"Do not underestimate fear; it is a weapon to mold people, but it is also a feeling that turns humans into true animals. What a terrible feeling in the hands of powerful people." The God-Emperor of Mankind.
-----------------------
Aenar looked at the storm in the sky with a smile. He could feel countless gazes coming from the storm. He knew they were the gods, wanting to guess what his conspiracy was.
They are afraid.
Yes, they feared Aenar.
At first, they thought he was just another mortal, no matter how glorious, he would be nothing more than a momentary glory, a mere hundred years of power. But, when they truly noticed the danger of Aenar, it was already too late.
He had killed the God of Seven Faces with a ceremonial weapon used in Old Valyria. The weapon that was once used to worship the gods became a bridge for mortals to reach divinities.
The mere mortal now had the power to kill gods. A privilege that only gods had, was now in the hand of an ambitious mortal who declared himself God-Emperor of Mankind.
Just by his name, the gods knew of Aenar's ambition. So, to prevent the mortal from gaining even more power, they initiated the Long Night earlier than expected, but soon they realized that the mortal had prepared for the Long Night for many years, which made the devastating effect of the cataclysm not satisfactorily enough.
Their plans failed again. Not only did they fail to make the mortal weaker, but they also made him more powerful. An entire continent worshipped the mortal, making him stronger.
Even now, seeing that figure sitting on the Ruby Throne, the gods felt shivers run down their divine bodies. The immense amount of psychic energy was something so terrifying that they dared not take a step forward.
Gods were essentially the thoughts of mortals; if mortals believed a god was a god of death, that god would have authority over death. Psychic energy was the sum of the thoughts of all beings in the universe; it was the purest poison for the gods.
If the gods came into contact with such energy, they would get lost and hardly escape the madness that accompanied this psychic energy. So, seeing that terrifying amount of psychic energy made the gods not want to take a step forward for fear of Aenar's conspiracy.
Suddenly, the gods noticed a figure approaching Aenar. It was a small man, pale and dark-haired. The gods recognized the divine aura. It was the God of Many Faces.
"Your Majesty." The God of Many Faces greeted Aenar with a smile and impeccable posture. No one would think that he had previously fought Aenar's Primarchs in Braavos.
"Your Excellency." Aenar greeted him with a calm and neutral tone, making it impossible for this being who had lived for thousands of years to try to discover what the Emperor of Mankind was thinking.
"I came to respectfully ask if I kneel before you, I can have my space to survive." As soon as the words of the God of Death sounded, silence predominated the environment. Even the monsters stopped running towards Aenar.
All the gods looked at the figure of the God of Death with incredulous eyes, with the words of betrayal from the God of Many Faces. Not even in their wildest dreams would they think that the God of Many Faces would beg for his life.
"Honestly, I was prepared to fight to the death." The God of Death said with a calm tone, showing no concern for the thoughts of his divine companions. "But, these madmen really dared to communicate with the Chaos Gods."
"Even though I fear death more than anyone, I know this was such a stupid move that I want to switch sides." The God of Many Faces spoke calmly, showing no reaction to the increasingly murderous gazes of his former companions.
"If I die by the Emperor's sword, I will die and have my eternal rest, but if I fall into the hands of the Chaos Gods, I would be a slave for all eternity, a slave to my madness and hostage to my own mind. I may be one of the cruelest and most cunning gods, but I still have pride." When he finished speaking, the black eyes of the God of Death calmly stared at Aenar, awaiting his answer.
Fulgrim looked at the God of Death begging to switch sides and finally saw the true face of the gods. They were like humans; they had desires and feared death like any mortal.
In Fulgrim's eyes, only Aenar was truly perfect, full of royalty and dignity worthy of being the God-Emperor of Mankind.
All the Primarchs looked at the God of Death with surprised eyes. Sanguinius, in particular, looked at his enemy with a complex gaze but did not speak. It was up to the Emperor to decide the fate of the God of Death.
Aenar remained silent as he rhythmically tapped his finger on the arm of the throne. The sound seemed particularly audible in this cold, silent, and tense environment. The Emperor's purple eyes stared into the black eyes of the God of Death.
After a while, Aenar opened his mouth and uttered his words. The calm and regal tone made the atmosphere pulsate with the power accumulated in his body. "You know if I accept, you will practically become my dog."
The God of Death smiled and replied with an equally calm tone. "Better to be a dog with sanity and dignity than a mad monster who only knows how to kill and worship the chaos gods."
Aenar looked at the God of Death with a touch of surprise in his expression. The God of Death was unexpectedly adaptable. The danger level of the God of Many Faces increased in Aenar's mind. An enemy who could bend in times of need was truly dangerous.
However, Aenar seriously looked at the God of Many Faces and pondered. Honestly, having a god as a meat shield in future invasions of the Demonic Hordes was quite lucrative.
"Do you agree to place a drop of my blood in the heart of your divine body?" Aenar asked with a calm tone. This was his way of controlling the God of Death. His drop of blood would be intimately linked to him, and with a mere thought, a gigantic amount of psychic energy would explode, killing the God of Death or worse, corrupting him.
Of course, it would not be the psychic energy of the Warp, but his purified energy, with Aenar's thoughts, thus corrupting the God of Death into a true slave, just as the Chaos Gods did with their future demons.
In this sense, Aenar was increasingly similar to the Chaos God than anything else. But it was as the saying went. The hunter one day becomes the prey after many years.
The God of Death smiled and pointed upwards. Looking up, Aenar saw a rift forming in the sky covered with artificial suns. Through the rift, a pale and naked body appeared before him.
He was a man so thin he could be called a skeleton; his eye sockets were deep, and his eyes were as black as the sun that covered this world. He was naked, with only a black mist surrounding his tall, pale figure.
Under Aenar's eyes, the tall, pale man opened his own chest and showed a completely black heart.
A drop of blood came from the tip of Aenar's finger and flew towards the God of Death. The drop of blood looked like a ruby, shining with a beautiful glow. The drop of blood hit the heart of the God of Death and disappeared into the black heart.
The God of Death closed his chest and smiled; he bowed to Aenar, and the rift in the sky closed.
Aenar looked at the dozens of gazes in the sky and spoke with a calm tone. "Does anyone else want to be my dog?"
What answered Aenar was a terrifying silence. He could feel the angry gazes of the gods. They were angry, utterly humiliated, and treated like mere dogs.
"However, I don't accept just any dog; it has to be a strong dog." Aenar said with a calm and slightly amused tone. He really wanted to see what these gods would choose.
Two other figures landed on the ground, an incredibly beautiful woman and a man with a lion's head.
The Weeping Lady of Lys and the Lion of Night of Yi Ti.
Two other rifts opened in the sky; the same process happened, and Aenar gave a drop of blood to each of the gods.
Turning his gaze back to the three gods before him, Aenar smiled coldly and said with an amused tone. "Kneel."
The three gods did not hesitate and prostrated themselves before Aenar. The Lion of Night was even more humble, resting his forehead on the ground, showing maximum respect for Aenar.
"You have to prove your loyalties; each of you must bring me the head of a god. I don't want the heads of avatars, but the heads of the true bodies of these gods." Aenar said with a murderous tone. He didn't care if these gods had divine friends or families, or even if they would die fighting the gods.
The God of Death was the fastest; his body lost all vitality and fell lifeless. Obviously, he returned to the Dimension of the Gods. The Goddess of Lys and the Lion of Night also quickly returned to the dimension of the gods.
Aenar looked at the other divine gazes with a cunning and cold smile. Although there was some change in his conspiracy, the gods must still advance against him at this moment!
------------
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/GOTSW
Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (400,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.