Mad
Tierra's belly began to swell, expanding unnaturally as though some force within were mercilessly pushing against it. His abdomen inflated like a balloon, as if something wanted to break free from inside Tierra's body.
Yet Tierra's belly was as hard as an iron cage. Whatever it was could only struggle desperately inside him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How disobedient." Tierra pressed both hands against his swollen belly, his expression grave, as though he intended to cast some spell and "digest" the struggling thing inside.
Tierra began chanting an obscure, awkward, ancient incantation.
His voice was low and powerful. The spell seemed to come from another age, every word carrying an invisible weight as it slowly echoed through the air, as if no human throat should have been capable of producing it.
The incantation slowly reverberated through that void-like space, even the spell itself—
This was something rarely seen in a very long time—
Ever since becoming a god, Tierra had not chanted spells for a long time, except during lessons.
But this time was different.
The creature inside Tierra's belly seemed to sense the threat and began struggling even more violently, causing his abdomen to twist and deform continuously.
Suddenly, another obscure chant sounded, its source—
Was inside Tierra's belly.
The creature inside Tierra's belly was chanting as well!
Tierra paid it no heed and continued chanting as he pleased.
The incantation gathered in the air, like countless wisps of black thread.
The creature inside Tierra's belly seemed to speed up its own chanting as well, until finally—
A pale, emaciated arm, like a spider's leg, tore through Tierra's belly and struggled its way out of his body.
Following the arm came a bald head as pale as a boiled egg.
"Tierra—!" The boiled-egg-like head roared the instant it emerged