"Oh, almost forgot…" Alaric raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the cat in his arms. He tapped its forehead lightly.
An invisible force rippled outward. In the next moment, as if infused with life, the "marionettes" That had been frozen sprang back to action. The once-silent restaurant buzzed with activity, making the scene even more uncanny.
"Mr. Lucifer, did you… resolve the issue?" Klein asked, observing the Bansy Harbor natives who had returned to "normal." He glanced at the Lemon Restaurant's owner, who seemed eager to approach but hesitated out of fear, then turned to Lucifer.
"Not quite resolved, but Bansy won't face any major problems from now on," Alaric said with a smile.
The root of Bansy Harbor's troubles lay in the offshoot power of the City of Calamity. Now that Alaric had severed and sealed its avatar, that power could no longer be triggered.
Though Klein wasn't sure what had happened, he breathed a sigh of relief, trusting Lucifer completely. Then, something occurred to him. "Mr. Lucifer, did you figure out that matter?"
He was, of course, referring to the Oldest One's contingency for revival.
"Absolutely!" Alaric nodded with a smile, as if recalling something amusing. He rubbed the cat's head and continued, "Not only did I figure it out, I left a little surprise."
After subduing the City of Calamity's severed will, Alaric had easily uncovered details about the Oldest One's contingency. Since the contingency's core resided in The City of Calamity's main body, Alaric couldn't dismantle it. So, after some thought, he used the connection between The Will of the City of Calamity and its core to leave behind a "knowledge package."
If the Oldest One ever revived through this contingency, they'd receive this package for free... a taste of "toxic knowledge."
Here's hoping that surprise never comes into play, Alaric thought, his gaze returning to Klein. "I won't disrupt your travels any further. Keep up the good work, and call for help if you need it."
"Got it, Mr. Lucifer," Klein said, nodding quickly. Lucifer's figure vanished, and Klein exhaled, turning to "Jack," who was playing with a lizard. Though he had questions, with so many outsiders present, he addressed the tourists instead. "Since the matter's resolved, I'll escort you back to the cruise ship. Anyone want to stay?"
Not a single person spoke up. The restaurant's eerie changes had left them rattled, eager to sprout wings and fly back to safety.
While Klein escorted the tourists back to the cruise ship, Alaric, holding The Will of the City of Calamity, returned to the True Creator's base.
"You're back? You…" Medici's voice cut off abruptly. He stared at the cat in Alaric's arms, disbelief written across his face.
"Yep, back. And I brought you a gift," Alaric said, grinning as he lifted the cat toward Medici. "Here! Want to inspect your present?"
"What… is this?" Medici's tone was strained, his tongue pressing against his teeth. For a moment, he wondered if he'd gone mad.
How else could he sense the familiar aura of the City of Calamity emanating from this two-month-old kitten?
Medici was no stranger to the City of Calamity. For a long time, under The Ancient Sun God's orders, he had guarded its leaking offshoots... a task that led to his own contamination and the reason his family had taken root in Bansy Harbor.
"You already sensed it, didn't you?" Alaric countered, passing the cat to Medici with a smile. "The genuine avatar of The Will of the City of Calamity... well, just the Bansy branch. You know I was dealing with that. This is the result."
Medici struggled to describe his emotions. He stared at Alaric for a few seconds before saying, "You're definitely cheating."
"Thanks for the compliment. I've always been like this," Alaric said, accepting the praise without a hint of modesty.
Faced with Alaric's shameless confidence, Medici was momentarily speechless. But as his shock subsided, he looked down and teased the cat, asking, "How did you do this?"
"A little secret of mine. Oh, it's about to bite you," Alaric said with a smile, tossing in a warning.
The warning came too late... the cat had already chomped on Medici, though it didn't break the skin.
This clearly rattled The Will of the City of Calamity. It glared at Alaric, muttering, "You might as well kill me."
"Don't say that. It makes me sound like the bad guy," Alaric replied with a grin. "You're the one who wanted to bring disaster, war, and destruction to the world. This fate? You brought it on yourself." He turned to Medici. "Your hand."
Medici raised an eyebrow but extended his hand without hesitation. Alaric etched something onto it with his unique power. As the etching finished, Medici felt a vague connection form between him and the cat.
"From now on, you can use it as a conduit to wield the City of Calamity's power from the Bansy branch," Alaric explained slowly. "It's a gradual process of assimilation. Once you fully suppress it, that power is yours. But until then, don't get greedy, or you'll end up a puppet of the City of Calamity... and I won't be responsible."
The technique Alaric used was similar to how Yog-Sothoth had sealed a fragment of Nyarlathotep within him... a youthful version, so to speak.
Becoming a demigod had transformed Alaric... not necessarily in raw power, but undeniably in knowledge.
And in this world, knowledge was power.
"Incredible power," Medici remarked, his tone as calm as he could manage, though his emotions were anything but. "But I thought you didn't want me to become a Calamity of Destruction."
Alaric had never hidden his stance on certain matters.
"I don't. It's not exactly a great thing to be, and you don't seem all that eager for it either," Alaric said candidly. "But that doesn't stop me from helping you assimilate part of The City of Calamity's power. It'll make you stronger at Sequence 0." He paused, then added, "Most importantly, this method is safe."
***
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