Picture this: two brothers arguing over a game.

  Sounds pretty normal, right?

  Except these aren't just any brothers.

  They're Khaliq and Iblis - honest-to-goodness gods. The kind that breathe life into universes when they're bored and extinguish stars when they're annoyed.

  Khaliq, the older one, creates stuff. Worlds, life, beauty - the works.

  Iblis? He's all about breaking things. And right now, as he lounges across a nebula like it's a cosmic couch, he's butting heads with his brother over their favorite toy: humanity.

  "Come on, bro," Iblis whines, twirling a galaxy on his finger until its spiral arms blur together. "Your humans are getting boring. Same patterns, same mistakes, same predictable outcomes. Let's spice things up!"

  Khaliq sighs, the sound rippling through dimensions.

  He's been through this before. "Your idea of 'spice' usually ends with everything on fire and me spending eons cleaning up your mess."

  But Iblis isn't backing down. He grins like a kid who's just found matches.

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  "How about a bet? We each pick some champions, throw 'em into a world, and see who comes out on top? Winner gets bragging rights for the next millennium."

  Khaliq knows he shouldn't agree. Last time they had a "friendly competition," it ended with dinosaurs going extinct.

  But if he doesn't, Iblis might just go and blow up a solar system for fun. "Fine," he grumbles. "But I get to pick the world."

  So they choose their players.

  Iblis goes for the heavy hitters - conquerors, tyrants, real nasty pieces of work. Alexander, Caesar, Genghis Khan - history's most ruthless winners, plucked from their timelines at the height of their power.

  Khaliq picks thinkers and strategists. Nostradamus, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu - those who won with brains as much as brawn.

  But here's the kicker: Khaliq leaves one spot open. "My last champion," he says, with that infuriating all-knowing smile gods seem born with, "will be a wildcard. Someone from Earth, chosen after the game starts."

  Iblis laughs so hard he nearly chokes on a star. "Oh man, you're still such a softie! Fine, have your random human. It'll make winning even sweeter when my chosen legends crush your little surprise contestant."

  As they set up their cosmic chessboard - a world called Naaim - neither god notices a flicker in the space between realities. They don't hear a man dying on a cold street, bleeding out from a mugger's blade, screaming at the uncaring sky:

  "Give me another shot! I'll show them all what real power looks like! I'll become the kind of monster they'll wish they never created!"

  And just like that, the game is on.

  Gods, legends, and one furious aikido teacher named Aven Zai, all thrown together in a world where the rules of reality are bent toward conflict and power.

  Who's gonna win?

  Hey, your guess is as good as mine.

  But one thing's for sure - it's gonna be one hell of a bloodbath.

  And the gods? They might just regret picking this particular human as their pawn.