CHAPTER 287: CHAPTER 45

At this moment, the air inside Valaskjálf, Odin’s grand observatory, shimmered faintly. Runes of gold drifted through the air as the Allfather stood before a mirror —a vast, liquid-like pane of light that connected his sight to distant realms.

In its depths, the image of Nyx, cloaked in the velvet of eternity, rippled into view. Her form was both shadow and starlight, her eyes like twin galaxies gazing calmly back at him.

"Odin," she said, her tone cool but carrying a subtle pride, "we have succeeded."

Odin’s single eye widened slightly. "Succeeded?"

Nyx nodded, her long hair flowing as though alive. "The model of fusion between our universes has stabilized. Hades and Athena completed the framework using your calculations. The prototype held for over an hour before we shut it down manually."

For a rare moment, Odin looked genuinely surprised.

He had expected them to take years, perhaps decades, just to reach stability.

"You’ve outdone even my expectations," he said, stroking his beard. "I thought your end would still be mired in failure by now."

Nyx smiled faintly. "So did I. But Hades’ knowledge of structural compression and Athena’s insight into harmonics surpassed even what I accounted for."

She tilted her head slightly. "I’ll send Erebus to you shortly with the raw data and projections. You’ll want to study the harmonization pattern yourself."

Odin nodded deeply, gratitude visible in his gaze. "Much appreciated, Nyx. You and your kin are as efficient as you are ancient."

"Hey, you calling me old?" Nyx smiled sweetly...a little too sweetly.

But soon, Nyx’s expression shifted subtly, her tone now businesslike. "Tell me, Odin, have others reached out to you since our last talk?"

Odin clasped his hands behind his back and gave a slow nod. "They have. The Celtic God of Sun Lugh came first, his temper as fiery as ever. Then Thoth of the Egyptians, and Nuska, aide to Enlil of Mesopotamia."

"I see," Nyx murmured. "And how did they take your words?"

Odin’s eye glimmered, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Lugh was... skeptical. Accused me of consorting with an abomination, though he didn’t say your name aloud. He stormed off soon after."

Nyx’s expression didn’t change, though the shadows behind her seemed to darken ever so slightly.

"As for Thoth and Nuska," Odin continued, "they stayed and asked some questions, many of them. Thoth was the most inquisitive though. But if the rumors are true, and the Egyptian pantheon truly teeters on the edge of disintegration, then his eagerness is understandable. I believe he sees salvation in our design."

Nyx nodded slowly. "And the Mesopotamians?"

"Curious, but cautious," Odin said. "They would probably observe from afar, unwilling to take the first step. Perhaps they believe we will fail and save themselves the humiliation of alliance."

"That is of no consequence," Nyx replied, her tone like the stillness before the dawn. "Once we succeed, they will have no choice but to follow. Order begets submission, and power draws all who fear oblivion."

Odin chuckled under his breath. "You speak as if you already hold the reins of creation, Primordial of the Night."

"Not yet," Nyx said, eyes gleaming like cold moons. "But soon."

There was a pause between them, an unspoken understanding of what they were attempting.

To fuse universes was to rewrite the hierarchy of existence itself. Even gods trembled at such ambition.

Odin’s expression softened as he shifted the topic. "What will your next step be?"

Nyx folded her arms, her voice calm but resolute. "We will begin linking Hades directly to our universe. Not fully—just a partial synchronization, enough for him to feel the weight of carrying an entire reality. If he adapts, we can proceed on having him as the permanent anchor for the Hyperverse."

Odin hummed thoughtfully. "A sound plan. He must learn to shoulder it, lest the fusion devour him, despite his strength"

He turned away for a moment, glancing toward the horizon where the tattered remnants of the Nine Realms floated.

Only Asgard and Helheim remained whole. The rest hung in fragments, broken stars scattered through the void.

"I’ll see to the reconstruction of Norse first," Odin said. "Once the framework is stable again, I’ll open the next phase. When the time comes, we’ll merge with the Greeks, and Hades will serve as the bridge between us."

"Good" Nyx replied simply. "Prepare your realm, Odin. Once we start, there will be no turning back."

Odin’s eye gleamed, reflecting both determination and a flicker of weariness. "I have already lost too much to turn back now."

Nyx gave a knowing smile before her image began to fade. "Then let us march toward the dawn of the Hyperverse, Allfather."

The mirror dimmed, leaving Odin alone in the quiet chamber.

He stood there for a long moment, gazing at the void through the glass floor beneath his feet. Broken worlds reflected in his single eye.

And softly, almost to himself, he muttered,

"The Hyperverse... Honestly, thinking about it now, even I am still in disbelief."

*

*

*

In the quiet dimness of her cosmic chamber, Nyx stood before the fading shimmer of the divine mirror, its light dissolving like stardust across the void.

Her reflection flickered faintly, her expression unreadable.

Odin’s voice still echoed in her mind, mingling with her own thoughts. The Egyptians, the Mesopotamians...

Her gaze lowered, thoughtful.

Out of all the pantheons scattered across the endless void, the Egyptians were the easiest to sway.

Their once-proud realm had been stripped of its radiance, battered by the Angels of the Christian Pantheon, drained of divine essence, and left trembling at the edge of collapse.

Their king, Ra, though still proud, was desperate to preserve what little remained of his dominion.

"If our fusion succeeds," she murmured to herself, "they will come running, heads bowed, pretending it was always their will."

The faintest of smirks touched her lips.

Desperation breeds loyalty.

Her eyes moved across the hovering map of the void, a shifting sea of luminous points, each marking a universe ruled by different gods.

She raised her hand and brushed her fingers through the glowing sphere that represented the Aztecs, and their allied Mayan and other smaller pantheons from their area.

"The next step... will be them." Her tone was calm, analytical. "They already stand united, their pantheons fused through blood, faith, and war. If they witness strength greater than their own, they will not hesitate to align."

She whispered a few words, and the Aztec universe pulsed faintly, as if alive and watchful.

But her expression soon darkened as her gaze drifted across the map, to the grander, older lights.

The Hindus. The Chinese. The Shinto. The Celts.

Four names that pulsed with pride, tradition, and stubbornness.

The Hindus, entrenched in their endless cycles of creation and destruction, would scoff at the idea of unity. Why would gods of absolute power bother uniting with lesser pantheons?

The Chinese, with their Celestial Bureaucracy, believed themselves perfection embodied, the center of balance, law, and divinity.

They would never kneel, not even before doom itself.

The Shinto... Nyx frowned. They were a mystery even to her. Amaterasu’s light was hidden deep within her universe, her isolation near absolute. Even her messengers were rarely seen.

And the Celts... ah, the Celts. Their hatred ran deep. They were close friends to the Romans she had destroyed and devoured. To them, joining such an alliance with her in it would be betrayal itself.

Nyx folded her arms, her ethereal gown of night clouds rippling around her. "Pride, arrogance, hatred... each of them a shackle that keeps them blind."

She rubbed her chin, her brow furrowing slightly. How could she convince them? What could make beings so steeped in their own grandeur acknowledge a higher purpose?

For a long time, she pondered, thinking, calculating, imagining a dozen scenarios, but none satisfied her. Each plan led to conflict or ruin.

At last, she let out a quiet sigh that resonated through the room like a wave of dark silk.

"No," she whispered. "Not yet. The time for persuasion will come only after success. Words mean nothing to gods who only bow to power."

She turned away, the cosmic projection collapsing into particles of black light behind her.

Her steps echoed softly across the obsidian floor as she approached the tall doors of her chamber.

The stars beyond the arch shimmered, billions of them, swirling around the vast heart of the Greek universe.

"For now," she murmured, her voice gentle, almost fond, "there is something far more important."

Her eyes glowed softly as her lips curved into a faint smile, a smile that is cold, yet filled with quiet longing.

"To bind our universe to him."

The doors opened before her, revealing an endless sea of stars stretching toward the realm where Hades waited.

The dark god, her equal and her beloved, would soon become the axis upon which all realities turned.

As she stepped through, her shadow spread outward like wings of night, swallowing constellations in her wake.