Chapter 161: God

[Anthony's POV]

The room was dead quiet, and everyone was staring at the figure that had appeared to radiate something indescribable. 

There's a vast difference between an ordinary person and a super. However, they are still essentially the same species with mutations.

However, my power can no longer be considered fully human.

They represent a fundamentally different form of life, and an ordinary person could feel a heavy presence if I don't suppress even a fraction of my power.

"William Butcher, I know everything about you. I saw how you became who you are now. I saw your relationship with your father... felt your pain, fear, and guilt. Your hatred and your aggression burn like a volcano. Calm down, at least for now."

After my words, Butcher's rage indeed subsided for the first time in a very long while.

"Your hatred should not involve the innocent, and even among the so-called 'supers,' there are those who don't wish harm to people but genuinely want to help."

"Marvin, a loving father and husband, who chose this current path because of the past."

I looked at MM.

"What happened to your grandfather and father is terrible, and this horror still fuels your actions even now."

"Hughie... I'm sorry about Robin, and she didn't deserve to die. But your life didn't end there, and you found your Light. Well done. Even your past anger has somewhat let go of you and hold on to the light of your star."

"Frenchie... despite all your sins and the actions you've committed in the past that still haunt your dreams as nightmares, you found the strength to abandon that path, and like Hughie, you found your ray of light."

I looked at the Asian super.

"You too are trying to find yourself."

I said, looking into Kimiko's eyes.

"You blame your powers too much, but deep down, you understand that they are not the cause of your suffering. Don't lose heart, Kimiko despite everything you've been through, your heart is still full of compassion."

"None of you are innocent lambs, and people can rightfully call you monsters for your deeds. But even monsters have a light inside them that can drive away the darkness. You have self-interested goals, but they are also aimed at the truth hidden from ordinary people."

After my words, the force holding everyone in place lifted, but no one moved.

Marvin immediately fell to his knees, and Frenchie did too.

Kimiko looked at them and then bowed as well.

"Butcher."

M.M. began nervously, glancing around the room.

"Put the gun down. We need to think this through."

Butcher ran a hand through his hair, still processing everything that had happened.

"What kind of fucked-up therapy session was that?"

He muttered.

"If you're so almighty, how'd you let these flying pricks exist in the first place?"

"God does not intervene."

I said, meeting William's eyes.

"And you can get up, and I won't be here long because things have gone too far. I have the power to help people see the truth, and I will do that."

"So this... this is your doing?"

MM asked, pointing to the TV.

This showed footage of the blood rain following Queen Maeve who was trying to sneak out of the Vought building but was failing miserably.

"Yes. I came to you because you are a crucial part of this time. You are making history in a way. Your goal will help the world, even though you have sinned. You have fifteen hours to do it but know that God is on your side. "

With those words, I vanished from their eyes.

I now have a good opportunity to test how the divine part of my powers works, tied to blessings and the faith received from people.

I don't need faith since I wasn't born a god but became one through my powers and Gacha.

But on Olympus, the energy of people's faith can slowly make a man a god.

"...Holy shit."

Hughie whispered.

"No kidding."

M.M. muttered, still trying to process everything. He was more instinct-driven at this point.

"Unexpected, I agree."

Frenchie nodded.

"He... knows about us and our past. You felt it too, right? The feeling of complete helplessness. I felt that even if given ten years and all the resources in the world, I still couldn't counter that feeling..."

"What if it's some kind of super with mind control?"

Hughie asked, not believing his own words when his eyes red from mentioning Robin.

"He said God is on our side, right?"

Butcher smirked, picking up the pistol from the couch.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

M.M. exclaimed while raising his hands, looking at his "boss," who wasn't exactly known for his mental stability.

Butcher paused, looking at the gun in his hand and then at his team.

"We're going to need all the help we can get."

He said, his voice steadier.

"If this god or whatever he is says we have fifteen hours, then we better make them count. Let's get to work."

The room was filled with urgency, and each team member knew what they had to do.

The clock was ticking, and they had a mission to complete.

"Now we'll get everything straightened out. Either that was a lie or..."

Butcher aimed the gun at his leg at an angle where the bullet wouldn't hit anything vital and would just pass through.

"Click"

The gun didn't fire.

Butcher looked at it in astonishment and pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened.

The slide was jammed.

After quickly fixing the problem, he repeated the trick with the same result.

Then, he pointed the gun at a cushion and pulled the trigger, and this time, the gun did fire.

"... Ha-ha."

Butcher laughed like a madman.

"What was that?"

Hughie gulped.

"Looks like "help" from above."

M.M. said in a strange tone.

"When was the last time your gun jammed?"

"Hell, if I know, but this one's pretty new."

Butcher examined his gun and then picked up a knife.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!"

Frenchie didn't manage to stop him as Butcher just threw the knife at Hughie who suddenly stumbled causing the knife to miss him.

"Damn it, what are you doing!"

Hughie exclaimed.

"Did you see that? He just fell... right on time."

Butcher said.

At that moment, a bright light flashed in the center of the room, and a large folder fell to the floor.

"Well, I guess gifts from heaven... oh, what a damn gift."

Butcher picked up the folder that contained a lot of compromising material on Stormfront and a place called "Sage Grove" where Vought was using Compound V on adult patients.

"Now that's a present. I haven't gotten anything this good even for New Year."

"What's in there?"

The others also gathered around the folder, and soon a plan began to form in their minds.

...

Vought Tower, "The Seven" Floor

"This is an unusual scandal! Vought has been lying to us all this time, and all these so-called "superheroes" became what they are not by the will of God, but because of this Compound V!"

One of the celebrities gave an interview about the recently revealed information from an unknown source.

"Click"

The channel switched, now showing the figure of Homelander, drenched in the red rain, while making the hero look almost menacing.

Next, it showed a drunken Deep staggering under the red rain while holding a piece of plankton and talking to it about something important.

"We've become a laughing stock."

Homelander clenched his fist, and his eyes glowed red momentarily, but they quickly dimmed again.

"Stan isn't doing anything, and our stocks continue to plummet along with our respect and the people's love!"

He yelled, getting up from his chair.

"I see I'm not the only one annoyed by the boss's idleness."

Stormfront said, making air quotes with her fingers as she entered the Seven's hall.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, how rude. I just wanted to support our leader. After all, we were told to sit tight and stay out of sight when something like THIS is happening."

She emphasized the last word.

"It's like we're waiting for Daddy to decide."

She smirked.

"Have you seen the new memes? They show the whole Seven with the caption "Kill America"... idiots."

"Complete idiots."

Homelander nodded.

"And what's this... they're protesting?! Against us?! Against me?!"

He said through gritted teeth, watching the screen show people with signs.

"No Vought Fakes."

"Vought is Evil."

"Bloody Heroes."

"God is Angry."

"Ha-ha, God is angry... son of a bitch. There's only one god in the sky..."

He muttered quietly.

"You're right, but they are just a herd. What else can you expect?"

Stormfront shrugged and approached the television.

"And a herd needs a shepherd... someone who will lead them and show them the truth. The truth is that all these immigrant scumbags have flooded our beloved America. Surely, this is the work of a group of immigrant super-terrorists."

"You think so? It doesn't seem like that... too widespread an influence."

Homelander glanced at the sky, still filled with clouds, but this time without the red glowing lines.

He still shudders at the sudden lightning that managed to hurt him.

Fortunately, very few people know about it... If it hadn't been for his stunned state at that moment, no one would have found out.

"And who else? God?"

Stormfront smirked.

"You're right... we need to show them... show them their place."

Homelander nodded while approaching the balcony and quickly soared upwards.

...

Vought Tower, Director's Floor

"Idiot..."

Stan muttered, watching Homelander fly to the protesters.

There were already too many problems, and now there was another one to drown him up to his neck in shit.

He had already held several meetings, and they had planned their path, who to blame, and who to get rid of.

This minimizes the losses because the information leaked online was extensive about the V compound, the experiments on children, and some supers with their damn tendencies.

Now, he was watching the "Hero of America" trying to deal with the situation on his own.

The "rat" also had not yet been found.

Stan knew about Starlight and that she had the V compound, but she simply hadn't had the time to do anything with it.

They didn't have to worry about her as much now that all of this information had been leaked by someone inside the company who knew about it.

There weren't many of them.

The phone rang, and he was told that William Butcher was calling.

Stan didn't want to answer because there were other matters, but the words that he "would like it" made him wary, and the intuition of someone who had climbed over others' heads kicked in.

They connected via mobile phone, and Butcher turned on the camera and... Stan cursed inwardly, looking at the smug bastard's face and the folder in his hands.

"Oh, I saw that flicker of understanding in your eyes."

Butcher smirked.

"I'm listening, Mr. Butcher."

There are thoughts that began to creep into Stan's mind about sending Noir to put an end to this man's life once and for all.

"Where can you go, lad? You see these photos, don't you? There's a vast amount of evidence here showing that your infamous Stormfront was quite literally licking Hitler's arse and the Third Reich's as well. With full dedication to her actions, with a satisfied smack of her lips."

"Get to the point, please. I have enough problems without you."

Stan felt his mask almost cracking.

"Oh, it's delightful to see you so nervous, even though you're trying to hide it. You know what will happen if this adds to all the other crap? A Nazi in the Seven... that will be an explosive piece of news."

"What do you want?"

Stan sighed when realizing he held a trump card.

"Rebecca. I want to take her."

Butcher said firmly.

"You know full well she won't leave her son, and Homelander won't leave him."

Stan replied.

"I know... but I'll deal with him because divine wrath will fall upon his head for his sinful deeds."

"I'll give you your wife's address, but all the consequences are on you. We never had this conversation, and I told you nothing."

"Okie-dokie."

The conversation ended, leaving Stan with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Butcher had been too confident about Homelander, someone unaffected by hydrogen bombs or any other weapon created by humanity so far.

Meanwhile, the world was becoming increasingly restless.

All the news channels and people were talking about the published documents, Vought's lies, and their corruption.

Homelander himself reached the peak of his rage when a stone was thrown at him from the crowd. His eyes immediately glowed, causing everyone to step back in fear.

The next moment, the burning beams burned through the stone-thrower to provoke even more panic, and he flew away.

Queen Maeve and Starlight observed this with unreadable expressions. They exchanged glances with each other.

A lot had happened in the past few hours.

...

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