Falling into the Abyss

The space seems to be tilted, and the roads are completely out of proportion, twisting and twisting in strange directions.The tall and pointed buildings on both sides seem to mock the insignificance of all things.Ethan felt that his body was very heavy, as if he was carrying something extremely heavy behind him, and he was able to move with all his strength.He turned his head, but saw countless tentacles intertwined and crowded, wriggling along with his steps like a twisted giant python, and the terrifying mouth-like organs on them were also opening and closing.He raised his hand, and saw that the nails were black and sharp, and the black lines meandered and spread to his arms, and even his naked body, twisting into some kind of tattoo-like totem with sharp horns.And those black lines became more dense below his thighs, causing his skin to turn into black scales, and his feet were no longer feet, the ankle joints became very high and bent backwards, and the soles into goat-like hooves.

Ethan in the dream seemed to be very used to this body, and he didn't feel any fear or surprise.He stepped on the chunks of flesh and mucous covering the earth, trudging wholeheartedly towards the conical pyramid temple at the end of the long road.Around him, many giant worms coiled and crawled on the buildings on both sides, weird green frogmen worshiped on both sides of the road, and even the one seen in the abandoned subway station had an anti-foot, and the whole body was full of scars. Creatures with grape-like lumps were clustered among the rough stones, and many indescribable lumps of meat overflowed from the building's "window"-like openings.There are deafening drums and flute sounds that have no melody at all in the sky, and the genital goddess covering half of the sky in the distance happily waved her thousands of arms, giving birth to one after another in the boundless sea of ​​​​darkness. deformed life.

Undoubtedly, it was a celebration, and those corrupt and chaotic subjects cheered and cheered for him.

Ethan saw that the black man appeared in the middle of the road again.He still "wears" Tanithel's face today, but he wears a gorgeous golden pharaoh robe, tall and beautiful like a god among the extremely ugly creatures.He held out a hand to Ethan with an approving smile on his face.

"You are very close, child. The core of all things is waiting for you in the temple at the center of the universe, and you will become the most noble sacrifice I offer to the Lord God."

Ethan stood in front of him, but his height only reached the waist of the black Tanisel.He looked up into the hollow eye, still beautiful, but without an iris.

He suddenly became angry and shouted, "I am not a sacrifice! I don't know you either! You are not Tanithel! Let me go back!"

"No, you know me. Your memory of me is hidden in every cell in your body. The purification of you by the genital mother makes your body remember me earlier than your soul, and remember this greatness. The ultimate kingdom of . You belong here."

What he said made Ethan very confused, and there was also a kind of inexplicable disgust and anger.He felt that the person in front of him would destroy him, so he raised the thousands of tentacles behind him, waving their teeth and claws, and rolled up the windy sand that smelled of blood.He snapped, "My name is Ethan Eldridge, I don't belong here!"

The black man was not frightened by him, but smiled lovingly, and reached out to touch the top of his head, "In your universe, you are just a cowardly, dark, boring and nothing special Beta, you Your mother is dead now, and your father hates you, or rather, he is not your father at all. You are penniless, everyone knows you are a dangerous fugitive, and no one likes you. Except for those who think you are useful Outside of people, no one will miss you even if you die. Your life will never get better, and you will end up dying alone in the gutter like a mouse, and there will probably be no one to cry for you. "

The cold words pierced into Ethan's heart like sharp needles, and the tone that was so flat as if he was reading a book showed the authenticity of every word more bloodily.Ethan wanted to tell him to shut up, but his own hideous face covered with black lines reflected in those empty eyes made him unable to refute.

He was right, and that was the most depressing thing.

Every child once thought that he would grow into a hero of the world.When Ethan was young, he would never have imagined that his future would be so humble and hopeless.

The despair emanating from Ethan seemed to make the black man very happy. He sighed with satisfaction, and his tone became gentle, "Only here, only here you are special. So you will accept it, after all, you are so special." The only meaning of a sad life is to accept the core of the universe and open the door of my god to the lost land." He said, bending his body, and seduced Ethan like a mantra in his ear, "Everything you want , including that Eve person, as long as you accept it, it will all belong to you. Forever and completely, it will belong to you."

As if bewitched, Ethan heard himself asking in a dry and mechanical voice, "Accept what? What exactly do you want me to accept?"

"Let your soul be baptized by Azathoth and become his incarnation on earth!"

**********

Ethan sucked in a breath of cold air, his originally closed eyes suddenly opened, and his whole body was as stiff as wood and unable to move.Tanithel, who was resting on the bedside, was woken up by his twitching, and quickly sat up to check his condition.

"Ethan? Are you awake?"

Tanithel called softly, but Ethan's eyes were fixed on the top of the bed without blinking, his mouth was slightly opened, and there was a choking sound in his throat.Tanithel shook his shoulders, trying to wake him up.When he found no effect, he had no choice but to open his third eye, trying to forcibly pull Ethan out with his mental power.

At that moment, the picture in Ethan's mind rushed into his mind.The earth was full of internal organs and pieces of meat, and the humanoid monster in front of it was more than a dozen stories high. On the place where the face should have been, a blood-red tentacle grew out and waved in the air.

That is... the real body of Nyarlathotep, the messenger of Azathoth, the core of the universe, the main god he believes in...

For a moment, Tanisel felt that he was being stared at, unable to move his whole body.Sweat broke out on his brow, and he felt the faceless god peering into his frail soul, with an evil smile on his non-existent mouth.

"Taniser, servant of the Lord of Foolishness, if you are really as loyal as you said, why are you delaying?"

A sharp noise suddenly resounded in his mind, and a burst of pain made Tanisel breathe out in pain, and rose-colored blood flowed from his nose and ears.It's not the first time he has experienced the idea beyond reason that people can't bear at all, but every time he still can't get used to the pain like his mind is about to burst.

"The time hasn't come yet..." Tanithel struggled to convince the ancient evil god, but he also knew that his situation was in jeopardy at the moment.

"Are you trying to deceive the Grandfather of the Deceiver? My poor lamb." Nyarlathotep's mind sneered once more and rushed into Tanithel's mind, tearing his brain apart arrogantly.Tanithel bit his lips to bleed blood, and his eyes began to ooze blood, and he responded in his mind, "No! Great Creeping Chaos, please don't question my determination! It's just that now is not the best time , he is not ready yet, doing it now will only hurt him!"

"Is he not ready? Or you..." The tentacles on the top of the huge monster's head suddenly extended towards him, wrapping around his throat little by little.The touched skin seemed to be wrapped in a red-hot iron, Tanithel let out a scream, and his beautiful face was distorted in pain.But the monster still asked in his mind with a smile, "Or did you have some shallow and boring feelings?"

Before Taniser could answer, all the illusions suddenly disappeared, and Taniser almost collapsed next to Ethan, his neck was burning with pain, and his face was covered with bloodstains.

And Ethan seemed to be slowly waking up, his eyes focused a little bit.Tanithel quickly wiped off the blood on his face with his sleeve, and gently brushed away the sweaty hair in front of Ethan's eyes, watching those green eyes focus on his face little by little.

The two looked at each other silently for a while.Tanisel didn't know what kind of image Nyarlathotep saw in Ethan's dream.

"What happened to me?" Ethan asked.

"There's too much entropy in your body, so it's starting to collapse. If I don't come back in time to inject you with the solution of the Profound Egg, your life may be in danger now." Tanithel stared at Ethan seriously, "Why? Did you not take your medicine on time?"

Ethan coughed twice, and said calmly, "Didn't you say that the medicine calms the nerves? I thought it wasn't that serious..."

There seemed to be a bit of anger in Tanisel's eyebrows, and Ethan also noticed that the priest's face was abnormally white, and... Is there blood under the nose?

"If you want to live longer, listen to me in the future!" The priest's voice was more severe than usual, quite imposing.Ethan was not intimidated, but laughed and coaxed, "Okay, I promise I will be obedient in the future."

"That's good." Tanithel turned around, took a cup of amber liquid medicine from the bedside cabinet, "Drink it."

Ethan was obedient, Gulu Gulu drank the contents of the cup in one go.He watched the priest take the empty cup and put it back on the tray, then stood up and tucked the blanket in for him.

"How's Samuel?" Ethan asked.

"He's fine, Terry Daws is taking care of him, he's almost past the heat."

"Ah, that's fine."

"Don't worry about it in the future, and don't look at your own situation. Samuel is not a minor, he knows how to take care of himself." Tanithel sighed, and his tone softened a little, "Are you hungry? Shall I ask the kitchen to prepare something for you?"

It was strange that Ethan realized that he really felt a little hungry at this moment. This feeling seems to have seldom happened recently, and the lingering exhaustion has also subsided a lot.He smiled a little embarrassedly, "A little bit."

"Wait a minute, I'll call someone." Tanisel said and left.

As soon as the door was closed, Ethan on the bed changed his expression slightly.The smile disappeared and became a little dim.He remembered the content of the dream, because the dream was so real.

He remembered what he had become, and if Tanithel hadn't helped him, would he have become like that in the end?And that black man, he felt more and more strange about that man.

Why does he always say he knows him?And why, he did vaguely feel that he seemed to be no stranger to him.Who is he?

Why does he know everything about himself?He even knew that his mother was dead, which he was not completely sure of, and that his father was not his real father, which he could not believe at all.All this is really just my subconscious mind, or has I entered a dream created by some more powerful wisdom?

No... that black man is not just a simple identity like the messenger of the cosmic core, there must be something more important that he can't remember...

The black man...the faceless god of many faces...walking alone in this universe...with a devilish hearty smile, tempting and deceiving human beings.

But is that really deception?Isn't what he said true?

In this universe, I am nothing but a worm in the gutter.Only there he is special...

As long as you accept... you can have everything, own Tanithel...

Ethan looked down at his hands. He remembered that his nails had turned black before, but now they looked normal again.He looked around, and the feeling of being stared at before was gone. He listened carefully, and the sound of breathing that followed him disappeared.It seemed that everything was normal except for the weird layout of the room.

But he began to doubt what is normal and real.Is it what he saw now, or was it perceived before he fell into a coma?