Zeus, the formidable King of the Heavens, stood in the heart of the celestial realm.
His rule had been established for long, long eternities, stretching back to the primordial chaos before the cosmos was ordered.
He maintained order among the myriad divine beings with an iron fist, his authority absolute and rarely challenged.
His appearance was one of divine power personified. He possessed a commanding physique, muscular and imposing, with a short, neatly trimd beard and piercing blue eyes that crackled with latent lightning.
He wore robes of flowing white and gold, emblazoned with stylized thunderbolts, The air around him shimred with pure divine energy, radiating power and majesty.
There were only a few celestial factions that did not directly co under his control, holding their own sovereign domains.
One of these was the ancient Dragon Faction. Their collective strength was, in essence, equivalent to that of the entire divine faction under Zeus.
In the early, formative days of the cosmos, when the Dragon Progenitor still existed, the Dragon Faction was the undisputed ruler of all celestial realms and races, its influence unparalleled.
Therefore, the Dragon Faction had very deep, ancient roots, predating much of the current divine order. Despite this historical dynamic, their relationship with the divine faction, particularly with Zeus, was not inherently bad.
The Black Dragon Emperor, a figure of imnse power and wisdom, even used to be Zeus’s trusted friend, a confidant and a powerful ally.
That peaceful coexistence lasted until a fateful day that shattered the cosmic balance.
His dear friend, the Black Dragon Emperor, had been ambushed and stripped of his life by his own brother, Behemothos.
This was an act of henious betrayal and treason. Although celestial beings, by their very nature, could not die by natural ans,
they were immortal, beyond the decay of ti but being killed by another being of similar stature and divine power was a different, horrifying story altogether.
Such an act was rare and carried imnse consequences for the baolancvce of the universe.
Zeus had been furious. A boiling rage had surged through him, an impulse to imdiately rush across the universe and strike down Behemothos, to make him pay for such an shaless act.
However, he had been stopped by the complex, inescapable obligations of his duties to the divine realm, since he could not start a war out of no where.
The balance of the cosmos, the constant threats from other his rivals, and the sheer administrative burden of maintaining order across countless realms, all weighed heavily upon him.
He was the King, and his responsibilities tethered him.
Before his fated battle with Behemothos, the Black Dragon Emperor, utilizing his powers, had discreetly given the Black Dragon Throne to Zeus for safekeeping.
This throne was no re seat; it contained all the black dragon’[s celestial authority, the accumulated power, and the essence of the Black Dragon Lineage.
It was a cosmic artifact, a symbol of ancient draconic rule, and it needed to be hidden from Behemothos, who coveted its power.
Zeus looked at the magnificent, grand throne now floating silently in the air, subtly anchored within a secluded, ethereal pocket of his divine realm.
It was so gigantic that its size matched that of a small, minor planet, a testant to the might of the Black Dragon Lineage. But then, it was the Black Dragon Throne, a relic of unparalleled power.
Its surface, seemingly crafted from solidified shadow and starlight, swirled with glowing dragon shaped runes, radiating an ancient, almost primordial energy that seed to hum in the very air.
Zeus sighed, a sound that could reverberate through constellations.
He had promised his fallen friend to find a worthy inheritor for the throne, even if that inheritor had to co from a different race, soone who could pass countless, arduous trials.
But until now, he had failed to do so. Decade after decade, millennium after millennium, the throne remained dormant, its power untapped.
He had even, in his frustration and a desire to motivate potential candidates, declared that Raphael, his youngest daughter, born from his union with the Spirit Queen, would be the bride of the warrior who could successfully clear the trial he would set.
This was an imnse reward, ant to attract the most powerful and valiant beings across the celestial and mortal realms.
He sighed again, a deeper, more lancholic sound, thinking about the good tis he had spent with his friend, the shared campaigns against chaotic forces, the philosophical debates that stretched across eons.
But this rare mont of reflection and silence was abruptly broken by a heavy, palpable aura of death and the cold, oppressive essence of the underworld.
The very air grew colder, and shadows seed to deepen, even in the radiant celestial realm.
Zeus tilted his head slightly, his piercing blue eyes narrowing as he fixed on the source of the sudden change in atmosphere.
A figure materialized from the deepening shadows, his presence chilling the very light around him.
This was Hades, the King of the Underworld, Zeus’s eldest brother.
Hades was a figure of solemn, dark majesty.
His physique was lean but powerful, his face gaunt with sharp, aristocratic features, frad by dark, almost black hair that seed to absorb light.
His eyes were like ancient pools of shadow, holding the weight of countless departed souls. He wore heavy, flowing robes of deep black and dark grey, embroidered with patterns that resembled skeletal figures and twisting rivers of lost souls.
He carried a tall, polished bident, a two-pronged spear, that radiated a faint, icy glow.
He did not radiate a radiant energy like Zeus, but a quiet, imnse power that represented death in it’s purest form.
"Hades, after all these years of sleeping in the underworld, you finally decided to show your face"
Zeus stated, his voice carrying authority but also a hint of brotherly exasperation.
"Are you finally bored with that place?"
Hades’s voice was a low, resonant rumble, like stones shifting deep beneath the earth.
"Well, soone has to do the dirty work for our familiy, brother.
And no, I can never get bored down there.
The new souls arriving are truly amazing; they carry so many thrilling stories with them.0
Most of my ti is spent listening to them, learning about the intricacies of mortal lives and their desperate struggles." He paused, a subtle, almost imperceptible shift in his dark eyes.
"Tch, what is this disgraceful behavior, Hades?" Zeus retorted, a flash of annoyance in his eyes.
"Did you forget you are a god? A king, no less! Anyway, I think you are here to convey sothing important, since you would never willingly leave the underworld especially if you were truly enjoying talking to mortal souls. You always have a purpose when you decide to surface."
Hades allowed a faint, almost imperceptible smirk to touch his lips.
"Oh yeah, dude, seriously, do you even know what’s happening around you? Or have you beco a neet these days, stuck on your celestial throne?"
He used a modern mortal term, which sounded incongruous coming from an ancient deity, a subtle jab at Zeus’s perceived detachnt.
Zeus furrowed his brow, a faint crackle of electricity around him.
"What’s with your tone, Hades? And what are you talking about? What is a ’neet’?" The term was entirely foreign to Zeus’s divine dictionary.
Hades chuckled, a dry, rasping sound.
"Well, well, I guess there is a more important piece of news you would like to hear.
There were a few spirits who recently died and were on their way to be reborn.
When I was conducting the usual processing, I happened to speak with them.
From their fragnted mories and last conscious thoughts, I ca to know about a piece of news I anticipated mustn’t have reached you yet, given the speed at which this attack is taking place."
Zeus’s eyebrows furrowed "attack?"
"Well I don’t know the particular reason behind it, but they told how their realm had been attacked by dragons,
dragons under the direct lead of Behemothos. He seems to be hell-bent on abducting your daughter, Raphael."
As soon as Hades’s words left his mouth, a booming aura of pure divine thunder, infused with incandescent rage, erupted from Zeus.
The entire celestial realm trembled, the luminous clouds swirling violently, and the air crackled with raw, untad lightning.
Divine structures across the realm seed to hum with the sheer force of his fury.
"What!?" Zeus roared, his voice amplified by the power of the heavens themselves, shaking the very foundations of reality.
"That lizard dares to..." He didn’t wait for anything more.
His form beca a streak of pure light, moving with a speed that bood like the speed of light itself, leaving afterimages across the celestial expanse.
His voice, now a cosmic echo, spread across the entire celestial realm, reaching every corner, every divine being, every soldier.
"Get ready for war!" Only these three words resonated across the whole realm, a command that sparked imdiate, swift responses from various divine beings.
Angels, Valkyries, dieties, and countless other celestial warriors instantly began organizing their vast armies.
Weapons shimred into existence, legions ford, and the sounds of preparation for an imminent, devastating conflict filled the heavens.
Hades looked at the rapidly disappearing streak of light that was his brother, Zeus, rushing towards the unfolding conflict.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips. "Hot-blooded as ever," he murmured, his voice as calm and profound as ever, a stark contrast to Zeus’s explosive rage.
Then, a corner of his dark eyes subtly captured the massive, swirling form of the Black Dragon Throne, still floating silently in the clouds of the realm.
It was invisible to normal eyes, concealed by powerful celestial enchantnts. But Hades, being a deity on the sa level as Zeus, could easily see through the veil, perceiving its ancient power and the intricate draconic runes adorning it.
"ooh!! so that’s it" it all cliked to Hades who had been wondering the cause of this war.
He understood, then, the deeper implications of Behemothos’s sudden, direct attack on Zeus’s daughter.
"Well, now I know the reason,"
Hades chuckled in a low, ominous tone that seed to reverberate from the depths of the underworld itself.
"This is going to be entertaining."
With that final, cryptic remark, Hades disappeared mysteriously, lting back into the shadows from which he had erged, leaving the celestial realm to prepare popcorn to enjoy the new drama.
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