Chapter 200: Sharing the Same Heaven - Part 6

Author's Preface

It's not like I forgot to post; I just had the incredibly important mission of watching over the births of Piyo-Sun Black and Piyo-Sabre...

A contract is the transfer of merits. You provide something that one side lacks, and in return, you pay a price.
The people of Ruluiath—the people who used to live in this city—surrendered this land to Ctarrnid. So what exactly did they gain in return?

"If there's an answer to be found, it's gotta be through the absolute standard of information sources in exploration games."

"T-That would be..."

Of course, there's only one thing it could be.

"A record written by someone on a paper medium. The classic diary or experiment log."

It's the staple worldbuilding exposition item in horror games, known for generally getting disturbing around halfway through.
Usually, it leads to either a monster breaking loose or a pandemic occurring, but there's arguably nothing better for finding out what happened in the past.

In a room that appeared to be a study rather than a throne room, we—Team A—succeeded in finding a single diary. Rust and Team B headed off toward the top floor of the castle.

"Alright... Let's read it."

『How much time has passed since the loathsome "Blue" arrived from the ends of the sea? Following the west, the southern towns have already been swallowed by the "Blue," and the ship carrying the ministers who attempted to flee this island was dragged to the bottom of the sea by a "Blue" even greater than the one eroding this island.
It was a sight sufficient to plunge not only the people, but even us, the royalty, into despair.』

Would you mind not dropping brand new lore right off the bat!? What the hell is the "Blue"!?
...No, calm down. Two things have become clear at this point. First, from the very beginning of the diary, this island was undergoing some kind of invasion. Second, it wasn't by Ctarrnid.

『The city has already become the exclusive property of the "Blue." The people swallowed by the "Blue" find their bodies assimilated, becoming part of the "Blue" itself.
Fortunately or unfortunately, with the departure of the germaphobic ministers who had occupied the majority of the castle with their entire families until just the other day, we can now evacuate the people to the castle without worry. From this day forward, this castle shall close its gates to the people no more.』

"From what we're reading, it sounds like... a very kind person."

"Based on the wording, it feels more like a spineless king who couldn't firmly stand up to his ministers, though."

『Even factoring in the loss of the soldiers who challenged the "Blue" and vanished as part of it, this castle managed to accommodate all the people currently surviving.
There should have been several dozen times this number of people originally, yet I can only curse my own powerlessness against the "Blue." The radiant majesty of the royal crown held absolutely no meaning against the calamity that had come.』

This "Blue" thing... at first, I imagined something like an alien invasion, but it feels fundamentally different from that.
Based on the phrasing of the person writing this... who was probably the highest authority in Ruluiath at the time, they are referring to the "Blue" in the singular, not the plural.
Possible interpretations are that it's a massive, single entity, or a term used for a conceptual existence... But is it Ctarrnid after all?

『The frustration of being slowly backed into a corner. I bitterly resent the ministers who boarded the ship taking the majority of the food with them.
The sight of the pantry is far too meager to sustain the hundreds of people. Will we truly have no choice but to die here after all?』

"This sounds like the pattern where they ultimately get wiped out by infighting."

"And yet, there aren't any traces of conflict within the castle..."

From what we've read, the residents were backed into a corner by the "Blue" and started a siege, but because the ministers who attempted to escape by ship took the food with them and sank, they are counting down the seconds to starvation.

『A storm. A terrible storm that sought to forcefully suppress everything and return it all to the sea struck this country.
But even it would not be able to wash away the "Blue" that has deeply rooted itself in this country... Or so I thought.』

Hmm, this direction...?

『Clad in turbulent weather, tearing apart the "Blue" that stretched out from the sea, it appeared. How should I describe its form? Forcefully shaking off the beckoning of the "Blue"—which had swallowed humans, livestock, and even houses—and instead eroding and destroying it in return... It looked exactly like a dragon with eight heads.』

"This eight-headed dragon is probably Ctarrnid."

"But Ctarrnid is an octopus, right?"

"If an octopus that massive was violently swinging its tentacles around, it wouldn't be impossible for it to look like an eight-headed dragon."

"I see!"

Since it has a main head, wouldn't it be a Nine-Headed Dragon (Kuzuryu)... Kutouryu... Cthulhu, maybe?
Wait, judging from this text, isn't Ctarrnid acting more like a savior here?

『For us, trapped in dire straits, even if it was something that would trample us after subduing the "Blue," it was undeniably a god of salvation.
Though terrified that its wrath might turn toward us, we cheered on the god that crushed the "Blue," and we prayed.』

『And finally, the "Blue" fell silent. The god had achieved victory. The cityscape no longer devoured us, and without anyone ordering it, the castle gates were opened.
And without anyone ordering it, we knelt before the god.』

"Th-The rest! I want to know what happens next!"

"You're totally getting sucked into the story normally... this is supposed to be info-gathering, you know... Wait, Rei-shi, why are you fidgeting and reaching for the next page like that?"

"Ah, ahaha..."

『The god, to our surprise, returned an answer to our words. The god spoke. "My name is Ctarrnid, the one who sits in the deep abyss... Not a god, but one who wields the power of a god."
In exchange for saving us, the god desired this country.』

"It'd be hilarious if this all turned out to be one massive staged act where it played both the arsonist and the firefighter."

"S-Surely it wouldn't..."

Well, that's highly unlikely. Ctarrnid wouldn't need to do something so convoluted. Setting aside why it did something akin to saving the people living on this island, it at least recognized that they had enough intelligence to demand a price from.

『The god desired this country... Ruluia, specifically without us in it. A young child among the people, with the reckless courage born of ignorance, threw a question at the god. "Are you going to kick us out?"』

『The god did not anger, and answered. "This land is already unfit for humans to live on. The 'Blue' that has stained the earth even in death..." The god called it the "Crazed Ultramarine"... "will one day revive to devour everything once again. Thus, I shall take this island itself back to the bottom of the sea. If you accept the destiny of ruin, you are free to live here as you please."』

...What is this? Are we completely entering the Ctarrnid-is-a-good-guy route? And the "Blue" feels way more dangerous than I initially thought.

『It is unlikely that this diary will ever be read by anyone, but I shall leave it here in this castle. This is the proof that the country of Ruluia once existed, and the remnant of my existence as the King of Ruluia.
We shall depart from the island together with the surviving people. The time to set sail is near. We shall offer eternal gratitude to the god. This castle has already been turned into a keystone by the god. The monument of the keystone resting upon the throne is the new ruler of this Ruluia, and I have handed over the authority of the King alongside my vows.』

This is it. This is definitely the event flag. The keystone placed on the throne. According to either the King or Queen who wrote this, it's the keystone that will invert the island.
No matter how you look at it, it has to be this. It feels like the exact type of gimmick you're absolutely not supposed to touch, but... the thing supporting the inversion ability that physically flipped Ruluiath—this place that used to be called Ruluia—upside down. I bet triggering some kind of action on this is the key to revealing Ctarrnid's true form.

"Then the problem becomes: what exactly are we supposed to do to that keystone?"

"Should we destroy it?"

"No, there might be... some other method..."

The diary... damn it, it ends here? I knew it, but it really won't tell us everything from A to Z, huh?

"Our destination is decided. Let's group up with Rust and the others and head to the throne."

"We found something on our end. How about you guys?"

"...We found something too, more or less."

Before we knew it, the date had crossed over, and the Ctarrnid Defeat Operation was approaching 3:00 AM. Even though everyone had prepared for tonight, it was undeniable that an atmosphere of fatigue was drifting through the group.

"Taking a break might be a good idea... but let's exchange information first. Team A found a diary in a room that looked like a study. The contents were records from when this island was above the ocean, and it mentioned something called a 'Keystone' located on the throne."

"...Team B encountered a monster on the top floor of this castle. We defeated it, and it dropped this."

Rust pointed to her own head, where a shabby-looking crown rested. The design itself was actually pretty decent, but the empty sockets where jewels were likely originally embedded made its shabbiness stand out even more.

"I doubt... it's unrelated, but let's take a break for now. We saw a few rooms with beds during our exploration, so let's rest for about an hour, including logging out if necessary."

We should have plenty of time for investigating the throne and the final battle with Ctarrnid after that.

Author's Afterword
"The Crazed Ultramarine"
Its true identity is a plankton-type monster that possesses an integrated consciousness despite being a colony lifeform.
It has an extremely troublesome nature: the "Blue" is capable of parasitizing inorganic matter. Then, it attacks any organic matter—namely, living creatures—that come near the parasitized object, completing the process of predation, digestion, and multiplication in an instant.
The sight of it makes it seem as if the prey devoured by the "Blue Color" instantaneously transforms its very body into the "Blue." By allowing its multiplication speed to outpace its own die-off rate, it is capable of operating even on land. Had it been left unchecked, there was a very real possibility it would have devoured the entire continent within a few years.

The wave of calamity born in secret was destroyed by something not human. It wasn't out of goodwill, nor was it out of malice. It was───

To drop a core spoiler: if Ctarrnid were a human, his favorite game would be SimCity.
And I mentioned it so casually, but Ctarrnid can speak human languages.