# 2011
Chapter 1995: Azathoth
"King's… Star Coins?" Lin Qiye seemed to recall something. "Right, I've used it. I used it to block the Cthulhu Faction army."
"What did you materialize?"
"I…"
Lin Qiye's brow furrowed once more, beads of sweat soaking his back…
How did he block the Cthulhu Faction army来着… He seemed to have forgotten something extremely important?
Merlin also sensed something was amiss with his own question. He shook his head. "【King's Star Coins】 can materialize the past, but the price is permanent forgetting, as well as deadly misfortune… I don't know how you survived the misfortune's effects, but the things you've forgotten… don't try to recall them. They cannot be remembered."
"… I really can't remember, but… I feel those things are very important to me." Lin Qiye lifted his head sharply. "Merlin, is there really no way for even you to restore my memories?"
"No… Magic's power, though omnipotent, is not all-powerful. The 【Star Coins】 have completely erased the memories from your soul. They cannot be restored."
Lin Qiye lowered his head, feeling an emptiness in his heart…
Merlin took a sip of tea helplessly. "Since that's the case, let's skip the forgotten portion… Continue speaking."
"… Alright." Lin Qiye adjusted his thoughts and continued, "After escaping from Takamagahara, I…"
"…"
Time passed second by second.
Soon, Lin Qiye stalled a second time, a third time, a fourth time…
In half an hour, he barely managed to say anything coherent. There were many things he had done, but he didn't remember how he did them at all—such as training new recruits, the journey to the underworld, holding the fortress at the National Suppression Stele, the Battle of Chennan Pass…
The more Lin Qiye spoke, the more sweat drenched his body. He stumbled through the Moon battle before gradually regaining coherence… But there were still places where he would suddenly stall.
And Merlin simply sat quietly across from him, listening attentively.
Finally, Lin Qiye finished speaking.
He sat pale beside the table, his face full of exhaustion… He knew he must have forgotten something extremely important. Whenever he tried to recall, his soul would begin to ache.
Through this recollection, Lin Qiye could clearly sense that he had forgotten more than one person…
"I see." Merlin took a sip of tea, his expression somewhat complicated. "So, you explored the depths of the universe alone, trying to find the truth behind the Cthulhu Faction mythology, and a way to defeat Azathoth?"
Lin Qiye pulled his thoughts back and nodded.
"That's right, but I traveled far following the guidance of the miracle, and still found nothing… Perhaps this was just my empty fantasy from the start. In Earth's wars, nothing related to Azathoth has appeared so far.
Perhaps He doesn't exist at all?"
"… No, He exists." Merlin nodded firmly.
Lin Qiye was startled.
Merlin set down the teacup, stood up, and walked toward the exit of the rest area, his voice somewhat solemn. "Director, please follow me."
Lin Qiye followed Merlin, exiting the Asylum of the Gods with his consciousness. In the boundless deep space, Merlin's form materialized from nothing.
Merlin tapped his staff on the ground, and a massive magic array enveloped both their forms, like a white-hot meteor hurtling rapidly toward the depths of the universe. Though it was slower than Lin Qiye's direct space-shuttling after fusing with Ame-no-Murakumo, it could sustain for much longer.
Vast swaths of nebulae streaked past the two of them. At this moment, their direction of travel was basically aligned with Lin Qiye's original path. Seeing this, Lin Qiye asked puzzledly:
"Where are we going?"
Merlin manipulated the magic while speaking slowly: "To see… Azathoth."
"What??"
Hearing this answer, a thunderbolt flashed through Lin Qiye's mind. "Merlin, you've already seen Azathoth??"
"It might not count as seeing… In any case, you'll understand in a moment."
The two continued advancing through the depths of the universe. Lin Qiye had no idea how far they had traveled when he came to his senses. The universe that had once been filled with countless stars seemed to have grown dim. Looking around, it seemed no stars could be seen at all.
He frowned at the darkness ahead. "Have we reached the edge of the universe?"
"Edge? No, this is far from it."
Merlin raised his finger, pointing toward the abyss-like darkness ahead, and spoke calmly. "That is Azathoth."
Lin Qiye froze in place.
That darkness was… Azathoth?
"After leaving Earth, I traveled alone to the depths of the universe, trying to find the truth of this world… At first, I advanced continuously in one direction, crossing countless light-years, and first saw this darkness…" Merlin furrowed his brow as he spoke slowly.
"The moment I first saw Him, I felt unprecedented corruption… You may not perceive it clearly now. Once I remove the defensive enchantment, you'll understand."
As Merlin raised his staff, an invisible barrier beside the two of them vanished. A terrifying oppressive force immediately pressed down on Lin Qiye's shoulders!
His pupils contracted slightly…
From that darkness that devoured the universe, a suffocatingly eerie aura radiated. Endless madness and chaos spewed forth from it. Compared to this, the corruption of the 【Black Goat】 was like children's play… That oppressive might that far surpassed the Supreme Gods was not unfamiliar to Lin Qiye.
When he had stepped into the Asylum of the Gods, into those several universes that had been completely corrupted, he had sensed exactly the same aura…
"So this is… Azathoth?" he murmured to himself.
"It is… and it isn't." Merlin continued, "When I first saw this darkness, I felt fear in my heart… I did not enter it. Instead, I changed direction and continued forward. When I advanced to the limit in that other direction, I encountered this darkness again… Sensing something was wrong, I changed direction once more, but the result was the same.
This darkness was like a formless giant beast, slowly devouring the entire universe we inhabit… Where He passed, stars perished, and all things fell into maddened, chaotic darkness.
I tried attacking Him with forbidden enchantments, but couldn't so much as scratch that darkness… He is like a higher-dimensional existence, casting a shadow into our universe. Any of our attacks merely fall upon this shadow and cannot affect Him…
To everything in this world, His existence cannot be truly observed, cannot be touched, cannot be defined…"