The Godkillers

My name is Lilac Klaria, but most people call me Li.Back when it all really began, I was 18.This, in many ways, is a love story.But it's also a story of betrayal, blood, death, destruction, friendship, finding yourself, power, recovery, revenge... And war.A seemingly never-ending war between 2 multiversal superpowers - 2 evils.A war that claimed a literally uncountable number of lives, not just on both sides, but even in uninvolved third parties.This story is that war's ending.An ending some may believe to be built on blood, and others consider to be the ending of that same bloodshed.An ending brought forth by one other man and I.We did what we considered to be the most peaceful option, and in war, there weren't exactly many of those.This path to get where we are now wasn't as straightforward as I would've liked.But through it all - through all the injuries, arguments, emotions, loss, everything - we held onto one saying.A phrase created by the human Godkiller unit, "Just keep going. To see the day that the blood of those so-called deities sparkles in the light of our sun brighter than gold in the darkest mine. Just keep going. To see the day that our well-deserved peace is given to us on a silver platter, granted to us through the indomitable will of the language of violence. Just keep going."And that is how we managed to bestow the privilege of true peace upon all of infinity.We just kept going.[10 Years Ago - 3041 - Divinity, Paradise]I had arrived. My feet stopped, as I nervously clenched my hands into fists, slightly digging my nails into the palms of my hands.The three moons each reflected dulled light onto the landscape. It was a rather bright night, belying the individual I was about to meet with's true power.Golden-leafed trees surrounded the path that I was walking on all sides, each one curled away from the behemoth of a residency sitting in the middle of them all, almost as if they were attempting to escape. The palace itself seemed to stick out like a sore thumb, coated nearly entirely in purple, almost as if in defiance to the surrounding landscape.I drew in a shaky breath, before letting it out again.Okay. This is it. Mother's residence. I should get moving quickly.I took a few steps forward and came face to face with the main entrance door. I pulled my hand up and lightly knocked a few times, then waited.1 second...10 seconds....30 seconds.....1 minute...Finally, I had decided to knock once more, but just as I raised my fist, the door burst open."Princess Lilac, I presume?" Questioned the man as he bowed slightly. He appeared to be in his late 50's, perhaps early 60's. Slight wrinkle marks coated his face, and a few grey strands protruded from the rest of his forest green hair. He wore thin-framed, circular glasses that slightly hid his bright lime irises and healthily black sclera, along with a white dress shirt, black bowtie and black dress trousers."Yes," I began. "I believe that my mother has requested for me?""You would be correct. I am the 5th Ruler's humble servant, Trilian Zaylus, and I have direct orders from Her Divinity to escort you to her this instant. So, please follow me, my Princess."I did as ordered, following Trilian through many winding corridors, some too narrow to properly be considered a hallway, others large enough to be their own ballrooms. How he had managed to memorize the entire layout of this labyrinth was completely beyond me.All of this was slightly strange. My mother had never directly called for me before. Ever. It had also been about a year or two since I had last properly spoken to her at all.What is happening? And why now?Eventually, Trilian had led me to a completely unpopulated area of the palace. No servants, maids, chefs, nothing. At first, I had thought this might be a murder scene or something, all of the candles completely burnt out of Divine Energy flames. A darkness seemed to permeate through this entire section of the castle, and it just put me off.Finally, we landed in an area that seemed more personal. Portraits of my ancestors lined the purple and gold wallpaper and intricately designed purple and gold rugs lined the floors."My Princess, here we are." Trilian pointed towards the only doorway left in the hall.I turned towards my guide. "I thank you. You have completed your assigned work well and dutifully. I'll make sure my mother knows.""You flatter me, Princess." Trilian then bowed once more, before walking off back down the way we had just come from.I breathed out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. Even if I was a Princess, I wasn't privileged enough to not realize when a clearly formidable warrior was near me. And every single palace caretaker I had passed by fit that description to a tee. I suppose it was to be expected of one of the 5 Ruler's personal residences, but that still didn't make the experience any less humbling.I've still got a long way to go, if I ever want to be recognized by mother.Finally, I regained my composure and stepped towards the deep wooden door - the last thing separating my mother and I. I hesitated one last time, before finally delivering three knocks.From behind the door, there were light yet audible footsteps approaching. The sounds stopped right in-front of me.The entrance flung open, causing me to flinch slightly. And there she was, my mother - the 5th Ruler of the Gods.Her sharp features wore their same usual scowl - the only expression I had ever seen her show. Her violet hair seemed to shine, perhaps from the light emitting from the inside of her room, parting at her forehead and extending down all the way to her hips. Her bright, glowing green irises always seemed to carry a sense of disappointment whenever she so much as glanced in the direction of any other God. A small, barely noticeable mole lay beneath her right eye, only further enhancing her sharp and formal presence. Light purple robes draped over her shoulders, something still quite fancy, but what I'd assume to be informal wear for one of the 5 Rulers. And finally, a thin, glinting white crown sat atop her head, 5 crystals lining it - the sign of her status.I had convinced myself that I was ready to speak to her, but no. Now, seeing her in person once again, I had been reminded why I began taking my training so seriously. So that one day, I can compare to even 1% of that commanding presence. A goal that seemed completely unattainable now that I was faced with her again."Lilac, I see you have arrived, my dear." Those words, while probably warm and comforting from any other, only made me grow colder. "Please, come in."I nodded and she stepped aside, allowing me enter.Her room had been exactly as I had expected - neat, clean, formal, and extremely purple.She stood by her room's exit to the balcony, pulled open the door and motioned for me to follow her outside. I, obviously, complied and followed her.The balcony appeared to be rather normal, although I suppose there aren't too many ways to formalize one, so I don't what I had expected. White handrails closed us in, allowing us to overlook the beautiful night. Golden tree-leaves sparkled as if comprised of gold, the three moons stared down upon us as if they were guarding our planet, and stars littered the purple-black sky, some popping in and out of visibility.My mother leaned on the rail and I stood close to the door, simply admiring the scene."There's an old saying," Mother began. "Apparently, whenever a star disappears like that, it signifies the death of a God.""A- Ah, I didn't know that." I replied, slightly intrigued by her laidback-ness."You wouldn't know, but back about 20 years ago, when we were still winning this war by a landslide, I would come out here every night and check the stars. Back then, they didn't wane nearly as much as they do nowadays."I looked away from my mother once more and checked the stars again. It was true, they did lose their visibility quite often, at least one disappearing with a new taking it's place every two seconds or so. But I had never considered my mother to be the conspiratorial type before."I know that you're probably thinking that I'm just being oddly conspiratorial, or... naïve,""I- No, I would nev-""It's alright, dear. Don't lie. You know you can't hide your true thoughts from me." She interrupted.I balled my hands together, fidgeting with my fingers. This entire situation was making me extremely uncomfortable. For what should just be a normal talk, it had put me completely on edge. "Listen dear," She continued. "Out there somewhere, our people are suffering due to this war. Our very own God citizens are going through pain due to a war with a bunch of lucky, mortal humans. Just because they can use Divine Energy, they think they have any right to rebel against us? It makes me sick. And after we were merciful on them the first time round, too."Mother had never contained her hatred for all humans. If she showed any expression other than disappointment, it was always anger. And that anger was always due to humans.That was actually probably one of the only relatable things about her. All Gods hated humans, me included. After all, they were the reason that this whole war had begun. They were the cause of all our suffering, and all because we gracefully allowed them into our empire. They were the reason behind all of this...Right?She turned away from the night sky and locked gazes with me, walking forward, extremely slowly."Now, very recently, they have gained some kind of prodigy among their ranks. I believe they call him something like the 'Artificial Deity'. A complete mockery against us. But, according to my sources, his power is no joke. In fact, our soldiers have taken to calling him the 'White Demon', due to his hair colour."Wait... What? A human with white hair? How? As far as I'm aware, white isn't a natural human hair colour..."However, we have formed a plan to counter him. And that plan relies on you, my dear."My eyes flew open, wide and horrified. Sure, I had wanted to help in the war effort eventually, but I really wanted to achieve a level of strength that could satiate my mother first. And also, having the entirety of my empire relying on me alone wasn't something I was prepared for. And on top of all of that, I stood no chance against that Artificial Deity guy. If he was strong enough for even my mother to acknowledge him, then I stood no chance."M- Mother, please, I- I don't know-""It's okay. Trust me, you'll be fine. You won't be fighting them one-on-one, of course not. The fact is that you're a fairly unknown face of the Gods, and so we'll be using that to our advantage.""H- How?" The question slipped out of my mouth subconsciously."You'll be going undercover, acting as a human joining their army."I suppose that makes sense, but still... I don't know if I can. No, I can't. I'm not ready. I'm nowhere near ready. The best case scenario is that I'm simply doing information gathering. But no, that's far too small of a job to send a Princess out for. So they definitely expect me to somehow weaken their forces from the inside, as well. How? Nothing is coming to mind. Especially with how powerful some of those humans are. I may hate them, but even I have to admit that some of them are frighteningly powerful. I don't understand. I can't. My training's not even nearly done!In my spiral, I hadn't even realized that my mother had become close to me, until she rested her hand on my shoulder and leaned in close to my ear."You know, if you do this properly for me Lilac, I'll be so proud of you."Mother would... be proud? Would that count as her acknowledging me? She would actually be proud of me? She would finally be proud of me?!"Well," I began. "I- I'm not exactly sure if I can, but... No, I promise I'll make you proud! I will!"She pulled her head away from mine, and held me by my cheeks, blankly staring into my eyes. Her hands were cold, her face expressionless, and her eyes completely void of any joy. No, instead they seemed to be seeping this sense of disgust, almost."That's my girl. Now, go back to your residence, I'll inform you of the next steps in the morning."I did as asked, turning around to enter her room again and find my way to the exit. However, just before I could walk through the balcony door, my mother imparted me with one last message."Lilac, when you arrive, make sure not to interact with that Artificial Deity character too much. He's our empire's greatest threat as of right now, and I have no idea the kind of radical image he could leave on you.""O- Of course, mother. But... I- if I may ask, how will we dispose of him?""Well, we have a few ideas, but if those all fail... Then, I suppose I'll just have to destroy him myself."