System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!-Chapter 418 - The Sanctum Aeterna

The sky trembled.

The moment the Outer Gods crossed the Barrier, the world held its breath.

The stars above flickered unnaturally, shimmering in patterns no constellation ever taught.

Leylines surged like rivers reversing course.

The very breath of the Earth hitched, trembling with ancient memory... and future dread.

But they did not arrive in chaos.

They arrived in silence.

A stillness heavier than war.

And waiting at the Convergence Point, where Olympus floated like a crown above the mortal world, was Zeus.

His cloak of lightning billowed despite the air being windless.

His eyes, storm-grey and timeless... watched the veil split.

One hand crackled with thunder, not wild, not raging... contained. A warning, not a threat.

"...All of you," Zeus said, voice deep, cold, ancient. "Stop there... or you’ll face his wrath"

His tone wasn’t arrogance.

It wasn’t pride.

It was... knowledge.

And from among the divine host, one stepped forward.

His armor gleamed like a dying sun, burnished gold, etched with runes of the Nine Realms.

His single eye burned with wisdom, pain, and conviction sharpened by ages.

"...Zeus," the figure spoke, voice like a battlefield mourning its dead. "You seem... weaker"

Zeus’ eyes narrowed.

"...Odin"

The All-Father of Asgard strode forth, behind him stood the Norse Pantheon, Thor, Freyja, and Tyr.

Each one stood with the confidence of gods who had survived the end.

Then another stepped forward.

Not a warrior.

But a force of balance.

Brahma.

Floating inches above the marble floor, lotus petals bloomed with each step.

His four faces moved in rhythm, one gazing at Zeus, one at the veil above, one at the Earth below, and one... far beyond, where no mortal nor god dared to look.

"It is good to see you again, Zeus," Brahma spoke. "I... I do not chase echoes. I witness. Because what is to come... will echo through eternity"

Zeus clenched his jaw.

He looked past them, beyond them.

"Then you already know. This world... is no longer yours. Not mine. Not any of yours"

The air shifted.

Another stepped forward.

Dark feathers lined his cloak.

Eyes like obsidian mirrors.

He carried with him the scent of blood, jade, and sacrifices.

Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec God of Night and Sorcery, smiled with jagged grace.

"We don’t want the world," he lied. "We just want to see the one who claimed it"

Behind him, the world’s pantheons gathered.

Ra, bathed in solar fire, his gaze stern.

Amaterasu, radiant and wordless, her steps leaving behind sunbursts.

Nuwa, coiled in celestial grace, her presence threading balance into chaos.

The Outer Ones, still veiled, their formless presence humming in unnatural frequencies, names unspoken, presence uninvited.

But they all knew the truth.

Zeus knew it.

Tezcatlipoca knew it.

Even the veiled ones knew it.

They didn’t come just to see the one who claimed Earth.

They came for what Earth held.

That pure, untamed energy.

So sweet and potent that even gods salivated in silence.

Zeus stepped forward once more and thunder rumbled in distant skies.

"Then hear this once," he declared. "You step out of line... I will not stop him. He has given me a task... To contain all of you"

"You ruled your skies. Your oceans. Your wars, your pyramids, your cycles of rebirth..." His eyes narrowed. "But this is Earth... And he watches it all"

The gathered gods stilled.

No rebuttal.

No bluster.

Just stillness.

Then Zeus slowly raised one hand and pointed upward, beyond Olympus, beyond the clouds, into the yawning infinity of the cosmos.

"He’s already seen you"

They looked up.

And though nothing was there,

they felt it.

A gaze.

A pressure.

A truth.

Not watching with judgment.

Not with hatred.

But with certainty.

As if the entire world had already decided their fate.

And still... none of them flinched.

Because gods do not fear.

Except for one thing:... Time.

Immortal? Yes.

Eternal? No.

Even gods could fade.

And that, the Earth’s pure energy, might just be their answer.

"Zeus," Odin muttered, "Why are you like this? You’ve become a coward. Where is Hades? The you I knew is long gone"

Zeus turned, thunder sparking in his palm.

"Still arrogant, I see, Odin," he said with a bitter laugh. "I was like you once... But before him... I could do nothing. I’m not a coward, Odin. I just know my limits now"

"Ahaha~ That’s what we call a coward," Odin replied. And the world tightened around that sentence.

He raised Gungnir, the Spear of Fate.

The wind recoiled.

Lightning forked upward from the tip.

Reality bent around it like a dying flame.

"If you insist on stopping me...Then let’s settle this the old way"

A storm brewed behind his voice.

But... Before the first step could be taken-

*ROOOOOOAAAARRRRRRR!!!*

The sky didn’t crack.

It shattered.

Not like glass. But like the breath of the world was taken away.

Two shapes tore through the horizon:

One coiled in golden mist, Basukhi, the Dragon of the Beginning, his wings radiant, his eyes twin galaxies spiraling with primordial hunger.

The other cloaked in darkness, marked with runic rings that shimmered like constellations, Lembuswana, the Beast of the End.

Their roars weren’t noise.

They were truths.

Decrees.

As they descended, the sky bowed to their presence.

Basukhi circled once overhead, each flap of his wings carving celestial runes in the sky.

Lembuswana landed with a quake that shook the bones of Olympus.

And together, they flanked Zeus.

Not as guards of Olympus.

But as guardians of a promise.

A man.

A god.

Their Master.

"Tch. Always one to be dramatic," Lembuswana muttered, brushing off stardust from his fur.

"I liked the entrance," Basukhi said, curling into a wide grin. "We can’t do something like this anytime you know"

The gods shifted back, not in fear, but in recognition.

Ancient power recognized ancient order.

Basukhi’s voice echoed with lazy amusement. "Now then, Odin, isn’t it? Still wanna play with lightning?"

Odin held his ground, though Gungnir lowered slightly.

Not out of submission.

But out of respect.

Zeus exhaled. Slowly.

"Good," he said. "Then let’s begin this properly"

And far behind them, the Outer Ones watched... and smiled.

A smile not born of joy.

Nor mockery.

But of interest.

"This is getting... interesting"

They didn’t speak aloud.

They didn’t need to.

Their thoughts echoed in layers of time, rippling across existence like cracks in reality’s mirror.

--------

With the arrival of Lembuswana and Basukhi, the tension that threatened to split the sky... steadied.

The battlefield dissolved into stillness.

But it was not peace.

It was curiosity.

These gods, Odin, Brahma, Tezcatlipoca, and the rest, they were not easily shaken.

They had faced worlds ending, stars dying, timelines collapsing.

They had fought beasts that tore through dimensions.

And yet... they watched the twin titans with an unspoken question.

Not who they were.

That was obvious.

But rather...

"Who commands them?"

"What kind of being...could summon monsters this caliber, and have them obey?"

None said it aloud.

But none could stop thinking about it.

Zeus, ever the seasoned king, seized the silence.

"Enough stares," he said. "You came for answers. Then follow me"

He turned, cloak snapping with authority, and began walking.

Behind him, Olympus opened, walls parting not with mechanisms, but with will.

Stone shifted like breathing lungs.

Light bent in ways mortal eyes would not understand.

The path ahead shimmered, part corridor, part bridge, part memory.

They walked in silence.

Gods who once demanded worship.

Who raised empires and razed them.

Now walking like students summoned to a distant headmaster.

Lembuswana and Basukhi followed silently behind, like twin moons orbiting a planet, watchful, vast, untouchable.

---

They arrived.

Before them stood a colossal gate, carved not of stone, nor wood, nor starlight... But of Intent.

Inscribed across its surface were scripts from dead languages, each one etched not by tools, but by declarations.

The doors parted.

And they stepped into... The Sanctum Aeterna, The Eternal Gathering Place... A floating realm, hidden between dimensions.

Anchored to Earth, but not part of it.

Built not for mortals.

Not even for gods.

But for moments like this.

Its floor was a mirror of the sky, reflecting stars yet unborn.

Its pillars held galaxies in stasis.

Its ceiling was a shifting tapestry of memories, dreams, and wars never spoken.

This was not a place of power.

This was a place of understanding. Of judgment... Of warning.

Each god felt it the moment they stepped in.

Here, their divinity meant nothing.

Here, they were not kings.

Not creators.

Not destroyers.

Here... They were simply visitors.

Zeus walked to the center and turned, his voice reverberating in stillness:

"This is Sanctum Aeterna, It was built under his instruction... for your arrival"

Murmurs. Raised brows.

Even Brahma’s heads turned at that.

"You mean to tell us this place did not exist before?" Odin asked.

Zeus met his gaze, thunder behind his eyes.

"No. It was forged in a moment. As a message. A reminder... A reminder that even the oldest gods... still have things to learn"

And for the briefest moment... the ground beneath their feet shimmered.

A hum passed through the air.

Not a sound.

Not a vibration.

But a presence.

Watching.

Weighing.

Waiting.

"He’s not here," Zeus said after a pause, answering the question no one asked. "But he is always listening"

"And if you want Earth..." Zeus paused, letting the silence carry the weight. "...It’s impossible"

His gaze swept across the gathered pantheons.

"But he also doesn’t want you to lose either"

Not a threat.

Not mercy.

A fact.

He turned, walking to the center of the Sanctum, where a throne of clarity awaited.

Not forged from gold or pride, but from understanding itself.

Transparent. Eternal. Heavy with meaning.

He sat.

And as if answering an unseen signal, the other gods followed.

One by one, they found their own thrones.

Seats shaped by identity, the weight of their presence molded the material.

Odin’s seat creaked with runes and fate.

Brahma’s shimmered with cycles and balance.

Amaterasu’s radiated silent warmth.

Even the Outer Ones hovered, drifting around thrones that pulsed like dying stars.

The room fell still.

Zeus exhaled, fingers steepled.

"Now then," he said, voice steady. "Let’s begin... I’ll tell you what he wants"

A silence so vast followed... it echoed.

Then-

From the edges of thought, the Outer Ones whispered:

"Let us see... what this new god has to say..."

---

Far away...

Beneath the shade of the Great Tree, in the Kingdom where Earth’s pulse was clearest, Taufik opened his eyes.

The world seemed to breathe with him.

He sat up slowly, brushing a leaf from his chest.

A wind passed, gentle, curious.

And then, with a soft exhale, he smiled.

"... System, start it"

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Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om