Chapter 9

Assistance From Olympus

At Heimdall's announcement of round 1's results, a good number of humanity groaned and rubbed their foreheads in despair. While others, more hopeful after their first victory in the first Ragnarok, comforted those around them that were fretting, assuring them that although they had not won the battle, they could still win the war.

Trotsky looked dejected, still in disbelief that Lenin was now truly gone, other Bolshevik's hung their heads in sorrow as well, while some recalled fond memories of the Father of Communism and telling them to any that would listen.

Even Stalin wisely chose to not say anything negative, out of respect for his fallen comrade, Karl Marx who sat above him sighed, folding his arms across his stomach, "We have lost another great man to the oppression of the gods, our only hope is for the rest of mankind's defenders to carry on the torch of the fallen, and lead us to victory once more."

The god's reception to the news was equally mixed, those that longed for mankind's blood jeered and taunted the humans, while those who were humbled by the conclusion of the first Ragnarok simply chose to cheer for Sobek's victory rather than revel in Lenin's defeat.

As Sobek finally heard the cheers and praise from his peers that he had desired for so long. He didn't feel as jubilant and exhilarated as he thought he would be. Finally understanding the shallow nature of the gods as well as the importance of fighting for yourself rather than to impress others. The cheers now felt fake and forced to him.

Sighing as he looked up into the sky, the Crocodile God gazed longingly at where the last pieces of Lenin had once been. And then glancing back down at the deep pool of his own sweat that he was seated in. The arena had been filling up to the point where the water reached up to Sobek's chest. Seeing this, Sobek decided to make one final send off for his fallen opponent.

Standing up and using his hydrokinesis abilities, Sobek willed the large amount of water out of the arena till not a single drop was left in the battlefield, leaving it completely dry as it had been at the start. Directing the water to float above his head, Sobek turned it into a massive sphere of river water which stunned the rowdy audience with the sheer marvel of his spectacle.

Then with another command, Sobek sent the sphere hurtling far up above the arena, the eyes of the crowd following the ball of water as it hurtled into the sky, before the Crocodile God snapped his finger, causing the entire sphere to explode, sending drops of water to rain down upon the crowd, gods and humans alike cheered and laughed at this wondrous display, all resentment and worries forgotten. Sobek gave a self satisfied smile at his last display of respect and gratitude to his fallen foe.

Sobek then slowly made his way over to the doors where he had entered the battlefield from, using one of his arms to rip out his stave which he had previously buried headfirst into the wall.

"Thank you once again, Comrade Lenin," he murmured. Before entering the darkened corridor on the other side of the doors.

There Sobek found two individuals awaiting him, his mother Neith, who immediately tackled her son in a hug. Even though tears were streaming down her face from the relief that her son had survived the match, the goddess still found some anger in her to chastise Sobek for his recklessness, "I don't know what you were thinking you silly boy," She scolded, "willingly signing up for a death match? Are you trying to give your long suffering mother a heart attack when she realizes that her son may never again return to her arms? You count yourself lucky that your opponent was a decent person who believed in equal play and gave you a fighting chance."

The second god waiting for him was Sekhmet, who had made her way down from the VIP section to greet her old friend after his battle. She was now trying her best not to laugh at the Beast God of the Duat getting an earful from his mother, whilst he fruitlessly tried to soothe her anger.

Clearing her throat to get the duo's attention, Sekhmet spoke, "Uhm, Lady Neith, I think it is important we get your son to an infirmary first, once he gets those nasty wounds treated, I will gladly help you in scolding him for his foolishness."

Neith and Sobek chuckled at Sekhmet's words, before slowly making their way out of the corridor and towards the nearest infirmary, as the trio moved, Sekhmet addressed Sobek directly.

"So I take it that you will finally take my advice and stop chasing the attention of those who don't deserve it? As well as finally start using your Primal Force like before?"

Sobek sighed, "Yes Sekhmet, you were right. I was being a huge idiot up until now, and I should have listened to you all those years ago. Are you happy now that I have said it?"

Sekhmet smirked, "Mhmm, I'm only partially satisfied now that you have admitted it, but if you truly want to make it up to me. The moment you are in fighting shape again, I want you and me to have a sparring match with our Primal Forms like the old days. Half of my father's elite guard can't even put up a good fight, and it's been ages since I fought someone of equal caliber."

Sobek chuckled weakly as they walked, bumping fist with his old friend, "It's a promise then."

In the god's VIP section, Ra gave a self satisfied smirk, leaning back on to his throne, "Well it seems that the first round has ended as I had expected, humanity has taken its first step to its complete annihilation."

"Yeah, but Lord Ra, that Lenin guy put up one hell of a fight. If Sobek didn't get the chance to use his Primal Force, there would have been a good chance that WE might have lost! We CAN'T underestimate the humans in the upcoming rounds." Huitzilopochtli answered in a worried tone.

Ra chuckled at his subordinates' worried voice, "Do not fret Huitzilopochtli, unlike Zeus in the last Ragnarok, I do not intend on wasting any opportunity presented that will lead us to victory. Nor will I underestimate the humans at any given point again like I did for Lenin, they will be destroyed." He finished with an intense look in his eyes.

As the audience of round 1 began to get up from their seats to leave the arena, the orange sky and setting sun signified that night was falling over Valhalla. Huitzilopochtli noticed this, turned to Ra and spoke once more in a more respectful tone, "Uh Lord Ra, it's almost night time, may I take my leave to take care of my ' You Know What ' situation if it's alright with you?"

Ra waved his hands dismissively without even looking back at his attendant, "Yes, yes you may take your leave now."

Bowing respectfully one more time as thanks to Ra, Huitzilopochtli quickly hurried out of the VIP section much to Amaterasu's curiosity, the Aztec Chief God seemed to never be by hers and Lord Ra's side when it got dark, and this had puzzled her greatly for the time that they had been working together. Regardless, she ignored it before turning back to Ra who was getting up from his seat and making his way to the exit as well, motioning for her to follow.

"Come along now Amaterasu, I need to go and inform our representative for the second round that she can start preparing for her match."

"Yes, Lord Ra, I won't be far behind, but do tell, where will we be headed?" Amaterasu asked whilst hurrying to keep up with Ra's fast strides.

Ra turned back to face her with a smirk, "Why HELHEIM of course." He said while taking pleasure in the shocked look that Amaterasu made upon hearing this. "To call upon their new ruler to fight for us in Ragnarok round 2."

Tears streamed down Pandora's cheeks as she silently cried for humanity losing in the first round of Ragnarok as well as Lenin's death. While Prometheus lowered his head in respect, Göll struggled to keep herself from breaking into tears as well. Even though she had come to terms with the fact that they were bound to lose Einherjar in this second Ragnarok like they did in the first, it was still hard for her not to cry over their deaths.

After a few minutes of mourning, Prometheus broke the silence, "While it is deeply painful to all of us that Lenin has lost his life in the first round, we will need to look towards the future. We have to choose which fighter will represent us in the second round as soon as possible to allow them as much time as possible to train with their Divine Weapons."

Knowing that he was right, Göll and Pandora wiped the tears from their eyes and nodded. Returning to Akashic Records, they surveyed their list to see which on their roster would be best suited for the next fight.

"Out of curiosity Prometheus," Göll asked the Titan whilst they were still considering, "Has your informant provided you with info on who the god's next fighter will be?"

Prometheus shook his head, "Apologies Ms Göll, but it seems that Ra has not decided on his next representative yet either, so this time we won't have the advantage of knowledge on the next fighter for the gods before picking ours."

Pandora groaned at this, before suddenly remembering to ask, "By the way Prometheus, who IS your informant? You haven't revealed who has been leaking all this information to you beforehand, is it that fly who whispered in your ear before we went to give Lenin his Divine Weapon?"

Before Prometheus could answer however, a woman's regal voice interrupted their conversation, "I think I may be able to help your little war effort by providing a fighter for the second round, if you don't mind?"

All three of them turned, to see a middle aged woman with long black hair that was braided in a ponytail that hung over her left shoulder. She wore a white chiton and a cape made out of peacock feathers, and had high cheekbones and a somewhat snobby kind of face.

As soon as they saw her, Prometheus and Pandora bowed their heads in respect, with Göll following suit even though she did not recognise this newcomer.

"Lady Hera, it is good to see you again." Prometheus said,

"How are you doing today grandmother?" Pandora followed

Göll gasped, this was Hera? As in Hera the QUEEN GODDESS OF OLYMPUS and the wife of Zeus? What was she doing offering HER help to humanity?

Hera smiled before motioning for the three of them to rise, "It's good to see you again dear Pandora, I hope that your father is doing well?" Patting a smiling Pandora on the head, "And this must be young Göll I presume?" Shaking the Valkyries hand, with Göll returning a wide grin.

"And then there's you as well of course." She spoke now in a colder voice and a disapproving face while addressing Prometheus, who smiled casually in return.

"It's always a pleasure seeing you again Lady Hera, pray tell why would you offer aid to the side of humanity, if memory serves me right you never really cared for the fates of mankind in the past before?"

Hera scoffed, "True enough I suppose, I never understood why my husband and his council wasted so much time on them with those silly meetings."

Göll who at first liked Hera's friendliness towards her and Pandora, now grew a little more uncomfortable with the Queen of Olympus's ruder tone towards Prometheus, as well as her uncaring attitude towards humans.

"To answer your question though, Lord Ra's assault on my husband during the last Valhalla Council meeting is reason enough for me to work against him. His actions have left my husband in a less than desirable state for the following weeks, with all of his limbs broken and needing much time to recover. Although a small part of me is happy that Zeus will not be spending the next few weeks running behind my back and being unfaithful as he usually does." Hera finished with a smirk.

Göll gulped, realizing that the Queen of Olympus, just like her sister Brunhilde, possessed a mean streak that was a mile wide and held grudges just as much as she did.

Prometheus chuckled, "I should have known you wouldn't voluntarily help us out of the kindness of your own heart Lady Hera, I suppose you want to see Ra pay for humiliating your pantheon by having your chosen fighter beat his?"

Hera smiled cruelly, "Correct Prometheus, for as much as I despise Zeus's unfaithfulness. NO ONE ELSE besides me is allowed to humiliate my husband as badly as Ra did. And anyone WHO does." Her eyes blazed with fury, and a powerful gold aura began to surround her body. "WILL FACE THE FULL WRATH OF THE QUEEN OF OLYMPUS!"

Pandora and Göll hugged each other in fear of Hera's rage. "I had NO idea grandmother could be so angry, it isn't as explosive as the times when she finds out grandfather cheated on her again. But this is WAY scarier than that!" Pandora exclaimed whilst shivering in fear.

Prometheus sighed, "I suppose we need all the help we can get, where are we going to fetch your chosen fighter?" He asked while he motioned for the two cowering girls to follow him and Hera as they left the room.

Hera turned back with another cruel smirk, "Oh, I made sure to select the best warrior I knew to fight in round 2, this man's hatred of the gods is SO unmatched that he managed to land himself in TARTARUS for his crimes against the Heavens. So I have a good feeling that humanity has a very high chance of winning the second match of Ragnarok."

Pandora and Göll gulped as they heard Hera's words, "Tartarus? You mean our next fighter is a CRIMINAL who managed to incur the wrath of the gods?" Pandora squeaked

Prometheus on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at this, "I see," he spoke, figuring out who Hera was talking about, "so you want the God Butcher to fight for humanity in the next round."

Ignoring the confused and terrified looks on the other two's faces, Hera laughed cruelly, "Correct Prometheus! With him on our side, whichever god Ra sends out next is as good as FINISHED!"

Hades' Castle, Helheim

The Mandjet descended from the bleak, dark skies of Helheim, as its two passengers, Ra and Amaterasu descended from it and stood next to the giant double door entrance to the magnificent castle.

Turning to address his Sun Barge's captain, a guardian angel dressed in the outfit of a naval officer. Ra left him with clear instructions to not go anywhere and wait for their return. The captain quickly saluted the Sun god before standing still as a statue next to the barge awaiting for their return.

Making their way into the palace, the two Solar deities were greeted with the utmost respect by the guards of the castle, before they finally entered Hades' former throne room.

The throne room was mostly unchanged since the days of its former ruler, the only two visible difference were the addition of a second painting above the throne besides that of the four Olympian Brothers, which depicted a humongous green serpent with numerous winding coils, and a smaller but still massive gray wolf with a gaping maw filled with sharp white teeth. The second difference in the room was the throne which the new ruler of Helheim sat upon.

Whilst Hades favored a throne decorated with human skulls above its head rest, and ribcage design on its back. The new ruler of Helheim had swapped it for one carved out of ice, the armrests were shaped into the heads of the same serpent and wolf shown in the paintings on the left and right respectively, while the ice that made the headrest and back of the throne were made into sharp icicles pointing outwards.

The occupant sitting on the seat of the throne was just as scary, for the most part, she looked like a beautiful woman in her twenties, with long flowing black hair, and a simple purple dress with silver accents. However, the left side of her face and her entire left arm and hand were not that of a regular person, instead it was the moldering gray corpse, with a sunken socket that was mostly empty save for a small circle of blue fire that flickered in its middle, serving as an eye of sorts. The flesh from her left side flaked on the ground as she stood up to greet her two visitors.

"Lord Ra, Lady Amaterasu, welcome to Helheim." She spoke politely, "I've heard of Lord Sobek's victory in the first round of Ragnarok, the fight he must have put up against his mortal foe must be the stuff of legends. I presume that your visits can only mean that you wish for me to serve as the representative for round 2 of Ragnarok?"

Ra nodded, "You are insightful for one so green behind the ears, Hel." he spoke in the contemptuous tone he seemed to use for all those he viewed as inferior to him, which was mainly everyone. "Yes, you are to fight in the second round of Ragnarok since you willingly signed up to be a part of the roster rather than having to be forced like some of the others. I hope that you will not disappoint us UNLIKE your predecessor, dying so pathetically to that jumped up emperor in the first Ragnarok."

Hel, the Norse Goddess of death flinched at Ra's harsh words slightly, before regaining her composure, "I won't fail you Lord Ra, I am ready to prove to you as well as my subjects of Helheim that my ascension to the throne was not a mere fluke. Mark my words, the second round of Ragnarok WILL end with the god's victory." She spoke as she manifested her Divine Weapon into her left hand, an elegant bluish silver halberd, its blade seemingly made out of blue crystal that had a purplish tint at its end. Hanging on the other side of the blade by chains, was a human-like skull that was fitted over a blue crystal that blazed with an ominous aura.

Ra grinned, seemingly satisfied by her response, "Very well then Hel, I shall leave you to prepare for your match. I have heard the most intriguing rumors about your skills in battle, and CANNOT wait to see which is the truth and which is mere gossip."

Turning back to Amaterasu who had spent the most part of their conversation gazing in morbid fascination at Hel's frightening appearance, Ra signaled to her that it was their time to leave, snapping her out of her stupor. The Shinto Goddess began to turn to leave as well, before a large brown hellhound suddenly pounced on her chest seemingly out of nowhere, strong front paws prevented her from getting back to her feet and fangs bared close to her face, with a low growling sound coming from behind those fangs.

Amaterasu yelped in terror, with her eyes closed, hearing only the yells of Hel, pleading with Ra, who must have been preparing to shoot the dog on top of her with a burst of light from his fingers, to hold his fire.

Amaterasu wanted to scream at Ra to fire anyway, but wisely decided against that, as raising her voice at the Egyptian Sun God around would be an even more sure fire way of meeting her end. As she felt the hot smelly breath of the dog as he opened his mouth, the Sun Goddess couldn't believe that she would meet her end at the hands of a filthy beast of the underworld.

Strangely the fatal bite she was expecting never came, instead she felt a wet, slimy and sticky sensation on her face, as a soft ticklish object began repeatedly licking her face. Opening her eyes, the Chief Goddess of Shinto realized that the object was in fact the hound's pink tongue slobbering saliva all over her as he enthusiastically licked her as a way of greeting, whilst its tail wagged quickly from left and right.

"Your dog is rather, ah, enthusiastic when it comes to strangers I see." She grumbled to Hel with a murderous look oh her face as the hellhound continue coating her with his drool

"Sorry about Garmr," Hel sighed with a red face, "He's still young and willful and hasn't received proper training as a guard dog, half the time he either barks at the wrong people, or gives some poor unfortunate soul one too MANY kisses."

Amaterasu blushed furiously at this, as much as she wanted to skin this mutt and its owner for humiliating her in front of Ra, who rarely cracked a genuine smile or laugh, had a look of slight amusement at the scene that had just unfolded in front of him.

However, upon seeing Garmr's adorable tilted head and innocent puppy eyes that brimmed with excitement. The Sun Goddess couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. Giving the hellhound a few good scratches behind the ear, "You're lucky you have a cute face, you little mongrel." She murmured to the blissful hellhound. Before she gently brushed him off her lap and got up to her feet, much to Garmr's disappointment. Slinking back to his owner and flopping onto his belly, immediately falling asleep, oblivious to the three powerful beings who stood, staring down at him.

"Why are you like this, Garmr?" Hel murmured, covering her face, as embarrassed as Amaterasu about her dog's behavior.

Ra rolled his eyes before speaking, "As I said Hel, you're still green behind the ears, if this were MY mutt, I would have already killed it and sought for one that is more receptive to my commands. But regardless, I have very high expectations for you in the upcoming round, do not disappoint me."

To these words, Hel only had a look of shock and disgust plastered on her face, before bowing to the Sun God, "I will keep that in mind, Lord Ra." She said in a much softer voice than before.

Afterwards, Ra and Amaterasu, to whom Hel mouthed a final silent apology to, left the throne room, and back to the Mandjet, departing from Helheim and back to Valhalla. With Amaterasu furiously wiping her saliva-covered face with her hand towel, cursing under her breath. While the current crew of the Mandjet sniggered quietly at the Shinto Chief Goddess' brand new look.

Elsewhere in Helheim

Unbeknownst to either Ra or Hel. Hera, Prometheus, Göll and Pandora were now descending into Helheim inside Hera's personal carriage led by a team of four pegasi, who were all nickering wildly in fear of being in such a ghastly location. Barely kept calm by Hera's coachmen Argus, a giant with a hundred eyes all over his body dressed in the uniform of a chauffeur.

Down and down the carriage descended into the deep dark pit in the middle of Helheim that led to the terrifying gates of Tartarus, which fashioned the hideous visage of a dragon, locked with several chains and iron beams to ensure no prisoner escaped.

As they made their way down the steps of the carriage, bidding Argus farewell till they returned, Göll and Pandora shuddered in fear at the ominous doors that stood before them. While Prometheus and Hera made their way towards them unfazed.

Once they were in front of the doors, Hera raised her fist, and gave three firm knocks on the gate. A few seconds passed, before the two eyes of the dragon carved on to the doors glanced down, as someone on the other side of the door used them as some sort of scary peephole. Inspecting who were so foolish enough to come down to the pit of Tartarus on a visit.

When the eyes of the dragon fell on the four companions, there was a huge scuffling sound, as though the person on the other side had fallen on his back at the sight of them. Before they heard the hurried unlocking of the chains and grinding of gears, as the two doors slowly opened up for them.

"LADY HERA! LORD PROMETHEUS! WHAT A SURPRISE!" Boomed by the loud voice of the one who had opened the door for them, Göll and Pandora gaped as he stepped into their view, in front of them stood a strange looking giant, who just barely passed through the door frame due to his huge bulk. His lower body and legs were normal, but above his waist, he possessed a hundred hands, and fifty faces. Which gave him a ball-like silhouette, making it seem that someone had created a giant wrecking ball of hands and faces and just stuck it on top of a pair of legs.

"It's nice to see you again Brontes," Prometheus replied to the giant, and then turned to Pandora and Göll." I would like the two of you to meet the chief warden of Tartarus, Brontes, one of the three Hecatonchires who was tasked with guarding the prisoners that lurk these darkened halls by Zeus himself."

All of Brontes' fifty faces smiled, "Aw, you're making me blush Prometheus! Nice to meet the two of you." He chuckled, extending two of his many arms towards the girls, who nervously shook his hands with weak grins. Afterwards Brontes' faces all took on a more serious look, as he turned to the Queen of Olympus."

"Lady Hera, may I inquire, how's Lord Zeus doing right now? Will he be alright in the foreseeable future?"

Hera sighed, "Fortunately my husband only suffered major fractures to the bones in his limbs, the doctor said that if that dictator of a Sun God, Ra had intended to cause more serious harm rather then send a message to the rest of the gods, Zeus may well have been paralyzed from the neck down."

Brontes shuddered at this, he owed Zeus immensely for freeing him from Tartarus himself, after he was wrongfully imprisoned inside along with his brothers and the Elder Cyclops by Kronos, Zeus' father.

"I am glad to hear that, I hope that for all our sakes, your husband makes a speedy recovery."

"Thank you for the kind words Brontes," Hera answered, "Now if you don't mind, please lead us to You-Know-Whose cell. We need to prepare him for his upcoming match in Ragnarok."

All of Brontes' fifty faces paled at this, "You all aren't actually SERIOUS are you? You seriously want to bring HIM into the equation? Welp it's YOUR funeral I guess, follow me."

And with that the giant lumbered further into the prison, followed by the four of them.

As they descended deeper into the belly of Tartarus, the small group was joined by the leopard headed Flauros, and the bird headed Andras, two demons of the 72 demons of Solomon who served as jailers in Tartarus, and were joining them for added protection as was explained by Brontes. This information only served to fuel Göll and Pandora's fear and curiosity over this supposed ' God Butcher '. How dangerous must this man be, if even a Hecatonchires felt that he needed extra security while handling him.

As they continued making their way down the cells, which were filled with horrific creatures with nightmarish looks, as well as eldritch abominations, all howling and banging on their bars as they passed. As their group entered the maximum security section of Tartarus, Göll couldn't help but notice that one of the cells was strangely empty, the only things inside were heavy chains and a discarded straitjacket, Indicating that the cell's occupant had left not too long ago.

Terrified at the prospect that one of the hellish monsters that was locked away by the gods had possibly escaped, Göll tugged on Prometheus' hand and inquired about said cell.

"Oh that cell, not to worry Göll, its prisoner did not escape, I simply had him transferred to the Einherjar waiting rooms to await his turn in Ragnarok. There's no need to panic over this information either," He quickly added, as Göll began to freak out even more as soon as she heard that another one of the prisoners of Tartarus were to represent mankind in Ragnarok. "I have seen to it that he is under CONSTANT surveillance 24/7, and he has also sworn on the River Styx that he would not leave his room under any circumstances until he is called for his turn."

Göll wasn't exactly convinced by the Titan's words, but she didn't get an opportunity to further question him before their group had arrived at their destination.

The darkened cell that they were looking at, like the others, had two guards stationed outside, with a nod from Brontes indicating that they could open the cell door, the two guards turned to unlock the cell door. However, the moment one of the guards inserted the key and turned the lock, a figure burst out of the darkness and forced the door open, pushing past the yelling guards and a shrieking Pandora, attempting to make a break for it.

Thankfully, Flauros and Andras, who had strategically placed themselves at the rear should the prisoner attempt something like this, immediately intercepted him with their spears, pushing him roughly on the ground, before Brontes quickly followed through by scooped him up with ten of his hands, restraining the struggling would be escapee completely, and bringing him closer to Hera and Prometheus to talk.

"Stop STRUGGLING, you little shitbag! You've got visitors" Brontes growled threateningly at his prisoner, "Also Flauros, Andras, good job stopping him."

The two jailers puffed up their chest in pride of getting praised by their boss in front of the Queen of Olympus and the Titan who brought fire to humanity.

"Hello Jason, it's nice to see you after the past few millennia you spent withering away in this cell. I have come to make you a proposition.'' Hera started, as well as gesturing to the walls of the cell which to Göll and Pandora's horror, had various carvings depicting different gods, including Hera, whose carving was one of the biggest, being gruesomely tortured, maimed and murdered in many morbid methods.

"FUCK YOU! YOU FILTHY COW! As if I would EVER accept your help again! The last time I entrusted YOU to be my patron I ended up in a fucking DITCH! So I don't care about whatever crafty scheme you want me to be a PAWN in, my answer will always be, GO FUCK YOURSELF!"

As Prometheus, Göll and Pandora carefully approached the God Butcher to get a closer look, with Prometheus shielding the two girls behind him. The two were shocked to see that the God Butcher was in fact a blonde male, who looked like he was roughly in his twenties. But due to his appearance, he looked much older, having long shaggy and filthy hair, a beard so unkempt that it looked like a blond bush was glued onto his face. He wore nothing but a filthy white loincloth that did not do justice to his surprisingly muscular body. Despite this both girls found it hard to believe that this man could be capable of killing a god, as he looked more like the kind homeless person that you know to avoid whilst on the streets, rather than a being capable of slaying gods.

"Prometheus, Göll, Pandora, I would like all of you to meet my former champion, and infamous serial killer of the gods, Jason.'' Hera said, pointing at Jason, who was attempting to bite Brontes fingers in another bid to escape, while the Hecatonchire only looked mildly annoyed by this, using another hand to roughly flick Jason's head as a warning for him to stop.

"Wait, grandmother, you're telling us that THIS filthy, murderous looking old man is supposed to be the legendary Jason who led the Argonauts on their voyage to retrieve the golden fleece?" Pandora asked incredulously, unable to believe her eyes.

"OI! Who you calling old you little bitch?" Jason snarled, earning him another flick from Brontes and an angry glare from Prometheus and Göll. before he went back cursing under his breath.

"Yes, as hard as it is to believe, the man in front of us is the very same Jason you speak of, one of the few heroes who was fortunate enough to receive my blessing back in the day. Before he unfortunately fell from my graces and went on a killing spree in Valhalla the moment he arrived, claiming the lives of six innocent gods." Hera sighed

"BLESSING? FUCK YOU, YOU COW! You call making a psychopathic witch fall in love with me, and forcing me into an unhappy marriage just to get back at my uncle who offended you years ago a BLESSING? Thank HEAVENS I'm not one of your husband's bastard children! Cause I sure as HELL don't want to see your idea of a curse if THAT is what you call a blessing! And as for those fuckers I killed, who cares? They were gods! You bastards are better off dying in a ditch than ruling us humans!"

Hera growled, ignoring the shocked look Göll and Pandora at Jason's kill count and remorseless attitude, before turning back to the squirming Jason, "Listen closely here you," She growled, materializing a simple looking envelope, "In my hands, I have an official pardon from my husband, Zeus himself. I will use it to set you free from Tartarus, so long as you do one LAST favor for me, and swear on the River Styx NEVER to harm a god or human again. Do you UNDERSTAND me?"

Jason immediately stopped squirming in Brontes iron grip, his curiosity piqued, "And what is this favor you want done?" He spoke in a less vulgar tone now, "Knowing you, it's probably some stupid quest that is guaranteed to see me lose my head or a few limbs at the very least."

Hera smirked, "I have no idea what you mean by that Jason. Regardless, I think you will like this task very see, I want you to participate in the second round of Ragnarok No.2 as the representative of humanity, win and you get your freedom from this hellhole, as well as being able to murder one final god before you do. Lose, and yes, you will die like you guessed."

Jason became silent, slowly weighing the pros and cons of accepting this deal whilst the rest of the group awaited his answer with bated breath.

The God Butcher mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. On one hand, he obviously wanted his freedom. Being stuck in Tartarus was a horrible experience for the past few millennia. However, the thought of serving Hera one last time absolutely disgusted him. And from what he heard, losing around Ragnarok meant dying without any chance of ever coming, which was obviously bad for him should he lose. As well as the fact that he couldn't continue his vengeful murder spree against the gods …. But participating in Ragnarok would allow him one last chance to kill a god. So maybe he could live with that?

After a few more moments of thinking, Jason spat on the ground and grumbled, "Fine, I'll accept your stupid deal."

Hera gave a grim smile, "I didn't hear the magic words?"

Jason sighed, "I swear on the River Styx that should I win my round in Ragnarok, I will never harm any gods or humans ever again … besides the one I will be fighting of course. And in exchange you swear to grant me my freedom?"

Hera nodded, taking out a slip of paper from the envelope and passing it to Brontes, who took it with another one of his arms and used three pairs of eyes to scan the document to be extra sure. Before giving a grunt and releasing Jason, who fell to the floor with an unceremonious thud," Congratulations asshole," he snarled at Jason, who glared back at him with a hateful look on his face, "You're a free man as of now, but I MUST warn you Lady Hera." The Hecatonchire now spoke to Hera, "I still think it's a BIG mistake letting this murderer go free for even the TINIEST fraction of a second."

Hera sighed, "I know of the risk Brontes, you don't have to remind me."

"Oh please," Jason grumbled as he got back to his feet, "Act like I'M not right here some more, why don't you?"

Ignoring the tense atmosphere between the Queen of Olympus and the God Butcher, Prometheus cleared his throat, "Very well since you've decided on joining humanity's roster in this Ragnarok, may I politely request you to obtain your Divine Weapon from Miss Pandora's jar in preparation for your fight?" He said to Jason while gesturing to Pandora, who was closely guarded by Göll and the four guards.

Jason grunted, making his way over to Pandora, who nervously held out her pithos to allow him to reach in and take his weapon.

All eyes were on Jason as he placed his hand inside the jar, moving it around for a bit before managing to get a hold of something. Pulling out a glowing ball of light that he looked at in wonder for a while before it began to morph and shape into something else entirely.

All present at that scene watched in awe as the ball of light finally settled on a form that was much larger than its original size, in fact it was now multiple items instead of one. With a dangerous gleam in his eyes, Jason cackled creepily as he looked at his new Divine Weapon, "HEHEHEHEHE! Yeah I think I will be able to work VERY WELL with this baby indeed!"

So the next match up will be between Hel, Norse Goddess of the Dead, and one of the unrevealed humans on my roster. Jason, the Fallen Greek Hero, I felt pretty stupid asking people to guess who would be the next two fighters when I remembered that one of them wasn't even shown on the rosters, so sorry about that LOL! Also, I know some people might find Jason's title of 'God Butcher' to be lazy and uninspired, but 'God killer' and 'Murderer of the Gods' just didn't have the same ring to it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and are looking forward to round 2 as much as I am!