“Your move, Steampunk.” A lizard dressed like a gunslinger said as his counterpart, a steampunk white knight, surveyed the checkerboard.

“Why do you wish to play this game? You are already infatuated with that annoying mortal, must you bring over their games as well?” Steampunk countered.

“I’m telling you, you keep underestimating that mortal.” Gunslinger said. “He’s got hidden depths to him, and some of those depths even I’m wary of.”

“King me.” Steampunk said as he double jumped a piece, ending in the back row. “And he’s just a mortal. You really think he has depths?”

Before his opponent could say anything, their divine palace trembled with the force of someone’s rage as they heard a familiar voice.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sean’s POV

After System removed the time freeze and sent me back, I took a moment to calm my soul. I could feel Lokir and Duskene staring at me as Elendria pulled me into a hug. I patted her arm, and said, “It’s ok. I’ll talk about it in a bit, but first I have some things to do.”

I stood up, glared at the two gods, then started. System had done some tinkering, and my spirit and mana pools were now fused into my divine pool, and I used it to infuse my voice with power. “Listen up, all you bastard gods and goddesses that dare look down on humans. I’m going to let you in on a secret that humanity has kept, about just why you should never fuck with us.” I snarled, and I could feel several incredibly powerful beings immediately looking in on me.

“See, you may think you know the depths of the human soul. You’ve seen us at our greatest, and you think you have seen us at our worst. You’ve seen us do unimaginable things to each other, and you think that’s the end. You’re wrong. See, deep down inside every human, in places we don’t talk about, lies a seed. A bit of pure evil. We know it’s there, waiting. And it scares us. Because there are some people that have been pushed to scratching the surface of this seed, and the atrocities they have committed united humanity against them.”

“And we all realize, that is just the beginning. There are hidden depths there, and we pray that nobody ever pushes one of us to the point where they unleash that seed. For not even we know what that person would be capable of, should they throw off all the shackles that we willingly place upon ourselves. Well, Apophis crossed that line. He sent his minions after my family, and they ate my daughter’s soul!” I felt several beings recoil in horror as I said that, and I had to take a moment to collect myself.

“So now, I am letting you all get a view of the warning of what happens when humanity is unleashed. Apophis, I am going to destroy you. But not just that, for that would be far too easy. Oh no, you are going to suffer as I will. I am going to hunt down your priests and followers, and the rivers will run red with their blood. I will raze their cities and obliterate your churches. My vengeance will be so swift, so brutal, and so thorough that the people of your world will never speak your name again for fear of bringing down my wrath. Your name will be erased from history, and you will be forgotten.”

“But that’s not all. Oh no. Once I’m done with your worshipers, then I’m moving on to you. I will strip you of your divinity, and reduce you to a fraction of your power. I’m going to trap you in my own personal pocket dimension, using your own power to seal you in. You will spend eternity in an empty void, with just enough sustenance from me that you won’t expire. And after you have spent countless eons there, as I finally near my death bed? I will take you from that isolation and send you to whatever hell there is for forgotten gods. There you can stand as an example for all time, as to why you don’t mess with humans.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“YYYYES!” Gunslinger leapt up from his seat and shouted. Pointing to his friend, he said, “That, is why I keep an eye on him. That is how you do it! I knew he had a bit of darkness, but damn!”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Divine oath sworn!

All divines need a domain, an area that is the center of their being. You have sworn yourself to the path of Dark Vengeance. You realize that some acts are so cruel that normal justice just isn’t enough. You are the one who will go above and beyond to make a point, not just to bring justice but in order to prevent it from ever happening again.

Victory conditions:

Destroy Apophis or Contain him in a pocket dimension

Rewards:

Ascend to divinity, others based on thoroughness

Defeat conditions:

You are killed

Punishment:

Enslavement to Apophis for 1,000 years