CHAPTER 150: ODIN’S ARRIVAL

The Shinto heavens shook under the weight of war.

Zeus’s storm split skies into shards, but even he felt the pressure building. Amaterasu’s fire blazed brighter with each strike. Izanagi’s hand reshaped creation itself, dragging the storm into knots. Izanami’s death winds gnawed at his chest, his blood growing heavy. Susanoo circled like a shark in a storm, his blade hissing, while Raijin and Fūjin beat their drums and loosed their winds until the very air tried to strangle him.

The sun glared, the moon cut, the sea dragon writhed back from the depths. Everywhere, there were blades, fire, and claws. Everywhere, there were gods.

For the first time, Zeus’s boots dragged against the broken clouds.

He clenched his fists, sparks crawling across his knuckles. The storm still roared in him, but it strained. His vision blurred as Izanami’s breath swept over him again, a reminder that even thunder could fade into silence.

Then the sky cracked.

–––

It wasn’t lightning this time. It was a spear.

From the void split above came a shaft of power so sharp it cut the red-gold heavens in two. It struck between Zeus and Amaterasu, the shockwave scattering fox spirits and shattering half of Susanoo’s summoned waves. The ground buckled under it, torii gates trembling, rivers of starlight exploding into sparks.

A voice followed, deep and cold as the roots of Yggdrasil.

"Enough."

Odin stepped through.

The All-Father’s cloak billowed with runes burning down its length, one eye blazing gold, the other dark as the void between stars. Gungnir hummed in his grip, already spinning, already ready to split the world again.

Behind him came his brood.

Thor, hammer swinging, storm already snarling to answer Zeus’s. The sound of Mjolnir rolling thunder across the battlefield split even Raijin’s rhythm. Baldur followed, light dripping from his skin, every step carrying warmth so sharp it blinded the fox spirits until they howled. Vidar was silent, his great boot crushing stone, his strength pressed low but certain.

And last—Loki.

The trickster strolled with a grin sharp enough to cut glass, his hands glowing green, flames licking between his fingers. He looked at the host of Shinto gods as though they were pieces on a board already waiting to be moved.

–––

The battlefield paused for a heartbeat.

Amaterasu’s fire dimmed slightly, her eyes narrowing as she measured this new host. Izanagi’s head tilted, calm but sharp. Izanami’s death winds slowed, curling tighter around her like a veil. Susanoo snarled and raised his blade higher.

And Zeus, blood in his mouth, lifted his head and smirked faintly.

"Odin," he said, voice cracked but firm. "Took your time."

The All-Father only glanced at him, then raised his spear. "Let us see if the Shinto heavens burn as well as they shine."

–––

The storm shifted.

Thor was first, Mjolnir screaming as it smashed into Raijin’s drums. The thunder god staggered, his eyes wide as his own storm was ripped apart by another’s. The hammer came down again, breaking the sky into jagged arcs of lightning. Raijin’s roar was drowned out by Thor’s laughter.

Baldur’s light collided with Amaterasu’s sun. Her flames met his radiance head-on, filling the realm with a brilliance that blinded mortals for miles. Amaterasu hurled a burning orb, Baldur caught it in his palm, crushed it into sparks, then rushed through the flare, his blade of light clashing with her burning hands.

Vidar met Susanoo. The war god’s blade swung, waves surging with it, but Vidar planted his boot. The strike stopped cold, the ocean recoiling as though it had slammed against a wall. Vidar’s fist followed, smashing into Susanoo’s chest, sending him skidding across the broken clouds.

Loki was nowhere—and everywhere. His green flames split into a dozen illusions, each taunting, each darting between Bishamonten, Benzaiten, Inari’s foxes. They struck at him, but every time they touched one of his forms, it dissolved into laughter. The real Loki stepped behind Bishamonten, whispered something venomous into his ear, then drove a blade of fire into his side.

Odin himself faced Izanagi and Izanami. Gungnir spun, runes flaring, cutting through creation and death both. Izanagi’s palm closed, trying to bind the spear, but Odin’s voice thundered a word of old magic, and the chains of creation snapped. Izanami’s death wind wrapped his chest, but Odin’s cloak flared with Yggdrasil’s roots, holding the breath of endings at bay.

Zeus moved again, his storm surging with new life now that the battlefield no longer pressed solely on him. He drove himself upward, his fist crashing into Ryūjin’s jaw. The dragon screamed as thunder detonated through its skull. Lightning carved across its coils, tearing scales away in storms of sparks. Zeus roared with him, driving blow after blow until the beast writhed back into the sea below.

–––

The heavens convulsed.

Thor and Raijin’s storms tore each other apart. Baldur and Amaterasu’s lights burned so bright the temples split. Vidar and Susanoo broke shrines with every strike. Loki’s laughter echoed through fox cries and broken songs. Odin’s spear clashed with Izanagi’s hand again and again, every impact shaking the fabric of this realm.

And Zeus—Zeus stood beside them, his storm crashing with Thor’s, his blows breaking where his brother gods pressed.

–––

The Shinto host fought harder.

Tsukuyomi’s moonlight fell in arcs sharp enough to split mountains. Kagutsuchi’s fire burned hotter, meteors raining until the skies were flame. Inari’s foxes multiplied, snapping at Loki from every side. Bishamonten, bleeding, raised his blade again, punishing strikes still finding their mark. Amaterasu burned hotter, Izanagi and Izanami pressed heavier, Susanoo’s blade sang with rage.

But now the field was even.

Zeus’s storm no longer strained alone.

The All-Father had come.

–––

The clash became legend in the span of breaths.

Lightning tangled with sunfire. Creation cracked against spear runes. Death winds shredded illusions of green flame. Moonlight split against Mjolnir’s hammer. Dragon screams echoed from below.

Each strike scarred the Shinto heavens.

Temples shattered. Torii gates fell into rivers of sparks. The air itself burned with light, thunder, fire, and storm.

Still neither side bent.

–––

Zeus’s chest heaved, his fists dripping sparks. Odin’s single eye burned. Thor roared, hammer still spinning. Loki laughed with blood on his hands. Baldur glowed bright even with cuts across his face. Vidar stood silent, unmoving as mountains.

Across from them, Amaterasu blazed, Susanoo snarled, Izanagi and Izanami loomed, Tsukuyomi’s moonlight sharpened, Raijin beat his broken drums, Fūjin’s winds howled, Kagutsuchi’s fire seethed, and the host of kami stood unyielding.

–––

The Shinto heavens shook.