Tingen City, Back Alley.
Amon's avatar dissipated completely, as if it had never existed.
The heart-palpitating aura of "Error" also faded along with it, leaving only a trace of nearly imperceptible distortion in the air.
Nairn clapped his hands, as if dusting off non-existent dust.
"Job's done. Boring, all bark and no bite."
He curled his lips, somewhat disappointed by Amon's performance before leaving.
He thought there would be some more exciting development, but the opponent chickened out so quickly.
However, he could understand.
If it were him, facing a completely unknown, unfathomable Existence that could strike someone through a network cable, he would also choose a strategic retreat.
"Next time, I'll definitely make sure you can't run away," Nairn noted down Amon's debt in his heart.
However, an extremely ominous and nauseating aura suddenly spread from the corner of the alley.
Nairn's gaze instantly sharpened, turning toward that direction.
There lay a figure dressed in a classical black robe.
It was precisely that Secret Sorcery Club "Magician" Beyonder who had been parasitized and had his consciousness assimilated by Amon earlier.
Amon's avatar had self-destructed, but this "vessel" was left behind.
And even worse, Amon's final "knowledge bomb," while ineffective against Nairn, was a lethal poison for this poor "vessel"!
Although Amon successfully cut off the Connection and ran faster than anyone, the trouble he brought to Nairn was actually even greater.
Or rather, the mess he left behind was only just beginning to ferment.
Amon was a rational Existence, someone who could still be communicated and gambled with.
However, before leaving, that long string of "Outer Deity" honorifics he recited to test Nairn acted like a coordinate, briefly drawing countless malicious gazes from the Cosmos to this place.
A cold wind whistled.
It was clearly not yet autumn, but for some reason, it was colder than the dead of winter.
The severe cold made Nairn feel that the sky above—no, the "Cosmos"—was even purer.
Suddenly, Nairn entered a state he had never experienced before. In his perception, the entire world was frozen, emitting a cold light, and everything had been corrupted.
No, the one being corrupted wasn't him, but—that body over there.
That Secret Sorcery Club "Magician" who was parasitized by Amon and then treated as a discarded pawn.
Although Amon's avatar had self-destructed, the "vessel" carrying it was still here. And that massive amount of forbidden knowledge regarding "Outer Gods" just now had inevitably flowed through this body before being swallowed by the Chaos Theater.
For Nairn and the Chaos Theater, this was just a cold appetizer before a meal.
But for this sequence 7 Beyonder, this was no different from stuffing the core of a nuclear reactor directly into his brain!
Through that shattered "canopy," the Secret Sorcery Club Magician Beyonder, whose consciousness had been assimilated by Amon, had his remaining spirituality struck through as if by high-voltage electricity; his consciousness instantly sank and completely disintegrated.
The turbulent Cosmos above his head shrank into that blurry halo, with only coldness and ink-like Darkness all around.
He felt himself leaping into the great death of Darkness!
Amidst this deathly silent cold blackness, he saw the truth of the "Universe"—it was a giant crimson Moon, occupying half of the sky.
The light on the surface of the crimson Moon flickered and expanded as if it had come to life.
Outside this world, on the Moon orbiting the earth, flowed a crimson sea that submerged everything, as if it were embracing and digesting this massive natural satellite.
When this "Magician" was forced to learn information about the "Outer Deities," "Outer Gods," and the "Cosmos" from Amon's memory residues, this blood-colored ocean boiled.
They rapidly condensed toward the center, piling up continuously, finally forming a blood-red phantom whose specific appearance could not be clearly seen.
This phantom was countless times larger than the Moon and had grown innumerable eyes. "It" looked down at the blue planet, casting its gaze toward—this poor "Magician" who had established a Connection through knowledge!
As the crimson sea "receded," many craters were revealed on the Moon's surface.
Looking from the ground, the Moon was no longer crimson, but bright and cold, unchanged for eons.
But that terrifying gaze had already descended!
In the farther universe, the Brown Star, Orange Star, Red Star, Gold Star, and Blue Star flickered simultaneously, as if blinking an "eye," looking down from above at this bug who, for some reason, knew their names all at once.
Silently, a subtle Connection was established.
A lethal erosion made the "Magician's" entire body thrum with unease, but his already dead consciousness had no way to deal with the impending threat, nor did it make any move!
*Sizzle— Sizzle—*
Strange sounds came from the "Magician's" corpse.
Within his body, wisps of black gas, streaks of red light, and viscous bubbles emerged in an instant—
That was the corruption from the "Mother Goddess of Depravity"!
That was the temptation from the "Mother Tree of Desire"!
That was the distortion from the "Uncertain Mist"!
That was the devouring from the "Primal Hunger"!
That was the destiny from the "Circle of Inevitability"!
That was the collective gaze of the "Outer Deities" from above the "Cosmos," including the "Mother Goddess of Depravity," "Mother Tree of Desire," "Uncertain Mist," "Primal Hunger," "Circle of Inevitability," "Superstar Dominator," "Inextinguishable Ravings," "Monarch of Decay," "High-Dimensional Overlooker," and "Fate Weaver"!
Every single gaze brought a trace of the most primal corruption!
Nairn's brow furrowed tightly.
He looked at the corpse undergoing a terrifying mutation before him, cursing Amon no less than eight hundred times in his heart.
Truly worthy of being the brat that even the Cuttlefish utterly loathes!
If you're going to run, just run; why leave a piece of trash behind? Now look, because the trash wasn't sorted properly, it's directly attracted a swarm of flies!
This fellow Amon, he runs when he can't win, and even then, he leaves behind such a disgusting mess. He practically has the words "utterly unscrupulous" engraved into his bones.
Next time, next time I must catch His true body and give Him a good, thorough lesson!
Nairn was feeling ruthless, but the trouble at hand had to be dealt with.
This was no longer a common loss of control.
This was a mix of multiple Outer God corruptions, the leftover "Error" characteristic from Amon's avatar, and the "Magician" Beyonder characteristic itself. The three were blending together, giving birth to an unprecedented—Monster!
One could only say, as expected of someone from the same Pathway as Master Roselle, he was truly skilled at challenging those above his level—bearing the heavy burden of so many Outer Deities' gazes!
*Gurgle— Gurgle—*
The "Magician's" body inflated like a balloon, stretching the classic black classical robe tight.
The most terrifying part was his stomach, which was bulging high at a visible speed, like a pregnant woman about to give birth, and it was still getting larger.
Beneath the skin, something seemed to be squirming, pushing his belly into various sized lumps that were constantly shifting, as if countless living things were being nurtured inside.
Connecting—Devouring—Mutation—
In Nairn's spiritual vision, this body had already become a hodgepodge of corruption sources.
A terrifying aura mixed with "Theft," "Deception," "Magic," "Depravity," "Desire," "Hunger"—all sorts of negative concepts—burst out from this Monster!
What the hell—
A stitched-together monstrosity, with the residual power of Amon's "Dream Stealer" avatar as the main body, the "Magician" characteristic as support, and a bunch of Outer Deity-level corruption as seasoning, was born right before his eyes.
"Errgh—"
The Monster let out a groan that didn't sound human as it slowly stood up from the ground.
Its body still barely maintained that classic Amon appearance, wearing a Monocle and a black robe, but that high-bulging belly made the outfit look incredibly eerie and ridiculous.
Its movements were stiff, its eyes hollow; it clearly had no reason left, only the most primitive instincts.
But even instinct was terrifying enough.
Nairn could clearly perceive that the spiritual pressure emitted by this Monster had already far exceeded the scope of Sequence 5, even faintly touching the threshold of a demigod.
Add to that the thick, inseparable aura of corruption, and its level of trouble was likely not much weaker than a true demigod.
After all, that dense aura of corruption from the Cosmos was the most lethal poison to ordinary people and low-Sequence Beyonders.
Just a single glance at it could cause one to go mad or be assimilated into a new Monster.
The Nighthawks and Punisher teams in Tingen City probably wouldn't even last a single round against this guy before being wiped out.
It turned its head blankly. That face could no longer be called a face; the features had melted together, leaving only a blur of flesh and a single, lonely, constantly rotating eye belonging to Amon.
And now, in the back alley of Tingen City, this freshly baked Monster, capable of triggering a massive disaster, turned its hollow gaze toward the only living thing in the alley.
Nairn.
"Tsk."
Nairn clicked his tongue.
It seemed today's matter wouldn't end peacefully.
The thick, inseparable aura of corruption on its body was the most lethal poison to any spiritual being.
An ordinary person would immediately go mad and mutate with just one look.
This thing absolutely could not be let out.
Once it reached the streets of Tingen City, it would be an unmitigated disaster. The Nighthawks, Punishers, and Machinery Hivemind—all the official Beyonders in Tingen City combined probably wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
It was still daytime; by the time the people at the Church headquarters reacted, it would be far too late.
So, there was only one choice.
Go for it.
Even if he was nominally only a Sequence 9 right now, so what?
Since he was here and had seen it, he might as well solve it.
Nairn didn't want to see such an earth-shatteringly ugly Monster still standing alive before him, then running out to create scenes of clumsy and disgusting tragedy.
That didn't fit his aesthetic.
"little theater, give me some more'sponsorship'," Nairn said calmly in his heart.
"Yay! Master!" the Chaos Theater responded excitedly, and a surge of pure energy instantly flooded into Nairn's body.
It wished for Nairn to use its power more; the more he used it, the more "changes" and "accidents" would occur in this world, and the more "fun" it could obtain.
Buzz!
It was nothing else but the power of the sequence 8—Troublemaker—that Nairn was about to advance to!
Feeling the Beyonder power surging within him, filled with the urge for pranks and a tendency toward chaos, the corners of Nairn's mouth curled into a cold arc.
Since Amon liked to play, he would play with Him to the end.
He would use this "mess" personally created by Amon to stage a good show.