Midnight at Mount Othrys. The hall was thick with anticipation. Iapetus shifted his weight, his voice a low rumble. "Are you sure Lord Hyperion will come today?"
"Yes," Pallas answered, his gaze steady. "He sent the messenger himself. He will arrive at any moment."
As if summoned by the words, an intense, blinding orb of light crashed onto the peak. As the radiance dimmed, it revealed a muscular man with fiery golden hair and a groomed moustache, clad in golden armour inscribed with a sun motif.
Everyone in the hall bowed deeply. "Welcome, Lord Hyperion."
Hyperion waved a dismissive hand. A line of servants stepped forward, bearing ornate chests. "Gifts from the Star Forge," he proclaimed, his voice echoing with disinterest. "Enhanced weapons and artefacts for the war."
The Titans moved forward, opening the chests. Iapetus lifted out a cloth blacker than midnight. A servant explained, "The Invisibility Cloak. Channel your energy into it, and it will render whatever it covers unseen."
Atlas retrieved two massive golden gauntlets. "The Gauntlets of Aegaeon," the servant continued. "They multiply the wearer's physical power." Atlas slipped them on. The metal, initially loose, shimmered and contracted, moulding itself perfectly to his arms.
Krios lifted a pendant where stars and constellations swirled in a miniature cosmos. "The Celestra," the servant said. Krios's fingers instinctively traced a pattern on its surface, and a faint, shimmering aura of strength enveloped him. "Its blessings shift with the constellations you draw."
Lastly, Koios took a silver ring, its surface embedded with glowing runes. "Axisborn. It allows the wielder to manipulate alignment and perceive thought." Koios slid it onto his right index finger. A foreign, insightful energy flowed up his arm, and for a moment, the hidden intentions in the room felt as clear as spoken words.
They bowed again. "Thank you, Lord Hyperion. We are indebted."
"Trivial," Hyperion said, his gaze already drifting toward the exit. "Pallas. When does this war end?"
Pallas straightened. "According to our scouts, they attack at dawn with their full force from the south and east. Tomorrow, Lord Hyperion."
"Hmm." Hyperion stroked his moustache. Without another word, he turned, his servants flowing behind him like a golden tide. "Then I take my leave."
---
Dawn broke over a scarred plain. Zeus and Kratos led the remaining Olympus army of sky warriors, human soldiers, eagles, and gryphons, and marched toward the Southern Pillar. Waiting for them was a force many times their size. Dragons and wyverns blackened the sky. At the pillar's peak, Iapetus and Krios stood watch, while below, Menoetius commanded the Titan legions.
The Olympus army hadn't even finished its deployment when a battle horn shattered the air.
Dragons dove, breathing iron-melting fire. Eagles and gryphons climbed to meet them in a chaotic ballet of claws and flame. A shower of arrows darkened the sky, cutting down soldiers who burned or were pierced before they could raise their shields.
Zeus gritted his teeth and raised his hand. The weather twisted to his will, becoming a localised thunderstorm. A howling wind rose, tearing arrows from their flight and sending lesser dragons and wyverns tumbling from the sky like dry leaves. Yet, for his own men, the gale was a firm but guiding hand at their backs, pushing them forward while the enemy struggled against its fury.
Kratos saw the opening. "Charge!" he roared. The Olympians lowered their shields and surged forward, protected by their lord's storm.
From his position, Menoetius's eyes narrowed. The Underworld Legion is absent. Their numbers are thin. We only have to be wary of the Crimson Death and Zeus himself. He raised his sword, and another horn blared.
His archers dipped their arrowheads into pots of thick, black pitch and ignited them. Their eyes locked on Menoetius. He watched the advancing army, his expression calculating. "Now!" A barrage of fire arrows arced into the sky.
Kratos halted, watching the burning shots get battered by the wind. Is he a fool? The arrows cannot— A strong, oily, chemical smell hit his nostrils. He crouched, pressing a finger into the wet soil. A sticky, black substance clung to his skin. His eyes widened.
"Fall back!" Kratos's shout was a raw, desperate command, but it was too late.
The first arrow landed. A sea of raging fire erupted across the battlefield, spreading with impossible speed, fed by the wind and the pitch-soaked ground. The wails of his soldiers were swallowed by the inferno. The smell of burning meat and hair choked the air.
Kratos tore his own smoldering armor from his chest. His gaze swept over a landscape of flame and charred corpses. Jaw tight, he adjusted his arm band, gripped his axe, and charged into the fire, a lone god piercing the enemy's front line. He began a dance of death, his axe a blur.
Suddenly, a knife flew toward his throat. Kratos deflected it with a flick of his axe. From the ranks, Menoetius emerged, clad in thick, form-fitting armour, a sharp sword in his hand. He walked forward, a grim smile on his face.
"I have heard too much about you. Crimson Death."
Kratos met his advance, his voice a low growl. "Then let me show you why."
"Yes," Menoetius said, his smile vanishing. "The stories end here."
Menoetius struck first, a blinding charge ending in a radiant arc that tore through the air. Kratos caught the blow on his axe, the collision shaking the ground and splintering the earth at their feet. Sparks flew. Dust rose. Menoetius pressed with precise, disciplined strikes, testing Kratos's defence. Kratos countered with brute, unstoppable swings that turned the air itself into a weapon.
Strength clashed with precision. Kratos drove his shoulder forward, forcing Menoetius back. The Titan spun, his sword cutting a shallow line across Kratos's side. Blood spilled, but Kratos didn't slow. He retaliated with a heavy overhead strike. Menoetius raised his sword to block, and the impact drove him to one knee, the ground cracking beneath him.
They rose, breathing harshly, eyes locked.
High above, Zeus's fist clenched, veins bulging on his arm. He raised his own sword and rode the storm. Thunder converged on the blade, sheathing it in raw, sizzling power. He charged, ready to annihilate the Titan army in one sweep.
Krios's hand was a blur on the Celestra. He drew the Cancer constellation. A shadow of the crab formed behind him, and his defence multiplied. He stepped to the edge of the pillar.
Celestial Mantle.
A vast canopy of starry sky unfolded, covering the battlefield and meeting Zeus's thunderous strike. The mantle held, but spiderwebs of light crackled across its surface, threatening to shatter.
Krios stared down at the King of Gods. "Your fight is with us, boy."
Zeus was startled. "Us?"
"Aaahhhh!"
A blade, unseen, pierced clean through his back from behind. Zeus convulsed, releasing a thunderous shockwave in all directions. Iapetus shimmered into visibility, leaping back from the blast. Zeus ripped the sword from his back, the blade dripping with his golden ichor. He channelled divine energy into the deep wound, but the flesh refused to knit together.
Iapetus vanished again, his voice echoing. "It is no use, Zeus. A wound from my blade cannot be undone."
At the same time, Krios drew the Gemini constellation on the Celestra. A shadow of the twins cast behind him, and an invisible surge of power and speed flowed to his cloaked brother.
Lightning Armour.
Zeus cloaked himself in sizzling golden plates of lightning, his sword now blazing with blue energy. Iapetus struck again from invisibility, but this time, Zeus parried. Their blades met again and again, shockwaves rippling out from each clash.
Krios then drew Sagittarius and Scorpio. The shadows of the archer and the scorpion manifested, focusing his power. He joined his hands and slowly pulled them apart, a malevolent purple star forming between his palms. He snapped his fingers.
Star Bolts.
The star fractured into hundreds of purple arrows that hurled toward Zeus from unpredictable trajectories and angles.
Zeus raised his bruised, ichor-stained hand.
Thundervein.
A wide network of high-voltage lightning shot from his arm, striking the bolts. Most exploded in bursts of purple energy, but a dozen slipped through the net. They struck his shoulders and chest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions gravely burned his skin. A cold, violet poison immediately began to spread from the wounds, searing through his veins. His lightning, once a torrent, now felt sluggish.
"Heuk-" He coughed, a spatter of violet-tinged ichor spotting his lips.
Iapetus concentrated his mortality-divinity into his blade and struck. Zeus instinctively threw up a Thunder Cloak, but Iapetus's lethal edge pierced it like paper. With no other choice, Zeus threw up his right arm. The blade sheared through it cleanly at the forearm and grazed his chest.
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" Zeus screamed, grabbing his severed stump. The buff from Gemini wore off, and Iapetus's speed dropped. Zeus dodged the next slash and drove a kick into his stomach, sending him flying backwards into Krios's arms.
THUNDER!
A rain of lightning struck Zeus. It coursed over his Lightning Armour, his eyes radiating pure power. The energy converged on his amputated arm, materialising into a solid, blazing spear of golden lightning. With a roar of pain and fury, he hurled it at the two Titans.
Krios, with the swiftness of Pisces, pushed Iapetus aside and twisted his own body. The lance grazed his shoulder, missing them by a hair's breadth. It flew on, straight toward Iapetus. Near him, Menoetius was locked in combat with Kratos. His gaze fell on the lightning lance.
"Father! Behind you!" Menoetius roared. He abandoned his duel and threw himself in front of the lightning spear, his own sword raised in a futile, final block. The spear consumed him utterly.
"Aaaaahhhh!!!" His scream was cut short as his body was incinerated.
Simultaneously, the high-voltage energy of the lance grounded itself, surging outwards in a tree-like explosion of lightning that drowned the entire battlefield. Friend and foe alike were electrocuted where they stood. Kratos's body seized as the current hit him, and his vision went black. As he collapsed, a pool of unnatural darkness swelled beneath him, and skeletal hands emerged to grasp his unconscious form, pulling him into the void.
Zeus breathed in ragged, painful gasps. The poison had spread completely, turning his skin a deep, sickly blue. With his last ounce of strength, he crushed a purple crystal in his hand. A portal tore open beside him and swallowed him whole.
On the ground, Iapetus scrambled to the scorched patch of earth that was his son. He fell to his knees, shaking the lifeless, blackened form. "Menoetius! Wake up! See, your father has come!"
Krios landed beside him, his hand already glowing with the warm, green light of the Virgo constellation. He poured all his healing energy into the corpse. Again and again, he traced the symbol, but the light simply faded into the charred flesh, doing nothing. He finally stopped, his face grim, and placed a hand on the sobbing Iapetus's shoulder. "Iapetus… he is gone."
Iapetus's head snapped up, his eyes burning with a grief so raw it seemed to scorch the air. "Shut your mouth!" he snarled, his voice cracking. "He can't leave me."