"No matter how many stars I've crossed, your annoying ability is still as tiresome as ever. What do you want by calling me out this time? Haven't you always rejected me?"
The giant eye spoke a bunch of things that Sean completely didn't understand, as if mistaking him for someone it knew—no, some creature.
Acting like a big shot among mercenaries was already impressive enough, but now even this monster was trying to play the big shot!!
What now? My mind can barely hold up; my head's already spinning. If I hold on much longer, something's bound to go wrong.
"I didn't summon you!"
Bluffing—first instinct was to keep bluffing.
At least the other party seemed to think he was the one who summoned it. If he could send it back here, maybe the Tacoma region would be safe.
"Not you? Then who? Who else could have the incantation to summon me?" Suddenly, the massive eyeball froze, as if thinking about something.
This object was incredibly strange. Its rust-red appearance resembled a planet, but it was surrounded by some dark, writhing matter. Its form seemed to shift, much like the tentacle monster he'd seen before, but upon closer inspection, there were differences.
This thing didn't even know who summoned it—then why the hell did it come? Might as well go back!
But...
Although Sean felt unwell, he sometimes deliberately avoided looking at its horrifying form to reduce the mental damage. Now he finally understood what it meant to not look directly at something. He could only use magic to maintain his clarity.
Strangely enough, why could his meager magic resist this state? People like Freya or Ash should be stronger. Or maybe they couldn't see the mental damage it caused, so they couldn't resist it.
"Let me ask one more thing—did you come to my place a while ago? We met once."
Since the other party didn't seem hostile, Sean tried to see if he could converse.
"A while ago? I don't know what time you're referring to..." The response made Sean instantly sense that things weren't so simple.
Two summoning rituals?
Maybe there were two rituals. The one Wiseman was looking for earlier wasn't this giant eye.
"Is there something like you out there?" Sean asked.
"You know everything, yet you ask me? I don't care about these things. There's no place in this universe where I can find peace..."
Sean could hardly discern the tone of the response, because its voice wasn't human-like—it was more hollow, almost like the sound of metal scraping, and standing near it, he could hear another indescribable noise.
Among all the matter Sean knew, he couldn't think of anything that would make such a sound... It was constant, very noisy.
Since it wouldn't say, Sean couldn't press further.
It seemed to mistake him for someone else. If he asked too much, he'd give himself away.
But the situation in Tacoma City still existed, and this time the Deep Ones seemed to be summoning this very thing. If it actually arrived, who knew what would happen.
Honestly, Sean was curious too, but then he remembered what Ash had said before.
Don't delve into the abyss of the world; the Chaos Eye was discovered only after peering into forbidden things...
The silence between them dragged on for a long time.
Sean was thinking, while the other party didn't seem to care.
Finally, Sean couldn't hold back and spoke first: "I have a few things I want to ask of you."
"I've been waiting for you to say it..."
The giant eye's response surprised Sean. What exactly did it take him for, that it could converse so easily?
"I need you to leave here and not approach those who summoned you... Also, I need your power to help me fight those things." With the help of similarly unknown power, Sean felt he could counter those entities.
From the moment Freya handed him the Caine Tablet, it seemed to tell him that even the Black Feather Knights and the wizards might not have full confidence in resolving the current crisis. Though he could see things others couldn't, that ability didn't give him an edge in stronger confrontations.
That's why Sean didn't join this attack—it would be no different from walking to his death!
That's why Freya gave him the tablet, to put an end to all events!
But could he really escape?
Once the foundation of the Basharan Empire was shaken, it would spiral out of control. This could happen in the southeast, just as easily in the south. Even setting aside these wizard-summoning dramas, there was still the empire's strife. He couldn't stay safe in a broken nation.
So he needed power...
Or rather, a trump card that could give him a sense of security.
He swallowed a mouthful of water...
The giant eye still didn't answer. Instead, from its rust-covered planetary surface, another crack opened—like a mouth, and it was smiling!
At the same time, from the chaotic nebula flow around it, a writhing substance spread out, gradually approaching where Sean stood, like tentacles encircling him but not attacking.
Don't move. Who would dare move at a time like this?
"I've been waiting for the day you'd ask for my help. I didn't expect you to finally speak up." The massive planet finally split open a gap, right below the giant eye—it was indeed smiling.
"Is that so? It shows you still have an irreplaceable role..."
Sean forced himself to say, enduring the mental pressure.
"Fine!"
The answer was resolute.
At that moment, his mind seemed to suffer an unprecedented shock, feeling as if the whole...
…………………………
In Tacoma City, the Black Feather Knights, led by Freya and Ash, advanced toward the city center...
This was a purge mission—kill any enemy they encountered, even the frenzied citizens.
"Don't show any mercy. If this isn't resolved, the empire's heart might be next. I'll bear all the consequences." Freya felt an inexplicable restlessness growing inside her.
Why had everything suddenly vanished along the way? There were few people, and even the group of bewitched ones previously scouted around the city center had disappeared.
The streets grew quiet and eerie...
Looking up at the sky, it felt like day had turned to night in an instant. The entire Tacoma City became silent and dark.
"Do you hear something?"
"What sound?"
"Listen closely..."
The Black Feather Knights stopped and fell silent.
It seemed that from deep in the streets, a murmuring sound drifted into their ears, and in the mist, someone was approaching—writhing, more precisely, their arms writhing, like an octopus's tentacles twitching.