YGGDRASIL was a game with a high degree of freedom, and also a game that was thoroughly pay-to-win. After the initial guild members conquered the Great Tomb of Nazarick, they spent a lot of money, time, and effort, pooling their wisdom and strength to expand Nazarick into its current state. As a member of the wealthy class, Walton naturally took on this responsibility.
Nazarick's Treasure Vault was expanded many times by Walton. The number of items stored within it was immense, more than double the scale described in the original novel. Besides Pandora, the 'chuunibyou' Treasure Vault Guardian personally created by Flying Squirrel, there was also a 'Treasure Vault Source' created by Walton—the All-Seeing and Foolish Eye, Azathoth.
A Treasure Vault Source was an extremely 'expensive' concept. For a guild, the Treasure Vault, where items were stored, was a very important place. Once it was breached, nothing would be left, and the guild's combat power would be greatly diminished.
Therefore, Walton once spent a large amount of funds, so much that it made him feel a pang of heartache, to purchase the extremely rare 'Treasure Vault Source' setting. This involved creating a unique NPC to serve as the core of the guild's Treasure Vault. As long as the NPC was not defeated, the items in the Treasure Vault could not be plundered, essentially providing an extra layer of insurance.
And this unique NPC was also very powerful—naturally, its microtransactions were separate and quite substantial.
What Walton created was one of the Old Ones based on the Cthulhu Mythos, the All-Seeing and Foolish Eye, Azathoth—a Guardian floating at the end of the Treasure Vault.
"Walking here in person, I realize now, Walton, you did something truly incredible..." Flying Squirrel stood before a giant door several tens of meters high, unable to help but complain to Walton beside him. Following behind them were Albedo, holding 'Victim, the Sacrificial Infant,' Shalltear Bloodfallen in her Valkyrie state, Cocytus in battle-ready state, and dozens of high-level servants temporarily created by Flying Squirrel and Walton.
This lineup looked like they were preparing for a raid.
"Then, I'm opening the door..." Walton transformed into his first form, his four withered hands pressed against the door, and he solemnly spoke to Flying Squirrel and the NPCs behind him.
Everyone nodded, putting on their utmost concentration, because they didn't know what level of existence lay behind this door. But since even the bug-level weapon 'Victim' had been brought out, it was certainly not an opponent that could be easily dealt with.
Buzz! The door resonated with Walton's body, then slowly opened a crack. The aura of death and the suffocatingly immense presence emanating from behind the door made everyone involuntarily take half a step back.
Buzz! The second sound came, and the starry sky turned into flowing water, gushing out from behind the door, dyeing the entire world into a desperate abode of stars, leaving only 'insignificance' and 'fear.'
Azathoth is the supreme deity in the Cthulhu Mythos. It resides in the Chaotic Court beyond the cosmos, with numerous formless Outer Gods circling its throne.
Azathoth is also the source of all deities. In the genealogy written by H.P. Lovecraft, the author of 'Cthulhu Mythos,' 'Darkness,' 'Chaos,' and 'The Nameless Mist' were born from Azathoth.
Azathoth's form is indescribable, beyond words. Its true self is also the 'Blind and Idiotic God,' maintained in slumber by the drumming of another deity. Should it awaken, the entire world would plunge into destruction.
Walton naturally couldn't truly create an Old One. The authority he used was an alternative 'All-Seeing and Foolish,' not 'Blind,' which gave the Azathoth created by Walton reason and room for negotiation.
"Cold... colder than my domain..." As they stepped into the starry sky, Cocytus's murmur reached everyone's ears.
"This 'death' is not to my liking..." Even in her full power state, Shalltear, with her many unique fetishes, felt a trace of fear—this was an instinct when facing an existence beyond her class.
Albedo, on the other hand, stared intently ahead, her peripheral vision constantly glancing at Flying Squirrel, her worried hands involuntarily clenching. Victim, lying in her arms, also let out whimpers like a baby, ready to be killed at any moment.
"Azathoth! I am your creator! Void Eye, Walton! Immediately dispel the 'Old God's Domain' and appear before me!" Walton knew the current situation. The Guardians, who should have patiently awaited orders, were unconsciously murmuring, exposing their inner thoughts. It was clearly Azathoth's inherent aura skill—Old God's Domain.
This was also why Azathoth was a 'unique NPC.'
Unlike the unique tiers managed by Cocytus and Demiurge, Old God's Domain was not an area-of-effect debuff damage generated by terrain, but rather 'rule-based damage' emitted by Azathoth itself.
To explain it with game data, Azathoth possessed a unique mechanism called 'Sanity (San)'. Once players entered Azathoth's room, their Sanity would be continuously eroded. Once the decreasing Sanity reached another stage (e.g., from 100 to 80), they would see entirely different enemies and skills. If Sanity dropped to zero, players would fall into 'madness,' immediately submitting to Azathoth and being forced to attack their former teammates.
And the most broken aspect of this skill was that after the battle, if the players did not win, the players whose Sanity dropped to zero would be 'copied' by Azathoth. These copies would be placed in the Treasure Vault as exhibits and guards. When Walton and the others first entered, they saw quite a few 'exhibits'—these were copies of players who had previously attacked the Great Tomb of Nazarick, numbering in the hundreds, even after Walton had specifically disposed of the 'defective products,' the number still remained.
"Lord Void Eye..." In the dark void, in response to Walton's summons, a giant eyeball, about ten meters in radius, slowly emerged—the All-Seeing and Foolish Eye, the Treasure Vault Source, the Domain Guardian Azathoth.
"Prove your loyalty! Azathoth!" Energy surged around Walton, and all the Divine Class and World Class items on his body were activated. He was certain that if Azathoth hesitated for even a second, he would, as planned, eliminate Azathoth—as its creator, he had this authority, and Walton's unique race and profession also gave him the ability to contend with a mimicry of an Old One.
This was the classic 'attribute counter.' The void, representing silent death, would eventually devour the brilliant and prosperous stars.
"The Treasure Vault is open for you, Lord Void Eye..." Azathoth waved the tentacles wrapped around its eyeball, receding the starry sky to reveal over a hundred layers of item storage warehouses, slowly lowering its gaze.
"Good, let's get something, Flying Squirrel?" After confirming Azathoth's loyalty to him, Walton turned the conversation to the main topic—Walton remembered that Shalltear was controlled by a World Class Item in the novel, and the way to deal with a World Class Item was to also carry a World Class Item. In the original work, Flying Squirrel only truly realized this and made up for deficiencies after the Shalltear incident. Now, Walton wanted to prepare in advance.