"I'm not afraid of you!"
With a shout that seemed meant to bolster his own courage, Aphoom-Zhah abruptly transformed into a colossal god.
He swung six enormous arms radiating the ultimate cold and struck at Hastur!
Boom!
The previously tranquil void of the starry sky suddenly shook with a thunderous crash!
Then ripples spread through it, wave after wave, like the rings stirred by a stone suddenly thrown into a calm sea!
"S-space... space is shaking!"
Yig, the Father of All Snakes, spoke with his entire body trembling.
He was beginning to regret it.
He regretted sticking his neck out to mock Hastur while he was reciting poetry, making himself the bird that drew the first shot.
He was indeed an exceptional being, but his exceptional nature merely meant that, among the Lower Great Old Ones, he could barely trade blows with a Middle Great Old One!
But that did not mean he could fight Hastur in his King of the Deep Sea Starry Sky form, who was also an exceptional Middle Great Old One!
If they really fought...
By Yig's own rough estimate, under normal circumstances, Hastur in this state could probably turn him into snake soup in fewer than a dozen or so exchanges!
At the same time, however, he felt somewhat fortunate.
Fortunately, although he had stuck his neck out, the crucial point was that Aphoom-Zhah's taunts had clearly drawn far more fire!
He had plainly made Hastur pin all his hatred over those taunts on him!
Even if he comes to settle the score later, surely he won't beat me too badly?
Yig thought silently, sweeping down a vast swath of trees with his tail and piling them over his enormous serpentine body, seemingly hoping their branches and leaves would conceal his tracks.
Meanwhile, in the