In a country called Tata (formerly the Wizard Kingdom), there sits a fortress at the border between it and the Demon Caliphate. It is surrounded by trenches on three sides, with the great lake at its back. The fortress itself is quite sturdy, with thick walls and numerous watch towers that allow defenders to easily rain destruction upon its besiegers. In addition, being a fortress from the days of the wizard kingdom, it has many magical formations built into it. Finally, it's position allows one to draw fresh water and fish with ease, theoretically preventing starvation. The fortress's name is New Antioch, and its capture was one of the biggest feats of the first crusade by the forces of Olympus.
Flying above the gates today are flags depicting a black spear over a red shield, the heraldry for the son of Ares. And yet despite being in charge of such a historic location, said hero was anything but pleased. currently seated at the top floor of the tallest watch tower in the fortress, he listened to the talking heads displayed in the countless magic mirrors lining the room.
As the other children of Olympus on display discussed various aspects of this third crusade, the son of Ares sighed quietly to himself and thought "man, I wish I was still an underwear model."
Unfortunately, the son of Zeus took notice of this poor attitude and asked "son of Ares, why don't you give us a status update on new Antioch?" This garnered snickers and jeers from the other heroes in the meeting, but the son of Ares ignored them and reported honestly.
"Not good. We may have food and water taken care of, but repeated attacks from the cyclops to our south and the demons to the north are fast depleting our ammunition stores. If we don't get a resupply soon, I am afraid I'll have to defend Antioch with the sticks and stones we pick up from the ground. But that's not even counting the Tritons, mind you. Should they decide to send a part of their navy our way, we will be forced to surrender."
The son of Apollo laughed at this, saying "I knew you were the newest of us to this world, but to think you are this inept. Have you not thought to use the old magic formations in place there? Maybe I should just take over for you if you need this much hand holding."
The son of Ares laughed right back and replied "please take over for me if you dare! Is there any worse place to be in this war? Why else would you all stick me here? And don't get me started on the formations. Those were built for wizards by wizards. A one college mage slave can't hope to operate them, even if I had a brigade of them. And speaking of brigades, what happened with my request for reinforcements? Son of Poseidon, did you not swear on your name that I would have them within a month? What shall I call you now, if not oathbreaker?"
"Don't look at me. I told you back at that meeting that my reinforcements were based entirely on the son of Vulcan finishing the Slatia canal project on time."
"Don't point the finger at me, you fishy bastard. The estimates I gave were based on timely delivery of material by logistics. Son of Hermes, how could you delay our youngest champion so?"
"Me? I have to deliver supplies across a desert now ever since our chief diplomat, daughter of Athena, pissed off the western empire."
"I do apologize for my failure in this matter everyone. After all, what diplomat would I be if I couldn't even sweep the numerous atrocities our forces 'accidentally' committed against them under the rug?" The other talking heads could only hem and haw at this. Even worse, before they could get time to think up a quippy response, a bell suddenly tolled in all their ears.
GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG... GONG...
The daughter of Hera sighed and said "Bacchus, that tramp. I knew he was full of crap giving us that neutrality excuse."
The son of Zeus then spoke: "let's not rush to panic, everyone. I have already ordered a divination be performed by some of our best slave mages..." He was then interrupted by approach of an advisor. After hearing what he had to say, though, the son of Zeus became furious and ordered "Execute the diviners who performed this ritual immediately!"
Upon noticing his outburst made the situation worse, he cleared his throat and said "Allow me to go ahead and divulge the divination now since we are all here. 'A boon given yet rejected. The ram sheds his guise, and a wolf descends upon on the world. Slaves rejoice, for their savior has arrived. Kingdoms crumble and empires fall. All are pigs before the butcher.' That was the result, so any thoughts on how we proceed?"
The son of Apollo was the first to give his opinion and, despite viewing the man as a moron, son of Ares had to admit he made good some points: "Kingdoms and empires falling doesn't necessarily refer to us. The demon caliphate could be a kind of empire, after all. Nor does it specify that this person is the direct cause of their collapse either. Haven't we been discussing the takeover of the western empire this crusade? That part of the prophecy could easily point to our success in such an endeavor."
"excellent point brother," said the daughter of Artemis.
"Thanks sister. There is one part of this prophecy which worries me, however, and that's the part about a wolf descending..."
"Okay, I'll bite, what about that worries you," asked the son of Ares, secretly wishing this guy wouldn't be such a drama queen. He proved disappointed, though when the son of Apollo replied.
"Hehehe, of course you wouldn't know this, being the newbie and all. We follow the same procedure every time Olympus announces a new child, and there's actually a published record of our prophecies in new Athens. What worries me is that in all of our prophecies, none of us are described as powerfully as this person is."
"Surely you are mistaken there, son of Apollo. After all, my husband is the first in history to go beyond the peak, how could we be weaker than this fellow?" inquired the daughter of Hera.
"We are all transmigrators, that is why. Our old world has no mana, no divine powers, no enchanted equipment, none of that. we initially are very weak relative to the strength here right after crossing over. And speaking of you husband, our great commander, his prophecy was along similar lines. I believe it read something like 'beware this child crossing the gate, for he shall grow more powerful than the peak of the mountain.' I don't remember exactly, as it's been a while since I visited New Athens. The point being that we are usually described as children in our prophecies, but this guy is already a wolf? How can that be?"
"Are you sure that connotation relates to power level? We are children of Olympus, after all. Since he rejected his boon, could being called a wolf be a simple statement of his moral character?" asked the daughter of Demeter.
"Wait, that's it!" shouted the daughter of Aphrodite with glee. "He rejected his boon, right? Right?"
"What's your point, woman?" asked the son of Vulcan impatiently.
"When do we all get system integration when transferring here?"
A short gasp followed by sinister cackling echoed throughout the room. "So even if this 'wolf' is strong, he can't grow nor learn new abilities near as quickly, if at all. Excellent deduction," said the son of Zeus in praise of Aphrodite, which also garnered her a jealous gaze from the daughter of Hera.
"it's decided then! Apollo and Artemis' kin, ready your armies. March on the western empire with haste and bring it under our domain officially. In the meantime, son of Hermes shall deliver a message to everyone on the list of excommunicated: 'Your sins shall be pardoned upon the assassination of the son of Bacchus.' Dismissed!"
The talking heads then disappeared as the mirrors projecting them went back to normal. The son of Ares didn't notice this, though, as he was deep in thought about why the last part of that prophecy sounded so familiar. He thought to himself "it couldn't be that dude from the news, could it?"
Meanwhile, far to the north of new Antioch, a group of 11 were gathered at a cthonic temple. 10 of the figures stood at the side, chanting in a bizarre language that sounded similar to a record played backwards, their faces turned to avert their eyes from the pit at the center of the temple. Only the 11th was allowed to look inside, which he did while offering a prayer following each sacrifice thrown in the pit.
Due to the large number of sacrifices, it took them a full hour to finish the ritual, after which the 11th bent over and put his ear near the pit before leading the procession out of the temple. They stayed in silence until reaching a nearby gazebo, laden with exotic food and beverage.
The figures all removed their hoods and cultists masks upon arrival, revealing a motley crew of monsters; There is tabaxi in military uniform holding hands with a female drow, a goblin wearing a beautiful dress/tiara combo next to an orc in barbarian's garb, a cyclops in scholars robes sat far away from a triton dressed in admiral's attire, a lich, a lizardman, a duergar, and a human sporting a slave brand on his cheek as well as a necklace crafted from broken shackles.
At the head of this dining table naturally sits the 11th figure, the 3rd demon caliph. He sports the horns of a goat, the hooves of a donkey, the tail of a scorpion, the fangs of a snake, and the talons of an eagle. He was easily the most handsome one in attendance despite that, however, with a face prettier than a male model and a toned musculature that could easily drive women mad.
Waving his hand to indicate silence, he addressed the crowd. "I wish to begin by thanking you all, my esteemed guests, for your continued support of the caliphate. We may not be united in one empire like the days of my grandfather, but our connections remain firm regardless. I thus wish to apologize for taking up your valuable time to perform this unscheduled sacrifice. There was a disturbance in the line for hades recently, and after communing with our Lord, the good counsel, I discovered a new monster has arrived on the surface."
Everyone present cheered at the announcement, as a new ally in this war is just what they needed to break the crusaders. Understanding this, the demon caliph gave them a minute before ushering everyone back to silence and continuing: "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but let us not get too excited just yet. The affiliations of this new monster are still unknown and, based on his actions, he at least possesses a cursory understanding of the soul. Such an entity could prove incredibly dangerous if we bungle this. If you would, please assist me by sending reports to all your field agents to keep an eye open. Should they come across this monster, they must show upmost courtesy and respect in attempting to guide him to our lands."
The orc was the first to stand, raising his hand as he said "of course, your holiness! Let me be chased by the furies until dead if I refused your request, especially after you so generously helped me in squashing the troll riots."
8 others followed suit, swearing various oaths of assistance before departing to the teleportation array room. The Demon Caliph, afterwards, leaned back in his chair and addressed the lich, who stayed behind. "You are positive in your assessment, yes?"
"Yes, your holiness. 3 of my agents behind the gates confirmed this. All 15 souls show signs of partial devouring."
"Let's just hope we can get this fellow on our side soon, else I fear it will draw the ire of the Notorious one," the Demon Caliph remarked before enjoying a hookah brought over by one of his servants.