CH 25: BLACK GOAT

That is not dead which can eternally lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.

Nor is it to be thought...that man is either the oldest or the last of earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone.

The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be.

Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.

By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can no man know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them.

They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons.

The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness.

Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet.

Man rules now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man rules now.

After summer is winter, after winter summer. They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again.

------

*Gasp*

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

"Onii-sama!!!"

I woke up with a startle, as I felt my heartbeat accelerate painfully in my chest.

The sudden scream and the impact on my gut didn't help either.

"Onii-sama are you alright?"

Her voice allowed me to gather back my wit as I observed my surroundings. It was awfully familiar, without a doubt it was my room.

"W-water…"

My throat felt awfully dry as I mustered those words.

"Ram please give him some water."

"Yes milady."

Another voice sounded, easily recognizable.

My mind was still a little blurry, but I was now able to think a little bit more easily. Taking the cup of water that was presented to me, I gulped it down like it was the greatest nectar of the world.

"Another one please."

It took about four glasses to completely quench my thirst.

Sigh, I finally feel alive.

I looked down at the little red eyed girl whose gaze was filled with worry before smiling and patting her head,

"I am alright now. I am sorry to worry you."

"Master. Now that you are awake, I believe it's necessary that I call the mistress. Would you rather rest a little before I do?"

I thought a little before waving my head,

"Please let her come now."

Shuka and Ram left my room. Shuka kept sending me worried glances, and I keep my smile to reassure her.

I really needed to do something for her. Her birthday is in March right? Hum. We are currently in January. Hum…

----

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"You can enter."

I was expecting Mamako, but she was followed by Irene. The two of them had a somber expression, and I could even see that Mamako eyes were a little puffy.

"Hell–"

I initially wanted to greet them lightly from my bed, but, without waiting for me to finish Mamako rushed towards me and took me in her arms.

The hug was nice. I could feel her impressive softness against my body, but, all lustful thoughts were banished the moment I felt her shaking.

"*Hic* I am...So glad that you are alright. *Hic* I don't want to lose anyone anymore. *Sob*"

I gently patted her back with a bitter smile on my face, it seemed like the number of people I had to care for was growing.

…I didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing.

As I thought so, I turned my eyes to Irene.

She nodded to me and took off her hat as she gave me a bow.

"I am thankful for what you did back there, Mamako and I were unable to move, but you still saved Erza despite her foolishness and not knowing what may happen. In this world, there's no one more important to me than my daughter. I owe you a life."

Oh?

Did I just hit the jackpot?

I gave her a simple smile and nodded as a sign that I understood her words.

I didn't know how I would use my favors. But, no, I did know. After all, I was seriously in need of some advanced magical knowledge.

Who knew that my reward would take the form of homework.

After Mamako finally calmed herself, they began to explain to me what happened.

It seemed like a divine being calling himself Aleister Crowley had assured her that nothing would happen to me.

This whole thing was just a trial with absolutely no danger to my life.

As a proof, just five minutes later, the door opened and they saw me lying asleep on the ground.

I woke up, a few hours after they found me.

'So this whole test was a dream?'

I couldn't help but shudder a bit. Though I wasn't surprised. If it was really the being I thought who created this test, creating such a situation in a dream wouldn't even be more tiring than lifting a finger.

After all, that guy could dream a whole universe.

Still, there's something I didn't say to Mamako as I didn't want to worry her.

That guy was lying or at least wasn't telling the whole truth. I don't know what would have happened to me if I had died in that dream, but I knew it wouldn't be anything pleasant.

Once I explained to them what happened during the trial, they clapped and congratulated me for the way I fought.

Then, Irene asked the question,

"What was your reward?"

I debated shortly about telling them all the choices I had but discarded the thought. It definitely wasn't because I didn't want them to think I was crazy.

"I got a grimoire."

"Oh?!"

I could feel the interest of Irene peak instantly. It wasn't difficult to understand why.

Not every book about sorcellerie was fit to be called a grimoire. A grimoire was the cristallisation of the whole knowledge of a mage or a magical being. Only those created by first tier mage or above were fit to be called grimoire.

"Could we see it?"

Mamako, who previously was still hanging on me, also expressed interest in seeing that grimoire.

I grimaced a bit,

"I can't. At least not right now. But I should be able to do so tomorrow."

They simply nodded and did not bother asking more about that.

After some chit-chat and a reluctant goodbye from Mamako, they finally left my room in order for me to rest.

Now alone, I gazed towards the large window of my room and looked at the setting sun before closing my eyes.

I needed to rest.

---

A few hours later, I sat leg-crossed, on my bed. I was waiting. Soon, everything would become clear.

When it was 3 am, the start of the witch hour resonated. I gathered mana in my body before calling softly,

"Open, Liber AL Vel Legis."

A Crimson Light gathered in the palm of my hand before changing into the same black covered book I saw.

Knowing what I had to do next, I took out a knife I had previously prepared and slashed the palm of my hand before putting my now bloodied hand against the cover.

Weirdly, the blood did in no way stain it, the cover simply absorbing my blood.

Few seconds later, I felt it begin to heat up before finally opening.

The first page was old, and on it three sentences in an unknown language were written.

But, I even though I didn't understand them, their meaning was directly drilled into my head.

As such, I read them out loud

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

“Love is the law, love under will.”

“There is no law beyond. Do what thou wilt.”

I wasn't in my room anymore. At least I didn't think that my room was large enough to hold outer space in it.

I was currently floating in space, surrounded by the light of the starry sky.

Then, at that very moment and for the first time, I understood how small mankind was.

[The wind-walker is looking at you.]

I couldn't breath, it felt like even my heart had difficulty beating.

[The Great Dreamer is looking at you.]

[The Blind Idiot God is looking at you.]

[The Crawling Chaos is looking at you.]

[The Life-Giver is looking at you.]

Man. Gaze into the abyss and the abyss would gaze back at you was it? I now truly understood the meaning of that sentence.

But all of this was nothing. I was scared, I was terrorized, I could feel it in my gut, something else was about to look at me. Something that was so powerful that simply looking at me would spell my death,

[The Lurker at the Threshold is–]

"And, I think it's good enough now. We wouldn't want to kill our precious friends here right?"

I turned around towards the soothing voice that calmed my fear.

A beautiful mature woman with hair as dark as the night greeted me with the kindest smile I had ever seen.

Despite that, I wasn't fooled. I knew that this form was nothing more than an exterior.

It wasn't the horn on her head, nor her fully black eyes. Even less the somewhat dangerous looking tentacles at the end of her hair.

Her very presence screamed at me.

'This is a being that cannot be understood by the human mind.'

But,

[The Black Goat with a Thousand Young is looking at you.]

Well…

This is suddenly becoming rather interesting.