Alice's and Elizabeth's muscle grew tense, ready to burst out with unimaginable power at any moment.

The air around Alice and Elizabeth warped as they prepared for the battle that could take place.

However, to both Zeel and Seth, their actions just appeared to be cute like bunnies with broken legs trying to crawl across a garden.

The image was a bit sadistic but Zeel couldn't find a better comparison for Alice's and Elizabeth's pitiful actions.

"I am not sure how to say this," Zeel said, brushing his hair behind his head with his hands awkwardly "You girls are embarrassing me with your lack of restraint,"

"Embarrassing how?" Alice replied annoyed "We are ready to fight with you and for you,"

"The wight does not understand that negotiation comes before battle," Seth said, uncovering his entire body from the cloth that previously shrouded his figure.

Everyone but Zeel gasped at the sight of Seth's entire body, even Ahmanet and Himiko gasped since it was their first time seeing The God of Death completely.

Seth's body was humanoid but that was the only thing human about him. Animalistic features were most prevalent.

Seth was a strange mix of an Aardvark, a mule, a dog, a fox, and a man under all the features.

"Fascinating," Henry whispered causing both Zeel and Seth to look at him with bemusement on their faces.

"A mortal may not speak in the presence of Gods!" Seth stated as if law and Henry's mouth was sealed by dark energy.

Alice and Elizabeth were instantly frightened by the power Seth demonstrated since there were no Divinity fluctuations, just Seth's statement and the materialization of what he wanted.

"He is right, however," Zeel added seeing that Nick was about to speak.

The last thing Zeel wanted was for Seth's attention to be drawn to Nick, at least not yet. Henry was also useful with his Book of Fates so Zeel didn't want Seth to kill Henry.

If anything, the only person Zeel was comfortable with dying right now would be Jenny since it would properly motivate Nick to thirst for vengeance.

"You're an Elder God Mare Hybrid of some kind that integrates what he kills," Zeel stated what he observed from Seth's body.

*clap*

*clap*

*clap*

"I was forsworn by my Pantheon but grew wizened so they tried to make me a Beowulf and grant me trumpery," Seth stated but noticed that Alice and Elizabeth were slightly confused.

"It is best if we discuss matters in the Universal Language of Babel," Zeel stated and began to point at different sections of Seth's body.

"The Aardvark is a holy beast of the Tubulidentata Tribe and uses its long mouth to swallow souls.

The mule that makes up your legs is born from the union of a mule and a unicorn. It is known as the True Mulicorn that can endure even the toughest of journeys, one step at a time.

The dog that makes up your ears is Laelaps – it is a dog of the Gods that was cursed to catch whatever it chased and hunted.

The fox that makes up your tail is The Teumessian Fox which is a natural enemy of all Gods since the fox was cursed to forever have freedom.

Finally, the man that makes up the rest of your body is Nimrod – the Homo-Superior born from the first line of The Eredyn House…

He was a seeker of wisdom and was praised for being as brilliant as he was stupid for leaving Universe Zero without any protections whatsoever,"

"Yes, he created the Universal Language of Babel," Seth agreed, this time he spoke in the language of Babel instead of the Old English he was used to.

"Nimrod?" Alice interrupted since she noticed that Zeel was irritated at the realization that Seth had consumed a Homo-Superior to create his body.

"Nimrod…" Elizabeth whispered as the name sounded familiar and then she realized "Human History tells of a man named Nimrod that built the Tower of Babel at a time when all humans spoke the same language…

Nimrod was so close to reaching God that even God grew fearful and struck his tower down and scattered the languages that bind men… making sure they were never united again…,"

"That is mostly true except the Homo-Superior Nimrod worshiped wisdom and built a tower from that wisdom. He reached God and was struck down but he still survived…

He left Universe Zero at a time when Homo-Superior were still consolidating our strength and he never returned.

We learned a lesson from his departure and rarely ever ventured outside our Universe again.

After all, it only takes a Homo-Superior once to learn our lesson," Zeel stated, eyeing Seth with a small smile that looked more dangerous than friendly.

"It was through Nimrod that I discovered about Homo-Superiors and the wonders of the Multiverse but I was forever bound to my own Universe," Seth explained sadly.

"The curse of knowledge I suppose," Zeel said while smiling genuinely.

"But you found a way to leave regardless," Zeel stated, genuinely curious about how Seth had beaten the odds to achieve such a result.

"Yes… Nimrod came to study the Mares since my Universe was the next to be consumed by the vile creatures but I killed him and absorbed the knowledge instead," Seth explained causing Zeel to flinch as if stopping himself from immediately attacking.

When Seth paused his explanation, Zeel gestured for Seth to continue the story since knowledge of past events was exactly what he needed.

∞∞

"Why are they talking so much?" Jenny asked Nick who just shook his head in confusion.

It was Ahmanet who answered Jenny's inquiry.

"Seth is The Egyptian God of Death but he was injured in a battle and has yet to recover. Currently, his divine core is fracturing so fighting Zeel would be a slim victory at a great cost.

He could possibly even die after the battle is finished and he has won. Zeel, on the other hand, is still looking for certain information from Seth…

You can say they are negotiating to see if the battle can be avoided… but we know it cannot as the Time Shadow depicts," Ahmanet replied absentmindedly.

"Then why the unnecessary negotiations if Zeel knows it will fail?" Nick asked, his body adjusting to the Death Energies around.

Jenny, Henry, Ahmanet, and Himiko looked at Nick as if he had asked the most stupid question they had ever heard.

Nick was confused until Jenny made the error of his question obvious.

"Time Shadow shows we will die… Are you perhaps in a hurry to die?" Jenny asked, rolling her eyes at Nick's thick skull.

∞∞

Seth began to tell the story of how everything came to be.

"Upon consuming Nimrod, I was blessed with the knowledge of many things including Mare magic. I knew the Mares would consume my Universe and such a fate was unavoidable.

However, I also grew to know about the Beings that set the Mares loose upon the Multiverse and how it was possible to get rid of the Mare scourge permanently,"

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, finding it weird, the words Seth used to explain the Mares.

"The Homo-Superiors battled the entity known as The Mare King long ago. The Homo-Superiors won but couldn't destroy a natural form like The Mare King.

The Mare King was an entity that was tasked to consume the darkness inside the hearts of the unworthy, and who could be more unworthy than the Homo-Superior race?

When the Mare King lost but couldn't be destroyed, the Homo-Superiors did the next best thing and split the Mare King apart into infinite pieces and bonded its soul into the Dark Dimensions of the Multiverse.

The pieces of the Mare King became known as Mares and started consuming shadows one person at a time.

It was weak at first and unnoticeable so nobody particularly minded critters nibbling on their shadows, but that was not the end.

See, when the Homo-Superiors banished the Mares into the Dark Dimensions, the Homo-Superiors also wanted maximum benefits from the Mares as well.

So they altered the Mares fundamentally, allowing the Mares to consume the entire Universes of their enemies and send the energy back in the form of Quintessence," Seth stated smilingly.

"Homo-Superior Aether?" Alice questioned, earning a nod from Seth and a shrug of admittance from Zeel.

"Since all the energy they consume goes back to the Homo-Superior's Aether, the Mares are always hungry and consume one Universe after another.

Of course, that is only if the Universes are weak and stagnant enough to be consumed without much retaliation," Seth explained as if teaching children.

"With the knowledge that my Universe could be saved, I used the Forbidden Mare Magic in my arsenal to curse myself into a mortal body that could leave this Universe into another.

I wanted to recover the Homo-Superior Aether and give the Mares back their energy so they could leave all Universes alone.

To complete such a difficult task, I required a God that could get into impossible places and leave without a single trace,"

"Hermes," Elizabeth said, the dots lining up inside her mind.

"Yes, Hermes… we worked together and he was sent into the Homo-Superior Universe to recover the Aether.

I don't know exactly how he recovered it but he succeeded, I suspect he made a deal with some disgruntled second party in that Universe but it didn't matter.

The Homo-Superior Aether was everything we dreamed it could be. I was sure that even one percent of its power would be enough to satiate the Mares' hunger.

However, power like that tends to go to our heads, Hermes kicked me out of his Dimension and started to grow his power using the Aether.

Power like the Aether is tempting to even the kindest souls, let alone a thief without honor like Hermes.

For decades I tried and failed to re-enter his Dimension and recover the Aether, but one day I succeeded.

When I entered his Dimension, Hermes was defenseless and I quickly dispatched him without any problems, but I should have known better.

When Hermes was killed, I was severely injured with an attack that nearly shattered my Divine Core… I was forced to flee Herme's Dimension without taking the Homo-Superior Aether.

However, I did manage to leave a curse on the Aether to stop anyone else from claiming it.

Now here I reside in my Dimension, awaiting the end of my Universe with nothing to show for all my efforts," Seth stated bringing a swift conclusion to a ten thousand-year-long story.