Falling into the Abyss

Darkness, the safe darkness, felt like he was returning to his mother’s womb, to the original serenity. Ethan curled up in the quaint center of the universe and did not consciously think, but simply existed.

However, all of a sudden, the peaceful darkness was forcibly ripped apart. The light pierced his eyes like a sharp blade, and he felt a sharp pain as though his skin was being peeled off, cruelly dragging him out of his peaceful state. He tried to struggle, but couldn’t move, tried to scream, but couldn’t make a sound. He vaguely thought that people probably cried so terribly when they were born because this feeling was too painful.

His consciousness was muddled, and there were light and shadows flashing in front of him. There was the scent of tar in the air, and the extreme cold caused his entire body to twitch uncontrollably.

“He’s shaking……”

“Stop, he’s very pale!”

“Now, there’s no way to stop. The solution has entered his body, and only giving him half of it will only make him more uncomfortable. If he breaks out later, we’ll all die!”

“The head priest has a point. Your Majesty is here now, so we can’t take risks.”

The scrambled sounds traveled from all directions, and Ethan felt imprisoned in a narrow body. Every breath he took made him feel extremely lethargic.

Light made its way through his eyelids, stimulating his sensitive retina, and his body seemed to have lost connection from his consciousness, trembling even more severely.

Suddenly, a hand gently stroked his forehead, and the lingering pain, fatigue, and cold he felt all over his body suddenly relieved a lot. He seemed to hear a murmur of pain from someone nearby, and the hand that touched him was rapidly cooling.

”Tanisiel! What are you doing!”

“……”

Ethan’s strength gradually accumulated. He slowly opened his heavy eyelids, and the dim light and shadows slowly condensed in front of his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Tanisiel’s face. Against the light, his third eye was fully open, and one hand was still on his forehead. His face was pale, his lips pressed together tightly, and he seemed to be enduring something.

A surge of panic welled in Ethan’s heart. His body jerked and nearly caused the needle to injure his blood vessel. “Don’t move!” Theonile said angrily.

Tanisiel’s cold hands pressed against his cheeks, and the priest’s weak voice whispered in his ear, “Be obedient, don’t be afraid, it’s the God of Order’s egg’s fluid.”

Ethan felt that he had no strength in his whole body, and his hands went soft as if they did not belong to himself. He opened his mouth but could not make a sound. There was a strange sound stuck in his throat.

He recognized where he was.

This was the dark triangular basement under Tanisie’s castle. As for what he was lying on, it was the tombstone of the Duke of the Western River!

Ethan’s throat was still uttering nonsense, and his green eyes were narrowed. His expression carried hints of being frightened, and he looked very strange now. There were still many winding black lines on his face, which seemed difficult to fade away. It was possible that even if he was injected with the God of Order’s egg’s fluid, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of them.

There were several Eves in the room that Ethan did not know, some of them priests, and some of them seemed to be members of the black-veiled aristocracy. They stared at Ethan with fear and curiosity and whispered to each other. Still, Ethan did not see the shadow of the secretary-general.

“Is he awake?” Another voice traveled over, and the tall Eve king stepped out from the shadows of the steps at the entrance. His gray eyes, which were somewhat similar to Tanisiel’s, gazed at Ethan on the tombstone with a complex expression, half awe, and half disgust.

As soon as he arrived, everyone in the room went quiet and saluted him.

Tanisiel didn’t say anything. Instead, he bore the pain of the struggle between the forces of Order and the overly strong forces of Disorder in Ethan’s body. Large drops of sweat fell from his forehead and dropped onto Ethan’s forehead.

What were they doing? Ethan’s eyes rotated between several faces. His dull brain couldn’t understand what was happening to him now, but he still instinctively had an ominous premonition.

“What’s the situation?” the Eve king Cronay asked.

“He has been temporarily pulled out of his ‘pupa’ state with the God of Order’s egg. Now, he is weakened and will not pose a threat to our lives,” Theonile replied, and his emotionless eyes swept past Ethan’s face.

It was only then that Cronay dared to come closer, looking closely at the man whose sight seemed to be confused and unconscious with an expression of curiosity and fear. No one knew that the Eve king, who believed in the God of Order on the surface, had already become a believer of Azathoth, the core of chaos. No one knew that almost half of the royal nobles had also joined in believing in the God of Disorder. Yesterday’s soul sacrificial ceremony was originally prepared for the pale and ordinary Earthling in front of them. It was a secret holy day for all the believers of Azathoth. This man was the offspring of the descendant of the crawling chaos, Nyarlathotep, and a Heavenbounder. He was the sacrifice for the awakening of the gods. In his body, the forces of Order and Disorder had fused perfectly, and the powerful power of chaos lay dormant in his body. This man would become the channel for the God of Imbecility to enter the world, his soul and body would become the Azathoth’s puppet, and he would carry out the will of the ancient chaotic gods in this God of Order’s universe.

Those great gods of Disorder would use this man to tear apart the God of Order’s entire kingdom and change this rigid and boring universe, rewriting the order of the universe bit by bit.

In fact, the erosion had already begun. The Earth Union said that the infection of the parallel universe near Neptune had been controlled. However, ever since the area was cordoned off, the infection had not shrunk but had been expanding. Most likely, the lie was spread to maintain stability. The God of Order’s control over the universe was not as strong as before, and people’s minds were more or less affected. Many extreme religions began to pop up, people became increasingly dissatisfied with the existing government, the conflicts between the planetary states continued, and the relationship between the Earth Union, the Ophiuchus Alliance, and the Third Empire grew increasingly tense. The research on antimatter weapons also made the entire galaxy feel uneasy, as if it was the rising wind that foretells a coming storm.

In different parallel universes, the forces of Order and Disorder had been undergoing a constant cycle of alternating dominance. As two hostile super intelligent beings, the God of Disorder and the God of Order had repeatedly used their control of the laws to occupy more universes and weaken each other’s power. There was no justice or evil between them, and they were simply natural enemies. There was only the difference between devouring and being devoured. The so-called first universe in which they lived was an ancient territory of God of Order that was rich in resources.

After a long time, this fertile territory was finally about to enter its reincarnation stage now, which was the weakest moment for the God of Order. Once the gods of Disorder captured this place, they could devour endless forces of Order. This would allow the gods of Disorder who had been hungry for a long time to have the chance to have a good meal and jab a sword into the heart of the God of Order.

The Eves didn’t dare to confidently claim themselves to be the scholars of the center of the universe like the Earth Union. They were not even sure of the importance of this universe. It was the intentional chaos that told them that this universe has a very special significance for the gods of Disorder, enough that for countless centuries, Nyarlathotep had appeared in the universe again and again, camouflaging himself using the faces of human beings.

Cronay took a look at Tanisiel, who was still standing near Ethan’s head and frowned. “Tanisiel, you don’t look very well.”

Theonile gave Tanisiel a bizarre look but said nothing. Tanisiel managed to smile politely at his uncle, trying not to let his voice tremble. It was a very painful experience for a Heavenbounder to be forcibly separated from their pupa, just like a baby being forcibly pulled out of an Omega’s body before it reached the stage of birth, and he was bearing the pain for Ethan. “Don’t worry, uncle. I’m just a little tired.”

Naturally, Cronay didn’t know of the existence of the soul bond between him and Ethan. He didn’t know that Tanisiel could use his excellent mental power to transfer the other party’s perception of pain to himself, so he believed the lame excuse. “Yes, playing the harp really takes a lot of mental energy, especially since yesterday’s performance required controlling so many people at the same time. Go and have a rest. Anyway, it will be a long time before the ritual to allow the descent of the gods is ready.”

Tanisiel shook his head and said, “No, he trusts me the most. I have to stay here with him, or else I don’t know what will happen.”

At this time, a minister came forward to persuade the Eve king to go back to the palace first because it would cause the public to grow suspicious if he didn’t go back soon. The pupa stage of the Heavenbounders would last for one to two weeks, and the ceremony must be halted until the end of this period. For now, the less problems they faced, the better. The Eve king knew his words were reasonable, so he told Tanisiel to have a good rest and left first. After he left, the rest of the nobles followed one after another, until finally only two people were left, Theonile and Tanisiel, plus Ethan, who was submerged in his chaotic consciousness.

Ethan suddenly heard Theonile ask Tanisiel in a stern voice, “When did it happen?”

No one else was there, so Tanisiel didn’t have to hide his pain anymore. He knelt down beside the tombstone, and his body curled up. Ethan’s initial impulse to hide, the dull pain spreading over his skin, the feeling of light eroding his body, and the endless cold all hit him like a raging wave. He didn’t even respond to his teacher’s question.

Theonile grabbed Tanisiel by the collar and lifted the young priest up from the ground. His sharp gaze was fixed on Tanisiel’s eyes. “Why did you do this! You know that it’s forbidden for a priest to soul bind. Your soul belongs only to the Lord God!”

“I belong to the Lord God. I don’t belong to him…” Tanisiel forced out an indifferent smile, and his voice was weak. Therefore, one had to listen carefully to hear him clearly, “Anyway, sooner or later, he will become the incarnation of the Lord God!”

“Fool!” Theonile’s eyes turned red with anger, and he shook his favorite apprentice. “You know that if you’re bonded to him this way, his mutation is likely to affect you! When the will of the Lord comes to him, you will bear the same impact! You don’t have the power of the crawling chaos like your father. Don’t you know that kind of shock might kill you?”

“If I’m afraid of death, how can I become a servant of the Lord God?” Tanisiel was a little tired and grabbed the teacher’s wrist. “I find it hard to breathe… Let go……”

Theonile’s heart softened when he saw the sweat on his forehead. He let Tanisiel go, helping him to sit down in the nearby armchair for the elderly, and then ordered, “You don’t have to bear this for him. He’s the son of Nyarlathotep. Do you think he can’t bear this discomfort?”

“I owe him anyway.” Tanisiel straightened his clothes coldly. “Teacher, you can also go rest. I will look over him.”

Theonile looked at him with some hesitation in his eyes.

Tanisiel laughed. “You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you…” sighed Theonile. “It’s that the feelings you put into this person seem to be beyond a certain limit. I have no choice but to worry that you will do something stupid.”

“Don’t worry……” Tanisiel slowly closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of his chair, but his eyes looked in Ethan’s direction. “Thirteen years ago, when I decided to sacrifice my soul to the Lord God, there was no turning back.”

The author has something to say:

Gosh, there are seven projects to be handed in next week. I’m in a state of panic now… But if there’s no accident, I should be able to resume my updating speed after next week~~~

T/N: Former secretary of the Energy Bureau (ABYSS) by Alya for the CG10K contest: