If this had been some anime world, Drex Valen might have considered settling down and finding a wife.
Marvel?
Absolutely not.
For the moment, his conflict with Asgard had come to an end. After giving it some thought, Drex decided there wasn't much to gain from continuing to batter the Norse pantheon right away. If he wanted meaningful returns, it was time to turn his attention toward a different target.
"The gods in this universe are all sitting on mountains of wealth," Drex mused. "Once I've harvested this entire cosmos, I'll be close enough to multiversal level that the distinction won't matter."
Meanwhile, events were unfolding in the Norse pantheon.
To Odin's surprise, Baldur, the God of Light, had returned to life.
Even Baldur himself had no idea how it had happened. By all logic, he should have remained dead.
Odin was puzzled at first, but once he connected the dots to Ragnarok, understanding dawned on him.
Ragnarok was destiny.
An unalterable fate.
Baldur's appointed death had not yet arrived. Therefore, he had been restored.
Naturally, this was the work of the Ancient Gods of the Shadow Realm. Reviving Baldur was trivial for beings like them. Even though his soul had been completely erased, they could still bring him back.
In essence, it wasn't much different from what Drex did.
They simply recreated a god.
This time, the pantheon chosen by Drex was Greece.
The legendary realm ruled by the three brothers of sea, sky, and underworld.
The home of Lord Zeus himself, perhaps the earliest and most notorious example of a god willing to sleep with virtually anything capable of breathing... and quite a few things that weren't.
Among the countless pantheons of the Gods Universe, the Greek pantheon easily ranked among the top three in overall strength.
That probably reflected the preferences of Marvel's writers.
Just as DC heavily favored monotheistic mythology, where the Presence stood at the pinnacle, followed by Lucifer and other cosmic entities, Marvel had always given Olympus exceptional weight.
Mount Olympus housed the Twelve Olympians.
Beyond Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and a handful of especially powerful gods, most of the Olympians likely fell just short of Skyfather level. Even so, they remained terrifyingly powerful.
And that wasn't even counting the imprisoned Titans or the former Titan King.
The Heavenly Court Dimension had only just finished clashing with Asgard.
No pantheon expected another invasion so soon.
As a result, Greece was completely unprepared.
The first target was the Underworld.
Hades, ruler of the dead.
One of the primary leaders responsible for overthrowing Cronus.
His divine power rivaled that of Zeus and Poseidon. The only reason he ended up ruling the Underworld was because he lost the draw that divided the cosmos among the three brothers.
Of the three, determining who was strongest was difficult.
One thing was certain, however.
Poseidon wasn't winning that argument.
Drex had long suspected that Hades possessed every bit of the power necessary to challenge Zeus directly. The problem was that Olympus contained twelve major gods. Against such overwhelming political and military pressure, even Hades could only remain suppressed.
Regardless, he stood among the absolute elite of the Greek pantheon.
And beneath his domain lay the prisons that held the Titans themselves.
When Hades sensed invaders entering the Underworld, he immediately abandoned what he had been doing with Queen Persephone.
Grabbing his bident, he charged out to confront the threat.
The weapons of the three brothers had always been strangely amusing.
Zeus wielded a lightning spear with a single point.
Hades carried a bident with two.
Poseidon favored a trident with three.
Which naturally raised an important question.
If Zeus had nine brothers instead of two, would the ninth one be carrying a nine-toothed rake?
Dark mist erupted beneath Hades' feet.
The shadows wrapped around his body, forming a fearsome suit of black armor.
A swirling portal opened nearby.
Four magnificent black horses emerged, snorting streams of dark hellfire as they pulled an obsidian war chariot devoid of warmth or light.
Then Hades saw his enemies.
His face changed instantly.
"The Heavenly Court!"
A moment ago, he'd assumed some insignificant fool had dared interrupt the Lord of the Underworld.
Instead, it was them.
"Sorry about the interruption, Lord Hades," said a giant whose right arm was noticeably larger than his left. "If you'd like to continue with Queen Persephone, we can wait a few hours."
It was Sunpiercer.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" another giant stepped forward.
This one was Kuafu.
"Lord Hades is a great god. A few hours wouldn't be nearly enough. It would take days. Besides, that would delay His Majesty's campaign."
He spread his hands apologetically.
"So forgive us, Lord Hades."
Hades stared at the gathering forces surrounding him.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
Not one of these giants felt weaker than he was.
Several felt significantly stronger.
Damn it.
Did the Heavenly Court have Titans of its own?
Unfortunately, his enemies had no intention of giving him time to think.
The moment they completed their encirclement, they attacked.
Together.
BOOM!
Thunder rolled across the Underworld.
An overwhelming divine pressure descended from above.
The clash of weapons echoed endlessly as hurricane-force shockwaves tore across the landscape.
Mountains collapsed.
Valleys shattered.
Countless wandering souls screamed in terror as the battlefield buckled beneath the strain.
The ground split open into bottomless chasms.
Waters from the River Styx surged into the cracks like black floods.
Despite the overwhelming odds, Hades fought with astonishing ferocity.
Among the three brothers and the Olympians as a whole, he was one of the rare male gods who hadn't spent his existence chasing every attractive woman he encountered.
His devotion belonged solely to Persephone.
Granted, Persephone was Zeus's daughter.
Granted, he had kidnapped her.
But by Olympian standards, that practically made him a saint.
Compared to the rest of Olympus, Hades was a refreshing anomaly.
As for the Fire God?
The Fire God never had the opportunity for moral corruption in the first place.
Hades spent nearly all of his time in the Underworld, watching over the imprisoned Titans.
A nation becomes stronger when it faces powerful enemies.
The same principle applied to gods.
Although divine authority mattered far more than training, Hades never neglected his own growth.
At the very least, his attitude was admirable.
The fact that he could fight ten Skyfather-level gods simultaneously without being overwhelmed proved as much.
The battlefield shook beneath the advancing giants.
Sunpiercer, Kuafu, and the others strode forward with unstoppable momentum.
Every step flattened mountains.
Every movement reduced ancient gates and palaces to rubble.
"HEAVENLY COURT!"
Hades' war chariot thundered across the sky.
The four black horses charged forward through rolling curtains of darkness.
His furious roar echoed endlessly through the Underworld.
Then everything changed.
"Lord Hades, surrender."
A calm voice interrupted the battle.
"Queen Persephone is already in our custody."
A formation of Heavenly soldiers emerged.
At their center stood Persephone.
She wore flowing white garments.
Her dark hair was gathered neatly behind her head.
Her beauty possessed a natural elegance untouched by artifice.
One glance was enough to understand why even gods would fight wars over her.
Hades froze.
His pupils contracted.
His wife had fallen into enemy hands.
What should he do?
The answer came immediately.
Exactly what any husband should do.
The bident slipped from his fingers.
His shoulders slumped.
Defeat settled over him.
Damn it.
Where were the Three Judges?
Where were the other gods of the Underworld?
A short while later, Hades, Lord of the Dead, was thoroughly bound and escorted away.
Persephone, meanwhile, was released immediately.
She had never been restrained.
Drex Valen had no interest in another man's wife.
Even if Persephone was breathtakingly beautiful.
...
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