Chapter 4:

The Path Forward

The Gods in the room were arguing. They were shouting, hurling insults and demanding explanations.

If Zeus hadn't known any better, he'd think he was dealing with a bunch of children.

Their reaction was justified though, they had just seen a mere human slay one of their kind.

"It's fine," Zeus finally spoke up.

All the gazes in the room turned to him. The old man gave a lazy smile.

"I get it, we are all burning with rage right now," he said calmly. "But put things in perspective."

"Perspective!?" Ares cried out, "Prometheus is dead! The humans slayed him! THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"I know," Zeus admitted. "But it seems that the Valkyrie came prepared."

"Indeed she has," Hermes echoed his statement. "I think that going forward, we should all keep in mind that humans now have weapons to slay gods."

"AND YOU ARE OKAY WITH THAT?!" Ares yelled.

"Calm down," Hermes said, "Just because they have the tools, doesn't mean that they will slay us. Keep in mind, Prometheus was our weakest god. He was, as you might call, our sacrificial pawn."

"A pawn," Ares muttered dumbfounded.

God there's no end to this idiot's idiocy. Hermes thought. On the outside he remained as civil as ever. "Zeus send out the worst we had to offer to see what humanity's cards are. Now, we know more and we can send in someone who is actually capable."

"Heck yeah!" Shiva came up from the couch. "I'll fight! Trust me, I will crush those mortals with my bare fists."

"Actually," Zeus said with an innocent smile. "I think I know someone far better to send in."

"Oh?"

Zeus grinned sinisterly. "We gods have been humiliated, now the humans think they can stand a chance. I won't allow this, the next fight must not be just a victory. It must be a message to both the gods and humanity. A defeat that must crush all hope for the next rounds to come."

Odin raised an eyebrow but remained quiet.

Zeus folded his fingers together. "If humanity sends out their worst monster, then why don't we respond in kind?"

Eren received the embraces and shoulder clasp from his friends with some reluctance. It was a bit awkward seeing them again, but he supposed that the literal end of the world at the hand of the gods united all of mankind again.

"Oh god, I was so scared for your safety!" Historia embraced him..

…

…

"Eren?" Mikasa asked softly, when she noticed Eren was still embracing Historia. The girl looked a bit awkward, but Eren's expression was petrified.

"Are you okay?" Historia asked?

"Eren-" He let go of Historia.

"It's nothing," he muttered.

"It doesn't seem like it was nothing," Armin said.

"The fight took a lot out of me," Eren said.

"If you say so," Armin didn't look fully convinced.

"Come," Eren smiled, "Let's watch the next round. It should be interesting,"

Eren walked away, leaving his friends to chase after him.

In the distance Eren could see Brunhilde looking at him.

"And she calls me a monster." he muttered under his breath.

Brunhilde watched Eren Yeager walk out of view with a cold calculated look.

It had been extremely risky to have him fight, but in the end it worked out.

She turned to Göll. "See, I told you humanity can kick god's asses."

Contrary to what she had expected, Göll looked absolutely like she was pissing herself.

Had she missed something?

In her hand Göll was holding her phone. Slowly, with the same expression of terror, she showed the screen.

"They announced god's next fighter." Göll stammered. "It's our end."

Blood ran cold in Brunhilde's veins when she saw the name.

No! Not him. Anyone but him.
"It's over," Göll cried. "They realized their mistake, there's no way we can use the same trick twice!"

"Göll," Brunhilde said calmly, after recollecting herself. "I told you, it's not over until the last round,"

"BUT IT'S HIM! How is he even allowed to fight for the gods! There is no way we can win!"

"Göll," Brunhilde repeated. "If you say that again, I will be forced to remove your tongue."

The young Valkyrie shut up.

Despite her calm appearance, Brunhilde was freaking out as well.

Even the gods were scared of him. There was no hero she knew that would be able to look in this monster's eyes and not tremble with fear.

Well, except one…

Yes, there was no other way around it. There was only one hero she could put her faith in.

I'm sorry she thought. But I fear the cycle repeats for you once more.

A/N I wrote an interlude chapter. I keep having scenes in my head, and I write to get them out of there. Hopefully I can focus on having a life again.

…who am I kidding, of course I can't.

Omake:

The lights in the arena darkened. All the spotlights were put on Heimdall.

"On November 28 in the year 2003 numerous criminals died in their cells across the world. The cause was a heart attack."

On the human side of the arena a bright holographic screen lit up. On it was one single letter displayed.

K

"Who did it? It was no other than this man!" a young man came walking out of humanity's gate. He was dressed impeccably. Behind him flew a flying black humanoid.

"He saw the world as rotten, and decided to fix it," "He started killing the criminals across the world. All he needed was a face and a name to kill"

The man put a red apple to his mouth.

"No one could stop him, not the police, not the world's governments and not the world's best detective!"

The man bit into the apple.

"Humanity's fighter is KIRA, the self proclaimed God of the New World!" Heimdall took a deep breath. "LIGHT YAGAMI!"

The humans roared.

The gods booed.

All the while Light himself remained calm.

"Hmm," Light mused, he looked at the closed gate of the god's side of the arena. "You think my opponent is too afraid to show up?"

"Actually, Light," Ryuk said, "I think you've been misinformed."

"Huh?"

"You see," Ryuk grinned, "you forgot that I am a Shinigami. I am on their side Light."

"REPRESENTING THE GODS WILL BE RYUK!" Heimdall cried out.

"I see," Light said unimpressed.

Ryuk's smile dropped. "You don't seem surprised."

Light smirked, "Actually, I expected this already." he pushed open his jacket to reveal a notebook. "You see, this Death Note isn't yours Ryuk, it's my Volundr."

The eyes of the shinigami looked at Light, then at his life span.

Ryuk laughed. "It seems that this will be interesting after all."