These words from Tiberius silenced the Earth gods when they were told not to interfere with the decision of the gods on the issue of cannibalization, they had expected that common sense would soon prevail among their people.
The very earth of Aroth had become so soaked with blood and screams that if you picked up any random dirt from the ground and squeezed it, it would bleed.
There was madness inside their bloodline that the Ancestors had escaped only because of their talent and the amount of time they had spent as Earth gods, they were already Earth gods and the chains over their bloodline were a greater mental block than any call to eat their own babies to increase the power of their bloodlines.
Still to watch everything they knew crumble to madness was a unique torture they never knew they would get to experience one day.
"I hear you encourage it," Vulgim spat back, "line up millions of women and children and feed them to the massive grinders."
Tiberius snickered, "What can I say, men are more suited towards war, and even if it is by only a few percent increase in efficiency at the Earth god level I am seizing every advantage. The Final Throne belongs to Tiberius."
"What is left to rule…" Bacchus questioned the smug Tiberius, "...but a world of fire and blood. You have always reached far past your talents, nothing good would ever come of this, but you are too pigheaded to admit it out loud."
Tiberius stood up and spread his arms wide, he was a muscular man who had lost his left hand in the past and had replaced it with a prosthetic treasure that resembled the arm of an insect,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"You are wrong, all of you, I see farther than you can imagine! Don't you all realize what a final Emperor signifies? We would no longer be chained to this world, to this small galaxy, Trion would finally be free to spread its bounty to all civilizations in the universe."
Bacchus scoffed, "A bounty of death."
"I am from a bloodline of war," Tiberius growled, "death is my message and my calling. We shall spread our glorious language to the universe and they shall understand the might of Trion, their children shall worship at our feet, their men shall pull our ships through the void with their spirits…" Tiberius' voice was slowly increasing in pitch as excitement filled his crazed eyes.
"But for how long I wonder, funny that you should say all that Tiberius, but you are still scared inside, you would no longer be leafing soldiers, but blood-crazed weapons, what glory is there in battles like that?" Telmus whispered, but everyone here heard him.
"What do you mean by that Telmus? Are you going against the decree from the gods?!" Tiberius frowned, his tirade interrupted, and he felt a stiffness in his throat as the words he had been about to proclaim were interrupted by Telmus's whispers.
Telmus had spoken the words that he had been afraid of deep inside his heart, he knew from this day forth, he would no longer be leading soldiers, but a den of blood thirty vipers. It was a fragile balance that needed to be maintained because unlike everyone had imagined, Tiberius knew when all the weak of Trion had been slaughtered, without new prey, Trion would consume itself.
He understood that the only way to lead his civilization away from death was to spread them to the stars, in the hope that one day they would learn to master their urges.
The voice of Telmus interrupted his worried musing,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Have you all noticed the stars… they are different, they are no longer filled with light and heat, but darkness and death. I saw this happen in a small part of the sky before, and I tracked down that section of the heavens and discovered that it was a place called the Cerulean galaxy, it had a vibrant civilization, but now every single god there had unexpectedly vanished."
"The stars over this galaxy had been bloody and every god died, I wonder what would happen when now the entire universe is filled with stars like this," Telmus whispered again, his eyes fixed on the sky.
"Forgive us brother, but not all of us are chained to the stars like you." Boreas who had been quiet all these while smiled, "We only bother with the problems we have here on earth."
"I suppose it gave me a unique perspective about this entire matter. I feel an odd sense of connection with it. Something is coming, and the… totality of it, the sheer inevitability it brings causes my mind to shake." Telmus spoke slowly and he stood up, "This is the last time I will be together with you all. I wish I could say I would miss it, but you bastards are an eyesore."
He began to walk away but he suddenly stopped and shifted his head a little as if he was hearing something in the distance. The rest of the Earth gods looked around but they could not detect any change in the surrounding space.
Telmus cursed silently, cracked his neck, and rolled his shoulders. Anyone who knew him knew he was readying for battle. The Earth gods here knew it, and it scared them all.
The sparkling river before them suddenly lit up with a red glow and exploded as it transformed into lava and molten rock. The river had stretched for more than eight hundred miles, but in a single instant, it became boiling lava. The heat it gave off was so intense it caused forest fire for miles and painted the skies already red with blood with a shade of darkness that covered the light of the moon.
A regal voice emerged from the river of lava, as a lady clad in the robes of an Empress with a shiny crown delicately walked on top of the molten magma to the gathered Earth gods,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Surely you would not think of leaving this gathering Telmus without saying goodbye to me."
Every Earth god bowed before her, except Telmus who did not turn around.
The Empress, Scarlet Sinshirin Kuranes, created a throne out of the lava and did not seem displeased that Telmus had not responded to her question, instead, she seemed oddly pleased.
She turned to the Earth gods and gestured for them to be at ease, "I will leave the organization of your houses to you, but there are some discrepancies I have to address, and chief among them is related to you Telmus."
The Empress stopped talking, as all eyes turned to the solitary figure who was backlit by the red glow of the lava, he finally sighed and turned around, "Spectacular entrance Scarlet, you have killed the last of the Moon Finch that lives in these waters. That species has existed on this world for millions of years, far longer than even your family, but you killed them all just to grandstand,"
The Empress's smile brightened, "The matter on the ground is not about lousy fishes, it is about the greatest event in the common days, the Holy War."
"Is that what they are calling it now?" Telmus scoffed, "Holy?"
"Of course it is holy, it is the will of the gods, and by their powers vested to me, I question you Telmus, about your decision not to follow their decree. Why are your people without any new Earth gods?"
Telmus grinned, "It is because for this war, only I am enough. Tell the gods to cease this madness, and I shall end the war alone."
