"What did he do next? As far as I know him, he would go on a rampage-"

Arnold was completely involved in the story, he hadn't even noticed that the System sama was had been narrating the tale for over six hours now. Thankfully they were inside the domain so only a couple of hours had passed on the outside.

Arnold was excited as he just wanted to know what Immortal one did when he apparently lost everything. It was all because the Immortal one also wanted Arnold to lose everything in the first place and so face, he was seeing quite a few connections between him and Shiva. It almost felt as if the immortal one wanted Arnold to become his carbon copy. 

[What did I tell you before starting? Do not interrupt me while I am recounting the tale!]

"Alright, alright I'm sorry..." 

[So where was I?]

"His wife died..."

[Right... don't ever tell him I told you this. Or he'll kill us both.]

***

After slamming his head on the rock for three days and night, a huge scar formed in the middle of his forehead that almost looked like a vertical third eye right between his brow. But since he couldn't kill himself, he started wandering around like a man without a soul. However, over time, his sadness and loneliness turned into rage. He was enraged that he couldn't protect his family. Enraged that he couldn't die to join them either. Enrage that the Shakas weren't punished by the Prime Creator as they believed. 

There were no bounds to his rage. At that moment he decided if the Prime Creator, their god, wouldn't punish them, he would become the god and punish the Shakas himself. That was the day when Shiva who had never lifted a finger against anyone with ill will, died and the lord of destruction awoke inside him. With whatever jewellery his dead tribesmen had, he forged a weapon for himself. A golden trident.

After seeing Shiva's rage and determination, the Prime Creator, the one to exist even before Shiva did, offered him strength as a way to achieve his goals. He gave Shiva a fraction of his powers to see what he would do with it. What happened after that was nothing in comparison to what the Shakas did to him.

The Shakas made a river turn red, but Shiva drenched the entire land with blood. It didn't matter whether men, women or children were standing in front of him. He hacked them all to death and turned them into his army. He became the first mortal to rule over death.

However, Shiva's rage didn't subside by killing the Shakas. He blamed everyone and everything for the demise of his beloved people. So he went ahead and destroyed everything with the help of his followers. The planets, the stars, even the universe. He destroyed it all, but even that wasn't enough to quench his anger. 

Shiva then started blaming the Prime Creator for not intervening when the Shakas attacked and killed Sati. So with a fraction of Prime Creators' powers, Shiva went ahead wanting to attack and destroy the one who gave him his powers in the first place.

However, Shiva wasn't strong enough to even put a scratch on the Prime Creator's celestial body. That was the only fight he ever lost. The Prime Creator defeated him and in his defeat, Shiva's rage finally subsided.

There was a moment of relief in his eyes but then flashbacks of what he had done to the universe entered his mind and he was pained with grief. Shiva couldn't stop shivering in the guilt of what he had done. He couldn't believe that in his blind rage he had destroyed everything that was in his sights. Including innocent bystanders.

Shiva hadn't cried even when Sati died but this time, he couldn't hold his tears back. After seeing him so heartbroken and stricken with grief, The Prime Creator, the one above all, gave Shiva a chance to repent rather than destroying him as he was going to. He gave Shiva a chance to become his heir. He wanted shiva to replace him till he could make the perfect universe like the one he had just destroyed. 

Shiva was confused. There were so many questions coming into his mind. How would he create a universe from scratch? Also, how would he know whether he had created the perfect universe or not? How could he create something so... extraordinary by himself? In his eyes, it was impossible.

That was the time when the Prime Creator smiled before lifting a defeated Shiva back to his feet. He told him, destruction and creation always go hand in hand. Only the one capable of destruction was also the only one capable of creation, and vice-versa. If Shiva had the power to destroy the universe, he also had the power to create a universe.

And as to the first part of Shiva's question, The Prime Creator replied, "I would once again show up in front of you with open arms to congratulate you when you'll create a universe worthy of my attention. But if you were unsuccessful in completing the task, I would not be seen anywhere. That's how you'll know whether your job was done or not. Till then, I'm cursing you with Immortality. You will have to live as long as you do not achieve your goal... till then, farewell..."

Those were the last words Shiva ever heard from the Prime creator who was the one above all. Ever since then, Shiva had been trying to make a perfect universe. He had created and destroyed innumerable universes and yet he could not make a perfect universe even once after trying for it again and again.

He didn't know what was going wrong. But the Prime Creator never appeared in front of him ever again and that's what brings us to the present.

***

"Wait a minute, then how did the other gods come into existence?" Arnold asked.

[Isn't it obvious? Aren't the gods similar entities?]

"What do you mean?"

[A new pantheon of gods is created whenever a new universe is created. Look at it this way, Zeus, Thor and Indra, all of them are the gods having power over thunder. Now why would there be multiple gods of the same entity?]

"So you're telling me-"

[Even they don't know, but they too were once mortals who achieved godhood due to their ability. And since they all existed in different universes, they are all different. Even though they have similar powers.]

"... that sounds reasonable."

[Also, since Shiva decided to destroy their universes, they lost all of their memories associated with their era. That's why they think they have been gods forever, when in reality, whenever the Immortal one destroys a universe the memory of all the gods is reset. And whenever he creates one, they regain their consciousness.]

"I don't know why, but it feels illegal for me to know this stuff." Arnold scratched his head, "I mean, is all this really... real?"

[It is real and that's why you should better keep your mouth shut about what I told you here.]

***

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