The Final Battle part 1.

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(General P.O.V)

Eons past, between the end of the 6th universe and the start of the 7th, Primordial Darkness was all that existed. In that darkness was a being born from the Yawning Void. Knull. A facsimile of the entity, Oblivion.

Then the Celestials came, encroaching on the darkness and inadvertently pushing back Knull's home, to give rise to creation. For a being that had only lived in the absence of light, this was an existential threat. And so he fought, going as far as to slay a Celestial using a powerful sword he forged from the darkness.

He was ultimately defeated and locked away. The next time he broke out, he begun his campaign once more. However, weakened due to the different laws of the new universe, he did not immediately go after the Celestials, Knull waged war against the gods themselves, destroying entire Pantheons across the cosmos.

His reasoning was that if he killed the ones guarding the different segments of the universe, then he could assimilate them into his Primordial Darkness, gaining back his power before facing off against the Celestials for the last time. The final battle where he would destroy them.

Naturally numerous Pantheons rose up to fight him. And most fell. Knull was eventually pushed back by a combination of his own creations, shadow beings called Symbiotes as well as numerous Major Gods like Buddha, Ra, Zeus, Odin and Izanagi joining forces. The Elder Gods like Gaea had already left the universe for higher dimensions, leaving behind only weakened Avatars like Jord or in the case of the Vishanti, Agamotto.

The gods won but suffered immense losses. And they knew that Knull would eventually be back, hence the need for effective countermeasures. Their divine power was useless against a weapon that could kill Celestials.

It was during this time that someone proposed an idea. An idea that changed everything.

(Omnipotent City) a few minutes ago.

The Council of Godheads or atleast what was left of them, sat on golden thrones constructed on a raised platform. Below the platform were rows of seat, stretching out infinitely across the dimension built like a city. The Omnipotent City.

The rows were occupied by Major and minor gods all in a categorized seating order. Most of the seats were unique and styled in each god's unique preferences. Most of them were also empty.

On the raised platform, the Skyfathers and mothers of different Pantheons sat, a total of 20 seats. Only a very small fraction of those thrones were occupied. The center one had the Monkey King picking off lint from his clothes. That was the throne of the Jade Emperor, who was the chief administrator of the Council of Godheads.

On his left was Odin's empty throne and and on the right was Amaterasu, who sat in the throne of Izanagi. Zeus' throne was placed in between Svarog and The Great Spirit, the Native American creator god.

All their eyes were stuck watching the transmission in the middle of the room, which had ended with the complete annihilation of Hanuman. Or atleast his corpse, seeing that he had been controlled by the Darkhold.

"I did not sign up for this!"

Ninurta, the Babylonian god of agriculture, war, laws and healing spoke up, referencing the death of the entire Vodu and Egyptian Pantheons.

"None of us did!"

He addressed the rest.

"Lord Horus and Lady Bast were strong. But even more than that, Osiris was the god of the underworld, he controlled death! Yet not even he could fight back against the might of the Alien God! We will all die!"

Aman Sinaya, the Phillipine goddess of the sea, a beautiful god with flowing black hair, panicked wringing her wrists with fear.

What they had seen was something heaven defying.

"She's right! There's no hope for us and it's all because of that darned book!"

Another god pitched in and pandemonium broke out. More and more gods begun to speak, adding to the aggressive atmosphere that gripped the entire room.

"It's been 10,000 years! The Council has done nothing to deliver on their promises!"

One said.

"Salvation! Freedom from needing the humans!"

Another batted in.

"A chance to be more powerful! But now all we have to show for our trust and dedication are 2 destroyed Pantheons and the enemity of a being stronger than Gaea!"

This came from Zeus' own camp, Janus the god of roads.

"We are doomed! This is worse than Knull's rampage!"

"The Alien God is stronger than even Celestials! I can feel his power! I am the god of Measurement!"

"I'll never get to see the next season of Buffy! This is all the Greek's fault!"

Angus, the Irish god of dreams and love bemoaned.

"Our fault!? Are you serious right now!? Zeus fought the King In Black and lived to tell the tale! You snivelling cowards hid when I sounded the drums of battle!"

Ares stood up from the second row and yelled at the complaining masses.

A cacophony of insults were thrown at him, including a bunch of rotten tomatoes from the Roman god of disgust and Excrement, Sterculius.

Laughter rang out as Ares was covered by Worm filled tomatoes. He threw a murderous look Sterculius' way. His sister Athena could not stay silent and begun laughing along with the rest of the Olympians. He was booed which only increased the anger Ares was feeling. Aphrodite grabbed his robe and pulled him down on to his throne. Her face was red with embarrassment

"Sit down, you fool."

She hissed in disgust.

"But..."

Ares begun to protest when Hermes spoke up from the other side.

"Do as she says brother. Save face."

Ares threw a murderous look Sterculius' way but wisely shut up.

"Silence!"

Zeus commanded with a burst of aura, getting to his feet. The entire chamber immediately fell quiet.

"This has always been a place where you can air out your grievances and be heard." He stared Angus down.

"However, it has never been a place to spread rumors and propaganda."

He stated in a stern tone.

Then his face changed into a genial smile, spreading his arms out.

"Brothers and sisters, let us not bicker amongst ourselves like the humans. We are better than that."

Hades cleared his throat.

"I agree with the masses Brother. We are responsible for all this."

The god of the Underworld shook his head in remorse. If only Hecate hadn't...

For a second no one could believe his words. Hades was standing in opposition to his Pantheon. Zeus' face changed into a rictus of anger and bitterness. It looked as if he had swallowed something sour.

"Be very careful of your next words Hades. Brothers we may be, but do not forget for even a second who you are addressing."

More murmuring broke out across the gathered gods.

"Yes!" Zeus roared to the restless gods.

"The Council demands impartiality! I have a duty to uphold it's guidelines but I am first and foremost the king of Olympus. My responsibilities to my Pantheon come first." He glared at Hades amid the ruckus caused by his unfiltered words.

"And I shall not allow us to be slandered, even by one of our own."

Hades stared back at him unflinchingly. The rest of the Olympians were all in agreement with Zeus, looking at Hades with anger.

"Greeks, the only thing you know how to do is to fight amongst yourselves. Just like a bunch of clucking chicken. Disgraceful. You call yourselves gods?"

Amaterasu viciously mocked, a look of distaste on her beautiful pale face.

Zeus snorted.

"Look who's talking, you banished your own brother for doing his duty!" He ridiculed, eliciting a fresh burst of laughter from the rest of the gods.

"If it is family drama you want, Amaterasu, look no further than your own Pantheon."

Zeus was quick to retaliate.

Sussanoo narrowed his eyes at his sister from the second row. Zeus word's brought back a dull forgotten pain.

"You..."

Amaterasu's growled, eyes glowing golden with the heat of the sun.

A charged current of energy sparked along Zeus' silver hair as the two glowered at each other from their respective thrones. The rest of the Olympians with the exception of Hades, his wife, her mother Demeter and Hestia were ready to back up their God-king. The Shinto similarly, were ready to battle on the orders of Amaterasu.

There had always been a quiet tension between the Greeks and the Shinto Pantheons. This tension had appeared after the second world war. Despite the influence of the gods diminishing, the Greeks had decided to back the western world as a potential haven for worshippers.

Then the atomic bombs were dropped on three cities in Japan. The enemity rose from there. Ever since, all that had been missing was a spark to ignite the flames of hate between the two.

Divine energy begun brimming inside both pantheons. Omnipotent City begun shaking at the power exuded.

"Both of you, stop it!"

Svarog, the high deity of the Slavic mythology stood up from his throne between the two Major Gods. He held in his hands a hammer that had a handle of fire. With a body build more muscular than even Zeus, he cut an impressive figure. His blue eyes and grey beard made him attractive in a rugged way.

Even without meaning to, all the gods listened to him.

"Did you forget who the enemy is?" He had a heavy accent as he addressed them all.

"We lost many Major Gods when the darkness arrived. None of the Pantheons thought to ask for help. To stand together before the might of the God-killer. The might of the Primordial Darkness. And when we did, it was too late. We had lost more than we gained."

His tone was heavy.

Svarog shook his head with a downcast expression.

"The Council of Godheads only has three remaining Major Skyfathers, Zeus, Odin who is asleep and the Jade Emperor, who is devoting his entire power to hide Omnipotent City away from 'His' gaze. Izanagi, gone. Ra, Buluku, Indra, Itzamna, Manatou, Ukko, Dagda, Altijra..all of them...gone." he cast a baleful look at both feuding pantheons.

"Don't let petty squabbles blind your vision!" He pointed to the walls of the chamber.

"The real enemy is out there, patiently waiting. That is who we fight!"

The gods, both minor and Major looked contemplative at his logical words. However not all were ready to accept his reasoning.

"That's where you're wrong, you optimistic fool."

Susanoo spat on the ground, getting to his feet. An unanimous gasp sounded out from the gods. Their gazes were cast to the god of Storms from the Shinto religion.

"Susanoo!" Amaterasu yelled with anger on her face at her brother's brazen words. Did he not understand his station?!

"Sit. Down."

She ground out.

Things only got more alarming when Sussanoo threw a hateful glare her way.

"Not this time, dear Sister."

He bit out venomously.

"You would be content to see the rest of us suffer for you, Major Gods. I refuse to be treated like a slave." He turned to those around him.

"The Olympian was right. This has to stop. Why fight a battle that does not concern us?"

His hateful glare was next directed at the Olympians.

"Especially when we are not to be blamed for their mistakes. The Olympians. Whose thought was it to bring an artifact belonging to an Elder god into Omnipotent City?"

Even more Murmurs broke out.

"I'll tell you."

Sussanoo declared before pointing a finger at Zeus.

"One of your own. Hecate! That is how it all started. She fooled you with her hubris! And by extension us."

He paused to let his words sink in as he riled up the rest of the gods.

"Promising each one of us, a power strong enough to fight back against Knull's agents of Chaos, promising us an existence without the need for worship yet... here we are, under the cursed book's control. Chthon will not let us go now. Hecate made sure of that when she brought the Darkhold to control us! How can we ever trust the Olympians after that?!!"

"Yeah!"

"He's right!"

"The Olympians! It's their fault!"

"Down with the goddess of Magic!"

"Give us Hecate!"

His words resonated with everyone present. It seemed as if the entire chamber was going to rise up in arms against the Olympian Pantheon.

"Dad you have to do something! I can sense their hate. They want blood."

Athena informed Zeus through the mind.

Zeus' gaze spread out across the shouting masses. They were too far gone in their hate now. The only way to make them see, to make them understand was through the Darkhold.

"You were right." He informed the Darkhold.

"The only way to make them see...is by opening their eyes. Do it."

Just like that, he sold out their free will.

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We are almost done with this arc. Two more chaps remaining.