Chapter 60: VAJRAHA
"Your Grandfather."
Athos' brain shortcircuited and he stared blankly at the primordial before him. A few seconds passed before he opened his mouth, the trepidation on his face conveying emotion that words couldn't possibly describe.
"Is there....a chance you were mistaken?", he spoke slowly, unable to grasp the sheer magnitude of the task. Killing a God was an impossible mission in itself. Even the weakest of Gods possessed tenacity that no mortal could possibly comprehend. The only way to put down a God for good is to atomize and scatter them to such an extent that reforming their consciousness is impossible - but even that method was not foolproof and he was to slay Zeus himself!
"Mistake?! Impossible. Even Indra, that lustful idiot, has tamer lighting compared to that vainglorious bastard. I'd never mistake the Master bolt for the Vajra", Shiva snorted.
"But you really expect this...", Athos pointed at himself, "to kill the strongest God in the Greek Pantheon?"
Shiva chuckled, his angered aspect cracking, "Now? Of course not. You are far from ready, but a few months from now? I believe so."
Athos raised an eyebrow, wanting to call bullshit. Was gaining a Divine body that much of a strength boost? He did rip out the heart of the physically strongest Titan and was planning to get Ichor from the physically strongest God, so that probably played a large part, but was it really enough to contend with Zeus' mighty lightning? Lightning mighty enough to put nuclear warheads to shame?
He sighed, "Even if I agreed, what could you possibly offer me in return?"
Shiva held out his hands - palms up, "I have much wealth, of which I have no need but you shall find that useless too. Thus, I shall give you this."
A dark blue light flickered above Shiva's hands and thunder boomed in the distance. Inky black thunderclouds swirled about the peak as if angered at what was going on, but Shiva seemed unbothered. He began shaping the light, his long fingers blurring as they danced across thin air - every twitch and touch striking a rhythm. The ethereal clay glowed every time it was hit and his lips stretched into a small smile. His limbs were his instruments, the light his symphony and he, the orchestrator.
Athos' jaw dropped as the light started to take shape. It formed a giant bow - so transparent, that the faint blue outlines were the only things anchoring it to reality. Thunder boomed once more, but this time it held none of the indignation from before. It sounded neither haughty nor angry...but afraid.
Shiva looked up at the clouds and made a grasping motion. They tried to flee but it was in vain. As if sucking the soul out of a person, he dragged out balls of kaleidoscopic lightning from the clouds - ones that felt unbridled and primal, even more so than usual lightning. Just being in its presence made Athos feel as though he were about to spontaneously combust. It felt...Primordial.
Shiva forced the unwilling lightning into the bow and Vasuki, the Cobra, bit into the outline - giving it form. He then plucked a strand from his lush locks and held it under the freshwater that flowed from his head before beginning to string the bow. When he bent the bow, it thundered and when he tied his hair to the groves, it roared. Once that was done, Shiva held the bow up and pointed to the sky before pulling back the string and releasing it.
*BOOM*
A shockwave blasted out from the giant bow, dispersing the gloomy clouds, and revealing the calm, tranquil night sky.
Athos accidentally crushed a rock as he stared in awe at the recurve bow in Shiva's hands. It looked small when held by the Destroyer but was around five feet in length. Vasuki's venom made the bow pitch-black but it was highlighted by blue designs that looked akin to crystals coiling about its body.
"It is done", Shiva announced. He released the bow and it levitated - as though touching the ground was beneath it. The air around it crackled with such power that Athos took a few steps back in an attempt to dodge the ribbons of lightning encircling it. How was he supposed to even hold the thing?
"It is a bit beyond you at the moment, but you'll grow into it soon enough," Shiva said, rubbing his chin.
'A little bit? Just look at the thing!', Athos thought.
Shiva ignored Athos' spell-struck expression and snapped his fingers. The bow shuddered and dissolved into globs of golden liquid.
"Show me your hand", he continued, dipping his index finger into one of the floating chunks of liquid.
Athos frowned, "Wait, I haven't agreed yet. The weapon is enticing, and I can't deny that, but I'm heading for certain death if I accept it. Not only is putting down a God next to impossible, but Zeus is the strongest of the Olympians."
"You are mistaken", Shiva said, watching the liquid coat his finger. "Firstly, this bow is not a mere weapon. It has been soaked in the waters of the Holy River Ganga and tempered with Primordial Lightning. It shall be your light in the darkness, guiding you, leading you to what you need to accomplish your goals."
Athos' eyes widened in realization.
"...The Twang of the Destroyer's bow shall lead the trail..."
Perhaps he needed the bow far more than he realised, but was it really worth throwing hands with Zeus?
"I can see you are still hesitant, and that is understandable, but know this...", Shiva's eyes briefly glinted with anger, "As long as Zeus stands, your hopes and dreams shall remain as they are - as hopes and dreams. Zeus' dirty fingers reach far deeper and farther than what one may see. His thievery and his partial immunity to the Ancient Laws are not coincidences."
"But if Zeus is that powerful and is immune to the Laws, why doesn't he take advantage of it more often? He is far stronger now, right?", Athos retorted, his brows furrowing.
"He is, indeed. If given the chance he would strip the world bare of all knowledge and treasure, but that is if only he was fully immune. The Ancient Laws are feared for a reason. The moment he stole the Eye of Order, the Laws descended upon him with the intent of removing him from all creation, but it was not fully negated. I know this because of a curious creature that formed a day after the theft. He does not dare risk another such incident after that happened."
"A creature?"
"Yes. I remember it vividly. A cross between a bull and a serpent. The Ophiotarous."
"Bessie..", Athos muttered. It was all starting to make sense now. The Ophiotarous was an extremely important creature and one that was feared by the Gods, not for its raw power but for what it signified. If the Ophiotarous' entrails were burned or sacrificed, the slayer would gain the power to destroy the Gods, Olympians included. The Titans almost succeeded in sacrificing the monster in the first war but were stopped by Zeus in the form of a giant eagle. A minute part of the Ancient Laws could form a creature that could threaten the reign of an entire pantheon.
"....The Gods' Bane you must find..."
Athos sighed and nodded.
'Making a deal with a foreign Primordial to kill my Immortal grandfather. What could possibly go wrong?', he thought sarcastically as he walked forward and stuck out his right arm.
Shiva's eyes lingered on Leviathan for a few moments before he began drawing...no, writing on his forearm. The liquid felt cool to touch and Shiva's long strokes traced the golden ink into a large word in a foreign script. Once it was done, as most unreasonable artifacts do, it burned into his flesh.
"Ugh...", Athos grunted through clenched teeth as the ink seared onto his skin. It hurt...immensely so, but it was tame compared to when the Oni mask figuratively ripped apart his left arm. It was either that or his pain tolerance had greatly increased. On second thought, with the beatdown he received against Thoon, it wasn't all that surprising.
"Stand tall, Athos. Consider this an honour. The bow, given enough power, can split the skies", Shiva grinned while Athos pushed down another pained groan.
"Yeah, I feel so honoured....", Athos retorted staring at the word burned into his skin. He recognized the script, but couldn't make sense of what it actually was, but then, a faint connection formed in his mind, not unlike the one he had with Perastos.
"Vajraha", It said.
The Slayer of Lightning.
***
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