"It's time for your punishment, Iori Nomia!" (P2)

Shit, shit, shit!

I let my guard down!

I thought now it would finally be over.

At least, I deeply wished so.

But what has this crazy in store for me now?

"Why would I get punished?! This game was all your idea in the first place! You just dragged me into this!" (I)

I never wanted to partake in the first place, after all.

"You lost the game, so obviously the loser will receive a punishment of the victor’s choosing." (P2)

I'm in a pinch here.

Not knowing what comes next makes me not only anxious, but rather unable to develop countermeasures.

Also, given how things played out till here, I fear Switchy kinda accounted for anything I could do here to escape my fate.

Does this mean I'm at their mercy?

I certainly don't like this.

"Hey! You said no harm would come to us! We have a contract!" (C)

"Yes. No harm due to your participation so the game may come to its fitting end with all its consequences, as was clearly stated in the regulations. The punishment being one such consequence." (P2)

"This goes quite clearly against everything we talked about regarding not screwing me!" (C)

"Also, not every punishment is harmful in nature. Some serve its very own purpose." (P2)

Damn!

Regarding what I know about this thing, it could be anything from a snap against my forehead to millennia of imprisonment inside some pocket dimension.

"I chose the one I would deliver long before this game started, based on what I know about Iori Nomia. It's a punishment specifically designed towards your very character. Taking all your fears and anxieties into consideration. Prepare yourself!" (P2)

The figure that embodies Switchy raises their claws, hands, tentacles, whatever, in my direction.

They put them together, forming a frame, as if trying to look at me through the hole between.

An ominous glow emits from the space between, and sheer pressure, as well as an undefinable radiation, is emitted from all around them.

What is this?

A portal?

Prepared prison?

A beam attack?!

Whatever it did, it starts now!

Oh no, I don't want this to hit me!

I don't want to just take whatever punishment this lunatic playchild has in store for me! I, I...

"I refuse!" (I/I2)

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At least, I'd like to.

However, what comes now is more rage, desperation, and sheer resistance at whatever fate is laid out for me.

My body forms growths all over my demon form.

Pure darkness seeps out in all directions, becoming a living, tangible thing that grasps at its environment.

Wherever I can, I create spikes, teeth, claws, tentacles, and whatever else may be capable of causing any form of harm, while the connection to my dream becomes stronger and stronger, resulting in the image of the ultimate nightmare I call forth.

Yet I don't care about my looks!

In this form, I'll make my last stand!

"Perfect!" (P2)

Promptly they're taking their grapplers, for lack of a better term for those appendages that are literally everything at once, away from each other again, and from one moment to the other the ominous aura dissipates.

I'm left completely stunned.

There's something about the way Switchy acts, an indefinite honesty.

I just know they won't resume whatever they did just now.

This atmosphere of knowing "that was it" makes me drop my raised defenses as well.

However, they just said "perfect".

And as they are not the kind to obfuscate their intentions, this means whatever just happened before couldn't have been without meaning.

"What did you just do there?" (I)

"Oh, that? Just sent out a message. Right now shamans, seers, occultists, and prophets, as well as any other lifeform with a certain receptivity for the greater forms of existence in countless different worlds at countless different times should get a vision about the forming of a new power. A new great entity to have come into existence. You know who I mean, right?" (P2)

"That, that is a joke. You can't be serious." (I)

"Oh no, it isn't. How would you be summoned in the future if no one even knows about you? It was due time to spread your existence. And you provided such a great image that they can go by to refer to you." (P2)

He literally took a picture of me and pressed the send-to-all button for the whole multiverse!

"No, no! Stop it now! This can't be happening!" (I)

"Why shouldn't it? We need to properly establish your existence. Belief is such a great motor of change. It will keep things interesting. Everyone who will take it upon themselves to investigate the things beyond will know and reach out." (P2)

My life is over!

Oh my god!

Is it possible to reach out to me against my will?

Was this the equivalent of giving everyone my phone number?

"No! Please not. You can't do this. I don't want to be known or established. Please, you can't spread my name." (I)

Now I remember how Zika told me that one could summon her through her name, Bloody Mary style.

"It's already done." (P2)

So this is the cosmic scale which the prank of an outer god is assuming.

I'm so close to losing it!

I, I, I... I can't deal with this now.

I...

"Sob" (I)

I just can't deal with all this anymore.

I just want a break.

At home, I'll still have to explain where Chiaki and I were and now having to deal with universes' worth of people comes in addition.

"Sniff, sob!" (I)

Black tears stream down my face.

For once, I just lack the energy to contain them as usual.

I just can't.

"Iori!" (C)

Right.

Chiaki is still there.

She embraces me and warmth fills everything around me.

While my attack stance faded back, I still worry that something around me could hurt her, but I just lack the strength at this point.

"Hick, hick!" (I)

"It's fine. It's fine. We'll figure this out." (C)

She's good at soothing.

I'll give her this.

Even her usual too-loud voice got calm and serene.

"You went too far! That's what this is! A good prank should never leave anyone like this! There's nothing funny about this!" (C)

"Too... far... Elaborate." (P2)

Is Switch genuinely concerned, or at least interested?

"You left Iori devastated! Hurt! You better fix this, you know? As if something hurtful would make for a good game punishment. That was simply wrong!" (C)

Please, Chiaki, keep it down.

I don't want to go for round two with them.

"I... can mitigate the effect. Diminish the signal. Reduce the scale. Yet it won't change the fact that the news is out. Only their perception and the intensity at which it is received for a certain time." (P2)

Chiaki seriously just won an argument against an outer god.

However, I should probably take what I can get.

I just really don't want to deal with this.

Maybe I can at least dodge any calls for the next few years?

I really want to get some rest now.

"Can I now finally please go? With Chiaki?" (I)

"Certainly! We may meet once the time for the next interaction approaches, which I'll eagerly look forward to. This exchange was truly benign. To think I could've missed out on all that had I not intervened when you first arrived in my world." (P2)

Wait!

"Ehm, what?" (I)