Zong Yan hadn't expected the key to shatter.
His pupils constricted and he instinctively tried to reach out to grab it.
However, his will was still being manipulated by an unknown, supreme consciousness. He had no control over his body at all. All he could do was watch those silvery flecks of dust scatter and dissolve in the air like stardust, disappearing into the primordial space around him where nothing else existed.
The next moment, because of the intervention of that mysterious, external phenomenon, the universe seemed to undergo a faint vibration.
The particles of stardust scattered, spinning and transforming into starry points of light, flickering and blossoming against the thick, dark backdrop.
'What exactly is this place?'
But all Zong Yan could do was watch with widened eyes.
Soon, he couldn't even spare a thought to wonder about it.
The external consciousness manipulated his body and continued walking forward.
There was nothing else in this space, not even the concept of color.
Zong Yan vaguely sensed that his current body could no longer be classified as human, that it had changed into something more mysterious or magical, an approximation of an evil god.
Because with his current vision, he could see extremely far away, so far that he could almost see this entire part of the universe.
Maybe the external force somehow became aware of Zong Yan's thoughts, because the power that was manipulating his body turned back.
Only then did Zong Yan realize that wherever he walked, the idea of "darkness" emerged from the absence of color.
An impenetrable, heavy darkness unfurled across the entire cosmic plane, like a terrifying beast extending its teeth and claws.
And in the places Zong Yan hadn't gone, the universe was still without form or shape. Although he'd just created darkness, it was distinct from the patternless region ahead.
Zong Yan finally realized that he was the one who gave rise to the concept of "darkness". Without him it didn't exist.
And that wasn't all.
A cloud of scattered stars gathered around him spontaneously, like the planet Jupiter attracting debris to form shining rings, a host of lesser lights surrounding their leader.
'Zong Yan' suddenly reached out his hand and gently touched the light.
In an instant, the light began to violently reorganize, splitting and dividing. Countless wisps of energy formed and fissioned from the center of the light, turning into a substance similar to fog or mist.
Zong Yan watched this scene as a bystander, looking at the nameless mist, and a profoundly strange feeling swept over him.
The constant aggregation and splitting, with millions of radiant points of light, was extremely similar to the true body of the Lord of the Gate.
The strange feeling and desire he sensed was so strong that for a moment he was actually able to break free from the bondage of the supreme spirit. He instinctively stretched his fingers into the center of the nameless mist, gently touching the top of the unformed, brilliant sphere that was still taking shape.
... Soft.
Because of this action, for a moment everything stopped.
—Everything had genuinely paused.
Zong Yan sensed this clearly, because the moment he touched the sphere, the universe suddenly gained the concept of "time".
In an instant, everything arranged itself into a logical order.
Things that seemed to lack concept or form began to distort.
The center of the "darkness" twisted itself up tightly. Numerous shadows, millions of times more powerful and darker than those manipulated by the Night Watchman, gathered together, forming bloated tentacles covered in slime and mucus, growing so huge they almost eclipsed an entire galaxy. They continued to expand, showing no signs of stopping.
The psychedelic mist which had gathered together became more and more active after it was honored by the Father God. The points of light inside it began to rotate, kicking off a merry process of aggregation and fission. Each time a split occurred, the brilliant spheres grew more and more massive, and the faint impression of a timeline could be glimpsed around it.
Finally, something else separated itself from the body of 'Zong Yan', something even more abominable and indescribable.
It crept and crawled and writhed in the void of the universe, and its body, just like its siblings, was still going through a process of development, growing from its original embryonic core to the finished product.
Only now did Zong Yan understand.
According to legend, Azathoth had given rise to "Darkness", "the Nameless Mist", and "Chaos".
"Chaos" was known as Nyarlathotep.
From "Darkness" was born the supreme Mother Goddess, Shub-Niggurath.
From "the Nameless Mist" was born the Lord of the Gate, Yog-Sothoth.
And all of this, the greatest secrets recorded in the 《Necronomicon》, unfolded before Zong Yan like something from a picture scroll.
'So, what I just touched... was the true body of Yog? Or the newborn version?!'
Zong Yan was screaming inside.
Now that he thought about it, when his body was stored inside the true body of the Lord of the Gate, Zong Yan really had felt a subtle sense of familiarity.
Immediately after this, he abruptly felt like all his hair was standing on end.
The supreme consciousness halted, and the most terrifying existence in the universe, which had been dormant for so long, now opened its eyes.
Zong Yan felt like his body was being sliced open from the very core, along with his soul.... No, it wasn't just his soul, it was like everything Zong Yan possessed was broken apart by this supreme spirit, swept over and scanned and scrutinized from edge to edge with nothing overlooked.
It could only be called an agonizing experience.
Although it only lasted a short moment, by the time the spirit withdrew, Zong Yan's mind was flooded with unbearable nausea.
A moment later, everything stopped.
Zong Yan regained control of his body. What surrounded him was no longer the scene of a vast universe, but a majestic, empty palace.
The style of the palace was the same as those of other famous kingdoms of evil gods like R'lyeh and Carcosa, and its shape didn't follow the normal laws of perspective. But compared to R'lyeh, which disgusted every human who laid eyes on it, this palace made one recognize its limitless grandeur and magnificence from the bottom of one's heart.
The black-haired young man wearing a trench coat stood in the empty palace and lifted his gaze.
If a second person had been here, they would have cried out in shock.
Because Zong Yan's eyes had changed to an indescribable, chaotic color, as beautiful as a pair of prismatic glass spheres.
The palace had been constructed in a place beyond detection. Not even the three pillars of the original gods could peer inside its walls.
What was even more bizarre was that the interior was completely empty. The only thing it contained was a high platform with a throne.
But there was no one at all on the throne, certainly not an evil god.
Aside from Zong Yan, who'd just arrived, there was nothing in this palace.
But Zong Yan immediately understood.
The black-haired young man narrowed his eyes, climbed the steps, and stood before the lonely throne.
He bowed his head, reached out, and gently stroked the cold arm of the throne.
He understood everything.
At first Zong Yan thought he was traveling through a parallel dimension, but that wasn't true at all.
What he'd been crossing was the flood of Azathoth's consciousness. Swimming against the current, fighting his way upstream, until he finally reached the original, ultimate beginning of it all.
In this place, no beautiful dream had yet been born.
There was only the one who made the dream.
---
Azathoth was the Lord of the Universe because the entire universe was created by his dream.
This meant that when Azathoth woke up, the universe would cease to exist.
One could even say that when Azathoth awakened, nothing would exist except for the Outer Gods and a very few Great Old Ones. When that happened, even the concept of "the universe" would disappear. The evil gods would exist in a different "primordial space", that is, the place where Azathoth had first awakened.
This space existed, but aside from Zong Yan, no one had ever visited it.
After all, from the moment Azathoth generated "Darkness", "the Nameless Mist", and "Chaos", he was already dreaming.
The Lord of the Universe had been dreaming for so long without awakening that the three pillars of the original gods, his direct descendants, had never been to the original space.
Which led to an important truth.
Azathoth was the foundation of the entire universe. He was all-powerful—a truly omnipotent, truly omniscient being.
—Which meant that if he chose, Azathoth could become anyone who existed in his universe.
He could be the half-self of Cthulhu. He could be the Sun God of the Aegean Sea. He could be the lonely, arrogant King of Clouds, the Night Watchman of the shadows, the wealthy Astrologer.
He could even be the Lord of the Gate, or Shub-Niggurath, or Hastur, or Cthugha. And he could be Zong Yan.
Just as Zong Yan had been able to clearly sense the arrival of alien species and evil gods in his world. In fact, this was because he'd made an unconscious wish to the Dreamlands, and this caused the fusion of two worlds. From one world to another, he'd crossed over to a parallel dimension to become another version of himself.
Azathoth was a dreamer.
He was dreaming, and in his dreams, a dreamer is usually omnipotent.
In a sense, it wasn't accurate to say that Zong Yan was one of Azathoth's streams of consciousness.
To be precise—every flower, every plant, and every tree, every person, every beast, and every evil god born in this universe, all of them, were Azathoth's streams of consciousness.
But why was Zong Yan able to reach the primordial origin and be recognized by the Lord of the Universe?
Azathoth was known as "the Blind Idiot God". The most important reason for this was that he lacked an independent consciousness.
He was like an empty shell without a will of his own. Anyone who could cross through time and space, pass the Ultimate Gate, retrieve the authority of the Dreamlands, preserve himself through the streams of consciousness of thousands of parallel dimensions, and endure the last flood of creation memories, could become Azathoth.
As it happened, Zong Yan had already experienced a day trip through the Ultimate Gate supervised by the Lord of the Gate, and he'd gained control of the Dreamlands while escorted by the Lord of the Gate. In his hand was the Key of the Ultimate Gate, which guided him through countless parallel dimensions. And in the last fragment of the creation memories, the Key had even blocked the attack that would have destroyed Zong Yan by shattering itself into dust.
Perhaps the Lord of the Gate predicted something, or perhaps he sensed it the moment he first observed Zong Yan in the axis of time.
How was it possible for Yog-Sothoth, who resided high above the universe, to feel an emotion like familiarity or closeness with a miniscule human being?
It was because they'd met the moment he was born, with skin to skin contact.
The Lord of the Universe was like an empty puppet. Whoever burrowed inside could become him.
And Zong Yan had fought against the current, past all the streams of consciousness, and managed to enter the empty shell of Azathoth.
He then became Azathoth.
Time is a closed loop, a paradox in itself. The future and the past merge into each other.
Azathoth was the future of Zong Yan, and Zong Yan was the past of Azathoth.
Right now, at this very moment, he seized the ultimate crown of the Lord of the Universe.
The black-haired young man looked on with neither sorrow nor joy, and slowly sat down on the throne.
He'd discovered something else that was interesting.
Every intelligent creature had the potential to become an "Azathoth".
Cthulhu was able to drag an entire planet into his dream. Many other evil gods were capable of similar dream-making techniques.
Inside Cthulhu's dream world, he was the master, an existence equivalent to Azathoth.
The only difference was that Azathoth existed at a higher level than Cthulhu.
"If I don't dream... it really will be boring."
Zong Yan now understood why Azathoth chose to dream, why he'd woven the universe, why he indulged in his own creation and never wanted to awaken.
Because the primordial space was too boring. It contained nothing but a temple. In addition, Zong Yan had just entered Azathoth's shell and wasn't too clear about the laws that governed this place. It would be better to create a world of his own in his dreams.
Now that he understood the reason for everything, Zong Yan began to feel more and more lazy.
He'd been able to succeed to the throne of the Lord of the Universe without having his consciousness washed away or going mad, and this was thanks to the Lord of the Gate.
Unfortunately, there were some side effects. Zong Yan sensed that he was becoming extremely lethargic.
But as long as he didn't turn into a mental deficient, he'd consider himself lucky.
He comforted himself inwardly, propped his head on his hand, and fell into a deep sleep on the throne.
Within the empty palace, the Dreamer began His work.
---
When Zong Yan opened his eyes, he sensed that he'd entered his dream.
The palace itself was the same, but this time its highest reaches were occupied by the unnamable body of the Lord of the Universe.
Outside the palace was a dark cosmic curtain of stars. Numerous Outer Gods were dancing around the palace of the Lord of the Universe, holding musical instruments in their hands. Day after day, year after year, they ceaselessly played their abominable music.
Zong Yan remained fundamentally human. He couldn't bear to turn himself into a giant pile of tentacles, so the instant his consciousness returned, the massive body of the Lord of the Universe collapsed and shrank until it finally transformed into a black-haired young man wearing a trench coat.
The music abruptly stopped.
All the Outer Gods in the universe, no matter where they were, felt the tremendous pressure emanating from the center of time and space.
This could only mean one thing—the return of their ruler.
"Your Majesty Azathoth, greetings on your return!"
The musicians surrounding the palace put away their instruments. They squeezed their huge, indescribable bodies inside, closer to the throne. They saluted the Lord of the Universe, who looked as tiny as a grain of rice by comparison.
Each of them felt a bit surprised and unsettled. After all, the Outer Gods knew the awakening of their Lord would be accompanied by the disappearance of the universe.
But the universe was still in good condition, and Azathoth's power and majesty simply couldn't be faked by any Outer God. Their amazement and uncertainty was powerful enough to distort space.
Zong Yan knew these Outer Gods were puzzled, but he was influenced by Azathoth's habits and didn't have the time or the obligation to explain to these subordinates that he wasn't awake at all, and had used a complicated but logical process to allow his own body to dream while creating an alternate self to play inside the dream.
So Zong Yan just lazily waved his hand and leaned back on his throne.
In the distance, Outer Gods were rushing to the palace at the center of time and space.
Zong Yan could see Nyarlathotep's tentacles dancing with ecstasy from afar.
Oh, it should be mentioned that while Zong Yan had become Azathoth, he was after all the new Azathoth. He'd genuinely been human before. So he carefully made notes to himself about Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath's previous behavior.
One of them was a licking dog, but the other was the type that needed to be beaten down.
As the Lord of the Universe sat on his throne, his mind began to wander, and not a single Outer God dared to say a word about it.
Until—a gray-haired evil god, clad in a white robe, stepped out from a bright ray of light.
The Outer Gods then had the privilege of watching the most terrifying scene in their infinitely long lives.
The Lord of the Universe quickly stood up from his throne and sprinted towards the palace entrance.
Obviously he could have torn through space or even teleported. There were a million faster ways he could have reached his lover's side, but Zong Yan, who'd just become the Lord of the Universe, was still human in mind and soul and didn't consider this at all.
He just wanted to express his deepest emotions to his lover in a human way, by running as fast as he could, with reddened cheeks and sparkling eyes.
"Yog—"
The black-haired young man rushed over.
Zong Yan hadn't really thought about what to say, so he used the simplest way to express his feelings and simply called his lover's name.
The eyes of the Lord of the Gate also seemed to glitter with emotion. He opened his arms, oblivious to the sight of Nyarlathotep and Shub standing to one side, and firmly caught his beloved treasure.
Zong Yan was still Zong Yan.
He'd answered the questions he had about himself. It was true he was an orphan. None of his experiences were fake.
However strangely he began, after becoming Azathoth he could make his own rules.
No matter what, no matter his identity, he was still himself, and that was enough.
So—
"Let's go home."
He took the evil god's hand.
Zong Yan was thinking about his college entrance exam. Fortunately, he was now the Lord of the Universe. If he missed the exam because of the time flow differential, he could still jump the time axis to the correct point and retake it. Perfect.
Yog took his hand and hooked the corners of his mouth.
The words "go home" gave the Lord of the Gate an incredible feeling of satisfaction, as if the heart and heat the evil god had never possessed before suddenly began to hum beneath his skin.
"As you command, my Little Majesty."
As he said this, he suddenly leaned down and kissed the brow of the new Lord of the Universe.
The Master of Time knew they'd spend countless more days together in the future.
Not just as an evil god, but as a lover in a relationship between two evil gods.
Over endless lives their feelings for each other would grow and grow.
Although evil gods had long ago abandoned such inferior emotions, it was undeniable that love had always been the only constant truth in the universe.
——end——
---
The author has something to say:
To explain a little, at first Zong Yang thought he was traveling through different parallel world versions of himself, but he wasn't. In fact, he was traveling upstream through streams of consciousness until he became Mr. A. As for the timeline, I borrowed a bit of Möbius strip time theory to explain the fusion at the origin of the universe, as you can see.
Lastly, why did I write that Mr. A was Zong Yan's future, rather than his past?
Because the core appeal of the character Zong Yan is that he's a human being. There are many places in the story where his human core is stressed. He won't rashly lose himself in the power of being an evil god because of greed. And "becoming Mr. A" versus "being Mr. A from the beginning" is simply a world of difference, so that's how I arranged it. In fact, there are several hints about this earlier in the story.
—
The main story is over~
All the previous questions and doubts can be answered in this chapter~
The end of the story only represents the end of the main plot. There are some unfinished side plots and emotional drama you asked for, which will be written in the extras. This time I really won't skip anything like in my first few books
This book has a lot of extras, so I won't follow my usual practice here and thank you for your company or say similar words like I usually do. I'll save that for the last chapter of the extras!!
I hope all of you, in your own dreams, can become Mr. A 23333
---
TL Notes:
✧ ♥ There we go! The last chapter of the main story! (ﾉ◕ ∇ ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ♥
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, this arc, and this series ♥ If you'd like to support this novel, please take a moment to rate or review it on Novelupdates.com! That's how most readers find this story
I think most of my questions about the plot were answered in this chapter... although there's a very minor thing I'm still wondering about
Next up: 14 chapters of extras! Including some that are really cute. I need to do prep so I may not be able to post tomorrow. In fact, I should note I'll be visiting family over the Christmas holidays. My goal is to finish all the extras before New Years, but I can't promise I'll post every day since random things might pop up
Regarding the author's note: I left out a few small paragraphs that aren't relevant to the story. (The author mentioned they would update late because of a thesis defense, and they mentioned staying up late to finish the chapter because of some readers who had school the next day)
a host of lesser lights surrounding their leader - 众星拱月 - All the stars twinkled around the bright moon; a host of lesser lights around the leading one; a myriad of stars surrounding the moon
alternate self - 小号 - trumpet - Refer to the note in Ch. 19
beloved treasure - 心爱的宝物 - xīn'ài de bǎowù
Mr. A - a总 - a Zǒng
thesis defense - 答辩 - make open reply; reply; reply in support of one's own idea or opinion - I assume this is a thesis defense for a graduate degree but I could be wrong
You can find the master list of transliterated names and titles in Chapter 0 - TL Notes. New in this chapter:
Jupiter - 木星