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Chapter 189: The Great One of the Deep

The underwater monsters that had been infesting the One Thousand Streams for three centuries were actually minions of the Great One of the Deep?

That’s… unsettling, to say the least.

First of all, the Great One was a dark god who had swept through civilizations one after another like a merciless tide that swallowed everything in its path, moving on from one conquered world to the next tempting target that caught his eye. Hence, the knowledge that his minions were active here was, without a doubt, a deeply troubling development.

Fortunately, he was now occupied elsewhere, entangled in a war in the Ethereal Sea against the army of the Lord of Light. So his capacity to project his influence into this world was probably limited. It was a relief, of sorts. Not much, but still better than none.

Now that Viktor thought about it, could this be why the Lord of Light had taken an interest in him and his dungeon? Maybe it was an attempt to secure allies, or at the very least, to rally enemies of enemies ahead of what was to come.

The second concern was that the Great One’s monsters were now fighting under the banner of the Children of the Abyss. Why? Were they merely summoned using the dungeon’s power, the same way he had brought in the Acolytes? Or was there some alliance between the Abyss and the Great One? He had already suspected Nakhran was somehow connected to the Abyss, and adding another deity to the equation definitely did not improve his mood at all.

And lastly, there was the matter of the Acolytes of the Deep themselves, who had made their home within his dungeon. They were fervent and devout worshippers of the Great One, so the questions he once asked a long time ago now resurfaced: Were they spies? Had their god placed them here deliberately? And if the Great One eventually became an outright enemy, where would their loyalties lie?

Nevertheless, the Acolytes were confined to the third floor, which limited the scope of the damage they might cause if they did turn traitor. The dungeon had grown considerably compared to its earlier, more vulnerable days. Khenemhotep and Galatea were now occupying the two adjacent floors with substantial forces at their disposal, so they could rush to help Sebekton in an instant should the need arise.

There was, however, one Acolyte who warranted more careful consideration—Orloth, whom he was using as his chief interrogator. Then again, while the man was competent and insightful, he was far from irreplaceable. Not to mention, these days Viktor could communicate directly with his agents outside, without requiring them to enter the dungeon and deliver their reports through Orloth. So losing the guy, if it came to that, would be merely inconvenient rather than disastrous.

Which meant there was little reason, for the time being, to treat the Acolytes differently. He would continue dealing with them as usual, while keeping a close eye on them, ready to act at a moment’s notice.

Now, come back to the Great One himself, Viktor thought. Whether he’s going to be an enemy or not, gathering more information about him was important.

“Tell me everything you know about the Great One of the Deep.”

Galatea grimaced. “A false god. An evil being. A destroyer of worlds. But I suppose you already know that much.”

“Yes.” Viktor nodded. “Why did your god start a war against him anyway?”

“Is there any reason needed to strike down a false god?”

“Fair enough. But I doubt he is the only ‘false’ god in existence, so why him specifically? Why not, say, Nakhran for example?”

Viktor did know the answer to that question, though. Because Nakhran was much more powerful than the Lord of Light. It was plain stupid to pick a fight with someone like that.

“I’m not aware of the deeper reasons, and I don’t need to be. Such decisions are for minds greater than mine to make. Everything unfolds according to the design of the Higher Will. I am my Lord’s hammer; my only duty is to strike the enemy He points at.”

Of course. She did things because her god told her so. A hammer never paused to consider whether the nail deserved the blow; it just came down. He shouldn’t have asked.

“But…” Galatea added.

“But what?”

“But if I were to guess, it is because the opportunity to do so was available. Usually, gods do not fight each other in the physical world, especially when mortals are around, because They wish to avoid collateral damage. They are also reluctant to enter someone else’s domain, since doing so would grant an overwhelming advantage to the defender. And finally, a conflict between gods can only happen if one is able to locate the other in the first place.”

“So, your god acted because he found the Great One of the Deep at a place that was not the physical world, and neutral enough that his opponent did not have the upper hand?”

“Yes, that’s what I believe.”

Fair enough. And interesting information, indeed. Still, he was not sure how much of it translated into anything he could actually use, anything that would help him in a practical sense if he ever had to face the Great One one day. He wanted something more concrete, something that he could hold like a weapon and reach for when the moment came.

“The Prophet whom you fought, the one who summoned the monsters,” Viktor said. “Tell me more about him. How did the fight actually go?”

Yes, if those monsters were summoned by a Prophet, then it meant there might very well be one active in this world right now. So, instead of worrying about how to deal with a god, devising a plan to defeat a Prophet would be much more pragmatic.

“He didn’t engage us directly in close combat. Instead, he used his minions. They were originally normal water creatures, but he had enslaved them, corrupted them, and mutated their bodies into shapes that served his purposes. He sent them against us in wave after wave, while he himself stayed back, attacking us from afar with his spells. And he had many powerful abilities. Beyond the powers that all Prophets possess like mind blast, mind control, emotion manipulation, tentacle summoning, he could also teleport and slow time, making it very difficult for us to close the distance and reach him. He could even block all magic that was not his own within a defined area, which left us vulnerable. One by one, everyone in our battle group fell. Everyone but me…”

Galatea’s voice trailed off at that, and the luminous features on her face shadowed with sorrow as she recalled the painful memory.

That doesn’t sound good, Viktor thought. The guy really had a lot of nasty powers. Especially the last one. If it blocked only normal magic, then that was fine. But if it could suppress even Thaumaturgy, then it would pose a serious problem.

“He must be the worst opponent you’ve ever faced, right?”

“Actually… no.”

Galatea’s expression shifted. Gone was the sorrow; now he saw disgust, and something else—fear. For a long moment she said nothing more, and he wasn’t sure whether to press her or let her speak at her own pace.

“There was… another Prophet. This one I met before the battle in the Ethereal Sea.” She turned to look at him. “Let me give you a little context first. There was a world that the Dark One had failed to conquer. I don’t know the reason, only that he eventually withdrew his grip from it. I was sent there to deal with any stragglers he might have left behind. While I was searching, I found a temple beneath the waves, devoted entirely to him. I entered it, and that’s where I found that Prophet.”

“He was even more powerful than the other one?” Viktor asked with a raised eyebrow.

“By his own abilities alone? No. Yet, he had… something else.” Galatea paused. “It was a hard battle, but I managed to get the upper hand. Then, when I was about to finish him off, he… he uttered those cursed words…”

“What words?”

Her face twisted as though she had just swallowed something rotten.

“The true name of the Dark One.”

What?

The true name of a god. That was something Haku had warned him about: “One cannot simply invoke the true name of a god.” Because doing so would invite terrible consequences entirely beyond the control of whoever had been foolish enough to attempt it.

“What happened next?”

“Upon hearing those words, I felt as though my mind was tearing itself apart. Images flooded into my head, an endless torrent of them. Shapes and concepts and visions that were completely incomprehensible. Even now, I am genuinely uncertain how I survived it. But eventually I came back to myself.”

Viktor didn’t say anything. He simply gazed at his luminous Guardian, waiting for her to continue.

“After I left the temple, I was told that I had been inside it for an entire week. To me, it was only an hour of exploring and maybe ten minutes of fighting. But, as it turned out, I had been standing still, on the same spot, for several days.”

“What happened to your opponent?”

“Dead,” Galatea replied. “Pieces of him were splattered across the walls of the room. My guess is that was the punishment for carelessly saying his god’s name.”

Ah, yes. One could not simply invoke the true name of a god, indeed.

“What happened to you afterward?”

“I reported everything to my superiors, and they helped me with the treatment. In the end, I recovered enough to function as I had before, to carry out my duties and conduct myself as expected. Still, the memory continued to haunt me. I asked, once, whether there was any way to have it erased, and I was told it was impossible. Once someone has learned the true name of a god, it’s etched into their mind permanently. It simply cannot be undone.”

But… if that was the case, if she had been carrying the true name of the Great One of the Deep with her always, didn’t that mean she had a connection with him? She had been marked, in a way, whether she liked it or not. It was hard to say what that actually meant in practice, but it was something that could turn into a liability in the future.

“You’re thinking I might become a threat, aren’t you, Master?” Galatea asked, a faint, sad smile on her lips. “That’s understandable. Even my own people, after that day, became more guarded when they were around me. I could tell there was a distance that hadn’t been there before. Everyone was cautious in what they chose to say and how much they were willing to share with me.”

Viktor shrugged. “It would be a lie if I told you I didn’t find it concerning. I can only tell you that it doesn’t change how I think of you. You’re still the most annoying woman I’ve ever met, and some dark god lurking in the back of your head is not going to change that assessment.”

Galatea chuckled. “Thank you, Master.”