LIMINALITY by Moony1 | World Anvil Manuscripts | World Anvil

Chapter 68

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Cthulhu silently watched the grieving primordial god hold his beloved friend with all of his might, embracing her lifeless body. Janus, the progenitor, prime mover, and the uncaused deity felt conflicted and confused as the being was unable to properly process the overwhelming loss of his companion.

The monster did not move, make sound, or attack, only watching down at the pitiful scene unfolding before him. "This is the price of love and attachments," he said, announcing his presence towards the mourning deity. "They will always lead to suffering."

Despite his inability to understand the significance of such little ideas, which he described as "pointless, meaningless, absurd, and worthless," the eldritch god was fascinated by the connection and bond and exclaimed, "It is truly a strange notion indeed," as he watched Janus deeply upset and holding Saomi's body.

Part of him just wanted to destroy their lives so he could continue rebuilding a new world once again as designated within the order of things, but what fun is that when he could witness this one-of-a-lifetime before having to restart once more?

It's not like he had anything to lose, this isn't the first time other heroes tried to stop him, which unfortunately led to their downfall. No matter how much anyone tries, when an story is written, it cannot be altered by the denizens within the dreamlands, no matter how hard they try to resist or succeed.

"Curious," he continued, feeling a little bit of remorse even though he was still willing to go through this. "Is this the fate you desire, Roman?" No answer, not like he expected it anyway, for Cthulhu knows the sorrow god had no intent of responding, "Humans are always fond of expressing their raw and endless emotions. Interesting."

So he continued waiting, letting time pass by while the calm atmosphere and Janus cries of misery echoed throughout the ocean realm. Truly, in a depressing scene, the eldritch god had little sympathy or care: "The oceans are vast and wide, Janus," and yet Cthulhu chose to tolerate it momentarily: "What are the odds your comrades will save you from your lamentations?"

"......"

Cthulhu felt it was truly pitiful. "Are there any more words I should hear? Not a refutation or rejection of what I said?" The Roman god was unsurprisingly predictable as usual, saying things like, "you children should have embraced your loved ones before the inevitable demise," and that he didn't like seeing the weeping god cry. He also expressed a desire for his presence to be ignored.

Janus's mourning was music to Cthulhu's ears. "Shes dead, and your feline companion is nowhere to be seen." A victorious smile crept, "Everyone is dead because of you." A soft laugh erupted. "No one is coming; not even a single speck of light can bring any hope to this desolate realm."

"This is your fault," declared Cthulhu, taking great pleasure in Janus' suffering and concluding that he could endure it for as long as it amused him to watch him suffer. "Now what? Child, are we going to continue? Or are you prepared to concede your lack of success and hope?" He waits some more, hoping that this time the mourning deity will respond appropriately instead of continuously crying and sobbing.

Still in silence, Janus refuses to let go, "such a stubborn fool," continuing to observe his nemesis cradling the girl. Perhaps the eldritch god should just kill him right here and there now that boredom is beginning to settle in: "Enough, the human is dead; cease your weeping," tired of wasting anymore valuable time, "accept defeat, so we can end this once for all."

At first, he expected him to not answer, but a faint whisper carried through the wind reached his ear. "You won," was the god of time's response, shocking and severally disappointing, to say the least, in a way Cthulhu wasn't prepared to hear Janus surrender.

"You accepted defeat because of ridiculous attachments to lower life forms!" He rarely gets this heated; however, seeing a living god of all places succumb so easily without putting up a fight, "how pathetic and disgracing! Have you lost faith in your own power?! Or are you a coward now, Janus?!" Cthulhu was enraged at this very sight.

He had learned and studied Janus long ago before his arrival, having watched the remorseless and cold deity who holds more power than his pantheon become no more than a wiggling worm of humans, showing his weakness to Cthulhu by displaying true expression of humanity.

It greatly infuriated him. Though Janus is more than just a common mortal, Cthulhu nevertheless regarded this god for his authority, power, and influence. Now, however, he was a snivelling, weakling who was attempting to pass himself off as a human.

"How long will you keep crying like a child?!" Cthulhu patience has reached its limit. "You held so much potential, Janus! And yet you chose to embrace a pitiful display of emotions for a dying human! "How shameful indeed! "Cease your foolish tantrum and stand!!"

Out of all the mortal heroes who faced him, seeing a god acting and even behaving as a human is disgusting beyond belief. Lowering oneself standards, Cthulhu considers Janus an embarrassment amongst the pantheon of where he originated.

"You disgust me."

His done with playing the games and pitying him any longer. "I was hoping you would make one final stand as remembrance for our rivalry," disappointed and frustrated, Cthulhu sighs. "Human emotions have really changed you for the better," shaking his head at his failure, "once the undefeated are now reduced to a simpering infant. Any last words before I end your existence?"

However, for all his bravado and speeches, the monster widened his eyes in shock and delight at seeing the tearful eyes of Janus's slowly glowing brightly purple. Such a development was unexpected, and Cthulhu's grin increased by the minute.

It seems the god with all the dozen emotions playing inside himself has finally hit a nail; vengeance, wrath, and an untold desire to avenge her are what can be seen reflected. Such fury cannot go unnoticed. "Finally, the true primordial awakened from his wretched form," delighted Cthulhu, whose smirk grew wider. "Come and show me, god of time and—"

The Great Darkness was caught off guard by seeing his entire left arm chopped off. He felt no pain whatsoever, but the shock was prominent. "What?" Dropping the severed appendage, he stared down at Janus with the glare of a thousand raging storms.

Decreasing his perception of time to slow down the world around him, he couldn't process what just transpired, nor could he comprehend how it even happened in the first place, as his eyes were focused entirely on the enraged Janus.

After taking a while to process this, he came to many possible conclusions about why he did not sense nor anticipate this attack. One of the possible reasons is that the god used a surprise attack before Cthulhu could register or predict his intentions; the other possible one is that Janus speed was somehow increased beyond anything he could conceive; or the third is that arrogance led him to blindsight, which Janus capitalized on.

But all came false when he realized something was off from him. No intention, emotion, or presence were felt the moment he noticed his own arm falling off, and then it clicked. His opponent is actually moving anything that existence could not understand, while Janus is still looking at him angrily.

For the first time in his life, he was somewhat disturbed by this revelation. He knew for a fact that he was supposed to be the victor here, and yet he is feeling this way even though he is not supposed to, as he is supposed to be winning, but now he feels unsure if it is.

Panicking from the slightest idea of chance of being ever defeated, possibly permanently killed. He had no choice but to stop playing around and end this once and for all before he can truly die before completing his mission. "I'm done with the likes of you," eyes glowing in return, sickly green light emitted out of them like a radiating beam.

Instantly the moment he resumed time, he felt every part of his own body, every aspect, every ounce of what made him, were immediately stabbed or ripped to shreds as his sense of time returned. "My heart!" Horrified by this, Cthulhu unleashed a single burst of force, "Mgepnah shuggog, nog ng llll mgr'luh h' ah done!" to signal the end of the current Kalpa cycle. The whole environment warped and changed dramatically, constricting everything into a single isolated spot.

As the far away sound of dissipating meow could be heard before its assured drop of silence.

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