20 Negotiation

Marching across the barren land, Perrikus looked around carefully, eyes scanning his surroundings ensuring that they weren't walking into a trap. Even when surrounded by the likes of Slototh and other elite Dark Gods that survived the conflict, Perrikus did not feel at ease.

Why would he?

Things for the Dark Gods had gone from bad to worse in the course of a single conflict. They had been at the height of their power, with an empire larger than any other Godly Pantheon, absorbing others into their midst and corrupting them to their ways of worship. The mortals upon the planets they conquered were enslaved and forced into worshipping them despite the act corrupting their souls and deforming their bodies. Their empire had been bigger than any other and in the eyes of Perrikus, none had been their equal.

Not even Omnipotence City and the rulers, the Lords of the Dawn had been their equal. They, the Dark Gods were the mightiest of the Gods and Asgard was meant to be the beginning of their crusade across the cosmos that ensured everyone knew it.

Except, Asgard had been the sole crushing defeat that was now costing them everything. Perrikus couldn't really pinpoint where things had started to go wrong. King Rugga had done his job perfectly in bringing the Asgardian army to Jötunheimr, his large army requiring a rapid and powerful response from Asgard.

Thus, leaving them exposed.

The Dark Gods, with their own, much larger army arrived, surrounding Asgard, reinforced with the army of King Rugga, trapping the Asgardian army upon Jötunheimr. It had been perfect, except, Odin wasn't trapped in Jötunheimr as they had initially planned, but that was fine. His presence had been something they had accounted for in their plans, it was why they had the entire city surrounded.

Odin could not be everywhere at once and so, they could pressure one side, forcing Odin to defend themselves while the others were left vulnerable. Except, Perrikus could admit this to himself now, they had underestimated Asgard, perhaps that was where they had gone wrong?

Instead of hunkering behind their walls, Asgard struck out, their flying ships raining death and destruction upon King Rugga's fleet, destroying their naval force on the Sea of Marmora. It then turned, attacking their aerial force and in a matter of minutes, aerial and naval superiority laid in the hands of Asgard.

A rapid response that was outside of their expectations.

The marshes and the creatures that hide there were also something they had planned for. But instead of trusting in the marches and leaving the walls relatively undefended, Asgard once again struck out. A small detachment of Valkyries, from what Perrikus had heard from the few survivors, had ambushed them all, slaughtering everything in their path.

All this was done before the golden shield was formed.

In less than an hour, three of their planned invasion points had been stripped from them, one of which they did not realise had happened until after their crushing defeat. But of course, then came the main battle and well, Perrikus would rather not remember that moment.

The way in which the Asgardians rushed out, so few in number compared to them, yet never gave up as they cut through their worshippers with guile and grace, skills gained from decades of training and practise.

The way in which the Asgardian Army returned, turned the tide against them and their rapid recovery no matter what they tried.

The way in which Odin, the All-Father took on the Union, Majeston Zelia, King Rugga and himself with power and skill that Perrikus had not experienced in his lifetime. If it was not for the fact that Odin was facing four-on-one, while also keeping track of the flow of the battle, Perrikus could not see any of them succeed against him.

But then came the pivotal moment, just when he had thought they had done it, defeated Asgard. All of a sudden, they came once more, charging down the hill with the Valkyries at their back and the young prince Thor at the head of the army. A storm, so powerful that even the strongest of the Storm Giants could not disperse raining destruction down upon them just as the Asgardians struck them once more.

A crushing defeat.

To make matters worse though, their old foes, the Olympians had used their weakened state as a means to restart their war once more. Now, their empire was being pressured in full, weakened and disordered, the Dark Gods had no chance of succeeding against either the Asgardians or the Olympians, let alone both of them. Nor was the recent news of the Kree and Skrull fleets approaching their borders good for them either.

One simple decision was now costing the Dark Gods everything they had worked to achieve. Perrikus had no idea how to get them out of this situation, but he knew something needed to be done and that meant pulling out everything the Dark Gods had left, including their secret weapon.

But first, he needed to meet with Asgard and ensure that at least one enemy would not be invading them. Better to fight three enemies rather than four and lucky for them, Asgard was in a precarious situation also.

Surrounded by enemies as they were, Asgard would need to shore up its own defences and gather its forces in full before someone got brave and decided to finish what the Dark Gods started. Perrikus had no doubt that Asgard would survive, but he had an idea of what King Odin was like and he knew that these negotiations would bear fruit, no matter how small.

As he crested the hill, looking down to the valley below, he could see the Asgardian delegation waiting. Clenching his fists tightly, Perrikus took a moment to calm himself before marching down the hill to meet them.

-X- Line Break -X-

"Quickly," Adva ordered, looking down as the few slaves they had left pulled upon the ropes, moving larger boulders from the cave entrance. Olympus was pushing in and they had new enemies in the Kree and Skrull approaching them.

The Dark Gods and their empire were vulnerable, more so than they ever had been before. They had to do something, even if that meant swallowing their pride and negotiating with the Asgardians for a truce. But above all else, they would have to pull out the one thing that they had kept hidden for so long.

The one being beside the All-Father himself who had been able to pose a threat to the Union. An intelligent and powerful being that they had sealed away and one they would have to now rely upon.

She did not like it, unleashing this beast.

But Adva could understand why Perrikus had ordered it, the Dark Gods were not in any condition to avoid using it. They needed it to help them have a chance of beating back the Olympians, Kree and the Skrull. Even then, Adva was not certain whether they could survive this, but they had no choice but to rely upon it.

As the cave entrance became clear, Adva teleported down in front of it, not daring to pass its threshold. "Psyklops, I know you are there and that you can hear me." She called, a portal appearing under a few of the slaves behind her, and they fell into it. Inside, they landed with a grunt that echoed out, followed by screams as something feasted upon them. "We have come to offer you a chance, to redeem yourself in the eyes of the Dark Gods as the loyal worshipper you are and your race shall be reborn as you ascend to a place amongst our ranks, a true Dark God."

"A chance?" Something hissed out, a single glowing red eye appearing from the darkness. "You offer Psyklop another chance?"

"We do." Adva replied.

Though Psyklop was a loyal follower whose race had worshipped the Dark Gods from the beginning. They had grown powerful and uncontrollable at one point, forcing them to cull their numbers. Amongst the survivors had been Psyklop, a fanatic, but one that also stood as the strongest of his kind and one that had forced them to cull his race in the first place.

When Majeston Zelia had revealed her ability to fuse the Dark Gods together into the Union, it had horrified many who witnessed it, the Dark Gods included. But none more so than Psyklop who had attacked the Union believing it to be an abomination that had destroyed its precious Gods. That battle had nearly killed the Union and had proved just how powerful Psyklop and his race could become.

"Do you wish to prove yourself loyal once more? To prove that your race is the one true followers of the Dark Gods?"

"I do," Pysklop answered reverently. "What must I do?"

"Kill the Olympians."