A pall of smoke clung to the ravaged landscape, staining the horizon in a sickly, burnt-orange haze. The air reeked of sweat, blood and smoldering stone; what was once the pristine heart of Xanthea was now a field of scars and ash.
The surviving gods stood scattered among the ruins, stunned-still trying to comprehend the scale of what they had just endured. Hundreds dead. Their realm shattered. The unthinkable had happened.
Buddha's voice finally cut through the heavy silence as he called the remaining deities to gather.
"Our realm lies in ruins... and our numbers dwindle."
Meng Po's tone wavered, thick with sorrow.
"Where can we even stand now?" one god muttered. Buddha's expression was grim, clouded by uncertainty. "Even I... cannot see a clear path forward," he confessed quietly.
Odin stepped forward, shoulders tense, his single eye gleaming with cold resolve. "The Ember failed to seal him," he said, voice low but steady. "It only weakened Lord Boros long enough for us to strike."
"But..." He paused, letting the weight of his next words settle. "There is still one option."
The air shifted.
Every god stilled.
They all knew who he meant.
Buddha inhaled, spine straightening. "Very well," he said at last, his voice firming with reluctant resolve. "We will seek an audience with him."
A murmur of dread rippled through the gathered gods.
"Let us proceed to the abode of the enigmatic one... to the Sanctum of Oracles," Buddha continued. "Steel your hearts. What awaits us there... will decide the fate of our realm."
He turned toward the distant horizon.
...
"Master... the conflict has reached its conclusion."
The servant knelt low, forehead pressed to the cold stone.
"Lord Ouroboros has been apprehended."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then-a slow smile crept across the master's face, subtle at first... then widening, like a fault line splitting the earth.
"Excellent," he murmured. "So the waiting game finally ends."
His fingers tapped once against the arm of his throne.
"They will come to me now..."
...
At the edge of reality itself, the gods arrived.
Before them stood the Sanctum of Oracles - a colossal monolith of ancient stone and impossible design, towering into the heavens as if it predated space itself. It was said this place was not merely old, but primordial-the very wellspring from which Nexus first bled into existence.
The air pressed down on them, thick with dread. Torchlight flickered along the walls, casting shadows that twisted unnaturally, writhing as if alive-watching.
The servants of the Sanctum lined the path in silence, eyes lowered, bodies bowed in absolute submission. None dared meet a god's gaze.
Buddha stepped forward.
With a slow, deliberate push, he opened the massive doors.
They groaned-not from age, but resistance-before finally yielding.
And then-
Presence.
Not sight. Not sound.
Existence itself bent.
An overwhelming force flooded the hall, suffocating and vast, as if the very concept of life had taken form. Even the gods felt their breath falter.
Buddha lowered his head, awe threading his voice.
"Great One... we have arrived."
Behind him, Odin's voice dropped to a whisper, unease etched into every word.
"Even on a good day... this place is forbidden."
His lone eye swept the chamber. "I've seen god-entities erased for daring to step too close to the Sanctum."
His jaw tightened.
"He is not merciful."
The shadows at the heart of the chamber shifted.
And then the name was spoken-softly, reverently, fearfully.
"The god of Life..."
A presence stirred.
"Yuiitsu Muni."
As they stepped inside, their eyes slowly adjusted to the dim, unnatural light.
A figure sat upon a throne of overwhelming grandeur.
He reclined against it casually, his back resting deep into the ancient seat. His left hand cradled his chin, elbow planted against the armrest, while his gaze pierced through the gathered gods as though stripping them bare.
It was not judgment they felt.
It was inspection.
With a slight motion of his finger, he gestured for them to sit.
Their eyes widened.
A long, polished table stretched before them, its surface immaculate, untouched by dust or time. Lining its sides were chairs-each one positioned perfectly.
The exact same number as those who stood before him.
He had prepared for them.
Down to the last seat.
Silence stretched.
"Well?"
The voice scraped through the air like a rusted gate dragged open.
"Where is he?"
Yuiitsu Muni did not raise his voice. He did not need to.
The servants stiffened, exchanging nervous glances.
"Do not aggravate me," he continued, his tone sharpening just enough to cut.
"Don't tell me you are afraid of someone who is unconscious."
A ripple of unease passed through the gods.
'How did he know?'
Their thoughts betrayed them.
"It is obvious," Yuiitsu said flatly, eyes never leaving them. "His Nexus is weakened."
His hand remained under his chin, posture unchanged-as if this revelation required no effort at all.
One of the servants finally stepped forward, trembling.
"He... he is here, my Lord."
Yuiitsu's lips curved slightly.
"Handle him with care," he said softly.
"He is an Elder god, after all."
A low, menacing chuckle rolled through the chamber, vibrating the table beneath their hands.
The gods exchanged uneasy glances.
They had come seeking answers.
Instead, it felt as though they had entered the domain of something that already knew the end.
Buddha stepped forward, robes whispering against the stone.
"I will oversee the report," he said calmly. "It is only fitting that I-the Enlightened One-chronicle the events that have transpired."
"Enlightened?"
The word slid through the chamber like a velvet-wrapped dagger-soft, precise, lethal.
"Are you implying," Yuiitsu Muni continued, his voice dangerously calm, "that your understanding surpasses mine?"
Buddha met his gaze without flinching. His eyes locked onto Yuiitsu's, steady and unwavering.
"No, Great One," he replied smoothly. "I merely acknowledged my role as the chronicler of these events."
A low, ominous chuckle ripple through the Sanctum, vibrating faintly in the stone beneath their feet.
"Mind your tongue, Buddha," Yuiitsu said quietly.
"Lest it prove sharper than a serpent's tooth."
Buddha inclined his head at once.
"Yes, Great One. I will be more careful. You have my sincerest apologies."
"Then-"
"What is the death toll?"
The Great One's voice struck like a solemn drumbeat, echoing through the Sanctum.
"Nine hundred and sixty," Buddha answered, his tone heavy. "Great One."
"And how many gods," Yuiitsu asked, eyes narrowing slightly, "apart from myself... are present in this room?"
Buddha's gaze swept the assembly before returning forward.
"Thirty, Great One."
A subtle shift rippled through the air.
"Then," Yuiitsu said, his voice hardening with a hint of steel, "where are the remaining ten?"
Buddha's expression darkened.
"They succumbed to their wounds on our journey to the Sanctum, Great One."
Yuiitsu's gaze lingered on him-searching, weighing, dissecting. The silence stretched uncomfortably.
"Why," he asked at last, "were they not included in the initial count?"
Buddha's shoulders lifted in a restrained, almost helpless shrug.
"No matter," Yuiitsu murmured, leaning back into his throne.
The words were soft.
The warning behind them was not.
"Buddha."
The Great One's voice carried through the Sanctum like a summer breeze-gentle, effortless... and impossible to ignore.
"Yes, Great One," Buddha answered at once, bowing slightly.
"Refresh my memory," Yuiitsu Muni said, eyes half-lidded. "On the Celestial Hierarchy."
Buddha closed his eyes in reverence before speaking, his tone measured and ceremonial.
"At the pinnacle stand the Elder gods - ancient beings of unrestrained might," he began."Beneath them are Omni gods, wielders of boundless potential. Following them are the Arch gods, bearers of wisdom and overwhelming strength."
He continued steadily.
"Then come the Greater gods, shining exemplars of divine authority. Below them stand the Lesser gods, the Mortal gods, the Cursed gods and finally the Fallen gods - each bound to their appointed station within the celestial firmament."
"That is the order."
"I see," Yuiitsu replied softly.Then his gaze sharpened, narrowing like a crescent moon.
"And yet," he murmured, "there is a void in my understanding."
The room grew still.
"The intricacies of this battle remain obscured," he continued. "Pray... enlighten me."
Buddha's expression shifted - contrite, solemn. His voice lowered, imbued with reverence.
"Forgive me, Great One. I withheld the full account of the battle. Allow me now... to unveil the truth."
He drew in a slow breath.
"Two members of the Council driven by hubris-charged Lord Boros first."
A pause.
"They were slain instantly."
The weight of those words settled heavily.
"That spark ignited the inferno," Buddha continued. "Zeus unleashed his divine fury, hurling Lord Boros into the heavens."
"Odin seized that moment," he said, voice tightening. "Striking with calculated precision."
Buddha hesitated-only briefly.
"I, too, engaged Lord Boros in close combat," he admitted. "But his mastery surpassed my own."
Silence followed.
Not disbelief.
Not shock.
Only the quiet acknowledgement that even gods had limits-and Boros had stood beyond them.
"Ares and Faunus devised a diversion," Buddha continued. "Through it, Lord Boros was separated from his flaming swords."
His voice darkened."They were seized by an unknown entity-one who emerged without warning and vanished through a portal just as swiftly."
A low, rumbling laugh cut through the chamber.
"A portal..."
Yuiitsu murmured, his lips curling ever so slightly.
The gods stirred. Confusion rippled across the chamber-uneasy glances exchanged, breaths held.
Buddha bowed his head."Yes, Great One. A portal manifested briefly. Its origin remains unknown."
Yuiitsu's amusement deepened.
"So he came to the battle..."
A pause. His eyes gleamed.
"That's... amusing."
Then he laughed-loudly.
The sound echoed against the ancient walls, heavy, oppressive. Several gods stiffened. Others felt Nexus recoil instinctively, as if something vast had just turned its attention outward.
"I might just pay him a visit and retrieve those blades after all."