Twilight of the Gods ✔️

Chapter 30: Evelyn

"You need me," Odi said, wrapping his black, scaly body around Haydn's torso. "With my abilities and your wit, we could restore things to the old order."

Haydn sighed, carefully scraping the shaving cream off his chin. He had heard every version of the same speech from Odi and quite frankly, he was getting sick of his old master's megalomania.

Knowing Evelyn's new name didn't make tolerating Odi any easier. He wanted nothing more than to reveal himself to her and then whisk them away to some hidden corner in the Mortal Realm. If he felt like it, he'd even create a separate reality for them, far from the nonsense of Gods and Elysians.

"You would rule over everything," Odi said, doubling his persuasion. "You'd still have my power, but I'd only advise you. I simply want things to go back to the way they were."

He dunked his head into the sink, rinsing his face so that the old God couldn't see his expression of disbelief. One didn't spend centuries as one of the masters of the universe to give up absolute power that easily.

"Alright," he said. "Let's say I agree to this. What is the first step in your plan to 'restore the old order?' And massacring all of the Elysians doesn't count, by the way. They have Nyx's protection while her game is still going on."

Odi paused for a moment. "Killing everyone in Otherworld isn't a bad idea. We'd slay the traitor, Iris, and make my former angels pay for their insolence with eternal suffering in the Underworld." He hummed thoughtfully, already thinking of the fallen angels' punishments in the afterlife. "The Elysians would have equally awful fates, especially Ezra. That creature is simply too cunning and cruel for his own good. Your soulmate would be spared, of course. She can even rule at your side as queen if that makes you happy. If I remember correctly, she was just as power-hungry as you were before that unfortunate incident. What a great idea, killing all of the Elysians. I didn't know you had such a natural thirst for blood. Perhaps I was smart to make you my Chosen One all those years ago."

Haydn let out a sigh of exasperation, taking in Odi's enthusiasm. Leave it to a God of Chaos to twist his words into a speech about committing violence. It was truly a shame that the other eight Gods had perished to the sands of time. They had infinitely more sense than Anhel and Odi combined.

"I'm not sure my soulmate wants anything to do with me. You know as well as I do that she is nothing like my Evelyn. And there's still one key flaw in your plan. How do you intend to get rid of Nyx?"

A strange look came to Odi's eyes. "She's not someone you can get rid of. Just as the twin suns and the moon belong in the sky, she is a fixture in this universe. The only thing we can do is put her to sleep."

Haydn nodded in understanding. "Like I did to you?" He had long learned his lesson about trying to kill Gods.

Odi's hold on Hayn tightened, nearly suffocating him. "Exactly as you did to me. Traitorous dog." His hissing intensified.

If that meant exactly what he thought it did, that meant that Nyx was a God, or to the very least, God-like. Somehow that didn't make him feel any better about going up against her.

"You know her," Haydn said, grabbing Odi's head right before he sank his fangs into his flesh.

"I know how to weaken her. Hardly the same thing."

Knowing that Odi wasn't going to budge on Nyx's real identity, Haydn shifted the conversation back to the plan. "She expects my treachery. My agreement with her is over now that I have Evelyn in my hands."

"It's not over yet. You still need to play the last round of the game. Maybe you'll even get the Board. For such an ordinary, plain-looking thing, it has devastating power. It destroyed our whole pantheon and put these incompetent Elysians in power. Maybe we can use it to our advantage."