The God of Jesters
Chapter 689 - 10.08.3 Delusion is really stupid.

Chapter 689: 10.08.3 Delusion is really stupid.

Abyss, was the unknown and the almighty, giving birth to the greatest horror of the human mind and encroaching upon the souls of the living. Ever so hungry, every so monstrous.

It was a force that had existed since the days of the Sun God, and some say, it’s an existence even older. Something far greater than anyone can ever fathom. And now, that very being looked at him, a human, a wraith, a nightmare, and now a demon.

"You fool." Demonization was something Lakram was wilfully accepting. For he had ways to counter it, ways to maintain his sanity, ways to return to the side of good on account of being one of the Primordial gods of this earth.

Something that Jester was not. Falling to demonization was tantamount to losing your will, becoming a slave to the will of the Abyss, or even a Demon. It was worse than death, it was complete annihilation for someone like Jester with his weak soul and and....

"Why... I am not you." Struggled Lakram, his body feeble and ever-changing, even he struggled to learn what it was, who he was, and why he was?

This body was a cage, fe wished to flee it. But then again in this world of consciousness, this body was his very soul. But was it his soul?

"You are me, I am you, stop struggling." It was his soul and it was mine. The real Lakram died long ago, it was just the blood connection and my actions that made it possible for the conscious and memories of Lakram to overwrite mine, stealing away parts of my soul, my very being, in an attempt to revive himself.

A sort of cloning one can say, but a clone that held the power, memories, and strength of the original and even more so. A greater copy that exceeded his past, so can he truly be considered a clone?

Well, he was. He was trying to parasitize me, trying to overtake me, but he forgot one thing. "If you see into the abyss, the abyss looks back." The eye above, it’s very looked was corruptive, causing countless of my memories to disintegrate and meld into the flow of Abyss that had encroached on this world.

But such memories were nothing, just false constructs formed by my own imagination of the past. What actually happened, I had long forgotten after constant deaths and revival, what I know now only is just a fantasy of mine. A delusion of how I wished for the past to be, not real memories.

And I believe, this clone of mine must have known this in a certain part of his brain, but he still kept looking for something called a key.

"No... I won’t let you mess up this chance of mine." Spoke Larak, unaware at this point that my words never came from this space, but they were directly into his consciousness, a maddening will that had started to reform itself the more he devoured my core.

I am undying.

A nightmare born out of unreal fears, while a Devil is born out of real fears.’

Both are undying.

Both exist in a realm of their own.

And no matter what you do, no matter the path you take, it’s harder for beings like us to be digested by others without causing some constipation.

Lakram really shouldn’t have gone greedy, he should have just annihilated me instead of absorbing something he barely understood after millenniums of slumber.

There was a crash outside, the three that were vibrant and growing ever larger suddenly started to show signs of corruption. Festering blisters and rot that spread from the trunk to the top, causing cracks into the very bark of the tree, and causing it to collapse in parts.

A scene that did startle Light Bringer who was still busy with the Scorpion Demon. He even wondered if this demon had stung the tree and harmed it in some way, but that was not possible, he had been stuck here with the demon since the start, with neither having a chance to do a thing to the enemy.

To Lakram.

So what was it?

There was not much to think of what it was, as the tree before it could properly flourish started to break apart and fall to the ground, but the tree didn’t splinter into words or rot, instead, when it broke apart. What came out of the tree was.

"Rat?" The Light Bringer couldn’t fathom what was happening and how. This didn’t make sense, more so when these rats appearing to be formed by abyss started to crawl back on what remained standing of the Thousand-faced tree and start to nibble on its wood, cutting it away with their sharp teeth while a scream spread about, causing even the Demon to flinch under the painful cry.

While on the inside, what was once Lakram currently looked at his own arm, before biting on it. "Stop..." his body currently lacked control, or one can even say, Lakram was currently in total control of his body.

"For you are me, and I am you." I devoured myself, piece by piece, like a small hungry rat that had starved for years. I kept eating upon what made me me, digesting the memories and experience of Lakram as my own while also watching as the Divinity of nature that I had come to love so much slipped away from me.

I was not going to be the foolish one, abandon those that I can’t use, abandon the strength that brings me harm, and achieve something greater using that abandoned strength as fuel to strengthen what I already have.

And so, the domain that once belonged to a god, encompassing the size of a continent on its own, crumbled under my will, I was not greedy, I didn’t want what Lakram wanted.

All I desired was fun, entertainment, and a long life to witness it all.

"Stop.." He kept speaking out of my mouth, but I kept eating myself with my mouth.

The eye above had weakened Lakram’s will by a lot, giving me a chance. But then again, I understood the price I had to pay for it—a price I would gladly pay.

"But you will only get it if I maintain my sanity... so let me and I will show you a wonderful world." My words appeared empty, not lacking any material. But this was better than the other option I had in order to maintain my sanity, which would probably be more annoying for the Abyss to deal with. A threat that seemed to work, as it backed off, leaving me to my perfect meal, which also just happened to be me.

So piece by piece and bone by bone, I ate myself. Feeling more fulfilled the less that remained of Lakram. Whose words were not spoken by our lips anymore. And all I felt was indignation in part of my soul that will slowly be digested and discarded all the same.

"Don’t feel back Lakram, innocence has long died in this world, so you should too." At those words, the last of Nature’s domain crumbled in my mind. Turning into the strength of what was to come.

"But your mischief, on the other hand, it has some value." My body inflated, and so did the rats outside that exploded one by one after devouring the tree.

But with their explosion, came a feeling of disconnect. And then bliss to those who felt the essence of the abyss that was being born out of me.

"A domain of mischief, a domain of nature, a domain of corruption... a domain of nightmares...." With so many choices, my mind felt ever so great. For someone who can’t bring forth his own domain, it’s wonderful how many options I had once I got my hands on one.

Sadly, all of them were. "Useless."

None defined me, none were capable of harnessing my strength, and none were capable of building what I wished.

"A theme park, a heaven, a world catered to all those that step into it," I speak, I wondered of the wonderland, I imagined the countless domains that might exist in this world. Then I wondered of the desires of all those I had looked into.

"Delusion... even that is the false answer." The delusion was just part of me, it did not define me. It was not that great in my eyes.

So what?

"Something fantastical." My mind moved, and so did the energy that was born from the destructure of nature’s domain, leaving only the purest of the pure "Origin" energy that didn’t have any mark of Nature.

"Yes.. simple would be better. The Fantasy to realize all dreams."

In those words, like the Big Bang, my domain expanded. Though it barely even reached a kilometer of radius before stopping, while holding virtually nothing in this domain of mine.

No, there was something here.

"Aaahhh." Spoke a mouth that was born on my chest. "Friends." It spoke, tearing away from my reformed flesh and running into the mist far away. "Friends... play, let’s play again." It spoke, disappearing into a fantasy of his own.

"This little bastard... "

This was my win.