Chapter 659: Exit rift
Juniper couldn’t help but stare at Michael in wonder. She wanted nothing more than to question him about his incredible and unexplainable strength, but she knew that this was not the time.
Nixie was starting to feel drowsy again. She was no longer wrestling out of Juniper’s grasp.
This was all due to the fact that they forcefully pulled her out of her subconscious. This made her active and conscious self to awaken, causing her to become the same despondent person as she was in reality.
Just then, the whole subconscious void started to tremble yet again. But this time, the magnitude was a lot stronger than before. They could feel their bodies starting to rip apart just from the shaking of the sea.
"We have to get out of the subconscious void now," Juniper said. "She’s starting to wake up. And if she does, we won’t be able to get out."
Thankfully, with the Leviathan out of the equation, Juniper and Michael could finally exit Cthulhu’s body.
They floated out of the dark abyss and saw the endless dark blue ocean in front of them.
They continued to swim forwards until they felt movement behind them.
They turned around, only to see Cthulhu’s eyes moving around before settling in their direction. Its two giant wings started to flap, causing its entire body to move forward and catch up to Michael and Juniper in an instant.
Damn! Even Cthulhu’s coming after us! I don’t have any more AP in my battery!
[It’s not going to attack you] Harbinger said.
And before he could question him, Cthulhu suddenly opened its mouth and sent a shockwave that travelled towards them at the speed of sound.
"I mean no harm," Cthulhu said, with its voice low and with an echo. "I want only to express my greatest thanks to you for saving her."
Cthulhu’s red eyes softened as it gazed at the unconscious Nixie.
Juniper stopped in her tracks, unable to comprehend what she just heard.
"That’s not possible. Her consciousness is supposed to take over now!"
With Nixie already well on her way to activating her conscious mind, everything in this subconscious void should start to become inactive as a result.
However, this ’representation’ of Cthulhu seemed to have only gained movement right after Nixie got out of her subconscious.
Not only that, but it gained the capacity to speak as well! That was impossible!
"Unless... it’s not a representation. It’s the real deal!"
Juniper could only gasp at the realization she had just made.
This Cthulhu wasn’t a figment of Nixie’s imagination. It was actually Cthulhu itself, or at least, a part of its soul. That was the only way to explain it!
Juniper couldn’t believe that one of the most ancient, most powerful sea monsters in the entire world would lend a part of its soul to a mermaid child’s subconscious void. Not only that, it seemed to care for her as if it was its child!
"Wait... does she have an extraordinary Blessing?!"
The power that she was awakening was one that could control or communicate with sea creatures!
It all made sense.
Back when the Leviathan was hunting them down, it wasn’t because it wanted to eat them. It wanted to protect Nixie! And it tried to catch them because Nixie wanted to return to her shell!
That was how brought Cthulhu itself into her subconscious void.
"What’s an extraordinary blessing?" Michael asked.
"It’s the equivalent of having a SSS-class talent," she replied. "It’s one of the most extreme and fruitful awakenings that a beastfolk can have."
Juniper could only lament the fact that despite having such a wonderful blessing, Nixie was still being plagued with the curse. If her life wasn’t limited by the weakness of her own Dao Heart, she could become one of the most powerful mermaids in the entire world!
But there was no time to think about that. They had to get out of the subconscious void.
She looked around, eventually finding a glowing white rift in the water. That was their exit! She quickly turned around to inform Michael, but saw him just staring blankly at Cthulhu.
"You...are different," Cthulhu muttered.
The fact that such an ancient being like Cthulhu would even deign to talk to Michael only proved the fact that the boy was extraordinarily different from others.
But then, she saw something she never thought would happen in her entire life.
Cthulhu bowed its head at Michael.
"I treat your power with esteem," Cthulhu bellowed.
And before Juniper could even react, the trembling of the subconscious void got more intense, with ocean water itself starting to break apart. It won’t be long before they’d get crushed under the weight of this void and become forever lost in its space.
Not only that, but the exit rift was slowly closing.
Cthulhu’s tentacles whipped forward, creating a large stream of water that pushed Juniper and Nixie into the glowing white rift.
The only one left behind was Michael and Cthulhu.
[Kukuku... at least he knows his place] Harbinger said.
He can sense you?
[Of course. I’m always stronger in a subconscious mind. He can feel it.]
Cthulhu gazed at him, its eyes seemingly peering down into the depths of his soul.
"Human... I request for you to save that child. She is of weak body, but with a strong mind. She does not deserve a life cut short."
He could sense emotion within Cthulhu that almost seemed...human.
"You care for her?"
"I do. Ever since she summoned a part of my consciousness in this void, I have kept her company and she has kept mine. We have bonded, and I now treat her as if she was my own brood."
He wouldn’t have expected to hear that from a creature like Cthulhu. After all, it was always depicted as the pinnacle of lovecraftian horror, not as the sentimental and misunderstood being that it was now.
"I’ll try my best to save her," he promised.
"That is acceptable," Cthulhu said. "To express my gratitude, I leave you with this gift. Treasure it."
Cthulhu’s tentacles started to squirm. It converged into one point, with all of its ends starting to glow with a white light. Then suddenly, particles started to manifest in front of Cthulhu, forming to take the shape of a sphere.
It wasn’t long before an iridescent pearl formed in front of Cthulhu.
With a simple nudge from its tentacles, the pearl moved towards Michael.
And as it got closer to him, he finally realized the true size of his gift. The pearl was as big as he was!
He touched the pearl and tried to move it, only to realize that it was extremely heavy! Even in the weightlessness of water, he found it extremely hard to push forwards.
"What is this?" he asked Cthulhu.
But instead of answering, Cthulhu shot a stream of water towards Michael, pushing him into the glowing white rift just before it closed completely.
Michael landed on his feet, now back in the surgery room with everyone looking at him.
"What happened?" Juniper asked him.
"I don’t know," he said truthfully. He really didn’t know why Cthulhu gave him a giant pearl. Still, he made sure to store it in his Drone’s Pocket Dimension for now so that it was out of sight, out of mind.