Chapter 13

The battle had begun. The moment Zeus gave the command, the heavens trembled, and war erupted like a violent storm. I snapped the reins, and my chariot surged forward, my steeds galloping through the battlefield. All around me, the gods and titans clashed, a cacophony of roars, battle cries, and the clash of steel filling the air.

Cain and Abel weaved through the shadows, their daggers gleaming as they darted between the towering forms of the Titans, striking at tendons and joints like relentless wasps. They were small, insignificant compared to the hulking forms they fought, but their precision and speed made them a nuisance that even the Titans couldn't ignore.

Brontes and his brothers rampaged through the battlefield, their massive hammers and fists shattering kneecaps and sending shockwaves through the earth. Briareus and Cottereus had transformed into their full hundred-handed forms, their sheer size now rivaling the Titans themselves. With terrifying strength, they hurled boulders the size of temples, each one crashing into their enemies with bone-shattering force.

Zeus stood atop a crag of broken rock, his thunderbolt crackling in his grasp as he hurled it with divine fury, sending arcs of lightning searing through the battlefield. Hera fought beside him, her golden spear flashing as she danced through the chaos, each strike precise and lethal. Hestia's torch burned with an ethereal flame, scorching any Titan foolish enough to come near her. Demeter swung her wickedly curved scythe in wide, sweeping arcs, cutting through the ranks of the enemy with practiced ease. Even the nymphs and the war goats had joined the fray, their once gentle forms now filled with a primal rage as they gored and slashed at the enemy.

But for all our might, it was clear that this was not a battle that could be won in the traditional sense. No matter how many times we struck them down, the Titans refused to stay down. Limbs regrow, wounds closed, and they kept coming, relentless and unyielding. Zeus's grand strategy wasn't to kill them—an impossible task—but to beat them into submission, to wear them down until they could be bound in unbreakable Adamantine chains. A solid plan, if not for the fact that we were fighting beings who could take an endless beating and still stand tall.

My fingers curled around the hilt of my sword before I spun it in my grasp, the metal shifting and warping until it morphed into a recurve bow. Shadows congealed at my fingertips, forming a single arrow, its tip pulsing with raw, condensed darkness.

I drew back the bowstring, feeling the tension vibrate through my arms, and released. The arrow cut through the air, whistling as it transformed mid-flight into a massive lance of pure shadow. It sailed through the chaos before embedding itself into the thick, sinewy neck of Perses, the Titan of Destruction.

He roared in pain, the sound shaking the very air, and reached up to tear the arrow from his flesh. The moment his fingers grasped it, the darkness dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind no wound.

His fiery eyes locked onto mine. "You want to play, little god?!" he bellowed, his voice a thunderclap across the battlefield. "Then get ready to be the first to die!"

I smirked. "Then come and try."

Perses charged, his massive form barreling toward me like an avalanche. I didn't hesitate. "Alastor!" I barked. My lead steed whinnied, understanding my command without the need for words. With a powerful leap, my chariot lifted from the ground, galloping into the sky as if the very air was a road beneath our hooves. I planted my feet firmly, my bow already shifting back into my longsword, its black blade gleaming ominously.

As Perses swung a massive fist down at me, I twisted midair, bringing my sword down in a swift arc. The blade sliced cleanly across his kneecap, the force of the blow sending a spray of ichor into the air. The Titan snarled in pain, but he was far from finished. With a furious growl, he slammed his fist downward, his colossal strength obliterating my chariot in a single blow. Wood and metal shattered into splinters, and I had to stabilize myself midair before calling out.

"Abel! Take the reins!"

From the shadows, Abel emerged, his form flickering like a wraith as he leaped onto the remaining harnesses, grabbing hold of the steeds before they could panic. He moved with a fluid grace, quickly regaining control as the horses steadied beneath him. I had no time to ensure his safety—I had my own battle to fight.

I landed on the ground in a low crouch, my blade still humming. Across from me, Perses loomed, his molten eyes burning with rage. He cracked his knuckles before stepping forward. Then, to my surprise, his form began to shrink, his massive frame compressing until he stood at my height, his muscles still rippling with power.

"Alright, let's do this," he said, rolling his shoulders. "My name is Perses, Titan of Destruction. Tell me, little god, who do I have the pleasure of killing today?"

"The god of the Underworld."

"No name?" Perses asked as he stretched.

I tilted my head, smirking. "You don't need to know."

Perses grinned as he laughed. "That you are right, you arrogant brat!" Without hesitation, he lunged forward, his fist rocketing toward my gut.

I leaped back, vanishing into the shadows as my helm of darkness activated, and I became invisible.

Perses swung at me, his massive fists tearing through the air with enough force to shatter mountains, but he struck nothing but darkness. I reappeared behind him, slashing at his exposed back, only for him to whirl around with a roar, swinging his arm in a wide arc. Before his blow could land, I vanished once more, slipping into the void between light and darkness.

He grunted in frustration. "Stop running, you coward! Fight me like a true warrior!"

I laughed, my voice echoing from all around him. "Why would I do that when this is so much fun?" I emerged just long enough to carve a deep gash into his side before disappearing again.

Perses snarled, his molten eyes burning with fury. He swung wildly, trying to catch me mid-step, but I was always just out of reach, flickering in and out of the shadows like a wraith. It was a game of cat and mouse, but I was the one toying with him. His frustration mounted with every missed strike, his roars shaking the battlefield.

"Enough!" he bellowed, his voice like an earthquake. He stopped moving, his massive chest rising and falling as he took a slow, deliberate breath. A shift in the air made my instincts scream in warning. The wild, reckless fury in his stance melted away, replaced by something far more dangerous—calm, controlled destruction.

Black and purple energy crackled around him, his hands darkening as neon-purple veins pulsed up his arms. My grip tightened on my sword. This was different. This was power in its purest, most condensed form. I had seen Titans unleash their night before, but this… this was something else entirely.

Before I could react, he moved. One moment he was standing still, the next he was in front of me, his fist already swinging. I barely had time to shift, to turn my head even slightly, before his knuckles crashed into my helm.

Shattered.

The impact was like being struck by the force of a collapsing mountain. My helm of darkness, an artifact crafted by the mightiest of the Cyclopes, splintered like fragile glass. Pain exploded through my skull as his fist connected with my right eye. I felt it burst—felt the sickening, wet crunch as my vision on that side was ripped away in an instant.

I didn't even have time to scream before I was airborne. The world spun violently as I hurtled backward, my body tumbling across the battlefield like a discarded ragdoll. I crashed through stone and dirt, carving a deep trench into the ground before coming to a jarring halt at the base of a massive tree.

Agony lanced through my skull, my body screaming in protest as I forced myself to move. My hand trembled as I reached up, my fingers pressing against the right side of my face.

Nothing.

A void where my eye had been. A deep, bleeding gash running from my brow down to my cheek. My breath came in ragged gasps as I spat a glob of ichor onto the ground.

"Shit…" I muttered, swaying as I tried to steady myself. My vision blurred, my remaining eye struggling to focus as I lifted my hand, trying to channel my power, trying to heal—

Too slow.

Perses was there before I could react. A shadow loomed over me, and then pain—unrelenting, merciless pain as his heel crashed down onto my chest. The force sent me rocketing backward, my body slamming into the side of Mount Othrys with a deafening boom. The mountain itself trembled from the impact, stone crumbling around me as I was driven deep into the rock.

My lungs refused to work. I gasped, but no air came. My ribs felt like they had caved in, and stars danced in my vision as I struggled to move, to do anything but sink into the suffocating darkness pressing in around me.

Rough hands grabbed me by the throat, yanking me from the crater in the mountain. Perses lifted me effortlessly, his grip tightening as he brought me eye-level with him.

"You really thought you could win?" he sneered, his molten gaze boring into mine. "You gods are nothing but arrogant children, playing at war with beings far beyond your comprehension. You cannot kill us. You cannot defeat us. So tell me, Lord of the Underworld, what was your plan? To annoy me to death?"

I gritted my teeth, blood and ichor dripping from my lips as I met his gaze. "No," I rasped. "Just… to kill you."

Perses let out a booming laugh, shaking his head. "Kill me? We've been at this for hours, and look around you." He gestured with one massive hand, his body still crackling with raw, burning energy. "Your forces are dwindling. Your gods are faltering. We are Titans, eternal and unyielding. You are nothing but upstarts playing at war."

I forced myself to my feet, my body screaming in protest. Around us, the battlefield was a ruin of shattered stone and burning sky, the cries of battle distant yet ever-present. He was right—our army was suffering. Half of them were already gone, while the Titans still stood, their strength seemingly untouched by the passage of time.

Perses smirked as he strode toward me. "Face it, godling. You are outmatched." Without warning, he lashed out, his fist colliding with my ribs. I felt bones crack as I was sent hurtling through the battlefield, crashing through remnants of ancient structures. My body skidded across the ground, leaving a deep trench in my wake.

Before I could rise, he was on me again, lifting me by the throat. "You should have stayed in your pit, Lord of the Dead," he taunted, his grip tightening. "You were never meant for war. Your brothers? Perhaps. But you? You are nothing more than a shadow, skulking in the dark. A coward."

I struggled, gasping for air, but he wasn't done. His molten eyes gleamed with cruel amusement as he leaned in. "And your sisters? Beautiful, just like their mother. Demeter, Hestia, even young Hera… such lovely creatures." His grin turned vile. "I wonder, will they scream like Rhea did when Cronus took her? Will they beg? Will they break?"

Something inside me snapped. This sudden urge to really murder this bastard filed my entire being as I felt my divinity bubble in anger inside me.

A deep, primal rage ignited within me, a wildfire coursing through my veins. My body burned, not with pain, but with power—raw, untamed, and furious. My vision darkened, tinged with crimson, as the ground beneath us cracked and split apart. Shadows coiled and twisted like living creatures, feeding off my wrath. The very air thickened, suffocating and oppressive, bending under the weight of my fury.

Perses staggered back, his smug grin faltering for the first time. "Ah, there it is," he mused, though his voice lacked its previous confidence. "The real you. But even in your divine form, you cannot win."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. Thought had vanished, replaced by instinct, by the singular, undeniable urge to destroy him. I moved—no, I struck—faster than lightning, my fist crashing into his jaw. The impact shattered the sound barrier, sending shockwaves rolling across the battlefield. Perses barely had time to react before I struck again, and again, each blow fueled by something darker than vengeance.

He tried to fight back, but I was relentless. Every strike I landed reshaped the earth beneath us, the battlefield itself quaking under my assault. The sky trembled as I drove him back, his laughter warping into curses, then into pained grunts. And in his molten eyes, I saw something I never thought possible—doubt. Fear.

I had one purpose now: obliterate the Titan of Destruction.

My fists crashed into his face, again and again, his molten ichor spraying across the battlefield. My muscles burned, exhaustion creeping in, but then—

A surge of power erupted through me.

Perses let out a strangled gasp, his body convulsing as black tendrils of power latched onto him. They slithered like hungry vipers, siphoning his very essence, feeding it into me. I felt it—his strength, his destruction—merging with mine. I didn't understand how. I didn't care.

He gasped, eyes wide with horror. "What… what are you—?" His voice cracked, his arrogance crumbling. "S-stop! Please stop this! I'm sorry!"

I didn't stop.

My hand stretched outward, and my divine sword flew into my grasp. The blade's black metal glinted in the light as I spun it, angling the end toward him, savoring the terror reflected in his molten eyes.

With a final, brutal swing, I brought the sword down.

The blade cleaved through his neck, his severed head hitting the ground with a dull thud. But I didn't stop there. I raised the weapon again and drove it into his chest, again and again, completely destroying his heart.

Since Gods are immortal they do not die, depending on the severity of the wound depends if a god will have to seclude themselves and heal or if they will be sent to the void to reform and return later on. But Perses' no, he wasn't that lucky to have either choice. Before my eyes, I watched as his body hardened, turning into stone. Cracks splintered across his flesh, his figure crumbling away, until all that remained of him was dust. He had just become nothing, becoming a part of the universe to never return again.

Silence filled the battlefield as I could feel all eyes on me.

I staggered back, breath ragged, body trembling. And then I felt it—the shift, the change within me. Something foreign, something potent now flowed in my veins. I had not just slain Perses.

I had taken his domain of Destruction, I could feel it, I could feel the domain merging with my body. No, I could feel and see his entire life, all his emotions, thoughts, everything.... I knew everything about Perses and I had no clue what I had done and yet how ecstatic I felt as I stared as the dust was blown away by the wind. 

The war had changed in that instant. The impossible had happened.

A Titan had faded.