"Hey!"
"Want to join the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign?"
A young boy with slicked-back gray hair jumped nimbly down from a post, holding a massive three-bladed crimson scythe in reverse grip.
"Me? Are you talking to me?"
A man dressed as a woodcutter looked around and, seeing no one else, pointed to himself in confusion.
"Yeah!"
"Want to join the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign?"
The woodcutter dismissed the boy's suggestion with a smile, shaking his head. Where did this kid come from?
"I don't have time to play games with you."
"If you want to play, find someone else. I'm leaving."
The woodcutter assumed the boy's exaggerated scythe was just a toy and began walking away. But before he had taken two steps, a chilling voice came from behind him.
"What a shame. Guess I'll have to take you to meet our dark lord."
Before the woodcutter could react, everything went black, and he passed out.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dimly lit area with a giant bonfire burning in front of him. Terrified by the flames, he tried to sit up and move away, only to realize he was tied up.
Panicked, he scanned the area and saw at least a dozen others bound just like him. Behind them stood figures in black robes, their faces obscured.
The woodcutter looked over his shoulder and saw the boy from earlier standing behind him, still holding the massive crimson scythe.
At that moment, the woodcutter's mind raced, unable to process what kind of situation he was in. Without thinking, he fell to his knees, pleading for mercy.
"Please spare me!"
"I'm just a woodcutter! I don't have any money!"
The woodcutter mistook the boy and the robed figures for kidnappers.
The boy initially ignored him but, unable to bear the constant begging, finally turned and said, "It's not up to me. Only the dark lord can decide your fate."
"Ah, here he comes."
Following the boy's gaze, the woodcutter saw a shadow slowly creeping through the forest. Though the shadow hadn't fully emerged from the darkness, it had already spread an aura of death.
As it moved closer, everyone finally saw the indescribable form—a writhing mass of black flesh with subtle movements, its skin wrinkling unnervingly. At the top of this mass was a large black tentacle, tipped with a suction cup, ringed with tiny spikes.
"Ah!"
The moment the captives laid eyes on the being, they screamed in horror. Even in their darkest nightmares, they had never encountered such a monstrous form.
This strange entity was none other than the dark god worshipped by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, and the form it took when devouring sacrifices—the Feaster from Afar.
To keep track of the movements of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign in real-time, Kagami used the Yellow Sign.
When a follower of the King in Yellow held the Yellow Sign, they could use it to summon him. However, if someone who was not a follower held it, they would be hunted by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.
The Yellow Sign, in its normal state, was just an ordinary yellow mark, often touched by the unaware in their daily lives without realizing its significance. It only reacted when the King in Yellow, his servants, or his creatures were nearby.
The Yellow Sign also functioned as a medium for communication between followers and the King in Yellow or between followers themselves.
Although he was not a follower of the King in Yellow, holding the Yellow Sign prevented Hidan from sensing him. This might have been because Kagami was under the protection of the avatar, which blocked such detection. However, if the sign left his possession, it could change things.
At that moment, he heard Hidan's call through the Yellow Sign. The voice initially fluctuated, distant and raspy, but after listening carefully, it became clear.
"O Great Evil God, King in Yellow, heed the call of your most devoted follower—Hidan!"
"Please descend upon the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign; we will offer you the grandest of sacrifices!"
"Evil God~"
"Evil God~"
Along with Hidan's voice, Kagami could faintly hear the voices of other Brotherhood members echoing in unison. These voices flowed continuously through the Yellow Sign into his mind, but the Feaster from Afar had already responded.
Though both were avatars of the Great Old Ones, Kagami could attach his thoughts to Hastur's avatar and control its actions with his mind. This was something he couldn't do with Spidey, unable to stop it from spinning webs or force it to do other tasks.
When he attached his thoughts to the Feaster from Afar, a sacrificial scene unfolded in his mind. In a mountain forest of the Land of Hot Water, a massive bonfire illuminated a large clearing.
On the outer edge of the fire, more than twenty members of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign, dressed in black robes, stood apart. Closer to the fire, more than twenty bound people were lying on the ground. Judging by their attire, they seemed to be ordinary people captured from the area, the offerings for the ritual.
Since Hidan's summoning through the Yellow Sign had received a response from the Evil God, the chanting stopped, and the followers stood silently by the fire, waiting. With the offerings prepared, Kagami decided not to delay and immediately controlled the Feaster from Afar to fly towards the bonfire.
Descriptions of the Feaster from Afar were vague, and no one has ever drawn its appearance accurately. It was only described as a black flying entity covered in folds, with tentacles and claws.
When he controlled this avatar, he finally saw the true form of the Feaster from Afar. In short, it was a mass of black, shapeless slime. Its surface constantly rippled like the surface of water, which had led some to mistake these ripples for folds of skin. It had tentacles, claws, and could fly, thanks to its amorphous nature, similar to that of a Shoggoth.
However, unlike the Shoggoth, whose shapeshifting was a response to please its master, taking on human or animal forms in an instant, the Feaster from Afar maintained a relatively stable shape, only forming tentacles, blade-like claws, or giant wings when needed, with its core form remaining mostly unchanged.
As Kagami controlled the Feaster from Afar in flight, he faintly heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. Turning his gaze, he saw four Byakhees flying alongside him.
Byakhees, the familiars of Hastur, were an interstellar species capable of traversing the cosmos. They resembled large monstrous birds with bat-like wings. At that moment, the four Byakhees followed closely on either side of the Feaster from Afar, showing the humility of servants. Their bat-like wings flapped without ever overtaking the Feaster from Afar.
Kagami realized that when the Feaster from Afar responds to sacrificial summoning, the Byakhees sometimes descend as well. However, their combat abilities are not particularly strong, as they are made of earthly matter and vulnerable to physical attacks. Most often, Byakhees were used as mounts, granted to followers by the King in Yellow for travel.
In Kagami's controlled descent, the Feaster from Afar glided from the sky and landed steadily in the forest. The four Byakhees followed suit, humbly trailing behind.
He avoided descending too dramatically, as scaring too many of the offerings to death right away wasn't ideal. However, as the Feaster from Afar emerged from the dark woods, it still terrified some of the sacrifices instantly.
A cold wind blew across their faces, and they perceived the air around them condensing. The black, non-human entity embodying all their fears approached with clawed hands like blades. These ordinary people, lacking strong mental fortitude, lost all sanity at the sight of the Feaster from Afar's true form, frantically smashing their heads against the ground.
Seeing that the offerings were trying to commit suicide, the nearby followers rushed forward to restrain them, preventing self-harm. Some even forcibly pried open their eyes, making them continuously stare at the true visage of the evil god worshiped by the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.
"Hey!"
"They are offerings to the Evil God! Don't let them kill themselves!"
Hidan, standing by the bonfire, seemed to be calmly giving orders, but if you looked closely at his expression, you could see that his fanatical gaze had never left the Feaster from Afar.
Under the control of numerous followers, the offerings were restrained one by one.
Kagami controlled the black form of the Feaster from Afar, slowly walking toward the first offering.
This offering was a man dressed in coarse clothes, his thin frame now completely lifeless, his dazed eyes void of any light, and his body as limp as a puppet, manipulated by the follower behind him. His lower clothing was soaked in some unknown liquid.
At this moment, an option appeared in front of Kagami's eyes:
[Sacrifice] or [Follower]?
This was one of the powers of Hastur. When accepting a sacrifice from a follower, only one could be consumed—either the sacrifice or the follower.
Of course, after the sacrifice, he could choose to kill whichever side remained. But at the moment of accepting the offering, only one choice could be made.
Faced with a loyal follower who was a useful ninja on one hand, and a stranger who had already gone mad on the other, Kagami naturally chose to accept the sacrifice.
Having made the decision, the black tendril atop the Feaster from Afar slowly rose, swaying like a branch in the wind, and rested upon the offering's head.
At the moment of contact, circular blades surrounding the suction cups on the tendril sliced open the victim's scalp and skull, consuming the brain within.
The brain matter was slowly absorbed into the Feaster from Afar, the tendril pulsing rhythmically as Kagami's mind gained new information.
As the brain was consumed, the soul energy from the offering was absorbed.
The man known as Made had already completely lost his sanity, devoid of any remaining reason. Normally, no more soul power could be gained.
However, Hastur's power allowed the consumption of brain matter to yield soul energy regardless. Masao Kosaka's brain had been sucked dry, his body collapsing weakly as the tendril released him.
The entire sacrificial process wasn't overly gory, with little blood spilled, as the Feaster from Afar acted with a certain gentleness when the offering didn't resist.
To the watching followers, the Feaster from Afar appeared as a refined lady delicately sipping a drink through a straw, maintaining elegance.
After finishing the first offering, Kagami proceeded to accept several more.
These offerings, like the first, were all civilians from the Land of Hot Water kidnapped by nearby followers. However, with the sixth offering and follower, something was different.
The sixth offering was a woman, her appearance above average, her figure wrapped in a kimono.
Kagami didn't know where this follower had abducted the offering, but from the woman's face, frozen in an expression of terror, and her still chest, it was clear she had died.
This woman had been literally scared to death by the sight of the Feaster from Afar.
[Sacrifice] or [Follower]?
[Sacrifice]√
Even though the offering had already died of fright, he still chose to consume her as a sacrifice. Yet, as the tendril absorbed the woman's brain, no soul energy was gained.
It became clear that if the offering died before the sacrifice, no soul power could be harvested.
This was unacceptable.
If the followers started offering dead bodies to cheat Kagami out of soul energy, what use were they? This required punishment.
Kagami controlled the Feaster from Afar's tendril to fling the woman's corpse aside, then swiftly impaled the follower's head with the tendril.
Before the follower could react, the top of his skull was opened, his body twitching as if struck by lightning.
The surrounding followers were startled by the sudden change, hurriedly checking to see if their prepared offerings were still alive.
Hidan, however, watching the scene, was not disturbed but instead screamed with fanatic joy.
"Serves you right!"
"Serves you right!"
The follower's brain was completely drained, but Kagami gained no soul energy.
It seemed only the brain of the selected offering could provide soul power, while other actions merely counted as regular attacks from the Feaster from Afar.
In the end, when Kagami finished absorbing the final offering, two followers were killed for presenting offerings that had already died, while the rest of the sacrifices were consumed as expected.
This seemed to be the punishment mechanism of the ritual: if Kagami was dissatisfied with the sacrifices, the followers would be killed.
But where there was punishment, there should be rewards as well. With this in mind, he summoned the Byakhees from the forest.
These bat-winged monstrous birds emerged from the woods, stunning all the followers.
Standing on two legs but rhythmically beating their wings, these creatures were unlike any known animal—ravens, moles, vultures, ants, or even decaying human corpses. Nothing could compare.
They were beings no ordinary person would want to remember.
Yet, as the followers saw the creatures, their minds were filled with knowledge of them. They were Byakhees, servants of the King in Yellow, granted as mounts to followers who had made significant contributions.
Under Kagami's command, one of the Byakhee walked slowly to Hidan, bowing its head to allow him to mount.
"This…"
Kneeling on the ground, Hidan glanced at the obedient Byakhee, then looked up at the Feaster from Afar.
"Is this for me?"
Kagami, controlling the blurred head of the Feaster from Afar that looked more like a mound of earth than a neck, gave a slight nod.
This small gesture of approval sent waves of ecstatic shivers through Hidan's brainstem.
"Haha!"
"I've been blessed by the Evil God!"
"Praise the Evil God!"
"Praise the great King in Yellow!"
"Praise the Feaster from Afar!"
Hidan continued to bow fervently, his scalp scraping against the rough ground until it bled. But the Feaster from Afar had already left with the remaining three Byakhee.