Anime is an Outer God's Playground

Jessie leaned against the wall, arms crossed as she watched Alice pace the room, her presence as commanding as ever. After a moment, she broke the silence.

"You know," Jessie began, her voice unusually soft, "I wasn't always like this—working in the shadows, carrying out... unspeakable things. But then, I met you."

Alice turned her piercing gaze toward her, one eyebrow raised. "And?"

Jessie exhaled slowly, her usual cool demeanor momentarily cracking. "I sold my soul to serve you, Boss. Not metaphorically—literally. I gave up everything I was, everything I had, because I saw what you are. What you can do. Power like yours... it's not something you walk away from. I needed to be a part of it, even if it meant losing myself."

Alice tilted her head slightly, intrigued but unmoved. "Regretting your choice now, Jessie?"

Jessie shook her head firmly. "Not for a second. I knew what I was signing up for. And honestly? It's better to serve a monster who knows what she wants than a fool who doesn't."

Alice smirked faintly, the faintest flicker of amusement passing through her cold expression. "Good. Because regret has no place here. You're mine now, Jessie. Always will be."

Jessie nodded, her resolve hardening once more. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Boss."

Alice's voice became sharper, more commanding, as she leaned even closer to Howard, her icy demeanor unyielding.

"Now tell me, Howard," she said, her tone slicing through his frantic muttering. "How do I conquer the Nexus? How do I spark the war prophesied eons ago? How do I unite Athena and Nexus under my will?"

Howard froze for a moment, his manic laughter giving way to an eerie stillness. His lips trembled as he began to whisper, his voice cracked and uneven.

"To conquer the Nexus... you must sever its guardian's sight," he rasped. "Blind the strings, blind the weaver! The war—it isn't sparked, it's unleashed! Athena must bleed into the Nexus, like ink spilling into water, tainting it... corrupting it!"

Alice narrowed her eyes, her mind racing as she dissected his cryptic words. "And how is this done?" she pressed.

Howard's face twisted into a grotesque grin. "You will need the Heart of the Void, the core of all planes' tethering! Only it can rip the fabric, can bleed them together! But beware, oh queen of shadows... the Nexus defends itself. The strings bite back."

Alice straightened, her smirk returning as she glanced at Jessie. "The Heart of the Void, huh? Sounds simple enough."

Jessie, skeptical but ever-loyal, muttered, "Simple isn't the word I'd use, boss."

Howard's laughter erupted again, mad and hysterical. "Simple! Yes! Until the guardian rises... until Nihila's wrath burns all who dare!"

Alice's gaze lingered on Howard for a moment, his deranged laughter still echoing in the room. She turned to Jessie, her voice calm but commanding.

"Get this old man to somewhere secure where we can monitor him. I don't care what it takes—he doesn't leave our sight. We can't afford to lose him."

Jessie nodded, already pulling out her phone to make the arrangements. "I'll have him transferred to one of our private facilities by tonight. He'll be under constant surveillance."

Alice glanced back at Howard, whose grin widened unnervingly as he muttered incoherent phrases.

"Good," Alice replied. "He's valuable, even if he doesn't know it. Make sure he's comfortable... but not too comfortable."

"Understood," Jessie said, signaling two of their men outside to step in and handle Howard.

As the guards approached him, Howard's laughter turned into a shriek of delight. "Oh, the strings tighten! The queen plays her hand! Let the game begin!"

Alice sighed, brushing off his cryptic ramblings. "Take him," she ordered, watching as the guards restrained him and led him out.

Jessie, finishing the arrangements, turned to Alice. "What's next?"

Alice's smirk returned, her voice ice-cold. "We follow the strings, Jessie. One by one, until we find the Heart of the Void."

X―x―X—x—X―x―X

Meanwhile, in the desolate expanse of the Outer Realm, Akira sat alone, his normally sharp gaze dulled with frustration and despair. The stars around him shimmered in unnatural patterns, a cosmic dance mocking his isolation. His fingers gripped a jagged shard of crystalline energy, the only remaining link he had to Alice and Roxanne—a link he had no way to use.

"Damn it…" he muttered under his breath, his voice heavy with longing. "Why did I agree to this?"

The thought of his wife, her unwavering determination, her dangerous beauty, and their daughter—a daughter he hadn't even held—gnawed at him relentlessly. He slammed a fist into the ground, cracking the obsidian-like surface beneath him.

Amidst the crushing silence of the Outer Realm, a sudden ripple in the fabric of existence announced the arrival of a presence Akira knew all too well.

"What's wrong, dumbass?" came the infuriatingly casual voice of Azathoth.

Akira didn't bother looking up at first, his jaw tightening as his frustration simmered. "What do you want, Azathoth?" he asked, his tone sharp but tired.

Azathoth floated lazily above the cracked surface, his chaotic form shifting and swirling like a cosmic storm barely contained in a humanoid outline. He looked down at Akira, his grin wide and mocking. "You're moping around like some rejected protagonist. It's pathetic. Thought you were better than this."

Akira's eyes flicked upward, glaring at the entity he considered both a sibling and a perpetual thorn in his side. "Do you have a point, or are you just here to waste my time?"

Azathoth chuckled, the sound reverberating unnaturally through the realm. "You're sulking about Alice and the kid, aren't you? Boohoo, my family's in another plane, and I can't do anything about it," he mocked in a sing-song tone.

Akira shot to his feet, his power flaring slightly, causing the ground beneath him to shudder. "Say another word, and I'll—"

"You'll what? Punch me? Cry harder?" Azathoth interrupted, unbothered by Akira's display of anger. "Face it, you're stuck. But hey, once your wife and that brat figure out how to connect our Plane with Nexus...

...We'll brain fuck Nihila and anything that comes our way... It's power beyond anything that could theoretically exist..." Azathoth said, grinning.

"...But why do we need more power? Aren't we already at the pinnacle of all?" Akira asks.

"...There's one man... no, one man, and one girl who are stronger than me... I don't want it to continue like that."Azathoth stated.

"A girl? Is it Nihila?" Akira asked.

"Nihila ain't got shit on me. I would've killed that cunt if it weren't for Achilles. The bastard took the full blow and she ain't even gon let him hit *skull emoji*... But It left him scares on his face, no matter the form, those scares can never be healed." Azathoth said.

"..." Akira was intrigued.

"Anyways, there's something more." Azathoth added.

"And what's that?" Akira hissed, his fists clenched.

Azathoth leaned in closer, his swirling form shifting into something more sinister, his grin now razor-sharp. "You're not alone in this game. While you're here throwing tantrums, Alice is out there playing her hand. Maybe she doesn't need you as much as you think."

Akira's anger faltered for a moment, replaced by an unease he refused to show. He took a deep breath, calming the surge of emotions. "If you're trying to mess with me, you're wasting your time."

Azathoth pulled back, shrugging. "Just thought I'd check in. Watching you squirm is more entertaining than most things out here." He turned, his form beginning to dissipate into the void. "But hey, keep up the brooding. It's a good look on you, dumbass."

Shub-Niggurath appeared out of nowhere with an unsettlingly sultry sway, her eldritch form shifting like shadows under moonlight. "Maaa~ don't listen to the old man, Akira-dear~. I'm here to keep you company and share... an intimate connection~" she purred, her voice dripping with cosmic mischief.

The "old man" retorted with a grin, leaning against his staff. "Hah! At least you've got a dick dumbass. Me? I'm stuck being the baddest motherfucker who has no dick and can't even make one. Life socks." Azathoth said.

"You mean sucks not socks ?" Akira said.

"You fucking nerd I said sucks. Don't brag just because you can fuck my children, I'm still a sigma boy." Azathoth said.

Speechless.

He disappeared from cringe after no one Saud anything, but you could see his middle fingers spinning as he faded.

"Maaa~. Why don't we stop pretending? Your wife's not here, and I've been aching for you." Her tendrils brushed lightly against his shoulder, her heat almost palpable.

"Maaaaa~. Don't you want to feel something new? Something no mortal—or even your precious wife—could ever give you? My holes were made to please you, Akira~. Just let me in... Let me make you forget her, even if it's just for a little while."

Akira's breath hitched, his resolve faltering for a moment as the intensity of her presence crashed over him. He turned his head slightly, his jaw tightening. "This... This isn't happening," he muttered, though his voice lacked its usual conviction. "I love my wife."

Shub-Niggurath chuckled, the sound a low, seductive rumble that seemed to reverberate in his very bones. "Maaaa~

Love? Oh, darling, love has its limits. But lust? Lust is endless. And I can see it, Akira. I can feel it. That little crack in your resolve... Let me slip inside and fill you completely."

Her tendrils snaked lower, teasing at the edges of his clothing, her touch maddeningly soft yet impossibly intimate. Akira's body tensed, his fists clenching as he struggled to maintain control. "Stop... This is wrong," he hissed, though even he could hear the wavering in his voice.

"Maaaaa~. Wrong feels so good, doesn't it?" she whispered, her voice a mix of honey and venom. "–Let me be your secret, Akira. Just for tonight. No one has to know."

As Shub-Niggurath's tendrils pressed closer, her eldritch form quivering with desire, Akira took a step back, his breath steady but his voice tinged with a mix of longing and resolve. "Shub... Listen," he began, his tone soft but firm. "I'd be lying if I said you weren't tempting. Hell, anyone in my position might have broken by now."

Her form shimmered with anticipation, her many voices whispering sweetly, "Then why fight it, Akira-dear? Your wife isn't here... but I am. Let me be the one to ease your burdens, even just for a little while~."

Akira's expression hardened, though there was a flicker of sadness in his eyes. "I'd love to, Shub. I'd love to lose myself, forget everything for a while... But I can't." He exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "My wife is out there—fighting, surviving, and giving everything she's got for our family. She's taking care of our baby, carrying the weight of an impossible mission, and enduring pressure that would break anyone else."

He paused, his gaze distant, as if imagining her face. "And me? I'm just here, stuck, waiting. The least I can do—the bare minimum—is to keep her in my heart, to protect her from afar, and to honor the love we share. She deserves that much, at least."

Shub-Niggurath tilted her head, her tendrils momentarily stilled. "Maaaaa~. So noble, Akira. So loyal~." Her voice was teasing, but there was a trace of something deeper—a curiosity, perhaps even admiration. "Maaaa~... But tell me, darling... Does she even know how much you're holding back? How much you're sacrificing?"

Akira's fists clenched, his voice unwavering. "She doesn't need to. That's what love is, Shub. It's sacrifice. It's choosing her, every time, no matter what temptations come my way." He stepped forward, his gaze piercing through her shimmering form. "And no matter how hard you try, you'll never take that from me."

Shub-Niggurath let out a low, sultry laugh, her form rippling with amusement. "Maaaaa~. Oh, Akira-dear, you're delicious when you struggle~. But don't worry. I'm patient. One day, you'll crave what I offer."

X―x―X—x—X―x―X

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