Mount Othrys lay cold and desolate, a barren wasteland stretching endlessly into ruin.
Inside the temple, Kronos—his hair and beard grown wild like tangled weeds—huddled in the shadows behind a table, tilting his head back as he poured wine down his throat.
"Bang!"
Having drained the jug, the irritable Titan King hurled the exquisite golden vessel to the ground and roared.
"Wine! Where are they all? Bring this king more wine!"
"Don't stop! Keep it coming—drink and rejoice!"
But the palace remained silent. In his drunken haze, Kronos fumbled blindly across the table.
He found another lopsided jug and shook it gently. Hearing the faint slosh of liquid, his eyes lit up. Grinning, he raised it to his lips.
Before he could drink, a hand reached from behind and snatched it away.
"Enough! Look at yourself!"
Rhea, the Queen of the Gods, clad in an elegant gown, glared at her wine-soaked husband. She tossed the jug aside, her brows drawn in deep furrows.
"How did you get out here? Go back to your chambers!"
Kronos blinked open his bleary, bloodshot eyes and fixed his wife with a furious, shadowed gaze.
"Open your eyes, fool! Your attendants, your soldiers—they've long since abandoned you."
"Now, not a single guard remains on this mountain."
Rhea pointed coldly toward the courtyard, covered in fallen leaves.
Kronos's gaze swept outward. The nymphs who once poured wine, the warriors who once sparred—gone without a trace. Only a few Titan divine spirits still lingered, but they too had lost all will to fight.
"You too would betray me? Begone! All of you, begone!"
His bloodshot eyes burned like a cornered beast. With a furious snarl, Kronos overturned the table and smashed it into the floor.
Splinters and stone shards scattered, one grazing across Rhea's brow and drawing blood.
Yet the Queen of the Gods made no move to wipe it away. She simply looked coldly at her husband, who masked his terror with violence.
"I won't leave. I'll watch you fall—step by step—at the hands of my child."
"I'll see with my own eyes that your choice was wrong."
Rhea glanced down at him with disdain, her eyes gleaming with contempt.
"Hmph. He hasn't even arrived, and you're already trembling. If you kneel before that child and repent, I may plead for your sake."
"But tell me—are you still the man who once cowered before our Father alongside our siblings, yet dared to take the scythe from Mother's hand and castrate Uranus?"
Her scorn pierced straight through Kronos's pride. His fury exploded as he leapt up, seized Rhea by the collar, and roared, his eyes streaked with blood.
"Repent?! I am the ruler of Greece! I always have been!"
"If he wants my throne, let him come and take it!"
Boom!
Suddenly, silver lightning split the sky, branching endlessly above Mount Othrys. A solemn, overwhelming decree thundered down.
Three days hence, at the Sea of Oceanus—the final battle.
Good! You rebellious wretch, daring to challenge this king!
The Titan King's veins bulged as his pallid face twisted into a savage grimace.
"And my brothers and sisters? Have they all abandoned me too?"
Rhea folded her arms, her tone detached and cold.
"Oceanus, Tethys, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Theia, Hyperion, Coeus, Themis, and I—nine of the Twelve Titans—have all withdrawn from Mount Othrys."
"Only Iapetus, Titan of Souls, and Crius, Titan of the Heavens, still remain at your side."
Kronos clutched half his face, his features twitching before he burst into manic laughter.
"Iapetus, Crius—good! Good! Truly brothers worthy of me!"
"I will rally every divine spirit still bound by Titan order. Then let these rotten branches see who truly rules the world!"
Rhea's brow arched as she regarded her husband's cruel grin.
"With just the three of you?"
Kronos's eyes gleamed darkly. He swung his arm down with sudden clarity.
"Enough! More than enough! The Nine will not fight for me, nor will they serve that bastard son of mine wholeheartedly."
"But if I win, they'll kneel before me once more!"
His fingers curled, and with a wrenching pull he drew from the shadows a monstrous scythe—its blade forged from volcanic stone deep within the earth by the hands of the Cyclopes.
"Vrrrm!"
Kronos roared, slamming the black scythe into the ground. Gray-black waves of ether surged upward, shredding the thunderclouds above in torrents of destruction.
"Just wait! I will crush their pride! I will make those treacherous brats kneel before me!"
His fighting spirit fully rekindled, the Titan King gave a cold snort. Without another glance behind him, he strode down the mountain.
Each step struck with weight. Each step carried resolve.
His brothers awaited his call. His armies awaited his command.
Even if he marched toward his fall, he still walked as the world's former king.
Zeus—the throne is here. If you want it, come and take it!
At the portico of Mount Othrys's temple, Rhea leaned against a column, watching her husband depart. A shimmer of tears welled in her eyes.
He was her children's father, yet also her husband...
...
Outside the Arima Caverns, Samael lounged lazily in the sun-dappled forest, half-lidded eyes betraying his indolence.
Zeus truly has patience. To personally lower himself, persuading the pillars of Mount Othrys one by one...
And for what? He's kept me waiting two months, while I've fretted over whether Her Majesty the Queen of the Gods might expose herself.
Until Metis moves into her new nest and sways Zeus's judgment, I have to stay cautious.
When will this end? I just want to study. I just want to talk law with Themis.
The ancient serpent grumbled inwardly. But when the name of the Goddess of Justice crossed his mind, the one who had already tasted forbidden sweetness couldn't help but drift into fantasies.
Study—for the sake of study!
Samael dressed up excuses even he didn't believe, trying to cover that red-and-black glint of a lecherous heart, daydreaming instead about the next "study session."
Then, suddenly, the flow of energy shifted. A suffocating stillness fell over the world. The ancient serpent snapped his eyes open, vertical pupils narrowing sharply.
Across the vast heavens, countless stars streaked with blazing tails, tearing through the night.
Thunder, storms, flame, and brilliance interwove, painting the sky like a vast canvas of divine war.
The serpent's eyes gleamed, a smirk tugging at his lips.
At last... the battle of the gods had begun.
...
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