the manor now. I doubt they’ll see me in the sky, but if they happen to look up, I’m totally exposed. There’s no point in lingering around here now.
The site of the ritual—the climax of the event—has been colored in on the map. Now we won’t get lost trying to find it.
“I’m back,” I greet my party.
“Good work out there. We saw the information you got,” Mr. Alf replies.
“Yes, however, Lady Margaret said that seven children were missing.”
“Correct. There are seven that I’ve heard of,” she replies.
“The fanatics had six children tied up, and we do intend to capture the culprits and rescue those children soon. However, one child appears to have gone to the spirit realm,” I explain.
“Or they joined the fanatics,” the twins suggest.
“That’s possible too,” Mr. Alf and Mr. Skelly reply together.
“Well, wherever they went, they won’t be returning to a normal life.”
We wouldn’t be able to identify the last child if they’d joined the fanatics and were wearing a black robe too. However, since there won’t be any way to undo those actions once the battle starts, this isn’t something we need to concern ourselves with.
“They really were children at the ritual site, just like we heard. If the goal is to draw blood, wouldn’t adult men make for better victims?” I ask.
“The fanatics probably wanted people who were easy to capture and who wouldn’t put up a big fight. I guess that would make adult women easy targets too, but it’s likely that all adults here keep their guards up because of this world they live in, so they’re rarely found alone,” suggests Mr. Alf.
“That’s correct. Women never leave their homes alone once the sun begins to set. Especially not at this time of year.”
It’s Lady Margaret who answers Mr. Alf.
It sounds like it’s common knowledge among residents that they must be on high alert. There are still normal threats like thieves in this world too, after all. As a noblewoman, Lady Margaret’s movements are probably even more restricted.
“The other fanatics could be out hunting in the forest,” Mr. Skelly suggests.
“That’s true,” I reply.
Since there’s still some time before the ritual, it’s possible that the fanatics I saw weren’t the only ones left of their group. They could be hunting people, who are easy to catch but contain less blood, or monsters, who are harder to catch but have much more blood. Humans are capable of teaming up and forming counterattacks, so I would assume that monsters are their targets.
“Do we wait for the ritual now?” the twins ask us.
“It does feel like we’ve completed everything we need to do,” I respond.
“I guess we can pass the time with crafting now,” says Mr. Alf.
“Yeah, there’s limited things we can do if we’re deciphering at the same time,” Mr. Skelly adds.
We can sit with the UI open or stand and watch the UI, but nothing more. We’re allowed to craft so long as we’re sitting, but a lack of crafting materials is an issue.
Now that I think of it, I never gave out my revival medicine to other players. I’ll have to wait until we all group up again.
For now, I’ll work on deciphering while I chat with the countess and my party members.
Information has been shared with you.
Progress has been made in analysis of the fanatics’ documents (Shub-Niggurath).
Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goddess of the Bountiful Harvest.
She is a giant, cloud-like being who foams and dissipates.
Parts of her may detach to form new appendages. With black, stringy tentacles and mouths leaking slime, she stands on short legs with the dark hooves of goats.
Shub-Niggurath is a large being, taking paths an average of ten to twenty meters wide. Anything less than half her own size will be mercilessly trampled by the goddess.
Her milk is believed to be of note, but the documents contain no further details.
Shub-Niggurath’s avatars are said to include “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” and “The Great God Pan,” but since there is no further information on them, it’s unlikely to relate to the situation at hand.
At the very least, we can confirm she knows all spells relating to outer ones.
Progress has been made in analysis of the fanatics’ documents (Shub-Niggurath).
We now know the spell Call/Banish Shub-Niggurath.
If worse comes to worst, use this spell to fight against her.
* Event will enter the banishing phase if Shub-Niggurath is successfully summoned.
You have learned the special spell Call/Banish Shub-Niggurath.
We managed to finish up with the documents before the final battle. Um, it seems we learned a spell too.
“Would we seriously have had to fight Shub-Niggurath head-on if we didn’t finish this?” asks Mr. Skelly.
“The spell is the safest method of handling her, indeed. We were probably meant to put up whatever fight we could if we didn’t find this,” I ponder.
“Sounds like it’s best not to get to the banishing phase at all,” says Mr. Alf.
We want to earn an S clear, after all. That probably involves saving all six townsfolk or capturing the remaining fanatics. The townsfolk would be sacrificed one by one if the ritual begins.
But that’s all speculation. I wonder how it will actually play out?
“It looks like it’s time. Shall we head out?” I ask the others.