Meanwhile, in the Celestial Plane where Gods and Devils resided, a father and son were struggling to open the Gates of Olympus.
A gateway to the once-lost shrine of the Lightning God Zeus, an Elemental Creator from the Era of Darkness who rose to prominence after managing to survive a Heavenly Calamity that led to him gaining mastery over Lightning and Thunder.
"Father if our ancestor truly is Zeus, why does the Ming family have control of the shrine," Apollo asked through strained teeth as he tried his utmost to help his father open the Gates of Olympus.
Yet, it just would not budge like usual for the last…
"It's complicated… but do you know what you could do, Apollo?"
"What?"
"Shut up and help me open this goddamn gate!" His father shouted as he mustered all the force in his body to at least move the gate by an inch.
However, things did not go as planned and just like yesterday they failed miserably yet again for the 20th time this month. Meaning they only had 10 days left before both he and his son hit the hay forever.
"Tsk… but Father you're a Divine Lord and they treat you as if you're some slave! Don't you feel ashamed to know your life, is in the hands of another?!" Apollo shouted as he punched the gate, almost fracturing his hand in the process.
Luckily, his father stopped him in time before something worse could have happened.
Swoosh.
"Apollo Jackson Jr., are you crazy? Don't you see this entire gate is forged from void gold, one of the toughest metals in the Cosmos!?" His father roared as he quickly grabbed his son's hand.
"And so, what if it is, Father!" Apollo shouted after his father let go of him as he rubbed his wrist.
"Sigh… Apollo right now isn't the time for your bullshit, so when I tell you to shut up! You Apollo Jackson Jr. are supposed to?"
"Shut and follow orders, sir!" Apollo replied as he clenched his fist while shaking his head in disbelief at the life they now had to live. Due to a rumor that they were the last known descendants of Zeus.
"Thank you and if you don't what will happen my son?" His father asked with a smile even though his eyes conveyed something entirely different, 'I know it isn't easy, Apollo but I can't afford to lose you too, to the greed of my fellow humans.'
"I'll one day end up dead like my arrogant brothers before I reach the tender age of 21!" Apollo said before shaking his head and walking away to a nearby tree to rest and recover, 'While you may see this as the only way out Father… my story will not end as some godforsaken slave of the Ming family."
Apollo thought as he looked at his father and shook his head in disgust before glancing at the sky and muttering something to himself, "The day I comprehend Heaven's Mandate will be the day Ming Morton dies… as a man who relies on others to do his dirty work is not a man, but a dog that should have died the day he was conceived in his mother's womb."
Rustling. Rustling. Rustling.
"Hmm, now this is strange could it be y'all weren't successful yet again?" The firstborn of Ming Morton, Tyler asked curiously with mockery as he glanced at David before focusing on Apollo who was enjoying his momentary rest.
"And so, what if we weren't successful, Tyler? It is not like your family could do any better, considering they had to seek the help of mortals to solve any issue that has been plaguing them for the last five thousand years." Apollo stated as he glared at Tyler, yet before it could escalate David stepped in to try and mediate things.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure of the Young Master coming to see us?" David asked as he bowed while instructing his son to do the same.
"Tsk," Apollo could only say as he bowed as well.
"Aww, no matter how you may try to fight it, Apollo in the end you are but a dog whose life is in my hands," Tyler chuckled before continuing, "So Apollo please don't try and bite the hand of man who tries to feed as in the end it'll only lead you to death. Yet that is besides that point, as I honestly came here to give you an opportunity Apollo, one that might just change your entire situation if you dare take it."
"What is it that you want, Tyler as I have work, I must return to in a couple of minutes?" Apollo asked with annoyance as he rolled his eyes.
"Fine… well, would you like to take part in an upcoming campaign for Day Bright with an old friend of yours named Bianca Carter… or are you too afraid to participate, since she will be there?" Tyler whispered into Apollo's ear before turning around and leaving with a mischievous glint in his eye causing the latter to almost spit blood in anger as he tried not to strangle Tyler right here and now.
Fortunately, his father managed to calm him down at the last moment, allowing him to regain his composure. Following Tyler's mention of Bianca which caused his normally ash-gray eyes to darken as faint streaks of red lightning appeared in his eyes.
"I wouldn't miss it even if I had the chance..." Apollo replied through gritted teeth as he wore a light smile, which hid the devious plans formulating in his mind as he thought of numerous ways to kill the Ming family's younger generation and Bianca Carter.
During the upcoming campaign, before he turned around and witnessed a scene that would forever haunt him until the day, he died...
Creak. Creak. Creak.
With every sound produced it seemed as if someone was slowly opening the passage to Hell as the blackened blue gates behind them rattled ever so slowly causing both father and son to scramble away in fear.
Just as Tyler stopped and turned around to witness the Gates of Olympus that would not budge for 5,000 years gradually unfolded before his eyes as from behind those blackened blue gates.
The faint roar of thunder could be heard like a child that is finally been set free from captivity. Yet no matter how it tried it could not escape as runic symbols flickered across the surface of the gate, temporarily halting its escape.
However, it was useless to try and keep something that should not reside in the hands of mortals as the sky above the Ming kingdom suddenly turned goldish red. Before a bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere and struck the gate, instantaneously, causing it to burst open with a boom as a blackish bolt of lightning escaped from its imprisonment and vanished into the sky.
Returning to its rightful master as it pierced the firmament and left behind a trail of blackened orbs in its wake which held the secrets of Creation, Destruction, Life, Death, Yin, Yang and so much more as they hovered above the ground. Before zapping into the sky like comets creating the illusionary image of a Nine-Tailed Kitsune, surrounded by goldish blue particles undergoing the 2nd Phase of Transcendence.
With every swipe of its tail Heaven & Earth flipped as it steadily increased its cultivation and merged its soul and body into one. Seamlessly transferring the laws of Yin & Yang inscribed on its body onto its soul with minimal effort.
Forcing the Heavens to deem its existence a threat to the natural order as it fabricated nine bolts of reddish-blackened lightning, due to Kitsune's being one of the races who fought against it during the Millenium War of the Divine.
This led to a small thundercloud appearing above the Kitsune, unbeknownst to it once again but this time with the intent to destroy and erase all evidence that it ever existed. That contained nine viscous hyenas who were just waiting for the signal to pounce…
However, just as they were about to strike down and vaporize the Nine-Tailed Kitsune to nothingness; a voice that seemed to hail from the Ancient Era spoke dispelling Heaven's Wrath.
Saving an entire universe from destruction along with the being that threatened Heaven's existence as a hand that was older than time itself yet blacker than the bottom of a pot.
Stretched out from behind the Gates of Olympus, penetrating the broken barrier it once boasted could contain the might of Heaven's Glory. The most vicious instrument of hatred and destruction ever created by the Heavens to limit the number of Empyreans that could exist in the Cosmos or as those self-righteous Creators call us Destroyers.
Not knowing that by embarking on this forsaken path, we had the potential to become a Supreme or even greater. Yet, now it was just a withered old array that could only function as a failsafe for a shrine that barely even contained an ounce of Divinity.