The Tablet of Destinies
While the monsters and the corpse legions they commanded were being crushed one after another, Kingu himself was off in dreamland.
And of all things, he was having a filthy dream.
In it, he was straddling the woman he had always idealized. Burying his face in her soft flesh, he frantically worked his hips atop a body larger than his own.
"Mama! Mama! Mama!!"
Kingu whined like a petulant child. What he was doing with his member was nothing like ordinary reproductive desire. This was not about spreading his seed—it was a regressive instinct, a longing to return to oneness with the mother who had borne him. The act of penetration was simply the expression of a wish to crawl back into her womb.
Looking down at such a son, the woman smiled gently and stroked him as if he were adorable.
"Don't be so impatient, my child. You're doing so well."
"I love you, Mama!"
Mama had praised him. The fact moved Kingu so deeply he was nearly in tears. Even if he died like this, he would have no regrets.
"But my child—be careful. Chaos's power grew strong enough to revive the self that had been scattered through human consciousness, and you were fortunate enough to obtain the Tablet of Destinies. Even so, that does not mean there is no one stronger than you."
"What?"
At those words, Kingu's body went rigid. Fear began to take hold of him.
"Don't tell me—M-Marduk…"
Marduk. To Kingu, that name was a symbol of pure terror. Those four eyes more chilling than any beast, the wings of light, the storm-net and arrows he had used to kill Mother—all of it was burned deep into his mind.
After Mother died, Kingu had at first tried to charge in with rage. But he understood at once. Even if he died and came back a thousand times, he could never reach that being. In the end he fled like a coward, dragging his wounded body. Without so much as avenging his mother, he ran for his life like a beast with its tail between its legs. Even then, terrified of being caught, he divided himself into countless tiny fragments and mixed them into the mud.
In time that mud was used as the material to create humans, and Kingu's shattered mind parasitized their consciousness, clinging somehow to existence. Had more time passed, his very self would have dissolved—but fortunately, with Mother's help, he was able to resurrect by feeding on human corpses.
"That child is still sealed. It will take a little longer before he awakens."
"Phew. Then it's fine. As long as that monster isn't around, no one can stand against me while I hold the Tablet of Destinies."
"Is that so?"
The woman wore a cryptic expression.
"The gods still don't know this, but the world is far wider than they realize. The spaces between are merely blocked by barriers of spacetime. Through my interference, however, one being has crossed those walls."
"I don't really understand what you mean, Mama."
At that, the woman smiled with overflowing maternal warmth. Looking at his mother's smile, Kingu felt a wave of relief.
"A sage who has lost his name will come looking for you. He…"
He never properly heard what followed. No—he heard it, but he could not fully remember it.
Rumble… rumble… rumble…
A sudden vibration yanked Kingu forcibly out of the dream.
"Wh-what?"
He was flustered. Being jolted awake was one thing—but the source of the tremor was coming from directly above his head.
Rumble.
At last the earth covering him was scooped away, and light pouring from the sky fell across his face.
"So this is where you were hiding. You were buried so deep it was hard to find you."
Looking down at him from above was a man with silver hair and narrowed eyes. From those features alone, Kingu—who had already gathered information on the gods—recognized his opponent as the god Sunya. But he had known him only as a god of sculpture and painting, someone utterly unrelated to combat, and so he had never expected this appearance at all.
In that blank moment of surprise, a massive hand seized Kingu and hauled him up to the surface in a single motion.
"After all, if you stay in the ground, you might still manage to escape."
Without stopping there, Sunya hurled him into the air.
What is this?
Even as he flew, Kingu could not grasp the situation. Looking at the deep, vast pit below, it seemed Sunya had dug the earth out—but even for a god, it was not a size one person could excavate alone. With no presence of other gods or spirits nearby, his confusion only deepened.
"Ordinarily I would introduce myself and exchange a few greetings, but I'm afraid we don't have time for that right now."
A voice from behind him. As Kingu hurriedly twisted mid-flight, Sunya's fist detonated into him.
"Guh?!"
The moment the blow landed, Kingu's head rang. How was one even supposed to describe it? His entire body felt as if it had turned to metal. An enormous impact shook his very existence.
"You've hurt far too many people. As for me, I don't particularly feel inclined to show you mercy."
"How dare you!"
Kingu immediately tried to counter. He lashed out with tentacles, stabbing faster than sound—but
Thud.
Sunya casually swung an arm and swatted them aside, and they struck only empty air. Having failed his attack, he had to pay the price. Sunya closed the distance and drove a kick into Kingu's abdomen.
Why?
It hurt. It had been a very long time since anything hurt this much. Kingu's body was built to withstand blunt force, yet somehow every time Sunya struck him, every muscle seized and the pain was tremendous.
"Damn it!!"
He flailed his tentacles wildly. Not a single one connected. Sunya dodged them by a paper-thin margin and kept hitting him—with fists, elbows, knees, feet. Truly, he beat Kingu relentlessly in every conceivable way.
"Kyaaaaaah!!"
An explosion erupted from Kingu's body. Even Sunya had no choice but to step back this time. Kingu used the opening to form a massive tentacle and bring it crashing down. Of course it missed again—but the giant tentacle struck a mountain and carved out a canyon. The aftershock made the earth shudder, and even the people on the surface threw themselves flat, trembling with fear.
"Please don't destroy nature."
Sunya closed in again and casually swung his fist. Kingu raised a tentacle as a shield, but it was torn away in one blow and his face crushed in the next.
"What the hell is with you all of a sudden?!"
Regenerating his face in a hurry, Kingu screamed. In that instant rocks and slabs of earth reversed gravity and flew toward Sunya. He advanced by the shortest path, smashing through them. A massive chunk of ground blocking his way he punched straight through, and hit Kingu once more.
"Kraaaaaah!!"
This time Kingu turned his tentacles into lightning. Countless strands wove a net to restrict movement, while dozens more fired scorching beams meant to incinerate his opponent without leaving so much as a speck of dust. But Sunya dodged every ray and eventually found a gap and slipped through.
"Why won't anything hit?!"
"Your aim isn't very good."
Sunya's fist drove into Kingu's side. Had Kingu been human, he would have learned exactly what it felt like to have his guts pulverized.
"Urgh!!"
He vomited blood.
Dangerous—dangerous—dangerous!
Alarm bells screamed in his head. Kingu thrashed desperately just to stay alive. Judging that he could not escape Sunya in human form, he transformed into something resembling a giant dragon.
"More places to hit. How convenient."
Only after his limbs were torn off and his skull smashed did he realize that had been a terrible idea. He returned to his original shape and spawned thousands of clones identical to himself. Even so, Sunya pinpointed the true body, aimed precisely at the chest, and threw a punch. Kingu's upper half burst like a water balloon.
"This is wrong!"
It made no sense. Why did a mere fist hurt this much? Why did he keep getting hit? Why did none of his attacks land? He could find an answer to none of it.
I'm going to die like this.
To live, he had to run. He tried to divide his body into countless fragments as he had long ago—but every time Sunya's fist struck him, his whole body locked up and he could not.
I'm going to die this absurdly? Me?
As he was unilaterally beaten, Kingu's body cycled through regeneration and destruction. If he had had even a moment of breathing room, he would have used the Tablet of Destinies to work a powerful miracle—but Sunya gave him not the slightest opening.
"Wait!! If you kill me, the Tablet of Destinies will also—"
"Not my problem."
Sunya cut him off and extended his fist. Light erupted from its tip and swallowed Kingu whole.
Ah, Mother…
As he faded into oblivion, Kingu could finally recall the words his mother had spoken in the dream.
A sage who has lost his name will come looking for you. He was originally born human, yet was destined to become greater than any god. But in the end he failed to awaken, remaining trapped in worldly afflictions—a pitiful soul who could not transcend the realm of the divine. Someone like you, Kingu, wouldn't even be a match for him.
That had not been advice.
So thrash about as hard as you can. Watching that is my entertainment, you see. That's why I revived a cowardly parasite like you.
There had been no love in the eyes that looked at him. It was the gaze of a child regarding an amusing toy.
"Mother… why am I…"
And so Kingu, who had led the eleven monsters, vanished into the backstage of mythology along with the Tablet of Destinies.
"With this, the monsters made of corpses should disappear as well. The beasts will stop moving too."
One matter resolved. Saying so and exhaling a sigh of relief, Sunya realized something was wrong.
At some point, it had started raining far too heavily.