"Lady Aza?"

Aza hummed as she looked over at Asia, and found the blond had a very tired and conflicted look on her face. "Asia? Are you okay? Have me and Issei been keeping you awake?" she asked apologetically.

Asia rubbed her arm awkwardly. "No, nothing like that," she answered, pausing for a long moment. "Lady Aza, you're not going to...destroy everything, are you?"

Aza blinked. Not just here, but her true form did as well. Well, it was less blinking and more her mouths all opening and closing in confusion, but that was her form of blinking. Not important, Aza decided. "Why would you ask something like that?" she asked with a head tilt. "Is there some reason you think I would?"

Asia looked down. "I-I'm sorry, I'm being a bit rude. It's just, I've been having some...nightmares."

Aza's eyes narrowed, but then they softened as she came to stand beside her. "Asia, do you mind if I take us somewhere? You seem like you need some fresh air?"

Asia squirmed a bit as Aza put an arm around her, but nodded in wordless acceptance.

One moment, they were in Issei's room. The next, they were on a beach, ankle deep in the water.

"Oh!" Asia exclaimed in surprise, looking around. "W-where are we?"

"If it has a name, I am unaware of it," Aza answered casually as she stepped forward a bit into the water lapping at their feet. "You humans, you think places like this are...pretty, right? Beautiful even?"

Asia blinked and took it in properly; the undisturbed sands, gently washed by the waves, a field of green that led further inland. And beyond the beach was the sea, sparkling with the light of the sun against its surface.

"It is lovely," Asia agreed.

"I don't find anything beautiful here," Aza admitted evenly, crossing her arms. "Just photons shining against liquid made from hydrogen and oxygen. Nothing about this is beautiful, precious, or even slightly important to me in terms of sentimentality."

Asia shuddered at the casual dismissal.

"If this world wasn't where many Eldritch happened to come together, and the world of my beloved? It could crumble away into dust and I wouldn't care. I wouldn't even notice. I could do it myself by accident," Aza continued, turning to look at the nun.

The blond felt her heart skip a beat as she looked into the eyes of Aza and felt the weight of the being she truly was, the weight of her existence and how little this world truly meant to her on its own.

A speck of soggy dirt floating in the blackness of space.

"Were your nightmares about me destroying the Earth?" Aza asked evenly.

"...No," Asia admitted softly, looking down.

Aza tilted her head in surprise. "Oh?"

"I dreamed of you destroying...everything," Asia explained with a chill up her spine. "That you grew...frustrated with reality, and all that got between you and Issei. So you...removed them. Destroyed everything. The planets, the stars, even the other gods. Everything but you, and Issei."

"...Ahh," Aza said with a sigh. "I could do that. It'd be hard, but I could do it. The hardest part would be dealing with the other Eldritch. But if I destroyed every part of reality, reduced it down to nothing? I could revert all of them back to their least-most states, barely existing as pre-conceived ideas before they've been thought."

Asia started in dread, noticing that Aza was no longer causal or blunt, but almost...sad.

"But I could never do that," she admitted softly as she looked to the sky. "For...a lot of reasons. On the Issei end? It's not even that he'd hate me. It'd just be...lonely, just the two of us."

"Lonely?" Asia repeated in surprise. "Even if you were with Issei?"

"Of course. I love him, but I love...being with him. Not just existing with him, but living with him. I love both of us introducing each other to so many things. But even without that? I love the Eldritch, they're my family. And..."

Asia inhaled as Aza's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"If I erased everything...my daughter, Nyarly, might actually never return," Aza admitted in sadness. "She was...born of my frustrations. Literally, truly, she is born of my vexation with all of reality. And no matter how much the universe upsets me sometimes, I would...I would never want to do that to my daughter. No matter how much she misbehaves."

"I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ever asked that," Asia apologized in regret. "I should have known..."

"No, no, you were right to ask! I know I must give off that impression at times!" Aza assured with a hint of sheepishness. "And I'm sorry, for scaring you like this. I just had to be sure where your nightmares were coming from."

"...Coming from? "Asia asked in concern. "Is...someone...giving me these nightmares?"

Aza nodded, but with a smile. "Yes. I am."

Asia furrowed her brow in silent bewilderment.

"Not intentionally," Aza explained with a sigh. "Your sanity has a bit of damage. That is normal, given you live with me and Issei, under our protection. And it looks like you subconsciously picked up on my link with Nyarly."

"Your link with your daughter?" Asia repeated. "I don't understand, why would I have these nightmares?"

"Nyarly is my frustrations. And she's also my temptation. It's kind of like how humans sometimes feel the urge to just punch a hole in a wall in anger, even though they know it's a bad idea. I sometimes think about destroying something or everything even though I never would go that far," Aza explained casually. "Don't worry. I will never erase the universe and I have no desire to see my beloved's home be destroyed."

Asia slowly smiled in understanding and nodded. "Thank you, for explaining, Lady Aza...but is there anything you can do about the dreams?" she asked hopefully.

"Don't worry, you won't have any more nightmares about that, "Aza answered reassuringly. "...Hey, Asia? Before we head back, you mind trying to show me what's so fascinating about beaches for humans?"

Asia looked surprised before nodding. "I can certainly try! But are you sure you don't want Lord Issei to do so?"

"No, I'd rather just let him enjoy the sight of me in a swimsuit."

Meanwhile

"So, what brought you here, Kass?" Issei asked as they traveled through the swamp in the general direction to where he knew Yad was.

"I heard Nycrama was causing trouble," Kass said idly. "How much do you know about him?"

"Enough. The guy thought Aza was in love with him because he didn't know he was born Eldritch," Issei summarized.

"Yes, yes he did. Nycrama was rather loathsome in the end. I did try to help him find a place among the Eldritch, but he just didn't listen," Kass said with a sigh. "I grew rather...angry when he tried to trick me into helping his plot to turn all of Earth into zombies to worship him."

"Petty and horrifying, but would that even do anything?" Issei asked in morbid curiosity. "I know worship helps Eldritch gods do things without bringing their full forms to a place. But can zombies actually worship anything?"

"Yes, if the souls are still bound to their bodies. The larger problem with the idea is that zombie cultists would only shrink in numbers if you turned an entire planet," Kass said with a huff. "Nycrama could have had everything he might have wanted. Eternal life, worship, servants, peers that cared for him, family even. But he couldn't stand to let go of his vision of being the Sultan to Aza's Sultana."

"Huh. I'm surprised Aza never had any problem with this guy," Issei said in surprise.

"Aza finds the idea of being romantic with anyone besides you some hybrid of anathema and absurdly hilarious," Kass said vaguely.

"Kungur!"

They both paused and looked to the side where they saw Yad raising her sword up to grab their attention. They made their way over to her as she stood next to what looked like an altar that had been carved into a tree.

"Yad, good job clearing up the mooks," Issei praised.

Yad nodded in thanks while Kass tilted her head. "Mooks? Is that another word for zombies?" Kass asked curiously.

"Yad, what's a word she would understand?" Issei asked bluntly.

"Trash mobs," Yad supplied effortlessly.

"Ah!" Kass said, suddenly getting the meaning.

"...Why do you know that word?" Issei asked, looking between the two. "Are you gamers? Wait, you know what? Never mind. Save that for later. Let's focus on the Zombie plague god."

"About that," Yad said, motioning to the altar.

Issei stepped closer and looked. On the top of the altar was a stone bowl. In the middle was some kind of black gem. It was partially filled with a dark blue liquid. Every now and again, a droplet of something orange would fall into the substance. The orange substance would hiss and turn blue as the black gem appeared to "Devour" the original color away. "Okay, explain to the unlearned Kungur in the class?" Issei requested bluntly.

"The local humans, descendants of Nycrama's old tribe in fact, live in this swamp. They built these altars at places where Nycrama's seal forms "cracks" in reality," Yad said, pointing above the bowel.

Issei blinked and realized that the sap-like liquid wasn't dripping from the tree, but out of the air itself.

"These stones nullify Nycrama's influence and turn his ooze into this stuff," Kass said, touching it and covering her fingers in it.

"Don't tell me they eat it," Issei said with a slightly concerned look.

"Oh no! They burn it," Kass answered with a smile. "It helps them commune with gods, local or otherwise. And, apparently, have lucid dreams. They burn their dead with it so they can have their own eternal dream."

"Ahh. Neat. And less gross," Issei said before turning thoughtful. "But what does this have to do with our current problem?"

"Ink'a' taa'elq li Maak'a' Yo'yo sa' lix tz'alam!"

As if to answer this question, Issei turned to see a young man racing towards him with some sort of knife and axe in his hands.

Issei didn't understand the words, but had a good idea that this was a misunderstanding.

He was also sure that Kass and Yad would probably turn this human to paste without second thought.

And Issei was kind of happy to realize he was still human enough to care about that.

With that in mind, he raced forward and caught the man by the wrists. It was very easy. Not just in power, but in speed. Issei threw the man back just enough to make him fall on his rear.

The man glared up at Issei with confusion and anger, head cut nearly bald save some in a braid. A form of local fashion, if Issei had to guess.

"We are not with the Unliving One," Yad stated as she calmly joined Issei.

The man blinked at her, and seemed to understand immediately. Immediately, he started conversing with Yad.

Issei just concluded Yad was using some eldritch magic to translate. Why hadn't anyone taught that to him yet? If he had to guess, either because he didn't ask, or because they didn't think it was important.

He was drawn out of this musing as Yad and Kass suddenly allowed their forms to gain tentacles and growths emerged from either side of them.

"The hell, what did I zone out of?" Issei asked in surprise.

"We were just proving who we are," Kass explained with a smile as their human shells regained their normal appearances.

The tribal man, rather than being scared or maddened from the sight, actually looked excited. "Ahh! Laa'ex li Najter chalen chaq sa'eb' li Chahim, li xe'tenq'ank reheb' li qaxe' qatoon chi xtz'apb'aleb' li Maak'a'eb' Yo'yo!" the man exclaimed in amazement, giving what Issei felt were gestures and words of apology.

"His people have a better tolerance for the Eldritch than most," Yad added in idly.

Then the man looked at Issei again with a confused look. "Ani a'in? Jun moos?"

The effect was instant, Kass and Yad glaring at the man as if he just muttered a curse against them and their entire family.

The man looked terrified as he backed away in fear, shouting pleas of apology and mercy.

"Wow, wow, wow!" Issei called out, putting a hand on both their shoulders. "Ladies, calm down, okay? I don't know what he said, but I'm guessing he just insulted me by accident.

Kass took a deep breath and leered at the man. "A'an li QaRey."

The man stared for a moment before slowly began to shiver and pale as he looked at Issei, like he was the harbinger of doom.

He immediately started groveling, crying, pleading.

"Ummm, ladies?" Issei asked.

"He's pleading for you not to destroy his tribe and the souls of his ancestors," Yad said bluntly. "I don't suppose you'd entertain that notion?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Issei said in disbelief. "Dammit. Kass, tell him we're not doing any of that. You obviously have the most social skills in the area."

"As you wish, Kungur," Kass said, putting on a comforting and reassuring smile as she spoke to the man.

"Yad, what the hell was that? What did he say to cause that?" Issei asked curiously.

Yad frowned ever so slightly. "He asked if you were our slave."

"...I, okay, femdom isn't my thing, obviously, but I'm not surprised? The man saw two eldritch Goddesses and I still pass for human most of the time, "Issei reminded.

"Kungur," Yad said firmly. "I respect you have the right to tell us not to take retribution on mortals who insult you when you deign to pardon them."

"...Okay?" Issei accepted skeptically.

"Then please accept the right for us and others to be furious when you are insulted," Yad said with a frown. "Because the Sultana would have erased anyone that implied that you were in any way her slave, her inferior and unwilling partner."

"Is taking unintentional insults and honest mistakes so seriously just part of the Godhood package?" Issei asked with a sigh. "Look, I get it and appreciate it. But I'm not going to smite a guy and his village just because he didn't realize I was the King of the Eldritch on sight. So can we make it a rule that "I" am the one who deals with any insults aimed at me?"

"Ironic. A decree that the most loyal subjects would be tempted to disobey, and the most disloyal to obey," Yad remarked with a hum, glancing back. "I believe Kass is ready for us to rejoin her and the locals."

Issei wordlessly came with Yad, finding the man still kneeling nervously while Kass smiled. "We've cleared some things up, Kungur. He deeply apologizes and-"

"Just tell him he's forgiven and it's not a problem," Issei said with a sigh.

"Thank you, Young King of the Ancient! Thank you for your mercy!" the man exclaimed in relief, bowing quickly to Issei.

Issei blinked at that, looking at Kass.

"As I was going to say? I cast a little spell so you can understand him," Kass explained.

"Oh. Thanks," Issei said sheepishly before turning to the man. "It's fine, you can get up. What's your name?"

"Batz Bolowik Hopel, Young Ancient," the man answered in relief as he stood up, cautiously meeting Issei's gaze. "Are you here to stop the Unliving One?"

"Yeah. We took care of the man he controlled," Issei answered. "The seal is weakening. Do you know anything about it?"

The man flinched back. "Young King, we would never-!"

"Sorry, that sounded wrong," Issei waved off in apology. The translation spell didn't seem perfect, which he wasn't surprised by. Eldritch got things across clearly through sheer mental power if needed. "I mean, do you know how it happened? Did the man making the zombies cause it, or was it already weakened when he got here?"

"Ahh. Yes. The Witless Priest, serving the Unliving without even knowing it," Batz said in understanding. "I can tell what we know of him and the Unliving One's plot to free himself, but I know not if it will aid you."

"It definitely won't hurt," Issei decided.

End of Chapter

Well, that hpapened. Heart to Heart beween Aza and Asia, and Issei is geting closer to our Oozing Zombie God. Not a lot happened, but it is progress.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Also, Batz's language is Qʼeqchiʼ using Google Translate. Here are what the Q'eqchi' lines translate to.

"You shall not release the Unliving from his prison!"

"Ahh! You are the Ancients from the Stars, who helped our ancestors imprisoned the Unliving!"

"Who is this? A slave?"

"He Is Our King."

Early viewing of chapters 36-37 avaliable on my pat-reon:

p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64