Up to 20 Advanced chapters + comissions on patreon.com/skyfall12 !
X―x―X—x—X―x―X
(A/N: Thanks for sticking so long, Rockstars <3)
The battle began, not with a clash of fists or explosions of magic, but with the very concept of identity.
Howard grinned wickedly and whispered, "Let's see how well you hold onto yourself, Akira."
The air around them rippled as Howard unleashed Existence Entanglement, a technique that fractured and merged their individual identities. Akira felt a pull in his mind—memories, emotions, and fragments of who he was began bleeding into Howard's essence, while Howard's twisted thoughts seeped into his. The battlefield was no longer physical or magical—it was their very selves.
Akira staggered for a moment, his hands trembling as fragments of Howard's cruel, unrelenting ambition flashed through his consciousness. "You're trying to overwrite me," Akira muttered, his crimson eyes narrowing.
"Not overwrite," Howard countered, his voice dripping with malice. "Assimilate. Break down who you are and remake you in my image."
But Akira smirked, his sleepy expression unshaken. "Good luck with that. You're not the first to try to mess with my mind."
Akira responded with Thread of Origins, unraveling his core being into countless threads of energy, each representing a different aspect of his soul—memories of his human life, moments with Alice and Roxanne, battles fought, and every fragment of power he had gained. The threads danced like a chaotic web, resisting Howard's attempts to consume them.
Howard laughed, pulling at the threads. "You're playing right into my hands! Every thread I take makes me stronger!" He began absorbing parts of Akira's essence, feeling his power grow with each fragment.
But then Howard paused, his expression twisting into confusion and frustration. The threads he had consumed began to dissolve, unraveling his grip on Akira and destabilizing his own form.
"Did you really think I'd give you the best of me so easily?" Akira asked, his voice calm but sharp. "What you're absorbing isn't me—it's decoys, fragments of what I've shed over countless lifetimes. You're trying to trap water in your fists."
Howard roared in frustration and countered with Mirror Abyss, splitting the battlefield into infinite reflections of their identities. Every movement they made echoed through the reflections, each reflection acting as an attack on the other. Akira's threads moved through the mirrors like rivers, creating ripples that Howard couldn't contain.
"Stop this!" Howard demanded as his own reflections began to warp, turning into distorted versions of himself—versions that mocked him, questioned him, and betrayed his control.
Akira smirked, his threads weaving through the chaos. "You fight like a god, Howard. But the difference between you and me is simple. I don't just control who I am. I embrace it."
With a final pull, Akira drew the battlefield into himself, collapsing the mirrors, threads, and reflections into one singular truth: his unshaken identity. Howard's form flickered, destabilized by the sheer force of Akira's self-awareness.
"You're not fighting my power," Akira said, his voice echoing through the void. "You're fighting me. And that's something you can't win against."
As Howard's form flickered and cracked under the weight of Akira's unshakable identity, Akira stepped forward, his crimson eyes glowing brighter than ever. He raised his hand, but instead of attacking, he did something Howard hadn't anticipated—he smiled.
"What's so funny?" Howard snarled, his voice trembling with rage and confusion.
"I'm about to do something you'd never expect from someone like me," Akira said calmly. "I'm going to rewrite the rules of this battle... and give you exactly what you want."
Howard's eyes widened in disbelief as Akira clasped his hands together. Threads of his essence, the same ones Howard had tried to consume earlier, began pouring out of Akira's body. But this time, they weren't decoys—they were genuine fragments of his power, his being, his everything.
"What are you doing?!" Howard shouted, his voice rising in panic.
"I'm giving you all of me," Akira replied, his voice steady and resolute. "No barriers, no tricks, no resistance. You wanted to assimilate me, Howard? Then take it. Take it all."
The threads surged into Howard like a torrent, flooding him with Akira's power, memories, and essence. For a brief moment, Howard's form stabilized, his body glowing with divine energy as he absorbed Akira's full might. He laughed maniacally, his voice booming through the dimensional gap.
"I've won! You fool! You've handed me everything!"
But then, the laughter stopped. Howard's body began to twist and contort unnaturally. The overwhelming flood of Akira's essence was too much, too complex, too contradictory for even Howard to handle.
"What... what is this?!" Howard gasped, his voice breaking as Akira's memories and emotions flooded his mind. He saw flashes of Akira's human life, his death which was caused by three consecutive random accidents.
Howard then saw Monika, way before Akira's death, he reminded time so much it all started going black; there were no parents, no relatives, no birth, no nothing.
"You wanted to become me," Akira said, his voice echoing through the collapsing dimensional gap. "But you're not ready to carry the burden of my existence."
"Th—This can't BE!!" Howard shouts.
"You—You're not a subject of Azathoth! You're not a subject of any god!! Who in the hell gave YOU LIFE?!" Howard asks.
"...I, don't have the answer for that question... Good thing you mentioned it, I'll ask ROB later." Akira says.
The last thing Howard saw, was the gentle smile of the unknown goddess who was behind it all.
"...You..." His final words were.
Howard's body exploded into a kaleidoscope of light and shadows, his very being unraveling under the weight of Akira's identity. As the dust settled, Akira stood alone, his form glowing faintly. As Howard's body exploded, he was in a weakened state, Akira quickly reabsorbed his essence as well as Howard's which had fused with Nihila.
With a wave of his hand, Akira snuffed out the light, his expression calm yet resolute. Then, standing tall, he turned his gaze to the center of the Nexus. "One threat down," He says.
Akira stood before the Nexus Core, the absolute center of all creation. The sight was overwhelming—a pulsating sphere of infinite colors, constantly shifting, as if each hue represented a different reality. It radiated a power so immense it was almost suffocating. The closer Akira stepped, the heavier the weight on his shoulders became, as though the entire multiverse pressed against his very being.
"So this is it," Akira muttered, his crimson eyes narrowing. "The heart of everything."
The Core seemed alive, responding to his presence.
Suddenly, the Core spoke—not with words, but through a wave of emotions and understanding that resonated directly within Akira's soul.
"You are not meant to be here," it seemed to say. "Your existence is an anomaly, a disturbance in the balance."
Akira smirked, his hair glowing white as his aura flared. "Balance? That's rich coming from the thing that let Howard play god. Don't talk to me about balance when your own creation nearly collapsed."
The Core responded with a surge of energy, and Akira found himself surrounded by manifestations of guardians—beings forged from pure Nexus energy. They were formless yet overwhelming, each radiating a power rivaling the gods he had faced before.
"So, you're testing me?" Akira said, rolling his shoulders. "Fine. Let's see if you're worth protecting."
The guardians charged at him, but this wasn't a battle of strength or speed. Akira realized the fight was entirely conceptual—every attack wasn't a physical blow but a challenge to his very existence. A guardian's strike questioned his identity, trying to unravel his essence, while another probed his memories, seeking inconsistencies to exploit.
But Akira was unyielding. His form shimmered as he countered their attacks with absolute conviction. When a guardian tried to erase his memories, Akira pushed back, flooding it with the strength of his experiences—his love for Alice, his bond with Roxanne, and even the bitter lessons he'd learned through pain and loss.
"Is that all you've got?" he growled, shattering one of the guardians into shards of light.
One by one, the manifestations fel, their energy dissipating into the Core. Akira stood victorious, his breath steady despite the intensity of the battle.
The Core pulsed again, this time more subdued, almost as if it were acknowledging his strength. But instead of another attack, it shifted, revealing a path—a bridge of light leading directly into its center.
Akira hesitated for a moment, then stepped onto the bridge. "Let's finish this," he said, his voice resolute. With every step, the energy around him grew denser, the weight of infinite realities pressing down on him. But Akira pressed forward, his gaze fixed on the heart of the Core.
As he reached the center, the Nexus spoke again, its tone now filled with curiosity. "What will you do, Akira? Will you claim this power for yourself? Will you destroy it? Or will you walk away?"
Having absorbed Howard, Nihila, Achilles, and Noxinyargan, his aura exuded dominion over reality itself. His long white hair flowed as though caught in an eternal breeze, his crimson eyes reflecting the infinite possibilities that lay ahead.
He raised his arm, and the Nexus trembled at his intent. It knew it couldn't resist him; it was merely a matter of what he chose to do.
Akira's voice was calm, yet it carried the weight of his newfound authority. "The Nexus... the foundation of all existence. For too long, its borders have kept planes separate, limiting the true potential of power. But not anymore."
With a swift motion, Akira directed his energy into the Core. His will pierced its essence, rewriting its purpose. The planes began to tremble, their boundaries blurring as Akira merged their edges. The once-impenetrable barriers between dimensions dissolved like mist, folding into one another, creating a single, malleable reality under his control.
The Core's light dimmed as it submitted to his overwhelming dominance. The Nexus, once a force of neutrality and balance, was now a tool-a weapon in Akira's hands.
"This is how it should be," Akira muttered, a dark smile creeping across his face. "No more restrictions. No more Outer Gods pulling strings."
Behind him, the echoes of Nihila, Achilles, and Noxinyargan lingered faintly within his being, their combined essence fueling his transformation. He could feel Howard's knowledge pulsing within him, guiding his manipulation of the Core with precision.
The planes, now merged, became his personal hunting ground. The remaining Outer Gods, scattered across existence, would soon realize their doom was inevitable. Akira would find them, one by one, and slaughter them until no rival remained.
"I warned you all," Akira whispered.
For him the hunt had begun.
But not now, since things should be adressed first.
Akira stood at the Nexus, the lines between all planes now bent to his will. With a snap of his fingers, the air around him rippled, and the 'cube'—the sealed form of Azathoth—manifested before him. It floated silently, its surface pulsating faintly with the chaotic energy of the Eldritch Progenitor trapped within.
Akira smirked, his crimson eyes glowing with authority. "I've done my part, old friend. Time to wake up."
He reached out, his fingers brushing the cube's surface. With a slight gesture, he began to unravel the intricate seal Howard had placed on it. The symbols and bindings melted away under Akira's overwhelming power, dissipating into nothingness.
The cube trembled violently, and cracks began to spread across its surface, radiating blinding light. A deafening hum filled the air as the chaotic energy within threatened to burst free.
Finally, the cube shattered, and Azathoth emerged in his true form—a massive, otherworldly presence that defied logic and comprehension. His form shimmered with endless chaos, a swirling mass of eyes, limbs, and cosmic energy. Despite his monstrous appearance, his voice was calm, resonating with power.
"Akira... I see you've taken matters into your own hands," Azathoth said, his many eyes narrowing with amusement.
Akira crossed his arms, his expression unbothered. "Howard overstepped, and the Nexus is mine now. But I can't have you sitting in a cube while there's work to be done. We've got a multiverse to conquer."
Azathoth chuckled darkly, the sound reverberating through the Nexus. "You fucking prick, did I ever tell you I need your help? I was gonna free myself anyway. Don't expect to get bussy just because of one good thing you did." Azathoth said, annoyed.
Akira's mouth opened widely, "No level of power could have prepared me for that line. Delete that shit now." He said.