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Ch. 152: The Brotherhood: The King in Yellow
🕑 Added 2024-10-22 23:59:11 +0000 UTCSince Hana's death, Kagami felt lost, unable to predict what would happen next. Her death devastated him, but he knew he couldn't change the past. All he could do now was grow stronger.
Choosing Hastur would mean opposing Cthulhu directly.
From the perspective of the power of Brothers and Also Enemies, the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign and the Esoteric Order of the cult were in an antagonistic relationship.
Even with Nephren-Ka's guidance, successfully summoning Cthulhu would be an immense challenge. Yet if Kojiro somehow managed it, a confrontation between Cthulhu and Hastur would be inevitable.
If these two Great Old Ones were to fight, Kagami wondered if the structure of this world could support a battle between two divine beings.
However, he was certain that the whole world would be immersed in this grand battle.
Moreover, the power of Brothers Are Also Enemies not only expressed the brotherly yet hostile relationship between Cthulhu and Hastur but also carried another layer of meaning regarding brotherhood.
In this world, both Cthulhu and Hastur required a medium or summoner to descend.
Putting that thought aside, he compared the King in Yellow to Cthugha.
After unlocking the King in Yellow's power, he realized it was far stronger than Cthugha's, even though both were representatives of the elemental faction. Their power levels were vastly different. Eager to test this newly acquired power, he summoned Hastur's incarnation without delay.
As a faint yellow light flickered in the room, a tall yellow figure appeared before Kagami. This figure was so tall that its head nearly brushed the ceiling, clad in a ragged, yellow robe mixed with impurities, and wearing a pale, skin-like mask.
Beneath the tattered yellow robe, an octopus tentacle occasionally peeked out, only to retreat back instantly. The appearance of such tentacles from beneath the mysterious robe, even if only briefly, was enough to startle anyone.
"Is this the King in Yellow?"
Even Kagami was shocked at the sight of the avatar before him—the towering figure of the King in Yellow.
Just being in front of the towering figure of the King in Yellow, he felt a strong sense of mystery emanating from him.
Especially the pale mask under the yellow hood, which made one feel an urge to reach out and remove the mask to see the face beneath.
A powerful sense of mystery emanated from the being, especially from the pale mask beneath its yellow hood. Something about that mask drew the eye, creating an almost irresistible urge to reach out and remove the mask to see the face beneath.
Drawn by this compulsion, his hand moved toward the mask. But just as he was about to touch the mask, he withdrew his hand. It wasn't that he feared angering the King in Yellow with his transgressive action, but he could probably guess what lay beneath that mask.
Under the mask was not a human face but ugly, writhing tentacles; the tattered robe itself was an extension of the King in Yellow's body. Nevertheless, despite the King in Yellow's highly recognizable appearance, there existed an entity that closely resembled him.
That was the High Priest Not to be Described.
He was one of Nyarlathotep's avatars. He wore a yellow silk robe and a yellow mask. Beneath the mask lay not tentacles but a rotting corpse's face, crawling with maggots.
The differences between the two were not too great; in front of many who had never truly seen the King in Yellow, the High Priest Not to be Described could easily pass for him, garnering admiration similar to that for the King in Yellow. It seemed that Nyarlathotep, the god of disguises, sometimes used the name of the King in Yellow to cause chaos in the world.
This incarnation of Hastur, the King in Yellow, was just one of his avatars; the other was known as the Feaster from Afar.
However, this incarnation only appeared when accepting sacrifices from followers, used to weigh who would have their brain matter extracted between the sacrificer and the sacrifice.
Under normal circumstances, the King in Yellow remained the primary avatar of Hastur.
Furthermore, just like the avatar of Atlach-Nacha, Hastur's avatar shared the same rank with Kagami, meaning the King in Yellow was also Rank 2.
"Can you talk?"
Facing the humanoid avatar, he subconsciously asked this question. But the moment he finished asking, he felt a bit foolish. The King in Yellow merely resembled a human, but beneath his mask were only tentacles; how could he possibly speak?
As expected, he did not receive a vocal response but rather some telepathic feedback.
No.
"Alright, as long as you can understand me."
Since the King in Yellow could understand his words, he could follow his commands. Next, it was time to find a place for this King in Yellow to showcase his abilities.
His powers were mainly aimed at followers, so to allow the King in Yellow to be effective, the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign had to first be developed. Thus, choosing a place that would allow the King in Yellow to gather followers was what Kagami needed to do.
Unlike the King in Yellow, Spidey's trait was to continuously weave spider webs in the real world, so it could not disappear in the real world or traverse space by itself.
However, the King in Yellow had no particular need for permanent activity in the real world; he usually remained in a vanished state. Unless summoned by Kagami or a follower, the King in Yellow would not wander the real world.
This also benefited Kagami, allowing the King in Yellow to remain in a vanished state most of the time without causing too much chaos while being free to go anywhere Kagami deemed suitable for developing followers.
Since the goal had been to utilize the King in Yellow's powers to develop the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, the more powerful the followers, the better, preferably ninjas.
Without a doubt, the strongest ninjas were from the Five Great Nations, and developing followers in these places would have been quite advantageous.
However, developing followers within the Five Great Nations would have easily attracted the attention of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, leading to the brotherhood facing suppression before it could grow.
Moreover, developing followers on a large scale within the Five Great Nations could have also drawn the attention of Kojiro. The followers of the King in Yellow would be hostile to the followers of Cthulhu, and vice versa.
He did not want the brotherhood to be suppressed before it even began to develop. Therefore, the obvious places of the Five Great Nations could not be chosen.
In this case, his focus could only be on smaller, more remote places. However, small nations relied on large nations; similarly, small ninja villages also relied on large shinobi villages.
If Kagami allowed the King in Yellow to develop in some remote areas, it would have easily attracted the attention of small ninja villages, which would then have drawn the attention of the larger shinobi villages, resulting in the same outcome.
After much consideration, he chose a particular place. This was also a ninja village, but the ninjas there had been abandoned.
Their ninja way had not been recognized, their value of existence had been diminishing, and their desire for slaughter had remained unfulfilled. Thus, some of the ninjas there had chosen to leave the ninja village and had created an organization called the Jashin cult outside.
These ninjas had been disconnected from the country and were far stronger than those wandering ninjas. If anyone were to develop the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, these ninjas would undoubtedly have been the most suitable candidates.
And these ninjas had been from Yu.
"You call yourselves an evil god cult, but there isn't a single true evil god within your ranks; how can that be acceptable?"
"Then let me grant you a true evil god."
With a thought, the King in Yellow in the tatami room had traversed the void and disappeared from the room.
---
For many years, a secret rumor had circulated in Yu: within the forest existed a religious organization known as the Jashin cult.
This cult had only risen a few years ago, with no particularly profound doctrines.
The only doctrine had been that one must kill those around them; not only would murder not lead to punishment, but it would also please Jashin.
However, this so-called evil god had seemed more like a meaningless title; no one, including those within the cult, had ever seen Jashin. The doctrine of pleasing him had felt more like an excuse to satisfy their inner desire for bloodshed, without generating feelings of guilt.
In other words, the so-called evil god had represented the murderous desires within people's hearts.
Inside a cave, a group of individuals dressed in black robes were huddled tightly together. At the center of their gathering was a stone platform, upon which lay a teenager bound with ropes. His hands and feet were secured in a large X shape at the edges of the stone, surrounded by a group of black-robed individuals.
However, despite the dire situation, the youth showed no signs of fear.
One of the black-robed figures stepped forward, gently placing a hand on the teenager's shoulder, saying, "Hidan, you must hold on. As long as you endure, you will be the only one to succeed."
"Yes, my loyalty to Jashin is beyond doubt. I can withstand this; I will meet Jashin successfully," the youth, who was Hidan, responded.
At this time, Hidan was fourteen years old, the youngest follower in the evil god cult, and the one most likely to succeed.
Seeing his resolute gaze, the black-robed figure announced, "Let's begin."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than several black-robed figures surrounding the stone platform revealed short, pitch-black spears from their sleeves. As they all simultaneously flicked their wrists, the short spears transformed into long, dark spears.
The black-robed figure who had reassured Hidan was the first to raise his spear high and thrust it toward Hidan's left hand, which was bound to the stone.
The sharp spear pierced through the back of his left hand and struck the stone platform with a crisp sound. But this sound was quickly drowned out by Hidan's scream.
"Ah!"
He struggled violently on the stone, but his hands and feet were bound, so he could only shake his head from side to side, trying to distract himself from the intense agony.
Blood slowly trickled from his palm, painting crimson on the stone, but this was only the beginning.
The black-robed figure withdrew the dark spear and stepped back, allowing more black-robed individuals to step forward. They raised their long, dark spears and thrust them toward Hidan's hands, feet, thighs, calves, belly, abdomen, and chest.
"Ah!"
This time, the pain had intensified, causing him to scream even more pitifully than before.
Yet, even this pain did not cause him to faint. Because if the subject had lost consciousness during the execution of this forbidden technique, it would truly have meant death. The subject had to remain conscious, fully experiencing the torment of being pierced all over.
After a second, the surrounding circle of black-robed figures withdrew, making way for the next group to lift their dark spears and stab at Hidan's body.
As his throat had grown hoarse to the point where he could no longer scream, the ritual came to an end.
At that moment, his body, except for his head, was essentially covered in holes from the dark spears. The blood flowing from his body had long exceeded the limits of human tolerance.
The blood flowed from the holes in his body, but instead of spilling everywhere as one might expect, it pooled in the basin on the stone platform.
The basin on the stone platform was triangular with a surrounding circle, and the blood nearly overflowed from the hollow.
A black-robed figure pushed through the others and ran toward the stone platform. As she ran, her hood fell away, revealing her face. It was a woman, her silver hair tied back into a bun at the back of her head, her beautiful face displaying worry and anxiety.
She rushed to the side of the stone platform, tossed aside the bloodied dark spear, and hurriedly began to untie the bindings around Hidan's hands, pulling him into her embrace.
"You did it!" she exclaimed. "You have achieved immortality!"
"Hidan, speak to me!"
The woman shook his upper body with both hands, but his face was devoid of any color, as if he had lost all hope.
"Hidan!"
But suddenly, her cries stopped. She slowly moved Hidan's body aside and looked down at her abdomen. She saw the pitch-black spear piercing through her belly. And the hand gripping the dark spear had belonged to Hidan.
He turned to face her, his eyes lifeless as he asked flatly, "The evil god you spoke of..."
"Where is he?"
