An Attack on China
"Just what in the name of the Underworld was that?!" Bellona bellowed at Kali. "You call that fighting?!"
"You're blaming me for our loss?!" Kali hissed.
"Who wouldn't?! You have any clue how much you died out there?!"
"I kept getting caught off guard!"
"Yeah, cause you kept blindly chasing enemies right into their team! I could have won that battle in my sleep!"
Kali raised her blades. "Is that a challenge!?"
"Now ladiessss pleasssse," Kukulkan said stepping(or floating) between them. "let's not tear eachother's headsss off now." Kali and Bellona both crossed their arms, though both were clearly still steamed. "We hardly have ourselvesss to blame for our loss."
"How do you figure?" Bellona snapped.
"It is but common sense Bellona..." Zeus interrupted as he and Ra stepped into the room. "It seems despite our efforts, the mortals still haven't learned their place..."
"An immortal issss only as powerful as their following." Kukulkan added. "And you sssaw how many of those ingratesss came to ssssupport the Uprising."
"Yeah, the stands were practically filled with them." Sun Wukong blurted out.
"So then what are we supposed to do, huh?" Bellona snapped.
"Is it not clear? If we are to win this war, we must regain the mortal's devotion." Zeus explained.
"Are you suggesting we baby those ingrates like the Elysian fools?!" Kali growled.
"Of course not!' Zeus bellowed. "It is beneath us as gods to bend to the wills of puny mortals. If we are to regain the worship we so rightfully deserve, then we must show just what happens when the mortals choose to defy us."
"Are you suggesting attacking the mortals again?" Bellona asked somewhat eager.
"Oh sure cause that worked so well the other times." Kali said smugly.
"Not quite..." Ra spoke. "Admittedly, our recent attempts at regaining man's devotion have been...well, unsuccessful."
"Blindly slaughtering mortals will not bring their devotion." Athena said stepping into the room. "If anything, it only encourages them to flock to the Elysian Order to seek protection"
"As much as I hate to say it, Blondie here has a point." Ares blurted out. "Mortals are a weak and cowardly lot after all."
"Yesss, they want to act asss if they are above us by, tearing down our templesss and pyramidssss, but the moment we go to punish their insolence, they flock to hide behind the ssskirts of their so called protectersss."
"When it comes right down to it, those mortals may actually be our downfall." Sun Wukong growled.
"Which is precisely why we will force them to submit."
"Come again?" Bellona said skeptical.
"If they will not willingly support our cause then we will simply force them to, these mortals have abused their free will as it is."
"So what? We go down cause some chaos and make them bow?"
"Simply causing needless destruction will not help our cause, if we are to demonstrate our power, we should take a more direct approach."
"Define direct." Kali said smugly.
Zeus turned to Bellona. "Bellona do you recall, how you assisted Sulla to become dictator of Rome?"
"Oh you bet I do, those fools in the senate thought they could end our glory, Ha!"
"Just what does that have to do with anything?" Kali growled impatiently.
"Isn't it obvious? What Bellona did was challenge the opposition, and when she decimated them, they submitted."
"So?"
"So, we must do the same thing in order to regain the mortal's devotion. Our error in the past has been that we've slaughtered mortals in mass, essentially wiping our potential followers."
"This time however, we'll confront those who refuse to worship us." Ra added.
Zeus turned to Ares. "Ares, go to Sparta and confront their leaders, if they refuse to worship us, then make them."
"With pleasure." Ares grinned.
"All of you, return to your homelands, target the leaders of those who don't support our cause, and if they refuse to submit, make them..."
Rome
Ah Rome, one of the finest examples of human civilization, and yet with some of the most barbaric traditions, like the gladiator arena. It is here we find the current dictator, Julius Caesar enjoying one of the many annual gladiator battles with the many citizens of Rome. Unbeknownst to him however, an old acquaintance was about to pay him a visit...
As the battles of the gladiators continued to rage, one gladiator managed to strike the other, forcing him to his knees. The barbarian than looked up at his dictator who gave the signal to end him. Caesar than sat back in his chair, smiling at the cheers of his people as the battles raged on. Suddenly, he was snatched from his throne and found himself, in the center of the arena with a very firm hand placed on his throat. He looked up to see the goddess of war herself, Bellona. The crowd suddenly felt silent, the gladiators stopped dead in their tracks as everyone turned their attention to the goddess, holding their beloved dictator captive.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Bellona mocked still clutching Caesar. "You've got quite the empire here Caesar, all these loyal mortals at your beck and call," She tightened her grip. "You must feel like a god..."
"What...Why are you...here." Caesar coughed.
"I want what's rightfully mine...you're devotion."
"You...hold...no dominion here...you expect us...to honor a god...who abandons us at our time of need?"
"Really? I hold no dominion eh?" Bellona chuckled, before bursting into laughter. "You stupid little mortal man, do you really think you'd be anything without the gods." She turned to the crowd. "You little insects really think that you can challenge our authority then try and flock to some 'babysitter' deities when we punish this insolence." She laughed again. "That's rich." She lifted Caesar up, "This man, your leader, you rely on him don't you? Oh yes, with your glorious leader here, you don't need the gods to lead you to greatness, is that it? Huh?!" She tossed him to the ground. "Well then...allow me to crush some sense into you all." With that ominous statement, Bellona placed her hands on the sides of Caesar's head and without hesitation, effortlessly crushed his skull.
There was a loud gasp that echoed through the stadium as Caesar's lifeless body fell to the ground.
"Where's your glorious leader now?! Oh that's right, he's now drowning in the River Styx down in the Underworld! Now, I'm gonna give you mortals a choice here, restore my temples and lead your armies for my cause. Do this," She turned to Caesar's corpse. "or join your leader in the depths of Hell!" She turned to the gladiators, now visibly trembling at her presence. "Well?"
The gladiators glanced at one another, seemingly whispering to one another, but sure enough they each dropped their weapons one by one and fell to their knees, bowing before the goddess of war. She looked around the stadium, everyone in the stands appeared to be kneeling, submitting their devotion to the threatening goddess.
"That's better..."
Egypt
Ra gazed, down at his old kingdom, lately it had been much less productive since mankind's insurrection, but thankfully the sun god had a plan that would soon restore the faith in his followers...
"Are you in position?" Ra's voice echoed into Ah Puch's ear.
"My minions...are ready to strike...once you give the word..."
"Not yet, it won't be much longer as dawn draws near."
Ra continued to wait patiently as the bright light of the sun began to pierce the sky and sure enough, it rose into the skies, with the beetle god, Khepri pushing it along the way.
"Now!"
As the people of Egypt continued with their business, they couldn't help but feel a very sinister force approaching. Sure enough, a large shadow began to loom over the kingdom as the skies filled with demonic creatures. Without warning, they swarmed the kingdom, slaughter the mortals with no mercy what so ever. The people panicked, desperately trying to seek shelter, but the demons proved relentless. Not allowing any mortal to escape their wrath. As the slaughter occurred below, Khepri couldn't help but notice what he thought were screams. He glanced bellow him, and sure enough to his horror, he could see the disaster unfolding before him. Without second thought, he placed the sun up in the sky, and dived down to the earth, immediately shielding a family from the demonic creatures.
"Begone foul creatures!"
Khepri then conjured a massive sphere (similar to the sun), tossing it at the demons and instantly disintegrating them. The creatures then temporarily turned their attention to the scarab god, clawing at his metal like hide. The mortals underneath him cowered beneath him as he kneeled to shield them.
"bathe in the glow!"
Suddenly a pillar of sunlight surrounded the kingdom, instantly incinerating the demonic creatures. Khepri looked up as he saw the sun god himself, descending from the sky.
"M-my lord?"
"It is worst than I thought, our enemy as brought this war to them."
"What were those...things?!" Khepri asked.
"Those were creatures of the Underworld, come to claim the souls of our followers."
"Why on Earth would they do that."
"Because we are at war brother." Ra said sternly. "The natural balance has shifted and with it, so has man's devotion. This shift has deeply effected our fellow deities brother, they've gone mad brother! They've joined forces and intend to enact their own perverse form of punishment. Unless we stop them..."
Khepri's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"Zeus and I have gathered an army. An army dedicated to stoping these mad gods in their quest of destruction. But as of lately we've found our resources have been progressively waining...we need all the help we can get." He looked Khepri right in the eye. "Brother, join us. Join our cause, and together we can once again restore the balance of both the mortal and godly realms."
"My life has always been to serve your my lord. I will join you in your quest."
"Excellent." There was a brief flash as Ra's chariot appeared. "Come, we must regroup at Olympus."
The Mayan Lands
Deep in the jungles of the Mayan lands, on a temple fitted with winged serpents, a rare sight was to occur, in the form of a blood sacrifice to the serpent of the nine winds. Yet, as the ceremony was to proceed a brave soul was about to shake things up...
As the ceremonial knife was raised, ready to cut out the heart of the hapless sacrifice, a voice rang out in the crowd.
"Wait, stop this madness!"
"Who dares interrupt ceremony?!" the chief called out.
"This ceremony is folly! How many times have we sacrificed our own to this toothless worm only to be met with turmoil and destruction?!"
The entire tribe turned to the brave soul.
"You dare question the power of Kukulkan?!"
"If the serpent of the nine winds is so great, then why doesn't he strike me down?! Why doesn't he demonstrate this so-called power huh?!"
No later had he said that, a great wind began to blow through the jungle and the bone chilling cackle of Kukulkan echoed in the wind.
"Asss you wish..."
Before the eyes of everyone in the tribe, Kukulkan arose towering over the pyramid and looming over the entire tribe. The wind then swept up the infidel, and carried up to the serpent god.
"A toothlesss worm am I?" He hissed. "Perhapsss you'd like to sssee how 'toothlesss' I really am..." And with that, Kukulkan's massive jaw opened wide, revealing his gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth and saber-like fangs, and without second thought, he swallowed the blasphemous mortal whole. "now..." Kukulkan looked around at the tribe. "Doesss anyone elssse intend to question my power?" No one in the audience dared speak up, in fact they all almost immediately fell to their knees after what they had just witnessed. "Good, good, at leassst some you know your place." Before the sacrifice could continue, there was a loud thud in the distance, sending the tribes fleeing in a mix of fear and confusion. "Now jussst what could that be?" Kukulkan said intrigued.
Immediately, the serpent slithered off to where the sound had originated, there in the distant valley he found a massive green scaled giant, laying in the valley as if he were dead.
"Well well..." Kukulkan hissed intrigued. "isn't thisss a delightful turn of eventsss..."
Back on Mount Olympus
Zeus sat in his throne as one by one the individual members of the Old Order returned giving updates on the current standings with their followers. Soon Bellona and Ares both entered the room.
"Well?" Zeus said impatiently
"The Spartans are now at our beck and call" Ares said proudly.
"As are the Romans." Bellona added.
"Good that should boost our armies."
"That's hardly the half of it."
There was a brief flash as Ra entered the room.
"Ah Puch's plan worked, I've managed to regain the devotion of a good portion of my kingdom's population as well gain Khepri as an ally."
"Excellent, with another deity at our disposal the Elysians don't stand a chance."
"About that..." Ra said stepping closer to Zeus. "I may have...well, left out a few details of our mission when I convinced Khepri to join, for the time being, I suggest we refrain from sending him on any assignments dealing with mortals for the time being for I fear if he truly knew of our cause, his devotion could wade."
"And why is that?"
"My brother has always been...protective of those pathetic mortals, I don't think he'd react too positively."
"...Very well, inform Khepri he is to protect our armies and followers at all costs."
"Of course."
Zeus then turned just in time to see Agni and Kali walking in through the door.
"Bad news?" Zeus guessed from their solum expressions.
"Unfortunately so." Kali spoke. "The hindus continue to resist our power, when we tried demonstrating, Elysian forces forced us back."
"Such a shame."
"Though there is one that we believe could make a valuable ally." Agni interrupted.
"Oh?" Zeus said intrigued. "And just who might that be?"
"The demon king, Ravana."
"He once gained invulnerability from his devotion to Shiva, we believe if we were to convince him to aid us, his vast army could prove useful to us."
"Very well," Zeus turned to Athena. "Athena, travel to India, and negotiate with this so-called demon king"
"As you wish Father." Athena bowed.
Zeus then looked around. "Where's Kukulkan?"
"The serpent...has yet...to return from the Mayan Lands." Ah Puch groaned.
"Hmph, that serpent never did have a sense of punctuality."
"Well, on the bright side, Wukong should be returning soon from China." Ra said, trying to be optimistic.
"Sooner than you think unfortunately..." Everyone turned as Sun Wukong entered the room, slightly bruised and somewhat exhausted. "The Chinese emporium still openly defies us, when I tried to teach them a lesson, I found they had Guan Yu and Ne Zha as their guard dogs..."
"Heh, you should just feel lucky you made it out alive." Bellona taunted as Ra bathed Wukong in sunlight, healing his wounds.
"I could have handled those two with my eyes closed!" Wukong growled. "They just...caught me by surpise, that's all."
"Even so, I smell opportunity..." Zeus said smugly.
"Opportunity?" Bellona said somewhat confused.
"If the Chinese will not submit to our cause, they are of no use to us. But if our enemies are so protective of their followers, then this is the perfect way to strike them where it hurts."
"Are you saying we attack China?" Ra said intrigued.
"Precisisely, best case scenario, we'll kill Nu Wa's forces once they attempt to defend their followers, otherwise we'll at least weaken them greatly by disposing of their followers."
"Oh, an invasion and a battle? Count me in!" Bellona said eagerly.
"I'm in too." Ares chimed in.
"I'd be...more than happy...to cause some bloodshed..." Ah Puch stood up from the corner.
"Very well, Bellona, Ares, the two of you shall lead the charge."
"I'll have Anhur command the backlines" Ra offered.
"Excellent. And Ah Puch, once the Elysians arrive to defend their turf, that will be the perfect moment to strike."
"My minions...shall feed...on their mangled corpses..."
Ares looked around the room seemingly looking for a certain some one.
"Say where's Hercules?" He blurted out. "After what happened in the arena, I'd figure he'd want another crack at those Elysian fools."
"Yeah, where is our champion?" Bellona added.
"Hercules will sit this battle out." Zeus said sternly.
"What's wrong, he not taking the loss too well?" Bellona said somewhat jokingly.
"I don't know what, but something has been troubling Hercules lately...I don't know if it's the battle in the arena, his family, or just this war in general, but the bottom line is, he needs his space."
"Hmph, alright then." Bellona crossed her arms
"If your gonna attack China, then let me get in on this." Wukong blurted out.
"Why would you want to assist in attacking your homelands?"
"Because I know China's weak points."
The Underworld
"Is that the last of them?" Anubis asked, banishing another soul into the River Styx.
"Yes, I believe so." Zhong Kui checked his bag one last time, making certain it was empty.
"These demons...there not like anything I've ever seen. Certainly not in Egypt." Anubis said gazing at the spirits.
"Yes, these are...different to say the least, and yet they also seem so...familiar."
"Do you think these are perhaps...Ah Puch's minions?"
"Ah Puch? In Egypt?" Zhong Kui laughed. "For what reason would he be so far from home?"
"It's really not very unrealistic Zhong, you do recall what Lord Hades spoke of earlier? About Ah Puch taking advantage of the war?"
Zhong Kui paused. "Yes...He did say something about that."
"Well Zhong, I've been thinking, we haven't seen hide nor tail of Ah Puch as of late, I know he's bared from leaving the 9th Hell, but we haven't even see the souls he's claimed around here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well if Ah Puch could snatch Mercury's soul, why couldn't he snatch those of other gods as well? Whose to say he's not up on the surface now, possibly helping Ao Kuang and his rogues to cause chaos?"
"Well...I suppose that is a possibility, that would explain why these things were in Egypt.
"Hmph, you two truly are fools aren't you?"
Anubis and Zhong Kui looked up to see Thanatos sitting on the hilt of his scythe as if it were a stool.
"Of course Ah Puch is up there."
"What are you going on about reaper?" Anubis growled.
"Do you honestly think Ah Puch would respect Hades' wishes? Please, he's been itching to rule the Underworld for ages. If I know him, he's up there slaughtering mortals by the dozen."
"How can you be so sure that the wave of souls is Ah Puch's doing?" Zhong Kui snapped.
"Oh? Are you telling me you assumed that all the new souls were the Old Order's doing?"
Both Anubis and Zhong Kui paused.
"Take it from the one who reaped all those souls, Ah Puch is up there having a field day, and if Hades wants to maintain his domain, he better do something soon, otherwise the Underworld may find itself under new management."
With that, Thanatos flew off likely off to reap more souls. At that point Anubis and Zhong Kui turned to one another, both visibly unnerved by what Thanatos had said.
"We...We should consult Hades." Anubis said breaking the silence.
China
"I assure you, Lord Guan Yu, the Chinese emporium can defend itself against them." The emperor of China insisted.
"With all do respect emperor, while they may be slipping in their domains, those in the Old Order are still gods, and as such they are much more powerful than even your finest warriors. Sun Wukong alone nearly killed you, we cannot allow ruin to be brought to the empire." Guan Yu said sternly.
"I'm telling you, we don't need-"
"Sorry your highness, we have our orders." Ne Zha interrupted. "Until we're certain that the Old Order won't return, Nu Wa says we aren't to leave your side."
The emperor groaned. "I still think this is unnecessary"
"My lord!" Suddenly the emperor's advisor burst into the throne room. "Sire, we've spotted a massive army, just over the horizon, intending to attack no doubt!"
"Gather the troops!" The emperor stood up from his throne "China must be defended at all cost!"
"Yes my lord."
"This could be troublesome." Guan Yu whispered to Ne Zha. "We should lead the charges to defend the city."
"Those guys ain't gonna lay a finger on the emperor while I'm around."
The Chinese army gathered in front of the main gates of the city with, Guan Yu on his horse in the very front. they prepared for the worst as an army of Spartans, with Ares at the head of the charge, was fast approaching. Behind them marched several squadrons of Egyptian archers and warriors, lead by Anhur. They continued to approach the city, getting closer and closer until they suddenly stopped. At that point Anhur raised his spear.
"Archers!" He roared. "Aim!"
The Archers all pointed their bows upwards, readying to fire.
"Fire!"
Immediately the archers fired, unleashing a rain of arrows on the Chinese army, striking down some while most of the others managed to block the arrows with their shields, Guan Yu spun his green dragon crescent blade, deflecting each arrow. At this point Ares raised his sword.
"Charge!"
Without hesitation the Spartans charged forward, at that point, Guan Yu charged forward on his horse, the Chinese army following close behind. As he charged into the Spartan army, Guan Yu swung his blade from side to side, striking down Spartans left and right. Ne Zha impaled multiple Spartans as the Chinese army combated them. With this Anhur swung his spear.
"Attack!"
The Egyptian warriors then leaped into the battle, beheading several Chinese soldiers and slitting others' throats.
"Show no mercy!" Ares bellowed. "Kill them all!"
Meanwhile...
While the battle raged on the mortal plane, the gods in the heavens appeared unaware of the chaos, or so it seemed...
Rama and Hou Yi both sharpened the tips of their arrows, with the war raging on, their arrows needed to be as efficient as possible.
"You know Rama, if anything positive has come out of this war, I suppose it'd be the fact that it's reunited me with my beloved, Chang'e."
"Ah yes, I do believe you mentioned her being trapped on the moon for quite some time."
"Yeah..." Hou Yi cringed remembering the time they spent apart. "That was rough." He looked down at his arrow. "I suppose I have myself to blame for that one."
"The past is the past my friend." Rama said sharpening another arrow. "It is not healthy to dwell on previous mistakes."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Hou Yi chuckled. As he reached for another arrow he couldn't help but notice as Awilix walked by, her tanned skin and markings appearing strangely alluring.
"Ahem!"
Rama's voice snapped Hou Yi out of his temporary daze as he shook his head, Rama gave him a very...disapproving look.
"I do recall you musing on the fact that you've reunited with your wife, it would be wise to not have wandering eyes..."
"Er...right, uh, that was undignified."
"Hello, is anyone up there?!" Ne Zha's voice rang in Hou Yi's head.
"Ne Zha, what's going on?!"
"The Old Order, they're attacking China! We're trying to hold them off, but they just keep coming! I think we might need-AGH!"
Suddenly Ne Zha's message was cut off.
"Ne Zha? Ne Zha!" Hou Yi grabbed his bow and quiver. "Come on, we must defend China."
"We should inform Nu Wa."
"No time, we need to go now!"
Before Hou Yi could take off, Rama grabbed his arm.
"Blindly charging into battle is a good way to get us killed, if we inform Nu Wa of this attack, we can properly counterstrike."
Hou Yi growled, as much as he wanted to join the fight, he knew Rama was right, they needed to provide Ne Zha and Guan Yu with proper back up.
"Fine..."
Back on the battlefield...
Ne Zha clutched his side, he could feel the warmth of blood as it poured from the wound. With his one free hand, he attempted to reach for his weapon only to have his hand nearly crushed under the boot of Ares.
"First rule of warfare kid: never ever turn your back on your enemy!"
Ne Zha glared at Ares with a look that could only be described as one of pure hatred.
"Well then what are you waiting for? Come with it!"
"Heh," Ares raised his sword. "as you wish..."
He was about to bring down his sword right onto Ne Zha's neck, when he heard the galloping of a horse. Ares turned to see Guan Yu heading straight for him and as the saint of war leaped from his horse, swinging his blade, Ares intercepted his blow with his shield. Guan Yu then spun his blade, trying his best to overwhelm the Greek god of war, but Ares remained unfettered behind his shield. Suddenly his shield unleashed a spew of flames that Guan Yu struggled to side step. Ares then swung his sword wildly, Guan Yu easily dodged his swings while countering with his blade. Finally his blade struck true, striking Ares on his unarmored shoulder. Ares grunted, clutching his wound, while he would never admit it, he knew when he was outmatched and as such Ares saw no shame in retreating, at least for now. As Ares turned to flee, Guan Yu turned to Ne Zha.
"You okay?"
"Yeah...I think I'll-ack!" Ne Zha attempted to stand, but found himself unable to.
"Careful, your wound is very deep."
"I...I can still fight."
"Not like this." Suddenly Guan Yu's hand began to glow a jade green. "Hold still." He placed his hand on Ne Zha's wound, the young prince cringed slightly at first, but relaxed as the wound began to close up.
"Ugh...Okay, I think that helped." Ne Zha stood up, picking up his spear.
"This is a loosing battle, their numbers are too great, we should fall back and regroup so we can-"
There was a loud crash, almost like an explosion, cutting off Guan Yu as he turned to the city.
"Wha-that doesn't sound good." Guan Yu leaped back on his horse, grabbing Ne Zha and tossing him on as well. "We should make sure the city is safe!"
And with that, they rushed into the city. Just as they feared, there was a massive whole in the city walls, with scores of Roman soldiers pouring in. Without missing a beat, Guan Yu charged towards the approaching army, when a certain massive object struck both him and Ne Zha, nocking them from his horse.
"Ah, ah, ah..." Guan Yu, rubbed the side of his head, glancing at his hand now stained with blood. "Now just where do you think you two are heading?"
They looked up to see Sun Wukong looming over them, his cudgel retracting to it's normal size.
"You and I still have a score to settle." Wukong growled.
Ne Zha stood defiantly while, Guan Yu still struggled to regain his balance.
"Come on demon, I ain't scared of you!"
"That so?" Wukong twirled his cudgel. "We'll see about that."
Without warning, Wukong slammed down his cudgel, Ne Zha scrambled to get out of the way as he tossed his universe ring. Wukong knocked it back with little effort before morphing into a tiger and lunging at the young prince. As the two battled, Guan Yu finally got back on his feet, his body radiated with the same jade green glow as before and the wound on his head healed instantaneously. He was about to aid the lotus prince when something heavy slammed into his back, nocking him forward. He turned to see Bellona, sword and shield ready and with a particularly blood thirsty look in her eyes.
"Well, well, if it isn't the mighty general himself..." She grinned morphing her weapons into a massive war hammer. "This should be a fight to remember..."
Guan Yu, spun his blade, before striking a battle ready pose. "Come with it then..."
Immediately, Bellona swung her hammer, Guan Yu intercepted with his blade. She sung again, and again, but the saint of war easily dodged each of her wild swings. Finally she leapt into the air swinging her hammer down towards Guan Yu. He sidestepped, placing one foot on the hammer and punching Bellona square in the face. She fell to the ground but quickly rolled back onto her feet.
"Not bad..." She spat out a tooth along with a little bit of blood. "I actually felt that."
Guan Yu, paid no mind to her comment, and lunged at her. Grabbing her hammer, she morphed it back into a sword and shield, using it to protect her as Guan Yu spun his blade in front of him. When it was clear that he would not break through her defense, he be gain lunging at her with his blade, trying to strike a potential weak spot, Bellona effortlessly side stepped each, lunge before intercepting with her sword and striking Guan Yu in the side of the head with her shield.
meanwhile...
Ne Zha struggled to hold back the tiger-formed Sun Wukong, having been pinned down, he desperately tried to keep him at bay by sticking his spear into Wukong's fanged maw. Finally he summoned his strength and managed to kick the massive tiger off of him. Wukong gracefully landed on his feet. No sooner had he landed, he morphed into an ox and charged at the lotus prince. Ne Zha jumped out of the way before wrapping his sash around Wukong's horns. He tugged as hard as he could, and managed to knock the ox off of it's feet as well as help him leap towards him. He landed on Wukong's back, wrestling the ox to the ground, suddenly Wukong morphed into an eagle, escaping Ne Zha's grasp. He flew up into the air before morphing back into his default form ready to slam his cudgel right on the lotus prince, Ne Zha barely jumped out of the way, regaining his footing. He then lunged at Sun Wukong, his spear blazing. He attempted to stab the monkey king right in the heart but was swiftly intercepted by Wukong and his cudgel. The monkey king then swung his cudgel downward, Ne Zha attempted to intercept it when his spear was snapped clean in half. Sun Wukong then kicked him in the gut, sending him flying a good ten feet away.
"You still cannot defeat me young prince." Wukong boast. "Not even now as China burns before you."
"You won't win." Ne Zha growled defiantly. "You and the Old Order, you'll never win!"
"Heh, I wouldn't be so sure..." Wukong then raised his cudgel, ready to end the lotus prince once and for all when a familiar voice called from the heavens.
"Evil shall be cleansed!"
Suddenly fiery shards rained down from the sky, striking Bellona, Wukong, Ares, and Anhur.
"So they finally decided to show eh?" Bellona boasted as Hou Yi, Rama, Chang'e, He Bo, Scylla, and Nu Wa descended from the heavens. "Good."
Taking notice to the commotion, Ares turned to his army.
"Spartans, storm the city!" He bellowed.
The Spartans then charged forward, easily barreling through the weakened Chinese army, Anhur motioned forward and the Egyptians soon followed suit.
Scylla cast her spell, "Crush" incinerating several roman soldiers while she chucked a fire ball into the crowd of the Spartan army, giggling as she did so. Hou Yi and Rama stood back to back, firing arrow after arrow, mowing down the enemy army with each arrow. He Bo, knocked up the egyptian army while Chang'e sliced several soldiers in half with he crescent moon dance.
"Rise!"
Suddenly the fallen soldiers stood up, rejoining the fight despite their wounds. At that moment, Ah Puch revealed himself from the shadows, commanding these zombified warriors.
"To battle my children!" Nu Wa summoned several clay minions, that lunged forward combating the zombies. She then fired a metal shard, detonating her minions and incinerating several of the zombie warriors.
"Now this is a battle!" Bellona bellowed as she struck down several clay minions.
Meanwhile up in Asgard
Odin sat on his throne, somewhat anxious. While they had been victorious in the arena, he wasn't sure how long it would be before the Old Order would strike back. But his thoughts were soon interrupted as Loki walked in, dressed in his old non-serpentine outfit (though it appeared rather loose on him).
"What do you want trickster?" Odin groaned slightly annoyed.
"I do believe we made a deal brother." Loki said holding up his wrists. "I fulfilled my end of the bargain, now it's time for you to fulfill your promise."
Odin sighed. "Very well, I suppose a deal was made." He grabbed the shackles on Loki's wrists. "And I am a god of my word." with that he removed the shackles, almost immediately it seemed as though Loki's youth returned to him. His wrinkles vanished, his yellow, serpentine eyes turned green and he even seemingly grey a few inches taller, making his old outfit fit like a glove.
"Ahh, now that's much better." Loki said musing at his new look.
"Don't get too comfortable trickster, as soon as this war is won, the shackles go back on."
"Yes, yes, I know, excuse me for enjoying it while I can."
At that moment, Thor burst into the hall.
"All-Father! The Old Order, they've launched an attack on China! Nu Wa and her forces are trying to hold them off but I fear, they may not be able to beat them."
"I knew it was only a matter of time before they struck again...go to China and aid our allies immediately!"
"Of course All-Father!"
As Thor rushed off to ready the others for battle, Odin didn't appear to notice Loki sneaking off.
"Well, isn't that convenient?" Loki thought to himself.
Back in China
As the battle continued in China, it appeared to be growing more and more hopeless for the Elysian Uprising, everytime they struck down the enemy soldiers, Ah Puch seemed to raise four more including their own soldiers, eventually it appeared that were outnumbered. He Bo morphed into a massive tidal wave in a vain attempt to force back the enemy but it hardly helped. Scylla revealed her four tentacles, bringing them down into the crowd of enemy soldiers, and while she did scatter them, they continued to mount their attack. Eventually Nu Wa and her forces found themselves surrounded as they were backed up to the emperor's palace.
"Anyone got any ideas?" Hou Yi groaned, shooting another arrow.
"We fight until we fall." Guan Yu said sternly as he twirled his blade.
"Well, I guess I've heard worse..."
No sooner had he said that, there was strong, frigid gale in the air. Nu Wa's forces looked up as Thor, Freya, Tyr, and Ullr along with several of Asgard's finest warriors descended from the sky.
"For Valhalla!" Thor bellowed as he slammed Mjolnir on the ground, sending a shockwave through it.
Freya's sword glowed with a rainbow aura as she fired several magic bolts at the enemy soldiers. Tyr and Ullr both landed in front of Nu Wa's forces, as they assisted them with the swarm of undead soldiers.
"Well, looks like the Norse decided to join the party." Ares grinned.
"This just gets better and better..." Bellona morphed her weapon into a scourge, her eyes fixated on Freya. "Keep the others busy, the Valkyrie's mine."
Ares charged at the Elysian gods while Bellona ran towards Freya. Once he was in range, Ares launched several chains, ensnaring his enemies.
"I have you now!" He bellowed before yanking them all to him. At this point Ah Puch saw an opportunity.
"Rise my minions! Serve your master once more!"
Suddenly a surge of dark purple, demon-like wraiths burst from the ground. The Elysians couldn't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed as the wraiths clawed and bit them violently.
"That's it, no more 'Mr. Nice guy'!" Suddenly Thor took to the sky, then came crashing down in between Ah Puch and Anhur, knocking them both back and scattering their army. He grinned as the duo seemed somewhat dazed. "Me thinks, it's HAMMER TIME!" He then spun Mjolnir around him, striking both Anhur and Ah Puch multiple times, but he managed to strike the god of decay right in the side of the head, not only sending him flying, but also knocking the mayan god unconscious. At this point, his wraiths ceased their attack and the zombified warriors fell over, dead once again.
"Ah Puch is down!" Anhur yelled cradling his body. "Our supplier is down! We must retreat!"
"Why?!" Bellona growled still locked in combat with Freya. "We don't need an army to beat these chumps-AGH!" Freya then managed to strike Bellona in the side.
"You sure about that?" Freya boasted.
Sun Wukong backed up, without Ah Puch's zombies their army did seem much smaller all of the sudden. "Hate to say it, but Lion-o here might be on to something!"
Ares tried to hold off his enemies with the flames of his shield, even he knew they had overstayed their welcome. He turned to the Spartans he had left.
"Spartans, fall back!"
The Spartans backed up a bit, before turning to flee. Anhur motioned to retreat and the Egyptians retreated as well. Bellona growled but noticed that her allies were fleeing. She knew she wouldn't last too long on her own.
"You got off lucky blondie..." She snarled, before turning to flee.
Freya was attempted to run after her, but was stopped by Tyr.
"Let them go Freya, their not worth it..." He turned, taking note of the damage the battle caused to the city. "Besides, we have our own matters to attend to."
Elsewhere
Beyond the void, in a realm of complete darkness, a lone candle flickered provided a small pocket of light in the darkness. Here we find Nox, goddess of the night, and one of the oldest of the primordials. For ages she's remained content in her realm, observing both the realms of the gods and the mortals from afar, but lately she has been...less than pleased with what she saw. Ever since that blasted arena showed up, all there was to observe had been mindless battles and now with this pointless war, senseless bloodshed as well.
"Tch!" she dispersed the vision before her as she glanced at the void, though she hardly knew why she bothered. The primordials hardly did anything other than watch so to observe them seemed almost pointless and yet, this time something seemed off. The Primordials seemed to be discussing something very inventively, which with a somewhat somber look on their face. The goddess of the night was nonetheless intrigued. She contemplated paying them a visit, but at the same time, she felt it of no importance to her.
She turned back to her image of the mortal realm, taking note of a certain Chinese city, now in disarray. The walls were crumbled, the buildings were burning, and the ground was littered with several dead mortals.
"Such a shame..." She said to herself, somewhat disappointed. "Those Chinese cities were always impressive."
Peaking back at the Primordials, she noticed their little meeting had appeared to have ended. Her curiosity had not deterred however, perhaps it was about time she paid them a visit...
Back in China
Zhong Kui and Anubis gazed upon the wrecked city. One would think they'd be used to so much death, and yet there was something unsettling about this situation.
"Ah, the sweet scent of death," Thanatos said perching himself on a wrecked building. "smells like...home."
Zhong Kui ignored the hand of death for now, as he seemed to be more fixated on the lone ghoul feasting on a corpse in the corner.
"Well...there's no doubt this is Ah Puch's."
"And these are the Old Order's soldiers..." Anubis said brushing aside a Spartan corpse.
"Then Ah Puch is helping them?" Zhong Kui pondered for a moment. "But why?"
"Hard to say," Anubis scratched his chin. "perhaps to gain more followers? These corpses have much more intense wounds than any mortal should have been able to fight through..."
"He wants to take over..." Thanatos blurted out.
"What?"
"Think about it, that skinny shrimp knows he's got no chance on his own, but with an army of gods by his sides well..."
Zhong Kui and Anubis glanced at one another, the idea of Ah Puch actually overthrowing Hades was, well, terrifying to say the least...
"We should return to the Underworld." Zhong Kui said starting to scribble a strange enchantment with his brush. "The triad needs to know about this..."
Authors Note: Whew, finally got the new chapter up, and BOY are things heating up out there. Hopefully I won't take as long to make the new chapter. Also if anything seems confusion, or if you have questions about certain gods and where they stand in this war, feel free to PM me.
Any whose looks like this war has finally reached the mortal realm, we'll see what happens next :3