I've got some gods to kill.

Kicking up the sand at my feet, I begin walking along the beach. The waves are gently crashing and any remnants of the previous fight have been washed away.

I nonchalantly stroll into the ocean, clothes and all. While I may not have absolute control over the divinity I stole from Triton, it's enough to allow me to breathe underwater and stay dry.

The sandbar slopes down gradually until I come across the reef only a couple of meters below the surface. Though it should be thriving with life, everything seems rather dead.

Is my aura leaking that badly? I turn around in the water, causing the dust on the seafloor to swirl. As I suspected. Behind me is literally a trail of destruction. Its then that I realize I seem to be oozing some black liquid. I can sense it's full of death and as if confirming my suspicions it reaches over to a nearby plant and instantaneously starts a decaying process.

Yet another reason for Poseidon to grudge me...

Ignoring this, I head even deeper down the ocean. Using my newly acquired omnipotence, I can sense a large city several hundred kilometers away. While I could theoretically walk there, it's rather a pain to have to spend that much effort just to fight someone. This gives me an idea and I test whether my dimensional magic works underwater.

To my satisfaction it does.

Normally, using dimensional travel requires either knowing the coordinates or prior experience at the destination point. However, I can cheat with my omnipotence. Basically, since I'm everywhere, I can virtually teleport to any location I want. At least in this world. Though I've tried, traveling to an all-new dimension still isn't possible for me yet. I feel like I'm missing an important piece of a puzzle and I just can't figure it out.

Anyways, with my magic, I connect the spatial rip to fifty meters from the city's outskirts. As I poke my head through, I see the most magnificent sight I could ever imagine.

I can tell we're almost three kilometers deep in the sea, but the ocean itself seems to be sparkling. Countless fluorescent lights from bulbs hanging over large sea cliffs illuminate the entire land. Surrounding the city is a large bubble-like barrier that has only one visible entry point. A long bridge leads into a colossal gate with an inscription: Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος. Two enormous ancient stone statues stand on guard on either side of the massive gate. Squadrons of mermen wearing golden armor and riding various sea monsters patrol the area. Luckily I’ve teleported far enough from the powerful noses of their mounts. At this point, I decide to use one of the spoils I received after absorbing Hades.

Taking out the Helm of Darkness, I put it over my head and essentially vanish from existence. Though I could just barge in, I'd rather not spend more time than necessary. Oh don't worry. I plan on leaving with a bang...

With the Helm's powers, I easily avoid the gate's security systems and the multitude of guards. Once I make it in the bubble, the appearance of the city becomes drastically more modern. There are wide courtyards and columned pavilions, as well as beautiful streets lit by glowing jellies. Quite a few residences can be seen and I gaze silently, watching the little mermen laughing and playing.

I turn the corner and come across an area clearly designed for the wealthier inhabitants. Instead of the typical abalone-white homes, this street is littered with palaces, villas, and mansions, all sparkling with purple metal that I identified as amethyst. Right at the end of this area is a large palace made of pearl, seashells, and grayish-white stone. The pathways leading to the entrance are covered in glowing jewels and several draconic monsters are chained on the many columns holding up the open-roofed deck.

The Helm lets me escape detection and I wander in unhindered. Though this is certainly smaller than the castle Hades used, it's no less glamorous. Everything about it screams 'divine!' Truly this is a home fitting for a god.

Following the trail that I could sense, I eventually make my way over the colored stone tiles to a large room. The door is made of coral and I pass through it. Before me lies what I can only assume is the God of the Sea. Poseidon.

He's lying in his large bed with a woman at either side. The one to his left has flowing blue hair and possessively holds his arms while jealously watching the other woman fondle and kiss him. The one making out with him has extremely long pink hair and she bites her lips to stifle a moan. Before they go any further I take off my Helm and flash him a smile.

"God of the Sea, is your life so full of shit that you can only think of women while your own son lies slaughtered and half-eaten across an unknown beach?"

The three of them look at me in shock. The one with pink hair looks to be a ditz as she only tries to bashfully cover herself. The other woman widens her eyes and in a flash is fully dressed in greenish-blue armor. Meanwhile, the God of the Sea stares at me with surprise and...fear?

"Were you the one who killed Hades?"

I only begin channeling mana.

He panics and stands up from the bed, materializing a golden trident similar to the one Triton used. Only this one emanates divinity and *sniff* that's strange...I can smell a cyclops on it..."W-w-w-ait! You're a Primordial aren't you? Just what have we done to offend you?"

I tilt my head. "Nothing really. I'm just doing this so I get stronger?"

He sits back on the ground with a *FWUMP* while laughing nervously. "Stronger he said. Hahaha. That's all he sees in us Olympians? THIS GOD WILL NOT GO DOWN EASILY. AMPHRITITE. HELDEA."

His eyes flash and the floor begins to shake. He transforms to his divine state in a cloud of dust. Instead of a middle-aged man, an older massive god takes his place with an enlarged trident in his hand. He now sports a robe flowing wildly around the water. A twisted crown is atop his head and he roars in anger.

His women also begin to grow and they also match his size. The blue-haired one holds a massive red sword and the pink-haired one holds a scepter with a deep-green orb shining at the top. As they begin channeling energy into their attacks, I toss over a little gift.

Just a few minutes after my evolution, I started experimenting with my magic to prepare for my upcoming fight. After countless trials and errors, often at the expense of myself, I learned how to develop an attack that could stop even a god's regeneration. The answer was through weaponizing mana. With my primordial levels of mana control, I could literally force the god to a crippled, powerless state. While it wouldn't kill them, it would still weaken them enough for me to absorb their essence.

As for why? A god's divine or true form is made by mana. By expending ridiculous amounts of mana, a body can be formed that's made of mana. Gods manipulate the mana to represent their divinities and give it form. This is why Hades's form was surrounded by souls and why Poseidon seemed to literally control the ocean around him. By crippling a god's control over their mana, not only would their divine form break apart, it would also essentially rob them of their divinity. After all, using divine powers requires a shit ton of mana. Mana that they could no longer use...

Turning to my first victim, I let Poseidon experience what it felt like to have your own divinity be stripped.

As I grasped and linked with his godly mana, I sent a single order. Terminate.

The god stopped his movements and began to drop his hands. The water boiling around him instantly calmed down and returned to its normal state. His connection to his mana core was forcibly severed by me and now he was the same as a mortal. He looks at me in astonishment when he starts to gag. Without his mana, he couldn't enjoy the benefits of manipulating the ocean to allow him to breathe! I can only smirk at the sight of the God of the Sea drowning.

Looking at the women, it's clear that they aren't a threat. However...

In a flash, I take out my sword and pierce their hearts in two quick strokes. "Eh?"

Their bodies float to the floor and their golden blood begins swirling up. There isn't even shock or pain in their gazes as they lay unmoving. I hold the sword up with a frown. Since when did this sword get so strong? The last I remembered, it can only wound a god not kill it! Ah! Whatever.

Poseidon stops struggling and looks over. He opens his mouth but I can't hear his voice. Only bubbles come out. As if remembering his predicament, he realizes his mistake. As water rushes in, he starts kicking his feet and chokes silently.

"Gluttony." It's not needed but I still say it out loud. While it was...interesting, seeing this god only soured my mood. What a stubborn little cockroach. Just die already! I feel his power enter me and the pitch-black singularity swallows up the god. But not before I give the water inside this city a slight tweak…As I’m teleporting out, the water violently swirls into a tornado that rips up the city from its foundations. I give one last listen to the cries of despair from the townspeople and leave.

As I pop out from the teleportation gate, I begin flying on my way to my next group of targets. This time, the closest Olympian to me is in a large volcano in the western part of a landmass known as the USA. I enter the volcano only to come across a blacksmith's forge. I destroy all the traps littered about the place and I enter the heart of the workshop and find a large, deformed man? He wobbles around on his steel brace and roars at me. His face is covered in grime and I grin as he tries to attack me with an army of automatons. I short-circuit their mana systems and turn towards the god. I look around and spot a name present on each of the items being brandished in the room. Hephaestus? One of my targets! This time, instead of blocking his mana, I completely shatter his mana core. His creations are far weaker than I would have thought but they are still quite annoying to deal with. I look to see the man breathing heavily with a scowl and holding his arms. Even though he loses his fire immunity, his thick skin somehow looks fine even though we're in the heart of a volcano! To my surprise, he doesn't put up much of a fight as I activate [Gluttony]. Looks like he accepted his fate.

Next.

A two-storied Victorian home in the Northwest.

Two gods (male and female). Ares, God of War and Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. As I walk inside, Ares, a rough-looking man wearing only his boxers tries to shoot me with a strange shotgun. I stop the bullets and examine them closely. They seem to be made of an unknown metal that can pierce through non-human skin. Tossing them to the side, the man shouts and tries to hit me with his fists. 

“Fight me with your fists like a real man you coward!”

I sigh and immediately slam my feet against his neck. He falls to the ground, clutching his head in pain. After snapping the god's neck, I walk into the bedroom where a naked woman lies in the bed with a smoking cigarette in her mouth. She tries to smile at me but I can still smell the fear she's trying to conceal. In an attempt to seduce me, she tries inviting me to the bed and looks ecstatic when I approach her. However, as she closes her eyes waiting for my touch, she opens them again after feeling something on her neck. I move my arm and her head flies clean off. This time, I have two delicious gods to feed [Gluttony].

As I prepare to teleport away, I happen across a god flying at high speeds. He has short blonde hair and his boots seem to have wings attached to them. He senses my presence and tries to disappear but I’m too fast. With a snap of my fingers, I cut off his mana. 

“WHAT. My connection to Olympus was severed? Damn it Hestia! You better transmit the message I a sent you!”

I smile at the panicking god and activate [Gluttony]. Before he can say anything, it devours the god. 

As I extend my omnipotence to search for the remaining gods, I come across something interesting. For some reason, I can sense one of the goddesses in the Underworld! Though I’m not worried, I’m rather confused on what they’re doing. Eh whatever. If they needed help I trust that they’ll at least request it. Ignoring the anomaly, I sense that the rest of the gods seemed to have converged on one spot. I can also sense countless supernatural entities lying in wait. Looks like they'll be fronting one final, futile assault!

I teleport to their spot and find myself before the gates of a glorious city. If Poseidon’s city was incredible, it’s practically nothing before this one. Now I get it. Elysium and the other paradises in the underworld were clearly modeled after this city! That skeleton grandpa must have really missed this place. 

Assembled before me is an army of human, monsters, and gods standing. Leading them is a wizened old man holding a rod exploding with power. Four of the remaining Olympians stand by him. Two women. Two men. I hear the shouts for attention from the army and only fold my arms. They scramble into their formations and await further orders. 

Interesting. I inspect the auras of these humans and discover that they all seem to possess semi-divinities! Demigods? They wear armor and equipment made of that same metal I found in Ares's gun. Though they look nervous, I can sense their pride as they stand next to their parents. Truly a shame. Do the gods just see their offspring as cannon fodder?

This army will make a fine test to the extent of my mana control. The old man starts giving a speech about pride and how the spawn of Tartarus shall not pass blah blah. I tune out his thunderous voice and begin activating my mana control. By the time i finish connecting to everyone’s mana cores, I focus back on my location and hear the deafening shouts of thousands of beings. The way they’re shouting, it’s almost like they think they have a chance. One of the goddesses seems to have noticed the entry of a foreign substance in her mana. She shouts in a panic and immediately disappears! How shameless! I tighten my net but she somehow evades it. I decide to ignore her for now and instead turn my attention to the rest of this pitiful army. Terminate.

Thousands of beasts, gods, and demigods begin to shudder as they feel their connection to mana suddenly break. Many of them collapse on the spot but the braver ones brandish their weapons and roar for a charge. The thunderous steps of the hundred or so remaining demigods reaches my ears. As they approach, I activate a spell that I received as a Primordial of Death.

"Death's Whisper"

Black particles float in the air and begin drifting towards the army. As the substance passes a being, they immediately go into a crazed frenzy, swinging their weapons at their own allies. As the sounds of countless spars crash around me, I patiently wait until the whole group has been encompassed. With a snap of my fingers the black particles that hover over each individual suddenly drops and enters them. At once, thousands instantly die, their life force immediately wiped out by my power. As a Primordial of Death, I have supreme mastery over the laws of death allowing me to effectively erase anyone out of existence. All of the demigods have fallen as well as the entire group of intelligent and tamed monsters. Some of the minor gods also die and that spreads panic among the remaining gods. The strongest of them lay crippled and on the brink of death while even the Olympians struggle to stand up. Only the old man lies standing, albeit shakily. Raising my eyebrow at the look of defiance he gives me, I grin as he tries to activate the long cylinder in his hands. 

Is this god stupid? Has he not realized his mana connection has been broken off? I watch on in surprise as he somehow overcomes the barrier I put over his mana core. With a shout of triumph, he activates the bronze cylinder and a bolt of pure lightning shoots at me.

The bolt vaporizes everything in a 700-meter radius and the gods hold their breath. Is it over? Alas for them, it didn't even touch me.

"N-n-no way! He survived the master bolt?"

"Eh? He's not even injured! He looks even better than before!"

"We are so fucked..."

The old man coughs out ichor and he stumbles to his knees. Looks like forcefully breaking into his mana core had catastrophic results for the god. As he falls to the ground, the earth quakes in rage and sorrow. One of the goddesses wails out, “HUSBAND!” 

This old man sure surprised me. Even with my mana interference, he was able to pull off that one attack. He’s twitching on the floor as I walk over to him. “That was impressive Zeus, King of the Gods, God of the Sky.”

The king of the gods can only stare with hatred as he sees me practically gloating over his unmoving body. He watches on in despair as I incapacitate the rest of the gods around this battleground. Now with an entire squadron of fallen gods, I give [Gluttony] its grandest meal yet. All of the gods are consumed and I leave one alive.

Zeus’s old face is full of sorrow and rage. He quietly whispers a curse to me. “Grandma! Avenge me a thousand times over!” His face curls in a snarl as he disappears into the void.

With the last god consumed, the grand city before me begins to collapse. It seems like their divinities powered most of these buildings and without their influence, broke apart. 

The era of the gods has ended with all but two Olympians having been absorbed. To not stain the land any further, I leave the surviving gods to be. The majority of them are just nymphs or gods like Circe who were roped into this fight. They look at me in fear as they quickly escape the destruction. 

Now, I stand before the bodies of the demigods and beasts. I feel obliged to at least clean up their corpses and give [Gluttony] a well-deserved dessert. Though I could have avoided slaughtering the entire group of mortals and beasts, they would most likely be a hindrance in the future. Better to take care of them at once than later...

I turn my attention to the one goddess smart enough to flee from the scene. In a flash, I teleport next to her as she moves at godly speeds having escaped the range of my mana control. "Boo."

"AHHHHHHHHHHH." She collapses to the ground. Her gray eyes widen in surprise, but narrow when she realizes who I am. Her expression turns cold instantly and she glares at me. Her long, straight hair is in a tangle and she gives me a defiant look. I stare her down and notice the condition of her clothes. She clearly doesn't care much about her appearance as the high speeds she was traveling in have exposed some important areas on her body. Seeing my eyes travel to her modest breasts she reddens and tries to hit me.

"YOU ROGUE!"

I easily dodge the goddess and pin her to the ground. She looks surprised and scared when I slam my hands next to her. Though I wouldn't mind killing her, the system notifies me that my level's reaching the midway point for the primordial level. In other words, she doesn't necessarily have to be my food. So I question her about her usefulness. "Divinity."

"Eh?" Her cold look slightly breaks as she raises an eyebrow.

"What's your divinity"

Clearing her throat with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, she says "Wisdom..."

Wisdom. That explains why she was smart enough to know I was an enemy they couldn’t handle. Hmm. Maybe she'd be able to help Mammon in overseeing the Underworld! I contact Mammon and she answers immediately.

"Master! I was just about to ask you when you were planning on heading back! There's some matters that need your presence..."

"I'm finished up here so I'll be joining you shortly. I'm apprehending one of the last Olympians right now and don't see the need to kill her if she's useful. How would you like an assistant Mammon?"

"Assistant? It would definitely make things go faster and more smoothly around here...If master deems this servant deserving of a helper, I would gladly accept."

I tell Mammon that I'm heading back and turn to my new captive. "Stand up. We're leaving."

I don't give her time to react and create a portal. She stares at it with questioning eyes but lets out a yelp as I shove her in. She turns to me in anger. "Hey wait! Where are you ta-"

She disappears in the rift before she finishes her outburst. I follow shortly afterward leaving behind the ruined city burning in the distance.

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Ahhh. The welcoming feeling of eternal suffering. Or not. It’s nice to be back on the throne but the atmosphere is just as suffocating as I remembered it. Though I find comfort in all the death and souls, it’s a far cry from the freedom I had on the surface. The goddess gasps and heaves on her knees. Another case of dimensional sickness…

“Don’t dirty my floors.”

She glares at me with teary eyes. She recovers her senses shortly after and begins analyzing the location. I smirk as she stiffens in shock. "Impossible..."

Ignoring the bewildered goddess, I await the arrival of the seven, eight? presences I can sense. With a knock, the demon lords enter. The last one, Beelzebub, seems to be dragging someone along. My senses tell me it's an Olympian! The last one!

Beelzebub stands before me and bows. The woman at the end of her chain comes into view. She has wavy hair and closes her eyes before me. Though she seems nimble and graceful, the collar on her neck contrasts sharply against her pale skin. The other demon lords start growling when they see she hasn’t bowed to me yet. Opening her eyes, she gives me a look so full of hatred that even I’m taken aback.

Beelzebub glares at the woman and coughs. "Master. This one would like your permission in assimilating this goddess's hunters with my unit. Asmodeus placed a slave charm on her and her group to only follow our commands. I can personally attest that each of the members in her group are extremely strong and ripe for training. I guarantee they will be a good addition to our forces!"

I look over the goddess. Though she doesn't show it on her face, I can clearly see the deep hatred in her eyes. And the fact that I slaughtered her fellow gods doesn't seem to be the main reason! Frowning, I raise my voice. "Do you find a problem with this arrangement, err.."

"Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, master. This slave does not have a problem..."

"Haaaaah. I have bigger things to worry about than bratty goddesses. You're in charge of her training or whatever Beelzebub. I'll be coming back in a bit to discuss the future."

I walk out of the room and motion for Mammon and Athena to follow me. My back is turned so I can’t see the strange glint and obsession in the eyes of my innocent Beelzebub…Soon I would come to know that Beelzebub's "training" was only just extreme brainwashing.

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Introducing Athena to Mammon, I slipped away from them after giving her some orders. While leaving the castle, I noticed that there were quite a few auras present in one of the courtyards. I crept up and saw a group of human? women looking rather out-of-place. Several members I recognized from Beelzebub's units were watching over them, but they were only watching over them like guards. Though there were being scrutinized and observed, for the most part they were actually being treated decently! At least for demons…I couldn’t hear a single scream caused by torture or the gleeful looks of the demons whipping their prisoners. Instead, rations were being handed and the guards were even assisting in the creation of tents! Could this be the group Beelzebub was talking about? True, they were strong and had massive potential. But they were human! Surely they wouldn't be able to control each of these ticking timebombs!

I reveal myself and wave one of the guards over. The rest of the guards started bowing deeply, while the girls (I've noticed that this group is entirely female) are giving me looks of curiosity, hate, and anger. In fact they all remind me of that goddess under Beelzebub.

"Explain."

"Yes Lord! These are huntresses from the Hunters of Artemis. They were captured, along with their goddess in one of their hunts right after Lady Beelzebub arrived with the other Demon Queens."

"And their treatment?"

"Lady Mammon suggested we treat them kindly to further increase the loyalty of the goddess to our group. She said that if we treated her children well, she would repay us the favor."

As expected of Mammon! Feeling proud of her shrewdness, I continue my way to Elysium. I pointedly ignore the women and head off. I can tell Circe is here and I wanted to at least say hi before I went back to Tartarus. The security ghouls only bow and open the gates as I walk over to the new resort that popped out in this paradise.

Two tanned girls greet me in an orderly fashion when I enter the modernistic lobby. Their eyes open wide when they realize who I am and run away squealing for their mistress.

Circe walks out and gives me a tight hug. "Reiko! Since you're here I'm guessing it's safe?"

"Yeah. Olympus is no more." I chuckle.

Circe stares silently as she tries to take in my words. It must be quite overwhelming for her.

"Thank you Reiko...I know you didn't do this for me, but thank you."

She has a soft smile on her face.

"Yeah yeah. Anyways I just wanted to say hey. You can go back to your island if you want. Though I'll certainly miss you."

She mock glares at me. "Don't think I forgot what happened after our night! Ugh! You really fucked all your servants right after spending the night with me? Such a despicable man!"

I only laugh lightly. I rush out the door,"Love ya!" leaving behind a sputtering goddess.

I make my way to the gaping pit that leads all the way to Tartarus. It's been a while and I can't help but shudder at the thought of returning. Since I couldn't sense Kampe in the castle, that only means she's still in Tartarus. As I stare into the abyss, I feel it calling me and beckoning me. It's like the pit itself is alive! However, within that endless evil, I can sense another presence, just as strong and powerful, but this one full of love and loneliness.

Nyx.

Without a second's hesitation I leap off the edge. The pit laughs as it sucks me down, undoubtedly plotting my destruction. I can only scoff at it. For an eternity, I seem to fall until finally. Finally. I'm back. Back in the hellish landscape that I was born from. As I stand from the crater of my impact, I tilt my head back and let out the loudest laugh I can muster. And my aura explodes.

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A.N. long chapter. next chapter will be the conclusion of this volume. I've decided to keep athena and artemis around but not really as harem candidates. more like support for his current forces.

thanks for reading.