Chapter 448: Going in Fully Prepared
—
The Hindu Pantheon didn't fall in a single day, unlike the others. Shiva was hailed as the strongest God, standing even stronger than the Biblical God if sheer destructive power was taken into consideration.
It helped that he was aided by other Gods who were said to be his equals, Vishnu and Brahma. The Preserver Vishnu had the power to negate and counter most attacks, while the Creator Brahma spawned an endless number of battle machines, matching the [Plate Mail] army of Trihexa.
However, even with such great matching, the Gods couldn't hold on forever. A few days later, the Hindu Mythology was on the verge of crumbling. The three Gods were still engaged in battle, but millions of minor Gods have perished in the meantime. A stray attack or two took out a good chunk of Gods at once.
Other Major Gods engaged in the battle as well, but they weren't of very help. The Beast 666 couldn't be tired out, and with its regenerative powers, it was the Gods who were growing tired - dying.
At one point, Brahma sacrificed a portion of his existence to cast a barrier around Trihexa, the inside of which stretched in all directions endlessly. So that the fight could take place somewhere else, away from this place where Minor Gods were getting caught in the battle.
The [Barrier Before the End].
"If anyone goes inside, it's impossible to return outside without defeating the beast- cough!" While coughing blood, the old God had said. "But we do need to go. If nobody keeps the beats busy, it will break out of the barrier in no time."
After he said that, his body was devoured by a shimmering lotus, and fell into a deep slumber to recover from this.
The Hindu Gods quickly contacted the other Pantheons for help. Since there was a separate space keeping Trihexa away, the destruction could be minimized as long as Gods kept the beast busy inside. Since this didn't just concern the survivability of the entire world, the other Pantheons didn't have any choice but to come and help.
Thousands of big and small Pantheons gathered, and even the Fallen Angels and Devils came to help. The presence of the Biblical faction caused many to grow curious.
"Where is [Admin]?" Asked Parvathi, the Wife of Shiva, who currently took the form of Goddess Durga. "If he were to come, it would be beneficial."
"Heh, perhaps he's just scared. He did die to the Beast 666 last time, maybe he does not wish to get killed in the same fashion." a God from a less-known pantheon said, scoffing as he stood with his arms crossed.
Durga frowned but said nothing. Nobody wants to waste time arguing right now. She looked at the gathered troops one last time before saying, "As you've been notified, once you go inside, you cannot come out. Time also moves faster inside the barrier. So even if you spend millennia fighting there, not much time would pass here. If anyone came here not knowing that, it is advised you leave. We shall go inside in a few more minutes."
Nobody left.
Many naturally looked nervous, but they had come here with death expected.
Durga looked at the devils, namely the leading three Satans. The two Super Devils would be of great help, but the Leviathan Devil was unbelievably weak for this. In this gathering, there were many strong Gods, and Serafall seemed to be by far the weakest of everyone. Durga felt a bit complicated, but since that girl had come here of her own will, she had nothing to say.
When the time came for this gathering of individuals to enter the barrier, something changed.
A golden shimmer happened and a portal opened in the sky. A man walked out of it, followed by six girls.
Everyone recognized [Admin], but even the girls behind him had made a name for themselves in the last few weeks.
Many of the Gods knew the woman who was called the Phenex Ancestor, while the dark-skinned Moon Goddess Rumi was an unforgettable face as well. Since they had been visiting many Pantheons, these Gods were familiar with their faces. The variant of King Arthur, Goddess Rhongomyniad, was a royal presence to behold as well.
Quetzalcoatl was a name all these Gods knew, but the current holder of that name has a face that few had seen before. The Dragon God of Venus had been killed and replaced by a variant from another world.
Oddly enough, the Pharaoh Ramesses II who was infamous for hating God, was now by his side. Even if she was from a different world, it was still weird to see her stand beside the Biblical God, while her presence let out an extreme Solar aura.
The last one was someone who everyone here knew from before. The strongest of the Five Dragon Kings, Tiamat somehow seemed stronger than ever before. In the last few weeks, these couple of individuals have experienced intense growth.
"Good evening,"
"Nothing is good this evening, New God."
As Neji greeted the crowd of Gods, Devils, and Fallen, Durga replied with a sigh. All eyes were on him now, if he was here it meant he was about to confront the Beast. Neji's eyes ran over everyone, pausing for a moment when he saw Serafall before he continued observing.
"It will be good soon. Hopefully." He dropped to his feet in front of Durga, taking her hand and kissing it as if she was some European Queen.
"Wrong culture, and bad timing," Durga let him kiss the back of her hand before he let it go and straightened again. "Will you be going inside now?"
"I shall, yes. I have been cultivating my powers for the past couple of days, using time dilation in a pocket dimension to train myself. I think it's about time for a rematch." He looked at the others present in the area. "Hopefully none of you have to go in. But if we don't return in a minute, which should be equal to an hour inside, then rush inside."
They just nodded while Durga blinked. He could tell the exact difference between the times of the two realms. Indeed, Omniscience could easily reveal that to him – but Durga wasn't expecting him to have regained so much of his previous power.
"We understand," so she quickly agreed to his proposal. "However, isn't one hour too little?"
"According to my calculations and [Omniscience], if I can defeat the Beast on my own, then one hour should be more than enough. If not then I'd need backup," he spoke and no God doubted him for a second.
Indeed, Shiva was the "strongest" God since strength in this sense was measured by how much one could destroy. However, when it came to the most powerful God, there was only one who could claim that title—the God who had returned from death.
The Gods, Devils, and Fallen Angels watched as Neji floated off the ground and went towards the 24x24 feet square box made of shimmering white barriers. The six women followed him as they submerged into the realm, starting a battle immediately.
In the distance, the Fallen Angel Azazel was frowning deeply at Admin's back. That made Durga curious if something had conspired between them in the last few days because she recalled from that stream that Azazel and Admin didn't have any bad blood between them. What changed?
Ignoring that line of thought for now, Mahadevi Durga crossed four of her ten arms with a solemn expression as she counted each passing second.
**
**
**
Note: Let's goal for 150 stones this time too, since we succeeded last week. If we reach that mark by tomorrow, I'll post a chapter right away.
Read the next chapter right away, along with an entire month's worth, ahead in my Patreon.
Link: Patreon.com/Master4thWall