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Chapter 242: God of Gods
Olympus.
"What is it, messenger?"
Being summoned for the third time in a short period, many of the Gods were quite displeased.
All eyes fell upon the one responsible for notifying them, the messenger god, Hermes.
"The child of the prophecy, The Newborn... he has appeared," Hermes said dryly.
The expressions of the Gods instantly turned grave. Many exchanged glances, seeing the anxiety in each other's eyes.
At least half of the Gods present were already secretly plotting to pack their bags and flee the moment this meeting was over.
"Hmm, I can't say it's a surprise. Where is he? And has he made contact with Wonder Wo... our new God King?" Hades asked.
They had pushed Wonder Woman forward for this very moment. This way, they would have time to prepare and not be ambushed and eliminated one day without any warning.
"Contact was made. He's dead," Hermes said calmly.
Hades nodded. "That's regrettable, but also expected. At least she bought us some... wait a minute. Did you just say... 'he'?"
"Yes," Hermes confirmed. "The Newborn, the first son of Zeus, is dead."
"D-dead!?"
Now, none of the Gods were calm.
The fall of Olympus, the prophesied butcher who would bring about Ragnarok, was just... gone like that?
Dead at the hands of an Amazon demigod?
This...
"Are... are you sure?" Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, asked. "I mean, it's an undeniable fact that Wonder Woman is a child of Zeus with extraordinary talent. Even when she didn't possess divine status, many of us here were no match for her... but to kill The Newborn?"
"It is outrageous, but it has been confirmed. The Newborn did indeed die by her hand. Diana Prince's God-Slaying Sword, the 'Sword of Hephaestus,' delivered the final blow."
As Hermes spoke, everyone's gaze drifted toward the god of fire, Hephaestus. He shrugged. "What can I say? I've forged weapons for all of you. You should know better than anyone that the person wielding it is what matters."
"But this is still... unbelievable. I mean, what about the prophecy? Is the prophecy just broken like that?" said Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. "Also, if she could take down The Newborn, the destroyer of Olympus, doesn't that mean she could also..."
She didn't dare continue, but all the Gods understood what she meant.
Doesn't that mean Wonder Woman could take down all of them by herself?
"Looking at it from another angle, the prophecy isn't necessarily broken," Hades said grimly. "The prophecy only stated that Olympus would fall at the hands of a child of Zeus. We just previously assumed that referred to the firstborn of Zeus. But now The Newborn is dead, and looking at it from another angle..."
"Wonder Woman is also a child of Zeus."
The Gods fell silent for a moment.
The reactions of two of the Gods were the most abnormal.
One was Apollo.
"I told you so, I told you not to provoke her, but you just wouldn't listen to me!" Apollo grumbled. "I told you that you know nothing about the power of her allies from the stars!"
But no one paid him any mind.
The other was the god of war, Ares.
Upon hearing this, Ares, contrary to expectations, let out a loud laugh.
"I knew she could do it someday," Ares chuckled. "Although I didn't expect it to end like this, I can't say I'm surprised. I saw her potential long ago."
Poseidon looked at him coldly. "Why do you look so proud?"
"Am I? Who knows?" Ares smiled and said no more.
No one could ever understand what went on in the mind of War. He clearly had the most grievances with Wonder Woman, who had been causing him trouble for a hundred years. Yet now, when all the Gods feared her, only Ares displayed a strange pride, as if for his own child.
"Actually, I'm not finished," the messenger Hermes spoke again. "The convener of this meeting is none other than the new God King of Olympus...
"The God of Gods, the princess of Paradise Island, Diana Prince."
As he spoke, he had already taken the lead and knelt on one knee.
Lightning streaked across the sky. Amidst the astonished gazes of the Gods, Wonder Woman descended slowly from the heavens as if riding the thunder and lightning, like a Valkyrie, landing among them.
"There's no need for that, Hermes. I don't require such formalities," she said faintly.
"Yes." Hermes rose respectfully.
Although she said this, she exuded an intangible queenly aura that even the Gods dared not defy.
After his shock, Poseidon quickly composed himself. "Congratulations on defeating our common enemy. The Gods will not forget this."
Diana glanced at him, her expression blank.
It was very strange. As the god of the sea, who had always considered himself Zeus's equal, Poseidon actually felt... pressure from such a look.
"Let's dispense with the pleasantries and speak plainly," Diana said faintly. "I know why you chose me, and I don't care about the reason.
"In fact, until yesterday, I didn't want this position. The divine authority you seek, your so-called Eternity, none of that interests me.
"But with the help of some friends, I came to understand that some things are innate. Sometimes I do things simply because I can, not because I want to.
"More importantly, what defines me is never a chair, a hollow title, or anything else. I am who I am, Diana Prince of Paradise Island, and I am Wonder Woman."
As she spoke, she lifted off the ground, flying up to the highest point surrounded by the Gods under their watchful gaze.
The long-vacant throne.
She landed gently and sat down upon it.
At that moment, thunder and lightning filled the sky. A bolt of lightning struck the throne, and Diana, bathed in a divine radiance, had an electric light flicker in her eyes.
"...And now, I am also the God of Gods."
"So, Older Sister Diana has become a god now?" Kara asked casually, tossing potato chips into her mouth.
"Seems like it." Orin Vale replied, his hands never stopping as he wrote and swiped on a virtual screen.
"She must be very busy then, right?" Kara said unhappily. "Doesn't that mean she'll rarely have time to visit us anymore?"
"Not necessarily." Orin Vale smiled.
"Her predecessor was Zeus, and you never saw him dutifully stuck on the mountain handling a myriad of state affairs all day, did you?"
If anything, Zeus was busy handling his 'affairs' all over the world. His daily routine was either looking for fun or on his way to find it.
A mere mortal could never imagine the joys of being a God-King.
"That makes sense... by the way, they're saying Batman is back. Have you heard?" Kara asked, casually flipping through the Gotham news.
"I've heard," Orin Vale replied casually. Not only had he heard, but that Batman was...
Just as he was thinking, he heard Kara say, "It's weird. Eyewitnesses claim that Batman can fly, bend steel with his bare hands, and also sucks people's blood and takes hostages. A lot of people have been captured recently..."
"Relax, that's perfectly normal—wait, what did you say?"
Orin Vale whipped his head around.
He could understand the first part; the recent "Batman" in Gotham could indeed fly, move unhindered, and bend steel pipes with his bare hands. But what the hell was that last part?
"This is a sketch based on the verbal accounts of eyewitnesses from the Gotham City Police Department."
Kara flipped the screen over and handed it to Orin Vale.
Orin Vale took it.
The sketch did look a bit like a bat, but it was definitely not Batman's design. Those red eyes, demonic tusks, large wings, and a disturbingly twisted form that seemed to be a fusion of machine and living creature...
Why does this look a bit like... a Parademon from Apokolips?
(end of chapter)
Olympus.
"What is it, messenger?"
Being summoned for the third time in a short period, many of the Gods were quite displeased.
All eyes fell upon the one responsible for notifying them, the messenger god, Hermes.
"The child of the prophecy, The Newborn... he has appeared," Hermes said dryly.
The expressions of the Gods instantly turned grave. Many exchanged glances, seeing the anxiety in each other's eyes.
At least half of the Gods present were already secretly plotting to pack their bags and flee the moment this meeting was over.
"Hmm, I can't say it's a surprise. Where is he? And has he made contact with Wonder Wo... our new God King?" Hades asked.
They had pushed Wonder Woman forward for this very moment. This way, they would have time to prepare and not be ambushed and eliminated one day without any warning.
"Contact was made. He's dead," Hermes said calmly.
Hades nodded. "That's regrettable, but also expected. At least she bought us some... wait a minute. Did you just say... 'he'?"
"Yes," Hermes confirmed. "The Newborn, the first son of Zeus, is dead."
"D-dead!?"
Now, none of the Gods were calm.
The fall of Olympus, the prophesied butcher who would bring about Ragnarok, was just... gone like that?
Dead at the hands of an Amazon demigod?
This...
"Are... are you sure?" Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, asked. "I mean, it's an undeniable fact that Wonder Woman is a child of Zeus with extraordinary talent. Even when she didn't possess divine status, many of us here were no match for her... but to kill The Newborn?"
"It is outrageous, but it has been confirmed. The Newborn did indeed die by her hand. Diana Prince's God-Slaying Sword, the 'Sword of Hephaestus,' delivered the final blow."
As Hermes spoke, everyone's gaze drifted toward the god of fire, Hephaestus. He shrugged. "What can I say? I've forged weapons for all of you. You should know better than anyone that the person wielding it is what matters."
"But this is still... unbelievable. I mean, what about the prophecy? Is the prophecy just broken like that?" said Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. "Also, if she could take down The Newborn, the destroyer of Olympus, doesn't that mean she could also..."
She didn't dare continue, but all the Gods understood what she meant.
Doesn't that mean Wonder Woman could take down all of them by herself?
"Looking at it from another angle, the prophecy isn't necessarily broken," Hades said grimly. "The prophecy only stated that Olympus would fall at the hands of a child of Zeus. We just previously assumed that referred to the firstborn of Zeus. But now The Newborn is dead, and looking at it from another angle..."
"Wonder Woman is also a child of Zeus."
The Gods fell silent for a moment.
The reactions of two of the Gods were the most abnormal.
One was Apollo.
"I told you so, I told you not to provoke her, but you just wouldn't listen to me!" Apollo grumbled. "I told you that you know nothing about the power of her allies from the stars!"
But no one paid him any mind.
The other was the god of war, Ares.
Upon hearing this, Ares, contrary to expectations, let out a loud laugh.
"I knew she could do it someday," Ares chuckled. "Although I didn't expect it to end like this, I can't say I'm surprised. I saw her potential long ago."
Poseidon looked at him coldly. "Why do you look so proud?"
"Am I? Who knows?" Ares smiled and said no more.
No one could ever understand what went on in the mind of War. He clearly had the most grievances with Wonder Woman, who had been causing him trouble for a hundred years. Yet now, when all the Gods feared her, only Ares displayed a strange pride, as if for his own child.
"Actually, I'm not finished," the messenger Hermes spoke again. "The convener of this meeting is none other than the new God King of Olympus...
"The God of Gods, the princess of Paradise Island, Diana Prince."
As he spoke, he had already taken the lead and knelt on one knee.
Lightning streaked across the sky. Amidst the astonished gazes of the Gods, Wonder Woman descended slowly from the heavens as if riding the thunder and lightning, like a Valkyrie, landing among them.
"There's no need for that, Hermes. I don't require such formalities," she said faintly.
"Yes." Hermes rose respectfully.
Although she said this, she exuded an intangible queenly aura that even the Gods dared not defy.
After his shock, Poseidon quickly composed himself. "Congratulations on defeating our common enemy. The Gods will not forget this."
Diana glanced at him, her expression blank.
It was very strange. As the god of the sea, who had always considered himself Zeus's equal, Poseidon actually felt... pressure from such a look.
"Let's dispense with the pleasantries and speak plainly," Diana said faintly. "I know why you chose me, and I don't care about the reason.
"In fact, until yesterday, I didn't want this position. The divine authority you seek, your so-called Eternity, none of that interests me.
"But with the help of some friends, I came to understand that some things are innate. Sometimes I do things simply because I can, not because I want to.
"More importantly, what defines me is never a chair, a hollow title, or anything else. I am who I am, Diana Prince of Paradise Island, and I am Wonder Woman."
As she spoke, she lifted off the ground, flying up to the highest point surrounded by the Gods under their watchful gaze.
The long-vacant throne.
She landed gently and sat down upon it.
At that moment, thunder and lightning filled the sky. A bolt of lightning struck the throne, and Diana, bathed in a divine radiance, had an electric light flicker in her eyes.
"...And now, I am also the God of Gods."
"So, Older Sister Diana has become a god now?" Kara asked casually, tossing potato chips into her mouth.
"Seems like it." Orin Vale replied, his hands never stopping as he wrote and swiped on a virtual screen.
"She must be very busy then, right?" Kara said unhappily. "Doesn't that mean she'll rarely have time to visit us anymore?"
"Not necessarily." Orin Vale smiled.
"Her predecessor was Zeus, and you never saw him dutifully stuck on the mountain handling a myriad of state affairs all day, did you?"
If anything, Zeus was busy handling his 'affairs' all over the world. His daily routine was either looking for fun or on his way to find it.
A mere mortal could never imagine the joys of being a God-King.
"That makes sense... by the way, they're saying Batman is back. Have you heard?" Kara asked, casually flipping through the Gotham news.
"I've heard," Orin Vale replied casually. Not only had he heard, but that Batman was...
Just as he was thinking, he heard Kara say, "It's weird. Eyewitnesses claim that Batman can fly, bend steel with his bare hands, and also sucks people's blood and takes hostages. A lot of people have been captured recently..."
"Relax, that's perfectly normal—wait, what did you say?"
Orin Vale whipped his head around.
He could understand the first part; the recent "Batman" in Gotham could indeed fly, move unhindered, and bend steel pipes with his bare hands. But what the hell was that last part?
"This is a sketch based on the verbal accounts of eyewitnesses from the Gotham City Police Department."
Kara flipped the screen over and handed it to Orin Vale.
Orin Vale took it.
The sketch did look a bit like a bat, but it was definitely not Batman's design. Those red eyes, demonic tusks, large wings, and a disturbingly twisted form that seemed to be a fusion of machine and living creature...
Why does this look a bit like... a Parademon from Apokolips?
(end of chapter)
