---
"Revenge is just the path you took to escape your suffering."
- Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
---
<(Atem POV)>
<{Somewhere in the middle of the Saharan Desert}>
"I still can't believe that the half-blood human refused your offer of godhood. I always thought humans were some of the most selfish creatures in the nine realms. But I guess even the most insignificant of beings can sometimes surprise us, gods." Hela expressed her disbelief while surveying the barren desert surrounding us. "By the way, are you sure those two women would not need help with controlling their new powers? To my knowledge, mortals tend to make some very wrong decisions when they suddenly get their hands on unchecked power. They have a nasty habit of letting strength go to their tiny heads." She wondered aloud, not even caring that one of those mortals, Natalia, was standing just beside her, carefully listening to her words.
"Nah, Shiklah and Lilith are too smart to even think of betraying me. Plus, the moment they accepted their godhood from me, they gave up the right to ever go against me. So, I will always be stronger than them." I cryptically stated without revealing that my ability to create a pantheon literally renders it impossible for those I have transformed into New Gods to betray me.
"Plus, they had always been more powerful than the normal people around them; suddenly gaining more power shouldn't affect them too much. As for Blade refusing my offer to make him a New God, I completely understand where he is coming from. All his life, he has always wanted to be just a "normal" person and spend an ordinary life with a loving family. Well, that and kill as many vampires as he can. But my point is, he doesn't want to be a god. He is happy being a mortal. He wants to grow old with his wife, to watch his children grow up, to recount his tales to his grandchildren when he is old, and honestly, I respect him for that." I shrugged.
"I see. It seems like you know a lot about humans, don't you, my love? Do you care about them, perhaps?" Hela asked, raising an eyebrow at me. Even Natasha slightly perked up as if she was interested in my answer.
"I care about life, and I care about not letting innocents die. That's it. I am not a hero, so I will never put the life of a random stranger before my own. However, I am not a sadistic villain, and I will not stand by idly while people perish or the world is being destroyed. I am a god, and if I have the power to save someone, I will gladly use it." I truthfully answered. After all, there was no reason for me to lie. It wasn't like I was afraid of Natalia reporting my character to Shield and then them retaliating against me.
"You are speaking the truth." Hela expressed almost as if she had trouble believing me. "I know only a handful of gods who would admit to such a thing openly. Most of them are either too much of a debaucherous narcissist or a hypocrite with a savior complex to speak the truth as it is." She chuckled before looking in a particular direction as if she had sensed something.
As soon as Hela had stopped speaking, a murky green portal suddenly began to form out of thin air, and a familiar individual completely covered with thick metal armor slowly walked out from it, holding a sword and a shield in each hand.
"You made us wait?" Hela coldly stated as if she didn't even notice the medieval weapons in his hands.
"I apologize for that, but preparations for the trip took a little longer than I thought they would. However, we aren't late. The Solstice has just begun, so the barrier between this realm and Hell is at its weakest right now, which means it will be easier for us to cross over and return. However, we only have 24 hours. Typically, time operates quite differently in Hell compared to Earth. However, due to the Solstice, the two realms are currently parallel to each other, causing their time to coincide as well." Doom explained, letting the information sink in.
"Also, Mephisto is bound by rules to accept challenges from worthy challengers as long as the Solstice lasts... but this is also the time when he is at his strongest. Defeating him will be a lot harder, and he might even flip the tables on us by trying to invade Midgard through our connection. That is one of the reasons why I haven't been able to defeat him for so many years. To defeat him, one doesn't just have to be able to outwit or outpower him, but also make sure that he isn't able to invade Earth. Honestly, a Sorcerer Supreme is the best option for this, but unfortunately, the current one doesn't like me too much." He shrugged powerlessly.
"Wait, so that's why we are in the desert, out here in the middle of nowhere. So that even if something were to escape from Hell, they wouldn't be able to cause too much damage in a short time?" Natalia suddenly interrupted, looking as if she had finally figured out some big secret. "And here I thought there was some secret pathway to Hell hidden in this desert somewhere." She subconsciously released a sigh that she had been holding for some time.
"Nope, no hidden entrances here. Honestly, I could open a Hush tube to Hell anytime I want. But Victor here said that he wanted to follow the due process for the challenge since he didn't want to give Mephisto or the so-called Devil any opportunity to deny him his reward. That's why he will be performing some kind of special ritual to open a portal to Hell here through the mystic arts. As for why I chose this desert, well, I honestly wanted to choose a different planet, but apparently, the winter solstice thing only works when we are on Earth. This planet is special that way." I answered, clearing any doubts she had over our unique choice of location.
"We shouldn't waste any more time talking here. Every second is precious. Once the solstice is over, Mephisto will no longer be duty-bound to accept our challenge." Doom cut us off, his eyes scrutinizing Natalia from head to toe.
For a second, I couldn't help but wonder if the King of Latveria had already recognized Natalia or Natasha's true identity as the Black Widow who was currently working for Shield. After all, being the ruler of a country that was part of the United Nations came with a lot of benefits, which even included having access to information and intel that could easily be considered top secret.
However, even if he had already recognized Natasha's identity, Victor Von Doom didn't seem particularly interested in revealing it in front of everyone. He was probably smart enough to understand that there might be some reason why I was bringing her with me. Furthermore, he had already seen what I could do. We were currently on our way to challenging the Devil of this universe himself. Doom was probably smart enough to understand that an organization like Shield wasn't really something I needed to be too cautious of.
"By the blood of kings and iron's hue, I cleave the veil 'twixt false and true. Let my soul and spirit twist and swell, for a challenger now commands thee, open the gates to Hell." The King suddenly began to recite a spell that might have seemed cringeworthy, making him appear like a cosplaying chunibyo. But fortunately for him, he did not have to endure the embarrassment for long, as the clouds slowly darkened overhead and dark shadows began to cover the desert sands.
The temperature began to fall rapidly, making it feel as though we were standing on an icy mountain rather than a desert in the middle of a sunny day.
Suddenly, loud whispers echoed around us as the shadows on the sands seemed to come alive, writhing like living snakes before converging together to form an inky pitch-black portal.
"We have to pass through this, and we will reach the Infernal Colosseum of Hell. There, we will have to compete with the other challengers who want to challenge Mephisto too. After all, only someone worthy and powerful enough to stand against the rest of the ordinary filth can actually challenge the Hell-lord." He explained before casually entering the black portal without the slightest hesitation, probably to show me that this wasn't some plot arranged by him to betray me.
"That makes sense. Mephisto always had a thing for theatricals." Hela nodded once Doom had entered the portal as she too walked inside without looking back.
I was about to follow her, too, but I suddenly remembered about the femme fatale spy who was supposed to accompany me on this journey. "You scared?" I asked, looking at her pale face, which looked as if someone had purposefully drained all the color from her body.
"... A little, yes. I never even considered that there might be a Hell in reality and that I was going to go there before I died. I am neither the most honest woman out there nor am I a regular churchgoer. I never considered what might happen once I died, where I would have to go, and who I would have to face. I probably would have been happier if there was nothing after death. No heaven, no hell, just eternal peace." Natalia gulped while staring at the swirling black portal.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to you, Nat," I responded with a soothing voice, "As long as you are with me, even death will never take you, much less some third-rate devil. And that's a promise." I smiled before holding her hand and gently pulling her with me to the portal. "Now let me show you how big, mysterious, and dangerous the world really is."
---
GIVE me POWAH-STONES💎💎💎.
You can join my Discord channel using the link below:
https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS
Also, you can check out my Patreøn page as well to read ahead or to support your amazing author.
patreon.com/God_Doom
Right now, I have about 20chapters in advance there.
(My Patreon uses the new billing method, which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)