The war was over.
But the gods did not celebrate.
The battlefield—if it could still be called that—was unrecognizable. The rivers of the dead had reshaped into something deeper, something infinite. The sky above, once a cold void, now pulsed with a presence that had never existed before.
The Underworld was no longer just a resting place for souls.
It had become a kingdom.
And at its center sat its ruler.
Hades.
The Throne of the End
Hades stood upon the highest peak of his realm.
His throne—no longer the mere obsidian seat it had once been—shifted, pulsed, and existed beyond time. It was not just a symbol of rule. It was a presence, an extension of his will.
The gods of the Underworld knelt before him.
Not because they were commanded.
Because they knew.
Hades was not just their king.
He was the inevitable.
The Ascended Kings
Zeus and Poseidon stood at the edge of the transformed realm.
They could feel it.
The shift.
The change.
The power that now coursed through them was no longer bound by Olympus.
Zeus no longer commanded lightning—he was the Storm.
Poseidon no longer ruled the seas—he was the Ocean.
They had stepped beyond their limits.
But they both knew one undeniable truth.
Hades was still ahead of them.
Because he had walked this path first.
Because he had become more.
And now, they had to decide.
Would they follow him to the end?
Or would they try to stop what they did not understand?
The Pantheon of the Underworld Expands
From the abyss, more gods arrived.
Not Olympians.
Not invaders.
But those who had been lost.
Forgotten gods.
Banished gods.
Deities without temples, without worshippers.
Now, they had a home.
Now, they had a king.
And one by one, they bent the knee.
Because they had seen what the others refused to.
Hades was not just a god.
He was the End.
And soon, all gods would kneel before him.
The Other Pantheons Take Notice
Far beyond the Underworld, in the golden halls of other realms, the gods watched.
They had seen the war.
They had seen the victors.
And now, they had a choice to make.
Would they kneel?
Would they fight?
Or would they be erased?
Because the balance of power had shifted.
Hades was no longer a god to be ignored.
He was a force that could not be stopped.
And the divine plane would never be the same again.