Kindred Spirits, in a Sense

Oboro's words immediately sent Wandering Emperor's consciousness plunging into the depths of his mindscape.

His inner world transformed into a fragrant sea of flowers and grassland... while he himself stood naked at its center.

Above stretched an azure sky, yet an enormous moon hung high overhead.

The threat of death sent Wandering Emperor into a panic. He kept calling for something... but even as he broke down, tears streaming down his aged face as he screamed and shouted, the God he awaited still did not appear.

Not until he collapsed to his knees in despair, his faith beginning to waver.

At last, as if sensing something, he suddenly raised his head toward the heavens.

A terrifying giant hand emerged from the moon. First came an arm, then a body... until finally, a horrifying giant stood atop the moon and looked down at him. Compared to its massive form, the moon beneath its feet seemed no more than a perfectly sized stone platform.

"God!"

Realizing his prayers had been answered, Wandering Emperor wept even harder, this time from overwhelming joy.

God had appeared. That meant he was saved!

"You have disappointed me." His vision blurred. The next second, the towering giant was standing on the earth amid the flowers.

That simple sentence froze Wandering Emperor's face just as he was about to rejoice.

"You have failed my expectations... therefore, the power I bestowed upon you shall be reclaimed."

Though God's form was enormous, its flesh was entirely woven from chaotic, unidentified masses of meat, grotesque in appearance... It had no skin or hair. Its body lacked the clearly defined parts of a human body, and it had no facial features, only humanoid limbs.

It was as though an intangible energy had fashioned itself into a body from flesh-like matter.

Its voice