Instead of romantic settings with cute girls in the convenience store or office, Edirup had managed to make herself out to be a tsundere Onee-chan.
And rather than even a mother — arrogant and sharp-tongued one moment, flushing and defensive the next while she lounged on her throne like she owned the entire labyrinth.
But seriously, I got to go find my heroine already!
The tales of kingdoms, fantastical creatures and beings in the world, magic and some other energy found here, how human greed exceeded even her brother's (who was the Greed Chaos Spirit, himself)...
It was all nice, I swear.
She described sprawling empires built on blood and ambition, dragons wheeling through storm-filled skies, ancient forests where trees spoke prophecies that drove mortals mad, and vast oceans hiding cities of merfolk who traded in souls.
Her voice rumbled through the cavern as she spoke, gesturing with those long claws so the air seemed to ripple around her fingers.
The glowing crystals overhead dimmed and brightened in slow cycles, casting shifting shadows across the writhing shoggoth siblings that continued their endless, wet crawls — some sliding over my grey mass and leaving sticky trails that my body slowly absorbed with faint tingling sensations.
But I wanted to check it all out with my own eyes. The fantasy of it all.
My countless golden kraken eyes kept swiveling independently, taking in every detail while we talked.
From low angles near the floor I watched the moisture drip from the jagged ceiling rocks far above, plinking into small puddles that reflected the crystal light in fractured patterns.
From higher perspectives on my own lumpy surface I saw the ornate wall carvings up close — scenes of horned figures clashing with shadowy beasts, towers crumbling under chaotic storms, and thrones like Edirup's standing amid rivers of blood.
The raw cave sections looked rougher, natural stone jutting out with veins of glowing ore that pulsed faintly in time with her words.
One particularly bold shoggoth sibling bumped hard into my side again, its wet tongue flicking out to taste my flesh before it recoiled with a sloppy squelch and slithered away.
Gross.
The sensation registered as cool and slightly metallic, like licking a battery, but my body handled it without issue, the grey mass flowing and reforming smoothly around the point of contact.
Edirup kept talking, her tight body-hug outfit shifting as she adjusted on the throne, the red jacket pulling taut across her form.
She described how the Chaos Spirits influenced the world from the shadows — Pride fueling arrogant kings who led their nations to ruin, her brother's Greed turning merchants into monsters who hoarded entire cities' wealth until they starved in golden vaults.
She spoke of magic as raw chaotic threads that mortals tried to tame into spells, often with explosive results, and of other energies like spiritual force that flowed through the land in invisible rivers, powering everything from simple lights to world-shaking rituals.
I rolled my blob form a little to the side to test the invisible barrier again, pressing forward until the gel-like resistance pushed back, sending faint vibrations through my entire mass.
But there was still no give.
The runes on the doorframe glowed brighter for a moment as if mocking the attempt, their light reflecting off my golden eyes in tiny starbursts.
Edirup noticed and let out a short, haughty laugh, her fangs glinting. "You see? Even my own flesh cannot escape the seal at all. But you... you are different now. Perhaps the soul you brought with you changed the vessel more than I expected."
Her blush from earlier had faded, but a trace of it lingered whenever I teased her lightly with that "Mama" line, making her jab her claw in my direction again or shift uncomfortably on the throne.
The tsundere Onee-chan vibe grew stronger the longer we talked — sharp commands mixed with reluctant explanations, arrogant boasts followed by small, almost vulnerable pauses when she mentioned how boring the centuries had been.
The shoggoths around us never stopped moving.
Their boneless forms writhed in slow, overlapping piles near the base of the throne, eyes blinking out of sync, mouths opening to reveal those nail-like teeth before closing again with wet clicks.
One larger one merged briefly with a smaller sibling, the combined mass quivering before splitting apart, leaving a glistening trail on the leveled stone floor that seemed to slowly evaporate in the cool cavern air.
I extended a small tentacle experimentally from my side, testing its flexibility as it waved in the air.
It felt strong and responsive, able to stiffen or soften on command.
The same tentacles that had wrapped around Edirup's claw earlier during her sudden test.
My body could do that now — adapt and extend, and restrain.
It should have felt strange, but it registered as a practical "this could be useful" rather than full shock.
Edirup continued her stories, describing fantastical creatures I'd only read about in passing during rare lunch breaks in my old life — griffins with feathers that cut like blades, shadow beasts that fed on fear, ancient golems powered by trapped souls.
She spoke of how mortals built empires on the backs of slaves and then watched them crumble under the weight of their own avarice.
Her voice carried real amusement at the chaos, the golden stars in her red eyes sparkling as she recounted particularly entertaining disasters.
But all the tales, no matter how vivid, still made me want to see it for myself even more.
The cavern suddenly felt smaller, the high ceiling with its dripping rocks and the ornate-carved walls closing in.
My golden eyes kept scanning every corner, noting the half-buried skeleton in the far corner, its bones picked clean by shoggoth tongues over the centuries.
The air tasted faintly of metal and damp earth, with that underlying sweet note like overripe fruit that seemed to come from Edirup herself.
I rolled forward again, pressing once more against the invisible barrier, feeling the resistance push back evenly across my entire surface.
The door stood there mockingly open, runes glowing, promising the world beyond — kingdoms, creatures, magic, heroines — if only I could break free.
Edirup watched me with that mix of arrogance and reluctant interest, her long hair with red streaks shifting as she tilted her head.
"Eager to leave already, little one? The world out there is far more dangerous than this quiet prison. But... perhaps you will survive long enough to make it interesting."
My confidence felt steady now, the old salaryman awkwardness burned away somewhere in the cross-world void.
No more hiding behind deadlines or paperwork.
Just this blob of grey flesh covered in eyes, ready to roll out and take what the new world had to offer.
The tales of kingdoms, fantastical creatures and beings in the world, magic and some other energy found here, how human greed exceeded even her brother's, who was a freaking greed god)...
I want to witness it all. Would I like them?
Whose side would I join? What are the values of the humans here?
And actually, I would like to meet a human soon... They would probably freak out by seeing my creepy form, though.
"Tell me, young one, do you truly wish to leave?"