My great thanks toTodaBruh, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
The Hunter's Dream.
"We're finally close to your coronation, beloved." Azathoth said with a smile.
"Indeed we are." I smiled back. "Soon, I'll truly start ruling the Eldritch Kingdom!" I said grandly… before letting out a sigh. "Now if only there wasn't so much to do!" I grumbled.
Lucy snorted in amusement. "You? Grumbling about too much work? That's a first. You're the biggest workaholic I know of!"
"Well, there are a lot of things to take care of across the cosmos." pointed out Yog-Sothoth.
"I'm not even talking about the Omniverse here, I'm talking about the Eldritch Kingdom itself!" I grumbled harder.
A number of my wives, along with Azathoth's Inner Court were here to finally get down to business on how I was going to work, all of us in a control room with holographic tables and realm of data so massive that nothing short of the highest deities in the room had a hope of even understanding a fraction of it all.
And the data I was looking at was not pleasing me at all. Oh, the Eldritch Kingdom was strong, rich, influential and so much more, but by everything good and holy there were so many problems with it that I was going to be slamming my skull against them all for eons to come!
"Surely it's not that bad, beloved?" Aza tried to cheer me up, only to wince at the utterly dry, unamused look I sent her way.
"The Eldritch Kingdom is a chaotic clusterfuck of literally cosmic proportions!" I complained. "I mean, just look at its laws!"
"And what's wrong with the Laws?" asked Mist, blinking.
I stared at her in the eyes, leaned forward, and hissed my next words with all the offended rage of a man looking at a mess that he knew he was going to be stuck dealing with for a long time to come.
"Nobody has the same damn laws.Nobody." I growled. "The laws of the Kingdom are so utterly chaotic that the number of laws which outright contradict each other are in the trillions! And don't even get me started on laws who need to be modernized, and who should have been modernized millions to billions of years ago! And there isn't a single damn galaxy in the entire Kingdom who actually have a coordinated set of laws! Worse, often the Laws on a kingdom-scale are different from the laws on a supercluster of galaxies scale! Which themselves are different on an individual galactic level, and let's not get into galactic sectors, or solar systems, or even individual planets!"
I threw my hands in the air in disgust. "I don't even want to talk about how many lawful sentences given by the Judges over the eons are actually unlawful if you tilt your head just right! Entire generations lived and died before a firm judgment can be rendered simply because one set of laws disagree with another, and both are technically correct!"
I shook my head in despair. "And let's talk about tariffs! Any merchant trying to get anywhere has to payseveral timesatseveral different pricessimply to move, much lesssell, their goods while trying to go from point A to point B anywhere across the Eldritch Kingdom! There is not even the barest uniformisation of tariffs, the laws of each sector of space means that goods which are legal somewhere are illegal a solar system over, and it's just the barest tip of the chaotic iceberg!"
"Well, I see nothing wrong with this!" cheerfully declared Nyarlathotep.
I sent her a look, but the cheeky bitch just grinned wider.
Just for that, I'm tying her up and letting her watch helplessly as I fuck all of my other lovers for several hours straight tonight. We'll see how long it takes before she begs me to bend her over.
"I, personally, support anything that will give me less headaches if I end up as the go-to goddess of the economy." deadpanned Lucy.
"Thank you, Lucy!" I told her with deep feelings of gratitude.
Poor Aza, looking terribly embarrassed by how much of a mess the laws of the Eldritch Kingdoms were, tried to find some good news.
"Well… At least the Army is alright, yes?" She said hopefully. "We're the strongest military power in… the… Omniverse…"
She trailed off at the look on my face.
"... No, Aza." I said slowly, a haunted look on my face. "No, the military situation is not 'alright'."
"What's the problem with the military?" asked Shub-Niggurath, looking confused.
I let out a deep sigh. "Where do I even start?" I grumbled. "Maybe by pointing out that the Eldritch Kingdom still has a very feudal system in place, which means that the majority of the military forces of the Eldritch Kingdom, from their numbers, to their training and equipment, are effectively mostly handled by each individual sub-leader of the Kingdom? Meaning that while one army can have the best technologies, weapons, and training for themselves, another is basically a glorified levy army armed with spears and arrows and with barely any training? I'm not saying that everything has to be perfectly standardized, but having an army filled with the best of the best in the omniverse and another that the weakest country on Earth could easily defeat, all under the same banner, just isn't right!" I muttered darkly.
The assembled Eldritch goddesses looked awkwardly at each other.
"That's-" tried to interrupt Yog, but I was on a roll now.
"And let's talk about standardization of our Armed forces!" I shouted. "Which can basically be summed up as 'What standardization?' The army of one solar system has a different technological base as another, and the same is true on a galactic scale, and don't even get me started on the Kingdom-scale! The logistical lines to make sure our troops are always well-fed, armored and armed is a nightmare! I've seen cognito-hazard abominations from the Void less maddeningly impossible than the clusterfuck calling itself a logistical line we've got! We'll be lucky if our soldiers don't starve to death after getting food for entirely different species, much less the tools everyone needs to make repairs to any warmachines they have!"
"What about diplomacy? We're good there, right?" desperately asked Azathoth, glancing hopefully at the Crawling Chaos.
Said goddess looked increasingly amused. "Oh no, that's a mess too."
"Yes." I put my face in my hands. "It's such a mess that… remember what I said about feudalism? Well, even as we speak, countless planets, if not entire species, all under the Eldritch Kingdom's flag are actually at war with one another! No, I'm not joking, our own people are butchering each other as we speak! And it's not just an internal problem either, countless different lesser species, gods and organizations within the Eldritch Kingdom are currently at war with other civilizations, gods and organizations from beyond the Eldritch Kingdom. True, they aren't very powerful, our people aren't so stupid as to unilaterally go to war with any of the Great Powers beyond ourselves across the stars, but even so! We have entire parts of the Eldritch Kingdom that are hated by some species, while at the same time other parts of it are deeply loved!"
"Well… your recent efforts must have helped, right?" asked Kassgotha.
"Up to a point, they have." agreed Oedon for me. "At least at kingdom-scale level. But Aeon's work has just put some balm on some deep and old issues that won't be so easily forgotten, on either side of things. Some parts of the Eldritch Kingdom have no issues with the Infernal realms, and others see no reason why we should even bother with the Heavenly realms, or those of Chaos and Order, or… well, you get the idea."
I nodded. "After eons of the people of the Eldritch Kingdom doing as they wished, many grumble at suddenly having to play nice. Meanwhile, many beyond the kingdom who suffered at the hands of various amoral eldritch naturally ask for justice to be done."
"If it was so bad, surely we would know about it, right?" asked Shub with a disturbed expression on her face.
I shook my head. "You don't, because the vast majority of these problems were deemed beneath you to deal with. Quite simply, while you were all maintaining the status quo at the highest levels of power across the cosmos, you were all too focused on the forest to see the individual trees on fire. It's one of the well-known issues of Outer Gods that you all tend to focus on the big picture, too much so at times."
Aza slumped, looking depressed.
"I'm sorry, beloved. I guess that I still have a lot to learn if I want to be a good queen." she muttered.
I smiled at her, my expression softening. "Do not misunderstand me, Aza. Things did get better when you began to involve yourself into the day-to-day ruling of the Kingdom more. There are many outstanding issues that have been dealt with since you properly began to rule. But even you have blind spots, and when you're focused on stopping a mad army of genocidal machines or an ever-hungry swarm of monsters that could give the Tyranids a run for their money, well, I can understand than things liketariffsandarmy equipment standardizationweren't your focus."
"That, and those kinds of concerns tend to be mortal concerns far more than Divine ones, and previously there was no one at the top of the Eldritch Pantheon who truly understood the importance of such matters as mortals would." pointed out Oedon, with Lucy nodding in agreement.
"That… does not make me feel much better, but thank you." said Aza with a more happy smile.
"On the bright side, it's hardly like the Eldrith Kingdom doesn't have incredible achievements as well. Just the fact that the capital of the kingdom is a High-Class Birch World is utterly insane, and I can't wait to take a look at it myself!" I said with a brilliant smile.
Because as it turns out, the Eldritch Kingdom had gone all out when it came to its capital.
The mad lads had built, over a period ofeons, a full-blown Birch World with a thousand layers around a supermassive Black Hole of 1.5 trillions times the mass of the sun, or 500 quadrillions mass of Earth, with a diameter of nearly an entire light-year and a gravity at its event horizon nearly equal to that of Earth. A single layer of the Birch World, which was what happened when you created a metallic shell around a black hole where people can live inside as if they were on a planet, had the living space of almost abillion timesthat of a dyson sphere.
They didn't build a single layer. They built athousand layersof the damn thing. The entire population of a Kardachv Type-3 civilization, where every star of an entire galaxy had a dyson sphere around it, would still look small compared to the total population of that single Birch World.
The entire galaxy around that supermassive black hole was consumed to build the Birch world. The matter making up every star, every planet, every fucking asteroid down to the smallest one had been used to build it… and it hadn't been enough.
The one in charge of it was Yog-Sothoth herself, both because she was the only one that could be trusted to rule it properly, but also because she was needed in order to ensure that Time itself wouldn't be going slower the closer to the event horizon to the Black Hole the layers of the Birch World were.
Needless to say, when my True Self took a look at the utter marvel of technology and magic that had created that thing, even he had laughed like a delighted child. To even my True Self knowledge, no one across the entire omniverse had built a Birch World like that. Sure, the Grand Empire had started building their own Birch World, but it barely had a few layers to it. Impressive to be sure, but nowhere near the insanity of a thousand-layers deep Birch World.
Of course, I still had to acknowledge that even then, the Birch World by itself wasn't enough to let me win any war against the Abyss. Oh sure, the Birch World represented enough power, in population, economy or military to standby itselfas greater than the majority of all civilizations across the Prime Multiverse, but that still wasn't enough in comparison to a realm that had been fed the souls of every Chaotic Evil individuals across a conceptually infinite multiverse since almost the dawn of Time. Even if those souls eventually kept going through the circle of reincarnation once their karmic balance had been repaid, well, it still wasn't enough to change the fact that the Abyss wasstrong.
Azathoth perked up at my world, and the other Eldritch deities smiled at my visible excitement, even if Lucy shook her head with a teasing grin on her face as she muttered about "Boys and their toys."
"You like it, beloved?" excitedly said Aza, almost bouncing on her seat at my visible joy. "If you want, we can go take a look at it ourselves later!"
I grinned at her. "It's a date." I said cheerfully, making Aza blush before she smiled brilliantly at my words, her previous sadness gone like smoke at the thought of us going on a date within the greatest achievement of her Kingdom.
"As delighted as I am to see you two being happy, what exactly did you have in mind to solve all the issues that you have noted, my King?" asked Shub-Niggurath.
"I'm glad that you asked." I smiled at Shub, who's cheeks reddened ever so slightly at the warm grin directed her way. "And to answer that-" I snapped my fingers, data-pads appearing before each of them. "I noted everything down on these. Look things over, and then tell me what you think of it all, and we'll debate on anything that needs to be changed or added."
Everyone began delving into my very, very extensive plans considering how massive the Eldritch Kingdom was, and I relaxed in my seat, a small smile on my face.
There was a colossal amount of work ahead of us all, but between myself and all the people gathered here, I was certain that we could get it done.
Aza caught my eye, and we smiled at each other. Despite my words, I really was impressed with her work ethic on the macro-scale. Considering the innumerable number of threats and evils in existence, along with the ego of the most powerful deities that ruled beyond the Eldritch Pantheon, she had done a fantastic job keeping things stable at the macro scale. The problems came in the fact that she didn't have the perspective needed to handle things at a smaller scale, leading to numerous small but growing numbers of issues to fester without solutions.
Thankfully, now that we would be working together, I could bring my own set of skills to the table and, by working together, achieve more than either of us could do alone.
The night was dark and full of terrors, but together we will overcome them all!
… Even if right now those terrors were conflicting laws, lack of standardized military equipment and fucked up tariffs regulations.
"Hey, Shub. How is Ithaqua?" I asked Shub-Niggurath after she went to see her newly freed daughter on my suggestion.
"She's doing well." Shub replied with a bright smile. "She and Anga are becoming good friends quickly, and both of them are utterly dedicated to succeeding in their studies and making you proud."
She sighed, then smiled gratefully at me. "Thank you again for giving Ithaqua a chance to be free, and become more than her tragic past. I've been feeling guilty for not helping her move over the last few eons, but I'm so happy to see her finally look forward to the future for the first time in far too long."
"Of course." I replied with a gentle smile. "I am the king of the Eldritch. It is my duty and pleasure to help all of my people."
Shub nodded, then hesitated.
"Speak, Shub. I do not want you to ever hesitate to speak your mind to me." I told her.
She smiled awkwardly at me. "My apologies, my king. I just find my daughter's sheer devotion to you concerning, for I fear how far she will go to show her loyalty… and to prove herself in your eyes."
She looked down, visibly ashamed of her own feelings.
"It is no fault of your own, but as her mother, I can't help but worry where that newfound devotion will take her, especially when she has chosen to embrace a life of blood and death already because of it." she revealed.
I let out a sigh, looking into the starry night sky of the Hunter's Dream.
"I understand." I said softly. "If the reverse was true, I too would worry about my child feeling that way. And yet…"
I looked back at her.
"Our children must be free to make their own paths in life. It'd be one thing if the path she walked would turn her evil, but this is not the case. As such, the only thing we can do is support them to the best of our ability."
My expression softened. "Sherry could have grown up to become anyone, but she chose to follow in my footsteps, even knowing the dangers. I was, and remain to this day, both incredibly proud of her decision, and incredibly worried for her."
Shub said nothing for a moment, before she spoke again.
"And what of your created children? The lesser Aeons?"
I grimaced. That was a good shot, and it deserved an answer.
"Their loyalty to me is near absolute." I agreed softly. "The way I created them pretty much completely and utterly negates any risk of rebellion, though to tell the full truth… It is possible for them to actually disagree with me and forge their own path. It is not easy, I have deliberately made it incredibly hard, but for those who prove themselves…"
I smiled. "Then, those may yet find a path to Free Will."
It was a hard decision, but I couldn't do otherwise. To remove Free Will from my own children was something too abhorrent for me to truly contemplate. Still, I had learnt well from the White God in Heaven, and made very, very sure that any of my creations who truly wanted to be Free would have to prove they had the wisdom and purity of heart to deserve it.
Right now though, it wasn't a concern. My children, atemporal beings that they may be, were young and very happy and proud to serve me, and I didn't foresee that changing anytime soon.
Shub sent me a long look at my words. "It must not have been easy to make that decision." she remarked.
I chuckled. "To grant the possibility of Free Will to my children? It was easier than you might think."
To do otherwise would be to give in to my worst instincts as a protector, the kind that would become a Tyrant in the name of Kindness and Love. The kind that would smother Reality underneath his will, leaving naught but a Reality whereeverythingwas nothing more than an extension of my Will. An omniverse where Free Will was dead, and all things were controlled by a supreme God-King…
TheSmiling Tyrant.
My soul shuddered slightly at the Name, at the shadow of a Dark possibility for my future. My right hand twitched, almost clenching into a fist… a fist that would hold the strings of all beings, the Fates and Destinies ofallthings, everywhere, everywhen.
Then that shadow passed, and I relaxed, letting out a breath.
No, to remove any hope of Free Will to my creations was not acceptable.
To become even slightly more likeItwas unacceptable, no matter the cost.
I looked back at Shub, eager to move on from my dark thoughts. "So, tell me, is there anything I can do to help you more? Ithaqua is on her path to redemption, and your twin children Yug and Neb are doing well for themselves, and from what I know are going to come to visit Cthulhu soon, now that he is free."
Shub smiled. "There is little I can ask more from you, my King. You have freed my grandson Cthulhu, my daughter Ithaqua, given hope and a brighter future to them both, and by all indications have been working hard to bring joy and prosperity to as many Eldritch as possible across the cosmos. Even without a crown on your head, you already have done a great deal for the Eldritch Pantheon."
"... And yet, I feel that you do have a question." I mused.
Shub blinked, then laughed softly. "I should have known better than to try and hide anything from you."
She shook her head. "I just… wonder about Hastur. We haven't been close in eons, but even so…" she trailed off, and I nodded.
"Even so, he is the father of your daughter." I finished.
"Yes." she said softly.
I hesitated. Hastur's situation wasn't my secret to give, but at the same time, if anyone deserved to know, it was Sub and Ithaqua…
I let out a sigh, rubbed my nose…
And then began to explain the frankly insane tale of Old Man Henderson, and how Hastur became a woman… who married the man who killed her… Or him? Use of genders was confusing when they changed…
"I'm sorry, that mortal did WHAT with the necronomicon?!"
Oh yeah, Henderson was just too insane for even Outer Gods to understand. Go figure.
"What do you mean, Hastur is a girl?! And shemarriedHenderson?!"
Yep. Know my pain!
"It's insane!"
I know!
"And of course Nyarlathotep tried to cause chaos! Oh, when I'll get my tentacles on her-!"
"Well, I do have a sex dungeon…" I pointed out.
Shub paused.
Hesitated.
"I'm… not really the kind to wield a whip…" She flushed, trying not to let it be clear that she was secretly a hardcore submissive, and far more likely the kind to enjoy beinghitwith the whip rather thanwieldit.
Needless to say, she was doing a terrible job at it.
I grinned at her. "It's never too late to try new things! I'm definitely more of a sadistic dom in the bedroom, so I'm not interested in being the opposite, but if anyone deserves to be made to squirm and kneel, it's Nyarly!"
Shub bit her lips, frowning deeply.
I leaned forward, a smirk on my lips. "Tell me, how many times did the Crawling Chaos mess with your children?"
Shub stiffened, the usually demure goddess' eyes suddenly flashing darkly. "Too many times."
My smirk widened. "Well, maybe it's time forsomeoneto show her that limits exist for a reason… And that a mother such as yourself can only be pushed so far before a statement needs to bemade, wouldn't you agree?"
Shub stared at me, her almost absolute submissive nature suddenly clashing with her love for her children.
And as I expected… there was only one possible outcome in that conflict.
Slowly, a very cold, dangerous smile spread on Shub's lips, her eyes dancing as something new awoke within her.
"You know… Maybe you're right, My king. Maybe you're right." she said slowly, as if tasting the words and contemplating them.
I chuckled. "And when you're done, well… I wonder how Yog would react to you in leather boots and with a whip in hand?"
Shub flushed, squirming at the mental image I had just put inside of her, her lips opening to deny my words-
And then she paused, and slowly closed her mouth.
A thoughtful,consideringexpression crossed her face.
"Hmmm…" she hummed in thought, her eyes unfocused as her mind raced.
Then she looked back at me, and bowed her head slightly. "If you could excuse me, I believe that I need to… consider some things privately."
My smirk returned in full force. "Like how good you would look in a dom outfit? Because I can assure you: you've got the legs and ass you pull off a leather outfit to perfection."
Shub's cheeks reddened, but there was a fire burning in her eyes that indicated that she was quite pleased with my words… and that Yog and Nyarlathotep should perhaps start putting some lube in their anuses, because they were about to getfucked.
In more ways than one.
"I thank you for your words, my king. Still, as I said, I need to go and… consider things. But for now…"
She leaned forward, her lips almost kissing my left ear as she purred her next words lustfully.
"I wouldn't mind you turning the table and being the dominant one in our relationship,my lord."
Then she turned around and quickly teleported out of the Hunter's Dream, her face flushing bright red but with a wide smile on her lips.
I grinned, a wide smile of my own spreading on my lips.
Operation: Give Shub a backbone against others and then mating-press her into submissive breeding is going perfectly, I thought smugly.
After all, I liked my women with steel in their spines. I didn't mind that Shub was submissive, quite the opposite, there was a lot of fun I could get out of that, but I didn't want a wallflower either.
No, I wanted her to be submissive only tome. And Shub was easy to twist into whatever I wanted her to be simply by playing on the core of her nature: that of a mother.
So all I had to do was take the part of her that was resentful of those who had hurt her and her children, a part that she normally buried deep… and then mix that with her extreme maternal instincts to protect her children and see them safe.
By balancing her desire for retribution and those of wanting to do something that would protect her children, along with her submissive nature, I could both give her the strength to stand up to those who would make use of her kind nature, while making her utterly devoted to me.
If Nyarlathotep was a sadist who also enjoyed masochism, then Shub-Niggurath would become a submissive who also enjoyed sadism.
There were a couple of reasons for why I wanted her to change like that. First, as mentioned, I liked women with some steel in them. Secondly, right now Shub was far too passive and unwilling to stand for herself in general, which as one of the greatest Outer Goddess was a weakness I couldn't allow to fester.
Thirdly, Yog always saw Shub as someone who needed to be protected. Flipping the relationship on its head and having Shub dom Yog would curtail Yog's overprotective desires, while also allowing for a… relatively healthy outlet for the complicated emotions both goddesses had towards each other.
And Nyarlathotep was Nyarlathotep, so her being kept in check some more was always good. She'll enjoy it, anyway.
But ultimately, there was a much simpler and more important reason for why I wanted this.
It was because not only Shub would genuinely be hot asfuckin black leather boots and clothes, but also because bending over a dom and fucking her into being a submissive breeding pet was the ultimate power move!
Oh, I could hardly wait!
"My King… What have you done?!"
I glanced at Yog, who suddenly appeared and was staring at the spot where Shub had left, an expression of almost comical horror on her face.
I grinned widely at her.
"You desired to be punished for the pain that you inflicted upon Shub in the distant past, Yog.Rejoice! Your heart's desires are about to be fulfilled! And so will Shub when she's got you naked and on your knees before her, looking up at her with a pretty collar around your neck while you will call hermistress!"
The look of pure, utter horror and terrified lust on her face made me laugh, and laugh, andlaugh.
"It's finally happening, huh?" muttered Uldatrex gruffly, the Pleroma of Good and Evil frowning as he looked at another datastream within the highest level of the Fortress of the Aeons.
"Yes. Father will claim his throne, and things will change forever after that as he will begin to truly reshape Reality to his liking." declared Amnique, the Pleroma of Destiny and Free Will looking downright eager.
"It hasn't been that long since we have been created, all things considered the time between Father meeting the Queen of the Eldritch and him claiming his throne is less than a blink of an eye." pointed out Zaldroct, the Pleroma of Space and Time relaxing in his seat.
"I wonder how long it will take Father to start having children with his wives after he claims the Throne… Oh, I can't wait to spoil all of our future siblings!" excitedly declared Pyhgmi, the Pleroma of Life and Death having baked a lot of delicious cookies and happily sharing them with her siblings, a bright grin on her face.
"As always, I can easily see how and why you and Oedon get along so well. You two are truly very similar." mused Sydnotra, the Pleroma of Knowledge and Ignorance devouring as many of the cookies available as possible with a look of almost comical happiness on her face as she did.
"Indeed. Our sister is a kind, loving woman that truly embodies the warmth of Life and the patience of Death. I am not surprised that so many who met her already cherish her presence in their lives." calmly remarked Rwandelux, Pleroma of Light and Darkness, eating the cookies given to him more slowly, but with no less joy for it.
"I must admit, I would love to know how you can create such incredible cookies. My experiments so far in order to try and recreate them have proven unsuccessful, though I will not stop trying until I find the answer." Altryxna said, the Pleroma of Science and Magic looking at the cookie in her hand like it was the most fascinating thing in existence.
"The secret ingredient is love." replied Pyhgmi, her lips twitching in amusement.
"Already tried that, it helped but not enough. No, there is more, there has to be…" muttered Altryxna, her cosmic eyes staring intently at the cookie in her hand.
Uldatrex rolled his eyes. "In any case, for those of you interested in actually following the report of recent events, I'm pleased to say that as ordered, our forces have begun to cull the numbers of Void Worms across the Prime Multiverse. It's not going to be quick work, there are a lot of the bastards and they are low priority targets, but we've already helped save a number of planets whose population are very,verygrateful."
"Grateful enough to worship Father?" asked Rwandelux.
"Some amongst their numbers have indeed decided to start worshiping Father. Of course, it will take more to convert a majority of the population, as we've done too good a job at protecting the planets, ensuring that there has been little loss of life or destruction. As a result, few people have been actually endangered by the beasts." replied Uldatrex.
"Better to protect them too well than the opposite." firmly said Pyghgmi. "It would be evil of us to deliberately allow the Worms to ravage the population of targeted worlds and give our aid only when the survivors would be desperate to worship Father as thanks for saving them."
"Agreed." firmly supported the Pleroma of Good and Evil, before moving on in his report. "On the matter of the Eldrititans, progress is slow. The comparatively young Eldritchs who stand against the apparent 'apathy' of the Outer Gods are too cautious of Father to be willing to talk to us, though at least their leaders are open to dialogue. Still, considering their desires for greater actions to safeguard Reality against threats and to ensure a greater overall happiness for all living things across Reality, it is expected that Father will be able to turn the majority of them into allies."
"Not all of them seek greater benevolence from the gods. There are a high number of their ranks who instead wish to bring an Eldritch crusade against the rest of Reality… and then there are those who simply want power and believe that standing against the Outer Gods will grant them that." warned Sydnostra.
"They will have to be dealt with, in one way or another, in due time." Zaldroct declared. "Especially the power-hungry group. Father will not tolerate such beings standing in the way of his goals."
Amnique nodded. "They will indeed. But as always, all things in due time. For now, we have done our part. We shall let Father meet with the leaders of the Eldrititans and see who amongst their numbers can be persuaded to be of use."
"Then on the next matter to address are the mad Eldritch Gods or the ones who escaped their prisons. Amongst those numbers are some priorities, though at least Uvhash, the Mad god of blood, has already been dealt with by Oedon. That's one priority target down, but there are others." grimly said Uldatrex.
"Father does not wish them dead yet." Remarked Amnique. "They are to be hunted down by Hunters of the Dream, and as Father will soon get a greater number of them, he is waiting before calling for a great Hunt of those aberrations in His sight."
Pyhgmi frowned. "I understand the why, though I do worry that they will get to kill innocent people by letting them live longer, even if it is a benefit in the long run…"
"Less than you might think. They are all laying low for now, as they do not wish to attract Father's attention. By the time they feel bold enough to act up again, it will be too late." Zaldroct said with a fierce grin, Amnique nodding in agreement.
Pyhgmi smiled at them. "Glad to hear it!"
"Speaking of Great Hunts, the next point in this report is about the Dholes, essentially the same as Void Worms except they aren't sentient monsters but animalistic ones, and that they breed even faster than the fucking Worms." Uldatrex explained, his voice sarcastic as he explained the "differences."
"There's a lot of them dying, so I'm sure we're doing a great job!" cheerfully said Pyhgmi, entirely fine with those things dying in droves.
"We are." agreed Sydnostra. "There are just so many of them that even with the speed that we're killing them, it's going to take eons before we finally kill off the last. And ultimately, they are a low priority matter when compared to others evils of Reality."
"Unfortunate, but even we are limited in numbers." acknowledged Rwandelux. "And with a number of us having to keep an eye on the Abyss and countless others potential threats, there's only so much we can do."
"We did call on the Heavenly Realms for support, no?" asked Pyhgmi.
"We did, but they are preparing for war against the allies of the Abyss, so they're a bit busy with their own priority missions." answered Uldatrex.
"Well, if there's nothing else but to keep at it, what's next on the list?" asked Rwandelux.
"The Shoggoths." answered Sydnostra. "As per Father's wishes, we've been tracking them down across the cosmos and asking them to be present when Father will make his offer, though how many of them choose to listen is up in the air. At least with Cthulhu supporting us, we estimate that the majority of their species will at least be interested in hearing Father out."
"Cthulhu… At some point, I'd like to take a look at his city. It's still rare for Father's work to exist beyond the Hunter's Dream, after all." mused Altryxna, finally looking away from the cookie in her hand for a moment to speak up.
"Welcome back, sister. Have you found the secrets of the omniverse within the cookie, yet?" teased Amnique.
"Alas, they remain beyond my grasp." replied Altryxna completely seriously, her cosmic eyes narrowing towards the cookie. "For now."
Pyhgmi sighed. "It's unfortunate that our sister ended up with Father's ability for single-minded focus… Even if it makes her a rather excellent scientist and mage, it does come with costs." She pouted slightly. "Like the fact that even with her siblings in the room, all she cares about is finding the answers that elude her."
"Let her be." Sydnostra remarked calmly. "She'll get out of her focus eventually."
Uldatrex sent her a knowing side-glance, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "And that has nothing to do with you wanting to know the recipe for Pyhgmi's cookies, hmm?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, brother." deadpanned Sydnostra. "And I would request that you do not make such baseless accusations, for they are beneath you."
"Huh-huh." dryly said Uldatrex, clearly not buying it for a second. "Your hands are twitching towards the remaining cookies on the table, sister."
Sydnotra froze, before stared at her treacherous hands for a split-second in utter betrayal, before trying to nonchalantly fold them up on top of the table like nothing happened.
"Nonsense. Your eyes are playing tricks on you, nothing more." she shot back.
Needless to say, nobody was convinced.
"So, what's next on the agenda?" asked Sydnostra.
Willing to keep moving forward and change the subject, Uldatrex looked down on the datastream. "Hastur's situation."
"We don't touch that at all." Firmly said Amnique. "In fact, we shall not even do more thancarefullykeep an eye on things. Father will handle that, but we are under strict orders to not go poking the sleeping dragon."
"... Hastur isn't really powerful though?" asked Rwandelux.
"Hastur isn't the one Father wants no one near." deadpanned Amnique. "It's who they arewiththat he wants us away from."
They stared at him.
Sydnostra nodded in understanding. "Ah.Him."
"Old Man Henderson." agreed Amnique. "One of the few beings in existence that has a 'Do not approach unless with extreme caution' warning from Father."
"... That mortal really is that dangerous?" questioned Rwandelux.
Amnique shrugged. "Father believes that the only reason that a good majority of the Eldritch Pantheon isn't calling on Azathoth to dosomethingabout him is solely because he's satisfied with hanging with Hastur right now, so very few gods have yet to…experiencehis particular brand of Fate-defying chaos."
""...""
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Even Altryxna had raised her head away from her cookie to stare at him.
"... I propose that the being designated as 'Old Man Henderson' is thereby put into the same category of 'avoid to anger' as the one known as 'Saitama'." declared Uldatrex.
""Seconded."" came the universal agreement from across the room.
"Motion carried." Amnique declared. "That aside, next point please."
"There is the matter of the War in the Deep Oceans of Earth." said Uldatrex. "As a reminder, when Cthulhu and his fellows went to war with the Elder Things combined with R'lyeh sinking, a lot of Eldritch blood ended up across the seas of Earth. That blood created countless monsters, and while the Eldritch Pantheon managed to contain the problem by connecting the seas of Earth with that of other planets, leading to many of those monsters ending up across other worlds capable of handling them, there are enough left on Earth to still be a problem. We have been asked to help in whatever ways we can, and the lesser Aeons on world have been hard at work supporting local forces in their efforts."
"What kind of local forces are we talking about?" asked Rwandelux.
"There's a Great Old One who was born from the shedding of Eldritch blood in the seas over the eons who took it upon himself to fight off the monsters, while protecting a number of small-population races living at the bottom of the seas bed who help him in battle as much a they can. The so-called 'Lord of the Deep' is essentially a very untrained, ignorant Great Old One, though one that local Aeons forces have taken to educate and train. So far, relations are warm. The Lord of the Deep is happy to have more allies in his crusade against the monsters, and he's certainly happy to finally get a proper education on what he is and what he can do. We're hoping that we can establish a lasting alliance with him eventually, as having a friendly Great Old One and supporting mortal species in the Deep seas of Earth could prove useful." explained Uldatrex.
Sydnotra turned thoughtful. "Between Cthulhu, our forward base on Utftangshasut's back and this 'Lord of the Deep', we essentially have the seas of Earth under our control… or relatively close to it. But what about the surface world?"
"That's more complicated." said Amnique. "The pantheons of Humanity naturally control the surface world, and beyond the Eldritch cults across the planet there is no true Eldritch powerbase that we can easily point at. It is something that can be worked on, but… We'll have to be careful to not cause needless issues with the local pantheons."
"Not unless wewantto start issues with them, of course." casually pointed out Rwandelux.
"Well, yes. But we don't have orders to do that right now, if anything we have the opposite, so unless it's required let's keep our blades sheathed." Zaldroct pointed out.
"Right. Well, on another subject, Anga and Ithaqua are so far settling in well in the military school they are in. So that's at least two potential issues handled." Amnique declared, before continuing. "Going back to Earth, the Elder plant Goddess E'lior had requested help in finding her lost child after they were separated millenia ago when the humans of the isle they lived in turned hostile and her child made a blind teleportation away from Easter Island. As we have been informed by Ithaqua, said lost child actually became the patron goddess of a tribe of bunny girls, after the women who first found the child ate an Eldritch fruit created by said child to empower her saviors turned cultists mutate them into such. Thanks to the information we had and some help from Father, it was easy enough to reunite mother and daughter, ensuring that Father now has the gratitude of both goddesses and their combined cultists."
Pyhgmi smiled brightly at that. "Reuniting a family is always a happy thing! I'm glad that they finally got to meet up again!"
Rwandelux nodded. "Indeed. And Father got more influence with the Eldritch of Earth thanks to that. A simple enough request that pays dividends. Have any of the bunnygirls decided to worship Father as thanks?"
"Some, though by the looks of it, things will end up in a three-way split between those who will remain faithful to E'lior's child, those choosing to worship E'lior herself, and those worshiping Father as thanks for his aid in reuniting mother and daughter." answered Zaldroct.
"A third of the bunnygirls tribe isn't bad result at all. How skilled are they in battle?" asked Sydnotra.
"Relatively skilled and strong, actually, as the bunnygirls devoted themselves from the start to becoming warriors in order to protect their young deity from any threat. Combined with the effect of the Eldritch fruit their ancestors ate and the Old Blood that any worshiper of Father will have access to, and overall they will be strong enough to annihilate entire mortal countries by themselves… as long as no WMD gets used." answered Zaldroct.
"Damn good rewards for a simple request." grunted Uldatrex.
Zaldroct smiled. "Indeed."
"On a final matter, the avatar of Queen Azathoth, Xana-Hgla, is hard at work reestablishing her people within the greater Eldritch Kingdom, now that her species and civilization have been brought back from near-extinction by Father. As expected, she's a fervent supporter of Father, and her entire species have collectively decided to worship both Queen Azathoth and Father from now on." Sydnostra reported.
"More good news are always good." Pyhgmi said brightly, a measure of humor in her voice at stating the obvious.
Uldatrex nodded. "Fair. Though it's hardly like it's all good news. Hell is still divided on how to handle Father and his rather blunt threat about the fact that it's only a matter of time before the balance of power goes against them, but Asmodeus is working hard to unite the legions of Hell against us. We're doing everything we can to stop him, but it's… work in progress. As for the Abyss, at least those bastards are still gleefully slaughtering each other, so no changes there. Abaddon is still firmly under our control, and the Maelstrom…"
He let out a sigh. "Well, the realm of Chaos is a chaotic mess, as expected."
"What about Axis? How is the hunt for the Dark God within the Realm of Order going?" asked Rwandelux.
"Slow but steady." answered Uldatrex. "We're hunting down many of his cultists, but he's low priority, so it'll take time to deal with him, especially when Father earmarked him as a target for Hunter of the Dream to eventually kill."
Rwandelux nodded in understanding. "Alright, so what's next on the list?"
"Oh, only a billion different things." sarcastically said Uldatrex. "But to answer your question, there's the matter with Amirga, that rather ignorant Incarnation of Death who thinks that Eldritch Gods can truly die, and who has occasionally caused issues with Pyhgmi's Akhanas…"
I stared at the great tree deep within the Hunter's Dream, on top of the hill where me and Gerhman once fought to the death.
Putting a hand upon it, feeling the rough bark on my skin, I smiled wryly.
"Who would have thought I'd become God-King of all Reality, heh Old Man?" I muttered.
From a nobody to the literal God-king of Creation… Talk about a success story for the ages.
Even I could never have expected this… But far from me to hold back.
Responsibilities were chains, but they could be either embraced or rejected. And there was power to be found in embracing responsibilities.
I now had more power than anyone else in Creation, bar Azathoth herself. Tomorrow, I would claim my throne, and by doing so become the most powerful man in existence.
And with it came the weight of the entire omniverse on my shoulders.
Heh. Once upon a time, I had no purpose, and now…
How times change… Beware of destinies, for they are rarely what you expect them to be.
Even for me, that was true.
"I wonder what you will think of me now, Gerhman. Your greatest student, God-king of Creation… Stars knows that, when we first met, I was barely more than a weak, desperate fool way in over his head, shooting for the stars because it was the only thing worth struggling for at that point." I mused.
I sacrificed any hope of a peaceful life in the name of personal ambition. I sacrificed my Humanity for power and eternal life, forgodhood.
I wondered, what would I sacrifice by becoming God-king?
"You seem troubled, beloved."
I smiled slightly at the gentle, kind voice coming from behind me.
"Not troubled, merely… thoughtful, Aza." I replied to my queen.
I turned, my cosmic eyes meeting her owngolden ones.
"It's not every day that one becomes God-king of all things, you know." I teased her gently. "I just fell in love with the woman with an omniverse' worth of direct or indirect offspring."
She blushed. "Don't put it that way, it feels wrong." she grumbled.
I chuckled. "Hmm, maybe it shouldn't be Shub that should get the title of 'mother of a thousand youngs', maybe the real fertility deity here is you." I grinned at her.
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad." she said with a pout.
"Youaccidentallycreated an omniverse, love." I deadpanned.
She flushed. "I took responsibility for it, though!"
"And I love you for it." I said gently, my voice softening, the sudden switch from teasing to earnest praise catching Aza off-guard and making her look away with a cute, embarrassed smile.
"Yes, well, I'm not the best mother, but I still wanted to try…" she said softly.
I looked at her for a moment, seeing the vulnerability she was showing because of her less than stellar track records when it came to her direct children, what with Mist and Darkness being eons-old and still having the maturity of children, and Nyarlathotep being… Well, the Crawling Chaos.
I stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling warmly at her.
"You'll become a great mother. Me, Oedon and all the others will teach you and be there for you, at every step of the way." I said firmly, and her brilliant golden eyes watered slightly at the earnest love in my words.
"Beloved…" she whispered, and I smiled gently at her. "You've done a great job stabilizing Reality, my love. Allow me to show you how to improve it… and yourself. You're already so magnificent… but I know that you can still become so much more."
I leaned down, my eyes staring deep into hers with all the love and faith I held for her.
"Do not let your doubts control you, my love. You have done great things… and together, we shall accomplish so many more."
I kissed her, and she moaned happily into the kiss, her hands going up to take hold of my cosmic robes before going around my shoulders, pushing me deeper towards her.
I let her, bringing my hands around her to squeeze her ass, Aza shuddering approvingly against me as I did.
For a long moment, we stayed like this, as neither of us truly needed to breathe. Our emotions echoed in each other's hearts,LOVE-LUST-DESIRE-RESPECT-DEVOTION-PASSIONcoursing through us as we embraced.
When we finally broke the kiss, Aza's face flushed and her gleaming golden eyes lidded with lust and joy, looking up at me like I was the most important thing in existence, I couldn't help but smile down at her.
She was just so beautiful like this…
"You know… If you're so worried about your skills as a mother, that just means that you'll need a lot of practice." I purred. "Maybe I really will cause Shub to lose her title by the time I'm done with you…"
Aza's red face flushed even harder at the thought of me impregnating her so many times… but there was no hesitation in her eyes.
If anything, she looked quite eager to put my words into action.
"Careful, beloved. I might just be annoyed with you if you make promises you can't keep." she warned, her golden eyes twinkling happily.
I hummed at her words, before grinning. "You're right. I was lying."
She blinked-
"I could never be done or get tired from claiming and breeding you silly." I purred lustfully, and she had just the time to blush again before I kissed her once more.
"Hmmm~!" she moaned happily, clinging to me while eagerly kissing back, her hips rolling against my groin as she shamelessly encouraged me to fuck her right then and there-
And then she stopped and pulled back, making me blink.
She grinned at the sight, happy to be the one catching me by surprise for once, before her expression turned more serious.
"Beloved, I love how you always do your best to comfort me and make me know how much you desire me-" her cheeks reddened at the last part, a pleased smile on her lips… before she turned serious again. "-but I'm not going to let you distract me. I can tell that a part of you is worried about the future, about your rise to god-king, and I'm not going to let you hide that just because you're putting up a strong front."
Her right hand tenderly rested on my cheek, her golden eyes looking at me with such gentle love that I was stuck silent for a moment.
"Beloved, you always try to appear confident, in control, and sure of yourself. I understand why, but you don't need to do that with me, or your other lovers. We are here for you. Just as you wish to help us, be there for us, and support us, we wish the same towards you."
Her expressions softened further. "It's okay to not be perfect, Aeon. I never was, and I don't need you to be either. I love you, flaws and all, and that's why I don't want you to make it seem like you aren't having doubts, or aren't worried for the future."
I stared at her, then sighed. "I suppose that I should listen to my own advice towards Yog…" I muttered, before my shoulders slumped.
"Of course I'm scared, Aza." I whispered. "I have always been scared. In my first life, as a Hunter, and even as a god, I never allowed myself to relax because I feared the moment I would, I would pay for it in some way. The only time I truly relaxed…"
I feel silent. The only times I truly relaxed was the first night I spent making love with Oedon, and following my fight with Saitama.
The first because I wanted to truly let myself go after everything I endured to get there, and the second because that day, I finally let another shoulder the burden of protecting Reality while I rested.
"I've been scared for so long, because I feared that the moment I let go, I would pay the price… or rather, those I loved would pay the price." I whispered. "It's easy to grow arrogant with my power. Easy to think that I can control everything without worry. But I know better. Pride comes before the fall, and that is something I use ruthlessly against many of my enemies. I know the consequences of believing in my own hype, in letting the praises of others get to your head. I have so much that rests on me, so much I cherish that I want to protect… How can I relax, how can I let go, when doing so might be the very thing that will cost me everything?"
I shook my head. "Yharnam taught me well that Hunter and prey can change at any moment. If I let go, what will happen then? Who will inevitably use my lapse in caution to make me or those I love bleed? I will have the entire Omniverse to watch over eventually, Aza, and not even I can tell for sure that nothing out there isn't powerful enough to get one over me, or get lucky, or… Any number of things that can happen if I let my guard down."
Azathoth looked at me sadly for a moment. "To have so much power, and yet refuse to let go of the fear in your heart because you worry about the consequences… Do you truly not trust your powers to protect you or those you love?"
"No." I said firmly. "Never. History is full of those who believed themselves untouchable and paid the price of their arrogance. Better to live in fear and not be blinded by pride, than to relax and let hubris claim its price."
"I won't let anyone hurt you, beloved." she whispered firmly. "I'd sooner sunder Creation than let that happen."
"And what about those weaker than me?" I replied. "You're not omniscient, Aza. No one is, not me, not Yog, not you, not Oedon. No one. And even if itappearedthat we were, I still wouldn't trust it. Too much risk that it wouldn't be true omniscience, and that someone somewhere can hide from it." My voice softened. "You're so much stronger than me… but not even you can truly protect those you love, and we both know it."
Aza grimaced at the reminder of what happened to her Avatar's species, which required me to use my power to bring them back. A moment later however her expression turned determined, and she put both of her hands on either side of my face, her golden eyes blazing with stubborn resolve.
"Then I will learn. I will grow. I will master my power to the same level of control as you possess, and then go beyond even that. And one day…"
She looked at me with a mix of pure determination and endless love in her eyes, a gentle, warm smile on her lips.
"One day, I will be so strong, so close to perfection, that even you will be able to let go. One day…"
Her voice softened, though the steel in her words didn't even waver. "One day, you will no longer fear, and I will prove that you don't need to be scared to be happy anymore. I swear it, you hear me, beloved? No matter how many eons it will take, no matter how much I must grow to achieve it…" her golden eyes suddenly blazed with power.
"I will become someone you can trust to rely on completely, to the point that even you will be finally free to relax and not have to do anything to be at peace." she swore.
Reality shuddered as the oath of the God-Queen was spoken, fate and destiny twisting as the Creator of All things, for the first time in history, was given the motivation to seek to become Greater than ever before.
Azathoth, the Queen of the Status Quo, the ambition-less ruler of Existence, the deity with no desire… has been changed to her very core by love, and now the flames of ambition burned bright in her heart.
I stared at her, knowing that I had unknowingly brought this outcome about… That through my words, I had unleashed something that should have never happened…
And yet, here and now, I didn't care.
Just this once… it was nice to rely upon others, rather than to be relied upon.
So I smiled, a bright, warm, loving and above allpeacefulsmile, and told her that I was looking forward to that day.
Aza's ensuing beaming grin was so bright a supernova would turn green in jealousy.
And in the distance, Oedon wiped away a tear of joy from her cheek, smiling warmly at us both, before turning around and walking away, satisfied that no matter what happened to her when she would try to have children, the man she loved would be happy in the future.
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Love Azathoth!
I originally wanted to have Lucifer, Lilith and their daughter have a scene of meeting Aeon in this chapter, but oh well. There's always a future chapter for it.
Instead, I focused this last chapter before the coronation to expanding the lore of the Eldritch Kingdom, and explaining what exactly is the "capital" of the Eldritch Kingdom. For those curious, the whole "Birch World" thing is something I took fromvideos of Isaac Arthur, a youtuber who doesamazingscience videos.
I also explained why, despite the Eldritch Kingdom being OP as fuck, Aeon is still a hairbreath's away from slamming his face into his desk. For those who are familiar with Honor Harrington, I took some inspiration from… I think it's called the Solarian League? And also the Imperium of Man. Either way, the Eldritch Kingdom is massive… as are the issues plaguing it. So no perfect kingdom for Aeon, he and his people are going to have a LOT of work ahead of them in order to fix the clusterfuck that is his new kingdom. Credit to Azathoth and the others, they did keep an handle on the worse issues, but the problems comes from the fact that the Eldritch Rulers of the Kingdom lack the mortal perspective to worry about things like well-oiled logistics, and as a result a lot "regular" issues have ballooned to horrific degrees over the eons.
As for the whole thing with Shub, as mentioned, there are a number of reasons for why I went with it, but ultimately it came down to two things: One, I wanted her character to be more than just "Submissive masochist who is destined to be constantly bred silly."
It's still going to happen, but at least now there is some contrast with the fact that she actually has the spine to stand for herself and dish punishment back to those whoactuallyhurt her in ways she doesn't enjoy.
And secondly, while the Crawling Chaos does a wonderful job of serving as a sadistic character who also enjoys masochism, I wanted a character who was a masochist who occasionally enjoyed sadism.
In other words, I wanted Aeon to have his own personal pet dom who would happily bend herself over and be dominated and bred by him and only him.
And we actually see the Pleromas again! Aeon's children are hard at work dealing with a number of issues, some of which will be explored in more details later. Even if Altryxna spent more time focusing on discovering the secrets of the ultimate cookies than anything else (The Summer twins approve!).
And finally, Azathoth! It's been some time since she and Aeon had a talk, and it was an important one. In the CYOA, Azathoth can actually choose to "become one" with her lover, essentially giving her full power to them and leaving herself as a soul bound to the one she loves for eternity. In short, she sacrificeseverythingto her lover, as the only thing that truly matters to her is spending time with the one she loves.
Here though, things are different. Aeon doesn't need or want her to give her power to him. What she learns heneedsis atrue equal. Someone who he can trust to take care of things just as competently as he would. As a result, she essentially does the opposite than the CYOA: she chooses to seek more power and control over her power, so that one day Aeon would be utterly convinced that he doesn't need to put the weight of Reality on his sole shoulders. He can actually give that weight to another with full expectations that they will be as capable as he is. Where in the CYOA she relinquishes full control to another, here she seeks to claim full control over the Omniverse, so that the man she loves willfinallybe free to rest without fear. It's the ultimate act of devotion and evidence of her love, that she who never desired to rule Reality is willing to shoulder thefullweight of ensuring its protection and prosperity just so that her lover canlet goentirely.
And Oedon is really happy to see that, because her own fears of dying in childbirth push her to try and ensure that Aeon has as many lovers capable of keeping him happy if something does happen to her.
In a twist of irony, both Aeon and Oedon have been scarred by Yharnam in their own way, it just so happens that Aeon was scarred by thecity, and Oedon by thequeenof that name.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, the Coronation! At last, Aeon becomes God-King!