Judgment Day is generally considered a concept from Christianity, supposedly the day when angels will blow their trumpets, all souls will be re-weighed, the good will enter Heaven, and the evil will fall to Hell.
But actually, Zoroastrianism also has this concept, and it even predates Christianity.
The borrowing or fusion by Christian mythology from Zoroastrian mythology, Platonic theory, and Pythagorean schools has reached levels that need no specific explanation. However, mythology itself is part of major cultural fusion, where borrowing is the norm.
Many mythologies with similar concepts of Judgment Day exist.
"Why suddenly bring this up?"
Ryuga asked curiously.
"If you're asking this, then it means it hasn't arrived yet."
Seeing Ryuga's reaction, Verethragna showed a disappointed expression.
"Such a pity, it seems the time for the final battle hasn't come yet..."
Then, under Ryuga's urging gaze, he finally began to explain.
"Lord Patriarch, have you paid attention to the specific situation of the Divine Realm?"
"Mm."
"Then have you discovered any problems?"
"There are many problems. Which point are you referring to?"
Hearing this answer, Verethragna was momentarily stunned before continuing.
"...Regarding the behavior of the gods, have you discovered any issues?"
"You mean the reenactment of mythology? This point is indeed strange." Ryuga immediately understood what the other wanted to say.
"As the Divine Realm where gods reside, mythology here has not developed further but continues to perform content that already existed in mythology."
"The Greek Divine Realm is in the early stages of the Trojan Horse War, the Norse Divine Realm is preparing for Ragnarök, the Biblical Divine Realm still has angels and demons warring against each other, the Indian Divine Realm has Indra still getting beaten... Even though the future is already determined, the gods remain within mythological history."
Advancing along an already fixed future—this behavior is truly puzzling.
Hearing Ryuga mention these, Verethragna blinked and smiled mysteriously.
"Do you know why the Divine Realm is like this? Why, despite all gods knowing the results, each divine realm continues to repeat the scenes from mythology?"
Hearing this, Ryuga's heart stirred.
From Zeus's or Athena's situations, it was clear that although the Divine Realm performed repetitive dramas daily, the gods themselves were not affected by them.
They were very clear about what mythology was like and had their own thoughts. Ambitious gods all wanted to transcend existing mythology and advance to become stronger beings.
Given this, why were they forced to repeatedly perform mythology?
"What can drive life is either greed or fear."
Ryuga began thus.
As a representative of greed, Zeus clearly wanted to further develop mythology and enter the realm of the One True God.
If this was the case, then choosing the conservative route of repeating mythology could only be for another reason.
"You mean the gods are fearing something, which is why they keep repeating mythology?"
Ryuga immediately made the judgment.
"And according to your earlier words, what the gods fear is Judgment Day? No, not all mythologies have this concept, but similar concepts are found in almost all divine armies..."
"You mean the gods' repetition of mythology is resistance against eschatology?"
Hearing this series of analyses, Verethragna, who had originally wanted to keep some suspense, was immediately dumbfounded.
You've said everything—what can I still say?
He never expected that with these few clues, Ryuga could directly determine the entire Divine Realm's direction.
What's worse, he was completely correct.
"Lord Patriarch, are you certain you're not here for the final judgment?"
He confirmed once more.
"Of course not."
Ryuga shook his head.
Eschatology is a paradigm found in many mythologies, generally centering on the arrival of the end of the world and the descent of a savior to rescue the world.
This concept is most famously used in Christianity.
However, other religious schools don't lack similar mythologies. Zoroastrianism's final judgment needn't be mentioned, the Abrahamic religions even more so. Norse mythology's Ragnarök is clearly also a form of eschatology. Besides these, there's Buddhism's descent of Maitreya, Taoism's Purple Sage... famous mythologies basically all have elements of eschatology.
Previously, Ryuga had suspicions, and now it seems the Divine Realm's existence might indeed serve special purposes.
Seeing him deny it again, Verethragna stopped pursuing the matter.
"Rather than fear, it's better to say many people are actually quite expectant, like myself, or protective gods from other divine realms."
Hearing this, Ryuga immediately thought of Archangel Michael.
This Archangel seemed extremely excited about his own existence as well.
"According to doctrine, we of the good camp will surely triumph, so there's no need for excessive worry."
"Of course, with Lord Ahura absent, many lack confidence."
"Therefore, the vast majority of gods aren't ready to face the end times yet. The gods' daily drills are to wait for the day the end arrives, to thoroughly defeat all evil and darkness under Lord Patriarch's leadership and achieve final peace."
Verethragna's patient explanation allowed Ryuga to quickly verify his own hypothesis.
The Divine Realm's mythological repetition isn't endless—they're all waiting for some destined conclusion.
Just as most eschatologies describe, the day of conclusion will be a grand war where only the victors will be allowed peace and happiness, and the universe will embark on a completely new path on the day of conclusion.
"So it seems the Divine Realm's birth wasn't coincidental... The Divine Realm exists to respond to eschatological crises and complete destruction."
Thinking this, Ryuga glanced around and was slightly stunned.
It seems his arrival had indeed brought destruction.
At least, that's how it appeared to the Divine Realm.
No wonder Verethragna kept suspecting he had come for the final judgment...
Thinking in reverse, Zeus's attempt to become the One True God, though born of ambitious desire for power, might also have contained elements of accumulating strength to resist the end times.
"Do you have any clues about when the final judgment will arrive?"
Understanding this situation, Ryuga immediately asked.
As the Lord of Mythology, though eschatology might not immediately affect him, it was still a subject worthy of focused research.
At any level of world, death is an eternal topic.
"No."
Verethragna answered decisively.
"The only certainty is that the final judgment will definitely not arrive without warning as sudden destruction, but as an end that affects all worlds. That is the destined conclusion, inviolable and unstoppable. As long as one upholds goodness and maintains righteousness, one will surely cross this disaster and reach the most benevolent paradise!"
As a deity of Zoroastrianism, he naturally had absolute faith in his own cosmological view.
However, Ryuga maintained a skeptical attitude toward this claim.
Zoroastrianism's condition for surviving the end times is upholding pure goodness, Christianity's condition for surviving the end times is faith in God, Norse mythology gives humans no choice at all and is destined for destruction, while other pantheons have entirely different standards.
If the end really does arrive one day, these methods will likely be completely useless.
"I understand."
Nodding slightly, Ryuga kept this matter in mind.
Then, he raised the Salvation God Blade.
"Then farewell."
"Farewell, Lord Patriarch."
Verethragna closed his eyes, offering no resistance whatsoever.
The long blade pierced through his chest, slaying the final remaining god of the Divine Realm.
With the Ex-Machina's help, Verethragna's primordial divine core was quickly analyzed completely and floated to Ryuga's hand.
The Zoroastrian mythological collection "Avesta" before Ryuga immediately radiated brilliant light and was completely perfected.
At this point, Ryuga finally completed the achievement of sweeping through the Divine Realm, becoming the true Lord of the Divine Realm.
After reintegrating all mythologies, Ryuga opened his eyes and looked at the ruins before him.
He said: "Let there be gods."
Thus, when Verethragna opened his eyes again, the entire Divine Realm had completely returned to its former appearance.
All gods returned to their positions, the Divine Realm became prosperous again, and even those divine-era residents returned to their original positions.
The sun god Mithra, whom he had personally witnessed being pierced by Jibril's divine strike, had now reappeared on the earth.
"Truly worthy of Lord Patriarch's power to even revive gods!"
Verethragna exclaimed, then looked at the golden sword in his hand and suddenly felt somewhat regretful.
"I should have requested to challenge Lord Patriarch earlier. The current Lord Patriarch is probably even stronger than when we first met, right?"
Who knows just how strong he could become.
To be continued…