> "You hear thunder when gods walk. But when they crawl? That's when the stars go silent."
— Fragment from the Forbidden Gospel of the Black Pulse
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Aetherion Shudders
There was a fracture — not in space, not in time, but in belief.
It echoed through Aetherion: the divine realm above all realms, stitched together by prayers, wrapped in the breath of newborn galaxies.
The Skies of Unending Light dimmed.
The Rivers of Thought turned murky.
And the Thronium — where the Twelve True Gods ruled — stood shaking, not from war, but from something worse:
Uncertainty.
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The First Gathering in Millennia
The Bell of Absolute Silence tolled.
Its chime was not heard — it was felt — in the marrow of creation. In every atom that ever whispered "amen."
One by one, the gods arrived. Each step tore through physics.
They came not as saviors. Not as shepherds.
But as terrified tyrants.
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Twelve Thrones of Horror
1. Dios Tyrant
Skin of iron. Crown of fire. Voice like a collapsing sun.
He created conquest before kingdoms existed.
Every syllable he speaks erases a memory from the mortal world.
2. The Sky-Father
A void of eyes, layered within layers.
Each eye blinks a different future.
Sees all… except what Nero has become.
3. The Hollow Mother
Her stomach is a void-womb, constantly birthing malformed celestial fetuses.
Her hands drip milk that turns to bone.
She feels Nero in her dreams.
4. Thornsoul
Wrapped in bleeding barbed wire.
Whispers pain into the souls of martyrs.
Worshiped by zealots, feared by the gods themselves.
5. Veritas
Entire body made of living scripture.
Lies disintegrate in his presence.
But he cannot read Nero.
6–12: The other gods — lesser by comparison — tremble. One of them, Zir of Bells, shatters on entry. Too weak to face the news.
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The Scroll of Flesh
At the center of the Thronium, floating above the Anointed Flame, hung a scroll made from angel skin.
It twitched.
It wept.
It screamed in a language only the gods understood — the ancient tongue of Descent, used only in times of apocalyptic breach.
The Sky-Father blinked thirteen simultaneous eyes and spoke in his hundred-voice choir:
> "Let it unroll."
The scroll opened like a throat.
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The Memory Unfolds
The gods watched.
They saw.
Nero, chest open like a blooming wound, standing among the corpses of Seraphim.
Blood-steam rising from his ribcage.
His shadow pulsing with hunger.
His weapon — not metal, not divine, but flesh, nerve, and spite — twitching as if alive.
Then…
He turned to face the scroll.
And smiled.
> "I'm coming."
Not shouted. Not threatened. Just promised.
That word — "coming" — echoed through Aetherion.
It crawled under the thrones. It made stars in the distance go silent.
It made even gods doubt themselves.
---
The Outcry
Lady of Nails rose, nails falling from her face like tears.
> "This is blasphemy incarnate."
She vomited a scripture of living worms.
Thornsoul whipped his own spine until divine ichor sprayed across his throne.
> "He has weaponized pain. He breathes sin. He feeds on our remnants."
Veritas collapsed to one knee.
> "He cannot be read."
> "He is not part of the Book."
> "He exists outside the Word."
A silence fell.
Until Hollow Mother rose, her womb splitting, spilling dead godlings onto the floor.
> "We didn't just fail to stop him."
> "We made him."
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Dios Tyrant Speaks
The room calmed as the God-King rose.
Dios Tyrant's scepter shimmered — made from the spine of the First Betrayer, its head a collapsed star.
He walked down the stairs from his throne — something he hadn't done in a million mortal years.
> "I remember him."
The others turned.
> "The Markless. The thing we left to rot beneath the cathedral."
> "He was supposed to die screaming."
He raised a hand.
In his palm appeared a timeline — the life of Nero, carved in flame.
It was short.
Unblessed. Tortured. Forgotten.
And yet…
The flame twisted. Broke from its script.
It spat in the air, and a second path emerged — one written in blood, teeth, and void.
> "He is not a soul," Dios said.
"He is a scar."
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The Debate
Some demanded erasure of the continent where Nero walked.
Others warned of the consequences:
> "If we destroy the land, we erase temples, worshippers, offerings. Our power depends on belief."
> "Then we burn only the sinners."
> "But he is rewriting what sin even means!"
The gods began to argue in circles, their voices shaping storms across the mortal realm. Wars broke out in three cities just from the echo of their discourse.
Until again…
Dios Tyrant raised his hand.
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The Divine War
> "We cannot afford delay."
> "He has discovered the Vaults."
> "He now understands organ-craft. Consumes divinity. Wields a soulblade of living flesh."
> "And he learns."
> "He evolves."
Dios crushed his scepter.
A scream split the sky.
> "Then let us descend."
The gods froze.
They hadn't walked the mortal world since the Unshaping of the Old Moon.
Even the Sky-Father whispered:
> "If we descend, we become killable."
Dios Tyrant looked them all in the eye.
> "He already made us mortal the moment he tasted angel marrow."
> "We either kill him, or he devours us."
---
[WORLD EVENT TRIGGERED: DIVINE DESCENT]
The Edict of Absolute Descent has been declared.
> All gods are now permitted to enter the mortal realm.
Interference Level: Maximum
Consequence: The Mortal Veil will collapse.
Collateral Damage: Irrelevant.
---
Back Below: Nero Laughs
Nero sat in the organ garden, blindfolded with the tendons of Seraphs, feeding on heart pulp and spinning bone dice made from divine knuckles.
He stopped mid-chew.
Looked up.
And smiled wide.
> "They're coming."
The Vault trembled.
A vein split.
A chorus of lungs whispered:
> "Gods walk."
Nero rose.
Unfurled his stitched chest again.
> "Then I'll dig them into the dirt and plant a new garden."
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