The Wailer and Struggler
A being that wails and writhes in torment.
It was a scream — a desperate struggle to break free of the chains binding it.
Kiiiieeeeeee—!!
A shriek like a rip through the eardrums began erupting from my own body.
Which was strange, because I hadn't said a single word — and yet my body was screaming.
"A-Aaaahhhh..."
It was also strange that the man who'd swung his sword at me was now staring up at me, his face drained white with horror.
"Th-the Avatar."
Clang.
His sword clattered to the ground, and he dropped to his knees at a speed that would've put light itself to shame.
"O Nyarlathotep, who pierces through the entire universe and knows every truth in creation! I sincerely confess this foolish mistake of this foolish creation of yours, so please, f-f-forgive this ant's insolence just this once, and take pity on the mayfly life of this earthworm of the gutter, and s-spare me! I beg you, from the bottom of my—"
"You're loud."
Crunch.
"GAAAAGH!!"
Jelly-like tentacles burst from my body and began chewing through the man.
"S-save me—GAAAAH!"
Within seconds, he'd become today's daily bread.
Avatar of Chaos — consumes SAN points based on the level of the transformed avatar.
Avatar of Chaos: The Wailer and Struggler — Cost: 5 SAN per minute.
Then an uncountable stretch of time passed.
Well, that was just from my perspective. Honestly, it wasn't even a few minutes.
The drain on my sanity was growing worse by the second. That hazy, cotton-headed feeling from before was steadily intensifying.
I killed him.
Setting that aside, I'd been flailing tentacles at anything that moved, and a sudden thought made my whole body shudder.
A man whose only kills in life had been bugs and insects had just committed outright murder.
The moment that realization landed, my sanity began plunging even faster. Like water leaking from a cracked jar, the SAN value pouring out of me showed no sign of being plugged.
"GAAAAAH!"
"O Living Flame! Our god! GAAAHK!"
Even now, people were dying like flies around me.
I was casually bulldozing through twenty-odd years of stories — a lifetime of separate, non-overlapping devotion these people had each built up without ever touching another's.
Not that I felt any regret.
They were the ones trying to kill me, after all.
So I hoped they'd have the decency to drop dead before my SAN hit zero.
Just then, a chat message arrived on my phone lying on the ground. But it was too far away for me to read.
The worshippers swarming in. And me, devouring them.
Only God knew when this little war would end.
Deep in the vastness of outer space, an object no bigger than a speck of dust drifted along.
The dust was headed for a certain planet — Cthugha's residence.
Upon arriving, the dust cried out at the top of its lungs.
"Show your face, you fire-breathing red-tarded freak!"
FWOOOOOSH!!
An Inextinguishable Flame came hurtling straight at the dust.
But aside from a slight singe, the dust took no damage at all.
After all, the gap in power between an Outer God and a Great Old One was absolute. No matter how strong Cthugha was among her peers, she was no match for Nyarlathotep, an Outer God.
"That retarded temper of yours never changes, no matter how many times I see it."
"Shut up."
A small flame rose up into the void of space. It slowly took shape, morphing into the figure of a demon made entirely of fire.
"Kim Hyunseong would hate seeing you like that, you know."
"..."
At Nyarlathotep's words, Cthugha's body slowly shifted, transforming into a beautiful woman with striking red hair.
"Get lost. I have nothing to say to y—"
"Shall I take a guess at why you're acting like this?"
Nyaralathotep abruptly switched her tone.
In the realm of the mind, no existence could hope to rival her. Which was precisely why she'd gone out of her way to choose the words guaranteed to enrage Cthugha the most.
"You threw a tantrum over your little in-game marriage, and that's how this whole mess started, isn't it?"
"...Shut up."
"Hyunseong wasn't even thinking anything of it, but you got all excited on your own — 'we'll have to give the baby the surname Kim, right?' — off fantasizing by yourself, and then I snatched him right out from under you, and now you're pissed. That about covers it."
A massive burst of flame erupted from Cthugha's body and surged toward Nyarlathotep.
"You've got nothing to say back, do you? Because it's all true. In my entire existence, this is the first time I've ever broken someone's mentality this easily."
"H-hiik... shut up...!"
The paradoxical sight of tears dripping from the Living Flame's eyes came into Nyarlathotep's view.
"Aww, are you crying? A Great Old One, crying over one measly human? Did you like him that much?"
"I told you to shut up — ugh! — I did...!"
"Someone several trillion years old, bawling because she got dissed a little? And you call yourself a god? And then, because you like him for contracting with you, you try to kill him? Honestly, the way you act is worse than a seven-year-old human brat."
Nyarlathotep slowly began taking human form, abandoning her dust-like shape. Black hair, blue eyes, and a smirk that cocked up on one side.
Every last bit of it was more than enough to enrage Cthugha.
"And even if you wanted him dead that badly, you could've gone yourself. Why leave it to your worshippers, hmm? You want him dead, but now that it comes to it, he's too precious to actually kill — that about the size of it?"
"..."
"Heh. Too choked up to even cry now?"
Cthugha bowed her head and began trembling violently.
"Want me to tell you the only way you can ever be with Kim Hyunseong?"
"?"
Having crushed Cthugha's self-esteem to the fullest extent of her ability, Nyarlathotep moved on to the main point.
"Right now, Hyunseong is stuffed to the brim with flame energy from devouring your worshippers. Which means you need to contract with him and calm it down."
"...!!"
A Dual Contract.
An abnormal form of contract in which two Constellations bond to a single human body. And since it was impossible without the explicit permission of the first deity to contract, it was a contract that could never form between gods on bitterly bad terms — like Nyarlathotep and Cthugha.
Besides, deities were possessive by nature, so dual contracts rarely came to fruition in the first place.
"Y-you'll permit it?"
"I will. My power is far too extreme as it is — I need someone moderate to balance me out."
The abilities Nyarlathotep wielded were so overwhelming that they were practically poison. Her silver tongue could enslave people with a few simple words, and her raw strength could massacre villain-class hunters — C-to-B-tier at best — like it was nothing.
And performing those feats burned a frankly absurd cost. Zero sustain, ultimate high-risk, ultimate high-reward.
To shore up those weaknesses, she needed an ability suitable for everyday use.
"And that, my dear, is you."
"C-can I really..."
"Yes, no, whatever — this is the only way you'll ever be joined with Hyunseong."
"Still..."
"Don't want to? Fine, then. I'll just have to go ask Cthulhu. At her level, dousing a little fire would be a breeze."
Whoosh.
"WAAIT!"
The moment Nyarlathotep turned to leave, Cthugha frantically reached out her hand.
"I-I'll do it! We'll contract! So don't go!"
"...Then you have something to do, don't you?"
"I know..."
Gathering her power, Cthugha opened her mouth.
"...! The god has given the order! Retreat!!"
"R-Retreat!!"
They'd thrown themselves at me knowing full well they might die, yet now they were suddenly screaming and scattering to the winds.
As far as I was concerned, that was none of my business. If anything, I was glad the pests giving me grief were clearing out.
FWOOOOM!!
Just then, an enormous flame erupted around me. But it didn't harm me in the slightest — if anything, it seemed to be there to protect me.
Nyarlathotep is screaming at you to cancel your transformation this instant.
"G-got it..."
The moment I registered the message, I dropped the transformation on the spot and collapsed to the ground.
Dark thoughts flooded my mind. I honestly felt like I'd rather just die like this. No — realistically, if I stayed like this, I probably would die.
Nyarlathotep is demanding you accept the contract and has stepped away for a moment.
Cthugha is clasping her hands together and approaching in nervous, faltering steps.
Cthugha has begun typing a chat message, tears streaming down her face.
Ding!
A chat arrived on my phone beside me, its screen cracked and half-dead.
Cthugha has sent you an Incarnation Contract.
Nyarlathotep approves.
"..."
I stared at the system messages through bleary eyes.
Do you wish to accept?
"...You absolute dumbass."
Cthugha flinched hard.
I slowly reached my hand toward the message.
"You could've just done this from the start..."
Cthugha beams brightly and purifies the flame energy within your body.
Fire Affinity Maximized!
Nyarlathotep, having barely managed to draw on her power, restores your SAN value.
"Hah!"
Startled by the sudden rush of clarity, I bolted upright.
Nyarlathotep is yelling at you to run home.
At those words, I sprinted for home as fast as my legs would carry me.
Under absolutely no circumstances could I get caught.