In Kung Fu, Stephen Chow had a line: "A signal arrow pierces the clouds, and a thousand troops and ten thousand horses come to meet it."
It could not have been more fitting at this moment.
As the only leader-level figure among the evil gods willing to step forward and shoulder the burden, the God of Fear's single command was far more than a mere signal arrow. Once that order was issued, nearly the entire World Ring trembled. Across countless worlds, all manner of evil deities sprang into action.
One deity ruled a world alone, turning the entire place into something like a jar for raising venomous creatures. It advocated nothing but the survival of the fittest, driving every race into frenzied slaughter. Even between parents, children, and siblings, there was not the slightest trace of human feeling. Everyone had only the words "grow stronger" in their minds. Those who became strong enough were ultimately made into divine envoys, becoming an endless reserve of soldiers for it.
Normally, it remained high above, looking down upon the world from the clouds. Every so often, it granted some mortal a fortuitous encounter, nurturing one or two experts with no background or foundation, stirring the waters of the entire world until its structure became ever more chaotic and conflict ever more frequent, so that it could select more suitable candidates.
But today, this lofty deity set out in a panic with more than half of its divine envoys, hurrying to gather near the main material plane in response to the great God of Fear's command.
There was another world where good and evil were reversed and order was in chaos. Its various creatures required no parents, all being born from their affinity with natural magic. They were savage and warlike from birth, regarding