The white light pulsed once more, expanding outward in waves that touched every being in the arena. And as the light faded, revealing the figure at its center, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Edward stood there transformed into his original appearance.

Gone was the pale, ash-covered skin of Kratos. Gone were the red tattoo and the scarred, brutal visage that had terrorized gods.

In their place stood a man of striking handsomeness. Blonde hair that seemed to catch the light, blue eyes that held depths of ancient wisdom and endless compassion. His features were refined, almost perfect, carrying an ethereal quality that made him seem both entirely human and something infinitely more.

He looked remarkably like Adam, the Father of Humanity watching from the Valkyrie box. The same blonde hair, the same blue eyes, the same ageless quality that spoke of existing since the beginning.

The transformation was so complete, so unexpected, that even the gods fell silent.

Brunhilde stared, her mouth slightly open. She turned to Hera, confusion written across her face. "Why did he change his look to something so ugly before if he was actually this handsome?"

She thought in her mind. "If I wasn't in love with Sieg, I'd have tried my luck with him"

Hera's smirk was knowing, almost predatory. She had seen that look many times whenever her avatar went out with Edward. The looks filled with Affection, envy,and desire .

Pride radiated from every line of her body as she looked at her husband. "He was probably holding back. Enjoying himself with the challenge." Her eyes softened slightly. "But now that I'm in danger, my beloved husband won't stay back anymore."

She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out cheerfully, her voice carrying clearly across the arena: "I'm alright, honey! Don't get too angry!"

Edward's eyes found hers across the distance. His expression softened into a gentle smile, and he nodded in acknowledgment.

But his aura kept rising.

The air around him began to shimmer and distort. Power radiated from him in visible waves. Not the violent, aggressive energy of battle-fury, but something else.

Something vast and fundamental and utterly terrifying in its implications. It felt ancient and eternal, like standing at the edge of an infinite ocean and realizing the water went down forever.

Edward raised his hand, almost casually. His fingers moved in a simple flicking motion.

The barrier shattered.

The divine construct that had been reinforced by thousands of gods, that had been designed to contain battles between true divine forms, that should have been functionally indestructible, it exploded into fragments of light that dissolved into nothing.

The gods who'd been maintaining it screamed as the force of shockwave tore through them. Several collapsed unconscious. Others clutched their heads, blood leaking from noses and ears.

Edward stepped forward, and with each step, the arena floor repaired itself beneath his feet. Stone that had been melted and cracked became pristine and whole. The lakes of golden blood evaporated. It was as if the battle had never happened, except for the absence of thirteen gods who would never return.

Suddenly, grass started sprouting where he walked, accompanied by beautiful otherworly flowers and trees that started to sprout. An overwhelming sense of peace washed over the human in the audience who were protected by an unknown force.

In the Valkyrie box, Zeus stood. His face was twisted with rage and something that might have been fear. Lightning crackled around his body, his divine power flaring to maximum.

He raised both hands, and his voice boomed across the arena, magically amplified so that every being present, every god and human, could hear him clearly:

"GODS OF ALL PANTHEONS! HEAR ME NOW!"

The divine sections turned as one to look at their king.

"This mortal has committed the ultimate blasphemy!" Zeus's voice shook with fury. "He has killed thirteen true gods! Not avatars, our TRUE FORMS! He has shown that gods can be killed permanently! He threatens the very foundation of divine order!"

Odin stepped forward beside Zeus, his single eye blazing with cold wrath. "If we allow this to stand, if we let one mortal end gods without consequence, what message does that send? We become vulnerable. Mortal. WEAK."

Zeus raised his fist to the sky. "I call upon all gods who stand with me! All who value divine supremacy! All who understand that gods must rule and mortals must obey! JOIN ME! Help me kill this abomination who dares stand against the heavens themselves!"

For a moment, silence.

Then the response came like a tidal wave.

Thousands of gods roared their approval. They rose from their seats, divine power flaring around them like bonfires. They began moving toward Zeus and Odin, forming ranks, preparing for war.

The Greek gods came first, those who remained after losing four of their strongest. Aphrodite, Dionysus, Demeter, dozens of lesser deities. Their faces were twisted with grief and rage for their fallen family. Aphrodite was in a complicated mood. She lusted after this man, the only one who ever denied her and humiliated her. Yet she remembered what he was and what he did.

The Norse gods followed—Freya, Heimdall, Vidar, Sif, Tyr, and countless others. They chanted war songs, calling for vengeance for Thor and Loki.

Hindu gods manifested, their forms radiant with cosmic power. Many wept openly for Shiva, but their grief was channeled into fury.

Mesopotamian deities arrived, their ancient power making the air heavy. They mourned Anu but prepared to avenge him.

Slavic gods gathered, faces grim. Perun and Chernobog would be avenged.

Chinese pantheon members assembled, though notably fewer than other groups. Many looked conflicted, but they joined the forming army nonetheless.

More and more gods joined. Minor deities, nature spirits who'd ascended to divinity, personified concepts, beings from pantheons so old their names were forgotten. They came in waves, in hundreds, in thousands.

The army that assembled behind Zeus and Odin was staggering. Easily five thousand gods, possibly more. Their combined divine power made reality itself groan. The sheer concentrated authority they represented could reshape continents, could sink islands. If they truly united their strength, they could destroy half the multiverse.

The humans in the audience began panicking. This was it. This was the end. One man against an army that could end worlds. Could he still take them all after fighting 13 gods?

But not all gods joined.

The Egyptian section remained seated. Ra, Horus, Anubis, and the rest of their pantheon sat with arms crossed, faces impassive. They made no move to join Zeus's army.

The Japanese section also stayed put. Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, and the other kami watched with careful eyes but didn't stand. Several actually moved to the edges of their section, as if preparing to leave entirely.

Two figures emerged from the crowd walking calmly against the tide of gods rushing to join Zeus. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, staff resting casually on his shoulder, a knowing smirk on his face. Beside him walked Buddha, serene and peaceful, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Where are you going?" a Chinese god called to them. "The army is gathering! We need every—"

"Not interested," Sun Wukong said simply. "I've fought against heaven before. It's overrated. This won't end well idiots."

Buddha spoke relaxedly "I'm not feeling particularly suicidal today." He just smiled and kept walking.

More gods began separating from the main group. Celtic deities who'd always been more aligned with nature than tyranny. Minor gods from various pantheons who'd spent more time helping humanity than ruling them. Deities who'd actually liked mortals, who'd protected them, who'd seen value in the species beyond worship.

Meanwhile, Brunhilde, Hera, and the thirteen legendary warriors flew down from the damaged box toward the arena. They landed near Edward, forming a protective semicircle around him.

Lü Bu raised his halberd. "I wish I could have met you in life. We'd have the most legendary battle!" He grinned wildly.

Adam's ancient eyes met Edward's, recognition passing between them. "You're like me. You fight for humanity because you are humanity itself at your core."

Sasaki's sword hummed as he took stance. "It would be dishonorable to abandon you now after you saved them all."

The others echoed similar sentiments. Jack the Ripper, Raiden, Leonidas, Okita, Kintoki, Simo, Nostradamus, Qin Shi Huang, Beowulf, Siegfried—all ready to die alongside the man who'd saved their species.

Edward looked at the army Zeus had assembled. Thousands of gods, their combined power enough to crack reality itself.

He considered for a moment reaching into his pocket for the card Lucifer Morningstar had given him, a favor owed, one that would certainly turn the tide. He would definitely enjoy this chaos.

But no. This wasn't about owing favors or calling in debts. This was about making a point.

Edward sighed, the sound carrying disappointment and something like sorrow. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but it carried clearly across the arena. Every being heard it as if he were speaking directly to them.

"The do called gods have fallen so low." His blue eyes swept across Zeus's army with something like pity. "You resort to deceit. You break your own sacred laws. You threaten extinction because you lost fairly. You can't even be called gods anymore. You're just tyrants with power, terrified of losing control."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Reality split apart.

The dimension divided cleanly in two. A line of pure separation that cut through the arena, through the audience sections, through space itself. On one side was the army Zeus had gathered. On the other, empty space.

Edward's voice rang out again, colder now. "Any god who values humanity. Any who lived not as a tyrant but as a guide. Any who wishes to survive what's coming. Stand behind me."

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"I will kill the rest."

The gods in Zeus's army laughed. The sound was cruel, mocking.

"You might be strong enough to kill thirteen gods!" someone shouted. "But we are THOUSANDS!"

"Your tricks won't save you!" another called. "Your power has limits! Ours is infinite!"

"One mortal against an army of gods! You're insane!"

But even as they mocked, movement began on the other side of the divide.

The Egyptian pantheon—Ra, Horus, Anubis, Isis, Osiris, and dozens of others manifested behind Edward. They said nothing, just stood with arms crossed, faces stern but resolved.

The Japanese pantheon followed. Amaterasu's radiant form appeared beside Edward, her sun-disk glowing softly. Susanoo's storm-energy crackled. Tsukuyomi's moon-light shimmered. The kami had made their choice.

Sun Wukong and Buddha walked calmly through the divide, taking positions behind Edward. The Monkey King spun his staff and grinned. "This is going to be fun." Buddha chuckled. "Lucky I brought popcorn."

The Celtic gods who'd separated earlier manifested as well. Nature deities, spirits of the wild, gods who'd always been more aligned with growth than destruction.

Minor gods from various pantheons began appearing. A Greek goddess of healing. A Norse god of poetry. A Slavic deity of harvest. Gods who'd spent their existence helping rather than ruling.

More and more crossed over. Hundreds. Not enough to match Zeus's thousands, but enough to make a statement.

Then came 3 major Greek gods. Hades, Persephone and Hestia. Persephone sighed as she looked at her mother. "farewell mother." She whispered softly as Hestia patted her back. Hades gave Edward a nod. "Hello old friend. This time I get a front row seat of your... actions."

Edward nodded to them, his expression warming slightly. "Thank you all. Thank you for showing that there will always be hope. That there is always good even among evil. That not all gods have forgotten what divinity truly means."

Zeus's face had gone purple with rage. "TRAITORS! ALL OF YOU! YOU SIDE WITH A MORTAL AGAINST YOUR OWN KIND?!"

"We side with what's right," Ra said calmly. "Not with tyrants."

"You broke your word, Zeus," Amaterasu added. "You dishonored the tournament. You brought this on yourself."

Hades sighed. "You never were a good king little brother. This is merely the consequences of your own actions."

The thousands of gods who still remained with Zeus roared in fury and charged as one.

The sound was like reality breaking. Thousands of divine beings moving simultaneously, their footfalls shaking the arena, their power lighting up the sky. War cries in a hundred languages. Weapons blazing with divine authority. This was the full might of multiple pantheons united in purpose.

They could erase solar systems. They could reshape galaxies. They could destroy half the DC multiverse if they truly committed.

And they were all focused on one man.

Hera stood beside Edward, showing no fear. She turned to him, cupped his face gently with both hands, and kissed his cheek. Her voice was soft, meant only for him: "I believe in you dear. Whatever you do is right. Whatever you choose is the best decision. I trust you completely."

Edward smiled—a genuine, warm expression that transformed his already handsome features into something breathtaking. He reached up, caressing her cheek with gentle fingers. "Thanks wifey. Stay close. It's about to to get a little... genocidal."

Hera chuckled and shook her head. "You always make bad jokes at wrong moments husband." Edward smirked. "Yet you love me anyway."

Then he stepped forward.

With that single step, everything changed.

His entire aura shifted, transformed, became something that made even the charging gods stumble. His blonde hair began to rise, standing up as if gravity had ceased to apply to it. The color drained from it, turning pure white. it was not the whiteness from age, but the light of absolute clarity, of infinite possibility.

His blue eyes turned white as well. Not blind white, but glowing white, as if stars had been placed where his pupils should be. He radiated light, but it wasn't harsh or blinding. It was warm, comforting, the kind of light that made you believe things would be okay even when they absolutely wouldn't.

The gods who'd been charging slowed, then stopped. Some ancient instinct was screaming at them to halt, to reconsider, to understand that they'd miscalculated catastrophically.

Edward looked at the army that could destroy universes. His white eyes showed no fear. No anger. Just certainty and something that might have been sadness for what was about to happen.

He spoke. His voice was calm, conversational, as if commenting on the weather:

"I hope... that these gods didn't exist anymore."

The effect was immediate and absolute.

The gods in the front ranks began to fade. Not just dying, fading. Becoming translucent, then transparent, then simply... not there anymore. It spread like a wave through the army. Hundreds of gods vanishing in seconds.

But it wasn't just their current bodies. Those with divine senses could feel something infinitely worse happening.

"My avatars!" a Greek god screamed. "My avatars across the multiverse, they're disappearing!"

"I can't feel my other selves!" a Norse deity shouted in panic. "They're gone! All of them!"

"This is impossible!" A Hindu god fell to his knees, clutching his head. "I exist across infinite worlds! It can't be! I'm being erased from—"

The realization hit them all at once. This wasn't just death. This was complete existential erasure. Every version of them, across every universe in the DC multiverse, was being unmade simultaneously. Their past, their present, their future, all of it ceasing to be, as if they'd never existed at all.

Panic exploded through the ranks. Gods turned to flee, but there was nowhere to go. The erasure followed them, patient and inexorable.

But across the DC multiverse, catastrophe began to unfold.

On Earth-1, the oceans suddenly churned violently. Poseidon's erasure meant his domain, all the seas across infinite earths had lost their divine keeper. Tsunamis formed spontaneously along every coastline. The tides stopped following the moon. Sea creatures began dying by the millions as the natural order Poseidon had maintained for eons simply ceased to exist.

On Earth-3, wine turned to vinegar in every barrel and bottle simultaneously. Dionysus's domain was collapsing. Celebrations turned sour. Festivals devolved into riots. The joy and revelry he'd overseen, the careful balance between pleasure and excess, was gone. People drank and couldn't stop, or couldn't enjoy it at all. The balance was shattered.

On Earth-12, love turned chaotic. Aphrodite's erasure meant romance, attraction, beauty itself had no divine guidance. Couples who'd been happy for decades suddenly felt nothing for each other. Strangers fell into obsessive passion that burned them alive. Beauty became subjective to the point of madness—what one person found attractive, another found revolting, and the disagreements turned violent.

On Earth-27, the sky split open. Zeus's erasure meant lightning, storms, the very concept of divine kingship and order was unraveling. Thunder rolled continuously. Lightning struck randomly, without pattern or reason. The laws he'd maintained, the structure he'd imposed on the divine hierarchy across countless pantheons, was collapsing.

On Earth-34, the underworld gates shattered. Yama's domain was failing. The dead began escaping, manifesting as ghosts, as shades, as things that should not walk among the living. The boundary between life and death blurred. The sick found themselves unable to die, suffering endlessly. The healthy dropped dead without warning. The cycle of reincarnation was broken.

On Earth-50, crops withered in the fields. Demeter's erasure meant agriculture, harvest, the growing of food itself had no divine oversight. Famine spread instantly. Seeds planted wouldn't grow. Plants that were thriving rotted on the vine. The earth itself seemed to forget how to nurture life.

Across thousands of earths, similar catastrophes unfolded. Thor's erasure meant storms without pattern. Freya's domain collapsing meant love and war became indistinguishable. Warriors made love on battlefields while lovers murdered each other in fits of passion. (surprise butt segs xD)

Heimdall's absence meant boundaries failed, realms began bleeding into each other, reality barriers thinning.

The Hindu gods' erasure had cosmic consequences. The cycle of creation and destruction stuttered. Time flowed backward in some places, stopped in others, accelerated wildly elsewhere. Reality itself was coming apart at the seams.

The multiverse was dying.

Humans screamed as their worlds collapsed. Cities fell. Civilizations that had stood for millennia crumbled in minutes. The very fabric of existence was tearing because the gods who'd woven it were being unmade.

In the arena, Edward raised his hand again. His voice was steady, commanding, carrying across dimensions:

"I hope... that the multiverse moves on without these gods. Normally. Without chaos or collapse. I hope their domains find new balance. New order that doesn't require divine authority to maintain."

And across the DC multiverse, reality listened to his wish.

On Earth-1, the oceans calmed. But not because a god commanded them—because the natural laws reasserted themselves. Tides followed the moon again, but they'd always followed the moon. Poseidon had simply been... unnecessary. The ocean currents found their flow based on temperature and the Earth's rotation.

Marine life adapted, their instincts shifting from divine guidance to evolutionary imperatives. The seas had never actually needed a god. They'd existed long before Poseidon, would exist long after. Nature took over.

On Earth-3, wine returned to being wine, but not because Dionysus blessed it, because chemistry worked. Fermentation followed natural processes. Celebrations continued, but humans managed their own joy and excess. They'd always had the capacity for revelry. The god had just been taking credit for what was already there. People found balance on their own.

On Earth-12, love stabilized. Not through divine arrows or blessings, but through human connection. Chemistry, compatibility, choice—these things had always been real. Aphrodite had simply claimed credit for them. Beauty became subjective again, but comfortably so. People liked what they liked. The obsession faded. Romance continued, guided by human hearts, not divine whim.

On Earth-27, the sky healed. Weather patterns followed meteorological laws. pressure systems, temperature gradients, moisture in the air. Zeus had pretended to control the lightning, but lightning was just electricity. It followed physics. The laws he'd maintained weren't his laws—they were natural laws he'd simply enforced. Reality enforced itself now.

On Earth-34, the underworld stabilized. Death of the Endless—had always been there. She was the natural end, the gentle closing of life's book. Yama and other death god's had just been middle management. The dead who should rest found peace. The boundary between life and death solidified, but it was a natural boundary now. People died when their time came, not when a god decreed it.

On Earth-50, crops grew. Demeter had claimed to bless the harvest, but plants grew because of sunlight and water and soil nutrients. Photosynthesis didn't require divine intervention. Humans knew how to farm—they'd learned through trial and error and passed down knowledge. The harvest came because people worked for it, not because a goddess allowed it.

Across infinite earths, reality smoothed over the gaps. Every domain the erased gods had claimed found new balance:

War continued, but it was human war, fought for human reasons, ended by human choice, not divine meddling.

Wisdom came from learning and teaching, not from Athena's blessing.

The forge fires burned because blacksmiths understood metallurgy, not because Hephaestus watched over them.

Music played because humans created it, enjoyed it, shared it—not because Apollo inspired it.

The hunt continued as humans tracked game using skill and knowledge, not Artemis's favor.

Marriage held or failed based on the couple's choices and efforts, not Hera's blessing or curse.

Magic still existed, but it was wild now, natural magic, the kind that had always been there before gods tried to monopolize it. Sorcerers and witches found they could still cast spells. The energy came from the universe itself, not from divine patrons.

History rewrote itself seamlessly. The temples to Zeus became centers of philosophy and governance—places where humans gathered to debate and decide, not to worship. The buildings remained. Their purpose shifted. Prayers that had been directed at gods became meditations or affirmations or simply thoughts sent out to the universe.

Heroes who'd been "blessed" by gods were remembered differently—their strength came from training, their courage from character, their victories from skill and luck. The divine element was edited out, replaced with natural explanations.

The fundamental laws remained. Physics worked. Chemistry worked. Biology worked. Magic worked. But they worked because they were real principles of the universe, not because gods allowed them to work.

The gods had been edited out, and reality proved it never needed them in the first place.

In realms beyond normal space and time, the Endless felt their brother finally reveal himself.

Death—Edward's wife, his beloved, smiled softly in her garden in Avalon, holding their son.

She'd been expecting this. Her husband had hidden himself for so long, played at being something less than he was. But threaten his family? Threaten humanity, which he cherished? She'd known he would eventually show his true might.

"About time," she murmured affectionately, feeling the surge of his power across dimensions. "I was wondering how long you'd let them posture before reminding them what real authority looks like."

Soph looked curiously at his mom. " Mom, Dad just did something amazing. I can sense it. The balance has shifted."

Death chuckled and kissed his forehead. "Yes baby. Your daddy finally decided to stop hiding himself. Although it will give your mommy a headache to sort through." She ruffled his hair much to Soph's protest. Like anybody would believe him when he had such a happy smile being treated as a kid by his mother.

Death continued tending her garden, completely unbothered. The gods being erased would come to her eventually anyway, not as gods, but as souls, stripped of divine pretension. She'd greet them as she greeted everyone: with kindness and finality. Death was patient. Death was inevitable.

Destruction felt his brother and best friend's power flex across reality as he was failing to compose another poem. He laughed—a deep, booming sound of genuine joy that echoed across his small corner of existence.

"That's my mate!" he shouted to no one. "Show those pompous bastards what real power looks like!"

He'd always liked Edward best among his siblings, although he was born unlike the rest. He understood why he'd left his post, and worked hard so he could return again. He understood why some endings were necessary, why destruction wasn't always about tearing down. Sometimes you destroyed old orders to make room for new growth. Sometimes you unmade tyrants so life could flourish.

"Give them hell, brother," Destruction said cheerfully, and returned to his painting. Edward would visit later, probably. They'd share wine and talk about the absurdity of gods who thought they were permanent.

In her realm of scattered thoughts and beautiful chaos, Delight felt the shift in reality. For a brief, crystalline moment, she snapped into complete focus.

She became Delight fully.

Not permanently, she never was anymore, couldn't be, the universe had broken her heart too many times for that. But for this moment, feeling her lovable big brother's power, remembering how he'd always been kind to her, how he'd never treated her like she was less for being what she was, for this moment, she was truly Delight.

"Big brother is being serious," she said in a voice that was clear and bright like bells. "The bad gods are going away. The nice ones get to stay. That's fair! That's very fair!"

She spun in a circle, and reality spun with her in her realm, colors and concepts and impossible things mixing and separating. She loved her brother who'd helped her remember, sometimes, briefly, what it was like to be Delight instead of Delirium. Who'd told her it was okay to be broken, because broken things could still be beautiful. She would visit him again and meet her cute little nephews and nieces.

Then the moment passed, and she was Delirium again, but she was still smiling.

Desire sprawled languidly in their realm of mirrors and wants, watching events unfold reflected in countless surfaces. A smirk played across their perfect, androgynous features.

"Well, well, well. The golden boy finally shows his true self." They stretched like a cat, admiring their own reflection, then Edward's transformation in another mirror. "Looking good, darling. Very intimidating. I approve."

They'd always enjoyed Edward's company. He understood desire in a way the others didn't. Understood that wanting something better, hoping for more, was just another form of desire. They'd spent many pleasant centuries mocking their brother Dream together. Morpheus was so serious, so convinced of his own importance. Edward knew how to prick that pompousness with perfect precision.

"Give them hell, beautiful," Desire purred. "And next time you visit, let's discuss making Morpheus squirm again. That's always entertaining."

Despair watched from her realm of gray and sorrow. Her realm of gray and endings. Her expression remained mostly impassive, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

She approved.

Edward had always been kind to her. Had never made her feel lesser for being what she was—the sorrow, the giving up, the gray space between pain and nothing.

He'd told her once that despair and hope weren't opposites, not really. That sometimes you needed to hit rock bottom, to feel complete despair, before hope could pull you back up. That she served a purpose.

These gods had caused so much unnecessary despair. The cruel kind. The kind that served no purpose but their own ego. They'd crushed people not to teach lessons but to feel powerful.

Good riddance.

Morpheus, Dream of the Endless stood in his throne room in the Dreaming, his eyes watching events unfold across dimensions. His expression was complicated—part respect, part concern, but mostly something that might have been fondness.

He remembered being trapped by Roderick Burgess in 1916. Remembered the humiliation of it, the helplessness. A human, an insignificant human, had captured him. Bound him. Imprisoned him in a basement for a decade.

And he remembered Him coming in 1920.

Edward had simply walked through the walls, as if Burgess's binding circle was a suggestion rather than a law. He'd looked at Dream trapped in his glass prison and laughed—not cruel, but genuinely amused. But all his good feeelings vanished when he made him say those... ridiculous words. Even his sister Death who's alway been so mature joined her husband in pranking him.

They'd had a complicated relationship since then. Morpheustook things seriously, perhaps too seriously. His function was important. Dreams and nightmares, stories and legends, these things mattered. He couldn't just joke about them.

But Edward... he liked to remind him that even nightmares could have happy endings sometimes. That not every story needed to be tragic. That sometimes you could lighten up.

It was annoying.

It was also necessary sometimes.

"Edward," Dream said quietly to his empty throne room, still watching the gods being erased. "You've finally stopped pretending to be less than you are."

A slight smile crossed his features.

"Though I suspect this will create more work for me. Mortals will dream of this day for generations. They'll make myths of the godlike being who wasn't a god, who saved humanity from divine tyranny. I'll be sorting through those stories for centuries."

He sighed.

"Worth it, though."

In the Garden of Forking Ways, where all paths and all possibilities existed simultaneously, where every choice and every consequence was written in the book that never ended, Destiny turned a page.

He'd always known this moment would come. It was written. Had always been written. Would always be written. Every path, every possibility, every alternative timeline—in all of them, this moment existed. Hope revealing himself. Gods being unmade. Reality shifting.

Some things were inevitable.

But knowing it would come didn't make it any less significant. His brother Hope was revealing himself to the multiverse. The balance was shifting. The gods were learning their place.

"As it must be," Destiny said simply, his voice carrying weight that transcended time and space. "As it always was. As it always will be."

He turned another page, reading what came next. His expression remained neutral, but perhaps there was the slightest fear in his ancient eyes. Because it was also the beginning of the end. But he had hope, that this ending will be changed by his rather quirky sibling.

The family was together in purpose, if not in presence. All of them, in their own ways, supported what their brother was doing.

Because at the end of it all, the Endless were family. They were existence itself. And when one of them acted, the others remembered why they were called Endless.

Because they preceded everything. Would outlast everything. Even gods.

Zeus's voice cracked as he shouted in disbelief and horror: "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! YOU'RE NOT EVEN A GOD! WHAT KIND OF CREATURE ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU?!"

Hera stepped forward slightly, her voice ringing with fierce pride as she looked at Zeus, her former husband, her former tormentor. "You wanted to know what he is?" Her smile was radiant. "My husband is an Endless. He is Hope of the Endless."

The words hit like a thunderbolt.

The gods who remained behind Edward, the ones who'd chosen his side, went absolutely still. Their faces paled. Even beings like Ra and Amaterasu, who'd existed for eons, showed fear.

Brunhilde grabbed Göll's arm, pulling her younger sister close. "The Endless," she whispered, her voice shaking. "The siblings of Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Delirium, and Destruction. The fundamental forces that predate gods, that will outlast gods, that define existence itself. I heard some rumours about another one, but never believed it... till now."

"And he's Hope," Göll whispered back. "The eighth. The one spoken of in prophecy."

The concept of the Endless wasn't unknown to gods. They were the entities that even gods respected, feared, and never, ever antagonized.

They were the fundamental forces of existence made sentient. You couldn't kill them, couldn't fight them, because they were concepts. How do you kill Death? How do you fight Destiny?

And Hope, Hope was perhaps the most terrifying of all, because Hope was the thing that kept going even when everything else failed. Hope was the light that shone in absolute darkness. Hope was the force that said "no" to inevitability, that rejected impossible odds, that made miracles happen.

Zeus stared in absolute horror as his body began to fade. "An ENDLESS! But you're supposed to be neutral! The Endless don't interfere! They observe! They—"

"I am Hope," Edward said simply. "And Hope fights for what matters. Hope protects what's precious. Hope says that even when gods decree extinction, life finds a way."

He raised his hand in a casual wave, almost dismissive.

Zeus, Odin, Hermes, and whatever remained of their army, thousands of gods who'd chosen tyranny over guidance, who'd chosen pride over humility—vanished into absolute nothingness.

Not death. Not banishment. Complete existential erasure. They had never existed. Would never exist. The multiverse had already forgotten them.

Silence fell across the arena.

Edward turned to face the gods who'd chosen to stand with him. His white hair and eyes were slowly fading back to his normal blonde and blue, the transformation receding now that the threat was ended.

His voice was gentle but carried undeniable weight: "I hope that you will not be like those fallen gods. I hope you'll remember that you exist to guide humanity, to help them grow, to nurture their potential. Not to rule them. Not to dominate them. Not to judge whether they deserve to exist."

Ra bowed deeply. "It shall be as you say, Lord Hope."

Amaterasu inclined her head. "We will remember. This day will be remembered." She then added with a sigh. "Just when I got over you, you had to make me feel that way..."

Edward coughed awkwardly as Hera gave him a knowing smile.

Sun Wukong grinned. "I've been helping mortals for centuries anyway. This just makes it official."

Buddha smiled serenely. "All beings deserve compassion. We will not forget."

Edward nodded, satisfied. Then he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Reality rippled.

The arena repaired itself completely. The damage from the battles, from the explosions, from the reality-warping—all of it undone. The structure was pristine again, as if nothing had ever happened.

But Edward did something else too. Something crucial.

He let humanity remember.

In every universe across the DC multiverse, humans remembered. They remembered watching thirteen gods die. Remembered seeing an army of thousands of gods charge one man. Remembered seeing those gods erased from existence for their tyranny.

Most importantly, they remembered that gods could die. That gods weren't invincible. That gods could be held accountable.

The humans in the arena who returned to their regular lives realized this first. They looked at each other, checking, confirming. "You remember that too? You saw it as well?"

"The thirteen gods dying..."

"The divine army being erased..."

"Gods can die. They can actually permanently die."

The implications would ripple through human society for generations. Religion would never be the same. The relationship between mortals and divinity had fundamentally shifted in this moment.

Edward turned to Hera, his expression softening. He reached out, taking her hand in his. His voice was gentle, intimate: "Let's go home. Back to our family."

Hera's smile was radiant with love and relief. She interlocked their arms, pressing close to him. "I've been waiting so long to truly be with you. To merge with my avatar, to hold Alphonse properly, to be part of our family completely."

Her voice caught slightly. "I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you. All of it. Every moment."

Edward smiled and raised his hand. Reality tore open, creating a portal that showed Avalon on the other side. The beautiful gardens, the gleaming towers, their home.

They walked toward it together, arms linked, looking like any couple in love rather than an Endless and a goddess who'd just reshaped the multiverse.

The gods who remained bowed as they passed. The humans cheered—not the desperate, relieved sound from before, but genuine gratitude and celebration.

Brunhilde watched them go, then turned to her sisters and the legendary warriors. "Well. That was educational."

"Educational?" Göll squeaked. "EDUCATIONAL?! We just watched an Endless erase thousands of gods! The whole multiverse was changed beyond imagination! "

"Indeed," Brunhilde said calmly. "And we learned something vital. Hope exists. Real, tangible Hope. And it fights for humanity when humanity needs it most." She smiled. "I'd say that's worth remembering."

Adam watched the portal close behind Edward and Hera. "He really is like me," he murmured. "Fighting for humanity because at his core, that's what he is. But he's so much more powerful than I." He smiled slightly. "My children has a protector. A real one. That's... comforting."

As the portal sealed, as the arena began to empty, as gods and humans alike processed what they'd witnessed, existence continued.

But it was different now. Changed. The balance of power had shifted. Gods knew they could die. Humans knew gods could die.

And Hope had shown that it would protect what mattered, consequences be damned.

Beyond the multiverse, in the absolute void where even concepts struggled to exist, the Source Wall loomed. It was the boundary of all things, the edge of existence itself. And trapped within it, imprisoned for attempting to destroy her own creation, was Perpetua.

The Mother of the Multiverse hung crucified in living metal, her vast form barely contained by the Wall's power. She'd been here for eons, trapped, powerless, forgotten.

But she wasn't unconscious. She was aware. She watched. And she waited.

And she felt it when Edward had used his power. Felt the ripple of an Endless operating at full capacity, felt the fundamental nature of existence being rewritten.

A small crack appeared in the Source Wall. Almost invisible.

But it was there.

Perpetua's eyes opened. In the darkness of her prison, she smiled.

"It's almost time," she whispered to the void. "Almost time to end this experiment. To unmake what I made. To start again."

The crack grew just slightly wider.

"Thank you, little Hope," Perpetua murmured. "Thank you for showing me the Wall isn't as strong as it used to be. Thank you for giving me the opening I've been waiting for."

Her smile widened into something terrible.

"Soon. Very soon now."

The crack pulsed with dark energy, growing wider by increments too small to notice immediately.

But growing nonetheless.

The Source Wall, weakened by the reality manipulation Edward had done, by the fundamental changes he'd made to existence, had developed a flaw.

And Perpetua was patient. She'd waited this long. She could wait a little longer.

Until the crack was wide enough to escape through.

Until she was free.

Until she could end everything.

The Mother of the Multiverse closed her eyes again, conserving her strength, waiting for her moment.

And in the darkness of the void, the crack continued to grow.

*****

And that's wrap on this arc! I HOPE you guys enjoyed it.

Now it's time to say goodbye. It's been a fun journey, but like every journey, it must end. It's been almost 8 years I've been here . Saw the good and bad times. Sadly the site has become shit.

There's even one guy shit talking my works , saying he is so much better when he's literally making full ai slop with zero creativity. How bad you can be that your entire work is based on trash talking another story which is far better than your own lol. This site is so done with the recent quality of works. Might as well leave early.

The story is currently being posted on RoyalRoad from start. You can also find advance chapters on Patreon. All under same name.

https:// www.patreon.com/c/Virtuosso777?redirect=true

With that, I bid you farewell and best of wishes for your future.