Bloom

The Void War was finished, the great Devourer had been finally, Sealed. Although he was only a single spec among the countless that had fought, Sven was tired. No one knew better than him how close they had all come to annihilation.

There was no Pantheon that had not taken losses in the battle. Even the High Realm’s Council had lost three of their own, and one among those was the Oracle. Divination could no longer foresee threats from the future until a new one rose to take her place.

Sven knew the politics would get messy, and he wasn’t even adapt at that sphere. His own powers lent themselves more towards growth and life, which was why he was terrified even further. As a nature deity he understood that there was something terribly wrong with the being that was sealed. Looking upon the Tree of Chaos was the same as staring at a reality warping mirror of the outer realms.

Casting a glance at the Seal that shimmered like a speck of glowing white dust in the endless Void he shuddered. To think that a misguided Divinity had given rise to such a horror. The Green Lady’s planet had been wiped from existence, and the Host had followed the traces of time further. That planet’s Lord of Death who was complicit in the start of the affair was also executed. They had followed the Oracle’s sight up the stream of time obliterating all who the creature aided or assisted.

It had been an exhausting action, one that had delayed them providing the eldritch being enough time to plunder countless worlds.

It was that power which had allowed the being to combat the Divine Host, and begin what amounted to a massacre.

Only faith in the Oracle had won the war.

When she had first told the Host that she had foreseen her own possible death there had been cries to stop pursuit. The Oracle then revealed that if they didn’t strike the Tree of Chaos now, there would be no second chance. Their race, perhaps all races, would become food. Even if she fell, the Oracle revealed all was not lost. It was her who had guided the creation of the Seals, that which allowed victory.

See you soon, fertilizer.

Sven could still here the vile creature’s voice recite its final words as they finished the Sealing. Within it he heard the promise of relentless retribution, and agonizing death the likes of which provided fuel for nightmares. It would likely be centuries, if not millennia before any of the Host could sleep peacefully at night.

Even now voices were being raised among the Host. Many were questioning if it was acceptable to allow continued use of the [System] by mortals. If it were not for the fact that there was no way to produce new Divinities without such access, Sven was sure right then and there the [System] would be destroyed. The fact that mortals could be twisted to such a degree was sickening. For their own protection, and that of countless universes, the [System] might still be removed. It was in the hands of higher ranked Divinities now.

Turning away from the Host, Sven flickered out of the Void and back to his own planet. Politics was for those who cared, and he did not, not now. The losses he had seen, the terrible fury created by a once simple plant hurt. Deep inside he questioned if there was something fundamentally wrong with the way things had been done.

Stepping out of the gap between the Void and his planet, Sven found himself once more within the comfortable walls of his estate. Like many Divinities close to nature his estate was a massive interconnected Forest.

The war was over.

Yet, even as he lay down to rest and recover, Sven still felt a trickle of fear.

The final words of such a creature, one who slaughtered Divinities like eating rice, were not those of a loser.

As green liquid and blooming vines encased him, Sven struggled to sleep.

The war was over.

They had won.

Right?