"Ugh… what are you up to now, Shub-Niggurath?"
"This girl came charging toward us, all fiery and fierce, then, probably sensed our presence wasn't something she could handle. Instinct, maybe? Or some primal sense? Anyway, this Arcueid girl, not sure how to put it, just plopped down nearby, pretending to be a passerby."
"Her aura's all over the place, barely concealed. In a crowd, she's like ink in clear water, impossible to miss. Plus, I've laced this park with a unique suggestion, so every sentient being within a couple miles instinctively avoids it."
"So, this girl, playing hide-and-seek under our noses, acting her little solo drama, how could we not notice her? I only held back because of her special bond with that kid."
Nyaruko scratched her head, eyeing Shub-Niggurath's smug expression with a wry smile.
"She overheard us, so what? She's not exactly an outsider. But did you have to drag her out and threaten her like a mom scolding her son's fiancée? You've got a twisted sense of fun…"
As Nyaruko grumbled, her gaze met Arcueid's. Yog-Sothoth, clutching his head in exasperation, pointed toward Shub-Niggurath's focus. "Sorry, kiddo. 'sister' work, for you, right? Since you're tiny compared to me, and you're my lil bro's girl."
Nyaruko rambled, her logic oddly sound, waving her fan to shatter Shub-Niggurath's invisible grip, freeing Arcueid from the stifling bind. "Yog-Sothoth, and I weren't gonna bother you. Blame Shub-Niggurath, the nosy pest. She's probably miffed you're close to our lil bro."
"Really, picking up emotions, getting all human-like, and now even jealousy? Calling yourself a mother but jealous of your kid's girl?"
Shub-Niggurath shot her a sour look. "Mind your own business!"
"Fine, fine, you're the Onee-san, I'll butt out." Nyaruko sighed. "Just calm this girl down first. Your stunt spooked her."
Nyaruko flicked her fan, brushing away the mythic blades and modern weapons Arcueid conjured, scattering them like dust.
She smiled faintly, raising an arm to unleash an unobservable black void behind her, surging toward Arcueid.
"What is this?!"
Arcueid's eyes widened, primal terror driving her to summon weapons with Marble Phantasm, hurling them at the three existences whose mere presence unnerved her, desperate for a chance to flee.
But these weren't ants like Roa. They were the strongest beings she'd ever faced.
In an instant, she glimpsed darkness, a patch in the park, ordinary at first.
Then, an alien presence swelled, bloating beneath her feet, before her, everywhere. It grew, ballooned, until it took form.
Not darkness, but chaos, black, yet shimmering with prismatic hues, teeming with sentient light, surging toward her.
The chaos didn't move deliberately, yet it was everywhere. Her body froze, her actions halted, pinned in place.
Undefinable, unavoidable, undefendable, it seized her effortlessly.
Before she knew it, Arcueid hung upside-down from a lamppost, dangling by Nyaruko's will, her defiance snuffed out.
Strength, rank, concept, or something more, rendered her powerless against this white-haired maiden.
Even the planet's will, her constant guide, was silenced with a flick of Nyaruko's wrist, severed like a spiderweb.
"Much better, huh? No more nagging from this planet. Comfy now?" Nyaruko teased.
"Huh?"
Arcueid blinked, stunned. The Earth's voice, her lifelong tether, was gone.
Nyaruko had snapped her link to Gaia, tolerating Arcueid only for Roy's sake, treating her like a cherished pet by association.
But why keep other chains on someone tied to her lil bro? A mere planet dared meddle?
So, Nyaruko tore the bond between the Earth's Princess and Gaia without mercy.
She warned the planet: "I'm too lazy to crush you outright, but keep squirming, and I'll skip Steel Earth or Coral Moon and burn you to glass."
Faced with Nyaruko's naked threat, Gaia's will…
"…"
…fell silent, retreating.
"Not bad, you're learning." Nyaruko smirked, her gaze returning to the girl who intrigued her more.
"You're Arcueid, right? Moon's UO? Oh, wait, not the original, just a special form for her revival. Got it. No biggie. Even the true Moon UO would fare the same. Just an ant versus a bigger ant."
"You've been waiting for my lil bro, huh? Sorry, we've kept him busy with special arrangements, so he's back late."
Fan in hand, Nyaruko declared grandly, "By rights, a being like you shouldn't know, let alone join, our grand plan. But since my lil bro likes you, no harm done. We'll just carve out a tiny spot for you on our ark to the new world. So, cheer up and thank me profusely!!"
"…What are you talking about?"
Dangling from the lamppost, Arcueid frowned at Nyaruko's relentless chatter, bewildered.
Despite lingering, she couldn't grasp what these Outer Gods were on about.
Ark, new world, that child…
She knew the words, but strung together, they were gibberish.
"Huh?! You don't follow?" Nyaruko gaped at the big blonde with ruby-red eyes, sparkling with pure, foolish clarity. Realization hit, and she clutched her head. "Oh, right. I cut your link to Gaia, so…"
Without her external brain, she's just a big golden retriever!!
"I don't get what's happening… but you're not gonna kill me, right? You're all smiley, but I still feel crazy danger!!"
Arcueid's gaze shifted from Nyaruko to Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth, her voice tinged with unease from Nyaruko's playful binding, yet laced with surprise.
One thing was clear: if these Outer Gods kept their word, her life was safe.
Gaia tasked her to eliminate this threat like Roa, but one look at these Outer Gods, and Arcueid knew, instinct screamed, they were beyond her.
Though naive and sometimes clueless, her instincts were innate.
She followed Gaia's will for feasible tasks, but this? Anyone with a shred of sense wouldn't rush to die.
Without knowing her foes' strength, "kill them" was empty talk from the start.
"Sharp senses, or stellar instincts, but that's it." Nyaruko said. "For my lil bro's sake, I won't kill or harm you. I'd even treat you like a sister. But your instincts won't buy it. My presence alone stirs unease, right?"
"No point explaining to her." Yog-Sothoth cut in, bored. "Just know we won't hurt you. Wanna try killing us to save this planet? Be our guest."
Yog-Sothoth yawned, slouching back on the bench.
Shub-Niggurath, grinning, toyed with the dangling Arcueid.
"Let Mommy check how you're growing!!"
Fed up with the dragging talk, Yog-Sothoth, the most volatile, who'd challenge Yog-Sothoth over mere boredom, found it torturous.
As an absolute high being, he acted instantly on his whims in this universe.
Lingering with these jokers was agony.
A flick of his hand could collapse time and space.
Snap!!
With a snap, the shadows binding Arcueid dissolved. Yog-Sothoth tore a black rift beneath her, dropping her through, and in the next instant, she reappeared on the bench beside him.
"Huh?"
"Enough games." Yog-Sothoth said. "If you care so much, take her along. We'll meet him anyway. Bringing her, pleading a bit, tossing in perks, it'll smooth things over better than going alone, no?"
In Arcueid's dazed gaze, Yog-Sothoth offered her a beer can. "Try this, kid. Tastes odd but not bad. Humans' contradictory taste buds, feeling weird yet not hating it, are quirky, huh?"
"Uh…"
Arcueid took the can, her small eyes brimming with big confusion.
She couldn't fathom these odd beings' motives or speech, random, like they said whatever popped into their heads.
Her instincts screamed danger, like a hand nearing flame, but it seemed keeping distance or proper boundaries might avoid harm.
Did these beings really bear her no ill will?
"Don't overthink." Yog-Sothoth scoffed, reading her. "If we meant harm, you'd be dead, not eavesdropping this long."
"For that kid's sake, we won't touch this planet's affairs. I could even clear some threats, Chaldeas, the Moon UO in you, that South American spider, Steel Earth, Coral Moon, if we deem it necessary. So, why not…"
Before he finished, a sharp pain hit his neck. Unprepared, he rocketed hundreds of meters away like a cannonball.
"Shut up, mood-killer!!"
Furious at Nyaruko and Yog-Sothoth for ruining her "mother-in-law meets daughter-in-law" moment, Shub-Niggurath wasn't truly mad. She just punched the meddlers away, then slid beside Arcueid, wrapping a slender arm around her neck, whispering girl-talk.
Her gentle demeanor clashed with the violence, startling Arcueid.
This one's the most dangerous Outer God!!
"Alright, ignore those pests." Shub-Niggurath cooed. "Let's chat, just us girls, mother-daughter stuff~ Despite the rank gap, I quite like you~"
"M-Mother?"
Arcueid blinked, processing, then realized who "that child" was.
"You're Roy's mother?!" She blurted, gaping at the charming, maternal woman who looked more like a Onee-san.
"Don't be so shocked." Shub-Niggurath giggled. "I'm his mom~ Pretty great kid I picked, huh? No wonder you girls orbit him. He's a bit dense, but lately, I've noticed he's sorted some things out, his mindset shifting. It's a nice change."
"No worries, I'm not meddling much, just a good chat. As a mother, stealing his treasure and planning his future was bad enough. If I don't vet his love life, I'd feel like a failure."
Shub-Niggurath chuckled, covering her lips, amused by some private thought.
Unlike those troublemaking dolts, this girl was fun.
"Ehh?!"
Arcueid's confusion deepened.
She'd rushed here, expecting a Roa-like threat to Gaia, only to find beings beyond humanity, or this planet.
The gap between her and them was a chasm, like humans to ants. Their alien aura, an indescribable dread, still unnerved her, not from power, but their fundamentally different essence.
They were monsters defying magecraft, physics, or reason.
Yet, they bore her no malice, dismissing Gaia like swatting flies. As long as she didn't provoke them, she was safe.
More crucially… they were Roy's kin?!
Roy's soul and rank were odd, Gaia warning her to beware, but…
She never imagined such a family reunion!!
Arcueid floundered, overwhelmed.
"Relax, miss." Shub-Niggurath smiled. "Just a simple chat. Take it easy~"
Her amused eyes seemed pleased with Arcueid's reaction.
"I bet you've got loads to say, and I hate to cut short this fun family meet-up." Nyaruko's voice returned, as she and Yog-Sothoth strolled back. Yog-Sothoth, rubbing his reattached neck, said, "Take the girl. Reserve her a spot. No objections, right?"
"Haha, same as my idea!" Nyaruko grinned smugly. "I'm all for it. It'll make my lil bro happy."
"You know I'm fine with it." Shub-Niggurath said, arm around Arcueid's neck, lounging on the bench. "Both sides are dear to me. I like this girl, bring her along."
"If space allows, everyone's happy." Yog-Sothoth mused. "If not, kick out a couple of losers. Simple logic, no?"
"Harsh, tossing two pals out so casually." Nyaruko snickered.
"But I don't see a problem." She added.
"Why hesitate?" Nyaruko chirped. "Let's meet our star. Better to hash things out face-to-face, right?"
"After all, it's the finale. Everything we've orchestrated was for this moment, wasn't it?"
___
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