The Fleshen Lord looked upon his court with many keen eyes, blazing with interest.

Many came before him and offered many, many things.

Relics.

Souls.

Concubines.

And so much more.

But it had been some years since one of his higher subjects entered this domain.

She came before his throne, crawling low on many mighty limbs, as others scampered before her terrible presence.

But the Fleshen Lord remained unbothered by the chaotic arrival in his lamellated hall.

He smiled and bid her welcome with his many mouths and many tongues.

She bowed and growled and pleaded so sweetly to him.

He rose, cloaked ever only in himself, and granted her desire.

From the floor around her formed bonds of pale ichor, that flowed and hardened around her.

They pulled her down.

Bound her.

Shackled and collared like mere livestock.

She didn't resist, her terrible majesty shrinking within his power.

The Master of Concupiscence stalked forward with a prurient hunger.

Her fecund divinity was made humble before him, looking up with a pleading need.

He reached down and grasped her by the collar, pulling her to him.

Yes, he would devour her again and grant her wanton request.

He lunged forward-

-And shot straight up in bed.

Issei blinked as he looked down and saw Aza sleeping peacefully.

Well, she was probably mentally elsewhere in the cosmos. True sleep wasn't something the Eldritch Gods indulged in so regularly. But she was as present as any other sleeping person would be.

"Well, that was a weird dream," Issei muttered, ignoring how the bed sheets shifted colors breifly. He didn't find it disturbing, not after everything else in his life, but it was...confusing. "Fantasizing about my future as a tentacle god, I guess."

"Master, are you well?" Nctosa and Nctolhu asked in sync, slithering up behind him, a head over each shoulder.

"Hey girls," he greeted with a smile. "Yeah, just an...interesting dream."

"You are aroused," Nctosa observed, eyeing the tent in the covers.

"Shall we attend you?" Nctolhu offered without hesitation.

Despite everything, he hadn't slept with these two yet; not that it wasn't enticing. Beautiful twin snakegirls? Even pre-Eldritch Issei would have jumped on that. But these two were very troubled and as much as he enjoyed having sexy girls serving him, he didn't want them to feel obligated to avoid being sent back to the Eye of Jupiter.

Which was to say, he was still getting a proper read on their emotional state. "Nah, I'll save this for later and wake Aza up with it," he said with a grin, rubbing Aza's rear, covered only by a sheet of blankets.

"Very well, Master," they both answered, pulling back slightly.

"Asia still asleep?" Issei asked curiously.

"Lady Asia went for a walk, Master," Nctolhu explained.

"Gactha is watching after her," Nctosa added in.

Issei nodded, just happy to know that Asia was having something of a life and not just staying hidden in her room. After all, she had literally been dropped into a whole new country and under their ...ownership? Guardianship? She belonged to him and Aza, that was the bluntest way to put it.

Not that they did anything to her. He wasn't an ass and Aza actually seemed to like Asia. And who wouldn't? Asia was one of the kindest people he met.

Drifting his mind away from that, he smirked at his sleeping girlfriend. Wife, really, but it felt right calling her girlfriend for this point, somehow. Still exploring their relationship and how it affected, well, reality. He leaned over to kiss against her neck, tugging the Great Dreamer to the waking realm, as he readied his holy rod for her sacred well.

Meanwhile

Shub-Niggurath. The Black Goat of a Thousand Young. An Outer God, so fundamentally part of existence that her death was truly impossible. Even if Azathoth ripped her asunder, Shub would still exist in some horrid manner.

Not that Azathoth would. Her grandmother and she got along very well.

All that said and done, one might assume that "fear" was almost foreign to Shub-Niggurath.

They would be wrong.

Fear was something she was very familiar with.

Her first time being pregnant, having children? That was terrifying. To have unknown creatures growing within you, feeding on you, draining you to grow themselves? Yet to feel the urge to let it continue? To nurture and protect those same creatures?

It was akin to being in love with a parasite even as it ate you alive.

It was only after the birth, after the pain and everything that Shub understood.

Motherhood, children, fertility, bearing life, and the unconditional love between a parent and their newborn.

To be willing, wanting to endure it all to bring new life forth.

It was terrifying the first time. It was amazing every time after that. Even the first time was wonderful in hindsight.

But with that came more fears. Fears of hurting her children, things far weaker and smaller than her almighty self.

Fear of something, anything else hurting them when they were still (relatively) defenseless.

Fear of their own poor choices coming back to haunt them.

Fear came with so many things about being a parent.

She didn't fear Aza, for Aza could allow for so much.

She knew the limits of Aza's patience and avoided them well.

The fear she had for Issei was new.

Because he was new.

She liked him. He made Aza feel wonderful, his ascension was so interesting and he connected so well with Eldritch big and small.

But he was also the Kungur. Their God-King, their Daemon-Sultan, their Eternal Lord.

And she could...feel Issei's eyes on her.

Not just his present eyes.

But the eyes of his from the futures.

She couldn't see through time like Yog.

But "space" and "time" were two closely related aspects.

And she could feel the weight of the Kungur staring at her from across space and time, some distant versions of him eyeing her in contemplation.

And she knew that though she was stronger than him now...

She shuddered at the temporal echo on her skin, feeling not-yet-crafted bindings on her skin, a yoke heavy on her bared neck.

...There would be a day when she was helpless before his might and power.

Not Aza's, his.

The Lenient Reign of Aza was coming to an end.

The Unknown Reign of Issei was creeping over the horizon.

For now, here she sat and rubbed the head of her slumbering minotaur child, bound in chains in some deep cavern.

"Shub?"

She looked up and solemnly met the eyes of Issei.

She did not know what his future gazes were truly like, what they held.

But she hoped they didn't change much, that those chocolate eyes still carried a deep measure of concern and mercy.

"Issei, Kungur," she greeted softly. "Aza had her servants bound him."

Issei didn't react to that as he approached.

"Do you intend to imprison him, somewhere far away, cold and alone?" Shub asked softly.

"Yes and no," Issei answered idly.

Shub tilted her head.

"I've talked to Yidrah. She's going to place him in a deep sleep after we take him to a labyrinth. He'll wake up if something is coming to hurt him, but he'll be out of it soon after," Issei explained.

Shub tilted her head the other way. "Why the sleep? Do you intend to curse his dreams?"

"No, nothing like that," Issei waved off. "I'm...honestly not sure how this next part gets done, but in the end, it'll probably work best for everyone."

"What will work? "Shub asked in confusion.

She stiffened even before Issei glanced behind her. She turned and saw Aza standing there with a smile.

And in her arms was a small child. Humanoid with pale lilac hair, covered in a blanket.

Shub knew her child anywhere, glancing down at the Igharta sleeping beside her, and the Igharta in Aza's arms. "Is that...?"

"Something of an incarnation," Aza said with a giggle, the child in her arms having empty, soulless eyes. "Tuned to him and ready for his mind to inhabit. With this, you'll be able to raise him and teach him a bit better. Issei thought it was good "punishment" for you, to manage your child like this."

Shub looked back to Issei and felt tears in her eyes. All of them, everywhere...

The yoke suddenly felt so comforting, the bindings so safe in their firmness. His gaze was heavy, not harsh.

...she bowed her head to the Kungur. "Thank you for this mercy, Kungur."

"Nah, it's nothing. I want everyone to get along if they can," Issei waved off with a smile. "All we have to decide is where we hide his normal form for...however long this lasts."

"I'm sure there are a few unused labyrinths or catacombs. Hmm, maybe we should have some of Shub's cultists guard it in your name, Issei?" Aza suggested as she passed the empty-child to Shub.

She smiled. Mindless, soulless though it might be, she could still feel the connection to her child. It was made for Iggy and Iggy alone to inhabit. It was, in essence, his human form. Just separated from his true form and power.

"In my name. You know, I'm getting used to the King-thing, but the God part still goes over my head sometimes," Issei said with a head shake.

"Speaking of all this, how are the Devils doing?" Shub asked curiously as she looked up. "I know you are hoping they deliver this Diodora before the ritual."

"They got him. Just going through the motions of interrogating him, get his side of things," Issei mused. "They also want to know what to do about the Cultist he took?"

"Oh, she lived?" Shub asked in mild interest. "Would you like to have her, Kungur?"

Issei blinked at the rather blunt offer. "I'll think about it?"

Aza giggled at his reaction.

Meanwhile

"What Do You Mean He Doesn't Care To See Me?!"

Diodora should probably have been quivering in dread but instead found himself frothing in outrage and anger.

"Lord Beelzebub was told of your repeated demands to speak with him," a stern, uniformed devil answered with a neutral frown, unmoved by the display. "His response was simply as I said, he does not care to see you. You have already confessed to the crime of attacking a cult of the Eldritch Faction, risking the ire of an Outer God."

"It was just a pack of cultists! Half-mad monkeys, they are more replaceable than dirt!" Diodora raged, slamming his hands on the table.

His powers rippled around him but quickly went out. Magic seals made this interrogation room impossible for low-ranking devils to escape through magic attacks, and it would take considerable effort for high-ranking ones to use the spells. Only the most elite could escape this.

While Diodora reasoned he could likely do so, he also knew it would be suicide to try it and risk the direct wrath of the Satans.

"That's not how their Goddess felt," the interrogator said bluntly, turning to leave the room. "You'll be taken to your cell shortly."

Cell!? Cell?! Like he was some common thug or beast!? The indignity, the disrespect. Oh, how he wanted to make these lowlifes pay for their treatment of his noble blood.

He didn't know what to think anymore though. Had the Eldritch Gods actually stooped to threaten over a random band of dead cultists, or had the Mighty Satans cowered and hurried to appease the otherworldly deities before they could make their wrath known?

"If you had done the slightest bit of research?"

He froze as he looked in the reflection of the one-way mirror and saw terrible yellow eyes staring back at him. Too bright, too vivid to be a mere reflection.

He looked behind him and found nothing before looking forward.

There was a mass of darkness now behind his reflection, the eyes still too real, too detailed.

"You might have known that dear Shubby is one of the most human-friendly of us, that her cultists are all but adopted by her," the voice said teasingly.

He could feel Something leaning on his chair but did not dare to look now.

"Who are you?" Diodora asked. This wasn't the one from before, who possessed his peerage. No, this was something...else.

"I go by many names and titles, as we are wont to do. A noble devil like you should call me Pharaoh," Nyarly taunted, her eyes right by his ears. "And now, you have only so many options, Diodora Astaroth."

His entire being recoiled at the utterance, at the mere idea that she had said his full name. As if that somehow gave her power over him. It just might.

"I wonder what you'll do," she said with a giggle. "I'm not Yog. I don't know the future. But time isn't really the same for us who are of such eternal permanence to the fabric of reality."

"What do you want?" he asked stiffly, sweat rolling down his neck.

"Don't you know? I'm the messenger. I'm here to watch your choice, and let everyone know what choice you made," Nyarly said with a cruel smile. "What shall it be, what shall it be?"

"That's...all I am? A news report?" Diodora asked with frustration, balling his fists.

"Oh, disappointed I didn't offer to make you one of my playthings?" Nyarly asked with amusement.

The reflection was suddenly filled with teeth. So many teeth. Too Many TEETH!

Diodora shot out of his chair, looking around wildly yet found nothing in the room.

"You're amusing, but I don't play with hand-me-down toys. You already have an interested patron," Nyarly remarked. "It's up to you if you choose to accept them."

He looked back to the mirror and saw the yellow eyes close and vanish as if they were never there. Perhaps they never were.

Maybe it was a touch of insanity from the eldritch, maybe it was all just finally setting in. But it hit him now.

This was real. They were really going to kill him. Or worse, let the Eldritch have their way with him.

He was going to die if he didn't get out of here, if he didn't find a way to escape this situation.

He was trapped and had no way out.

"Ready?"

Or rather, one way out.

Diodora numbly looked to the wall opposite the mirror.

He didn't know when or how, but there was a large crack in the wall now. It was glowing with a copper light, from when extended a hand. The arm was thick and fat, and on its own the limb held a disgusting aura of sorts.

But more importantly, on the hand was a mouth, with terribly jagged teeth and a long and terrible tongue that licked around its own flesh.

"Come on," the hand spoke encouragingly, playfully...vilely. "You know you don't want to die yet. There is such sweet art and beautiful music much you have yet to make. And I can give you all the instruments and playthings you never even dreamed of breaking before."

There wasn't much choice and...it was enticing. Inviting. Intoxicating. What might it be to do as he pleased with even otherworldly things? To teach them such wonderfully depraved despair.

The hand grinned knowingly.

Diodora came forward and with a growingly manic smile of his own, he shook the putrid hand, tongue and all.

"Oh, we're going to have such fun together," The god assured wickedly as the copper light grew.

With that, Diodora Astaroth vanished from Hell, leaving only a mark on the wall and where he had stood last.

Meanwhile

Issei wasn't sure what it was, but he could see that Yad had changed a bit.

She was...taller? A bit more in the bust or ass? Something about her was "more" right now.

"Did you and Yog switch?" he guessed with a raised eyebrow as she joined him in the woods.

"For now, yes. We wished to see if you prefer a Vizier with my temperate and directness," Yad informed neutrally.

Issei titled his head in thought. "It's not that I don't like Yog as the Vizier or whatever, but I do like the idea of spending more time with you," he explained.

"We're both technically the same entity," she reminded.

"Yeah, but you're basically a split personality, I think. And if you're not, then you're still the side of Yog I know the least," Issei mused.

Yad stared for a second before nodding. "I think I would like that as well. May I begin?"

"Sure?" Issei said, leaning against the tree.

"I'll start with the matter I believe you would find most important or relevant," Yad prefaced, pulling out her long sword and stabbing it into the ground. A circle of eldritch magic formed between her and Issei, forming a viewing portal.

Through it, Issei could see what looked like some kind of interrogation room, will people looking at a wall.

"Diodora escaped from the Devils, taken by an unknown Eldritch," Yad explained.

"Okay, you're Time itself, so explained Unknown here?" Issei said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. I believe Yog has mentioned in the past that certain things can block or obscure my sight over the timeline. Those with this power are mindful of their actions, lest I piece together who they are through the context of what I can see," Yad explained.

"Yeah, figured as much," Issei recalled, scratching his head. "Considering it was an Eldritch that did this, I'll probably get Shub to call off the summoning. Still, any leads of who did this?"

"I suspect that Nyarlathotep has some information," Yad said, pausing as a giggle on the wind was heard.

Issei looked up in annoyance. "Look, either join the conversation or keep your giggles to yourself, okay?" Issei requested.

Silence.

"King or not, you are very brave to tempt the Messenger like that," Ddraig remarked, making his presence known.

"The Dragon of Domination," Yad greeted idly, the portal shifting to depict a great red dragon. "As a minor report, I predict you will be restored to a body of your own in less than a thousand years now."

"Thank you, I appreciate that news," Ddraig informed in honest gratitude. "May I make an inquiry, Eldritch of Time?"

"You may, Protector of the Kungur," Yad granted when Issei said nothing against the request.

"I may be bound as a spirit within this gauntlet, but I can still sense things in the wider cosmos, however vaguely," Ddraig said grimly. "Why do I have the sense of many things stirring, more so than when I first awoke to this madness of a marriage?"

"Considering what Aza and I are, I'll take that as a compliment," Issei said idly.

"It is! But you have to admit, your entire situation is rather insane," Ddraig pointed out, getting no argument.

The portal shifted again to show a scene of Issei and Asia walking side by side. Then it zoomed out rapidly to sow the earth from space, many unknowable things flying towards it through the void. It went out further and Issei got the weird impression of slumbering giants waking up in various star systems, looking towards Earth.

"Change begets change. Many things are stirring with the rise of our Kungur. Some curious, others malicious. There are those that come seeking nothing more than to be taken into your bed," Yad informed bluntly.

"I...well, damn," Issei said, scratching his head. "Okay, going to just put that away and try not to get an ego about it."

"You are the Ruler of the Universe, the ego is inevitable! Well, Co-Ruler, but the Queen is very passive in her reign," Ddraig remarked. "Your more hands-on nature...lewd pun unintended, is what attracts the attention of many. For better or ill."

"...Should I have been a bit less assertive on the king-front?" Issei asked in concern.

"If you were, you would not be Aza's Beloved. You are who you are, your reign is your reign. You would never be one to sit back and not get involved," Yad said knowingly.

"Right..." Issei said in acceptance. "Anything specific to report on those fronts?"

"No, but we should inform you of the major threats at some point in the near future," Yad remarked.

"Yog is already doing that, isn't she?" Issei predicted.

"Most likely," Yad affirmed.

Issei shook his head. "Anything else?"

"Several. Tell me when you get bored, Kungur."

"I'll hold out as long as I can," Issei offered with a grin.

End of Chapter

Well, Diodora is gone for now. He'll be back, but he may or may not have chosen a fate worse than death in the long run. And the Iggy situation has a nicer solution than just locking him up in a maze, putting his mind in a child-like body to let Shub raise Iggy more hands on. And Yad and Yog switched things up for a bit.

Hope you all enjoyed Issei's...interesting dream sequence at the start.

Early viewing of chapters 32-33 avaliable on my pat-reon:

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64