u/Cantthinkagoodnam2

"There are many ways to tell a story."

 

"Nothing built can last forever as it is. And every legend, no matter how great, fades with time, and within each passing year, more and more details are lost...and more are added where the missing pieces are. In fact, the greater the legend, the more it is prone to changing throughout its different tellers, and that's how legend transcends into myth."

 

"And when we tell a story, we never tell it the same way twice. So here's one way to tell the story..."

 

<> 

 

[TAKAMAGAHARA - Realm of the Shinto Gods]

 

The sun rose upon the heavens, its golden rays casting a warm morning light across a mountain range in the vast land of Takamagahara, lair of the mighty gods of Shinto.

 

On a lonely peak, a small shrine stood. Its rustic walls were adorned with multiple cracks and the wooden parts of it were rotten, but yet, there was beauty in the abandoned building as nature reclaimed it for itself, moss and flowers grew freely upon the cracked walls and floor and multiple insects made their home in it, multiple spider webs converged upon the statue of a man in kimono with a straw hat who sat in a cushion at the back of the building.

 

The peaceful scene was disturbed when a red rift suddenly opened in the grassy hill leading up to the shrine, and from it, two figures stepped out of it.

 

The first was a very tall blonde woman clad in a royal red kimono with white edges who carried herself with elegance as she stepped forward.

 

"Ugh....he really has not bothered to clean the place at all in the last one hundred thousand years," The woman said as an expression of distaste came to her face as she stared at the shrine.

 

[AMATERASU - RULER OF THE SHINTO PANTHEON, 'Princess of Sunlight']

 

A tall man with long, flowing red hair and a heavily scarred face walked from the rift after her; he wore a waistcoat over a red shirt.

 

"Let's not waste much time; this region is infested with wild Yokai." He stopped beside his companion. "...It feels weird to see you without any bodyguards trailing behind you"

 

[LUCIFER - LEADER OF THE GODS' SIDE IN RAGNAROK, 'The Once Golden Angel']

 

Amaterasu side-eyed him while raising an eyebrow. "Please, I am visiting my father's house; there is no place in existence where I am safer."

 

The princess pushed the doors to the shrine open, which proceeded to crumble and fall to the ground with a light shove, multiple bugs skittering away following that.

 

"......he really hasn't been the same since Mom..." Amaterasu stopped herself before sighing as she entered the shrine, bending down so as not to bump her head against the roof. "Dad, we talked about this before; this is no way to live!"

 

Lucifer stared at her for a moment with a look of utter confusion on his face. ".....Who are you talking to-"

 

A loud cracking sound made the angel stop speaking, his head turning to look at the statue on the back of the building, its head having just moved.

 

Slowly, the statue began to move, its limbs moving with unnatural mechanical movements as it stood up, the cobwebs and the dust covering it being shed with each move.

 

The statue stood, now revealing itself to be a tall man with his face obscured by a straw hat and a fukumen mask. Now a sakura flower pattern could be seen adorning the kimono, although the pink colors were faded.

 

[IZANAGI - SHINTO'S FIRST EMPEROR, 'Patron of Creation']

 

"..........." The pressure in the room increased as the god stood still, the very air itself feeling heavy. "AMY!"

 

With a snap movement, the old god jolted forward and hugged his daughter, barely reaching her waist as he did.

 

"It has been so long! You should visit more often! Have you been eating well? Do I have any real grandkids yet?"

 

Amaterasu looked deeply uncomfortable as she was bombarded with questions. "I have a pantheon to run! Yes! And also yes! Just because they are adopted doesn't mean they are not real!" The goddess pinched the bridge of her nose before hugging Izanagi back. "...missed you too, Dad."

 

Izanagi's head then once again snapped, turning to look at Lucifer. "And who may you be?"

 

The angel bowed respectfully to the older deity. "Lucifer, once Heaven's General of the Angelic Army, and currently the reigning Demon King, it is a pleasure to meet-"

 

"Never heard about you before." Izanagi cut him off with a sharp tone. "What is your relation to my daughter?"

 

Amaterasu palmed her own face in frustration while Lucifer sighed. "Absolutely none, I can assure you of that, sir." He straightened his posture. "I can't blame you for failing to recognize my titles; my entire existence has been a speck in the grand scheme of your life, but I believe one might mean something to you: I am currently responsible for leading the gods in Ragnarok."

 

Izanagi took a step back from his daughter and stared at the fallen angel.

 

"We currently have the lead, as expected, but the last match was way too close for comfort...I need a guaranteed victory, an overwhelming one, and there is only one god I can think of that can guarantee that."

 

The creator god clenched his fist as the pressure in the room began to increase once again. "...It took way too long to wipe off those *pests* from Midgard; they have been desecrating my beloved's creation for way too long..."

 

Izanagi then bowed in turn to Lucifer. "I will fight for you, angel, and I thank you for the opportunity to honor my beloved..."

 

"Please, the gratitude is all mine." The angel dismissed him with a handwave.

 

"When is my fight due?"

 

"This afternoon, about half a day from now"

 

The old god nodded his head. "I see." His gaze returned to his daughter, who stood awkwardly beside him. "Well, until then, I shall celebrate! Amy! Order the chefs at the palace to make the grandest of feasts! I need to see all my babies again!" Izanagi said in a cheerful tone as he hugged his daughter once again, who sighed.

 

<> 

 

[OLYMPUS - Realm of the Greek Gods]

 

(Temple of Themis)

 

"Honestly speaking? You guys really didn't need me for this," Said a man. He had a scarred face and wore a blue, long-sleeved ninja suit with black mesh underneath and black boots while wearing a red scarf, speaking while sitting casually on a chair. "After nearly a million years away, Izanagi suddenly comes back, and the entirety of Takamagahara is celebrating on the same day a new Round is going to happen....it is pretty obvious."

 

[HATTORI HANZO - HUMANITY'S SPY FOR RAGNAROK, 'Greatest Shinobi in History']

 

"...Man, it still feels weird to talk about gods I grew up hearing stories about like this," He said as he stole a cookie from a jar on the table and began to eat it.

 

Two women stood in front of him, one a tall woman clad in armor that concealed her toned frame, and another a short, smaller one who wore a dress and an eyeless metal mask over her face where her eyes were supposed to be.

 

"...Well, things have gotten a lot more complicated," The taller woman said while she held her chin. "We knew he had Izanagi on his side, but...nobody has heard from Izanagi since his wife passed. At first, I almost thought having his name on the roster was just a bluff."

 

[ATHENA - GODDESS OF WISDOM, 'Warrior of the Mind' ]

 

"Anyhow, it was naive of me, but I was hoping we would have won Ragnarok before he fought....it is hard to think of anyone that could stand up to a god like him..."

 

"Well, in cases like this, we just forget strategy and hit the panic button," The smaller woman said while crossing her chest and letting out a hopeless smile. "...Who is the weakest human we have on our side?"

 

[THEMIS - HUMANITY'S LEADER IN RAGNAROK, 'Lady Justice']

 

"LADY THEMIS!" Athena spat out in shock while glaring at her. "That's no way to approach this fight! We can't go in assuming we are going to lose!"

 

Themis sighed. "Fine, fine....if we are not sacking anyone, then...." The titaness stared down for a moment, crossing her arms while in thought. "Well, no human is beating Izanagi, that is for sure." Athena was about to say something until Themis spoke again. "But maybe.....another god could do something, or at least someone that used to be one."

 

<> 

 

[TIAN - Realm of the Chinese Gods]

 

In the territory of the domain designated for human souls, a man marched forward in a forest while dragging the body of a large mole-like reptile beast by its tail, as the sun began to set.

 

The man, who carried a wooden bow and a quiver on his back, kept his black hair out of his face, tied into two neat buns. His bushy eyebrows, mustache, and goatee were all perfectly trimmed and orderly. The man wore simple clothes, a sleeveless tunic of aged blue tied at the waist by a red binder, the colors having also lost their luster to time. Coming from under his tunic, a bone white shirt covered his arms while his leather shoes fit snugly on his feet.

 

An outfit showing its practicality with its longevity.

 

[HOU YI - TIAN'S FORSAKEN CHAMPION, 'The Sun Slayer']

 

 The man eventually reached a small town upon a clearing in the woods; his arrival was immediately noticed by the inhabitants, who began to gather around him.

 

"He actually did it! He killed the Tulong that had been eating our crops!"

 

"Look at him! He is not even harmed!"

 

"He is just like a god!"

 

The humans said in awe as they flocked to him.

 

Hou Yi chuckled softly while brushing them off with a hand wave. "It was nothing, really; the hardest part was waiting for it to come out of its burrow."

 

An elderly man stepped forward, seeming to be the leader of the community. "What do you wish for a reward? We don't have much to offer that could match your greatness, but-"

 

The archer stopped him by putting a hand forward. "I am not greater than any of you, and there is no need to reward me. In fact, I brought the carcass of the beast here so you can either strip it for resources or eat it." Hou Yi crossed his arms while taking a moment to look at the body of the slain dragon, which dwarfed him. "I'm sure you can make quite a feast out of it."

 

The people of the village began to cheer until Hou Yi turned his back to walk away.

 

"W-where are you going!? Aren't you going to stay for the celebration?" A villager asked.

 

Hou Yi stopped and smiled softly. "...I would love to, but I have places to be before the night falls...."

 

<> 

 

The archer made his way towards a hut in a secluded area of the forest as the moon started to become visible in the sky.

 

He entered the building and rested his bow and quiver against a wall after he closed the door.

 

The interior of the house was almost as simple as the exterior, the wooden furniture being well made, but far from fancy. The only thing in the hut which truly would catch anyone's eye was a beautiful altar that rested against a wall with a vase of flowers and a plate of mooncake in it.

 

Hou Yi knelt beside the altar. He took the vase and replaced the dead flower in it with an Osmanthus Flower.

 

"Wherever you are, my beloved....I hope you are well....and happy if possible." He smiled softly.

 

His quiet moment was interrupted, however, as the sound of something large landing and the neighing of horses became audible.

 

Hou Yi stepped out of his house to see Athena tending to the Pegasus that pulled her chariot while Themis carefully descended from the vehicle.

 

"Lady Athena, Lady Themis." The archer bowed before the two goddesses. Athena smiled and bowed back, while Themis didn't notice the gesture. "Is it my turn to go now?"

 

"Yes, it is. Izanagi is going next, and I think you and Beowulf are the only ones who have a shot of lasting for more than a few minutes," Themis stated while crossing her arms.

 

Hou Yi looked shook for a moment after hearing about the god he was going to fight, but he quickly composed himself and nodded his head. "I see."

 

The man turned back to walk towards his hut. He then pulled over the rug on his floor to reveal a trapdoor, which he then opened and effortlessly lifted a large chest out of the compartment.

 

The archer smiled nostalgically as he retrieved a beautiful, ornamented red bow from out of the chest. "I am ready."

 

Themis smiled. "You seem pretty calm considering who you are going to face."

 

"No matter who my foe is..." The once-god smiled as he turned towards his two guests. "I will fight for my kind"

 

Hou Yi

<> 

 

[RAGNAROK ARENA]

 

Hours later, the skies had darkened as the moon began to rise. The arena was filled with gods and humans alike, as well as other races among them.

 

There was a loud uproar of noise in a sizable chunk of the stands on the gods' side of the arena as the Shinto Gods cheered loudly and celebrated.

 

"Gwahahaha! Man, I don’t think I ever saw the old man fighting besides some sparring sessions we had!" A tall and muscular man who had long navy blue hair with white streaks tied in a ponytail and a messy, unkempt beard shouted.

 

[SUSANO'O - GOD OF STORMS, 'Tempestuous Blade']

 

"It is going to be awesome seeing him go all out!"

 

Besides him, a much shorter god, clad in a dark colored hood and gi with his face obscured by a mask with a visage of a rabbit, shook his head with crossed arms while looking at the other god's attitude. "..."

 

[TSUKUYOMI - DARKMOON BLADE, 'Amaterasu's Shadow']

 

"Come on, Omi, say something! Dad's finally back after eons! Say something!" Susano'o teased his younger brother.

 

"Please, Sano, I believe our little brother is just mortified at your stench," Amaterasu said, unable to contain a small smirk at her sibling's antics.

 

"HEY NOW! I will let you know that I bathe in the most crystal clear rivers and lakes every day!" Susano'o protested while laughing.

 

As the children of Izanagi laughed and cheered together, one of them was notably missing.

 

<> 

 

A red-haired man wearing a gi with flame patterns stood against a wall with his arms crossed in one of the colosseum's hallways that led directly to the arena where the two fighters were about to duel. The man was completely covered in deep, cicatrized scars, every inch of his body adorned with them.

 

[KAGUTSUCHI - GOD OF FIRE, 'The Accursed Flame']

 

Kagutsuchi looked down nervously until he heard footsteps; his head turned to see Izanagi marching towards the battlefield.

 

As Izanagi stared down at his son, the pressure in the room suddenly began to increase; the younger god shivered before weakly muttering, ".....Dad...."

 

The pressure immediately turned back to normal.

 

"....I..." Kagutsuchi faltered, unable to find the words, unsure of what to even possibly say. "I know the last time we met each other....it didn't go well....." He tried to look at his father's face to gauge their reaction, but the mask and the hat made that impossible to discern. "I wanted to...I wanted to apologise"

 

"...For what?" Izanagi simply asked.

 

Kagutsuchi raised their eyebrows. "For....." He became wordless again, before it finally came out exactly as he was thinking. "For being born."

 

A silence fell between the two gods until the younger one started to sob.

 

"I... I'm so sorry.....mom...I didn't mean to...I never wanted to.....If it wasn't for me, maybe she would still be here...Maybe-"

 

Izanagi suddenly wrapped his arms around his son in a tight hug. "I'm the one who has to apologise for making you ever feel as if you were unloved."

 

 

Kagutsuchi froze in shock for a moment, before finally blurting out. "What?! Y-you can't just...HUG ME after everything!"

 

"My son....I didn't ask for your forgiveness....After your mom died, I was so struck by grief...So consumed by it, I became a fool, a complete and utter fool." Izanagi pulled away from the hug before bowing deeply to Kagutsuchi. "I sincerely hope you have it in your heart to forgive me, but if you don't, I will understand....but regardless of it, I will always love you."

 

Kagutsuchi stood still; he tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth were weak sobs.

 

Izanagi gently put his hand on his son's shoulders while he stepped forward. "Go watch the match with your siblings. After I win, we will make up for the lost time." The creator god continued to walk forward towards the match, leaving his son standing in the hallway.

 

<> 

 

The arena was a circular battlefield that was split in the middle by a small river and connected by a few bridges. Two temples, one of Japanese architecture and another of Chinese architecture, stood opposite each other at the edges of both sides, each connecting to a hallway. A straight patch of grassy plains filled the path between the two temples, and a large forested ring circled the arena.

 

Two women stood on a bridge in the center of the arena, one with an athletic build and long blonde hair wearing a golden tank top with some silver stripes, while the other woman was more lean, her pale skin contrasting with the gothic, pure black overdress she wore; she wore her raven hair in a ponytail and had blood colored eyes.

 

[NIKE - GREEK GODDESS OF VICTORY]

 

[SANDRAUDIGA - NORSE GODDESS OF DEFEAT]

 

['Announcers of Ragnarok']

 

 

"GOODNIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Nike screamed at the top of her lungs through the microphone. "Thanks to a certain section of the crowd, we all already know who the fighter for the gods is, SO LET'S GET RIGHT INTO IT!"

 

Spotlights shone from above into the Japanese temple. "Born in a dark land, before the very idea of the Heavens was even thought of, this god was one of the progenitors that built this realm!" Sandraudiga began to announce.

 

"He and his other half, Izanami, survived the primordial chaos, claimed it as their own, and carved out their own empire from it!" Nike continued.

 

"Amaterasu, the beautiful Sunlight Princess of Takamagahara! Susano'o, the Monster Hunter who slew the Yamata no Orochi! Tsukuyomi, the mysterious skilled assassin! All own their talent and greatness due to HIS lineage!"

 

"And many, many, MANY more gods!" Nike added

 

The two linked their arms together before starting to speak in unison. "The Patron of Creation! The Emperor of Takamagahara! He who cast the Rising Sun out of the Abyss! HE IS IZANAGI NO MIKOTO!"

 

The crowd roared as Izanagi walked through the doors of the Japanese temple; his movements were stiff, but even then he carried himself with elegance.

"...." His gaze remained locked at the opposite temple.

https://preview.redd.it/mep4528x5lhh1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6cb1c0b68743418dbac1c974c0767fffb7728db

 

<> 

 

Lucifer watched the match below him with his arms crossed while looking down from a VIP box in the stands.

 

"That guy is creepy," A girl beside him said while eating fries from a box she was holding.

 

She was a young woman with a smaller stature. She wore two red ribbons over her black hair, which was cut short, but her fringe completely covered her eyes. She wore a black and red dress with a corseted, fitted bodice that connected to a skirt with long frills that went all the way to her knees. The dress had an opening on her midriff, revealing her pale white skin and a small, pure white piercing-like object on her navel.

 

[BEELZEBULB - LUCIFER'S ASSOCIATE, 'The Bottomless Abyss']

 

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "That's ironic for you to say. What makes you feel this way?"

 

"Bad vibes," She simply said before returning the attention to her food.

 

"There is a basis for 'Bad Vibes'; there is something very different about Izanagi than most other gods."

 

 A tall, lanky, vaguely humanoid figure spoke; his "skin" was made out of bronze, and on his face he had a single visor displaying a yellow light that seemed locked on Izanagi.

 

[TALOS - LUCIFER'S ASSOCIATE, 'God Made of Metal']

 

"What do you mean by that?' Lucifer inquired.

 

"The mana readings detected by my scanners are completely unlike any others in my database," The automaton stated coldly, but his visor remained focused on the arena below, as if showing genuine curiosity.

 

<> 

 

"Now, onto the humans challenging the mighty Izanagi..." Sandrahdiga began to say before smirking, "There isn't one!"

 

The audience began to murmur in confusion.

 

Nike let out a laugh before starting to talk. "A Chief God's might is unparalleled! But they alone cannot secure an entire pantheon on their shoulders. Kingdoms don't need only a king; they also need a CHAMPION!"

 

"Asgard has Thor! The angels have Michael! And Tian had a champion that could rival them! Yayu, Zaochi, Jiuying, Dafeng, Fengxi, and Xiushe are just a few of the countless monsters he struck down! There was nothing that could stop him!

 

...Until one day, he made a choice that sealed his fate."

 

"When the Shí Rì, the 10 unruly solar gods, children of the Jade Emperor, came down to wreck havoc on Midgard for no reason other than their own pleasure, HE put a stop to them! One arrow for each, and 9 stars were removed from the sky on that day!"

 

"But this action angered the Jade Emperor! And so, for fighting to protect humanity, the champion was stripped of his divinity and sentenced to never set foot in heaven as a god again!"

 

"And now, once again he defies the gods to fight for humanity once again!"

 

"He is Tian's Forsaken Champion! The Sun Slayer! The Consort of the Moon!" The two goddesses shouted together, "MAKE WAY FOR HOU YI!"

 

Humanity cheered in uproar as their champion walked into the arena through the Chinese Temple.

Hou Yi - Battle Equipment

 

<> 

 

"So....is he a human or a god?" A man in Victorian-era clothes in the stands questioned.

 

"Does it matter!? Didn't you hear the ladies!? He has killed the sun! 10 of them! There is no way he is losing!" A viking interjected before laughing it off.

 

"But are we really okay with a god representing us? This just feels wrong,” A man wearing more modern clothes said.

 

"Well, as long as he fights for us and scores a point, I don't see the issue," A knight in medieval armor beside him spoke.

 

Despite some mild distrust, hope festered in humanity at seeing their champion.

 

<> 

 

Izanagi and Hou Yi stared each other across the battlefield, the divine aura of the older god flaring across the arena as the pressure hardened, but Hou Yi simply stood still, his own divine aura being far more suppressed after eons of living as a mortal, but it still remained steadfast and strong.

 

"Hou Yi....I had heard tales of your skills, of your greatness before I departed to mourn my beloved.... What happened to you? To defy your Chief God to protect those primates?" Izanagi asked, "I could forgive you for your naivety...but after living directly with them, you still choose to fight for them?"

 

Hou Yi stared at Izanagi for a long moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Irrelevant. I am a human now, and I will fight for them."

 

Izanagi's expression was obscured, but his voice hardened along with his grip on his naginata. "Then you will die with them."

 

Both fighters took on their respective battle stances.

 

"Izanagi vs Hou Yi, The Patron of Creation vs The Sun Slayer, BEGIN!" The two announcers screamed together.

&#x200B;

(Themis’ Temple)

“.....Are you REALLY sure about scratching Beowulf from the list?” Themis asked concernedly while reading the Braille on the paper.

“He is unbelievably powerful, but there are others here who can also do what he does, again, you need to have as many options as possible to face any gods they might send” Athena explained. However, that didn't seem to calm down the titaness all that much.

“...Okay, if you say so…but Odysseus? Seriously? Out of all your pupils? Isn't he just a man? Couldn't you have gotten Heracles or Perseus?”

“He is a warrior of the mind” Athena corrected while raising her finger “He is definitely not as physically impressive as some of my other mentees, but trust me Lady Themis, if any mortal can be slippery enough and clever enough to kill a god, it is him”

“........Are you sure Heracles is busy right now?”

Athena chuckled and patted Themis’ head, much to the displeasure of the latter “Trust me Lady Themis, I know what I am doing, I have spent a good bit of my immortal life dealing with these mortals”

With a sigh, Themis relented, her guest undoubtedly knew more about humanity than her “Alright, fine them, thanks for giving me a hand” The titaness let out a small smile while rubbing the back of her head.

“It is no problem” Athena brushed her off “But by the way, how did you acquire that naginata that Benkei was using?”

Themis froze.

‘Oh goodness, so that's why they sent you here, so they can whack whoever is helping me too! That is why she was intentionally suggesting bad choices for humans! You damn brat!’ Themis thought while trying to think of what to say aloud, unable to gauge how her guest was reacting to her silence ‘Well…those damn dwarves refused to help me when I promised not to tell on them, greedy assholes, it is what they deserve!….but I'm better than that.’

“Somewhere” Themis finally blabbered out after a long silence.

Athena caressed her chin, she could definitely tell the titaness was suspicious of her, and in all, she had her reasons to be so. The goddess of wisdom then decided not to press on the topic.

“I see. Well, I was just asking because I know of a way for you to get even better divine weapons” Athena replied “For free”

Themis perked up “Eh!? What? Elaborate”

Athena grinned “Ever heard of Hephaestus?”

“The best blacksmith in the heavens!? Who hasn't!?”

“Well, he is a pretty close friend of mine, he would most definitely agree to forge a few weapons and armor if I asked nicely”

“Why didn't you start with that!? Of course I accept!” Themis beamed.

“Very well then, we just need to take a short trip to his forge to officially ask him” Athena stood up from the couch “Follow me young one!”

“I'M OLDER THAN YOU”

<>

(Chief God’s Council)

All the gods sprang into action, standing from their thrones and drawing their weapons or getting into a combat stance, the only exceptions being Metatron, Ra and Thoth, the first of whom just stared in shock while the latter two remained seated, Thoth starting to scribble on his book with a feather.

Lucifer sighed “Look, I know this looks bad, but I'm not here to fight-”

Tsukuyomi ran up the wall until he was on the same level as the chandelier with the two intruders where he then jumped up and arched himself back as glass shurikens appeared between each of his fingers before he threw them forwards.

Lucifer didn't flinch as the girl standing to his side moved towards the incoming projectiles, with a snapping sound, a large flesh tendril erupted from her back, and the gruesome appendage then split itself across its center to open a long mouth filled to the brim with sharp teeth.

She moved her “mouth” forward, unhinging the jaws in a biting motion and easily swallowing the shurikens.

“I'm not here to start trouble!” Lucifer put his hands up in the air while the other gods continued to prepare their attacks.

“ALL OF YOU, STAND BACK!” Ra shouted, a sudden heatwave hitting all the ones present in the room and immediately shifting the focus on Ra who remained seated on his throne “There is no need to make a mess”

Even Lucifer himself was surprised “Huh, I didn't expect you of all people to be willing to hear me out so quickly-”

𓅝 𓅤𓏟 𓏠 𓇋𓂝𓎛𓇹𓏛𓐍𓈖𓏏𓎟𓊹𓌃𓂂𓂂𓂂𓏟𓊹

Within a split second, countless blue glowing hieroglyphs appeared in the air around Lucifer, and in the next half of a second, they all constricted around him in the form of chains and forcefully dragged him to the ground.

Lucifer left out an “Oof!” As he hit the floor, he instinctively tried to free himself, but the shackles didn't even budge.

[MEDU NETJER: Word of God]

“As Pa said, no mess required” Thoth said with a smirk, putting his feather and book away “Sorry it took me so long, had to put in a few extra glyphs in there just to make sure, this guy is strong” Ra excused him with a hand wave.

The woman next to Lucifer jumped down from the chandelier, another mouth erupting from her back creating a visage similar to distorted wings while she shrieked at Ra.

“Beel! Calm down! This is fine, they are in their right to restrain me, our appearance was indeed too sudden”

The woman seemed hesitant, but at the fallen angel’s command she retracted her “wings" and stepped back silently.

[BEELZEBULB - SIN OF GLUTTONY, ‘The Bottomless Abyss’]

Ra stood up and slowly walked to the cornered and shackled demon.

“I should punch your head off right where you stand” The sun deity clenched his fist “But I know Metatron would stop me if I tried, and a fight between us right here would fully destroy this place” Metatron seemed to shrink as he stood back, several conflicting emotions running through his face “So I will give you one chance boy, speak”

Lucifer sighed, now staying still instead of trying to fight against his glowing shackles.

“Look, I didn't come here looking for a fight, I'm not prideful enough to think I could take you alone, much less with so many chief gods standing in the vicinity-”

“This doesn't answer anything” Ra cut him off as the room temperature increased “You were given very clear instructions after your little stunt 7 million years ago: Do NOT ever step a foot in heaven again. You were given more leeway than most, so tell me, why are you here, interrupting a meeting like this as well?”

A bead of sweat began to trickle down from Lucifer's face before he recomposed himself “Before I interrupted, apologies for that by the way, I couldn't help but notice that you all spent a LOT of time discussing but still haven't reached the main point of who is going next round, and frankly? I can't blame any of you for that; I'm sure Supreme Gods must have a lot more to worry about than a tournament like that” All the chief gods raised their eyebrows “So that is why I came here to ask for the chance to lead the gods in Ragnarok myself”

The Chief gods were stunned for a moment.

Metatron shook his head “Lucifer, what on the 9 realms are you trying to propose-”

“And why should we give this ‘honor’ to you?” Ra spoke louder while glaring at the fallen angel with his arms crossed “And more than that, why should we trust you after all that has happened?”

“Because I know more about humanity than any of you, I'm the reason why they live in Midgard now after all” Lucifer sighed “I know who to send against any human the titaness might send, i know how to prevent what happened to my brother to happen again” For a second, a wave of sorrow washed over Lucifer’s face and Metatron gulped “And as for why you should trust me? Because I, the Sin of Pride itself, admit I made a mistake all those eons ago”

“My brother tried to warn me that what I did was stupid, but I didn't listen, and I paid the price. The race i tried to help so much ended up doomed because of my actions when i gave them the forbidden fruit all that time ago, and i got to see it first hand how truly wretched they became because of me as the damned ones were banished to the same place i was” Lucifer’s gaze fell to the ground “I don't ask for my punishment to be undone, i just want the opportunity to right my wrongs”

“.....Well, it would save us from having those meetings every day for the next few weeks” Tupã chimed in after a moment of silence.

Ra shook his head “Do you really think we would still trust you after your little uprising attempt 7 million years ago?”

“I do admit I was misguided, but don't you forget Horus and Osiris joined me-” Lucifer’s head was slammed against the floor.

“DON’T YOU DARE MENTION THEIR NAMES YOU SCUM!” Ra shouted while retracting his fist, all the Chief gods’ eyes widened in shock while Beelzebulb flared her wings and screeched at Ra.

“Wait…..my father and uncle….joined him?” Horus' quiet, shocked voice drew attention to him.

“....Horus…” Ra stammered, for the first time in eons not knowing what to say.

Lucifer looked up at the young chief god, ichor flowing from his nose “....So you are the ‘new’ Horus I heard about huh? Should have figured it out, you look just like Isis” He said with a soft smile “Yes, me, your father and your uncle were friends back then…”

Horus was speechless for a moment, before he gulped down and clenched his fists trying to sound composed “....What happened in the past is of no importance to today” Horus crossed his arms “But….Lucifer has been behaving exceptionally well for the last 7 million years, ever since he took over Satan’s domain there have not been any wars between gods and demons, and Anubis always speaks well of him….”

Lucifer chuckled “Oh come on, don't give me too much credit! All it takes to make Anubis happy is to throw a bone at him!”

“....For all it is worth, he came here unarmed and we were the ones to start the violence" Amaterasu added while shrugging.

Murmurs of agreement and discussion started to be whispered among the attending gods while Ra narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.

“Fine” The Elden Sun relented “Let's put this to a vote, whoever agrees to let Lucifer lead our side in Ragnarok, raise your hand”

It took a moment, but slowly, Amaterasu raised her hand, then The Dagda, Tupã and Huitzilopochtli relented as well, Metatron seemed too stunned to move. Horus seemed to be about to raise his hand, but upon noticing Ra’s hand didn't even threaten to move, he put it back down.

“......Thoth, release him” Ra ordered, to which Thoth obeyed.

Lucifer let out a small gasp as the magic shackles disappeared, taking a moment to catch his breath and wipe the blood off his nose as he stood up.

“Well, I guess this is it for now, thank you for giving me this chance” Lucifer bowed respectfully “Beel, would you kindly?”

Beelzebulb nodded her head before her flesh “wings” emerged from her back again, the mouths in it lunged forward as the sharp teeth bit into the air and tore the fabric of space as they were dragged through the air, a swirling black and red vortex spun inside the opened portal.

Metatron seemed to be snapped out of a trance “... Lucifer, wait! This is insanity, we need to talk!-”

Without turning to look back, Lucifer and Beelzebulb stepped inside the portal which then swiftly closed.

“.......Ooooooooh…..So that's how he was able to enter through the ceiling without anybody noticing” Tupã commented after an awkward silence.

<>

(Mount Etna - Hephaestus’ Forge)

Across a vast snowy mountain range, a lone volcano erupted with azure magma as a deafening roar could be heard across the peaks.

Inside the volcano, standing unprotected in the middle of the sapphire inferno, was a tall bearded man in front of a large metal cube. The man’s face was obscured by a helmet, but his long white beard and hair escaped from it. He held a giant hammer with both of his arms, one natural and another metallic, and began to slam his weapon against the cube.

While the sight may look like a display of brute-ish strength, each swing of the hammer was precise, carefully sculpting the cube into the shape of a blade.

Right on time, as soon as the roar quieted and the azure inferno withdrew, the man had finished molding the blade.

“Thanks Typhon” he mutters quietly to no one in particular.

[HEPHAESTUS - THE GREATEST BLACKSMITH IN THE HEAVENS, ‘Master of the First Flame’]

Pulling out a giant tong from behind his back and picking up the sizzling blade, he carried it before meticulously placing it on a platform isolated from the rest of the workshop by a small pit, he then took a step back and gave a thumbs up to two figures on platforms above.

Two automatons, each on a different platform and with a vague feminine shape, returned the gesture before each pulled a lever, opening the ceiling of the workshop, from which a giant ice cube fell on top of the scalding blade, immediately starting to melt due to the heat the recently forged blade carried.

As the weapon cooled off, Hephaestus marched to pick up another identical-looking one on another part of the forge, bringing it to a spinning grindstone, he began to grind the blade against it to sharpen it, his helmet protecting the sparks from hitting his eyes.

Hephaestus was completely focused on his work, until sudden mechanical growls of happiness and two female voices came upstairs “WHO IS A GOOD BOY!? You are! You are!”

“Athena, what on the realms are you doing!?” Another voice questioned the first one while Hephaestus stopped his work.

“This is Hephaestus’s automaton dog, Laelaps! He was out of commission the last time I visited, it is so good to see him again!” Hephaestus began to walk up the stairs.

“....Does he even feel himself being petted?” A happy mechanical growl seemed to answer her question.

“Ahem” Hephaestus cleared his throat as he walked in to see a mechanical hound sprawled out on the floor, his sister Athena rubbing his metal torso and another woman in pajamas standing awkwardly beside them.

“Brother Hephaestus!” Athena exclaimed as she stood up “It is good to see you, I came here looking just for you!”

“Well, I would expect so since you came to visit my forge…”

“I need you to forge a divine weapon and a set of armor for me!” The goddess of wisdom continued.

“Fine, I will see to it after this batch of swords the Norse and the Slavs commissioned me” The blacksmith starts to turn back Laelaps runs towards him “Something about an insurgency of giants”

“W-wait what!? But I need it done by tomorrow!”

“Tough luck” Hephaestus dismissed her.

Athena crossed her arms, indignant before sighing and shaking her head “I'm sorry Lady Themis, seems like you will have to keep relying on your original suppliers”

Hephaestus stopped in his tracks as he turned back “........Themis? That little lass by your side is Themis?”

“First of all, I'm older than you” The titaness crossed her arms “And second of all…yes, but why does this matter?”

"...Pan told me what you did for her, all that time ago" Themis' face twitched in confusion "You were the only one who stood for her in court"

"....Pan...wait you mean Pandora?" Hephaestus left out a grunt of confirmation "Oh that was nothing, it was just basic justice you know? That whole thing was pretty rigged..."

The smithing god chuckled "Perhaps, but still, I will try to find a place in my agenda to help you, it is the least I can do"

"Thank you Hephaestus, this means a lot...But I don't think it will be necessary to change your schedule, the weapon I commissioned for the fighter I chose for the second round should already be finished by now" Themis smiled softly while tugging at her own hair "Actually, this reminds me of something. Athena, has your spy already managed to find out who the gods will be sending in the next round? Maybe I will have to readjust my choice"

"Not actually, but I still have some massive tea to share!" A voice spoke within the forge, and the trio of Greeks looked around just to find no source.

Laelaps was the first to react, after quickly scanning over the room, he lunged at a wall and tore at...wallpaper with the same texture as the wall? And before any of the Greeks could truly process it, the hound was mauling a man's leg.

He was a rugged muscular individual with dark unstyled hair, similar mutton chops and light facial hair on his chin. The sides of his face and his arms are littered with slash-like scars. He donned a blue, long-sleeved ninja suit with black mesh underneath and black boots while wearing a red scarf.

[HATTORI HANZO - GREATEST SHINOBI IN HISTORY, 'The Ghost']

"Bad boy! Bad boy!"

"...That's our spy?..... doesn't sound very impressive" Themis asked flabberghasted.

"...Laelaps will you please let him go?" Athena asked gently, and the dog then relented before starting to wag its tail as it turned back to the goddess.

"Argh...how did that thing even catch me anyways?" Hanzo asked while rubbing his leg.

"Laelaps has built-in thermal vision" Hephaestus explained "...How did you even get into my forge in the first place without setting off any of the alarms?"

"I'm a ninja!" Hanzo didn't elaborate as he struck a pose.

"....Athena are you sure we can't have Beowulf on the roster?" Themis asked concernedly towards the taller goddess.

Athena sighed "Look, he is competent when it matters, he sneaked into this forge and into the chief god's council without anybody noticing, didn't he? Anyways, what information were you able to acquire then if not the next god fighter?"

"Okay so! Get this, all the gods there were talking about things like, putting better protection for the audience and a medical wing for the winners, the entire time there was also that creepy guy with the rabbit mask staring at where i was hidden, i almost thought i had been caught for a moment to be honest" The shinobi began to trail off before recomposing himself "Anyways, when it looked like they were going to get somewhere, this guy called Lucifer just appeared sitting on a chandelier and after some shenanigans he is now the the one in charging of leading the gods in Ragnarok!"

Athena and Hephaestus widened their eyes as Hanzo then started to relay what happened bit by bit after his short summary.

"...I guess this makes sense, I acknowledge humanity has its flaws, being directly exposed to the worst of them along with being the one responsible for it must have weighed a lot on Lucifer's conscience" Athena rationalized while scratching her chin.

"Oh please, that bastard is only doing it for attention, just like his previous stunt a few million years ago" Themis huffed while crossing her arms "He hasn't changed a damn thing"

"...Do you know him, Lady Themis?" Athena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"More or less" Themis waved her hand "Met him a few times during diplomatic meetings between my father and Metatron, i was also part of the jury during his trial 7 million years ago, he is not a particularly hard guy to get a read on"

"I see, but regardless...it will be hard to have Hanzo extract info from him now that he has Beelzebulb at him, she is one of the only demons capable of opening Hellmouths at will..." The goddess of wisdom sighed "With an ability like hers, they could be anywhere in the 9 realms by now..."

<>

(SHINTO TERRITORY OF HEAVEN - A cave near Ukemochi's Restaurant)

A pile of bento boxes, bean bowls and noodle cups occupied a large space of a small cave in the back of a mountain.

"Beel...I could be affording you a meal worth a king's ransom...and you settle in for fast food like this?" Lucifer paced around impatiently within the cave.

"It is tasty" Beelzebulb shrugged while eating a cheeseburger.

After a moment, loud, heavy footsteps could be heard echoing across the cave, making Lucifer and Beelzebulb turn their heads to the source of the noise to see a cloaked figure approaching.

"Took you a while" Lucifer called out.

"The directions given to me were quite vague" The figure replied in a monotone tone before taking off his cloak, revealing a tall, lanky vaguely humanoid figure, except that his "skin" was made out of bronze. It didn't had eyes, but instead a  visor across his face with a single red light in the shape of an eye in the middle.

[TALOS - THE GOD MADE OF METAL, ‘Designed to Win’]

“Lucifer, there is something-"

"It doesn't matter now, did you get what I asked you to?" Lucifer dismissed him.

Talos stopped for a second, before nodding his head "Indeed." His red eye then began to glow golden as it split into two and holograms started being projected from his “eyes” to the cave's floor.

They were holograms of Michael and Benkei, and although they were on a smaller scale than their true selves, the small holograms recreated the choreography of the real fight perfectly.

A frown came on Lucifer's face as he saw Michael getting impaled by his opponent before he shook his head off to focus "Thank you Talos, this will be useful, now, what is it you were talking about before?"

"I detect 2 divine presences approaching from the entrance of the game"

"WHAT!? Why didn't you start with that!?" Lucifer snapped in shock.

"I tried to" The automaton replied in his monotone voice.

Lucifer let out a sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes briefly going over Beelzebulb, considering trying to make a getaway through one of her hellmouths "Talos, can you identify who they are?"

"Judging by the wavelength and frequency of their mana, they seem to be solar and lunar deities, given our location, the odds of them being Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi are high"

"...Beel, be on guard we need to retreat" The demoness nodded while eating some fries.

Soft sounds of footsteps echoed through the cave, and although there was only noise for one person, two figures walked into the chamber "Well, well, well, one would expect the so-called Demon King to rest on a...less dingy place "The Princess of Shinto commented, her massive frame barely fitting inside the cave while her brother stood behind her.

"Well, given my status, I can't really just go walking willy-nilly in the open, and as for why here of all places? Beelzebulb likes the food" Lucifer pointed his thumb to the demoness behind him, who answered with her own thumbs up while eating noodles.

Amaterasu's eyes quickly gazed over Talos and Beelzebulb before shrugging "Well, it is not up to me to judge who you associate with, not that a pariah like you is worth much by yourself anyway"

The angel's eyebrow twitched, but he maintained his composure "Well excuse me, Princess, what is the reason for you to grace me with your presence? And how did you manage to track me down if you allow me to ask?"

"I didn't track you down, Omi did, that mirror your associate swallowed during the council allowed him to know her location" Beelzebulb's mouth opened in an "o" shape "And for what reason am I here? There are two, the first one is that our actions are being observed" Lucifer raised an eyebrow "During the council, my brother noticed a clandestine presence concealing itself, although he couldn't quite confirm it. At first I thought it was you, but he still felt it even after you left, which can only mean..."

The fallen angel's eyes widened "Either there is a fourth party, or the titaness has someone who is watching us over in the shadows" Lucifer scratched his chin "She is more cunning than I thought..."

Amaterasu then pretended to clear her throat "And someone skilled enough to stay hidden from not just so many chief gods, but from my brother as well, must definitely be skilled enough to be one of the fighters she has chosen, so we are here to demand my brother's inclusion among your own selected fighters" The princess didn't seem to really like the idea, but she remained composed "Omi wishes to test his skills against this mysterious interloper"

Tsukuyomi didn't say anything, merely nodding his head while standing with his arms crossed.

"...Well, I certainly have no complaints about this" Lucifer put his arms up in the air "Although I can't guarantee your desired match will happen, I don't know who the titaness will send"

"That would be easy to remedy, just like they have a shadow trailing over us, we can send my brother to watch her and discover her plans"

"That wouldn't work" The angel brushes her off "Knowing her, she already must have set up a barrier around her base of operations to warn her about any intruders using her ability"

Amaterasu raised an eyebrow "...Do you know her?"

"More or less" Lucifer waved his hand "Saw her a few times during diplomatic meetings, she was on my trial back all those eons ago too, in fact i probably would have got off with a slap on the wrist if it wasn't for her" The angel suppressed a laughter while a smirk crept up on his face "either ways, she isn't the hardest person to get a read on"

"But anyhow" Lucifer continued "As of now, I might not have a way to know her exact moves...but there is an easy way to figure out her game plan as a whole"

<>

(Somewhere in the skies of the Olympus Territory of Heaven)

Themis didn't feel comfortable in the air at all, but she tolerated it as Athena gave her a ride on her chariot to personally tell the fighter for the second round that he was going in next.

Suddenly, a device rang in the titaness's pocket, startling its owner before she picked it up.

Message from Birdbrain a voice read aloud.

Yo

They are asking you to send your list of humans

Serious bizz

Life or death (only half joking)

"....Why do I have a feeling I know exactly who 'they' are?" Themis asked as her face dropped.

"Well, I suppose there isn't much we can do about it other than just comply for now, Lady Themis" Athena said while looking down at her companion.

"Wait, I could give them a fake list!" 

"You know you would be caught in a day or two right?"

"....." Themis sighed "You are right, well, I suppose it won't make too much of a difference either way"

<>

In a plaza located within the same floating island where the Ragnarok Colosseum was located, a giant jumbotron stood in the center for all to see, displaying not any images, but two lists of names

HEAVEN:

- Michael

- Ra

- Horus

- Set

- Tupã

- Huitzilopochtli

- Artemis

- Ares

- Hecate

- Varuna

- Lugh

- The Dagda

- Ishtar

- Tsukuyomi

- Magni

- Modi

MIDGARD:

- Benkei

- Moses

- Cain

- Sargon of Akkad

- Odysseus

- Chinf Shih

- King Arthur

- Lyudmila Pavlichenko

- Gilgamesh

- King Baldwin

- Tzilacatzin

- Marie Laveau

- Ned Kelly

- Starkadr

- Hattori Hanzo

- Flamma

&#x200B;

"This was a trainwreck" Nike pouted while she and her fellow announcer walked through the streets of Heaven after the first match had ended.

"What part specifically?" Sandraudiga raised an eyebrow "The needless bloodshed? The fact that a god got humiliated by a human?"

"No! Our commentary sucked!" The goddess of victory shook her arms exasperated "We barely even spoke in the latter half!"

"I mean, if we spoke more it could have been distracting" The raven-haired goddess shrugged "And besides, we were kind of focused on not getting disintegrated by all that stray light"

"...Fair" The blonde relented "...But I don't know...I feel like something was lacking in our debut, you think we made a good first impression?"

"That's not really for us to decide" Sandraudiga shrugged again before putting a hand on her friend's shoulder "It's not really worth getting worked up over, we did our best, and that's all we can do"

"... Sandy you are the most defeatist person I know"

"Comes with the domain"  The goddess of defeat gave a teasing smirk "Look Nike, if you think we did badly...then we still have 15 more rounds to improve over time"

Nike perked up "8 more, I wouldn't be that generous with the humans" she left out a chuckle "Or 7....how does this scoring works out again?"

"Beats me, whoever made this Ragnarok clearly didn't put as much thought into it as he should have"

<>

"Build it up! Break it down! We put the spark out! Build it up! Break it down! We put the spark out!" A group of gods sang along in the now-empty arena as the sun began to set.

Some of the integrants of the group made reparations to the broken walls, while the rest seemed to be wildly blasting the arena.

In passing, they all looked like angels due to their wings, but the divine grace that befitted most angels was visibly absent from them. They were all wearing construction vests seemingly made out of green leather, none of them looked like they were truly taking their work seriously, some were sparring with themselves while clearing up the arena.

Two of them were sitting on the railing, not doing anything while the rest worked, one of them, a blonde who resembled an angel the most, was messily eating a ham sandwich while the other, who looked quite androgynous, was checking themselves on a handheld mirror while fixing up their eyeliner.

"Can you believe that Astaphaios? That human guy really laid Michael flat on his butt!" The first commented while chewing on his sandwich.

"Serves him right for being a jackass to Sophia all those eons ago!" Astaphaios' eyebrows narrowed in irritation "And stop speaking while eating, it is unbecoming of you Adonaios!"

"Oh shush it" Adonaios rolled his eyes "You are still holding on to that? That was ages ago bro! Literally!"

Astaphaios was about to reply, but no words came out of their mouth after their mirror was smashed by a giant hammer which had come flying out of the arena.

"Ey, ya mookies! Who said it’s lunch break? The big guy Ra ain't gonna tell us what we're buildin' 'til tomorrow! So get this arena cleaned up 'fore it gets dark, ya get me?"

The hammer magically flew back to the hand of the man who had just called out the two slackers, he was a large man with a wide musculature, he wore sunglasses on his eyes and the same leather vest as the rest of the gods, which had a few crumbs dirtying it from the half eaten bacon sandwich on his mouth, some of the meat also falling into his large, luscious beard which connected to his golden brow hair, creating a visage similar to a mane.

[YALDABAOTH - LEADER OF THE HEIMARMENE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, 'Demiurge']

"If you two slackers weren't so competent when you actually get your asses movin', I wouldn't be bein' so merciful on ya right now!" He grunted while adjusting his glasses.

Yaldabaoth turned towards one of the islets in the arena, he raised his hammer upwards and red energy began encasing the piece of land in a cube form, the god then struck the casing with his hammer, making the soil and water trapped shift into a translucent, fire like form of energy, before with another strike, the energy condensed into multiple smaller pieces of dirt, which his workers raced to grab and toss it into the air before blowing it up with energy blasts.

"C'mon now, boys! If we get this done on time, dinner's on me!" He called out to the unanimous cheer of his workers.

<>

As the sun fell into the sky and the moon rose, one deity in the Heavens was not nearly in a mood as motivated as the gods began their preparations for the second round.

Themis walked through a grassy plateau, using a sword as a walking stick. She had memorized the route she was taking, but she still chose to be careful in order to be safe.

She made her way up a small hill, on which a moderately sized building stood, a mortal would identify the building as a temple to the gods, but a goddess like Themis, that was merely her abode.

Upon reaching the entrance, which was blocked by a single stone door, instead of a typical handle and lock, there was a slot into which she lodged her sword in, blue patterns glowed softly before the door slid open, Themis pulled back her sword and made her way inside, repeating the process to close the door.

The interior of the house looked incredibly organized and tidied up, the building clearly not having had many parties.

The titaness rested her sword against a wall, and she made her way towards the living room before sitting against the couch.

She removed the metal mask she wore around her face carefully, letting out a long sigh as the air hit her deeply scarred face, the muscles in her face twitched as if she were closing her eyes, but where the globes should be was just cicatrized flesh.

She carefully put the metal accessory on the table near the couch, she moved her hand across the table until she found a piece of paper with multiple dots on it, she didn't pass her fingers over the braille as she had already engraved into her memory what was written on it.

- Gilgamesh

- Arthur Pendragon

- Beowulf

- Starkadr 

- Moses

- Cain (???)

- Saitō no Musashibō Benkei

- Sargon of Akkad

- Ching Shih

- Lyudmila Pavlichenko

 ̶W̶i̶l̶l̶i̶a̶m̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶s̶h̶a̶l̶

- Baldwin IV

- Tzilacatzin

- Marie Laveau

- ̶V̶i̶r̶g̶u̶l̶i̶n̶o̶ ̶F̶e̶r̶r̶e̶i̶r̶a̶

- Ned Kelly

- Y̶a̶s̶u̶k̶e̶

- Flamma

- ̶S̶a̶n̶t̶o̶s̶ ̶D̶u̶m̶o̶n̶t̶

- C̶l̶e̶o̶p̶a̶t̶r̶a̶

- ???

She held the paper for a long moment before putting it back onto the table, letting out another, longer sigh before lying on the couch, her face flat against a cushion.

She screamed. Loudly. For several minutes.

After Themis ran out of breath for that, she sat up and took a deep breath before heading to the bathroom.

After a long shower, Themis changed into more comfortable grey pajamas, putting on some slippers before heading back to the table where she had left the paper with her selection of human warriors.

She picked up the paper again and held it for a long moment before exasperatedly putting it on the table again.

Almost mechanically, she made her way to a drawer and picked up a simple mop and a bucket which she filled with water, and began to clean her house, even though there was nothing to be cleaned.

She moved through the memorized layout of her home, checking all of her belongings as she did to see if they were where she had left them, and indeed, they all were, not having been moved by her or anybody else in decades.

She did not know what else to do right now. She was usually able to ignore her frustrations when putting herself to work on something as meaningless as that... Maybe that will work now too…

ZING!

 

Her near automated cleaning session when she suddenly felt something, a loud hissing in her mind only she could feel, something had entered her property.

'What!? No one has visited me in decades!' She panicked 'ARE THEY AFTER ME ALREADY!?'

She rushed after her sword and quickly armed herself while backing away from the stone door.

'I haven't used this to fight in forever! Do I even still know how to do it!?' She continued to panic while backing away. Due to her desperation, she had forgotten the layout of her house, tripping on the bucket and letting out a loud yelp as she fell towards the ground and the bucket spilled over on the floor.

"...FU-" Themis instinctively began to swear before she immediately covered her mouth, remembering the possibly dangerous situation she found herself in.

"Oh dear-Lady Themis are you home!? Is everything okay?" A concerned female voice called out from across the door.

It took Themis a moment to recognize the voice, it wasn't one she was particularly familiar with, but she heard it enough times to recognize it ".....Athena? What is Zeus' brat doing here?"

Themis scurried over to the table, picking up her metal mask and putting it around her face before going to attend her unexpected guest, wet pajamas and all.

"Lady Themis! It is a pleasure to meet you! Although if you do allow me to ask...did something happen?" The tall goddess asked worriedly while quickly scanning the state of her shorter companion ".....Is this a bad time?"

'Yes. Yes it is'

"Oh it is nothing, I was just cleaning the house and then you startled me, wasn't expecting a visit"  Themis rubbed her head while standing awkwardly, she began to tug at her hair as Athena went for a moment too long without saying anything "....Huh...Lady Athena?"

"Oh, pardon me, I was surprised, I expected someone like you to have your other senses to be enhanced due to your condition, but I didn't expect them to be so good to the point of detecting me across a stone door when I didn't make a noise!" The taller goddess left out a sheepish laughter

"Oh huh...no, I didn't hear you, I just got warned about you" Themis stammered, the small inquisitive "hmm?" Of her guest making her sigh before elaborating "You know...it is part of my domain...it takes a decent bit to set up, but i can create a field where certain laws have to obeyed and some effects happen...such as me just feeling when someone or something walks into my property......" She explained awkwardly before shaking her head "but this isn't important now...how did you find out where i live?"

"Thoth told me"

".....that damned birdbrain" Themis muttered under her breath "Anyways...why are you here?"

Athena beamed with excitement as a proud smile showed up on her face "To lend some help, of course"

"Odysseus, Heracles, Perseus, Bellerophon, Dionedes, you name it! All have been mentored by me" The goddess of wisdom elaborated while putting her hand over her chest "I am the patron of heroes, and i am very fond of humans, frankly speaking it embarrasses me that I wasn't aware of the Ragnarok clause, i would have invoked myself had i known" A small frown of guilt came over onto her face "But you, Lady Themis? You not only knew about such an obscure rule, but you also bravely spoke out against the entirety of the heavens just to protect humanity!"

".....Yeah.... something like that..." Themis rubbed her head awkwardly while Athena looked at her with admiration.

"You are the leader of this operation, Lady Themis, not just by divine law, but for your own merit and bravery! I would be honored if you allowed me to aid and mentor you with my knowledge, both about the humans you could choose and the gods you could face"

Themis immediately perked up at her offer, even after a month of research and preparation she still didn't feel close to ready at all.

"Oh! Why didn't you start with that!? Of course, come in!" The titan eagerly welcomed her guest in while stepping aside "You can sit on the couch, there is a paper with the names of the humans I am planning to send! I already recruited most of them but some haven't really confirmed their presence, anyway, huh, you can start reading while I prepare some tea or something!"

"There is no need, but thank you" Athena smiled warmly as she entered the house, bending down to not bump her head as she crossed the door clearly designed for someone of a smaller height.

"Oh, well if you say so-eeeek!" Unaware of how far the spilled water spread due to her lack of sight, Themis slipped and fell.

Just before she hit the floor however, Athena caught her and helped her up "I shouldn't have allowed you to go on ahead! I am sorry Lady Themis, do you want me to help you get to the couch?" 

"...I can figure out the way around my house" The titan replied, feeling offended but not wanting to anger the one person who could save her life.

Once they both settled on the couch, Themis started fidgeting as she heard the sound of the paper ruffling slightly as Athena passed her fingers over it.

"So....what do you think? I spent the entire last month trying to settle on it and....well it still missing a number and...being frank, i dont really believe anyone on it can really beat a god other than Gilgamesh, Arthur, Beowulf and Benkei" Themis blurted out nervously, unable to gauge her guest's feelings as she didn't make a sound 'And well...Benkei wasn't able to'

"Well, this is quite a fine selection you picked yourself, Lady Themis, I must commend you" Athena had to repress a chuckle at her host's anxiety "Sargon...Ching...Lyudmilla..Tzilacatzin, Marie...Starkadr...I wouldn't expect someone like you to even know about some of these"

"Well I had a lot of time and Birdbrain's library is pretty comprehensive" Themis left out a mildly flustered chuckle, feeling proud of herself.

"Although...is it really necessary to have so many humans who just....hit things really hard?" Athena asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well......how else is a human supposed to...you know, kill a god?" The titan inquired confusedly.

"Raw strength is indeed something very important to consider when calculating the odds of victory, however, in a long tournament with multiple fights, as a general you also have to consider variety" Athena elaborated "Let's say, hypothetically, that a god selected to fight in Ragnarok is completely immune to physical attacks, what would you do then? Who would you send against him?"

"Huuuuh....well, this is a good point, but how would I even know which god they would be sending in next?"

Athena smirked deviously "I will know, I have a little spy of sorts in the gods' meeting room" Themis opened her mouth in an 'O' shape "But again, you do have a solid lineup, but would you please allow me to make some small changes?"

It wounded her pride a bit, but Athena undeniably had more knowledge about humans and battle strategies in general "Well, feel free to throw it into the trash and start over if you think it's needed" Themis relented.

"It is only really one change and an addition" Athena chuckled softly before pulling out a nearby pencil and starting to scribble on the paper "Ta-da!" She exclaimed proudly with a smirk while flashing the sheet of paper forwards for her host to see "What do you think?"

"..........Well that sure sounds like a sheet of paper" An awkward silence followed.

<>

[CHIEF GOD'S COUNCIL]

In a circular large chamber with highly adorned walls where multiple murals carved in gold and other precious metals depicted the vast history of the 9 realms, the Chief Gods gathered, each in their respective thrones.

Ra cleared his throat "So, the first round of this tournament has concluded, Michael won, as expected, although with some setbacks..." 

"That is putting it mildly to say the least" Thoth scoffed sarcastically while sitting on a simple stool next to his throne, prompting a glare from Ra, to which Thoth did a zipping gesture on his lips before returning to reading his book.

"...Regardless, we need to choose who to send in for the next round tomorrow" Ra concluded.

"Before we decide on that, there is something way more important to be addressed" an elegant female voice interjected.

Sitting on her own throne, a giant woman with a radiant shade of blonde hair clad in a red kimono crossed her arms under her ample chest.

[AMATERASU - CHIEF GODDESS OF SHINTO, 'Princess of Sunlight']

"That little lightshow at the end almost killed everyone!" She complained exasperatedly, losing her composure before a hand rested on her shoulder.

A figure stood up by the side of the Princess' throne, clad in a dimly colored hood and gi that covered his entire upper body, their face obscured by a carved white mask with markings on it resembling a rabbit. Their small stature could almost go unnoticed as they stood silently and still, almost like a shadow.

[TSUKUYOMI - DARKMOON BLADE, 'Amaterasu's Shadow']

The two siblings had a wordless exchange before Amaterasu sighed as Tsukuyomi returned his gaze to a corner of the room. 

"Anyhow, we need to put in some kind of protection for the audience" Amaterasu continued "Frankly speaking, it is asinine that there wasn't one in the first place"

"Well, who can blame us? Nobody was expecting the pipsqueaks to last enough attacks for any of them to go astray! Gwahahahaha!"

A booming, cheerful voice spoke. Its source was from a man even bigger than the woman he replied to. The bearded man wore humble clothes for a god, except for his horned helmet that sported great elk-like horns and a large fur cloak that left his well-built arms exposed.

[THE DAGDA - CHIEF GOD OF THE TUATHA DÉ DANANN, 'Great Druid King']

"These humans are stronger than we thought!"

"Argh! If I had known they had monsters like that, I would have jumped in for a chance to fight! Mike be damned if he wanted to be the first!" Huitzilopochtli slammed his fist on his throne.

"I told ya, humans are pretty cool" Tupã chimed in from the side of the Aztec "I do want to fight them too, but I don't know, i think I'm even more convinced now I want to keep them around, are we still sure about this Ragnarok thing?"

"That is still up for debate, but man what a fight that was!" The Dagda laughed "If only Thor and Perun were here, they would jump right in at the chance to fight someone as strong as that Benkei fellow! He sure would have been able to put up a fight, I mean look at how he roughed up Metatron's brat!" He gestured at Metatron on his pearly throne.

"...Indeed, Michael has been in a coma ever since the match, and his recovery is not guaranteed" Metatron replied in a somber tone.

Guilt immediately crept onto The Dagda's face "...Sorry"

"It is no matter" Metatron brushed him off politely "But this does remind me of another important matter to attend, we need to establish a medical wing within the arena to tend to the victors of the matches" The elder angel sighed "I just barely was able to bring Michael to Raphael for him to be treated....had the injuries been even worse than they were..."

Ra stared at Metatron, their eyes meeting for a second, prompting the elder sun to nod his head, immediately reaching an understanding of one father to another "Of course, we severely underestimated humanity's potential to harm us, and we paid the price with Michael. Zeus hasn't bothered to show up for the last three meetings" The sun deity's face hardened for a second at the mention of the Greek chief's name "And for this one not even his daughter showed up, but I will reach out to recruit Asclepius to work in the arena's medical wing, he is the best healer in the 9 realms after all"

"...And just who will be the messenger you will send in to get Asclepius?" Thoth asked sarcastically while crossing his arms, earning a side eye from Ra "...You really want me to go all the way to Olympus tonight? Right after this meeting? Seriously?" Another glare from Ra "......whatever, what a drag" He said before returning his attention to his book.

A small smile crept up on Metatron's face as he saw the scene before him "I will also talk to Raphael for him to offer his aid as well, he is the best healer in my pantheon as well"

"Raphael? Wasn't that one of Michael's friends from back in the day?"

A voice chimed in from below, just loud enough to be heard, all the attending gods looked up at two figures on the chandelier above the reunion.

One of them, who was sitting on the edge of the chandelier and was the seeming origin of the voice, was a tall and well-built man with long flowing red hair with some white meshes behind his back, he wore a black velvet waistcoat over a red shirt. He had a handsome face, although it was covered by many small scars, a particularly notable one connected to his busted lip.

His companion, who was standing idly by his side, was a young woman of smaller stature. She wore two red ribbons over her black hair which was cut short, but her fringe completely covered her eyes. She wore a black and red dress with a corseted, fitted bodice that connected to a skirt with long frills that went all the way to her knees, the dress had an opening on her midriff, revealing her pale white skin and a small, pure white, piercing-like object on her navel.

Metatron stared with shock etched into his face at the man, as if looking at a ghost "Y-you......."

"It has been a while, pops"

[LUCIFER - DEMON KING, 'The Once Golden Angel']

I tried everything

I looked up and saw that matching the weapon along with the disguise worked, i tried to do that and it didnt work (unless you are telling me Ninja Stars dont match)

I looked and saw a bunch of combinations that suposedlt always work, they are not working for me

I looked up that Athleticism increases the odds, i got the highest belt in all martial arts and it still isnt working

I have no idea what it could be, is it my country? I think it may be Karma but there is no way it is just a 0% chance of ir working now