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Chapter 32 – The Last Day of the Gods
The sky had torn open. A rupture so profound that its echo resonated through the deepest valleys of Midgard, silencing the hearts of all living things. No wind blew, no birds sang, no shadows shifted. It was as if the universe had entered a moment of solemn reverence for the impending absolute will.
And then, he arrived.
Zeus.
He was not merely a god, but the spine of order forged in steel. Legends trembled as they spoke of the lightning that sprang from his chest; for he was not only the master of thunder, but the final arbiter who upheld the divine balance.
As his golden armor pierced through the shattered veil of the heavens, the serpents of lightning coiling around him struck the ground one by one. Each strike marked the end of an era, the final breath of a myth.
When his feet touched Midgard, the earth cracked. Valleys rose, oceans recoiled, and the sky turned blood red. Then Zeus spoke. His voice bent time itself as it echoed:
“You… the forgotten. Your words hold no echo, your faith no roots. You bear no weight upon the scales of justice. And I… have come to deliver atonement.”
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The First Sacrifice – Eldrimir
Eldrimir, ruler of the folds of time, a god who could alter the fabric of the universe with thought alone. He sat in his dark palace, his face hidden among shadows, aware of who approached. Yet no matter how much he prepared, the might that slipped through with Zeus’s arrival stripped him bare in an instant.
“Zeus,” Eldrimir said, his voice both a whisper and a scream,
“Even when you forged order, you recognized me. I am knowledge, I am wisdom, I am the curve of eternity!”
Zeus narrowed his eyes.
“Eternity is a prison for those who overreach.”
The lightning came before the words. Eldrimir’s body—woven from existence, light, and knowledge—shuddered like a cocoon unraveling. Millennia-old spells decayed in a breath. His scream echoed between dimensions. And then, he was no more.
His ashes scattered into the sky—Eldrimir, the eyeless sovereign of wisdom, was now nothing but memory.
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Broken Justice – Velmior
Velmior, voice of ancient justice, the weight that held the scale in balance. As Zeus approached, he stood waiting, scales in hand.
“I am your balance, Zeus,” he declared. “Destroy me, and you will fall as well.”
Zeus bowed his head. His eyes burned like a dying star.
“Those who hide behind the shadow of justice are not exempt from my judgment.”
A bolt of lightning struck—not him, but his scales. They shattered. Then, from within Velmior, a black smoke rose; the rot of corrupted justice revealed. Zeus crushed him with a divine fist. Velmior’s body sank into the mountains, then dissolved like dust.
Midgard trembled.
⸻
The Lord of Flame – Enkyr
Enkyr, born from the heart of hellfire, was flame incarnate. His wings were molten, his voice roared like volcanoes. He faced Zeus with defiance.
“Do not come closer! I once was your nightmare!”
Zeus walked through the flames. With each step, the fire died, Enkyr’s power fading away.
“Fire is not power—it is the mask of rage.”
Zeus raised his right hand. A lightning bolt did not descend from the sky—it was born from his palm. That bolt sealed the inferno within Enkyr. The fire god became a flicker, then was swallowed by eternal darkness.
⸻
The Fall of V
V writhed in the heart of the Shadow Realm, in the center of all evolution. His summons had retreated, his soul trying to reconstruct itself as his body tore apart and reformed uncontrollably.
Nihreth, Griffon, Shadow, Nightmare—all had been drawn inward for a time.
His eyes opened to an endless void. Dual voices echoed in his mind:
“We are weak… no, gone… no, we are only beginning!”
“This… this is merely the birth pain of darkness!”
And then, Zeus arrived.
He walked across Midgard to the foot of the throne woven of shadows. V could not move. When he raised his eyes, he saw the eternity in Zeus’s gaze.
Zeus bent forward. His words were merciless:
“You, child. You became mighty by hiding in the dark. But you forgot… darkness is born in the heart of light.”
V tried to speak. He coughed blood. Yet in his eyes, that familiar arrogance still lingered. His final words were a whisper:
“I… am darkness… eternal…”
Zeus placed the lightning bolt directly into his chest. The sky ignited. The walls of the Shadow Realm collapsed. But suddenly—
The sky froze.
Invisible seals at the edge of the Shadow Realm revealed themselves. Spells written outside the bounds of time began to glow. As he died, V had sealed his own darkness. A safeguard. No one would enter that realm again, nor would the darkness awaken or spread.
Zeus stood still for a moment. Then he turned and began to walk away.
And the wind blew once more.
⸻
THE END
The earth fell into silence.
Midgard, shattered.
The gods, destroyed.
The darkness, sealed.
But… every ending echoes a beginning.
In a distant village of Midgard, a child looked up at the sky.
A familiar glint sparkled in his eyes.
The shadow… was still there.
Waiting. Patiently.
“Darkness may die…
but it is never forgotten.”
