Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 218 Moon Beast
Two weeks before the end of the semester, the sky suddenly cleared, turning a dazzling eggshell color, and the muddy field was covered with a layer of shiny frost one morning.

The castle was filled with the festive atmosphere of Christmas.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher and headmaster of Ravenclaw, has decorated his classroom with shimmering light sources that are actually real, ever-fluttering fairies.

All the students were happily discussing their vacation plans.

Ron and Hermione both decided to stay at Hogwarts. Ron said he couldn't bear to spend two weeks with Percy, while Hermione insisted she was going to the library. But Harry knew in his heart that they were doing this to keep him company, and he was grateful.

The only thing that made Harry a little unhappy was that Tyella had chosen to leave school for the holidays, which meant that this would be the first Christmas Harry had spent without Tyella by his side since entering Hogwarts, which made Harry somewhat uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, the real Tierra finally reached the end of his dream journey just before Christmas—

He came to trade with the Moon Beasts for the Pillar Copper, Flowing Silver, and Sky Gold, not to search for the Dreamlands like Randolph Carter. Therefore, when Tiera failed to find the three essential materials for the ascension ritual in the coastal jungle city of Hlanith and the desert trading center of Ilarnek, she resolutely boarded the black, multi-oared sailing ships of the Coldlands inhabitants. Departing from Dilas-Lin, she passed the massive Basalt pillars of the west and the magnificent Kalisua, leaping from beside the giant waterfall behind the Basalt pillars and sailing into the void and darkness beyond—

The large ship moved further and further away from Earth, silently shooting into planetary space like a comet—

Tiera had already entered the cabin before flying out of the waterfall, enduring the horrifying stench and being with the ugly, cold natives.

Although Tiera felt the thin deck was utterly useless, she still tried to avoid being exposed to the cosmic void to prevent being noticed by other Outer Gods.

Unseen, dark things lurked, writhing, and struggling in space. These things, dwelling in this terrifying void, menacingly watched any seafarers who might pass through, grinning and sometimes even touching and feeling the moving objects that aroused their curiosity with their slimy claws. These things were the indescribable larvae of the Outer Gods, blind and foolish like them, yet possessing an unusual hunger and desire—

Fortunately, this dangerous voyage did not last long. Soon, the helmsmen adjusted their course and headed towards the moon.

The moon was a new moon at this time. As they approached, the moon, radiating its bright moonlight, grew larger and larger. Tiera could clearly see the strange craters and somewhat unsettling peaks on the moon.

As the sailboat quickly rounded the edge of the moon and sailed over lands never before seen by humankind, a strange landscape appeared on the ground, clearly showing signs of life.

Tierra saw many low, wide, round huts scattered across the fields of whitish, grotesque fungi. He noticed that these huts had no windows, and their shapes were easily reminiscent of the makeshift huts built by the Inuit.

Yes!

Tiera suddenly realized that among the many famous disappearances on Earth was the mass disappearance of the Inuit.

These disappearances are all the same:
The Eskimo huts were completely empty, not a soul in sight. In many huts, cooking pots still sat on the stoves, revealing cooked food inside. In other huts, several sealskin coats were being sewn, though they appeared to be only half-finished, as needles made of animal teeth were still stuck into the fabric.

These Eskimos seemed to simply drop what they were doing or what they were eating and disappear.

After passing the Eskimo-style huts, Tiera caught a glimpse of an oily wave rising on the sluggish, still sea, and realized that their journey would once again fall back onto the water—or at least some kind of liquid.

The ship made a strange sound as it broke through the surface of the liquid, and Tiera was quite puzzled by the peculiar yet elastic way the waves embraced it. Then, they began to glide across the oily sea at an extremely fast speed, passing another similarly shaped galley and greeting it.

But at a glance, nothing could be seen except for this strange ocean and the sky above. Although the sun was shining brightly on the sky, it was still black and filled with stars.

Soon after, a rugged coastline composed of jagged mountains gradually rose ahead of the galley, and at the same time, Tierra saw a city—

The city was filled with unsettling gray towers, whose leaning, crooked appearance, their clustered arrangement, and their windowless construction all made the prisoner uneasy.

As the coastline drew closer, the city's chilling stench intensified. Meanwhile, Tiera saw vast forests growing on the jagged mountains, and some of the trees in those forests clearly shared a common ancestor with the solitary Moon Tree in Earth's Enchanted Forest.

Those tiny brown zugs use the sap of this tree to brew their unique and delicious wine.

When the sailboat docked in the harbor, Tierra could already make out the figures moving on the stinking dock ahead—

Or rather, they are monsters, because they are not human at all, and don't even look like humans.

If Tierra hadn't already seen the image of this monster in Merlin's notes, she probably would have vomited by now—it was a shock from an ugliness completely different from her own worldview.

They were huge, slimy, grayish-white creatures that could expand and contract freely.

Their appearance—though frequently changing—generally resembled eyeless toads, with a cluster of strange, trembling, short, pink tentacles growing from the tip of their blunt, indistinct snouts. These creatures busily trudged around the dock, occasionally using their forepaws to grab the oars and leap onto or off anchored galleys. Occasionally, one could see one of these beings herding a group of slaves with clattering footsteps. These slaves, in fact, resembled humans with wide mouths, very much like the merchants who traded in Dilas-Linli; only those without headscarves, clothing, and shoes looked somewhat different from humans.

Those creatures would unload some slaves—the foremen would test them by squeezing them, picking out the fatter ones—from the ship, and then nail them into huge crates.

The workers would then push these crates into low warehouses or load them onto huge, heavy covered wagons.

Those that were too thin were kept in cages, seemingly intended to be sold on the spot.

Tiera, on the other hand, spotted a familiar face, or rather, a group of acquaintances.

It was archaeologist Judy Wilson, mystic Adolkent, geography student Mitchell McGann, former KGB agent Sumarokov Romanov, and the local guide, Epani Abhiddin, ravaged by mysterious events—

Unlike their confident and spirited demeanor when they set out, they now sat pitifully in their cages, their eyes lifeless and their bodies filthy. Among them, former KGB agent Sumarokov Romanov had a large bruise on his left arm, clearly a sign of poisoning. Even so, he still clung tightly to the old briefcase in his arms—

Others also sustained injuries of varying degrees.

Their journey into the cave was relatively smooth, though fraught with danger, but all within their capabilities. The greatest dangers they faced along the way were getting lost and running out of food.

But when they came out of the cave—

When they arrived on the Cold Plateau, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse—

Before the group could even celebrate, they were ambushed by Leng Zhu—

It was a huge, purple spider with sharp fangs and a strong body—

Although the group managed to kill it with their combined efforts, they also rendered their most capable fighter, former KGB agent Sumarokov Romanov, incapacitated.

Immediately afterwards, they encountered the residents of the Cold Plains who had been drawn by the sounds of battle.

What happened next is predictable: they were captured by the inhabitants of the Cold Plains and transported here—

However, because most of the team members were thin and frail, and their only tall and strong member was seriously injured, even though they arrived a few days earlier than Tiera, no moon beast was willing to buy them.

“You’re in luck,” Tiera said with a smile, then gently reached out and grabbed—

The archaeological team in the cage vanished instantly, and at the same time, the tattered suitcase appeared in Tiera's left hand.

Tiera waved her right hand again, and a large, thick book appeared under her right armpit—

Right after he finished doing all this—

Behind Tiera appeared a native of the cold plateau—

“Human,” said the inhabitant of the cold plateau, “the High Priest is willing to accept your offerings.”

"Regarding the matters concerning the pillar bronze, the flowing silver, and the sky gold, the priesthood wishes to discuss them with you in detail face to face."

“Of course, no problem.” Tierra nodded and said, “Please lead the way.”

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(End of this chapter)