Assault on God's Plateau.

I was walking down the path to the palace once again. How many years has it been? 26, 27 thousand ? I  don't even remember anymore.Do we need to? I thought that we were just here  to crush his neck.   As much as I would hate to, I must be bearer of ill news. Our rival's anatomy excludes a neck. Hey man, it's a figure of speech, okay? Then, my  esteemed colleague, I am sad to be the first inform you of your horrific misinterpretation of the literary device called 'Figure of Speech'. Dude, I have, like, no idea what your saying. .

   "Shut up. Not now." I told both of them. Sometimes, they were really distracting.

    Behind me, in large flat lands, lay the remains of the God's army. About 30 billion in all, I think. Mortals, all of them. They delayed me for a full hour and a half. I tried to spare as many as I could, but 2,415 of the Elite were lying dead on the cold rock of the gods plateau now . A shame, really. A few of them might have made the Legion. I had probably eliminated parts of the next powerful generation. More dreams and lives crushed by me.

     The gates of Order loomed tall before me, once again. As large as  mountains, 6 kilometers high and 100 meters thick, made of the pure Adamantium, it was Gate befitting of the gargantuan white dome the size of an average moon which was the palace of the Gods. Intricately decorated with powerful runes of Harmony, these doors  had held back Chaos himself once. They were legend.

         Today, they would fall. Finally, we can smash stuff! I was getting so bored! Are you absolutely certain of your decision?

"I cannot turn back now, anyway. Beings have already lost lives to my venture. "

Oh yes. Make them suffer. Make him suffer. He took everything from us. Torture him, torture his soul. His heart. Do to him what he did to us. . "Hatred, Revenge, Crawl back into the hole you came from", I told them. Yes. I would make him suffer. The High God has taken much from me. My life's work. My reason to live. I knew he did it because he had to. I understood, and, god help me, my logic agreed with him. Nip a weed before it grows. It made  sense.

                 He destroyed my reason to make sense of things. I was human again, no longer bound by logic.

                 Thus, I would destroy him. Torture him till he breaks. Make despair his reality. Horror his Truth. Hope his impossible dream. I was going to break the High God. And then I would kill him.

Dude, Grimdark. But I'm lov'in it. What are we waitin for?  Yes, let us carry out our purpose. May the Truth be false. "May the Truth be false, indeed.  I replied, uttering the greeting of a Disillusioned.

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          It had been a glorious life. He had no regrets.

          The  5th Captain of the Legion was ready to die. He could say ,with pride in his light, that his soldier were ready to die too.

           How far had he come? How had he come here? From first battle to last, this was the moment he had been waiting for. Too die gloriously in battle, serving his race, songs of his deeds floating for eternity after him. What would transpire here today would be taught to young gods and demons as their history and birthright.

             Why then, was there that glimmer of unease. that hesitancy.

              "Defend for as long as you can, but if you fall, stay on the ground. Donot give up your lives."

               Why did the High God say that? The Legion does not fall till till every last God or Demon is dead. That had been the way of the Legion, since the Hopeless War to this day.

                Ah, the Hopeless War. That brought back memories. What an ironic name. A joke by the first ever General of the hastily assembled Legion of Demon and God. The 5th Captain had been there that day, no more than a common foot soldier. His first war. He remembered it like yesterday. 500 Gods, 500 Demons. Billions of chaotic construct with no minds of there own charging wildly across the cold granite field to hastily erected dome of Titanium, forged by the life of the great Blacksmith of the Gate himself. Inside lay every god in existence, fueling the might of their magic and power to the Major God of Creation, as he maintained the spell that bind Chaos himself. Above them in the sky, 8 sons' of Chaos waged a desperate battle against their weakened father. Spells shot. Weapons clashed. Limbs flew. Order vs Chaos. Life vs death. Win, Survive. Lose, Die.

             After many, many hours, the 5th Captain was exhausted. He could see that chaotic blade falling down on him, as if time itself has slowed down. He could still see the battle raging above him. Chaos, still bond by the spell, was still as powerful as ever. He was not even fighting seriously. He never had been. He really was too powerful to be destroyed. The 5th Captain didn't care, though. It was all over for him. He had already accepted the certainty of death. To actually be confronted by it was.......strange. He didn't really feel as afraid as he should have.

             Then the blade just dissipated. He just had enough time to be surprised before he saw the most magnificent sight he had ever seen. One that would forever be etched in his memory.

             Five bright points of burning light shone like stars, arranged in a haphazard pentagon. Beams of light issued forth from them, meeting roughly at the center, swirled and shot itself at Chaos. Caught in the unwares, Chaos could do nothing but laugh as Harmony burnt him away.

             And then he was gone. The aura that signified him faded away as his mind dissolved. Chaos was dead.

             The Captain jumped up instantly.

             They had .....won. They had won? They had won!!!!

                      It was the best day of the captain's life.

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              Something was wrong. No one was celebrating.  There should have been bright flashes of light all around the battlefield as the warriors celebrated, with not a care left in the world .  Pride. Joy . Relief. Victory. They had  won. Why wasn't anyone celebrating? What was going on?  He sent a flash of light expressing his confusion to his comrades.

             There was no answer. What was wrong with them?

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                     They were  dead.

              It was the worst day of the captain's life.

BOOM

               The vibrations from the impact shook the Captain from his memories. The room faded back into his vision. The enemy had arrived, and as it was required of him, he would provide time.

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          Just one more.

BOOM

           The mountain sized gate shook  as I punched it one last time.  As I had expected, the gate was just a relic of the past . The magic protecting it was meant for Chaos , and the blacksmith who smelted it was dead. It was still quite hardy, though. I had pumped in enough physical force to destroy atleast 15000 planets into it.

             I put my right palm on the huge dent in the metal, and drove my fingers into, it securing a firm grip.Then, I pulled.

            The door was torn form the palace in a single piece. I held it in the air a meter above the ground for a few seconds. 50 - 60 billion tons? Who cares. I threw the  door behind me, and turned to face my audience. The entire guard was facing me. Five thousand gods faced me now. They were definitely more powerful than the mortal army, each god a million times more powerful than any mortal soldier.

            Not powerful enough to bridge the gap, but powerful enough for me to go all out. I jumped forward, moving faster than light, jabbing each god with my fists, leaving a clean hole in their bodies, along with a nasty little surprise. The last one I attacked was the captain. Somehow, he managed to ward off my first attack, earning my admiration, but the second attack got him,  piercing his body and implanting a dose of magic, a paralytic spell.

             I stopped in front of him. The attack had taken a full 3 seconds. Not my best, but it worked, as gods realised that there were holes in their large  bodies. The paralytic spells began to take effect, and one tonne bodies  began to fall to the ground.

            I knew that a god stood before me. His body was probably an flattened oval sphere, if my memory serves, and the rim  has eight tentacle like appendages protruding from them. Any surface on a god's body is like.... a retina. The can literally see everything around themselves. The downside being that they have no hearing organs.  They're all  deaf.

           I am probably not the best authority on the subject. The last time I have seen anything at all was 26 thousand years ago.

          The captain fell to the ground.

      Then I noticed something unusual. They didn't get up. That's not possible. Even the newest of the Legion don't fall till they are dead. Why didn't they get up?. It was really unsettling.

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Twenty minutes later.

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           The halls were all empty.

          Usually the halls of the gods were bustling with activity. Gods running here and there.  Envoys from all over the universe moving around the halls for official communication. The Devil's constant petitions to the High God to paint the God's palace pink, so many over the years that there was a department just for filing them. Just the everyday mundane business of running about 30%  of the universe.

          Now the halls were silent. There was no one there. Every god other than the pittance of a guard had been evacuated. It was strange. I should have been fighting tooth and nail against the Arch and Major gods by now for every inch I covered.

          I finally reached the waiting room. It was as massive as I remembered, a dome with a radius of three kilometers. Right at the center was another dome with a radius of 500 meters. The throne room of the gods, where for nearly 10 billion years petitions were made, judgements were passed, duels over positions had taken place, war had been waged and treaties had been forged. It was where I had signed 'The Inclusion Clause', to initiate the process of becoming a part of the union  , and the 'Second Chance' petition. Basically, that petition was to give a race marked for extermination a second chance, and had to be supplemented by assent of at least 50% of the race. I had signatures of nearly 90% of all humans. And I coupled the signatures with the fact that we could literally mass produce nukes, with over-the-counter chemicals, 50 thousand a day, with the capability to wipe out 500,000 square kilometer sized patches and perfect functionality  in space.

          Needless to say,  the old High god agreed.

          If only the new High god had honored the agreement, I would not be here. I would have been long dead.

          I entered the waiting room, and began to walk across to the throne room, when I felt a presence, much like a god's, but different. Familiar.

           My son, Malfunction One.

          He stood in front of me, blocking my path.

          "Father." he said, using sound instead of light.

          " Son." I replied, "What exactly are you doing here?"

           "I am the new Arch god," he answered, " the God of War."

           This was an unusual development. "Why?" I asked, though I already guessed the answer.

          "They know about the techniques," he said, " they know how to cut magic. They have knowledge on the subject. I needed to know." I felt regret emanating from his voice.

            Great. An attack on the Gods suddenly turned into a family drama. And I thought that Indian serials were bad. I wondered if someone was going to say "Baaahuuuu" just about now.

Dude, you fucked up. You should have thought of this before. I mean ,seriously? Come on, how was I supposed to know this could have happened.My colleague may be vulgar, but he speaks the truth. Why did you not tell your family your intentions? I didn't want them to worry. If I had told them, they would have come here themselves. Screw explanations, fix the problem.  Or you will lose family.

              That thought was scary. I pushed it away and and focused my mind.

                              " That's great!" I told him, genuinely   'The God of War' is no easy title to win. He had fought against one of the most formidable forces in the universe, and won.

                                All six of my son's were doing so well, it brought almost brought tears of pride to my eyes. They had really grown up.

               "Really?" he said, his regret fading a bit .

               "Of course." I replied, a little pride showing through my voice."The God of War, huh? So you're an Arch God now? Congratulations!!"

                "Thank you father." His regret fading and his calm  demeanor  coming back. " But that means that I must block your path, as is my duty as God of War."

               " I know." I said, a smile on my face as my son became normal again,"but, you know, if we kill each other , it may affect our relationship."

               "Yes , Father.What do you propose we do?"

                "How about first strike?"

                 "Agreed."

                 Time slowed down as we charged at each other at speeds faster than light. As soon we were was close enough, One began to form an attack with his swords. A strike to the  torso. I prepared my fist for an uppercut. He changed his attack, holding his swords parallel.A cut to stomach and chest preventing the upper cut. Abandoning the blow, I began to move my left to strike him in the stomach. He changed his blade's stance, forming an upturned V to intercept my fist. He realised his mistake too late as he left his lower stomach open. In desperation, he slashed his blades , still in a V, outwards towards my chest. My fist connected with his stomach.

                  The whole battle took a millionth of a second.

                   A Upside down V was leaking a steady stream of blood from my body, diverging from the base of my neck to 2 points just shy of my waist. My T-shirt, carefully interwoven with Adamantium strands, turned red as a triangle peeled out of it.

                   'Just what is expected  of He who cuts all.' I thought with a smile. His title was not in vain.

                   One was lying on the ground, a few meters away from me . He sat up, easily resisting the the sleep spell as the hole in his stomach closed. He did not seem that shocked.

                   "The outcome was already decided, wasn't it , father ?" he asked.

                    "In the past, I would have said yes, but now? 90% sure." I replied, with sincerity, as I  clotted my own blood. I was keeping that scar. It would forever reassure me, that my son was strong enough to injure the most powerful being that there is. He would be safe.

                  " Well One, it has been good meeting you. I'll see you later." I told One, turning towards the Throne room.

                 " Farewell then, father," he said, as he stopped resisting  against the sleep spell "It was an honour to duel you."

                 " Oh, I assure you, the honour was all mine. Also," I said , putting on a  mock serious face," when you become the best swordsman, don't come after me. I don't want to die anytime soon."

                  One chuckled at my attempt at joke, laughing more at my pathetic sense of humor than at the joke himself. One day, though, he would realize that it was only a half-joke.

               Family drama avoided, I walked towards the door of the throne room and broke it down. Finally, I would have my revenge. And then, perhaps I could move on.

               After this is over, I will go and meet Ed, and my sons, and perhaps start searching for Rocky again.

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40 minutes later

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               Sometimes, I am tempted to believe that there is a God pulling at strings (like an biblical God, not the race of gods). I know it is not true. I mean, I cannot see any ties emerging from me going any where unusual. There is a tie to dark, one to light, a few ties to various other energies, even one to chaos, but I have never felt any bond, through mind or through soul to any sentient being other than Rocky. I am alone in the universe, just like everyone else is.

                But if there is a god, he must really hate me.

                It had been, say , 4-5 minutes, before I woke up? I had not cast the stabilizing spell, so about a year should have passed in the real world. One of the downsides of travelling at a 100 times the speed of  light is that if you don't take proper precautions, you will arrive wherever you wanted a few thousand years later. Hasn't happened to me or Rocky yet yet, or to my sons. Ed is too old to make such a mistake.

               The problem was that, my speed was increasing, because it increased to 150 at that moment.

Hey, I think it's the stone thingy. 'Huh?' He means the amulet  that was bestowed upon usby the former Arch God of Creation. Why don't you just say Ed?Oh, please, I am not going to demean him by calling him that pathetic excuse of a name someone gave him. 'Oh,Excuse me' I thought,sarcastically,' it's not like I forced him .' Actually, you kind of did. You told him that his new name was Ed without even asking him first. 'The point is moot' I said, knowing that I would not win this argument.

                 I was still speeding up, though. I just crossed 1500 times the speed of light. I brought my right arm to grab the time field and realised two things.

               1. I am moving too fast for it to slow me down. My strength had been considerably diminished after that fiasco with the High god.

               2. I am no longer in possession of a right arm.

               Perfect. Just perfect.

               I thought back to the end of the battle. Before I was flying through the vacuum of space at 1500 times the speed of light....It is 2500 now. ..... 2500 times the speed of light. Everything was going so well. The High god was powerful, but inexperienced. I didn't just fight, no, I tortured him.  Mentally and psychologically. I didn't go so far as to tell him the secret of the universe, because even I knew that he did not deserve it. He was merely afraid for his race, as I was for mine. But I did everything else. I cut out pieces of his body and ate them , as he watched . I tore out 3 of his tentacles with my bare hands. I pulled out the less important organs from his body and crushed them in front of him. I cracked his round carapace so he could no longer see properly. It was really cathartic. I'm sure I was smiling through it all.

                And while I did this, I showed him what I would do to his precious race. I projected images into his mind of the God's plateau burning. Burning hot shadows enveloped the Gods, cooking them slowly for days on end as they twisted in pain, until they finally died. Little gods, scarcely a few years old, running in abject terror from destroyed schoolhouses as large  humanoid androids lifted their tiny bodies and slowly twisted them apart in their  hands. The entire universe being sucked into the void, every single race burning out until there was nothing but darkness.......  they were all lies. I would never do that. But I could li.

              However, he didn't seem to lose hope. In fact, he seemed determined by something.He was waiting for something. I hadn't noticed it then.

              What was strange though, was the way I lost.

              You could say that my one and only friend was doubly responsible for almost killing me.

             When I was about to deliver the killing blow to the God, the amulet around my neck throbbed with magic. It was a gift from Ed, much like an status updater. Any, I repeat, Any other time I would have started jumping with joy.This time though, the High god saw his chance and slammed an incredibly complex spell into me. A copy of the spell that held Chaos, backed by enough power to destroy 50000 galaxies. The high god was using the secret stash that the Gods kept to power the spell, and he was using all of it. Usually,that much force would knock the wind out of me and injure me, but it would do little else.

                               Everything changes completely when you match it with a spell of that level.

              The spell was also written by Ed.

              It was actually pretty funny and I admit that I was laughing like a maniac as the spell took effect, even though I was basically screwed.

              Luckily though, I had literally spent a hundred years talking to Ed, and I remembered him ranting about the spell, of how he just couldn't get it right, that there was an obvious hole in the spell. If you attack the mind of the person casting, and manage to break their guard, the spell will falter. Chaos found the hole, and killed a few thousand gods that held the barrier.

              The spell worked by cutting connections. It was meant to weaken the enemy, or in this case, Chaos. It cut the hold he had over all creation, and made him mortal enough to kill. The spell works by cutting connections to magic sources. Almost immediately my bond to some useless forces were cut, but my main bonds with Darkness and Light remained, along with my bond to the void.

               I quickly pushed my mind against the crack in the spell, as I used every single bit of magic that I had to weaken the barrier.  It worked.

               The next obvious problem now was that now I was completely defenseless, and the high god was ready to kill me. So I did the only thing I could think of.

                I made my arm explode.

                This idea made a whole lot more sense at that moment.

                Now keep in mind I didn't just blow up my arm. I ripped apart the atoms that constituted my arm, causing a nuclear  reaction on the spot, and concentrated all it's power on the ground below me. Instantly, I was accelerated to five times the speed of light.

                So I got off scot free? Not really. The high god got off one last blow. A mental spear, designed to pierce my mind and tear it apart from inside. I had to act quick and  decide what I valued more. My personality or my memories?

               The answer was obvious.

                So I took my memories and formed a thick, powerful shell around my mind. The blow hit me, but I manged to deflect it.

I instantly knew I had lost somethings, but then was not the time to pursue that line of thought.

                And thus, here I am, flying through space at speeds so fast that my time spell is wavering. And still gaining speed.

                When I reach the planet I had commissioned, I would have a few choice words to say to Ed. For now though, my spell had started wavering again, so I drew back into the depths of my mind and shut down everything that was not required, including the freeloaders.

                I was excited for this new world though, so that was a bonus.

"Lets see what Ed has whipped up."