Author's Note: I neglected to mention last time where I got the name for Nyarlathotep's female alter ego from this story. It's based on the name of an Ancient Egyptian queen who may or may not of existed known as Nitocris. According to legend, Nitcoris's brother, Metesouphis II was betrayed and murdered by his subjects and she became the new queen (pharaoh). To avenge her brother's death, Nitocris ordered the secret construction of a massive underground chamber that connected to the Nile through a hidden channel. When this chamber was finished, Nitocris held an inaugural banquet inside it and invited those she held responsible for her brother's death, and during the meal she ordered the channel to the Nile to be opened and drowned every single one of the guests.
Sometime afterwards, Nitocris committed suicide by throwing herself into a burning room in order to avoid retaliation from the allies of those she had drowned. Nitocris was mentioned by name in passing in a couple of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, which is mainly why I chose to use an altered version for the name for Nyarlathotep's female avatar. Some of your reading may also be interested to know that Nitocris appears as a character in the Fate/Grand Order game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, nor do I own the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Chapter 21: Mother of Chaos
Most of the people who had been watching Asuna's battle from the tavern were suddenly becoming a bit confused by what they were seeing. They had no idea why Nytokris had suddenly called herself by the name, Nyarlathotep. To many of them, the name was totally unknown. To Kirito and many of his companions though, the name was all too familiar. Nyarlathotep was the name of one of the most infamous deities from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and it was the A.I. based on that deity who had taken the form of the man who had once seduced Leafa, Lisbeth and Sinon.
"I don't understand. How could Nyarlathotep still be running?" a stunned Leafa asked.
"Why the hell are you guys getting so freaked out?" Nikita asked.
"The short version is that Nytokris is actually that ex-boyfriend of mine that I told you about." Sinon explained.
"So… you're saying that same son of a bitch is playing as girl?" Nikita asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The person Sinon is talking about isn't even human." Siune explained. "It's an A.I. that's able to masquerade as a player. The first time we encountered it was when it was pretending to be a player called Donis."
"You mean that guy who started that weird Order of Yig guild a few months ago?" Lurga asked. "But wait, how could an A.I. like that even exist? I mean that'd be a pretty shady thing for the programmers to do."
"Nyarlathotep was created because of a virus that infected the game." Kirito explained. "The company behind ALO kept the whole thing secret, but that virus is what was originally responsible for creating a lot of the Cthulhu Mythos elements in the game."
"What I don't get is how Nyarlathotep could be back as Nytokris." Agil interjected.
"Yui, any ideas?" Kirito asked.
"I honestly don't know how this could be possible." Yui answered. "The Nyarlathotep A.I. is the most complex program I've ever seen. I suppose it's possible that it could've hidden itself from programs that could've been used to delete it from the system, but I don't know how it was able to do it."
"But that Azathoth virus thing was destroyed by Odin!" Lisbeth pointed out.
"True, but Nyarlathotep was a separate indipendant program the virus inadvertently created." Yui explained. "It would be entirely possible for such a program to keep running."
"But we took down Nyarlathotep ourselves!" Klein pointed out. "Sure Odin had to help us, but Nyarlathotep was wiped out."
"Then I guess he somehow re-spawned." Kirito assumed. "What I want to know though is what that thing is doing in the tournament."
"This spell with the black coral… that's not the kind of spell an undine can learn just anywhere." Nytokris remarked. "The only way you could've learned that is from the spell book of Great Cthulhu. I underestimate you, Asuna."
"How… how are you back?" Asuna asked. "My friends and I destroyed you!"
Nytokris laughed. "You did defeat me on Leng, but the power of you fairy folk isn't enough to destroy me. By the way, I hold no grudge against you for destroying Lord Azathoth. As a matter of fact, I'm glad to be rid of him. Though not having him around does make it a little harder for me to plunge this world into chaos."
"Why are you in this tournament?" Asuna asked.
"Well, as I just said, without Lord Azathoth's power I needed to come up with a new way to plunge the world into madness." Nytokris began. "I decided that the best way to do that was to breed a new race of gods, with me as the parent to them all. To do that though, I need breeding stock. So to find the strongest potential mates I entered this tournament."
Asuna was rather disgusted by the chaos deity's plan. "Okay, but you're a woman now too, right? Can't you just give birth to these gods you want to make on your own?"
"Well I can, sure." Nytokris answered. "In fact that's why I tried to seduce your darling Kirito before the start of today's matches. I'm sure his genes would've produced some very powerful gods. For the sake of efficiency though, I'd prefer to have multiple women act as the birthmothers of my children. Besides, I enjoy the act of inseminating other woman much more than the process of giving birth. Of course the process of getting impregnated myself is rather enjoyable. I don't know why I never tried taking the form of a woman millennia ago."
"If you think me or any of the other woman in this tournament are going to volunteer to give birth to your spawn, you're delusional!" Asuna declared.
Nytokris chuckled. "Don't be so sure, my dear Asuna."
With that, the silver-haired imp chanted a strange spell and the black coral that had been encasing her lower half suddenly shattered.
"By the way, I didn't actually mean any of the things I said about your dearly departed friend, Zekken." Nyokris revealed. "I just needed to get a rise out of you so that you'd come after me."
"Whether or meant it or not, that I know who you really are, I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done." Asuna declared. "That includes insulting Yuuki, and hurting Leafa and my other friends!"
Asuna and Nytokris charged at one another and began to clash swords yet again. Once again, Nytokris managed to force Asuna towards the edge of the arena. Asuna meanwhile was still finding it impossible to find any openings in Nytokris's defense, and she was fairly certain that her black coral spell wasn't going to work a second time. The blunette was pretty much out of moves.
"Just give up already Asuna and submit to me." Nytokris told her opponent as she continued to strike. "There's no shame in giving up when you know you're outmatched. Besides, I can make you experience pleasures beyond your wildest dreams; the kind of pleasures that you could never experience with that boy, Kirito."
"No way in hell!" Asuna declared as she blocked another one of Nytokris's attacks.
At that moment, Asuna used her other hand to punch Nytokris in the stomach. The silver-haired imp was caught totally off guard and knocked back a step by the attack. Asuna used that one second Nytokris was knocked off balance and struck the imp woman three times in the chest with her rapier. Nytokris screamed and flashed to negative colors as her HP went to zero.
Nytokris fell to her knees as she clutched her chest and looked up at her opponent with a mad grin. "Well done, Asuna."
Suddenly Nytokris burst into a ball of green flames that hovered in the air. The timer for the battle was then replaced by a holographic message declaring Asuna the winner. Asuna let out a sigh of relief as she sheathed her sword. A second later however, Asuna heard the sound of Nytokris's laughter from all around as the wind suddenly picked up. The ball of flames that had once been the silver-haired imp suddenly flared up to five times its original size and changed into a swirling vortex. Before she could do anything to escape, Asuna found herself being pulled into the vortex.
The holographic screens at the tavern that had been showing Asuna's battle had all gone to static as soon as Asuna had been declared the winner. Kirito and the others couldn't help but think that something had gone terribly wrong. After several more moments of static, an image of Lydia appeared on everyone's screen.
"Um, sorry for the technical difficulties that we seem to be experiencing with our feed." Lydia spoke. "The good news though is that we were at least all able to see the final outcome of the battle. The winner of the first ever Clash of Queens Tournament and our new Queen of the Fairies is… Asuna!"
The screen then cut to the image of some kind of green and gold throne in the middle of a large crystalline chamber with flower-covered vines growing up the walls. For at least half a minute the camera stayed on the throne, but nothing happened.
"Um… what's going on here?" Lydia's voice asked. "Where's Asuna?" The screen cut back to Lydia, who had a very nervous smile on her face. "Uh… well ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be having a little trouble bringing our star back here. It's nothing to be alarmed about though. I'm sure it's just a minor glitch. As soon as our skilled technicians get it all worked out, we'll be back to interview our new champion. For now, please stay tuned for the following messages."
With that, the screens cut to a sort of station I.D. for the VRMMO Stream site. As soon as an ad for a new game called Labyrinth World Online began to play, Kirito shut off the hologram.
"Something's very wrong." Lisbeth declared. "Where could Asuna have gone? What's happened to her?"
"Daddy! I think Nyarlathotep may have somehow attached some sort of quest flag to the tournament!" Yui theorized. "Or at least attached one to its Nytokris avatar."
"You mean you think when Asuna defeated Nytokris, she triggered some kind of event?" Kirito realized.
Yui nodded. "My guess is that mommy was transported to some other area of the game before she could be transferred out of the arena."
"But where could she have been taken to?" a worried Siune asked.
"If this really is Nyarlathotep… Kazuto! I think I know where Asuna's been taken to!" Leafa told him. "You and Yui have to come with me, quick!"
"We'll come with to!" Klein decided.
"I'm sorry, but I can only transport one other person besides myself to the place I'm talking about." Leafa explained. "Yui can come with because she's a navigation pixie in this game, but I can't take any other players."
"Then let's go!" Kirito told her. "Asuna's probably in danger!"
When Asuna awoke, she found that she was at the top of a tall freezing mountain under a dreary cloud-covered sky that cast everything in a grey twilight. As the wind swept through the mountain range, it created an eerie musical piping noise that sent a chill down Asuna's spine, for the noise was all to familiar to her. Asuna began to look around as she got back to her feet, and a few feet away to her left was a set of four ancient stone pillars, one of which was broken at the top. The pillars were at the corners of a round pool of steaming hot water. In the very center of the pool was a stone pedestal with a square top and strange runes decorating its four sides.
Asuna instantly knew where she was upon seeing the ancient pool. She had arrived at the Plateau of Leng, the site where she and Kirito had once fought Nyarlathotep as he attempted to bring forth Azathoth to corrupt the world of ALO. Asuna immediately drew her sword, for she knew that the fact that she was back at Leng and not back at the Crystal Stadium was a very bad sign.
"I apologize for the rough ride, my dear." Nytokris's voice spoke over the wind. "I think you can agree though that this is the best place for us to be alone."
"I'm sick and tired of these games of yours!" Asuna declared. "Show yourself!"
"But of course." Nytokris responded. "I should warn you though, you'll likely be startled by my appearance."
A massive pillar of green flames suddenly shot down from the sky and struck a spot a few feet away from where Asuna was standing. After a few moments, the flames subsided to reveal Nytokris in a new form. Her upper half more or less looked the way it normally did, only her tiara had disappeared and a pair of slender black horns grew from her forehead. Her forearms had also become covered by a thick grey exoskeleton, and her hands had been replaced by a pair of large grey pincers like those of a scorpion. The imp woman's lower half meanwhile had become like that of an insect, with four long grey legs and a large abdomen covered by a black exoskeleton. A red cursor appeared above the creature's head, along with five HP gauges. Right above the red cursor was the name, "Nyarlathotep the Chaos Mother."
"This is the true form of the avatar you know as Nytokris." Nyarlathotep revealed. "Of course I use the form you're familiar with to seduce men, as many of them wouldn't find this form appealing, but it's in this form that I give birth to my children. It's also the form I use to impregnate other women."
"And just how do you do that?" Asuna asked, not that she really wanted to know the answer.
Suddenly four green slimy tentacles burst out of Nyarlathotep's back. "I don't think I need to tell you what's hidden in the tips of these little appendages. Of course if you prefer, I can use my Donis avatar to impregnate you. I'm sure you'd find it more appealing, since that form looks so much like your darling Kirito."
"There's no way in hell I'd ever let you touch me in any form!" Asuna declared.
"If you're really that against our union, then all you have to do is defeat me and I'll let you go." Nyarlathotep told her. "Of course if I defeat you, you'll have little choice but to submit to me."
Just then a pillar of greenish-yellow light came down from the sky and struck a spot just behind Asuna. The light soon faded to reveal Kirito, Yui and Leafa.
"You get the hell away from her, you monster!" Kirito ordered as he drew Excalibur and the Master's Blade.
"Am I glad to see you!" Asuna declared.
"How the hell did you get up here?" Nyarlathotep asked. "Leng should be out of your reach!"
Leafa held up her arm to display an odd bracelet with an odd yellow crystal fitted into it. "You remember this, Donis? This is the teleport bracelet I received when we first came here to Leng together. With this, I was able to bring Kazuto and myself here to help Asuna take you out."
Nyarlathotep smirked. "You really are full of surprises, dear Leafa. Well, this actually works out even better for me. Both you and Kirito would also make excellent breeding stock to create my new race of gods."
"What's it talking about?" Kirito asked.
"Basically, it wants to knock me up with its child." Asuna explained. "The reason Nyarlathotep entered this tournament in the first place was so it could find some potential mothers."
"Could… could he really knock anyone up in this game?" a disgusted Leafa asked.
"I don't know, and I definitely don't want to find out." Asuna answered. "If we want to avoid that, then we have to take Nyarlathotep down right here and now."
"You can all struggle all you want, but it will do you no good!" Nyarlathotep declared. "The age of madness will soon begin, and you will be the ones to help bring it forth!"
Author's Note: Sorry of this story has suddenly gotten a bit "out there". I knew that this part would be weird no matter what way I did it.
Please review and let me know what you think.