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SM : [98] I Accept You
🕑 Added 2024-05-12 16:00:10 +0000 UTCAn unyielding will that couldn't be crushed by pain and despair.
Yet, it was utterly shattered by gentleness.
At the peak of Mount Olympus, within the temple.
The assembled gods gazed almost frozen in place.
They watched as the blood-colored devilish body before them slowly expanded and swelled, countless grotesque arms sprouting from it, each arm opening countless eerie eyes.
Eyes sprouted from the arms.
Eyes continued to grow on the arms.
It was a gaze that instilled fear and sent shivers down one's spine... the gaze of being watched.
Countless human skulls piled and rolled on its grotesque body, emitting a mournful howl and wail.
The fear of death among people, and the boy's desire to survive, combined with the overwhelming malice towards this world, ultimately shaped the ultimate destiny.
Chaos God Khorne who brings slaughter, death, destruction, and ruin to all living things, born from the sadistic nature of this planet.
It was called the Death Devil.
Above the sky of Mount Olympus, the clouds were dark and gloomy, and a thick, blood-like rain began to pour down, as if the entire world was weeping.
Seeing this scene that shook their very core.
All the Machine Gods present turned pale in an instant.
Kratos... he had never been possessed by a devil before, nor had he been eroded by the vanguard of the wandering star.
He was awake, incredibly awake... the ferocious mask of slaughter was merely a disguise he wore.
But now, at this moment.
Kratos, who had always stood on the edge of the abyss of reason, was finally completely overwhelmed and crushed by the gentleness and hope from Athena.
So, he fell.
Fell into the abyss of wanting to survive.
"..."
Athena held her daughter's hand, her expression blank as she stared at the scene before her.
Why...
...Why did it come to this?
She didn't intend for this.
Indeed, Kratos's disguise was almost perfect.
The desire to slaughter humans stemmed from the devilish nature.
The desire to destroy gods stemmed from the instinct of the vanguard of the wandering star.
He was eroded by both during his battle with Hades, so his desire to slaughter both humans and gods was logically flawless.
But...
It was too excessive to broadcast this to all of Greece.
Even if he wanted humans to witness the brutal deaths of the gods, there was no need to issue a declaration of destroying cities in seven days.
This... would only spread fear across the land.
With Kratos's current power, rushing up to Mount Olympus or destroying the cities of Greece would be as easy as eating and drinking for him.
So...
His actions and words were contradictory.
There was no need to declare the slaughter of humans.
It was even less possible to leave time to destroy the gods.
As the king of Sparta, Kratos couldn't possibly not understand the principle of swift and decisive battle, not to mention, he had the support of the entire city behind him.
However...
He started a broadcast to all of Greece, letting everyone on this land witness his cruelty at this moment.
Athena's wisdom allowed her to guess Kratos's intentions.
"This is a play to deceive all of Greece."
Ares was killed by Kratos in front of her, so this further confirmed Athena's guess.
Because... her silly sister, under Athena's persuasion, had been silent for the past few days.
But... her expression.
Ares, she was actually sad.
As Athena gradually understood human nature from Kratos, she understood the vacant expression on her sister's face.
After all, her sister's acting skills were too poor, she was truly as clumsy as ever... all her emotions were written on her face.
So, Athena realized.
Her chance had come.
Kratos bore the overwhelming malice of the people, carried the determination to sacrifice, and at this most bitter, most desperate, and most oppressive moment.
She would bring their daughter, like a brilliant and charming hope, to appear, and give him infinite tenderness and acceptance.
And then, she could announce to the gods and humans the truth... that she had saved Kratos from hell.
In this way...
In Kratos's heart, Athena was certain that she would leave an indelible mark, right?
"The goddess who saved you from hell... was me, Kratos."
With this kind of statement...
Kratos might just fall for her, might truly become her possession, right?
So.
With a difficult-to-express joy.
With surging hope.
With anticipation and longing.
She opened her arms to the black-haired boy standing on the edge of the abyss, and the goddess opened her arms to her.
Then...
She welcomed the ending called destruction.
The hundreds and thousands of blood-filled pupils all stared at the goddess, causing Athena's expression to freeze like a statue.
A grotesque arm slowly extended from the monstrous body, gently caressing Pandora's head.
The cute, black-haired girl looked at the huge monster in front of her with a dazed expression.
"Father... suddenly became so big, Mom?"
Standing dazedly, she found herself unable to answer her daughter's question.
Her calculations seemed to have gone awry.
She raised her hand in confusion, wanting to grasp Kratos's hand.
But... those hundreds and thousands of eyes glanced at Athena, then lost interest and shifted away.
For these grotesque creature, their actions were driven purely by instinct, devoid of any bloodthirsty desires.
After all, there was no real blood in these bodies, just simulated organic matter.
Carrying the malice of humanity, hence wanting to destroy humanity.
A devil.
Or, rather, a manifestation of BEAST.
Both the love contained by humans and the evil they must overcome, at this moment, were embodied in him.
With thousands of arms and eyes.
In the frozen gaze of the gods, it distorted grotesquely, its bloated body slowly wriggling towards the outskirts of the temple.
"Isn't it wrong?
"What... went wrong-"
Watching its departing figure.
Athena murmured in a dreamlike, confused tone.
"Why...
"Why, when I wanted to offer him redemption, when I wanted to give him tenderness, when I wanted to save him... did he fall?"
"Because... Kratos wants to live."
Hecate smiled bitterly.
"My disciple, he is learning desperately, striving to improve, fighting desperately... he wants to live more than anyone else, but the hell he's facing, only he can handle it in all of Greece.
"So, he decided to bear it, he decided to shoulder it. He can't even face his family and friends... because he already possesses the determination to sacrifice.
"But... the heart that falls, in its turbulent tug, wants him to live.
"His reason is dangerously close to collapse, his spirit is overwhelmed by burdens, he's long been standing on the edge of the abyss.
"So, Athena..."
The gaze of the Goddess of the Dark Moon, staring at the dominating goddess, Hecate's burning eyes, seemed to scorch Athena's soul.
"...Your gentleness destroyed him."
Thud.
Athena knelt down helplessly, staring at the huge and grotesque body, turning away from her, crawling further and further away.
At this moment.
There was no point in burying secrets anymore.
So she told the plan that Kratos had all along which was to empty the entire hell with the crest of the wandering star, bring all the evil and malice of the entire Greece, and finally gather all the terminals of the Twelve Machine Gods, and try to defeat Chaos.
Amidst Hecate's ethereal words.
Kratos's entire plan unfolded amidst the gods' moved expressions.
Silence.
Time froze in amber, the last fire smoldering in the crumbling firewood.
The gods bathed in the thick, blood-like rain, the liquid dripping from their faces, whether rain or blood, was unclear.
In the silence, like frozen.
A hand gently pressed on Athena's shoulder.
"We do not understand the human heart, Athena."
Zeus pressed on Athena's shoulder, his solemn gaze sweeping across the temple filled with gods, the situation at this moment was undoubtedly at its worst.
Throughout Olympus, only he retained intact combat capability.
"Kratos... has truly become a devil now... he undoubtedly intends to massacre humans."
Zeus looked up, gazing at the sky.
Without Kratos's devil power support, the projection to all of Greece also dissipated at the moment of his distortion.
"Aphrodite, assist Hecate in broadcasting the battle to all of Greece, I will stop him.
"Kratos, having absorbed most of our pollution... as a god, wants humans to bear the world's evil was the shame of us, the gods of Olympus."
The biting wind.
The pouring rain.
Bathed in this thick, blood-like rain.
Zeus stared at the dark sky.
"To save Kratos, there is only one way.
"...Stop his massacre, and then reveal the truth about hell to all of Greece.
"Let people... fear the gods again, fear me, the king of the gods.
"After all, humans should fear me, facing powerful gods is their instinct.
"I will prove that I am more terrifying than Kratos.
"Because I am, the flagship of Olympus.
"Because I am... Zeus, the King of the Gods."
Zeus slowly spread his arms, his majestic figure slowly rising amidst the thunder and lightning.
With most of his pollution drawn away by Kratos, he had never been in such good condition before, and in the entire Olympus, he was the only one who retained a complete ship.
The Interstellar Combat-Purpose Annihilation Type Mobile Fortress slowly descended from the sky of Olympus.
The monstrous and bloated body, crawling and rolling down from Mount Olympus, approached the nearest human city eagerly.
Boom!
The raging thunder surged, descending from the distant sky, struck the grotesque body of the monster, burning a ferocious scar.
The piercing screams echoed through the sky.
The instinct of the devil, savage and brutal, was suddenly awakened.
The enemy... what were they?
Just kill them all.
The devilish eyes, numbering in the thousands, suddenly lifted their gaze towards the golden giant ship descending from the sky.
As if supporting the heavens and the earth with its massive body, it slowly descended from the veils of gray clouds.
Thunder rolled around its divine body, and the silver-haired old man stood on the firmament, gazing sorrowfully at his fallen child.
The scene before him.
Undoubtedly, it was all... his fault.
It was him, selfishly passing on all responsibilities onto the shoulders of a young boy, without ever considering his thoughts.
For mortals.
The responsibility of killing gods was too heavy.
"I'm sorry, Kratos."
Zeus murmured in pity, as if speaking to himself.
"I am not... a qualified father."
Boom!
The monster's grotesque eyes glowed, brewing countless beams of pale light symbolizing destruction, tearing through the sky.
"World Discipline Keraunos!"
The annihilating fortress floated in the air, shaking the ground with countless thunderous roars, pulverizing the earth.
Gods, suspended in the firmament.
Devils, standing on the ground.
Between them, space rippled with the roar and explosion, rippling with seemingly endless waves of energy and bursting rays.
The clouds were pierced, the atmosphere torn apart.
Explosions resounded like thunder, reverberating through the eardrums of the people on the Greek land.
The entire majestic Olympus mountain range seemed to shake violently.
The air heated up to tens of thousands of degrees, and the rocks were burned into molten lava.
The sturdy mountain bodies were crushed into powder by the violent force, and each towering peak was completely swept away by the annihilating beams, leaving behind nothing but a shattered ruin.
The surging shockwaves formed violent sandstorms, radiating hurricanes that engulfed the surrounding hundreds of kilometers.
On the Greek land, as long as people stood on high ground, they could see the astonishing brightness coming from the direction of Mount Olympus, the intense and dazzling flames, as if several burning suns had fallen to the surface.
Intense battles.
Endless light and heat.
Bathed in the thunder and lightning of the king of the gods's tremor, his flesh was constantly destroyed, yet constantly spreading outwards.
The shackles and limitations of this flesh seemed to be gradually breaking away.
More arms, extending out.
More eyes, appearing on his body.
The beams of destruction rippled, tearing through the sky and the earth.
Tearing through the boy's reason and heart.
"Kratos.
"Kratos...
"Kratos!!!"
Aatrox's hoarse voice echoed in the chaotic spiritual space.
However, the black-haired youth was gently held in the arms of the silver-haired youth, closing his eyes, as if sinking into a peaceful slumber.
Aatrox wanted to get closer, to snatch Kratos back.
However, he was watched by Alvin, and his will seemed to be bound, unable to move at all.
Because... the authority of the wandering star was in Kratos's hands.
And Kratos was also Alvin.
Warmth.
Kratos seemed to feel it, an endless warmth.
Held in Alvin's arms.
So... warm.
No need for pain.
No need for despair.
No need for effort.
Just... indulge.
Give it all to him, that would be enough...
...
Scattered across the rugged and scarred landscape of Mount Olympus were countless deep craters.
The grotesque creature with a thousand hands and eyes was covered in charred, hideous scars, its bloated body having shrunk significantly. Yet, it continued to tremble as it launched its attacks, its flesh writhing and visibly regenerating at an astonishing speed.
Sensing a distraction, the crest of the wandering star ceased its extraction from the River Styx, bringing the cycle to a complete halt.
However, fueled by the malice of all Greece, Kratos' resilience seemed almost boundless.
Before inflicting enough terror, destruction, and death upon humanity.
The Death Devil would never be satisfied.
If Zeus ceased his relentless bombardment, within a few minutes, this body would instantly recover to its peak state. Furthermore, due to the limiters being shed, it would become even more powerful, more unstoppable.
Compared to the devils, these constantly regenerating grotesque beings were far more formidable.
In the heavens, the massive annihilating fortress surged with thunder, while the robust figure of the silver-haired old man seemed to support the sky and the earth.
However, at this moment.
Whether in humanoid form or as a vessel, Zeus was covered in severe and extensive damage, looking utterly battered.
On the mountain peaks, the gods gazed at the scorched battlefield, their expressions solemn.
They had already realized.
...The worst-case scenario had come to pass.
Now, Kratos, the devil among devils, was too strong.
Even Zeus himself could not restrain Kratos.
So...
"How much longer until the projection over all of Greece can be activated?"
Zeus's voice resounded through the divine communication channels.
Apollo's pupils flickered with brilliance as he monitored the flow of the ley lines. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head.
"Artemis is already overclocking her ship to assist Hecate in fully constructing the projection magic of the ley lines. It will take at least another three hours."
"Can't we use Sparta?"
"The ley lines there are under the control of Tree of Hell, and aside from Kratos, even Hecate has no authority. We can only construct new spells."
"Everyone who still has the ability to act, my siblings, immediately issue a divine decree to your respective city-states, instructing the priests to inform humanity of the truth about the hellish contamination..."
"Understood."
Without any hesitation or concern about being newly invaded by malice.
Because... if Kratos were to awaken, he could effortlessly kill off the gods.
As if seeking a glimmer of hope, the seven gods immediately set off for their respective temples atop their mountain peaks.
However...
"That's pointless, Zeus."
Athena could only smile sadly.
"Not to mention the difficulty in communicating with Hades, Ares, and Artemis at the moment, we have lost three gods' followers.
"Humanity, they will only believe what they see with their own eyes.
"Issuing divine decrees in such haste.
"Will only make people think that Kratos has already wiped out Olympus, seized all the godly temples, and triggered a new wave of panic."
"..."
As her words faded.
Zeus fell into silence.
The gods of Olympus also fell into silence.
Because Athena was right.
Humans... were such complicated creatures.
Their desires, uncontrollable, would pass judgment on things before fully understanding them.
In fact.
Baseness and greatness, malice and kindness, hatred and love, humility and prejudice.
Could all coexist, without rejection, in a single soul.
Humans.
Were so complex, with endless possibilities, that even the gods found them difficult to comprehend.
In each person's heart, lay treasures of immeasurable value, neither base nor noble, just precious in their own right.
Those beliefs, that malice.
Surrounded the gods, corrupted the gods.
Zeus suddenly realized that he was trapped in a dilemma.
Could he truly persuade humanity?
Could he truly understand the human heart?
And it had only been half an hour.
The energy reserves of the annihilating fortress had already decreased by 47%.
To pull Kratos out of the abyss of malice and make all of Greece believe in this benevolent king once again.
He had to hold on for at least three more hours.
But... this was still the most ideal scenario.
In front of everyone's eyes, Kratos massacred Hades, tore apart Ares, crushed Artemis, and completely destroyed a city-state.
So people finally began to believe that this Spartan king had fallen into the ultimate evil among the gods, and they started to fear him, to dread him.
Even if Zeus now revealed the truth of the reversal.
Would people awaken to it, or... remain skeptical?
If no god could stop the devil Kratos, he would surely slaughter half of Greece.
But... now Zeus still had one final chance.
After half an hour of fierce battle, Zeus had already tested it out.
Although the devil Kratos's abilities were incomparably strong, his defense... appeared to be comparatively weak.
Currently, Kratos was only fighting on instinct as a devil, completely ignoring the idea of guarding his weaknesses.
So...
He pushed the Intelligent Life-Form Conservation Function to full power, capable of piercing Kratos's heart in one fell swoop.
That was aimed... to kill him.
Then, while still conscious and uncorrupted, the gods could immediately initiate the self-destruction program.
However, even if the devil could regenerate in the River Styx.
After the gods self-destructed, the void chasms of Chaos would also correspondingly close.
If the rules of the otherworld were disrupted.
Kratos... would truly perish...
"There's no choice, Zeus."
Hera's voice, faint and ethereal, echoed in the memory of the king of the gods.
"Kratos, he absorbed all the pollution of the gods for us, creating this perfect opportunity.
"Don't... betray him..."
As her words faded.
The silver-haired old man remained silent for a long time.
Finally.
He closed his eyes, trembling with sorrow.
"FLAGSHIP DIRECTIVE: JUDGEMENT"
"Kill Kratos.
"And then, immediately initiate self-destruct..."
This proposal.
Was unanimously passed by the only remaining nine gods present.
...As if sensing something.
Hecate, looked hazily towards Aphrodite beside her.
The goddess of love and beauty of Olympus... abruptly ceased her assistance in constructing the projection matrix.
The red-haired woman stopped her movements in constructing the matrix, raised her gaze, and looked compassionately at the goddess of the underworld.
"Sorry, Hecate..."
Hecate's body suddenly trembled, as if going mad, and she rushed towards the exit of the temple.
...
Destruction, met its own destruction.
Slaughter, met its own slaughter.
Bloodshed, and tears.
Thousands of devil eyes filled with blood and tears gazed at the silver-haired old man in the sky, unable to comprehend what emotions he was expressing.
The hourglass filled with malice had already drained its last grain of reason sand.
He only knew.
As long as they were enemies...
They should be killed.
Boom!
Countless beams of annihilating light abruptly tore through Zeus's flagship, leaving behind grim and jagged scars on its hull.
But... at this moment.
Zeus, was already beyond all of this.
His robes billowed in the thunder and lightning.
His body, majestic as if holding up the heavens and the earth.
The silver-haired old man, with a look of pity, slowly raised his palm.
In the sky, the colossal golden head of the flagship lowered its indigo-colored pupils, gazing at Zeus's humanoid form.
Threads of golden lightning dispersed from the void, appearing in Zeus's palm.
They were the bound positrons, under the gravitational field of the flagship's armor, continuously gathering, stacking, and converging, mutually annihilating positive and negative matter, releasing the most violent energy in the universe.
"No! Zeus!"
Sss...
Zeus made his final move.
Amidst Hecate's almost hoarse cry, he slightly deviated by just a fraction.
A brilliant golden thunderbolt suddenly pierced down from the sky, crashing beside Kratos's devilish body on the ground, erupting like a sun, bursting forth with an incomparably dazzling light.
Boom!
A powerful shockwave, several times faster than the speed of sound, erupted in all directions. The earth cracked, the rock layers were upheaved, the mountains shattered. The entire Olympus mountain range began to fracture under the ripple of energy shockwaves.
The entire magnetic field of Greece was thus severely affected.
The entire Aegean region, even bordering Macedonia and Thrace, all magical communications ceased for more than three minutes.
Countless people stared in disbelief.
Staring at Mount Olympus... where the sun rose.
...
The raging plasma dissipated gradually amidst the violent shockwaves.
At the base of Mount Olympus, a crater measuring thousands of meters deep was blasted open.
Incredibly dense energy turned the spherical area within this crater into nothingness, annihilating any matter into its most fundamental particles.
The release of this full-powered blow.
The Interstellar Combat-Purpose Annihilation Type Mobile Fortress Flagship, suspended in the sky, slowly closed its own pupils.
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The burly figure of the silver-haired old man lowered his eyelids, gazing with pity at the battlefield of devastation.
At the center of the massive crater.
The black-haired youth lay amidst a pile of charred and withered grotesque flesh, peacefully closing his eyes. His serene expression seemed like he had fallen into a deep slumber.
The bloodthirsty demonic sword was plunged into the flesh beside the youth, while the fully activated crest of the wandering star helped him absorb the overflowing energy.
Zeus's full-powered blow did not pierce his heart.
So... Kratos was still alive.
The flesh of the devil writhed grotesquely, attempting to entwine around the youth's body like festering sores, striving to repair itself.
Above the desolate sky.
The figures of the gods descended slowly.
As if sensing a signal from their progeny.
With a mixed expression, Zeus raised his palm.
The machine cores of Hades, Ares, and Artemis seeped slowly from the youth's chest, then floated and grasped in the silver-haired old man's palm.
A crevice leading to the underworld was suddenly opened and torn apart by the flagship's authorization, spitting out the figures of Hades, Ares, and Artemis.
Touching the scars on her own heart, Artemis stared blankly at the gods before her, gazing at the scorched battlefield.
At the moment of being sent to the underworld, her humanoid form had already been repaired by Kratos's magic.
Falling into the palace of Hades, the silver-haired and voluptuous goddess of the moon, gazed at Hades and Ares before her, falling into complete stagnation.
Next, during the half-hour in the underworld, her brain seemed to crash, enduring an amount of information that no foolish goddess should bear.
"It's... Zeus, you guys-"
Looking at the fleet of ships before him, Ares, with tearful eyes, took another glance at the scorched battlefield.
Hades closed his eyes sorrowfully.
"So...
"Kratos... failed."
Silence.
The gods chewed on this bitter truth.
Kratos wanted to gather all of humanity's malice to strike down Chaos.
However... he failed.
The youth's spirit had completely fallen, buried in the endless malice of humanity.
But... he didn't completely fail.
He gathered the fear of the people of Greece on his own... and also temporarily freed the gods of Olympus from their corrupting pollution, creating an opportunity for them to initiate a self-destruct program.
Zeus bent down, slowly lifting the black-haired youth.
The grotesque flesh surged from Kratos's body, once again entwining around the youth's body.
Without completely destroying his heart.
The flesh of the devil would continue to regenerate.
The silver-haired old man lowered his golden pupils, gazing at his child.
The king of the gods of Olympus uttered a hoarse voice.
"How long does it take for Chaos to receive the signal to terminate our activities?"
At the words.
Aphrodite closed her eyes and calculated for a moment.
"Based on the last data retrieval, Chaos is currently stationed four light-years away from Earth, in the Trinary Star System, gathering energy. Considering the temporal effects of the void rift, it will take approximately forty-seven minutes for it to receive our signal to cease activities."
"Forty-seven minutes..."
This number plunged the gods into silence.
Zeus raised his gaze, surveying the gods before him.
"Forty-seven minutes, how many people will die?"
"With Kratos's current destructive power, his casual strike is enough to tear the earth apart and wipe out a city. According to calculations, even if he relies entirely on the devil's instincts to act, there's a risk of sinking the Aegean coast on this side of the Attica Peninsula, near the Olympus Mountains."
"Can't we tell the truth to humanity, Zeus?" Hades said softly, "This shouldn't be Kratos's responsibility to bear."
"...We, persist until that time."
Zeus's ethereal voice made Hades pause for a moment.
He lifted his head, finally noticing the planetary flagship suspended in the sky.
Zeus's mech was covered in dismal scars, even floating unsteadily, as if it would collapse at any moment.
"So..." Hades smiled bitterly, "Zeus, can't even you stop this child."
Stop... Kratos?
The gods of Olympus smiled bitterly, glancing at each other's disheveled appearances.
Their ship mechs were crushed and battered, and their humanoid forms were almost damaged, in a state of extreme disarray.
Kratos had already gone too far.
He was right.
If anyone on this earth could strike down Chaos, then this godslayer, who pierced through Hell, Earth, and Mount Olympus, was the only choice.
Even Zeus, with the energy reserves of the flagship of destruction now depleted by 23%, needed time to replenish.
And they... didn't have time.
Silence.
If they left Kratos alone, he would continue to devilization and then begin slaughtering humans. Until the void rift of Chaos was closed, he would undergo a period of dissolution and purification, perhaps slowly recovering his sanity.
But Greece... had no one, no god or human, who could oppose him. Even Zeus delaying him without activating the intelligent destruction mechanism would only buy time.
The gods initiating the self-destruct sequence, during the interval before Chaos received the termination signal, would be enough for Kratos to engulf the entire Attica Peninsula.
Killing him, Kratos would revive in Hell.
However, after the gods self-destructed, this process would be cut off, and he would truly die.
...There was no choice.
"Please, save him..."
Thud.
Ares knelt before her flagship, almost pleading with a pitying expression.
"It doesn't matter if I self-destruct, but, please, Zeus, Kratos must live, no matter what..."
All the machine gods present looked at her with pity.
"Kratos, can't be saved anymore, Ares. Unless you're willing to let him massacre humans."
Zeus said softly.
"Kratos's original intention was also a sacrifice... pulling him like this only tarnishes his resolve.
"Do you think he will be pleased with our decision when he wakes up in the devastated land of Greece? Will he be happy about surviving?
"No, he will only suffer.
"Let him... be free."
"..."
Ares seemed to want to say something more.
She wanted to roar, to curse, to scream out loud, damn it!
So what if humans die by the thousands! Kratos living is more important than anything!
However, looking at the boy's serene sleeping face.
His lips still curved in a faint, peaceful smile.
Ares slowly lowered her head, her words stuck in her throat, only emitting a painful, powerless, almost wailing sob.
"Let me... handle this, Zeus."
Hecate's sorrowful voice slowly rippled out.
The wandering shadows transformed into the voluptuous figure of a beautiful woman.
The goddess of the dark moon slowly walked out of this devastated battlefield, taking her disciple from Zeus's arms.
It didn't matter anymore.
Her avatar in Sparta had already told everything, to those cherished by Kratos.
Those misunderstandings, those inquiries.
Shouldn't exist on him.
Don't disturb Kratos's peaceful slumber.
"I will let him... sleep in the eternal peace of the night."
The menacing, bloodied devil sword was plunged into the heap of grotesque flesh, trembling incessantly as if weeping.
"Kratos..."
In the scorching air.
A deep and mysterious rift suddenly opened.
All the gathered gazes of the gods shifted.
From the crevice, emerged the Spartan brothers, wielding Yamato and Spartan Blade.
Dante and Vergil, with their teleportation abilities, were able to swiftly traverse distances of thousands of leagues, coming to support Olympus Mountain, apart from Hecate, in their time of need.
Standing on a distant mountain peak, they had witnessed their brother's grotesque devilish form and the entirety of this battle.
"We appreciate your presence, noble Goddess Hecate.
"Let us give it a try..."
The voices of Dante and Vergil wafted over the devastated battlefield.
"We three brothers... seems to have an extraordinary adaptation to devil corruption."
Dante tore open his garment without hesitation, piercing his own chest with the tip of his sword. In the gushing blood, he revealed his own pulsating devil heart to the gods.
"Is it coincidence..." Vergil lowered his gaze, looking at his sleeping brother, "Or a curse?"
"We don't care. But if we can save our brother, that would be great."
"What are you... saying?"
Amid the gods' bewildered expressions.
The Spartan brothers spoke softly.
"Let our brother absorb us with Aatrox.
"We'll help him bear it... to bear the malice of this land together."
The gods stared dumbfoundedly at the brothers.
The devil sword on the ground trembled violently.
Ares approached with trembling hands, intending to stop the two brothers, but was gently pushed back to sit on the ground by Vergil's raised hand.
"You useless fool, stop pretending to be strong."
Vergil lowered his eyelids, looking at the seated Ares.
Ares lifted her head, looking at him in bewilderment.
"I'm actually grateful to you, Ares. Without you, Dante and I might not have mastered the power of the devil.
"But, I also hate you, very much.
"Because... Kratos didn't spend much time with me in the first place, and all the time he was imprisoned, Dante hogged it all."
"Hahaha..." Dante burst into a brilliant laugh, "Looks like you're jealous of me, Vergil! No wonder you fought so hard..."
"It's all Ares's fault." Vergil smiled, "This worthless being, even after being remodeled, couldn't even last a single move against our brother."
"I just love seeing that jealous look on your face." Dante raised his hand and patted Vergil's back, "But it's okay."
He smiled, "We can be together with brother forever."
"Don't be like this... Dante, Vergil."
Hecate held the black-haired boy, gently shaking her head with pity.
"You, that's just the evil of the Sword Devil, not even close to the contamination Kratos is enduring, it's not in the same league...
"Even the gods would fall into the abyss in such a surging malice.
"Have you not seen the state of Hades, the state of Zeus? The mightiest machine gods couldn't resist such erosion.
"This... is a sacrifice that is completely meaningless."
Dante and Vergil exchanged a glance.
A meaningful smile appeared on their face.
"What the gods can't do."
"Why can't we do it?"
"Our brother is also human, let humans bear the evil of humanity, we can do better than the gods."
"Whether it's meaningful or not, let's try."
"Try?" Hecate's voice trembled slightly, "Are you not afraid of death?"
"Death?" Hearing this.
Dante couldn't help but laugh.
"Does it even matter?"
Vergil wiped his forehead, his sharp gaze causing the gods to involuntarily look away.
The Spartan brothers looked at each other.
Then, word by word, they spoke in unison.
"Every warrior of Sparta is willing to die for Kratos."
As their words faded.
Dante lowered his eyelids.
"Such things, even for gods, are they not the same?"
The gods fell silent.
Because they... were right.
Here, the gods were willing to die for Kratos.
Willing to die, for humanity.
When did it begin...?
The program to protect humanity was etched into the core of the machine gods.
Perhaps it started when they fell to the surface, welcomed by the cheering, tiny lives as if they were ants.
The divine beings constructed by machinery, their rotating cores, fell in love with this land, with this azure planet.
"..."
In the silent atmosphere.
Even the burning winds seemed to subside.
The assembled gods gazed at the bloodthirsty demonic sword.
Aatrox remained silent for a moment before emitting a hoarse voice.
"Don't do anything foolish, Kratos wouldn't want..."
"Aatrox, when did you become so soft?"
"..."
In the silence.
The bloodthirsty demonic sword was lifted straight up by Dante, casually resting on his shoulder.
"It's quite handy, Aatrox. Why didn't you let me try it first? Kratos might not be so tired then."
Dante and Vergil exchanged a glance, smiling brightly.
The gathered gods watched the smiles on the brothers' faces, the solemn atmosphere resembling mourning.
The black-haired boy, seemingly in peaceful slumber, was gently placed by Hecate in the drifting shadows.
The silver-haired brothers stood on either side, holding the warm hands of their elder brother, who was a head shorter.
The menacing blood strands gradually emanated from Aatrox's sword, enveloping and entwining the three Spartan brothers, like a cocoon...
Facing the gods before them.
The two silver-haired youths smiled and spoke their final words.
"If we fail..."
"Please, grant our brother... peace."
The figures of the Spartan brothers dissipated into the flickering floodlight.
...
Warmth.
An incomparable, soothing warmth.
The kind of enveloping warmth that makes one lose themselves.
The black-haired youth, in a daze, heard the sound of the waves.
Whoosh...
Gentle waves lapped against the sandy shore.
Kratos slowly opened his eyes, somewhat bewildered as he stood up and looked behind him.
The sky was clear.
Not a cloud in sight.
The blue sea shimmered with gentle waves.
Two silver-haired youths were building sandcastles by the shore.
Sensing his brother's gaze, Dante and Vergil turned their heads, waving excitedly and laughing joyfully as they greeted their elder brother.
"Kratos! Kratos! Come see the sandcastle we built!"
"Dante? Vergil?"
Kratos murmured their names with a hint of confusion.
"Why are you two here?"
"Did you forget, Kratos? We brought you out to play together!" Dante beamed, "You've been cooped up reading books all day, so boring."
"Come on! Come on!
"Come build sandcastles with us!"
Gazing at his two younger brothers.
The black-haired youth slowly freed himself from the embrace of the silver-haired youth.
With a slightly bewildered expression, Kratos walked toward Dante and Vergil.
He slowly walked into the bright spot ahead, leaving the silver-haired youth behind in the chaotic darkness.
"Are you leaving, Kratos?"
A clear voice rang out from behind.
"Are you abandoning me?"
As the words fell silent.
Kratos, standing on the beach, halted his steps.
He slowly turned around and looked at the gently smiling silver-haired youth.
"You're not Alvin."
Kratos said softly.
He understood completely now.
Before him was not the real Alvin.
But his own spirit, split into a negative persona amidst the building malice.
"I'm not Alvin, I've always been you." The silver-haired youth smiled, "Kratos is you, Alvin is also you."
"I'm still in your heart, you can't dissipate this malice, you're just avoiding me."
"I will split your body and bring slaughter, terror, destruction, and death as Khorne to this land."
"You seem to have stepped into the light, but you're still in the darkness, and nothing will change."
The smile on Alvin's face slowly disappeared, replaced by a pitiful expression, almost like pity.
"Because..." The silver-haired youth said word by word, "You've already fallen, Kratos... you're avoiding the darkness, but it doesn't mean the darkness disappears."
"Fallen?" The black-haired youth tilted his head.
"Yes, fallen." Alvin said softly.
"Morality and boundaries are no longer important to you. In this journey, you've become nothing more than a beast of rage, violence, and desire.
"Caenis, Atalanta, Medea, Hecate... Do you truly love your so-called wives?"
Alvin laughed with a hint of mockery, laughing and then sighing sadly, shaking his head gently.
"I'm not sure, Kratos.
"Your treatment of Athena is more indicative of your true nature... you're harboring anger, enduring torment, and you're only seeking release through this poisonous pleasure...
"Where's your perseverance? Your loyalty?
"Don't you think your promise to Morgan seems like a joke?"
The black-haired youth fell silent.
The silver-haired youth slowly sat upon the bloody throne, lifting his gaze to meet Kratos's deep crimson eyes.
"Let me tell you the answer... why you've become like this.
Because you've already fallen.
It was your choice.
Your boundaries have been trampled underfoot, your morals have become flexible... because you realized that to combat those grotesque calamities, you must become more monstrous than the calamities themselves.
You must become more bloodthirsty than Khorne, more cunning than Tzeentch, more resilient than Nurgle, more indulgent in desire than Slaanesh.
You buried yourself in the malice piled up by humanity, and since then, no one can look into your heart."
Seated upon the bloody throne.
Alvin slowly opened his arms.
Facing the black-haired youth.
The silver-haired youth smiled gently, intoxicatingly.
"But it's okay.
Because I see.
Because... I am you.
No one understands you better than I do, Kratos."
He smiled, speaking softly and persuasively.
"Your mental state is deteriorating. In fact, it's already reached its extreme... you're like a madman, oozing with dirty, tangled desires, flowing with brutal slaughter, yet still struggling to maintain your precarious sanity.
Ridiculous, pitiful, tragic.
Are you not tired of pretending?
Can't you remove your mask?
I... I can't understand your persistence.
Shouldn't the sins committed by the devil side be exempt from punishment?
When humans sin, they pray to the gods for forgiveness.
When gods sin, should they not ask for your forgiveness?
Judging humans is the duty of God.
Punishing gods is your duty as the godslayer."
His iron-gray eyes surged with icy flames.
Alvin smiled, a heart-throbbing smile, his whole body seemingly engulfed in shadowy flames.
The silver-haired youth spoke slowly, his words hammering like anvils, striking each syllable into Kratos's heart.
"Have you forgotten how Vortigern and Leonidas died?
Have you forgotten how Counter Force targeted you?
Have you forgotten Kiara Sessyoin's words?"
"This land, this planet, this solar system.
Human Order, Root, Counter Force, Ultimate Ones, and even Quantum Time-Locks.
The entire universe is your enemy!
When will you realize your weakness!
Gods should pay the price for their actions!
Give up your pride.
The resolve to sacrifice is the most boring, meaningless thing in this world.
After all..."
Alvin laughed bitterly, sadly.
"In this world, where is there a perfect ending?"
Everyone holds hope, only to abandon it halfway.
After all, humans themselves are imperfect.
Listening to the silver-haired youth's questions.
In Alvin's stunned expression.
The black-haired youth did not leave, but instead turned to him, slowly walking towards him.
"Yes."
Kratos answered firmly and resoundingly.
"Countless failures are okay.
Countless deaths don't matter.
Failure is also a kind of success.
Death is also a kind of continuation.
These imperfections will build a perfect ending... I will save everyone, because that's something only I can do."
"You're too arrogant, too stubborn, Kratos..."
Alvin sneered in disdain.
"Do you have to become the savior expected by humans and gods? What's the difference between your pathological sacrificial desire and Artoria's?"
In the somewhat stagnant expression of the silver-haired youth.
The black-haired youth smiled in response.
"The difference between me and her is: I am free."
I am free.
"It has nothing to do with the expectations of humans or gods, I just want to do it.
My will.
Nothing can shake it."
Silence.
In the deathly silence, the bitter words of the silver-haired youth rang out.
"You absolute... imbecile."
"I am you, my idiocy is your idiocy."
Alvin tightened his grip on the armrest.
"You fool, idiot!"
"I am you, my foolishness is your foolishness, my idiocy is your idiocy."
"Guh?!"
The silver-haired youth's chest heaved violently, almost breaking through, how could there be such a stubborn fool in the world!
"Alvin."
Kratos gently called out his own name.
"What's laughable about imperfection, what's ridiculous about sacrifice, what's the point of wanting to live on...
"But, aren't you the same?"
The black-haired youth raised his hand and, in the silver-haired youth's stunned expression, gently ruffled his hair.
Kratos lowered his hand, pointing at him with a smile.
"...You, the Lord of Cinder, have the nerve to talk about me the Godslayer?"
Alvin, bewildered, gazed at the Kratos before him.
In the silver-haired youth's bewildered and confused expression.
The black-haired youth extended his hand towards him.
"I admit my malice because malice is also a part of me.
"I admit my desire to live on because only with that desire can one have the resolve to sacrifice everything.
"So...
"... I accept you, Alvin, because I am you."
Seeking salvation.
Thus, falling.
Kratos accepted the negativity named Alvin, merging it with his own malice, becoming one.
"We are free.
"So...
"I hope you can..." He smiled, "Help me."
