"Of course not, Eli. In fact, you are the first one to arrive. " Izanami smiled warmly at Ereshkigal, who was fidgeting with nervousness.
"Phew, thank God then, " Ereshkigal breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she was the last to arrive.
"See, master, I told you, didn't I? With me here, there is no way you could be late, " a calm voice said as Arceus entered inside. Unlike in the underworld, Arceus had shrunk itself to a very small size so as not to inconvenience others.
"Well, who is this Eli? " Izanami asked as she narrowed her eyes. As a god of death who had lived since the time of creation, she prided herself on being very knowledgeable, but even she had not seen such a creature.
"Oh, Izanami, let me introduce you. This is Arceus, my new friend. " Ereshkigal said with a cheerful smile.
"Greetings, Lady Izanami." Arceus bowed its head as he spoke.
Just as Izanami was about to speak again, Azrael's voice interrupted her. "Oh Ereshkigal, I see you have brought Arceus with you. "
Azrael, who came to check why Izanami was late, said as she greeted both of them with a smile.
"Greetings, Lady Azrael. " Arceus bowed again as he saw Azrael. But this time, unlike when he greeted Izanami, his tone was more respectful. After all, Azrael is Roxanne's mother, making her someone whom they had to treat with utmost respect.
"Hello, Azrael," Ereshkigal smiled, returning the greeting.
Azrael smiled and asked, "Why are you guys still at the door? Why don't we all head inside?"
"Yes, I'm sure others would also be arriving very soon, " Izanami said as she gave Arceus a curious look at how respectful he is now. As a gossip-loving person, she felt there was definitely a story.
Just as they were about to head inside, another voice interrupted them. "Well, it seems I'm not too late, right? "
"Seriously, why are you all complaining about being late? Our gathering is scheduled to begin in approximately 30 minutes." With a deadpan tone, Izanami gazed at the new arrival.
It was none other than Hela who was holding a box of premium Niffleheim chocolate chip cookies.
"Wait, seriously? " Hela asked in shock as she walked inside with them. "And here, I brought these as an apology. "
"Forget my earlier words, you are as late as you can get. " Izanami quickly changed her words as she took the cookie box from Hela's hands. These are real treasures that have been considered rare luxury items in the supernatural community in the last few decades.
Getting them is very hard due to their low production and high demand.
Everyone chuckled inwardly at Izanami's double standards. Well, the real reason why everyone thought they were late is because when Azrael was informing them, she purposely told them two different times to make sure they would come in time.
After all, the talks today are very important for all their pantheons.
As time went by, other gods of death also arrived. The last to arrive were Hades and Persephone, who took a while to arrive due to them always being in their honeymoon period.
"Well, I would first like to thank you all for coming here at such short notice, " Azrael said after everyone was seated.
"Nah, don't worry about it, Azrael. Most of us were also thinking of going somewhere anyway, " Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death, said as he shook his dog-like head.
"Yeah, I for one was really thinking of quitting my job these days, " said a person with blue skin and an amazing mustache. This is Yama, the God of Death of the Hindu Pantheon. He is also the person who is constantly under stress due to a certain someone who would come from time to time to take back his subordinates who died in the war.
"I know you, cuz, believe me, I do. " King Yan, the God of Death in Chinese mythology and also Yama's cousin, comforted him by patting him on the shoulder.
Like Yama, King Yan is also constantly stressed due to all the gods and immortals coming to hell to take their grandsons and great-grandsons who died after offending a young master /immortal.
"Yeah, sometimes I think our family is cursed with bad luck, " said their other brother, King Enma, who is in charge of the Buddhist underworld. Amongst all the Gods of Death, these three are the most miserable.
In mythology, these three are almost considered the same person due to all of them coming from the same family and having similar looks.
"So, Azrael, what is the reason you wanted to meet us all? " Hades asked as he looked at Azrael. Since this is a private gathering, he didn't come in his skeleton form but in his human form. He had long white hair and purple eyes. He wore casual black clothes like a bike rider.
Next to him was his dear wife, Persephone. Persephone had long black hair and golden eyes. Like her husband, she also wore clothes similar to a bike gang.
"Well, you see, something serious happened. Someone had managed to steal a thousand souls from the Land of Shadows. " Azrael said with a serious expression.
"Wait, what?" was the immediate reaction from everyone upon hearing it. They all had expressions of disbelief and fear.
Stealing souls from a pantheon is simply like lighting up the flames for war.
"When did this happen, and how is Lugh taking this? " Hades asked with a gloomy look.
"Well, from what I know, he isn't taking it well. Fortunately, the Land of Shadows is a bit independent from the Celtic pantheon, so Scathach has managed to contain him for now. Or else they would have gone crazy by now, " Azrael said.
Yes, the only reason why things hadn't exploded in war was because Scathach and her land of shadows operated independently. And from this incident, the one who suffered a loss was only Scathach. But since the Land of Shadows is not that dependent on gathering faith, the loss could be considered very negligible.
"Do you know who did this? " Izanami asked, to which Azrael could only smile wryly and spoke.
"Well, from the clues my daughter managed to gather, the culprit is definitely Indra. He has a group from the Khos Brigade that goes by the name Hero faction. And in that group there is a person who had the Longinus Dimension Lost. "
" " Everyone was silent. Only Yama had held his head with a massive headache.
Indra is one of the strongest beings in the supernatural world. Not only that, but it is also because of his own strength; it is because of his own influence as the King of Gods. It is due to the fact that he has some crazy followers that Indra is able to continue the war with Shiva.
So even if one were to find enough evidence, there is no way they could do something to him. Because he is already one of the strongest people, and there is no one who could arrest him.
Even Shiva, who is stronger than him, would probably keep out of it so as not to create any internal problems. After all, both of them still belong to the same mythology.
Most of them signed internally. Indra cannot be punished no matter what.
Well, that is what most of them thought anyway.
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