Chapter 1550: Chess of the Ineffables
The first god to arrive at the battle was none other than Yog, the only one who already knew of what was going to happen.
"Little Nyar, did you forget about me?" Yog flew past Arad, her mere presence shattering the endless flood of tar and tentacles.
She didn’t get any reply because the three angels assaulting Nyar’s incomprehensible body didn’t allow it. Yog herself didn’t need any answer; she already knew why Nyar tried to throw Arad behind the Gate.
It was to bait her out.
While all of the gods were extremely powerful and deadly, and while Arad was AO himself, the entire war revolved around two people playing chess.
Nyar and his alien ego and mind, playing against Yog, the all-knowing bearer of the forbidden knowledge.
The fallen Archon flew past Arad and Yog, smashing his countless wings on Nyar’s endless flood of tar, ripping it apart. Each flap was followed by a massive nuclear explosion, rendering the very fabric of this world dead.
Diana thrived in the destruction, the nebulous supernova that was her unimaginable divine body washed over the space, covering it in brilliant chaos and flames, absorbing all of the harrowing power of the fallen Archon’s explosions and sending it once more at Nyar.
Mathilde, on the other hand, fought conservatively, moving like an endless mass of writhing flesh and feet, kicking and tearing at Nyar’s tentacles with hunger and malice, all while trying to put as little strain on Cerilla’s body back home.
Even Arad didn’t stand and wait for Yog to finish talking; the moment an opening appeared in Nyar’s defenses, he flew in like a blazing meteor, aiming for whatever was at the core of all the darkness.
Yog was left alone there, watching the fight for a whole fraction of a second.
Diana was doing well; she had direct access to Kali’s divine magic, so she wasn’t starved or weakened. Mathilde and the fallen Archon didn’t enjoy the same freedom and were already getting pushed back.
Yog had to do something about it, and she knew she didn’t have time to waste, so she began working immediately.
Her body turned black, melting into a sea of eyes and black tar. She sees everything, knows all, and fathoms the entirety of existence.
To her, she who watches, Nyar’s plans were clear and obvious. He didn’t want to win this fight; he already won. Or to be clearer, Yog had to sacrifice this world, throw it away to allow them a chance to study Nyar himself.
While she knew everything, Nyar had his ways to mask his presence and tracks from her, and that was the part she wanted to study and unravel.
Allowing Nyar into the universe, using Euri as bait, and risking everyone’s life was nothing but a meager price to pay for knowledge, for eldritch knowledge about the father of the abominations, the source of all their problems.
As she expected, the moment she had Nyar here, she could sense his presence and understand many of his motives.
Nyar was playing the long game; he wanted to slowly poison the universe. Not in a literal sense, but in a deeper meaning.
He wanted to slowly spread his influence over the universe, force the gods to fight him for long eons, and then slowly take over the minds of mortals, turning them against the very gods protecting them.
Euri’s curse was that of hatred, and that was the one thing Nyar wanted control over, to drown the mortals with hatred toward the gods, and break the chains of divine magic that feed the higher beings and their angels.
With no mortals, the gods and their angels won’t get any prayers, no divine magic, and no power. The powerless gods would then soon starve and fall, only leaving the more primal ones to fight.
The one divine being that Nyar was worried about was Amaterasu, because, unlike everyone else, she didn’t need any prayers or reverence. She alone was the power, billions of suns all burning with endless power.
Once all the gods die, even Death and the current Overgod, she’ll be the last one standing, alive, brilliant, and as radiant as ever, burning with power for billions of years after the end.
To achieve his goals, Nyar had many paths to take. He can try kidnapping Cain, the current overgod, and use his power and authority to brainwash the mortals.
He can slowly attempt to starve the gods by controlling the mortals first, a plan which he was already doing anyway.
Or he can try to win an all-out war and thin the numbers of the god.
But, there was one problem, one menace that stood in his way, a thorn that refused to die and perish, because it didn’t even understand what death meant.
AO, Arad Orion, the first Overgod. The bastard had absolute power and omnipotence over the universe; he could create infinitely more gods and divine magic for them to use.
Even today, Nyar found himself fighting an Archon born of AO’s harrowing existence. That fallen Archon was born right in front of AO, received his blessing and power, and was now powerful enough to be a threat.
Both Nyar and Yog hated the unexpected, and Arad was just that, someone who could break all of their expectations and stand alone and above all.
None of them expected Arad’s presence here to give birth to a new Archon, but here they were. If not for that Fallen Archon, Nyar might’ve managed to slip past Diana and Mathilde to get rid of Arad.
Just from this short moment of contact, Yog already learned so much about Nyar’s plans, how he wants to execute them, and how it might go for him. This would now allow her to plan around his plans, but she is sure he already knows that and would plan around the plan she planned around his plan, which she needs to plan his plans.
Now, it was a battle to see who could take the most steps ahead of the other before the timer was over, a chess where victory relies solely on the count of moves one can predict.
Yog and Nyar clashed, sending waves through space and pushing Arad and the Archons away. None of them could endure the crushing pressure generated by the battle of the two ineffable horrors.
Diana caught Mathilde, who ran out of divine magic for a second, and the fallen Archon caught Arad, cradling him in his vast wings.
"My Lord, My liege, My Divine..." The Archon’s eyes spared Arad one worried glance and then shot back at Nyar with Malice, "Abomination!"
"Calm down, pigeon." Yog shouted at him with a large smile on his endless eyes, "Keep him safe and out of my way."
The fallen Archon growled. He can’t even believe that just a few minutes ago, he was fighting Arad to the death, and now, he was protecting him.
"Also... stop glaring at Nyar like that, you’re hating him a bit too much. That empowers him now, so stop it." She flew over Nyar and tore him apart, as he bit back and ripped her eyes out.
The only reason the fallen Archon’s brothers, the angels above, AO’s divine army, didn’t swarm down to turn this vessel of Nyar inside out was because their hatred of the abominations was too great.
Their coming here would just complicate things even further.
That left Yog as their best bet until another god showed up to help her, which happened very soon.
Before the fallen Archon could even notice, Kali was already standing on his wing beside Arad, looking at him with a worried face.