I didn't meet the blow of his sword head-on but dodged to the side. However, I only moved a couple of steps away, so Guts' sword swished past me. It was the same sword he had used all the way from the material world to Lang. Now, it had become even stronger and gained a consciousness of its own. However, Guts should have considered that I was the one who had crafted the psi-blade for his sword.
With minimal effort, I disintegrated the psi-blade into gray dust, revealing the true form of the sword. And that form was... surprisingly weak. The psi-blade had channeled the sword's power, allowing it to slice through demons. Without it, the sword's internal power immediately dissipated. The weapon, which had once instilled fear in the hearts of demons, spun wildly, escaped its owner's grasp, and clattered uselessly on the stone floor.
"In one thing, you are right" - I said to the bewildered Guts. - "I am indeed guilty. I'm guilty for giving such brute strength to an unworthy beast like you. I could devour your soul, but I don't want to take such a treat away from Azathoth."
Ignoring my ramblings, Guts charged at me with bare hands. I repelled him with a simple psionic spell, though I had been channeling power into it since I first saw my opponent. The demon's back slammed against the force field surrounding the 'arena,' and while he recovered, I continued my speech, preparing for the decisive strike.
"All your strength is based on the foundation I gave you. Therefore, it does not belong to you. But I'll give you a chance to gain the power you deserve. Let's see if you can control it, or if this Power will control you."
With these words, I used psionics to draw energy from Chaos, transform it, and hurl the resulting 'snowball' at my opponent, who was rushing at me blindly, unable to dodge. I acted 'instinctively,' creating an energy that was incredibly destructive yet completely uncontrollable. True Berserker Power. Into this spell, I poured all my knowledge of Chaos, of the Corruption I encountered in the dream world, of the Phantasmal Flame that burned the Being's hand, and many other spells I had faced throughout my life as a game figure. Most importantly, I infused a considerable chunk of Bahion into the spell, making the impossible to possible.
The ball of inky darkness hit Guts' chest, causing him to tumble head over heels. I deftly dodged his body, avoiding any proximity to my creation. I wasn't sure what I had concocted, but it was not something I would wish on even an enemy. But for a stupid ally, it was perfect. Because with such friends, who needs enemies?
The berserker shrieked, screamed, and writhed wildly as the darkness consumed his body. There was no question of him controlling this power, as Guts was fundamentally incapable of such a feat. He could swing a sword, or not swing a sword. But attempting to control magical energy was beyond his comprehension.
As the energy fully enveloped Guts' body, it began altering him, seeping into his body, mind, and soul. The crunch of bones and the wet squelch of flesh were accompanied by the test subject's wild screams. With each passing second, he lost the last vestiges of humanity, transforming into something shapeless. In some ways, this form resembled Azathoth, but it was far more aggressive. While the God of Chaos sought to devour the universe, this creature sought to tear it to pieces.
We were in the heart of Lang, just one step away from True Chaos, so using Chaos energies in this place had unforeseen consequences. Guts was changing and changing. He gradually transformed into something horrific. Something filled with wild hatred for all existence. A creature whose sole purpose was pure, unadulterated destruction of everything... except me, of course. For this creature, I was 'untouchable.' Something it could not attack, neither directly nor indirectly. After all, I didn't want to fight such a monster, which was hundreds of times more dangerous than any Guts. Therefore, this stipulation was the foundation of the spell.
Due to the proximity to Chaos and Azathoth, the berserker absorbed incredible power and incomprehensible qualities. The scene where Gopnasurnakh lost his 'divine power' was also analyzed by me, and I incorporated into the spell the condition that the resulting creature could ignore this invulnerability. Not counteract it, not overcome it, but fundamentally not intersect with this level of being, damaging what could be damaged using the established scheme of my psionics, which constantly sought and found 'holes' in the laws of nature that limited my powers.
In general, I used the given conditions to conduct an interesting experiment and see if I could wipe that expression of superiority off the faces of the demons around me. Judging by how their faces twisted, I achieved my goal. The more time passed, the more it became clear that the resulting creature simply had no right to exist because its existence and the existence of the universe itself were mutually exclusive things. Not a bad pet.
When the demons' eyes around me reflected sacred horror, and Guts stopped shrieking, having reached the final stage of his transformation, Azathoth used his power and with one blow of tentacle sent the 'test subject' into infinite Chaos. Ah, I had so wanted to conduct field tests of its capabilities.
"That was... unexpected" - Azathoth concluded after a few seconds of silence. - "It truly was a Test of Power, but in a different sense."
"Really? I thought I needed to test some kind of Power under current conditions. Too bad the experiment was interrupted at the most interesting point."
After my words, Azathoth laughed, and the demons flinched again.
"Well, you passed this test as well. Honestly, I didn't expect that, so you'll have to wait a bit while I construct the necessary spiritual device."
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"Okay" - I agreed. What other options did I have?
"Narskrudzhak, take him somewhere for now" - commanded the God of Chaos.
The familiar demon immediately approached me and led me away. At first, I didn't realize what was wrong with this situation, but then it hit me: if all the other demons present at this gathering were wildly powerful, this demon looked exactly the same as during our previous meeting.
We navigated through the maze of corridors and emerged into a large hall that could be described as a hybrid of a kitchen and dining room. Demons of all kinds and sizes bustled around, 'catching' their food from pens and 'cooking' it to the best of their intellectual abilities.
"Here, you can sit and have a snack for now. I'll come for you when everything is ready" - my guide instructed before disappearing in an unknown direction.
I looked around and moved away from the pens, making sure no one mistook me for food. I was confident in my ability to prove I wasn't edible, but it was better to avoid nuclear explosions or other similarly large-scale phenomena.
"So, you are the Cheater?" - one of the demons asked me cheerfully when I reached a relatively calm spot.
"That's right" - I replied, looking at my conversation partner.
"Oh wow! I was rooting for you. Even bet a hundred souls in the pool."
"And what were the odds?" - I asked.
"At first, it was a hundred to one against you, but when people found out you are the Cheater, the odds changed to a hundred to one in your favor. But I managed to bet early, so I made quite a profit. I never liked that Gopnasurnakh either."
"Still playing with your food?" - another demon asked my companion.
"What? No! This is the Cheater!"
"Really? The actual Cheater?" - The filthy demon chewing on three people with three mouths didn't believe it. - "Well, I do recognize that look. Staring at dark gods like they're nothing. Heard about the stunt he pulled at Azathoth's reception?"
"Well?"
"He turned the Sacrifice into some unknown beast that nearly gave everyone present a heart attack at first sight. By the way, what was that thing? I only caught a glimpse of it at the end and couldn't understand anything."
"It was some sort of crap" - I replied in a scholarly tone. - "There are three kinds of crap: complete, all sorts, and some sort. Of these three kinds, some sort is the most dangerous. It constantly happens around us, but few notice it. In fact, our entire world is some sort of crap, the meaning of which is nearly impossible to understand."
The demon was so stunned by my revelations that food fell out of one of his mouths and crawled away, dragging its guts behind it.
"So, did Azathoth talk to you about this?" - another demon asked with wide eyes. I looked around and found myself nearly surrounded by various monstrous creatures.
"Yes, what he told me was complete crap. Honestly, I couldn't even imagine such a thing."
"Wow" - the listeners were impressed.
"Being is coming!" - one of them suddenly hissed.
"What?" - the surrounding demons became agitated.
The demon who had first started talking to me grabbed me with his paw and shoved me into a cauldron where leftovers of unknown origin were boiling. They quickly covered me with a lid, but I managed to peek outside through a crack. Sure enough, the Being appeared. Its hideous face was hard to miss. Why an 'angel' was freely roaming the demons' lair was beyond me. Maybe the hatred between these two factions was somewhat conditional. After all, they both doing same job, oppressing the universe.
"Have you seen my cat?" - Being bleated plaintively, looking around. - "A smoky one with seven tails."
"The one that bit off your hand?" - the boldest and fattest demon present asked. "No, haven't seen it."
The whole audience erupted in nasty laughter and cackling.
"Ugh!" - Being sighed heavily and trudged away.
Something about this scene smelled like a setup. I had a gut feeling that this situation was no coincidence.
After about ten minutes, the crowd calmed down, the lid of my 'hideout' was removed, and I climbed out.
"You're all covered in food" - one of the demons looked at me with oily eyes. - "Let me lick you clean."
"Keep your limbs to yourself. Or I'll bite off your head, not just your hand" - I threatened.
A simple spell immediately cleaned off all the filth stuck to me and simultaneously cleared my aura of foreign inclusions, filling it with Chaos energies, the same shades that Azathoth had. I would mimic him.
The demons laughed at my 'joke' and started asking how I came up with the idea to win the game with the shards without using the shards at all. In response, I exposed a corrupt judge who favored one side while ignoring violations by the other. The topic was hot for many present, so my performance got the needed amount of 'likes.' Then Narskrudzhak came and led me back to the boss. And all this for fifteen minutes of back and forth? Oh, I feel it was all set up for the encounter with Being. Like, 'see, Cheater, He will find you instantly if anything wrong happens.' Amateurs.
"Well, everything is ready. Take it" - Azathoth said to me directly as soon as I appeared before him.
He immediately extended his tentacle and implanted a device into my soul, which instantly attached itself to one of the 'tail buds.' Within seconds, I gained control over this strange formation.
"To use this device, you need to spend one Approval Points. Upon activation, it will transport you to another world, where you will have time to gain the next Approval Points. This device will provide a full description of what needs to be done. After the transfer, you will have a limited amount of time during which Being cannot find you. If you linger, you might end up in its hands. Or rather, on its hand. You've already bitten off one, ha-ha. And one more thing" - Azathoth looked at me sternly, exuding menace. - "If you don't want to be devoured by Cthulhu after his service, you must feed him with branded souls bearing my Brand of Sacrifice. Or you can brand those without the brand but who clearly deserve it. Now go. I want to see how my device works. Otherwise, your soul might be torn into a thousand pieces, and I'll never know why."
What an optimistic statement.
I focused, 'found' the control panel of my new tail, checked the Approval Points counter and the countdown timer, and pressed the 'big red button.'