Power Overwhelming

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Despite the sudden show of force, or perhaps because of it, the dark gods of the Netherworld were not willing to give up. Instead of trying to attack the crusade directly though, as that had already shown to be a bad idea, they chose a more supportive approach. A number of portals opened in the skies above the world they were fighting over, each portal spewing reinforcements for the scourge forces that had been thrown into disarray by the earlier display. Unlike stopping the teleportation of mortals, which was relatively simple, one of the benefits of having gods on your side was that it was rather difficult to prevent gods from bringing about various miracles like the portals that crossed the dimension of the Netherworld. Though that was only if those gods were willing to throw enough power at the problem. Gods could do many things mortals or even immortals couldn’t, but it came at a cost.

Large constructs made of metal and stone, covered in magical runes that cause lightning to crackle across their skin, marched at the front. These constructs came in all sorts of shapes, from bipedal humanoid monsters to insect-like constructs with numerous legs. Despite their varied shapes, they were an obvious attempt to counter the titans. These were beings of roughly equal size and strength to the titans, with practical immunity to the element the titans were famous for utilizing.

The giant constructs were not the only reinforcements. Numerous gargoyles, wraiths, spectral and undead dragons, and other flying forces soon followed to engage the dragons in the skies above the world. Any single flier would not be able to match a dragon in the air, but they wanted to replace quality with quantity. The most dangerous addition was saved for last, and it was the least flashy one. A large number of winged humanoid female forms came through the portals. These humanoid forms seemed to mostly consist of the baleful energy that animated most of the Netherworld, except it was much more concentrated in these beings. They wore old, rough-looking armor and were born aloft on ethereal wings of energy, as they moved from one fallen or damaged member of the Netherworld to another, bringing them back to perfect health in seconds, no matter the severity of the damage.

Karna knew from experience that these Val’kyr could even bring back ‘dead’ members of the Netherworld, at least under normal circumstances. Currently, her divinity was dispersing most of the souls as soon as they were released, making this pseudo-resurrection impossible in most cases. However, if any enemies could not be killed in a single strike, and they could retreat back to the Val’kyr, they would soon return to the fight in perfect condition, and killing immortals wasn't easy. While not completely, the female-looking warrior apparitions brought back some of the attrition warfare the Netherworld was so famous for.

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but stage 2?” Hope asked again.

“Hmm, seems a bit premature still. We want them fully committed, and they’re not yet there. Challenging the titans and the dragons in their own specialty also seems unwise. Even if the giant constructs have the power to challenge the titans, for example, they don't have the experience, the training, and institutional knowledge of the titans when it comes to using those powers.” Envy hedged a bit before firing several shots at the closest Val’kyr, quickly showing that they were not too hard to kill if you could catch them by surprise.

“Peace young one. It’s time for us to show that you three aren’t the only ones that can utilize a bag of tricks." The voice of Indra could be heard, just before the god brought out something that had the outward appearance of a golden spear, though only barely. Near the top of the weapon, the shaft split in two and formed a perfect circle before joining up again just before being capped off by the blade. In the center of the open circle floated a gem glowing bright orange.

Without wasting time, the god pointed the spear forward and a beam of glowing energy shot out from the tip. It was like the heat of a star had been condensed into that single beam, as the god swept the beam across the ranks of the enemy, burning everything in its path. Nothing was left wherever the beam passed, and the beam moved with such speed that only the fastest enemies were quick enough to avoid it.

“That’s interesting.” Karna, still in her Sacred Beast form, muttered.

“What is?” Envy asked.

"That's not a Divine Artifact designed for his use. Certainly not part of his Regalia." Karna pointed out.

“Ah! The spear uses the power of the sun. You’d expect an item like that from a sun god, not Indra.” Hope realized as well.

"Would it not be smart to have a weapon that utilizes another element as a backup?" Envy asked, still confused.

"For you and me, yes. We can make those kinds of weapons ourselves. That's a rank 8 Divine Artifact though. Almost as powerful as the hammer Hope is swinging around was when I created it. There aren't too many artifacts like that lying around. Even an old True God like Indra would be hard-pressed to get one as a backup weapon instead of his primary weapon that's part of his official regalia." The Regalia of a God always matched their Divinity, as it was a manifestation of it.

The other two could also read between the lines of what Karna had said. The titans had sent the artifact along for some reason. Another thing they noted was that she had said the hammer had been that strong when it was created, implying it was stronger now. Not something they'd be too shocked about, but it was nice to get a confirmation. It would also explain why the effect earlier had been larger than expected. For some reason, neither of the other two could sense the power of the hammer at all while it wasn't in active use. And even while used, they could only sense the amount of power that was being utilized and not the maximum power of the artifact. Usually, something like this would be difficult to hide.

Not to be outdone, Gaia brought out an ornate wooden stave with vines growing all over it, and positive energy suddenly filled the battlefield completely. This sort of positive energy directly countered the negative energy that was empowering the undead and the constructs, and many of the enemies started burning from the inside or just dying off as the energy animating them was suddenly consumed and countered. “That one is definitely part of her Regalia though.” Hope nodded towards the goddess.

“I wonder why the spear then?” Karna said thoughtfully. It would be odd for the titans to risk an artifact like that without power. It clearly had been the power of the weapon Indra had used instead of his own powers, as Karna could sense the god had very little affinity with either fire or any celestial aspect that could include the power of a sun.

“I’m assuming I should still keep out of this?” A fourth voice suddenly interrupted. The female voice came from a being completely covered by a heavy cloak that masked most of the power of the one wearing the cloak. Still, the only reason the enormous psionic presence wasn’t drawing attention was because the beings of this universe were usually not searching for that type of energy. No one had noticed the being standing close by, and even now the three of them had difficulty pinpointing her exact location. They at least knew what to look for.

"If you don't feel too bored," Karna replied politely. "Nothing's stopping you from tearing a couple of the enemy immortals apart just to pass the time of course.”

"I might just do that." And the figure gestured towards one of the most powerful undead dragons that had been giving some of the House of Dragons a hard time. The skeletal wyrm practically radiating malevolent energy was suddenly just crushed and torn apart by energies that no one saw or could even detect. “I know I’m supposed to mostly be a deterrence, but I didn’t realize just hanging around while others battled would be quite so boring. I must confess, I’m used to being on the frontlines and the center of attention.”

"Just be patient Keeper. Your time to shine will come eventually.” Karna reassured the being. She knew well the Keeper came from a race of warriors and thus found inaction a little frustrating.

Not to be outdone, the two gods from House Draconis used their own powers and artifacts to wreak havoc among the flying enemies, allowing the rest of the dragons to sweep the skies clear once again. The dark gods of the Netherworld were not willing to give up though, and more and more portals kept opening, and now some of the elite forces of the scourge were coming through. Phaerons of great power were leading the charge, and the immortals under their command were powerful and numerous as more and more monstrous creatures and constructs followed after their leaders, as the powerful Dynasties sent their elites into the fire.

“It would seem the Netherworld has upgraded the threat we represent from a nuisance to a real problem." Envy commented. Until now their success could partially be chalked up to the fact that they might have been taking worlds, but they hadn’t been doing irreversible damage, and the Netherworld was a scourge that took a long view on things. They weren’t an existential threat. Or they hadn’t been before this. Now the enemy had decided to crush the problem before it became larger.

"I agree." Indra once again sent his voice to them. "I can recognize some of the Phaerons as those we see on the frontlines of the battle. I believe it's time for the stage 2 you mentioned earlier."

“Yes, I believe we’ve managed to catch a good enough haul.” Envy finally agreed as well.

A wave of power suddenly washed over the battlefield as Karna unleashed her new totem, utilizing it to boost the effect from her second most famous Name, Karma. She also combined her own Divinity to slightly influence the effect to work better against the undead. “Let your sins be judged and weigh you into the ground.” Her voice boomed over the battlefield.

The giant image of her totem appeared above her head and the scales on the totem suddenly swung to one side. The effect was immediate and rapidly spread outwards from her position. The enemy fliers fell from the sky and cratered on the ground as if gravity had been suddenly multiplied for them. The giant constructs started to break under their own weight, and even the Phaerons found it difficult to move freely. In fact, it seemed like the more powerful the enemy, the more they were affected, even if they were better able to resist the effects. Anywhere her glowing eyes turned to, the effect multiplied.

The members of their crusade didn't waste this opportunity and quickly struck at the suddenly immobilized and impaired enemy. The effect wouldn't last too long, but it didn't have to. An immortal could cut down countless impaired enemies in seconds when given the opportunity. The members of the crusade had been told to expect something like this, even if they hadn’t been told the exact details, and they took full advantage. The elite forces that had just been brought in were the first to be cut down, and the dark gods allowed the portals to start closing in disgust. There was no point in sending more of their best to be killed.

“Quite impressive.” The cloaked individual remarked. “Judging by your words and the effect, you somehow turned their sins against them?”

“Almost exactly so.” Karna nodded, now resting while laying on the ground. It took a lot out of her to affect so many enemies and her reserves of Aura suddenly diminished greatly. The skill she’d used was originally designed to be used against a single target, and without the recent evolution her totem had gone through, she wouldn’t have been able to extend the effect over a battlefield. “The forces of the Netherworld all carry heavy negative karma. They’re quite literally animated by negative energy, and while that’s not the same as negative karma, it is similar enough when combined with their actions and intent. They’re out to destroy the living and have been at it for a long time. The stronger the individual, the more mayhem they’ve likely caused. My Name Karma allows me to turn that negative karma against them. Or I could use positive karma to improve my allies, though that assumes my allies actually have positive karma. Unlike the Netherworld, our allies aren’t quite as uniform in their karma.”

Incidentally, this judgement of Karma was also the third way she could destroy a soul. It would require her target to have heavy negative karma, usually not a problem if she was willing to kill them, and she could only do it to a single person at a time, but it would result in the target soul being effectively destroyed completely. She could use less power to achieve the same effect that happened to reincarnators that wanted things to just end, resetting the soul. That's where she'd originally gotten the idea, which she'd then refined over several lifetimes. The judges of the River of Souls could do it to anyone with any karma, but she could go further. A simple trade-off that she was happy to make. She wouldn't want to use the power on someone with mostly positive karma anyway. In a way, she was glad the limitation existed so that she wasn't even tempted.

Any of her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she sensed something. “THERE!” She pointed a paw at one of the closing gates. “KEEP THAT GATE OPEN NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!”

Shiva reacted immediately, appearing next to the portal the dark gods had opened, and wedged his own power into the rapidly closing gap in space, forcefully maintaining it. “Envy! Hope! That’s your cue!” Karna ordered. She would’ve gone herself, but the earlier stunt with her totem had drained her. Envy and Hope hadn’t stayed out of the fight just to protect her. They were also keeping their strength up in case it was needed like this.

The two dashed through the closing portal without question, surprisingly flanked by Lust that followed after the two with a pair of angels, before the gateway collapsed. "You sensed Tsumi?" Arjuna asked while panting for breath as he rushed to her, the rest of their team taking over the protection of Karna now that the two were gone.

"Yes. I could detect her through the portal I pointed out." Karna replied idly while trying to detect the items that Hope and Envy carried. It took a moment, but she could finally feel the direction and distance as the duo arrived at their destination. "The distance isn't exactly far, but it's not close by either. It's going to take our crusade a while to get there."

“Let us have faith that they can locate and rescue Tsumi. I believe they can stay safe if they do manage to save her.” Arjuna was reassuring himself almost as much as Karna. It was now up to those two, and the three angels that had followed, to enact the rescue while the crusade worked as a giant distraction.

Valor landed less than gracefully next to them, his equipment less pristine than before the battle from sheer wear and tear. Of course, as the equipment was made by Karna, it would repair itself before too long. “I’d be more worried about Envy and Lust killing each other.” He scoffed. “I know very little about Lust, aside from the Name, but I do know Envy doesn’t much like her and isn’t above a bit of backstabbing.”

“He’s not wrong.” Karna grimaced, still in her Sacred beast form. As her Aura was expended, the protection she was providing to the rest was also wearing off, though the battle had mostly turned into a mop-up at this point.

“We can always hope that Hope can keep the peace between the two.” Wisdom suggested.

“I wouldn’t rely on that. Hope can be…a little questionable about such things at times. She’s just as likely to just enjoy the spectacle.” Karna provided, being the one that knew Hope the best.