Chapter 158: Dagon is a God
After killing the cultist priest, the remaining cultists seemed to lose their minds, their eyes filled with utter confusion. Their previous fearlessness vanished in an instant.
However, the group showed no mercy, striking them all down. They delivered a final blow to every fallen cultist until they confirmed there were no survivors.
Lynn then walked to the image that the cultists had been kneeling before. He noticed that the evil god Dagon in the painting appeared unsettlingly lifelike, as if it were more than just a mere picture. The longer he stared at the painting, the more he sensed a dark aura emanating from it. It felt as though slippery, wet tentacles were licking his mind.
As Lynn tried to avert his gaze from the painting, the surroundings suddenly changed. He found himself in the murky depths of a dark ocean. A blurry, shadowy figure stood before him, indistinct yet recognizable by its outline as the subject of the painting—the evil god Dagon.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
An obscure whisper echoed directly in his mind.
Lynn frowned, enduring the discomfort in his head as he clasped his hands and formed a sign. A soft white light enveloped him, instantly dispelling the murmuring from his mind. This was the Heliotrope Sign, the sixth of the witcher's five basic Signs. Its purpose is to deflect magical attacks, being most effective against mental assaults. With the Mastercrafted Heliotrope Sign protecting Lynn's mind, the surrounding dark illusions could no longer affect him.
Before long, all the illusions vanished. Lynn blinked, finding himself still inside the cave, though a persistent chill lingered in his body. He frowned and brought up his attribute panel. Among the golden text that appeared, he saw an entry he had never encountered before:
Status:
Deep Sea Mark (You have been marked by the evil god Dagon. If you approach the evil god Dagon's territory, you will immediately face His endless wrath.)
"Lynn, what's wrong?"
Noticing Lynn's unusual behavior, the others approached him with concern.
"You..."
Though there were no visible signs, Geralt looked at Lynn and felt an indescribable, unsettling chill emanating from him that hadn't been there before. Regis didn't speak, but his eyes and face showed worry. Only Maximus, who didn't understand magic, couldn't detect anything amiss.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. The smell in here is terrible. Let's get out of here quickly."
In truth, Lynn himself wasn't too worried. The entity slumbering in the murky waters, worshipped by the underwater dwellers, was merely a shadow of the true evil god Dagon's original form. The actual Dagon was worlds away from this realm. Even this incarnation had only arrived in this world through a fortunate coincidence, a Conjunction of the Spheres. This was why, in the future, that evil god Dagon would be hunted like a boss by witchers.
Besides, the evil god Dagon was a god, and so was the Lady of the Lake. Lynn could simply ask the Lady of the Lake to remove this disgusting mark when he submitted his quest. And even if she couldn't, he could just avoid oceans and lakes from now on. Dagon was an evil god associated with water; could it really bother him on land?
The group exited the swamp and walked back along the path they came from. Behind them, the dilapidated village burned fiercely. Before leaving, they hadn't forgotten to set a few fires to cleanse the evil from the place.
On the way back to Lake Serawe, Maximus repeatedly glanced stealthily at Regis. At first, the higher vampire pretended to admire the roadside flora, ignoring the ranger knight's gaze. Only when Maximus's stare became too prolonged, bordering on offensive, did Regis symbolically and slowly turn his eyes, giving the other man time to quickly look away.
When they set up camp for the night, Maximus volunteered to find firewood, calling on Lynn to join him. The two easily found enough firewood near the campsite. Just as Lynn was about to return, Maximus finally couldn't hold back.
"Wait, Master Lynn, don't rush back to camp. There's something I'd like to discuss with you privately."
As Lynn feigned confusion, though he already knew, Maximus stammered, "It's about... er, you know... about Lord Regis..."
Lynn spread his hands. "Lord Regis? May he live long."
Maximus swallowed hard, finally biting the bullet and saying, "No, I mean... about that aspect of him... Speaking of which, Master, aren't you a witcher? Haven't you spent your life hunting and killing creatures like him?"
Lynn smiled. "Witchers only kill monsters that harm people."
Maximus paused, surprised. "You mean Lord Regis won't harm people? But..."
Lynn explained with a smile.
"You want to say 'monsters are still monsters, right?' But don't forget, Sir Maximus, without him, our difficulty in completing the Lady of the Lake's commission would be significantly higher. Objectively speaking, he has directly participated in saving the Duchess. Isn't that enough to put your concerns at ease? Since we met him in Brugge, has he had countless opportunities to eliminate us along the way? Did he do it?"
Maximus considered this carefully, his expression softening slightly. "Well, I have to admit, you do have a point."
Seeing that the ranger knight was open to reason, the witcher smiled again.
"Of course I have a point. Although I don't agree with those elves who burn, kill, and plunder in the name of freedom, I'm not a damned racist or human supremacist either. What's more, humans' methods of treating their own kind are not necessarily gentle."
Maximus licked his dry lips. "So, do you know what he actually is... I mean..."
Maximus felt uncomfortable directly asking "what kind of monster," but Lynn understood his meaning.
"He's a higher vampire, a very dangerous and powerful being, far above ordinary vampiric creatures."
"A vampire? My goodness." Maximus reflexively reached for his neck, checking for bite marks.
.....
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