SHK CH 786 (Start of B9)

『 Nihil’s Dimension 』

In a realm teeming with crimson light, Hypnos sat on a lofty throne fit for a god, at least a former one. The throne was not just a random seat for radiating majesty and dominance, but an exact replica of his original divine throne created with his power over Dreams. A seat of power he had crafted with his own hands during better times. Now it felt more like shackles than sovereignty. The proof of his weakness and failure— of his fall.

Nevertheless, it was not yet time to discard the venerable coalition of his power. Fake as it might be, this pseudo-divine throne still boosted his power by a tremendous margin, far more than any Divine Weapon. It was thanks to this very throne that he was able to create so many avatars so fast. At the price of considerable divinity, of course, but it still had allowed him that boon.

"You look terrible," came a voice from beyond the crimson darkness.

Hypnos did not turn his head. He knew the voice all too well— a connection of countless eons. "Thanatos. You came to gloat?"

Two figures emerged from the void. The first was a woman with black hair that seemed to absorb light itself; her eyes were of a beautiful gray with no discernible pupils at all. 

She was Thanatos. The goddess of Death. Or rather, what had once been the goddess controlling the seat of Death.

Thanatos, unlike gods like Hypnos and the others, managed to survive the Twilight of the Gods. Death, Time, Space, and Life were on the side of Chaos alongside Destruction. 

She vanished in the last divine war that opposed Chaos and Order, even losing a spark of her divinity. Her total disappearance made even her sisters speculate that she had indeed died, lost in the echoes of the End. But here she was, alive— a demigod through and through.

Behind her, Euphoria limped forward, her form diminished, breaking, barely hanging on to the fabric of reality. 

The wounds from her humiliating defeat were still visible, cracks running through her divine essence like broken porcelain. Her limbs had grown back, but there was no way to get back the divine power and concept she had lost to Dawn at the culmination of her defeat.

She said nothing, her pride too wounded to even start speaking, only looked down, her shoulder slumped, and eyes hollow.

"Gloat?" Thanatos' lips curved into something that did not resemble a smile at all. "No. I came to make things clear. You failed my request. You were not able to get back the Book of Death.”

"I still have more chances. I do not think it’s too late."

“There is no need to bother anymore.”

"Can you manage without the Book of Death?" Hypnos asked, his tone neutral. He finally looked at her, his expression unreadable and distant. "It’s the representation of your Divine Authority. It belongs to you, or rather, belonged to you. Anubis holds it now, wields it even."

"I know who has it." Thanatos walked closer, her footsteps making no sound, no footprint, no traces, as though walking on air, or maybe treading on some other reality. 

"Anubis has the Book. He's been using it, studying it, adding to it with every soul he claims." Thanatos stopped a few paces from the throne. "Every death in his territory, every piece of knowledge from the deceased, it all flows into that artifact. He's making it stronger.”

"And you don't care?"

"Why would I?” Thanatos tilted her head. The movement was too smooth, almost unnatural, eerie, frightening. “To not say anything else, just the fact that the more he develops the authority of Death, the stronger I become. And the simple fact is that I don't need the Book of Death anymore."

Hypnos' eyes narrowed at that, squinting dangerously. "Explain."

"You felt it, didn't you? During the wedding. When Euphoria ascended, the rule of this world changed, or rather, was restored. Since one succeeded, the path toward Godhood has become much easier now. The change in the laws governing the mortal Realm allowed me to finally succeed after millennia of failed attempts.”

Thanatos raised her hand, and in her palm, two forces swirled. One was the familiar darkness of death, cold and final. The other was something different— a vibrant green energy that pulsed with vitality. "I became one with the Authority of Life."

Euphoria finally spoke, her voice hoarse and uncertain. "Vita. You fused with your twin."

Vita, the Goddess of Life, was Thanatos' direct twin sister.

"Fused is such a crude word." Thanatos closed her palm, and the energies vanished like they did not exist, fading into her. "We were always meant to be one. Two sides of the same coin. Life and Death, Death and Life. Separate, we were incomplete. Together..." She looked at her hand, flexing her fingers. "I am the strongest demigod walking the realms right now. Perhaps even the strongest goddess, once I can fully ascend and take back my Divine Kingdoms. Unless Ymir managed to obtain the power of Creation, I should be stronger than even her."

Ymir was the Goddess of Destruction, and like many gods and goddesses, she had her own twin that represented a different yet complementary concept.

Destruction and Creation were a cycle not unlike Life and Death or Day and Night or Hatred and Love— a cycle complementing each other, not opposing, even though they were direct opposites… one was nothing without the other, no reason for existence.

"You should not underestimate the powerhouses of this era. Anubis aside, Tiamat is also a dangerous target. Furthermore… you haven't ascended yet," Hypnos pointed out.

"I underestimate no one. Death is equal for all after all. As for my ascension, I need one more thing." Thanatos met his gaze. "A big war. The kind that reshapes continents and drowns nations. I need death on a scale that hasn't been seen since the Twilight of the Gods. With that much death, with that much life ending..." Her smile grew sharper. "I'll ascend properly. Not like our dear Euphoria here, scraping into godhood through narrative manipulation.”

Euphoria glared but said nothing. She knew it was true and that hurt her more than Thanatos’ words.

“Initially, I planned to complete my ascension in the Mortal Realm. But there is no need for that now. The Abyss has many times the population of the Mortal Realm. I can also just enter the Afterlife Realm and absorb some of the souls there. My territory is also there.”

The Afterlife realm was one of the Big Realms alongside the Divine Realm, the Astral Realm, and the Mortal Realm. It was there that Anubis created his Underworld by stealing a part of it. 

As the representation of Death, Thanatos had her Divine Territory created there. She could have become a goddess at any moment. But if she used that divine territory, she would only become the goddess of Death once more, not the dual authority she was pining for.

She wanted more now. Far, far more.

"You're not the Thanatos I knew anymore," Hypnos said quietly, a quiet sigh exhaling from his lips.

"No. I'm not." The woman before him agreed without hesitation. "I'm not really Thanatos. I'm not really Vita either. I'm both. I'm neither. I'm something new, something that should have existed from the beginning. Not unlike Mother before she separated into two entities.”

She turned to leave. "You can still call me Thanatos for now. I will only choose a new name after I regain godhood. The current me has perfect mastery over Life and Death. Remember that when you plan your next move against Sol Luxuria."

"Is that a warning or a threat?"

"Neither. Just information. You asked what I am now, so I'm telling you." Thanatos paused at the edge of the darkness. "Though if you're curious, I have no intention of helping you. Or helping that prince. I'm waiting to see which side will give me what I need— enough death to complete my ascension."

"You'll ally with whoever starts the bigger war."

"Exactly." 

“Sister!” Euphoria growled, “Are you truly not going to avenge me?”

Thanatos smacked Euphoria on the back of her head. Though she was now a goddess, even if she had her two authorities, she would still have been no match for Thanatos. 

Thanatos was the second strongest Goddess in all of their Pantheon, when not counting the Mother Goddess and Father God. The only one who could surpass her was Ymir.

“You are awfully talkative for someone who got destroyed by mere mortals.”

Euphoria felt wronged. She wanted to argue that if she had been able to use her full power, those people would have been no match for her.

But then, she remembered Sol’s mocking words and decided to stay silent. Inwardly, though, she vowed to pay everything back one day. One name in particular was deeply carved in her heart.

Lilith. She would kill that bitch. No matter what.

Shaking her head with a mock sigh, Thanatos vanished into the shadows, taking Euphoria with her.

Meanwhile, Hypnos sat alone once more, his throne feeling lonelier than before. The game had changed. Again. He would need to revise his plans. Again.

In the distance, he felt like he could hear Karma's laughter echoing through the void, mocking him for all his foolishness, as he had once pointed out.