Chapter 1146: Death Of A Major Idol

It was just another blue star.

Just another place for him to feast.

Just another meaningless exploration.

Just another instance of trickery.

He must admit, even he was starting to tire of his purpose.

Was his life simply a cycle of consumption and trickery?

He wanted something more.

Something worth doing.

There, he saw a shining light.

A hook that reached out to the vast expanse of the cosmic sea.

A hook that he could latch onto. As he drew closer, he noticed the strangeness of this world.

The shimmering barrier that not even the Great Ones could bypass.

One filled to the brim with conceptual defences that kept the world safe from harm.

How beautiful.

Naturally, he had seen stars who had their own defences but this...

This was sensational.

This was head and shoulders above the rest.

How could such a barrier even exist? One that hinders the movement of the great cosmic beings that Major Idols like himself tremble under.

How could such a barrier that holds back the ancient forces exist? How can a simple meagre entity from such a small planet create this kind of veil?

The thirst for knowledge, the desire to crush the puny thing that thinks it could defy the natural order dominated his mind.

Never has he seen such tenacious resistance before.

Thus he reached out.

Thus he allowed himself to get pulled towards this feeble vessel.

Hah.

A nameless Outer God.

Nothing but a new born in his eyes.

A scrap of flesh created by the meddling of people who don’t understand what they are dealing with.

Though this vessel was insufficient, it was enough to satisfy his desires for now.

###

Before him stood three entities.

No, that would be incorrect.

One entity was... strange.

Three dominant souls held within one vessel while countless fragmented leftovers were constrained within her body.

The scent of Eldritch energy was not unlike an Outer God but... it was strange.

Like looking into a distorted mirror.

He could see that it’s an ’Outer’ but he couldn’t quite accept it.

Like it was a fake.

Not only that, but the main soul was remarkably young.

A speck of dust in the grand scheme of things.

But like the barrier, this speck was tenacious like no other.

It thrashed, it fought, it tried to negotiate.

Amusing.

Yes... amusing was the word that crossed his mind.

Like a tiny kitten one would see by the side of the road.

Though this analogy was largely foreign to him. It must’ve been left overs by the original vessel.

Perhaps it found some kinship with abandoned beasts for he was one of them.

I injected more of myself into this vessel.

To pull more of my essence into this world through the tiny gap available to me.

To perceive the world as humans did and converse with this strange thing before me.

This was merely an... appetiser before he erased this world.

It didn’t matter if it was seconds, minutes or hours. However long she wanted to stall, it made no difference to him.

He will erase this world regardless of what she said.

After all...

It was a sore sight to see such a defiant little star thinking it could go against the natural order.

###

This little one was a rather rare specimen.

Though he may be an Outer God of concealment, he spoke truth in that moment.

He spoke about the many he has seen, the many he had conversed with.

And in all his ’life’, if he could even call it that, only a small handful replied like she did.

Defiant one, soft one.

The will of a ruler yet within that chest of hers lies a gentle heart.

Despite the hurt she had experienced, she continues to push forward towards a gentle future.

Though the girl did not know her true thoughts, I could see past her confusion.

I could see her indignation. I could see how she viewed the world.

Unfair.

Just a single word to sum up her myriad thoughts.

She hated the unfair world.

She hated the unjust world.

She hated the fact that power could be granted to whoever.

Power granted to psychopaths who care not for their own safety, lusting for power and putting those around them in danger.

She hated this world where children had to fight.

She hated this world where one couldn’t stay safe without embarking on the same blood coated path as the tyrants.

She hated the order of this world that allowed gods to meddle however they wished.

She hated the families who take advantage of each tiny anomaly without care of the damage they did to the world.

She hated the fact that she was born into a world like this.

She hated, hated, hated and hated some more.

But...

She also loved.

She loved this world so dearly.

A young maidens love forever rooted in her heart.

A love that won’t change no matter what.

She loved the world that brought her to her current family.

Though she hated, she was taught to love.

Ah... how blessed...

Few are as blessed as she.

It’s a position that not many would understand.

The thoughts of a girl with a power to overturn the world yet wants no part of it.

All of this power, all of this authority.

She is willing to give it up in a heartbeat if it meant living a normal life with those around her.

If she could pave a way to a future like that, no sacrifice of hers was too great a price.

If one could bring her dreams to reality, even if the price is her life, she would give it without hesitation.

Such was the nature of this girl.

Yet despite her nature, she was able to see the truth of his lies.

He won’t destroy this world nor would he leave it be.

He wanted to reshape the world while adhering to the ’agreement’ they would make.

To redo everything so that Alice and her loved ones would survive.

Of course, this didn’t include those outside of her perception.

They were... his meals.

In the past, when he had offered this to the others, they were quick to accept. With the information they had on Outer Gods, they felt ’confident’ that he won’t go back on his word.

In a sense, he didn’t.

He followed it down to the very last letter.

They can’t blame him for not taking into account of the things omitted from the agreement after all.

If they were so bothered, they should’ve proposed a better contract.

And Alice...

She was the first to see through his lies. Not just because of the strange golden eye she had in her possession but also her own instincts.

This girl who had lived a tiny fraction of her life compared to him was able to see past the veils of trickery.

To decipher his words and realise the grave threat looming behind it.

Oth’Zeruun admitted it without shame.

He was interested.

This artificial lifeform has been the most fascinating thing he had seen in such a long time that he played around with his food a bit more than usual.

One could even call it a ’mistake’.

There were many things he ’should’ve’ done but didn’t.

He should’ve ended the conversation.

He should’ve overwhelmed and killed her immediately before she acclimated to the authority.

But he didn’t.

He looked down on the potential held by these tiny insignificant creatures.

How could they possibly dream of reaching beyond the stars to reach him?

How could they possibly stand before a cosmic being such as himself?

This tiny planet should not house such a possibly. . .

There are always exceptions.

###

". . ."

Oth’Zeruun stared at the insignificant being standing before him.

Was this her soul?

No.

She wasn’t even here in soul state.

This was simply a ’projection’.

A strange one at that.

A punch that crossed the very fabric of space in order to reach his essence.

One that punctured a hole through every conceivable barrier to reach him.

Alyss stood before the true body of Oth’Zeruun.

Though she wasn’t here in soul form, she still felt the backlash of staring at such a being with her own eyes.

The flood of information that rushed to her mind.

They didn’t store information the same way humans did.

Kept concealed in the brain.

No...

Their true form is similar to a ’cloud’ of data rather than a physical construct.

Simply peering towards this cloud would cause the information to propagate and flood her mind.

Perhaps it was out of good will or perhaps it was her own innate sense of survival.

But something had obscured most of Oth’Zeruun’s true body, leaving only his most vulnerable core available for her to see.

Without this ’censor’...

Alyss realised just staring at this thing would cause her mind to fray and collapse under the sheer weight of this information.

Insanity that would strike faster than any attack.

Exhaling softly, Alyss pulled her fist back.

She breached a path to Oth’Zeruun’s most vulnerable location for a singular purpose.

Now that she was here, there was no need for an exchange of words.

Like Oth’Zeruun, her thoughts drifted aimlessly in this space.

Streams of data being projected with the ticking of each second.

Even without speaking, a conversation was held.

A simple glance at the thoughts in each other’s mind.

"So you’re here to kill and consume."

"Yes. Are you afraid?"

"Hardly. Though I suppose regret fills my mind. I have yet to eat my fill after all."

Alyss pursed her lips.

"Sorry. But this is as far as you will go. . . I won’t deny the selfish reasons for killing you however. Yours is a power we desperately need right now." Alyss admitted.

"I’m aware. But death is not at all as bad as what you humans believe. To me, it is simply another form a slumber. One that would make me forget about this pervasive hunger that plagues all Outers."

Understanding that her opponent had resolved himself for death, Alyss took a heavy step forward.

Now that she was where Oth’Zeruun was the weakest, claiming his life was... simpler than expected.

A single punch. A single core shattered.

A firework of energy erupting in all directions and at its centre...

A single strand of authority that flowed towards her finger tips.