The first of the new gods did not descend alone as the light above the battlefield widened, splitting the bronze sky into layered rings pulsating energy. What had first looked like a single portal now unfolded into something much larger, a fracture spreading across the sky. Mike stood in the middle of the ruined plain, surrounded by corpses.
Shattered bronze shields melted into the earth. The horned war god lay twitching in a trench behind him, golden blood soaking the dirt.
The spear god was already dead.
Mike had torn him apart moments ago and left half his body hanging from the ruined axle of an overturned chariot.
And still more came.
Mike's grin widened.
"Now this," he said, flames curling from between his teeth, "is a proper fucking welcome."
Thunder rolled overhead.
The sky split.
Five figures emerged.
Each one descended with a different pressure.
A woman cloaked in fire, her hair moving like molten gold.
A towering figure in stone armor, body carved from black granite and iron.
A pale god wrapped in funeral linens that drifted without wind.
A lean, hawk-faced warrior carrying twin curved blades.
And behind them a colossal shape moved within the light. Not yet visible but watching.
Mike's eyes narrowed as he tried to identify who these gods were before letting out a slow sigh. "Doesn't matter. There are too many of them and asking them to talk is a headache." He muttered right before the fire goddess moved first.
She descended in a spiral of blazing light, landing atop the broken remains of a siege tower. The earth beneath her feet liquefied into molten lava.
"You desecrate the earth with divine blood," she said.
Mike snorted.
"So much for not talking."
Her eyes ignited.
Then the entire field exploded.
Pillars of fire erupted from beneath Mike's feet.
He launched upward just as the ground detonated, molten earth spraying in every direction.
The stone-armored god met him in the air.
A fist like a boulder slammed into Mike's ribs.
The impact sent him hurtling sideways through the smoke.
He smashed through three burning wagons and skidded across the field hard enough to carve a deep trench.
Pain flared.
Mike laughed.
"More."
He surged back up.
This time he hit the stone god head-on.
Their collision sounded like mountains breaking.
Mike's claws dug into granite flesh as the two crashed into one another in the air.
The god drove a knee into Mike's abdomen.
Mike answered by biting into its shoulder.
Stone cracked in his jaws.
Divine essence leaked like molten gold through the fractures.
The god roared.
Mike laughed harder.
The hawk-faced warrior struck from behind.
Twin crescent blades carved across Mike's back, sending sparks and blood across the battlefield. Mike spun midair.
The robe wearing god raised one pale hand.
The dead answered.
Bodies on the battlefield convulsed.
Mike froze.
The fallen soldiers began rising.
Limbs twisted.
Broken necks snapped back into place.
Burned corpses staggered upright.
Even the dead gods began moving.
Golden eyes reignited in severed heads.
Shattered limbs dragged themselves through blood and ash.
Mike stared for half a second.
Then his smile became feral as he inhaled deeply. Black fire erupted from his jaws in a sweeping wave.
The undead line vanished.
Bodies dissolved into cinders.
The pale god tilted his head.
"Death does not belong to you."
Mike's eyes burned gold.
"Everything belongs to whoever kills for it."
He dove as the pale god tried to retreat.
Too late.
Mike's claws punched through his chest.
Mike ripped upward. The god split open from sternum to throat. Silver-white essence exploded into the air.
Mike caught it in his jaws. Devouring it. The rush of power filled his body as the wounds on his body healed. His smile brimming as he watched the remaining gods react.
The fire goddess screamed in rage.
A spear of white flame slammed into Mike's side. The blast threw him across the battlefield. He hit the ground hard enough to crater it. The stone god landed on top of him.
Its fist crashed down repeatedly. Each blow drove Mike deeper into the earth.
Mike's laughter echoed from the crater.
The god hesitated.
Mike's tail whipped upward. The spike at its end punched through the stone god's jaw and out through the top of its skull.
Mike lifted the skewered corpse toward his face as he started devouring the remains.
He felt the rush of power as the wounds on his body healed once again. He looked magnificent and he was loving every second.
The fire goddess and hawk warrior attacked together.
One from above.
One from the front.
Mike met them in motion.
He grabbed the hawk god by the throat and used him as a shield.
The fire spear punched clean through the warrior's chest.
The hawk god looked down in stunned disbelief.
Mike grinned into his face before he ripped his head off. The fire goddess roared.
Flames spread across the field in a massive ring.
The temperature surged.
Even the old blood on the battlefield began boiling.
Mike walked through it.
Untouched.
Black fire bled across his scales in answer.
"You really thought fire was gonna do it?"
Her eyes widened.
Mike vanished.
He reappeared in front of her.
His fist hit first.
Her jaw shattered sideways.
Then he grabbed her by the face and drove her head-first into the earth.
The field exploded.
A shockwave flattened the remaining soldiers for hundreds of yards.
The goddess clawed at his wrist, flames pouring from her body.
Mike pressed harder.
Stone cracked beneath her skull.
"Tell the rest," he snarled, "I'm getting bored."
He slammed her again.
And again.
And again.
Until divine light began leaking from her eyes.
Then he bit into her throat.
Golden fire surged into him. Mike threw back his head and roared. The sky rumbled as the colossal shape within the portal finally descended. Silence fell across the battlefield.
Even Mike stopped moving.
It was enormous.
A god taller than city building.
Six arms.
Each one carrying a different weapon.
Sword.
Hammer.
Spear.
Chain.
Bow.
A jagged crown of iron and stars floated above its head.
Its face was hidden behind a featureless bronze mask.
When it spoke, the entire plain trembled.
"Kur."
Mike rolled his shoulders.
"Mike."
The god ignored it.
"You have slaughtered too many."
Mike looked around at the battlefield before he laughed. "Not enough."
The six-armed god lifted one hand.
The sky darkened as stars appeared in broad daylight.
Mike's grin faded slightly.
Now this one felt different more dangerous. The god's bow arm moved. An arrow of pure light formed. Mike dove sideways just as it released. The shot crossed the battlefield in an instant. A mountain in the far distance vanished.
Mike blinked. Then smiled.
The second arrow came even faster. Mike caught it. Pain exploded through both claws.
The light burned through scales and flesh.
Mike roared and hurled it back.
The god swatted it aside with the hammer arm. Then all six arms attacked.
Mike launched upward.
Chain wrapped one of his wings. The spear punched into his thigh. Mike laughed through the pain. He twisted violently and bit down on the chain.
Metal snapped as he drove forward like a missile. His claws slammed into the bronze mask. Cracks spread and the god staggered.
Mike saw nothing but darkness behind the mask. Like a void of nothingness.
Mike's grin widened.
"Oh, you're hiding too?"
The god's sword arm severed three of Mike's scales across his chest.
Mike answered by tearing one of its lower arms clean off.
Golden-black essence sprayed across the field.
The god finally roared.
The sound echoed for miles before Mike head-butted the god. The bronze mask cracked fully.
Behind it was a creepy swirling abyss of nothingness. Mike froze for half a heartbeat.
Something about it felt wrong.
Then the old man's voice drifted across the battlefield.
"You still do not understand."
Mike's head snapped sideways.
On the ridge beyond the plain, the old man stood motionless.
Staff planted in the dirt.
One-eyed raven perched beside him.
Mike's eyes narrowed.
"You're the old fucker who appeared before!"
The old man didn't answer.
Instead, his gaze shifted upward.
To the sky.
Mike followed it.
The heavens were opening again.
More portals and more gods.
Dozens.
The old man's face darkened.
"History repeats itself."
Mike laughed.
"I am so tired of all of you saying the same shit." Then he launched back into the six-armed god.
The battle reignited, but above them the sky was beginning to break.