The God of Underworld-Chapter 322 - 21

At this moment, the Empyrean held an assembly that had never been seen since the dawn of creation.

Standing before the throne of Hades were the titans of ten distinct realities: Zeus, Odin, Ra, Lugh, Shiva, Nuwa, Enlil, Amaterasu, Tezcatlipoca, and Michael.

Behind them stood their champions and sages, a sea of divinity that represented the sum total of the Hyperverse’s collective history.

Hades stood, his presence now so dense that the floor beneath him rippled like liquid obsidian.

He did not speak immediately. He waited until the murmurs of ten different languages died down into a heavy, expectant silence.

"I have called you here not to celebrate our union, but to unveil the nature of our cage," Hades began, his purple eyes scanned the room, landing on each King and Queen. "The army you see at our borders, the Black Tide, the tentacled monstrosities, The Outrr Ones, is merely the symptom. The disease is the very fabric of our existence. So even if we beat them, they would simply keep coming back." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

All of them frowned, but decided to remain silent and wait for Hades to finish.

"What I am about to tell you is the truth, and nothing but the truth." Hades raised his hand, and a holographic projection of the Library materialized in the center of the hall. "We are not the masters of our fates, but we are characters in a Book. Our lives, our tragedies, our very victories are ink on a page, curated by an Author who resides in a realm beyond the reach of our prayers."

The reaction was instantaneous and violent.

"WHAT!?"Zeus slammed his thunderbolt against the floor, sparks of divine wrath flying. "Blasphemy! Brother, you claim the King of Olympus, Zeus, is a mere puppet of a scribe?! I have ruled for aeons! My will is my own!"

Odin leaned heavily on Gungnir, his lone eye narrowed. "I have traded an eye for wisdom, Lord Hades. I have seen the threads of the Norns. Are you saying the Norns themselves are just a stylistic choice of a writer?"

"I am." Hades stated, simply.

Shiva turned Hades, then to other gods, then back to Hades, this time his eyes burned with fury, his aura of destruction flickering. "If we are but words, then our suffering is a joke. Our Dharma is a script. This is an insult to the essence of Brahman! Even if we pledge loyalty to you, we will not forgive you if you cannot provide proof of those words!"

"I have been there." Hades turned towards Shiva, "Although I cannot provide proof, but I have been there."

"What...?"

This silenced everyone.

They stared at each other, their eyes widening in shock.

Could it really be true? Are they nothing more than words on a boom?

Amaterasu looked at her hands, her solar light trembling. "A book? Is that why we were so easily found? Because the Author simply turned the page toward us?"

Hades allowed the waves of anger, denial, and existential horror to wash over the room. He did not try to calm them down, after all, he can understand their reaction.

"I can understand how you feel, but that’s not the end...," he said, his voice cutting through the noise. "The Outer Ones serve the Author’s boredom. When the story is deemed finished, or when the author got bored of a book, they are sent to delete the pages. Azathoth, the origin of this chaos, is the Author’s eraser. It is currently watching us from the Library, waiting to consume the whole book and close the cover on our reality forever."

"Then what is the use of fighting?" Nuwa asked, her voice hollow. "If the Author wants us dead, he can simply stop writing."

"He tried," Hades revealed, his gaze turning sharp. "Our story was supposed to end with the fall of the Norse. But we defied the script. We survived. By doing so, we have forced the Author to stop writing a planned ending. We are now in unscripted territory. The Author is watching to see what we do with this freedom."

He stepped down from the dais, approaching the gathered gods. "I do not plan to wait for the next Chapter. I intend to use the Chaos Key, a tether to the outside that Nyx possessed, to try and breach the borders of this Book. I will step into the Library, confront the Author, and I will devour Azathoth to secure our permanence. I will turn our fiction into truth."

The room fell into a suffocating silence.

The gods looked at one another, the weight of the revelation sinking in.

They were no longer fighting for survival or even for continuation of their pantheon, but they were fighting for the right to exist as something more than a memory.

Lugh was the first to step forward, his spear glowing with Celtic resolve. "If the choice is to die as a discarded word or fight for a seat at the Author’s table... The choice is simple, I will fight, even if I have to die trying."

Enlil nodded, his face grim. "If Mesopotamia is its people, then those people deserve a reality that cannot be erased with a drop of ink. I am with you."

One by one, the Kings of the ten pantheons knelt.

It was not a gesture of subservience to a master, but an acceptance of a shared, impossible goal.

"The Outer Ones have already began to move towards the Hyperverse," Hades said, looking toward the horizon where the darkness was finally meeting the Hyperverse’s light. "They have come to finish the story. We will give them an ending the Author never dared to imagine."

Hades turned to the commanders. "Zeus, Odin, Ra, lead the vanguards. Shiva, Nuwa, reinforce the conceptual barriers. Michael, Amaterasu, scout the breaches. The War for Reality begins now."

They all nodded, and prepared to leave to follow their orders, but just then, Michael raised his hand, and everyone stopped to stare at him.

"My lord, what about the mortal world?" Michael asked, worriedly.

Truly worthy of being an angel, even at a time like this, he couldn’t stop worrying about the mortal world.

Hades nodded at him, "Do not worry, I have already sent someone to handle it."

*

*

*

The City State of Herion, the first human civilization born within the Greek Universe.

As the city that worshipped Hades, and as the city favored by the Underworld Gods, this city has become the center of the world.

When the Hyperverse merged with different pantheons, various continents, nations, people, cultures, and values have also been integrated into one.

And despite this, everyone had decided that Herion is to be heart of the mortal world.

Athena had also decided to move the headquarters of the Grand Order to this place.

What began as a desperate venture by Athena, Herios, and Medusa to secure funds had evolved into a global sovereign power.

Truthfully, they weren’t expecting it to grow to this point, where it encompasses the entire world. After all, they only made this to make money! Not to be a global organisation safeguarding humanity!

At this moment, inside the Grand Order’s main headquarters, at the summit of the Great Citadel, the Round Table was illuminated by the glow of the integrated worlds.

Herios sat at the head, his presence steady and grounded. Even amongst various heroes and divine spirits, his presence was still completely overshadowing them.

Probably even a god would lower their gaze upon seeing him.

To his left was Athena, her grey eyes sharp with tactical brilliance, and to his right was Medusa, whose quiet, predatory grace had been tempered into the poise of a commander.

Surrounding them were the legends various different cultures, and different Pantheons, beings who had transcended their mortal origins to become Divine Spirits

Atalanta, the swiftest huntress, sat with her bow resting against the table. She is the Divine Spirit of the Wind, having ascended to the realm of gods due to her contributions during the Gigantomachy.

Beside her was Alcides, whose presence was like a mountain of raw, disciplined power, he is the Divine Spirit of Strength and Endurance, having ascended to the throne of Gods due to the legendary Twelve Labors.

There is also Medea, the student and High Priestess of Hecate. She adjusted her dark robes, her eyes shimmering with the forbidden magics of the Underworld.

They were joined by the likes of Cú Chulainn, the spearman of the Celts, Sigurd, the Dragon Slayer, Guan Yu, the Saint of War from the East, and various other legendary figures of the ten pantheons.

Just then, Athena stood, her voice resonating with a clarity that silenced the room. "I have received word from Lord Hades. The Great War is upon us, and the mortal world will be in grave danger."

She gestured to the maps of the world laid out before them. "The gods are ascending to the ramparts of the Hyperverse. They will face and confront the True Bodies of Outer Ones, and surely will be locked in a conceptual struggle that will take every ounce of their divinity."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the legendary faces. "This means they will not be here to catch the rain. The fragments of the Outer Ones, the black tide, the corrupted spawn, and the weeping horrors that slip through the cosmic cracks will fall upon the mortal realms, and it is up to humanity to handle it on their own. Basically, humanity and its heroes must stand without the direct intervention of their creators."

Alcides let out a low, resonant hum. "So, we are to be the shield while the gods act as the sword."

Atalanta tightened her grip in her bow. "The forests are already screaming, and the beasts of the wild will surely feel the corruption. This would normally require the help of the gods, but if the gods are busy, then I will make sure to hunt every nightmare that dares to set foot on our soil."

Medea smiled darkly, her fingers sparking with purple energy. "My teacher taught me that magic is the art of imposing one’s will upon the world. So I shall weave a shroud over our cities that will rot any Outer One fragment that tries to breathe our air."

Athena leaned over the table, her expression fierce. "Perhaps this is why the Grand Order exists. Not for profit, not for fame, but for this singular moment. You are the greatest heroes of all humanity. You carry the legends of ten pantheons in your blood. Go to your stations. Rally the local guilds. Mobilize the cultivators, the magi, and the warriors."

She struck the table with her palm. "Lord Hades is fighting to change the story of the world. Our job is to make sure there is still a world left to tell that story!"

Cú Chulainn stood, a wild grin on his face as he hoisted his crimson spear. "A war without the old men watching over our shoulders? Sounds like a grand time to make some new legends."

"Will your teacher be there too? Honestly, I would feel relieve if she is. She’s probably the strongest hero I have ever met." Said Sigurd.

Cú Chulainn shrugs, "Beats me. That old hag doesn’t like to go out of her damn castle, but recently..."

He turned towards Herios, his eyes narrowed sensing that overwhelming power radiating from Greek’s King of Heroes.

"...she seems to be interested on one person." Cú Chulainn took his eyes off Herios, "Anyway, let’s go."

"Mn."

One by one, the heroes rose, their auras clashing and merging into a singular, radiant force.

At this moment, they were no longer just legendary heroes; they were the guardians of the Mortal Realm.