#1253 The Coming of the Otherworldly Holy Assembly 

Oooooohh…! 
Up in the heavens…! 

Countless gods are seated, lined up in rows…! 
There are so many beyond imagination...! 

Is this… the very meaning of yaoyorozu no kami, the Eight Million Gods?! 

“Eek! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!” 

Zeus, the evil god himself, trembles in fear at the sight. 

And no wonder. After all, all these gods have gathered here for one purpose only: to punish the escaped evil god, Zeus. 
Could it be that the gods came together just for this?! 

“No, wait! Mayhap these gods descend not to chastise, but to rejoice at mine own return, to hold a ‘Welcome Back, Lord Zeus’ revel for me…!” 
“As if.” 

His feeble hope is crushed without hesitation. 

“Know thyself. What foulness more grievous, abominable, and hateful than meeting thee again could there be?” 
“Each time men call us thy brethren, we art wracked with unbearable shame. Apologize at once.” 

It’s Hades and Poseidon speaking, forced to represent the siblings. And they look absolutely disgusted. 
Their brows are furrowed in permanent scowls. 

“To slay a god is no trifling thing, so we sealed thee a hundred million years to see what may come… yet in vain.” 
“In sooth, this wretch knew not the word repent. The fault is ours, that we shrank from the toil of striking thee down once and for all.” 

Not a shred of mercy from his blood brothers. 

“B-Brothers, is that not too cruel?!  Did we not three stand together, striving mightily to wrest dominion from the elder gods? Remember the toils we bore together! Dost thou not?!” 
“It is most amusing thou mention such. For one of those gods from whom thou didst steal supremacy… stands here before thee.” 
“Shieaaaaaahh! F-F-Father?!” 

Ah, it’s Cronus. 

As a Titan of the old generation, he’s naturally part of this divine gathering. 
After being released from prison, he and his children have become quite the close-knit family. 

You could say it’s the complete opposite of these fractured sibling relationships. 

“As for me, though once I warred with them, yet now we join hands, so vile art thy deeds. To gain thy freedom thou didst call forth even the fell gods of the abyss! Even I, who lay in Tartarus for unnumbered ages, wrought never such wickedness!” 
“B-But, Dad, listen… I was unfairly...!” 
“Silence! It seems the chastisement I gave when thou didst escape was not enough. Then as father of the Olympians must I correct my wayward son!”  
“Ghh… nnghhhaaahh! Don’t get cocky! Forget not that thou wast defeated by us in the Titanomachy of ages past! And here again shalt thou taste defeatttttt!!!” 

Zeus writhes, wriggling the octopus-like tentacles he fused onto himself. 
Gross. 
He lashes them out, trying to seize Cronus… 

“Hast thou forgotten?” 
“That at the time, we were on thy side? And now… we stand against thee!” 

But Hades and Poseidon cut the tentacles apart before they can touch him. 

“Wh-Why?!” 
“How oft must we tell thee? At this moment, thou art our foe.” 
“In truth, we have been thine enemies ever since we sealed away Father.” 

With the sea and underworld gods holding Zeus back, the father makes his advance. 

“I have stayed the flow of time." 
“Unghh!”  
“Thou knowest well my secondary power to bend time, foolish son. Thou shalt not move again until the end.” 
“Wait, Dad! Parents hitting their kids is child abuse...!” 
“ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!” 
“GYAAHHHHHHHH!” 

A time-stop followed by an Ora Ora Rush! 
Cronus’ signature move sends the evil god Zeus flying, tumbling with tears in his eyes…! 

“C-Curse it! Never hath even mine own children struck me! To smite thy child is the vilest of sins! I shall report thee to child services!” 
“In that case… then what of a child smiting his parent instead?” 
“What? Who’s that..?!” 

A fierce god steps forward to block Zeus’s path. 

The man’s form is bold and mighty… 
It’s the war god Velesares! 

“’Tis been long, Father. Thou once didst sneer and call me ugly. Yet now, who is uglier?” 
“My son! Hast thou come to aid me?! Strong indeed is the bond betwixt parent and child…!” 
“Wargod Lariat!” 
“GUBEEEEHHHH!” 

The evil god is sent flying! 
To hurl such a giant frame...as expected of the god of war!!! 

“Father… countless children thou begat through thine affairs, more than thy hands could number. Of them all, thou didst fawn on thy chosen and cast aside those who displeased thee.” 

Velesares speaks calmly. 

“Thou cast Hephaestus from Olympus, tormenting him still after he returned, conspiring with Mother against him. Thou gave him that wanton Aphrodite to wed by force. What harmony could ever be betwixt such souls?” 
“Wait, nay, that marriage was...!” 
“As for me… to thy beloved Athena thou gave the fair flower of war, and to me the shadowed parts, all its blood and horror. Thus I gained power, but only by bearing what thou wouldst not.” 

Something dark and dreadful wells up in Velesares’ hands. 

“Come forth, Phobos, spirit of rout, into my right hand. Come forth, Deimos, spirit of dread, into my left. Father, now taste the power thou and Athena didst abhor!” 
“W-Wait, stop! I am still thy father!” 
“Parent or no, it matters not. Mine office as a god is clear...ABSOLUTE DEFEAT STRIKE!” 
“GYAAAAAAAAHHHH!” 

The miasma of defeat and despair consumes Zeus, devouring him on a cellular level. 

“GAAHHHHHH! It feels disgusting! Horrible! Mine own very body is being eaten awayyyyyyyy!” 
“Thou ever didst love beauty, glory, and splendor… whilst turning thine eyes from the darkness that lieth behind. Yet they art but two faces of the same coin. He who cannot behold all things hath no right to call himself king of the gods!” 
“GUHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Velesares is strong.  
He truly is the war god. 
To enemy armies, he is terror and death incarnate. And he’s now showing Zeus exactly why. 

“Gnnnrrhh! Damn thee, Velesares! Rebelling just because I played favorites… What a petty, small-hearted brat!” 
“Hm?” 

Another god emerges from behind Velesares. 
One I recognize. 

That long-haired, androgynous beauty...it’s the celestial god of the arts… Apollo! 

“Ohh! Apollo! Mine own most beloved son! Most fair, most brilliant! Did I not cherish thee above all others? Surely thou wilt save thy father from these wicked gods?” 
“…Forgive me, Father.”  
“Eh?” 

Not just his spurned children, now even the one he spoiled rejects him. 

“As he who now leadeth the celestial deities, I must not abide thy ruinous ways. Thou hast done much for me… yet the duty of a god outweighs the bond of blood.” 
“No, no, forget that! Place me first! I am thy father! Thy papa!” 

Cronus interjects dryly: 

“Didst thou not cast down thine own father to seize the throne?” 
“Yes, but that was fine! This is different!!” 

Selfish to the core. 
But selfishness will not save him. His karma demands justice. 

“Forgive me, Father… but art is explosion!” 
“GUOOOOOOOOHHHHHH?” 

Apollo’s great blast swallows Zeus, blasting him away again. 

Abandoned by his neglected children, and now even by the cherished ones… what a pitiful end. 

But his punishment isn’t over yet. 

“I heard we can beat up Father without restraint, so I came, too.” 
“Artemis?!”  
“As goddess of the hunt, dost thou think thou can escape mine arrows? How I have longed to chase thee as a hare, Father.” 

Arrows rain down on Zeus. 

“Wait, we can pound Father all we want?” 
“Such a rare chance?! I shall give him everything I have got!” 
“Me too!” 
“And me!” 
“Count me in!” 

For every affair Zeus ever had, countless illegitimate children were born. 
And now, that many curses are raining back on him. 

What goes around comes around… 

As for me, I swear I’ll never cheat, and I’ll love my children all equally. 

========== 

• yaoyorozu no kami: a jp concept symbolizing an innumerable host of deities. 

• phobos & deimos: ares’ twin sons in greek myth, representing rout (panic in battle) and terror. 

• “art is explosion”: a reference to jp artist taro okamoto’s famous phrase. also notably reused in naruto (deidara)