Chapter 58 - Hostages

Author Note: I am releasing a second chapter today to address some rather hateful messages people have been leaving on the last chapter, and deleting before I can respond. While I understand some people are upset that Mael didn't kill Shang Tsung yet, I have already written the chapter where he dies and it is rather fitting for his arrogance. The reason Mael didn't kill, capture, or knock him unconscious was simply because he didn't know what would happen. There were innocent people trapped beneath the castle, and he chose to keep them safe over risking their death. Were their other options he could used, yes, but given the fact that this dropped on him without warning he did the best he could.

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Continuing my search of the Flesh Pits, I eventually stumbled across some survivors that where locked away in a special sealed room. The spell Detect Life didn't see them, but I could faintly detect the presence of Divinity and Demonic power coming from the people inside. Walking in, one of the prisoners leapt at me thinking I was Shang Tsung. When she realized I wasn't, she asked me who I was.

"Hold up, aren't Rimuru's secretary/bodyguard?", I questioned, "Shion if I remember correctly?"

"Yes!", she said, "Do you know Lord Rimuru?"

"I know of him...that thing that was with Shang Tsung, it wouldn't happen to be-", I started to asked.

Cutting me off, she assured me it wasn't Rimuru. Stating that he had grown a copy of him from a sample he took, the slime I saw was nothing more than an evil clone effectively.

"I take it he took you by surprise?", I inquired as I broke her shackles.

"He...he overwhelmed me.", she admitted, "I didn't think he was that strong, and Rimuru doesn't want us to spill blood."

'Ah...so she is from a reality where she hasn't died yet or never did.', I thought, "I understand..."

Looking at the other people in the room I recognized Yasaka, Sirzechs, Tatsumaki, Kushina, Shera Greenwood, and Merlin from the Seven Deadly Sins. All of them were shells of the people I knew from memory, and it was quite sad to see them that way. Using Ark to heal them all, my power may have healed their physical injuries but they still looked terrible.

"Thank you!", Shino said, "Now where is that bastard!!"

"He already split.", I informed her, "You all able to walk out of here, or do I need to open a portal?"

"I think some walking would do us some good.", Sirzechs answered with a downcast look.

"Worried about your family?", I asked.

"No...they are already dead.", he told me.

"Hold up, wait a minute!", I remarked looking at him, "You mean your mother, father, and sister are all dead?"

Looking at me confusion, he said he was an only child. Motioning for them to follow me, I pressed him for details. According to Yasaka and Sirzechs, the Biblical God of their world was a psychopathic, maniac who had been systematically destroying Pantheons for several thousand years. No one knew what set him off, but one day he just attacked the Greek Pantheon without warning. Calls for aid came to the other Pantheons, Devils, Fallen Angels, and Youkai but no one helped them for fear of retribution.

"Zeus was a perverted man, and at the time we assumed he had made a move on Gabriel.", Yasaka admitted, "It wouldn't have been the first time he made passes at women outside his Pantheon, but after their Pantheon fell...he went for the Shinto Pantheon."

When that battle started, everyone knew it was a fight for survival. The Devils, Fallen Angels, and Youkai were all weakened from fighting Heaven and each over the millennia prior so they opted to stay out of it for their own safety. Of course some of the deities from the ruined Pantheons managed to curry enough favor to seek refuge among the three groups, but that refuge only lasted up till five hundred years ago when they all were under attack.

"We are barely hanging on now...the Devil Kings are almost all dead, and the 72 pillars have been reduced to effectively five small hills.", Sirzechs stated with a bitter look, "My parents were among those leading our people, but a few months ago...that man killed them in their sleep. I heard my mother scream out for help so I ran to aide them, and watched their final moments of life. Seeing them die...I flew into a blind rage, and was unable to outwit him when I fell victim to the sin of wrath."

"I was captured by him when I was trying to find a safe haven for my people. He ambushed me in the Dimensional Gap, and I was quickly subdued due to my exhausted state.", Yasaka admitted.

Trying to get information out of the others, Tatsumaki and Kushina remained silent. It was unlike Tatsumaki to remain so quiet, she would have usually said something smart back to me if she was in a normal state of mind. As for Kushina, she appeared to be lost in thought and wasn't really paying attention to the conversation.

"I uh...I ran into him when I was retrieving something.", Shera said shyly, "I went to steal...I mean borrow some things from my family's vault and found him searching for something. When he saw me he hit me with some magic that made me really uncomfortable then I blacked out."

"I don't know when I met him, last thing I remember was fighting the Demon Clan.", Merlin stated, "My world is being torn apart at the seam by the Demons, and all the other clans of my world are unable to stop them."

"Meliodas and Elizabeth not a couple I take it?", I questioned.

Laughing at me, she said those two would never be a couple. He killed Mael right in front of her when they were suing for peace. Even though the Elizabeth I knew was a kind woman, the one from her world was angry and vengeful. She wanted to kill Meliodas for killing someone she considered to be her brother.

'So basically they are anomalies in their worlds that Shang Tsung wanted to run tests on.', I thought, "By the way, was there someone else in that room prior? I detected a faint trace of Divinity there."

"There was a woman calling herself Aphrodite, he fed her to the slime.", Sirzechs informed me.

Thanking him for that information, I remained silent the rest of the way to Raiden's Temple. Closing the portal behind us, I turned to Raiden with a stern look.

"The Elder Gods and Shang Tsung are going to pay dearly for this.", I told him, "They allowed this to happen when they didn't finish him off when they had the chance."

"I can't argue that sentiment.", Raiden agreed, "Many Gods were upset they didn't punish him more."

Telling him we needed to get the Elder God Temple immediately, Fujin and Raiden looked at me with confusion.

"He has a sword that can siphon Divinity away, he may try to exact revenge on those who cursed him.", I reminded them.

Realizing that deadly possibility, the two men promptly opened a portal so all of us could head over immediately.

---Elder God Temple---

Entering their private realm, we found that everything was relatively peaceful here. Nothing really seemed to be showing signs of Shang Tsung's presence here which gave Fujin and Raiden some peace of mind. Stepping past them, I followed the pathway that led towards a decent sized pool of Divinity. Knowing that it had to be the Elder Gods, I was a bit irritated that they were just relaxing while world altering events were happening around them. As we approached the building, the guards charged with protecting them got in my way.

"The Elder Gods are in a meeting, no one can enter.", they told me as they barred my way with their halberds.

"We already have a meeting setup with them.", Fujin replied, "They should be expecting our arrival."

When they didn't react to what he said, I decided civility was no longer on the table. Grabbing their weapons out of their hands, I bent them into pretzels and said I didn't need an appointment. Of course they attempted to restrain me, and promptly were sent to the afterlife as I burnt to ashes them with Purgatory Flames. Pushing the door open, we walked in on them having meal and sipping on wine.

Glancing over their shoulders at us, I could clearly see they weren't happy about being interrupted. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell me that they had no idea what had transpired early in the day.

"Raiden, what is the meaning of this?", the Fire Elder God demanded.

"You should know better than to interfere with our meetings.", the Water Elder God stated.

Motioning for the others to stay behind me, I summoned Rhitta to me and stared the two men down.

"It really does appear that you are all unfit for your positions as Elder Gods.", I spoke as I changed into my Angelic Form.

Getting up from his seat, the Fire Elder God walked over to me casually. It was clear he didn't sense the difference between the two of us just by looking at his amused face, they had become to complacent and arrogant for their own good.

"You must be the one that Raiden and Fujin spoke of, the one claiming to be the ruler of our universe.", he said.

"It's not a claim, it's a fact.", I replied with a smile, "I simply spoke the truth."

"...I understand that you may blame us for Shang Tsung's actions, but we had no way of knowing it would lead to him invading other worlds.", he stated, "Someone like you should be able to see that we aren't liable for anything."

"I see, so you are saying you are free from blame.", I chuckled with a smile, "I completely understand now."

Whatever he was going to say next didn't come out as his body was cut in half, and the temple was blown to bits. A single swing of Rhitta was all it took to force them to eat a slice of humble pie. Strewn across the area, the Elder Gods were left reeling as they saw their comrade dead before them. Picking themselves back up, they immediately tried to attack me but found that their powers weren't working.

"You are free of blame for allowing him to live, who decided that? The people behind me suffered tragedies because of your in action, and complacency. You had one job, and instead of doing it...you chose to simply just let him do as he pleased.", I said resting Rhitta on my shoulder, "Who decided that you wouldn't be punished for standing by and not helping the realms, I didn't. I will be the judge and executioner here, I will make sure you reincarnate as mortals and learn humility. Tell me how it feels to not have any control of your lives once you pass on again!"

Instead of facing me with what remained of their dignity, almost all of the Elder Gods tried to flee. Vanishing from my spot, I gave them no quarters. They had many chances to fix themselves and this universe long ago, but these morons were happy to just lounge around every day while the realms suffered. Cutting them down and burning them till only Cetrion remained, she looked at me filled with sheer terror. Every step I took towards her caused her two take two steps back

"Why...why haven't you killed me?", she questioned looking at me like a scared child.

"Simple, you are the key to finding Kronika.", I chuckled, "I have need of her services...or she can join them in reincarnation."

"I won't turn on my mother!", she hissed in anger.

"I can respect that you are trying to protect your family, however...", I said glancing over to Raiden and Fujin, "Did you gentlemen know that Cetrion and Shinnok share the same mother?"

Looking at each other, the two men shook their heads. In fact, even Sindel, Kitana, and Jade didn't even know that fact.

"Kronika has been playing the realms for fools all these years. It's no coincidence that one represents Justice and the other Evil, they are two sides of the same coin.", I chuckled, "You see, Kronika sees herself as the Game Master and her children are the players...what does that make you?"

I saw Sindel's eyes light up as the pieces of the puzzle came together in her mind. She quickly pieced together why Shao Kahn could never win and why Earthrealm could never really kill Shao Kahn.

"Sindel, you are looking at the reason you lost Edenia. She gave the Gods of your world council, and lead them to send your strongest assets away. Cetrion shared this information with Shinnok, he setup up the misconception that led to your Gods being killed. The two of them needed your realm to fall for two simple reason", I told her, "First, capturing your realm would serve to bolster Shao Kahn's right to rule Outworld giving Shinnok a power pawn to use at will. Second, spurred on by the loss of Edenia, Earthrealm would immediately start preparing for Mortal Kombat. Cetrion knew Raiden and the other Gods of Earthrealm would step in to help...giving her an equally powerful pawn."

As the realization sunk in, I could see the fury building in their eyes. Feeling their anger herself, Cetrion started to sweat profusely.

"You are no longer an Elder God, Cetrion. What do you think will happen if I take you to Edenia or Earthrealm now? One word from them, and suddenly there is nowhere for you to run. Thinking of going to Chaosrealm or Netherrealm, Shang Tsung will be hunting you down...after all you are one of the people that cursed him. Without your power, what do you think you can do to stop him?", I said with a smirk, "So then, are you going to do as I ask?"

Realizing that disobeying me led to immeasurable torment, she came to a decision.

"I...I will take you there...", she said hanging her head in defeat.