Chapter Fifty-Five: The Servant Race

Since the arrival of the Demon Sword, Baron Strak and his men had gradually descended into madness. At first, they had merely sought to complete that grand design; now they had utterly become servants of an evil god, bowing at the feet of the chosen one.

This so-called chosen one had once been the only surviving test subject. Yet after the Demon Sword descended, that test subject had transformed into the supreme commander of the base and come to be known as the Chosen One.

Now, this Chosen One had gathered the former leaders of the base in a meeting room that had been converted into a prayer hall, and issued his latest command.

“The ignorant lambs must receive the guidance of our Lord. Only our Lord is the truth of this world. Only by believing in our Lord can one be saved at the end of days. Praise You, Great Cthulhu of the Sea, may Your name be exalted, may Your kingdom come, may Your will be done in R’lyeh as it is in Y’ha-nthlei.” The Chosen One murmured out the corrupted prayer, and the other cultists hurriedly joined in praising their lord.

“Respected Chosen One, how should we save those lambs?” Baron Strak rose first and bowed to the Chosen One as he asked. In the process of corrupting the entire base, Baron Strak had been the first to be fully tainted, and so the Chosen One had promoted him to one of the current leaders of the cult.

“We shall compose a sacred scripture for our Lord, and then travel to the mainland to preach,” the Chosen One said with a twisted smile that seemed to carry a trace of compassion for the world. “Those pitiful lives have been waiting for us all this time. Only we can bring them true hope.”

Baron Strak unconsciously touched the three fissures at his neck. A wicked smile spread across his warped face. “Praise our Lord. Those pitiful lambs have finally found salvation.”

...

El withdrew his gaze and rolled his eyes. These cultists were no longer purely human. Corrupted by the power of the evil god, they were gradually transforming into the Deep Ones that Atanis and the others had once slaughtered in great numbers within R’lyeh.

That was also the salvation they spoke of. It seemed they intended to use the so-called immortality gained after becoming Deep Ones to lure humans into joining them. Though El sneered at such a method, it was undeniable that a great many people would be tempted by that power.

Thinking of this, El frowned slightly and summoned Atanis. “Atanis, immediately send word to the Stellar Spirit Empire and have them announce the information on the evil god’s servant race to all nations of the cosmos.”

Atanis was slightly taken aback, but he quickly understood. The evil god’s servant race was about to be listed for public sale, he supposed, and promptly bowed in response. “As you command.”

Atanis instantly returned to his residence and began contacting the Council of Light and Shadow. Soon, he felt his consciousness enter a virtual space.

“Atanis, why have you urgently contacted the Council? Has something serious occurred?” Upon sensing Atanis’s summons, Gaskell immediately pulled him into an emergency communication channel and accelerated the flow of time.

In its deep understanding of the laws of space-time, the Stellar Spirit Empire had also mastered all manner of incredible technologies, and temporal acceleration was one of them. It could greatly hasten the flow of time in a given region of space-time, making it especially suitable for meetings, though not only for battle.

Atanis also immediately shared his memories. This was the fastest and most reliable method of transmitting information.

Gaskell breathed a slight sigh of relief, then replied to Atanis with a solemn expression: “I will immediately contact the Interstellar Court to convene a special session and spread this news. Please rest assured, His Majesty El.” Atanis nodded, and his virtual form vanished before Gaskell.

Since its establishment, the Interstellar Court had been devoted to maintaining the stable order of the cosmos. Over the past several thousand years of the New Divine Calendar, the nations of the universe had gradually formed, around the Interstellar Court, an organization resembling the United Nations. After all, the Interstellar Court itself was a special space station specially built by the Stellar Spirit Empire, so the diplomats stationed there could also ensure their personal safety and would not suffer any mishaps.

After breaking off contact with Atanis, Gaskell swiftly assigned the task to the Stellar Spirit Empire’s permanent grand judge at the Interstellar Court. As for himself, of course he returned to the divine realm to train in peace. The shadow of the evil god was already spreading across the cosmos; only by becoming strong enough could the empire’s safety be guaranteed in the wars to come.

After receiving Gaskell’s message, Grand Judge Anthony immediately contacted the other permanent grand judges. Owing to the special nature of the Interstellar Court, it currently had three grand judges: Anthony from the Stellar Spirit Empire, Vafthrudnir from Asgard, and the Supreme Sorcerer Gu Yi from Midgard, plus a scribe from the Watcher civilization, Sitni. These were the principal permanent members of the Interstellar Court. Originally, there had also been another grand judge, Ahrim, a member of the Celestial Host, but he had long since vanished, leaving the seat vacant.

Upon receiving Anthony’s message, Vafthrudnir first turned to glance at the projection of Master Gu Yi. As Asgard’s representative, he naturally knew the current situation in Midgard. However, as the Supreme Sorcerer who held the Eye of Agamotto, only a projection had come here in person.

With a gentle smile, Vafthrudnir said to Gu Yi’s projection, “May I ask what views Master Gu Yi has?”

Master Gu Yi nodded, then shook her head. Of course she knew whose will this was, and she understood the meaning hidden within it. “I hope this message will be relayed to the Joint Government by Asgard.”

Vafthrudnir paused for a moment, but quickly understood. “That is perfectly natural.”

He did not know who the Joint Government was, of course, but all he needed to do was relay the message back home, and Odin would naturally know what to do.

Meanwhile, Sitni had been observing the reactions of those present, faithfully performing his duties as scribe.

Anthony glanced at the empty seat and let out a faint sigh, then nodded to the others. The brief meeting thus came to an end, and everyone left the conference hall.

...

In the United Nations meeting room of Midgard, the Secretary-General was carefully wiping the sweat from his forehead. Just moments ago, Asgard had suddenly delivered a letter to the United Nations building. As for how they could be so certain it was Asgard’s doing, the unmistakable Rainbow Bridge and the signature on the letter had made everything plain. And the contents of the letter were precisely a list, issued by Odin in the name of the Lord of the Nine Realms, enumerating the servant races of the various evil gods.

Upon receiving the letter, the United Nations was thoroughly startled. Beyond immediately contacting S.H.I.E.L.D. to strengthen security and verify the authenticity of the letter, they also had to relay this earthshaking news to the five permanent members of the Security Council.