Chapter 252: Chapter 10
Hades sat still upon his throne, his silver hair glinting faintly beneath the cold, violet light that emanated from the torches in the hall.
His expression remained unreadable, his gaze calm yet piercing as it swept across every god and goddess seated before him, Olympian and Underworld patron alike.
For a long moment, the hall was filled with nothing but the faint hum of divine energy and the restless tension that brewed in the air.
Then, in a voice that was deep, resonant, and heavy with authority, Hades finally spoke.
"As it stands now," he said slowly, his words echoing across the grand chamber like the toll of a bell, "our combined power, even united, cannot compare to those beings. Not even close."
The weight of his statement hung in the air.
No one dared to refute it. Even Zeus, whose pride had never known restraint, said nothing.
Poseidon’s face was equally grim, his trident resting loosely in his hand as if he could already sense the futility of their might before such cosmic horror.
For all their divinity, all their arrogance, they could not deny what they had witnessed.
After a few tense seconds, Zeus gave a slight nod, his jaw tightening.
"You are right, brother," he admitted, the words tasting bitter on his tongue. "Against such monstrosities, even the combined might of Olympus, the seas, and the underworld would shatter like glass before a storm."
Hades inclined his head slightly, acknowledging the truth that all had come to accept.
"Precisely," he said. "That is why we must look beyond ourselves."
His eyes gleamed faintly as he continued, "Nyx and I have already taken the first step. We have made an alliance with another pantheon."
The hall erupted in murmurs. Gods and goddesses glanced at one another in disbelief, their expressions a mix of shock and intrigue.
Athena’s sharp gaze flickered with calculation, while Ares frowned deeply, slamming a gauntleted fist against the table.
"What nonsense is this?" he barked. "Other pantheons? Are you saying there are other gods beyond our cosmos? Other rulers of creation?"
Although they have seen other universe, they never thought that gods exists in those universes. They thought there were only mortals.
After all, they weren’t able to resist the fragments, unlike them.
Of course, the fact that the fragment of the entity was defeated thanks to combined efforts of Hades, Nyx, the other Primordials, and the Twelve Patrons didn’t cross their mind.
"Indeed," Hades replied, his voice unshaken. "There are many more. Pantheons scattered across countless universes, some older than ours, some born only recently. They exist in their own worlds, with their own orders, myths, and laws. Each reigns over a cosmos of their own."
Aphrodite merely crossed her legs and smiled faintly, her eyes half-lidded as though she had been expecting this revelation.
Hades has already told me of such things long ago. Even the Kama Sutra she keeps in my library was a gift from another pantheon, given to her by Nyx herself.
Zeus turned to Hades with narrowed eyes. "You said you’ve allied with them. But what do you really plan? We are universe apart, you can’t really expect them to come to our aid immediately if something were to happen."
Hades gestured toward Nyx, who straightened gracefully.
The faint light of stars shimmered around her form as she began to speak, her voice calm yet commanding, as though she were weaving the laws of creation itself with every syllable.
"I plan," Nyx said, "to merge several universes together, to combine their laws, their energies, and their roots into one vast structure. A Hyperverse, so to speak."
The word itself seemed to vibrate through the gods’ souls, alien and monumental.
She turned her gaze toward Zeus and Poseidon, her eyes seems to be reflecting galaxies. "You have both felt it, haven’t you? The stagnation. The weight that prevents your power from rising further, no matter how much you cultivate it."
Zeus and Poseidon exchanged a glance before nodding in unison.
Poseidon spoke first, his voice low and contemplative. "I have felt it for eons. My strength has not grown since the Titanomachy, no matter how much I strive. It is as though I’ve reached the boundary of existence itself."
Zeus added, his tone equally grim, "Even my thunder feels weaker now compared to its youth. The lightning obeys, but it no longer grows. My divinity is stagnant, as if the cosmos itself forbids me from advancing."
A quiet sigh came from Nyx, who had remained silent until then. Her expression was cold yet faintly sorrowful as she spoke.
"That is because you have reached the limit. Not just you two, all of us. The universe cannot sustain any more power. It is finite, and its energy has long since been divided among its rulers."
Her eyes swept across the table, meeting each god’s gaze. "Almost half of the universe’s total energy rests within us the Primordial Gods. The rest is dispersed among the Titans, and what the Olympians and their offspring possess are mere fragments, leftovers. The cycle of power has reached its end. Didn’t you notice that every generation of gods that follows grows weaker, not because they lack will or skill, but because the universe itself has no more strength to give."
A heavy silence followed her words, as though even the air refused to move.
Hestia lowered her eyes, deep in thought. Indeed, despite never having trained for combat, she was confident on actually defeating her nephew Ares, the God of War.
Not in combat of course, but in pure destructive power.
Apollo clenched his fists, the light around him flickering faintly as he whispered, "So no matter how much we train, how far we reach, we can never surpass the boundary laid by creation itself..."
Nyx nodded slowly. "Yes. That is the truth you all have felt but refused to acknowledge. The universe we dwell in is a sealed pond, and all of us are fish trapped within it. The only way to evolve further is to break the boundaries of this pond, to merge it with the great ocean beyond."
"But what about him?" Poseidon pointed at Hades, "Why is he so strong? We’re both on the same generation!"
Nyx shook her head, "He’s an anomaly. You don’t have to know too much about him, it’s not important."
Zeus’s expression darkened, yet his curiosity was unmistakable. "But this Hyperverse of yours, how can you even convince other pantheons to merge with us?"
Nyx’s lips curved into a faint, enigmatic smile.
"You don’t have to worry about that," she said softly,
Hades then rose from his throne once more, his presence heavy with divine authority, his voice echoing like the sound of destiny itself.
"This is why I summoned you here. To unite the powers of Olympus and the Underworld, to combine the wills of gods and titans alike, and to expand beyond the boundaries of this dying cosmos. The age of isolation is over. The age of expansion begins."
And as his voice fell, silence filled the hall again, the kind of silence that only comes before the birth of something vast, terrible, and divine.
Nyx’s voice, deep and melodic like the whisper of the night sky itself, filled the vast hall once more, weaving calm amidst the tension that hung thick in the air.
Her eyes glowed faintly with starlight as she continued, her tone neither rushed nor hesitant, but heavy with meaning.
"Our allies — the Norse Pantheon — are already standing at the edge of ruin," she said, her gaze sweeping across the gathered Olympians, each of whom now sat in uneasy silence.
"Their world-tree, Yggdrasil, trembles under the corruption of an Outer Fragment. The realm of Asgard burns, and even their All-Father and king, Odin, proud as he is, has begun to waver. He has sent word to us — pleading for aid."
The gods exchanged wary glances. Even the mighty Zeus and Poseidon stiffened slightly at that revelation.
They never knew who this Odin was, but as someone called All-Father and King of Gods, his power must at least be comparable to Zeus.
Nyx, however, went on without pause, her voice echoing with divine authority.
"I intend to send reinforcements," she declared, the purple hue of her aura deepening as the stars that surrounded her form seemed to shimmer brighter. "Not only to aid them, but to work together, to merge our universes. Their cosmos will serve as the first bridge toward the creation of the Hyperverse I have spoken of. And once the process begins, the barriers that limit your divinity, your strength, will start to loosen."
At those words, the hall fell utterly silent.
Then, as the meaning sank in, Zeus’s expression changed first, the frown that had been etched across his face slowly dissolving into something that was half disbelief, half hunger.
His eyes gleamed with renewed life, and a faint grin began to pull at the corner of his mouth.
Beside him, Poseidon’s sea-blue gaze sharpened, and for the first time in eons, his heart beat faster not from rage or battlelust, but from anticipation.
Power. The word itself carried a kind of sacred intoxication that no god could truly resist.
And for Zeus and Poseidon, who had lived their immortal lives chasing supremacy, it was the sweetest temptation of all.
Zeus leaned forward, resting his chin on his knuckles, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous murmur.
"You’re saying..." he said slowly, his tone betraying a spark of excitement that even he couldn’t hide, "that once this... fusion is complete, we’ll surpass our limits? That the chains that bind our divinity will shatter, and our power will grow again?"
Nyx’s lips curved slightly, her eyes gleaming like a thousand suns collapsing into one.
"Yes," she answered simply. "You will feel your essence expand, your divinity evolve. The boundaries that have held you back since the dawn of creation will weaken, and when they do, you will ascend to a level beyond what this universe could ever grant."
Poseidon chuckled darkly, the faintest trace of his old arrogance returning as he ran a hand through his sea-green hair.
"Hah... if that’s true, then perhaps this whole ordeal is not a curse, but a blessing in disguise." He leaned back with a grin that showed the gleam of ambition hidden behind his calm facade. "I’ve long felt the ocean no longer sings to my command as it once did. If this Hyperverse truly allows me to reclaim my peak, or even surpass it, then as long as those so-called Norse help, then there is no problem sending reinforcement."
Zeus laughed loudly, his booming voice echoing through the chamber, filled with his usual confidence.
"Ha! You see, brother?" he said, slapping Poseidon on the shoulder. "Just a fragment of that creature we have already destroyed once! What is there to fear? We’ve done it before, we can do it again. Let the void send its horrors. Let the stars themselves fall if they must. Olympus shall stand!"
The Olympians stirred, murmurs of agreement and renewed pride rippling through their ranks.
Ares clenched his fists, grinning savagely.
Apollo’s eyes gleamed with fierce light, while Artemis gave a small, resolute nod.
Even Athena, though her mind was still wary, could not deny the thrill that coursed through her at the idea of progress, of evolution.
Nyx watched them quietly, her serene smile never faltering.
In her ancient, infinite eyes, there was both warmth and a faint trace of amusement.
To see the gods of Olympus so easily moved by the promise of greater power was a reminder that, no matter how high they stood, they were still creatures of desire, driven by ambition, by hunger, by the same spark that had led them to overthrow the Titans long ago.
Hades, sitting beside her, glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his expression calm but knowing.
Nyx met his gaze briefly and allowed herself a small, satisfied smile.
"They are motivated now," she murmured softly, her voice barely above a whisper but audible to him. "They may not yet understand the full scope of what lies ahead... but for now, their pride will serve us well."
Hades gave a faint hum of agreement, his violet eyes gleaming faintly.
"Let them be," he said quietly. "Ambition will keep them moving forward. And when the time comes, they’ll fight to protect this world."
Nyx’s smile widened ever so slightly, her eyes flickering with a mischievous light, the same light that once shone when the cosmos was young and she alone had ruled the endless dark.
"Exactly," she said. "And by then... they will have no choice but to follow where we lead."
And so, beneath the shimmering ceiling of starlight and shadow, as the Olympians’ hearts burned anew with ambition, and as the faint hum of the void beyond reality echoed faintly through Nyx’s aura, the first true alliance between Olympus and the Underworld, and beyond, was set in motion.
The gods, unaware of what true enormity awaited them, began to dream once more of power without end.