My great thanks toTodaBruh, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
The Hunter's Dream, meeting of the Gods.
"Errr… Aeon, are you okay?" asked Lucy, sending a concerned glance at the twitching eyebrow I had as I continued to stare at the next person in the booklet.
Giving her a dry look, I turned the booklet around for her to see what I was looking at.
Lucy frowned, stared, blinked once, then stared again.
"... Huh."
"Yes. Huh indeed." I said flatly, before sighing.
Seeing that Aza and Xada had more or less finished talking, at least for now, I spoke up, gathering everyone's attention back on me.
"Alright, if that's fine with you, we should probably keep going, as we're not quite yet done here." I said.
Aza and Xada shared a glance, but after a moment Aza turned back and nodded at me with an apologetic smile.
"Of course, beloved. Sorry about… all of this."
"It's fine." I reassured both her and Xada. "There was a lot that needed to be said… and a lot more that still needs to be said, I'm sure." I finished, giving a pointed look at Xada who bowed her head slightly in agreement and obedience.
"Alright, time to start the more problematic servants, now." I declared, making Aza tense ever so slightly, her expression hardening at my words.
Still, she said nothing, though she did walk up to stand by my side.
Oooh, someone was feeling protective. How cute!
With an amused smile that did not go unnoticed by the goddesses present if the slight looks of amusement on their faces, and mild embarrassment on Aza's, was anything to go by, I opened the next portal.
To be greeted instantly by the sounds of battle.
"Come, lowly gods, and face your death! I shall bathe the Cosmos in your blood!" screamed ared-head womanwearing very little whilefightingsome kind of eldritch creatures.
Red Sonja, Huntress of Gods, declared the booklet.
Kass stepped forward, sending a long look at the woman.
"You've probably heard of Old Man Henderson, the mortal that killed Hastur for a while? Well, this is his much older female equivalent. The woman known as Red Sonja is a freak of nature, an ancient human warrior that ended up warped to another part of the universe millenia ago. Somehow, despite being completely human and with no divine blood or blessing to speak of, she survived on a world filled with lesser eldritch creatures. Killing and feasting upon so many of them for so long has caused her to develop immortality and the power to teleport to other worlds. She has killed many Elder Gods and even a few Great Old Ones in her apparent never-ending quest to hunt the very Gods of Reality like common beasts."
She turned to look at me. "Yog has foreseen that there are only two ways to stop her rampage. One is for an Outer God to kill her (and most likely whatever planet she's on). The other is foryouto defeat her. Being a human turned Eldritch, she'll respect you enough to obey you, if you win. If you lose, she'll kill you."
I looked at the woman for a moment, studying her and her foes.
"Those are Dholes she's killing, right?" I questioned.
"Right now, yes." answered Kass. "Which is good for us this time, since they are something of a plague on Reality. Worms with no more intelligence than particularly smart animals, they spread on worlds, breed with abandon, consume every resource on that world, and then die off from lack of resources. Space locusts, but in worm form instead. No one knows where they originally come from, and while they are far from an out of control threat, they are still world-killers that are a pain to deal with once they start breeding on a planet."
I nodded. "Well, I'll leave her to it for now. She's a problem, but Eldritch Gods don't stay dead anyway, and I can make her kneel in an afternoon of work at most."
"If you were weaker I'd tell you to be cautious, but…" Aza spoke up, hesitating before shaking her head. "Well, she's no Saitama. As strong as she is, she's going to fail utterly against you."
"To be fair, Saitama is a very special case." I pointed out, with Aza muttering to herself "And thank Eternity for that!" with relief.
"Either way, I'll deal with her soon, but for now we might as well leave her to her battle. She's essentially doing community service already by killing those things." I decided, closing the portal.
Gotta admit, having Red Sonja as a Hunter of the Dream would be amazing…
Even if the part of me that was a Hunter from Yharnam flinched and shuddered at the thought of wearing so little in battle.
Seriously, having to walk through the rivers of blood full of rotting corpses of Yharnam without a damn good pair of boots alone was the kind of stuff nightmares are born from.
And let's not even get into all the blood and gore that naturally drench you from head to toe in battle, or the lack of protection from claws and bite marks, or…
Honestly, how was this woman not dead from all the diseases, parasites and more in existence at this point?!
She wouldn't last three days in Yharnam without going mad, dying, or being mutated by all kinds of stuff.
Shaking my head while imagining Red Sonja with tentacles replacing her head, weird parasites for limbs and worse, I decided to just move on from this insanity.
As Gerhman put it, "Don't think too hard about all of this."
Sometimes, that's the only way to avoid going mad trying to find sane answers where there are none.
Instead, I opened the next portal, peering through it to see-
Hm.
Nowthatwas quite the conceptually unique being…
The Eldritch Goddesses around me flinched or at least winced at the sight of theyoung woman in a white dresslooking sadly at the dead eldritch being facing her.
Barana, the Reverse Eldritch, announced the booklet.
"Poor thing. I tried to warn him, I really did. But I'm always too late…"
The woman paused, then turned to look at me through the portal.
"Hm? Have you come for my head, God of the Eldritch?" she inquired, not looking perturbed by the idea of her own death at all.
Kass hesitated at the sight of the woman, then sighed.
"Barana is a lovely, sweet woman that wouldn't hurt a fly. In fact, she's well-trained in healing all things: plants, animals, humans, and even the Eldritch. However, she has an unfortunate (for us) power that causes the minds of Eldritch creatures to become closer to humans while near her. The result is a slip into insanity and overwhelming grief that often ends in suicide."
She sighed.
"Eldritch Gods are more resistant to it, but it makes even us uncomfortable and can affect our Incarnations and Avatars as if they were common Eldritch. Yog has deigned to give you knowledge of a secret concerning her, one that not even Azathoth knew: if you take her head-"
"I'm gonna stop you right here." I deadpanned. "I'm not going to take the head of an innocent woman, just because I can presumably use it as a weapon."
I shook my head. "I don't need to, anyway. I'm more than capable of creating magical artifacts capable of doing the same, or even stronger, with ease."
That revelation caused a ripple of discomfort among the Eldritch Goddesses, except Aza who if anything seemed utterly unsurprised.
Then I looked back at the woman, and stepped through the portal.
That made Aza twitch, but she visibly held herself back from saying anything.
Barana's eyes widened at my coming, however I spoke first before she could misunderstand my purpose.
"Would you like me to remove that power, Barana?" I asked, calmly walking forward.
I could vaguely feel something on my mental walls as I came closer, but my own nature as a God of Humanity easily protected me.
She blinked, seemingly stunned, either because I showed no hint of discomfort at her presence, even when I stopped right before her, or at my words.
"I… do you really… Can you?" she stammered, before looking hopefully at me.
I nodded. My Eyes saw theTruthof her Existence, and because of that, I couldspeak.
"ANOMALY: Truth=0"
Barana staggered, feeling her soul change as I rewrote her very conceptual existence to no longer be an Anomaly in the fabric of Existence, and instead be a standard, if immortal human being, one exceptionally gifted in the healing arts.
Then I frowned, considered the potential risks for her if she had no way to defend herself from vengeful Eldritchs, andspokeagain:
"BLESSING: Peace"
Barana blinked rapidly. "What… What did you do?!" she gasped.
"I rewrote your existence on a conceptual level so that you wouldn't bring harm upon Eldritch beings." I answered. "Then I figured the least I could do was give you something back, so I gave you a blessing next."
I smiled wryly. "My first wife is much better aligned with the concept ofPeacethan me, but I can still use it without issue. With my blessing, no harm will come to you, or anyone around you: the very act of being harmful towards anyone will be impossible. Moreover, you will be able to more easily find the right words to ensure a peaceful resolution with anyone that would have had harmful intentions. You now are, quite literally, a bastion of Peace, ensuring both a lack of conflict and the possibility for lasting harmony between people wherever you go."
I winked at her. "A much more fitting power for you, don't you think?"
Barana stared at me in shock, but after a few seconds recovered and bowed deeply. "I… Thank you for such immense kindness, God of the Eldritch! I promise that you will never regret showing me such mercy!"
I nodded. "Then go forth, and be the healer that you were meant to be, whether that healing be done upon the bodies of people, or upon societies as a whole. Show all worlds that Peace is always an option, if only they would allow it to be."
Barana straightened and gave me a blinding smile of joy. "By your will, Great Lord."
I chuckled. "Yours, Barana. This is the path that you have long chosen for yourself, I merely… gave you the right tools to help you succeed. The rest is up to you, now."
I gave her a respectful bow of the head. "Until we meet again, Barana the Healer."
She gave me a deep bow, a gentle smile on her lips. "Farewell, my Lord."
Before going back to the portal however I turned towards the corpse of the Eldritch being, snapping my fingers and bringing him back to life with a gasp.
"Your first patient." I told Batana with a wink before leaving and closing the portal behind me, leaving her to her work and latest patient.
The Eldritch Goddesses stared at me, before Yog spoke up, eyes narrowed.
"I'm starting to understand how your powers work, though the fact that they do at all is just…"
She shook her head. "A mix of Conceptual magic and Divine Authorities based on the Concept of Truth. You quite literally rewrite Reality by declaring that 'This is the Truth, therefore it can only be so.' Gods can use Divine Authorities to do the same, but on this scale and with such skill and precision while wielding Universal Concepts, that's…"
She fell silent, but the message was clear: it was essentially a cosmic first for any God to be so skillfully capable of rewriting Reality.
Naturally, I merely smirked at her. "So what you're saying is that I reject your reality and substitute it with my own?"
She snorted. "I'd be annoyed at you meme-ing at me, but honestly that is literally what you are doing, yes."
I chuckled. "Well, there is areasonthat Azathoth reacted as she did to seeing my True Self."
Unnoticed by all except me, Aza, and perhaps Yog, Xada nodded, a knowing look on her face as she visibly remembered what she had seen when she looked into my Eyes.
Lucy, however, merely scoffed in amusement. "Figures that, in a contest of will between you and Reality itself, you keep winning. You've always been incredibly stubborn."
"I prefer calling it 'Determined'." I cheekily replied.
"Hmm. And will thisdeterminedman keep doing the impossible, today?" Lucy questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"But of course!" I exclaimed. "I get to show off to the literal God-Queen of Reality itself, after all!"
Aza blushed. "You don't have to, you know?"
"Ahh, but I want to!" I shot back. "It is one of the greatest joys in life for a man to show off how great he is to the woman he loves, after all!" I said with a sage air.
Aza blushed harder, even as a delighted smile crossed her lips.
Lucy rolled her eyes at the corny reply, muttering under her breath about "Men", but there was a fond look in her gaze.
Focusing back on the Booklet, I mentally added 'Besides, I earned Oedon's love by going through the Hell that was Bloodborne. The least I can do is show off a little for Aza here and now.'
In any case, I opened the next portal, which showed-
I froze, my eyes narrowing dangerously.
The goddesses around me shuddered as a hint of the same power I released when I first saw the mad goddess of Blood returned. Not on that level yet, but distinctly carrying the same feeling of anger and that feeling of incoming violence ready to erupt at any moment.
There, on the other side, was a woman in some kind of near full-body black suit, with her eyes covered and only her lower face showing, a round symbol protruding from behind her head, holding with one hand a terrified man bound and helpless, and in the other some kind of energy dagger in the form of the symbol from her back.
The Servant, announced the booklet, giving her no name, merely a title.
The woman paused, her gaze settling on me despite the suit covering her eyes, at which point she violently shuddered and then quickly looked away, a feeling of all-consumingAwefilling her.
And then she spoke, and the air around me turned colder and more deadly at every word uttered.
"The Great She has a Great He now? Wonderful! I shall sacrifice an entire city for this wonderful occasion! Starting with this one…" She declared with zealous delight.
The portal froze, and for a long moment I stared into the zealot casually speaking of mass human sacrifice and about to perform one right in front of my eyes, saying nothing.
My gaze turned towards the terrified man, finding exactly what I didn't want to see: an innocent man, with no real sin or crime to his name.
For a long moment I observed the scene, before speaking up.
"Explain."
There was no warmth in that word. No life, no emotion. There was only aVoid, threatening to consume all.
The goddesses around me took a step back, a look of fear flashing through most of their faces at the sheer coldness and power contained in that single word.
Even Lucy shivered, wincing at a part of me she rarely had to see… The part of me that had grown with every horror I saw done by the Healing Church in the name of Religion.
Kass, to her credit, marshaled her courage to speak up.
"The Servant. That is literally the only thing she goes by. She's a great practitioner of magic and an utterly devoted cultist of us Eldritch Gods. There's the problem though, she thinks we're all exactly like Lovecraft and others wrote us as. Granted, some of us are, but they are the minority. She nearly killed the last cultist that tried to point out her mistaken impression of us, taking them as someone trying to turn her against her gods' way."
The air around me turned cold enough that the grass began to be covered in frost, unnatural whispers beginning to echo around us, and Kass gulped and quickly began speaking again.
"She… She makes torturous rituals with victims of all types: men and women, children-" She gasped, alongside the others, as a pulse ofVoidburned at their very Divinity and souls, the spot I stood on having all the grass disintegrated instantly.
"CONTINUE."
Kass looked pale, as the single word distorted reality in unnatural ways that made even her flinch, the local space-time beginning to fracture under my growing anger, a pressure washing over every gods present, except Lucy, powerful enough to make them shudder under it.
Aza and Xada bore it the best, though even they were rather pale. They looked more worried for me than themselves however, and Aza opened her mouth to say… something, but Lucy put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head gently.
Finally, Kass spoke again, though slowly and fearfully.
"The rituals are, regrettably, very effective and why some gods stand up to defend her and make use of her. She believes she's blessed, but she's actually just a very powerful Eldritch mortal halfbreed. She has a cosmic sight that lets her see life and energy itself, hence why she has taken to 'masking her eyes to the false world', as she puts it. She… doesn't believe that you're a former human, but a god that was reborn as a human for a time-"
"ENOUGH."
Kass closed her mouth with a snap, trembling slightly.
The pressure increased… then decreased more.
My voice turned softer, but only partially.
"None of you have made use of her services." I spoke, knowing theTruthof the matter from my True Self.
A moment later however, the pressure increased again, as I contemplated this… disgusting living flashback from Yharnam, this embodiment of all that I hated in religion and Humanity.
"BUT A STATEMENT MUST BE MADE. YOG. YOU HAVE THE LIST OF NAMES OF THOSE GODS WHO DEFENDED AND MADE USED OF HER?"
The words weren't a question, and Yog was wise enough to not consider it as such.
With a gesture of her right hand, a list of names appeared in it, before she gave it to me.
Without looking away from the sight before me, I telepathically took hold of it, compared it to what my True Self told me, and nodded, erasing the list from existence a second later.
Without another word, I stepped through the portal.
With a wave of my hand, I banished the man back to his home, without memories of what had happened to him. No need for him to live traumatized for the rest of his life.
The woman, on the other hand, I froze in Time and put my hand on her face, using the link between mortal worshiper and patron gods to lock on every Eldritch Deity connected to her in favor of the mass sacrifice of innocent people, and then Ispokeagain.
"IN THE NAME OF AZATHOTH, I, AEON, CONSORT OF HER CELESTIAL HIGHNESS, PASS JUDGMENT UPON THOSE EVIL WRETCHES WHO THRIVE UPON THE SUFFERING AND DAMNATION OF MORTAL SOULS DESTINED FOR PARADISE. FROM NOW ON, THE SACRIFICE OF INNOCENT SENTIENTS IS ILLEGAL THROUGHOUT THE ELDRITCH PANTHEON AND KINGDOM, UPON PAIN OF DEATH AND DAMNATION (FOR MORTALS) AND CONCEPTUAL ANNIHILATION (FOR GODS)."
My words echoed across the Multiverse, aLAWthat inscribes itself upon Reality.
And with those words spoken, it was time to send the second half of my statement to Reality about how things were going to work from now on.
With both my Eyes showing nothing but twin Black pits of theVoid, I reached out and passedJUDGMENT.
"EX NIHILO: NAMED GODS=0"
Reality convulsed as I reached out, seized hold of the very souls of the Elder Gods and three Great Old Ones who supported and made use of the woman, and then conceptuallyannihilatedthem utterly.
The Eldritch Gods don't ever truly die. That was the accepted Truth in this multiverse. A Truth that was almost impossible to cheat or overcome. Always, always, something would ensure that they would survive. Damned to a half-dead existence, sure. Reborn entirely without memories, sure. Even Old Man Henderson didn't truly kill Hastur, in the end, as the Crawling Chaos intervened, made a deal, leading to Eli Burning and his new girlfriend.
And yet, on this day, I broke that Truth. Shattered it like twigs in my hand. True, I couldn't do the same for the greatest Eldritch Gods. A sufficiently powerful Outer God was… Well, beyond even me to erase utterly. But mere Great Old Ones? Elder Gods? Those had no such cosmic weight.
What wasEx Nihilo? What did it mean? Simple.
I was the writer of a story deleting my own work. Erasing part of the book. Something from "outside" which simply tore out a few pages of text making up Reality.
And here, now, I did just that to that which was thought inviolable. To beings which should, by local rules, be "Eternals."
But I knew better. Mother Kos died her True Death at the hand of Gerhman and his Burial Blade. The mere memory of that act made the blade one of the deadliest weapons in existence.
Reality was a Dream. And like any Dream, most of its existence was fuzzy at the edges.
Eldritch Gods were never meant to be anything else than core parts of the Dream. That was why they were called "Eternals".
But Dreams could be manipulated, if one knew how. This reality had the Dreamlands, a perfect representation of that Truth.
And so, Reality convulsed, but bowed to me all the same. A dozen Eldritch Gods, beings thought to be eternal and forever, were ripped away from Reality, consumed by the Void-MyVoid- until nothing was left.
They didn't even get to scream, for to scream was to exist. They didn't have that much.
Me banishing the "Servant" to Hell for punishment and, eventually, reincarnation was almost an afterthought at that point.
I was not against humans, or sentients in general, being sacrificed. But they needed to be evil individuals executed in the name of Justice, not innocents worthy of Paradise.
They should be monsters sacrificed to show the glory and righteousness of the Gods, the ultimate victory of Good against Evil, the victories of mortal champions against their Damned counterparts, or the likes.
Give me rapists, mass murderers, slavers, demonic cultists, and more.
Let their lives be extinguished upon Holy Altars, let their Evils be burned away before the cleansing fires of purifications.
Let their deaths be a force forgood.
Never,ever, the Triumph of Evil, and the death of Innocence.
I took a deep breath.
To see this vile reminder of Yharnam here, of all places… after seeing the benevolence in the local Eldritch Gods…
It felt much like the other shoe finally dropping.
Still. This was, ultimately, a win. A message had been sent, a statement made, the Damned punished as was only right.
And, for the first time, I actually made use of my Authority as King of the Eldritch.
Using it to slay evil gods and pass a law making illegal the ritualistic sacrifice of innocents were, all things considered, a perfectly acceptable first deed as Ruler.
Turning around, my eyes returning to their normal balance of light and dark, I went through the portal and closed it behind me, even as I stared at the slightly fearful goddesses before me-
"So, are you done putting the fear of you into the locals?"
-and then I gave a dry look at Lucy, who looked thoroughly unfazed.
She raised a hand. "I'm not going to say it wasn't warranted, or that you didn't do some good just now, but you can't tell me it wasn't overly-dramatic."
I grunted. Bah, no sense of proper presentation. I'm the new King of the Eldritch, I'm meant to be big and terrifying when angered!
Instead of deigning to give the uncultured lost cause I regretfully called one of my wives more of my attention, I turned towards Yog, who stiffened slightly at my attention upon her.
Then I smirked. "So, do you still doubt that I have the firm authority to act as King when I must?" I questioned, referencing the time where she cast doubts upon my willingness to be firm as a King, when needed.
Yog visibly recognized what I meant, as her mouth dropped open in shock before she snorted softly, shaking her head. "No, I very much donot."
"Good." I replied, before turning to look at Azathoth.
I gave her a wry smile. "Sorry about what just happened and me making that Law, but-"
"She thought you looked absolutely awesome." bluntly interrupted Xada.
Azathoth flushed, whirling towards Xada, who laughed.
"Come on, we're linked, I know how much you wanted to jump his bones when you saw him act like an actual King passing Judgment!"
"Damn you Xada, on which side are you on? You're not supposed to reveal that!" hissed Aza, who suddenly looked anywhere except at me.
So naturally, I stepped behind her, lifted her up and hugged her, earning a shocked "Eeep!" from her.
"Aeon-"
"I'm sorry I worried you." I said softly, making her stiffen. "I don't blame you for this. Frankly, you have so much more to look over across all of Reality than a single woman in a single world. I just… this brought back bad memories, and I had to act. I couldn't do nothing when I sawthathappening right in front of me."
"Why was she even on the list, Yog? Surely you had to know that he wouldn't react well to her?" questioned Shub, who still shuddered slightly at the memory of my power when I was angry.
"Well, to be honest that list was meant to be people of interest to him. And well, she was certainly someone he needed to learn about quickly, especially if this was his reaction to us being forward about her existence." Yog replied with outward calm, though I could feel much more bubbling behind her calm facade.
She was just as spooked by what happened as the others.
Still, for now I focused on Azathoth, who at my words relaxed in my arms and sighed.
"I'm sorry. I try to keep the worst of my people in check, but I'm far from Omniscient, and…" she trailed off, a look of shame on her face. "To be honest, it took me a long time to really decide to start coming down on the more cruel deities and supernatural beings. I…"
She trailed off, but I understood.
The tragedy of what happened to Xada's world was part of why she became much more firm in controlling the worst evils in existence.
I hugged her gently. "Then we can do it together. We can make things right together."We can prevent a second Tragedy of the Shan together, I mentally told her.
Aza's eyes hardened, a measure of her own cosmic might slipping through for a second in response to her feelings.
I wonder what the somewhat panicking goddesses around me would think if they knew the mere flash of her eyes held more raw power in them than the full amount of power I used against the evil Eldritch Gods.
A good reminder, if nothing else, of what the smaller-looking woman in my arms truly was. Any outwards show of weakness was mere deception from the truth of her very real overwhelming divine might.
"Yes." She swore, voice hard and determined. "We will."
"Okay, that's very cute." admitted Yidhra, looking at us. "But can someone tell me what exactly just happened? Because I could swear that a whole bunch of Eldritch Gods ceased to exist entirely, which I'm pretty sure isn't supposed to be possible!"
"I'd really like an answer myself." muttered Kass softly.
"I… think I can answer that." spoke up Yog, though she paled slightly when we all turned to look at her… Or rather, when I did.
Obviously, my little stunt freaked them out just a bit.
She took a deep breath, then began speaking. "As I mentioned before, our new King effectively challenged Reality with his Truth. Using his own Authority as King of the Eldritch to pass judgment upon Eldritch Gods, he combined that with what is clearly a… very, very strong Authority conceptually linked with the Void. And then, he…" she paused, then visibly held back a shudder. "He rewrote Reality with the perfect mix of power and control in order to remove from it exactly what he wanted removed, and not a single thing more."
"Okay, but… Aren't Eldritch Gods meant to be Eternals?" questioned Kass, rather wide-eyed.
"Reality is a Dream." I interrupted, deciding to give an olive branch by explaining a bit more. "As a result, if you understand how it works, you can do things that shouldn't be possible. Or, as I put it: I reject your reality and substitute it with my own. And in this case, I made it such that I can erase Eldritch Gods on a conceptual level."
"That's…" Kass trailed off, but I could clearly see the mix of awe and fear at what I just did.
"It does have limits, though." I admitted. "I might be able to do the same for the weaker Outer Gods, but anything with real power, like you, Shub, are far beyond even me to affect like this." I said truthfully, giving a nod towards the Mother of a Thousand Youngs.
Those words visibly relaxed some of the goddesses, Yog especially considering the… complicated feelings she held for Shub, though the weakest goddesses present still shifted a bit uncomfortably at the thought of anyone capable of actually killing them for good existing at all.
I suppose that no one likes to discover that they aren't as invincible as they thought themselves to be.
But then, I was a God-slayer. Challenging the Gods and their belief of perfection came naturally to me.
And I wasn't blind to the side-effect this was going to have on Reality. It was one thing for Eldritch Gods to challenge me if they thought themselves immortal… Another entirely if I could actually kill them for good for defying me.
And with me having saved Aza's people first, along with others, my reputation was going to be interesting: both a savior of worlds… and a destroyer of Gods.
Heh. My True Self was really working hard in the background. Even me showing off the more terrifying parts of me with the goddesses present was a perfect way to both instill respect and fear within them.
"Right then, shall we move on? If there are more people in need of help, I'd like to help them out as quickly as possible." I declared.
"Quick question, Yog, the remaining people won't cause a repeat of… what just happened, right?" Shub asked, and Yog's smile froze slightly.
"Hm… I mean, probably not as bad?" she replied, flinching under the looks sent her way at her words. "Okay look, we do have problems we can use his help with, so we might as well be straightforward about them."
"Yog…" Shub muttered warningly, before I smiled… though it lacked the proper warmth of an actual smile.
"Well, let us see what other horrors the Eldritch Pantheon has up its sleeves, shall we?" I said, before opening the next portal, not letting anyone say anything.
I paused, relaxing. This… didn't seem like a problem that would make me want to smite anyone.
On the other side of the portal, awomanwearing little more than what Red Sonja did held a Scythe with one hand, while standing amongst countless rotting corpses. Since I could feel that she wasn't responsible, and was essentially just an embodiment of the concept of Death, this was actually a normal sight.
By the looks on some of the goddesses' faces however, I could tell there was more to the story than just a random embodiment of Death doing her job.
"Gods, Kings, soldiers, peasants, criminals… In the end, all come to me equally." the woman muttered, staring at the field of dead around her.
Amirga, the Reaperess, announced the Booklet.
Kass stepped forward, a bit more fearfully than before as she looked at me, but seeing me looking at the Reaperess calmly made her relax.
"Amirga is, in fact, an embodiment of Death. However, she is either a bit stupid or does not quite grasp what being Eternals means for us..." Kass trailed off, visibly considering what I just did mere minutes ago.
"Let me guess, she thinksshecan actually kill Eldritch Gods?" I asked.
Kass nodded. "Or at least, that we need some special circumstances to come back from death, instead of us naturally always coming back. That we need to be reborn, rather than us naturally reforming. We blame Cthulhu's situation for that."
"She hunts Eldritch Gods?" I questioned.
"Occasionally. As mentioned, she's under some delusions, or at least misunderstanding, of how Eldritch Gods work." answered Kass, before she shook her head. "We don't bother to hunt her down, as despite Amirga' arrogance, she remains wary of Azathoth, so our Queen never really had personal motivation to deal with her. Also, her mere existence helps prevent and suppress many zombie apocalypses across the universe, so she's more useful alive than dead."
Kass looked at the woman for a moment, before continuing. "Still, she can be replaced. All anyone has to do is take her scythe and stab her in the heart with it. Of course, she won't go down without a fight."
I hummed. I could go deal with her myself, but…
Yes, that could work. That could work quite well.
"Alright. I won't go do anything with her for a while yet, because I want an… old friend of mine to either defeat her and humble her, or kill her if need be." I announced.
Lucy looked at me curiously.
"Who are you going to send to deal with her? She's pretty powerful, so it'll have to be a Hunter."
I smirked. "Not just a Hunter, Lucy." I looked at Amirga for a moment. "But hopefully… TheFirstHunter."
Lucy's eyes bulged. "You want to-"
She paused, considered the situation, and blinked. "Oh. Oooooh. You sneaky bastard." she chuckled.
"She either dies and Gerhman takes her place… Or he ends up with a beautiful woman to take care of." Lucy shook her head. "Well, if Gerhman actually wants to come back to help you. That's the biggest hole in your plan."
I nodded. "I believe he will. A second chance to make things right? That stubborn old bastard would never pass that up. Also, just the chance of getting to talk to Maria again would get him out of his respite in death."
Lucy shrugged. "I've never met the man, so I'll take your word for it. Still, getting him to help you out will definitely be a big deal. That guy will earn a terrifying reputation in very little time if you unleash him on this Reality."
"I know. I'm looking forward to it!" I laughed.
Kass spoke up, looking confused, much like most Eldritch goddesses present… except Aza, who knew who I was talking about from my memories.
And she definitely had some wider eyes than usual as she contemplated letting the First Hunter have a go at the local universe, Burial Blade in hand.
"I'm sorry, but who are you talking about?" asked Kass.
"Gerhman, the First Hunter." I replied, voice soft with the weight of memories. "My old mentor."
Thatdefinitely caught the attention of the Eldritch goddesses.
"You had a mentor… I can't even imagine what kind of warrior he must be like." spoke Yidhra.
I looked her in the eyes. "The kind of man who, as a mortal man, managed to give True Death to an Old One."
The Eldritch Goddesses froze.
"Wait, you mean someoneelsemanaged to give True Death to an Eldritch Deity?!" exclaimed Kass. "Even if they were just an Old One, that's…" Kass trailed off, before blinking. "Wait, he did thatas a mortal?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes." I replied, feeling something between pride and sadness at the situation.
After all, the True Death of Mother Koss, for all the incredible feat that it was, is no event worthy of pride.
Quite the opposite. It was an act of such barbarism, such cruelty, that it helped give birth to the Death Curse of Mother Koss, and the creation of the Hunter's Nightmare.
Gerhman's feat was a full-blown miracle, but a poisoned one, one that only damned everybody, in the end.
Either way, it certainly awed the local goddesses, who began muttering about what exactly was in the waters of the world I came from. Sure, an Old One was the least of Eldritch Gods, as they locally are Eldritch Gods who lived within the Dreamlands, and are weaker than even Elder Gods, but again: Eldritch Gods aren't meant to truly die…ever.
Turns out, Hunters are just insane badasses by local standards.
It's just a pity that they also areinsanebadasses. Emphasis oninsane.
"Anyway, let's keep going. I have not forgotten what Yog said about my reactions to some of the next people." I spoke up, my words making some of the goddesses stiffen as if to brace themselves.
Aza actually stepped up to me, taking one of my hands and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry if not everything you see is something you like." she said sadly, as if the fact that evil existed was in itself her fault.
Which… No. No, not at all.
She may have created Reality, but again and again, I got more evidence that her control over it was far from perfect. There was no reason to blame herself for other people's actions.
Something I made sure to tell her.
Aza hesitated at my words, but I refused to let her feel guilty.
"The Servant being delusional was not your fault." I said firmly. "And neither were the evil gods being evil. They chose that for themselves. And don't tell me that you could have done more: you rule over a conceptually infinite multiverse, itself composed of conceptually infinite realms. You are not an Omniscient deity, so don't blame yourself."
I smiled. "Besides, you've got me, now. Andwewill make things right."
Aza stared up at me… then smiled brightly. "I love you."
I leaned down, kissed her, and then pulled back to whisper "I love you, too." to her.
Then, satisfied that Azathoth was now smiling happily, I opened the next portal.
And then I paused, stared, blinked, and let out a long, frustrated breath.
"Yoooog…" I grumbled, "You're really making it easy for me to get pissed right now."
Because, on the other side of the portal, was a nakedred-head womanwith chains around her feet and ankles, though said woman herself was not bound to anything… Or anything physical, at least.
The realm she was in was the prison, after all. Some kind of ruins in a pocket dimension outside the normal flow of the space-time continuum.
And one look at her let me know she was as sin-free as one can get.
Andihce, Mother of Monsters, announced the Book.
"In our defense, this is a case that is rather close to your past,Good Hunter." said Yog with a casual shrug that tried to hide the spike of concern she felt at me calling her out.
I gave her a look, then peered at Andihce with myEyes-
And then I froze.
Hatred mixed with pity in my heart at what I saw, swiftly replaced by determination.
"Ah. Yes, can see why you had to do this… Even if I don't have to like it." I scowled, though as much from the situation as to what Isaw.
"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with her." Yidhra said, looking curiously at the woman.
I grunted, before sighing and speaking up. "Andihce herself isn't dangerous. She's immortal but the real danger is her womb, which is conceptually indestructible because of Fate, and cursed to give rise to monsters, to-" my voice turned into a hateful growl at the next word. -Beasts."
Lucy paled, suddenly understanding why I would want to break out the Divine smiteagain.
Because taking an innocent human woman and cursing her womb to give birth to cruel, bloodthirstyBeasts, ones powerful enough to ravage entire worlds with ease, using the power of Fate to do so…
The part of me that was the Good Hunter really,reallywanted to go kill something for this horrific violation. Preferably a lot of something.
At least she was found and locked up before she had sex with anyone, because I shuddered at the kind of horrors she would have given birth to.
The fact that each of those births would have been agonizing did not help.
"Aeon-" began Aza, but I stopped her.
"It's fine." I said with a sigh. "Well, it's not, but you didn't do the curse. However, I can break it."
And on those words, I stepped through the portal.
The woman stared at me with curious eyes as I approached, trying to hide her body, but only barely, more like a token effort from once remembered values.
I snapped my fingers, clothing her in a beautiful red robe.
She gasped, looking down at herself with wide eyes, before I stopped before her.
"I'm here to help." I said gently, simply, before slowly moving my right hand towards her belly… or her womb, rather.
The woman visibly hesitated, then gave me a hopeful look. "Please. I don't want to hurt anyone." she whispered.
I mentally grimaced, not sure whether to be relieved that a good person bore this curse, so that she would welcome her own imprisonment for the sake of all worlds… Or pissed that an innocent woman had to pay the price of the cruelty of a sadistic deity.
And I knew who did this. Oh, I knew quite well, even if I have yet to meet said deity.
There was going to be a reckoning, both for her, and for the whole mess with the Servant.
Because there was one name on Yog's list that I had yet to punish.
But I would. Even if I had to start the second greatest fight in the Omniverse' history to see justice done.
Still, for the time being, I focused, andspoke.
"PRIME MEGISTUS: SHATTER."
A mass of foul, chaotic and vicious magic appeared above Andihce's womb, making her gasp-
Before my own power washed over it, shattering the curse like so much broken glass, falling away into dust.
As the greatest god of magic in existence, curses naturally fell under my purview, so shattering one was easy for me.
Especiallythat one. The conceptual advantages of being a God of Humanity, and being the Good Hunter, Slayer of Beasts, made this curse particularly weak to me.
But I could easily understand why Eldritch Gods would struggle with it. Magic wasn't actually something Eldritch Gods had any real god of true power ruling over, meaning they all more or less had nothing but their own skills gained over the ages to fight one another through magic.
And here, with the victim being human, and the curse being about beasts… Eldritch Gods simply had no natural conceptual advantages to help her out.
Until me, that is.
And considering justwhocasted that curse…
Yeah. Good fucking luck trying to shatter that damn thing.
Until, as mentioned, I came along.
Andihce stared with awe and disbelieving hope at her own body, a trembling hand going over her womb.
Feeling that she indeed needed a bit more magical help, just in case, I casted a minor blessing of conceptual "Humanity."
Then I nodded and straightened, satisfied. It wasn't impossible for something non-human to be born from her, but more likely than not any children she would have will be human more than anything else, no matter her lover.
"I'm… free?" she whispered in shock.
I smiled. "Yes. You are free."
Next thing I know, my arms were full of a crying red-head woman babbling her thanks.
Right, huh… Well, I usually would be very happy to have a beautiful red-head in my arms, but not when they are ugly crying like this.
I promised myself to add even more pain to the evil deity behind all of this, before getting to work comforting the poor woman.
At least I had experience with crying people, after all those years in RE!Earth dealing with the fallout of zombie outbreaks…
"You know, It's getting hard to decide what to feel about you when on one hand you keep helping people and saving whole worlds, and on the other you casually annihilate Eldritch Gods without a second thought." declared Kass, after I finally finished comforting a crying Andihce and Yog created a time clone of herself to free her from her current prison, since she was no longer a danger to anyone.
"I'm a dual-nature deity, I'm meant to save lives on one hand, and bring death with the other." I replied with a shrug. "It's just that I do the second to beings that most people think of as untouchable."
"Quite clearly, you disagree." noted Yidhra.
"What is the difference between gods and demons? Both hold power over mortals. The first are benevolent, the others malevolent. The day a god becomes malevolent however, they become demons in truth. And demons should be fought wherever their evil spreads." I declared firmly.
"That might make you many enemies." Remarked Kass.
"Good." I shot back with a wide smirk. "For it means my enemies fear me enough to fight me, rather than ignore me. And that means I'm making headway in changing things for the better."
Then I pointed towards Azathoth. "Also, it means she's going to be adorably angry on my behalf, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to see her kick ass and take names while I serve as her personal cheerleader." I finished cheekily.
Aza blushed, even as the goddesses around me started laughing.
"Aren't women meant to be the cheerleaders?" questioned Lucy with amusement.
I snorted. "My entirereligionis basically me pushing people into going to kick asses and wreck evil with their own two hands while I cheer them on from the Hunter's Dream, and occasionally give them help if needed."
Lucy blinked, then started laughing.
Honestly though, considering my own desires to see people become strong enough to solve problems by themselves, my religion really is all about me becoming the personal cheerleader of all sentient life, cheering people on from the Hunter's Dream while they go become Great by themselves.
I draw the lines at wearing a cheerleader's uniform though. I do have some pride, no matter how buried it all is beneath pragmatism and paranoia.
"Anyway, with that done, let's get to the very last servant in the booklet!" I said cheerfully, before opening the portal and-
And-
I couldn't help it.
I facepalmed. Hard.
"Fuckingdamn it, Yog! What's up with you and naked, bound red-head women?!" I shouted.
Yog waved her hands. "This has nothing to do with that!"
I silently pointed at the naked red-headed woman on her knees, with some kind of metallic restraints all over her body keeping her bound in that position. There were bindings on her feet, ankles, legs, on her knees, on her arms, wrists and even fingers, on her neck…
It'd be easier to find places where thereweren'tbindings than placeswithbindings. Which, fair, did a good job of hiding the woman's body, but still!
Anga, Twilight of the Gods, announced the Booklet.
Yog blushed. "Look, it's not my fault they happened to both be red-head!"
Shub blinked slowly. "I'm suddenly relieved I'm not a red-head." she muttered, which made Yog somehow both blush harder and pale at the same time.
I grumbled. "Okay, Kass, lay it on me, what is going onthistime?"
Kass raised her hands placatingly. "Let us be clear: This was all done on Yog-Sothoth's direction, insistence, and perhaps even fear. Anga is the current incarnation of a soul destined to bring Ruin to the gods. This might not seem important after all our talks of being Eternals, but we're talking about a mass death of all tiers of Gods, with most taking a supereon to get back to their current level. Yog has been seeing to her premature deaths for countless reincarnations, but Fate is fighting us now, making it harder and harder to kill her. Yog likes to use numbers sometimes, and often speaks of the possible futures in percentages. When left alone, Anga has a 90% chance of bringing about the Ruin, attempting to kill her bring the numbers to 75%, and this set-up bring it down to 33% when Yog felt it was safe-ish enough to stop panicking."
I sighed, but understood the logic well enough. Sacrificing one life to save countless, well, I couldn't say I didn't understand.
I didn't have to like it, though. And I very much didn't.
Thing was, I had an idea on how to help things, but…
Ilookedat Anga.
… So, good news, it would work.
Bad news, it would definitely freak out most of the goddesses present.
Right then. Most of my servants weren't meant to become so literal, but in this case…
"Alright, give me a minute, I need to stop holding back for this one." I declared, walking through the portal and then closing it behind me.
I could feel them jerk and start shouting when I closed the portal, but I still did it, and made doubly sure that not even Yog could reopen any around this place.
I needed to do this with just me and Anga. This would definitely freak them out badly otherwise.
Well, maybe not Aza, but the others,definitely.
Walking up to the bound, kneeling woman, I took off the blinders and the metal bits keeping her mouth shut.
Our eyes met, and for a moment we stared at each other silently, before Anga smiled sadly.
"I don't want to hurt you, any of you. I don't hate you, not even for this." she declared, indicating her current circumstances.
I sighed. "You're a good woman. Many would not think or feel as you do."
My expression hardened, and I looked straight into her eyes.
I couldseeher future, could see the incredibly powerful Outer Goddess of Ruin she would become.
A goddess powerful enough to bring Ruin to countless other Outer Gods.
One that would become consumed by her powers. Turning what should have been a kind woman with an absurd amount of power into a force of nature that would destroy and kill countless before being finally put down.
"Do you know who I am?" I inquired.
She stared at me for a moment, before answering. "I believe that you are Aeon, the new God-king of the Eldritch. Even I heard of you."
"Correct. And I am… different from most Eldritch Gods. Capable of doing things that no other can." I explained, which was even mostly the truth, since only Oedon truly matched me… Mostly.
"And I see three ways I can get you free and out of here." I continued, which made her eyes widen.
"The first is that I take away your powers. All of your divinity, Authorities, all that makes you a threat. You will become a shadow of your former self in terms of power… But you will be free, and no one will fear you anymore." I told her.
She stared at me. "Can… Can you truly do such a thing?!" she whispered with disbelieving hope.
"I can." I firmly replied without hesitation.
Killing powerful Outer Gods was beyond me, but weakening them? Taking their power? Or simply making them unable to call upon their Authorities?
Since becoming King of the Eldritch, such things are child's play for me.
I was pretty sure that only Aza and Yog could resist me, at this point.
You'd think that would let me kill them next, but no. Weakening or binding Outer Gods was one thing, removing their very souls from existence another entirely. Reality itself just… fought back. Possibly Azathoth subconsciously protected Eldritch Gods from Annihilation, though even I wasn't sure. Maybe one day I'd know.
Point was, I could take all power away from Shub, but I could not kill her. At most, I could seal her somewhere or something.
So yes, taking Anga's Authorities away from her was something I could do, because my own Authority let me do that much.
"The second," I continued, "is that you swear your loyalty to me. No bidding or anything, just a simple vow of fealty. However, such a thing will still cause people to fear you, as there is nothing that will say you won't turn against me later on."
Anga opened her mouth, then paused, closed it, and visibly thought for a moment.
"And the third?" she finally asked.
I gave it to her bluntly.
"I bind you to me as one of my servants and Avatar."
She stiffened, and I kept going, holding her gaze with a firm, earnest look.
"No one will fear you turning against me. But by the same token, you will become an instrument of my will. A weapon, feared and respected both for whom her master is. You will kill those I want killed, bring Ruin to those I want Ruined utterly. But otherwise, you will be free to live however you wish, unless it directly clashes with my morals."
"I see." she said simply, visibly thinking hard.
She spoke up again after a moment. "If I went with the first or second option, what is stopping anyone from thinking I could still become a threat?"
"My word." I replied. "And my protection, if necessary."
She blinked. "You would go out of your way to protect me?"
"It's the least that I can do for the woman willing to sacrifice so much in the name of countless innocent lives." I replied firmly.
Anga stared at me for a long moment… Then took a deep breath.
"The third option, then." she declared firmly.
I blinked in shock. "But, that-"
"My King." she interrupted softly, but firmly, her eyes beginning to tear up. "I've lived in fear and horror ever since I discovered what I was meant to become. Do you have any idea of what it feels like, to know that you're the reincarnation of a woman killed by the gods countless times because she's destined to become a monster? I've met some of the Eldritch Goddesses. They aren't evil people. Far from it. And I'm supposed to kill them? Destroy everything they love? Even if they would eventually come back, I… I don'twantto become a monster. I don't want to have my name spoken with hate and terror by all life in the universe."
She choked up, looking at me with tears falling down her cheeks. "But I can't just… ignore it either. After so long, how can I just accept letting go of this power? What about all my past selves? Did they die for nothing? Just to buy time until someone could render me weak and I can try to pretend all of this never happened? I… I can't. Moreover, here you are, ready and willing to save me, to go out of your way to protect me even if others fear you for it, call you a fool and worse… Am I not supposed to pay you back somehow? After you would save my life, my very soul?" she exclaimed.
I grunted. "It's the right thing to do."
She gave me a watery smile. "Funny. You seem to be the only one who thinks that way."
I frowned at her. "And what's your plan? Becoming a leashed monster instead of a wild one? Yes, people will respect you for serving me, but they will fear you as well. And if I turn you against my enemies, even if each of them are pure evil, will you be able to live with that? I understand your desire to help me, as the one to save you, but surely-"
"Can this power be used for good?" she interrupted.
I stared at her.
Her expression softened, even as she kept looking at me straight in the eyes.
"Can this power, which I feared for so long, be used for good, if you were to be the one to control it?" she repeated her question.
I hesitated, but answered Truthfully. "Yes." I admitted. "Yes, it can. I could have you become a hero for countless souls across Reality."
"Then-"
"But that will make countless more fear you as a weapon I would control!" I interrupted her.
She fell silent, giving me a long look.
Then she spoke. "But my life, and deaths, would have meaning." she said quietly, but with unquestionable strength. "All the pain I went through… all the deaths… Everything I endured would become the price to pay to one day become a force for good for Reality." She smiled at me. "People can tolerate a great deal of suffering, so long as it has meaning."
I held back a flinch at those words. After Yharnam, I could never deny those last words without being a massive hypocrite.
Did I too, not suffer so much for the sake of my own quest for meaning in life? For giving my life purpose? What right did I have to question her own commitment to become a great force for good?
If I could turn the power of the Eldritch, which ravaged Yharnam, into a force for Good, why shouldn't I let her do the same with her power over Ruin?
I sighed, my own expression turning accepting. "If that is truly what you want, then so be it. But why trust me, a god you never met before, to guide you into not becoming a monster?"
She chuckled. "What fear should I hold for a god desperately trying to save me and guarantee my own happiness above all else?" she shot back.
I stared at her, then grunted. "Fine. I'll respect your Free Will on this."
There was little more I could say. As someone who suffered through so much for the sake of greater meaning and purpose, I could only accept her decision.
"Thank you." she whispered, a warm smile on her face.
I smiled wryly, before speaking again. "I'll warn you, then, that in order to bind you I'm going to have to shift to one of my Greater Forms, which is going to be…Overwhelmingfor you."
"Will it hurt?" she questioned without fear, merely curiosity.
"No." I said firmly. "But it will beoverwhelming."
"Then do as you must." she replied calmly.
I nodded once, then called upon my form the most conceptually related to the concept Ruin.
And Reality promptlyshattered into pieces.
Anga stared with a wildly beating heart at the god before her, who was about to finally save her.
Who, after so many lifetimes full of terror, was about to finally let her livefree.
For him, binding her might seems like the opposite of setting her free, but not for her. For her, who had lived for so many years terrified of what she could become… Terrified of the monster she was destined to turn into… this wasfreedom.
The chance to finally live free of fear. The chance to finally stop fearing the future. To finally be able to look forward to tomorrow. To actually have hopes, and dreams, and the security of knowing that she could work towards them without becoming a terror upon Reality.
The chance to become a force for good upon Reality… To actually become respected, and not hated? To actually be free of looking at herself in a mirror with pride, rather than horror?
She would giveanythingfor that chance. And so she would. She'd give herself freely, completely, because for once in her life she couldchoose.
And so, she did. If he could truly do as he promised, she would become whatever he wanted her to be, because at this point she would be his. It might sound strange to gain her freedom and immediately give it away, but not to her. Not when she would be the one to do so of her own Free Will. Not when, for the first time in so many lifetimes, she would get tochooseher destiny, claim a fate she decided forherself.
And really, what had she to fear of someone who sought only to save her? To let her live in peace, free to be happy?
Where all others sought to bind her, this man alone sought to set herfree.
For that, she could never repay him enough.
But she could certainly try her best.
She saw him take a deep breath, close his eyes-
And then Realityshattered into pieces.
Anga gasped, her eyes bulging in shock as all of her bindings disintegrated instantly, along with much of their surroundings.
Her eyes remained fixed upon the- the-the beingbefore her, whose vague humanoid form and features of darker than blackdarknessstared down upon her.
Space broke into pieces, Time stumbled and shattered, light ceased to exist and yet she could still see, matter disintegrated and suddenly she was floating within theVoid, and-
Destruction/Ruin/Death/Decay/Entropy-
Anga shuddered, feeling the weight of this- this God of pure, raw Nonexistence looking at her, feeling smaller and more insignificant than ever before.
Reality was a flimsy illusion, an easily shattered lie, her own existence was an easily forgotten Dream of no meaning, for the-
/Void/
-awaited beyond it, ever patient, ready to claim it all, consume it all as was its right, for it existed long before this shining Dream and would exist long after its end, and its victory was as inevitable as its existence was unquestionable.
The God reached out towards her, her mind turning fuzzy, her thoughts dissolving like so much mist into the air, her emotions, Dreams and Hopes decaying into nothing as the God gently took her soul, handling the insignificant creature that she was with the care reserved for the incredibly fragile objects, for in its hands all of her power meant nothing, and a single wrong move would see her undone completely, her very existence within Space and Time erased utterly such that Reality would have no choice but to rewrite itself to acknowledge she never existed in the first place.
The dormant power of Ruin stirred within her in response to the God reaching out inside of her, power enough to annihilate countless Outer Gods lashing out at the incoming being- only to be ignored utterly, her power barely having time to recoil before-
"EX NIHILO: AUTHORITY. SUBMISSION. FEALTY."
Her power submitted instantly. There was no struggle, not even the barest fraction of a second where the words which werenot spoken,could not be spoken,and yet were uttered all the samefound resistance.
Power enough to bring concern and doubts into the heart of the greatest of Outer Gods submitted before a being dwarfing it so utterly that the thought of any struggle was laughable.
The God,which did not exist,but existed all the same, but how could something exist beyond Reality?Seemingly satisfied, withdrew from her fragile soul, before suddenly-
Light. Space. Time. Matter. Energy. Dream/Reality-
Anga blinked, and gasped, and suddenly she could think and feel again, for shewas, and Realitywas, but of course they were how could it be anydifferent-
Her eyes met the gaze of the God before her, his left Eye showing only a deep darkness beyond any she had ever seenOr did she?Which felt soothing, a silent promise of eternalPeace and Tranquilityresonating within her soul.
It beckoned her, reminding her of something her soul longed toReturn to-
"Hey, it's done." came a gentle voice.
Anga blinked again, memories flashing through her mind and she-
She gasped, tears building in her eyes.
She could feel it. She could feel her power, the power of Ruin, but it was no longer roiling ceaselessly within the depths of her soul, threatening to one day consume her whole, instead it was-
Peaceful. As if it had found something which calmed it instantly. She could call upon it now, and it would answer readily, with a perfect level of control she could barely even imagine possible.
With a thought, she could as easily erase countless galaxies as she could disintegrate a single leaf upon a tree, or a single blade of grass swaying in the wind.
Staring up at the god standing before her, smiling gently, she felt her tears flow down freely as she contemplated that yes, it was truly over, she was free, even if she could feel the bindings between them she wasfree-
She threw herself at her savior, sobbing in his chest as she gasped out her thanks, his warm arms going around her body and gently rocking her back and forth.
So lost in her emotions was she that she completely missed him muttering to himself "Oh come on, that makes it twice today I get a beautiful red-head woman in my arms and can't even enjoy it!"
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Love Azathoth!
With this chapter, we're done introducing the servant from the list. This chapter has Aeon showing off quite a bit, since he's dealing with situations where he has to stop holding back to fix things.
Red Sonja is actually a rather natural part of the setting, since I'm pretty sure the writer of Conan was a big fan of the Eldritch Mythos. She's not an urgent issue to deal with, but Aeon is certainly going to enjoy challenging her to a fight sooner rather than later.
Barana is going to serve as one of the more peaceful characters aligned with Aeon, someone acting a lot like a wandering Jedi Knight, doing her best to bring peace to warring people, whether individuals or nations. Just, you know, without the glowing sword and being a complete pacifist backed by an Outer God's power to boot.
The Servant… Yeah, the moment Aeon heard the words "torturous rituals" and "children" in the same phrase was the moment he was going to smite some assholes. Ritualistic sacrifices of innocents already brought back memories of Yharnam and hammered the PTSD button, but that was just the point where he decided to go "Fuck it, Gods die today."
Amirga is one character that I'm planning on pairing with Gerhman. The old man deserves to move on, and frankly I like the idea of him and a scythe wielding Grim Reaper being together. It really fits, I think. Ironically though, Gerhman is already more terrifying to the local Eldritch Goddesses than Amirga ever was, because he's one of the few beings who ever successfully killed an Eldritch God for good.
Needless to say, the local deities are really starting to be freaked out by what kind of world Aeon came from, at this point.
Andihce is pretty straightforward, since all Aeon needed to do was break the curse to help her out. It's an important moment only in as much as that it really hammered some of Aeon's buttons, and added an element of plot for a character that has yet to show herself, the "mastermind" behind The Servant and Andihce. As for who said goddess is, it should be really,reallyobvious…
And finally, Anga. In which we get to see what God!Aeon looks like when he actually calls upon the full power of the Void. Needless to say, the only one who can look at Aeon and not start freaking out then is Azathoth, and of course Oedon. Everybody else would have been utterly terrified, as expected when something which considers all of the Omniverse as a very temporary, and very fragile, illusion shows up and starts wearing away at the fundamental existence of… Well, everything around itself. And yes,thatform is what Aeon meant by having a "solution" to the societal troubles in the Void…
Also! There will be Aeon creatingservantsfor himself soon enough. Speaking of which,if any of you have good ideas for the names of Aeon's creations, as in the people themselves, I'll gladly take any and all of them, because I'm really not the best at naming things.
I'd need seven names for the equivalent of Aeon' Archangels (With one tasked to watch over Life and Death, another with Destiny/Order and Free Will/Chaos, Light and Darkness, Knowledge and Ignorance, Space and Time, Good and Evil, and finally one for Magic and Technology), one for the sentient sword he's going to create out of combining the Burial Blade, The Holy Moonlight Blade and his own power, and any additional names can be used for secondary characters.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we get introduced to a new (and famous) daughter of Cthulhu, and then meet the prisoner behind the sinking of R'lyeh…