Somewhere, in the unknown expanse of cosmos, in the Hall of Gods, Odin sat upon his majestic throne, Hliðskjálf. Reclining in a relaxed but wild posture, he sat with one leg slung over the right armrest of the massive, wooden, and iron throne. With each breath he took, the runic patterns that covered Hliðskjálf would glow a soft violet before dimming alongside the Deities exhale.
A few feet before him was a massive version of Tobs' notification box, but instead of simple text, it displayed a live feed of two small battle-worn children, whom their mother was aggressively scolding. Odin watched Cinyah scream at the top of her lungs and randomly bat both her children's heads with her open palm. Observing this brought back several memories to the old Raven God, as he remembered when his deceased wife Frigg used to discipline his children in the same way.
While he was reminiscing on the past, his eye suddenly flashed in bright violet light, causing his face to show discontent as he directed his attention from the monitor to an eerie red and blue Mana gate that had appeared not far from him.
=Hades, just because you have nothing better to do, does not give you the right to storm into my Domain.=
#Come now, Wodan, you and I have been friends for thousands of years; how can you say that.#
A tall, muscular man with gray skin in a whispy black robe, which seemed incorporeal, stepped through the portal and peeked at the monitor displaying Cynrik and Brance's scolding session. With each step he took, tiny clusters of reddish-blue flames would spurt out from under his feet.
#OH? Which one of these two younglings is your Legacy Charge?#
Wearing a wide toothy grin and speaking in his creepy, nasal voice, the Greek God of The Underworld Hades brushed his long red hair out of his crimson eyes.
Dissatisfied by Hades' appearance and being called by a title long forgotten, Odin thrust his right hand forward, revealing an accumulation of starry violet and black particles, before firing them at the God of the Underworld.
The small ball of starry Mana warped its surroundings as it instantly appeared just above Hades' chest before transforming into a massive Mana Construct Spear.
Letting out a grunt, Hades flicked it away as if it was child's play and continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
#Now, now Wodan, there is simply no need for aggression. You couldn't beat me during your Ragnarok, nor could you in the previous Legacy Strife; why would you bother attacking me? Even if we are both weakened, I am still your senior. I only wanted to see who you had chosen to compete for you.#
Hades stopped his approach a few steps from Hliðskjálf and crossed his arms over his chest. In this process, his sleeves slid up his forearm, exposing the scarred gray skin under his robe.
=Stop using that title; I have not gone by the name Wodan for many generations; address me either be by Raven God or Odin.=
Odin's face contorted while he spoke with a negative tone; as he slowly sat up and tried reeling in the rage dwelling in his heart, Odin swiped a hand towards the notification monitor, forcefully closing it so that Hades couldn't spy on his charge.
=Why have you come? Shouldn't you be off cheating on your wife with Hel? I'm sure Persephone would love to call off your farce of marriage after such a long time.=
Knowing that Hades was up to no good, Odin started taking cheap shots at the God in an attempt to either goad him into combat or make him storm off in anger. Unfortunately, these were the only two methods he had discovered to get the God of the Underworld off his case in the thousands of years they had known each other.
#Tsk, that mouth of yours seems to be still only suitable for skatophage (Ancient Greek Shit eating). I only intended to see if you had chosen your 8th Legacy for the competition, but it appears that I am unwelcome.#
Wearing a frown, Hades turned away from Odin and made his way back to his portal but stopped just before stepping in.
#Raven God, I will leave you with a single warning. Vinestra is a precious resource. Its size and Mana ratio are something we have never seen before; thousands of Minor and the majority of the Major Deities have all opted in for this competition. I don't know what plan you've cooked up this time, but bear in mind, after the events you pulled in the 7th Legacy Strife, you have made many enemies. Many are actively hunting your Legacy Charge to eliminate any of your plots from coming to fruition. Remember I am not your enemy; you will do well to keep that in the back of your head moving forward.#
Finishing his statement, Hades stepped through his portal back into his own Hall, leaving Odin to the silence that descended after his departure. Odin sat motionless in silence as he pondered his next move. If Hades' words were valid, Cynrik would be in a world of trouble before long.
Odin's eye glinted with starry violet light, and he made several gestures with his left hand, causing the surrounding Mana particles to merge into shining runes that floated in place for a second before disappearing.
Seconds later, a white portal opened up in Odin's Hall, and Yahweh stepped out. After receiving the coded message the Raven God had sent him, Yahweh immediately dropped what he was doing and teleported to over.
Seeing the arrival of the God of Light, Odin stood up without a word and, with a wave of his hand, manifested the same table and chairs he had when Cynrik was last in the Hall and took a seat for himself before motioning for Yahweh to join him.
Wearing a concerned expression, Yahweh sat down and collected his thoughts for a moment before speaking.
*Hades' words indeed are an issue. If what he says is to be believed, then not only your charge but mine will also be faced by thousands of System Hosts like themselves. This Legacy Strife is unlike any before. In the past, the realms we were vying for weren't even 1% as valuable as Vinestra. As such, we had expected it to be a massive challenge; however, now it seems that we both have targets painted on our backs. With their current growth rate, Cynrik and Brance could have quickly become front runners if they weren't in their present condition.*
Yahweh lightly caressed his staff, which was resting against the table, in thought as he spoke.
=Aye, five years will significantly stunt their growth; it is quite unfortunate that they had to use the OBM so early. If they had waited for their bodies to grow, the backlash wouldn't have been nearly as bad. Your victory in the 4th Legacy Strife gave you the Milky Way, and as such, you became the primary Deity of that realm. This alone was enough for us to be concerned about Vinestra's competition. But now, knowing that it's not just Brance but also Cynrik who are being targeted, we will have to change our strategy to reflect this.=
*It is a shame that we cannot bestow more blessings on them. We could load a couple more into The Over-Break System if it were an option. For now, the only hope they have is to unlock their blessings through evolution into higher Tiers.*
Thinking for a moment, Odin swiped at the air bringing up the administrator panel. After digging through the data representing Cynrik's kills, he finally stopped on a specific line.
-You have killed a level 6 System Host- (Found in Chapter 39)
Odin and Yahweh's eyes narrowed as they read this line of data. While it may have been overlooked by Cynrik as a bug of some kind, to them, it held a higher meaning.
=Tobs, show all available information on this kill, segregate all Divinity information, and list all available data.=
Odin went to work breaking down the data that Tobs naturally collected, and a few short minutes later, a new notification window was floating in front of the two Deities.
-Extracting data from System Host Cynrik Ayke Jetlensr.-
-Backtracing flow of Divinity from deceased System Host.-
-Generating Status Panel for deceased System Host.-
:Status:
: Peratos Baskin :
: Age – 22 :
: Soul Age – 291 years :
: Level: 06 :
: Distribution 2 to 3 :
: Legacy Deity – Minor Egyptian God – Hery-Sha-duat :
: Minor Deity under the Major Deity Osiris :
: Points awarded for slaying a System Host of a Minor Deity = 10 :
Upon receiving the data stream, which detailed the System Host's origin, Odin slammed his fists on the runic engraved table, causing the whole Hall to rumble vigorously.
Sitting across from the Raven God, Yahweh sat with a calm expression on his face. Unlike his companion, externally, he wasn't showing how angry he was at the information being presented, but internally he was seething.
=Streð mik (Fuck me, in Norse) why is it always one of these damned Underworld Gods. I have no feud with Osiris.=
*Had no feud; now that your Legacy Charge has defeated one of his pawns, I am afraid this will need to be factored in. Especially since he will now be aware of who both our Charges are.*
Yahweh looked away from the notification and opened up the brothers' live feed.
*This war is only beginning, Odin; the challenges the two young ones face will continue to increase. This is both of our final chances; failure isn't something we will recover from. The cost just to enter the Strife was more significant than ever before. All we can do is watch over these two brothers.*
=Aye…=
Odin's Hall descended back into silence as the two Deities directed their attention to the monitor window showing the Cynrik and Brance's live stream.