Intermission
Dr. Matsuda & The Great Devourer
"Will of the Axiom II"
Every action has a purpose.
If you know what the purpose is, the ideal action, reaction patterns, circumstances, influence of gravity and air resistance, etc, and convert them into numbers and action prediction in but a single instant, it is possible for an impossible level of clairvoyance to exist. Combine that with the power to perceive things as "code," along with the ability to directly manipulate that code in a manner akin to a hacker, a power granted to him by the Axiom, and...
An "invincible opponent," comes into existence.
Not once has the doctor moved from where he sits. Having made his declaration to annihilate his fellow "enlightened one," the man sits with one leg crossed over the other in his usual pose, head resting on a balled up fist as attack after attack is made meaningless in the face of his superior mind. It doesn't matter what it is, cosmic flames, deprivation of oxygen, localized space-time collapses, gravity wells, spiritual vampirism. So long as the doctor is able to observe the phenomena, he is able to counteract it flawlessly through use of his own abilities, he has not taken a single hit, nor does he assume he will do so within the span of the next hundred moves, but-
In spite of that, it is clear he is fighting completely defensively; unlike "Stephen," there is a certain limit to the spiritual power and mental stamina of his fake, not only that, the Devourer is refraining from using it's most powerful abilities, or rather...
It is not using the full power of the "System."
If Stephen had reached the Axiom through his understanding of "Code," then the Devourer could be said to have reached the Axiom through the "System's Power." They are bound to it in different ways, and got different abilities as a result of that brief contact, but...
"...I see. So you are a 'fake.'"
Eventually, the onslaught comes to an end as the two regard each other over a distance of a mere dozen meters. In spite of failing to break through the doctor's defenses there is no sense of panic in the Devourer's borrowed form, it merely states what it has confirmed in the exchange, that in spite of bearing "Stephen's" power, the one that it is facing is not exactly that enlightened human itself, something it had expected from the start, and had fought in order to confirm, and indeed...
"I'm afraid so. The plight of even this many 'worlds' is a bit too small of a thing to catch that man's personal attention."
He is not, nor has he ever really claimed to be; he is that man's shadow, his discarded human emotions given form. A truly enlightened being cannot afford to have those sort of personal affections attached to him, that man's goal is to make humanity the strongest no matter the cost, and he is willing to bury absolutely everything unnecessary if he must in order to make that happen, and while the mentalities of original and fake are similar-
---The fake had simply decided he didn't have it in him to abandon things so cleanly.
"I see. If that is the case, then there is no need to drag this out."
While it states such things aloud, it had already decided to simply wipe him out the moment it had gotten a grasp on his abilities and realized he wouldn't show it what it wanted to know; while the humans remained interesting to it, it had no interest in a "fake Stephen," and thus, it's behavior is different from when it confronts normal humans.
With them it will play around, there is something they have that it desires for itself, and for that reason amongst others it is allowing them time to prepare themselves for a final battle. However, this man is not showing that same 'power,' and thus, now that it has confirmed that behavior is purposeful...
==Star Compression==
A light gathers in it's borrowed fist.
There is one anomaly that none of the preparing humans have pondered questioning, which is the lack of stars in the sky after the battle with Nyarlathotep; they may assume that it is simply another phenomena, and in a sense it certainly is, but...
They hadn't disappeared into nothing, no...
The one who had 'devoured the stars' in preparation for the morning's fight was the Devourer itself. That light in it's hands was the light of the universe, symbolically, it was much like devouring mankind's hopes and dreams, painting a pitch-black sky as a subtle method of informing them that there is absolutely no hope for their victory come the morning...
---In spite of being an enlightened being, it is not like it is invincible.
While it appears like it can do anything it wants, it is still heavily dependent on the "System," and can only use it's full power by acting in accordance with it, it is weak to things that "should not exist" for this reason; if it can comprehend what it is facing it is essentially invincible, but "unknown factors" would break through it's defenses, and if it's own power is turned against it, it has to follow the "rules" of those powers as well and cannot simply ignore them...
Still...
Inside of the system, it's power might as well be called "Absolute," it is for that reason-!
Factor of Power/Deus Ex Machina
Supernova
That it fears no counter as it thrusts it's palm out towards it's opponent, unsealing the absolute force of dozens of compressed stars.
As an attack, it's basis was formed through manipulation of matter and heat, but by adding a "factor" to it, it became, in essence, what humans referred to as a conceptual strike.
The Factor of Power.
Also called "Deus Ex Machina," or "God's Miracle."
The strongest of the four individual factors, and one that easily defeats the rest in a head-on collision; power is exactly what it seems to be, breaking whatever opposition you face, destroying whatever enemies you might have, that sphere of force that is already enough to easily crush a God becomes something that would erase even the planet if it strikes it directly.
There is no such thing as enduring it for a human, it is a blow that defeats you the moment it touches you, that will blow through any magical or physical barriers that get in the way; and indeed, even for the doctor, the "encryption" on the code is something far different from every strike he has observed up until now, and there is no way he will be able to "neutralize" it like he did the others.
For the real "Stephen" it may have been possible, but for him-
-It's impossible.
He had known that even before it appeared, had guessed that it would have those sorts of properties just from hearing stories about it's effects.
Yes...
"Yes. There is no need to drag this out at all, farewell."
"...?!"
He cannot directly defend against it, however, he had never intended on doing so-!
System Crash
==Singularity==
After all, he had figured out a "much more complex" equation ages into the battle. Knowing full well that he was outgunned from the start, especially while he was inside of the System itself, the man had focused all of his efforts not on his opponent, but rather the "surrounding data" of the area.
It was a rather complex formula all things considered, and the focus required had been such that he was only able to defend himself rather than manifest power to attack, but now that his opponent has paused to launch a "finishing blow" with all of it's strength, the doctor summons up all of his strength in order to strike true-!
He cannot directly oppose the factors inside of the system without also possessing the factors, even so, the factors themselves relied on the system's support in order to function, because of that, what the man had done was, in layman's terms...
Crashing the system.
The Devourer is a logical entity.
It's power is tied to the System, in many ways it itself is a separate manifestation of the system, and thus it is easily affected by things that also strike the system; if the world is thought of as a computer program, then what he had done was strategically corrupt the data to the point where everything within a certain area is no longer "logical" and is forced to break down.
To use an analogy, it was like changing a certain number of 0s into 1s.
At times like that, it is only natural for data to be lost, and while it is normally impossible to decide what data disappears, by limiting the "Crash" to "this area" it is possible for him to ensure the deletion of the Devourer and nothing else...
Of course, their runs the very real risk of deleting himself as well, which is why he had chosen to confront the Devourer alone, however, as the mass of stars disappears along with literally everything else, the doctor that had broken down into a cold-sweat from effort he had been refusing to show, almost laughs to himself as he catches his breath...
There is nothing in front of him now.
It is almost anti-climactic, how swiftly everything had simply become a "void." In a sense, he was grateful to the Devourer for making a "separate space" in order to test the humans in, if he had been forced to do that in "reality" there was a good chance it wouldn't have worked, after all, "humanity" itself is already resisting the "Erasure" of their world through Observation, but here, in a place where there were only two observers...
He had been able to finish his divine opponent in one strike, without damaging the system so much that everyone would die as a result.
This world can fall into nothing now, once he leaves it, it will have no further purpose.
Silence.
His body is shaking...
He was not Stephen; usage of those sorts of copied powers was not something this mortal body was designed for, but still...
While he feels like he can barely move even his fingers... He should be able to manifest enough power to return to the "real world" in but a few moments.
Still...
He chuckles.
It will a funny story. The tale of an old man in a wheel-chair slaying a God single-handedly, yes, letting his emotions run more freely now that his opponent has been wiped out...
The man makes a mistake his "true self" never would have, namely:
He lets down his guard.
United Four Factors
==Universal Law==
And is ensnared by something that, by all available data...
Should not have been able to survive it's erasure.
Interlude Out
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Originally Posted by The Final Rest
