Chapter 45: TheFirst Strike
The halls of Olympus had never been so silent.
The gods who once ruled as one now stood divided.
The war beyond the divine plane raged on—Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon fought against the Outer Gods, their power shaking the very foundation of existence.
And here, in the heart of Olympus, betrayal was taking root.
Because the gods could no longer watch.
They had to act.
The Betrayer Revealed
It was not Hera.
It was not Athena.
It was Apollo.
The god of the sun, of prophecy, of light—he had seen what was coming.
And he had made his choice.
Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon had become something beyond Olympus.
If they continued down this path, there would be no place left for the other gods.
And Apollo refused to be left behind.
So he acted first.
Before Olympus could decide.
Before anyone else could stop him.
He raised his hand, and the sun itself burned with his fury.
And for the first time in history, a god of Olympus struck against one of their own.
The Wrath of the Sun
The attack did not come as a single bolt of fire.
It came as a command.
A divine order, woven into the very fabric of the cosmos.
The sun obeyed Apollo as it always had—
But this time, it was not shining.
It was burning.
A spear of light, vast enough to split worlds apart, surged from the heavens.
It was not aimed at Olympus.
It was not aimed at the divine plane.
It was aimed at the war beyond gods.
At Hades.
At Zeus.
At Poseidon.
Apollo was not just betraying them.
He was trying to erase them.
Demeter's Breaking Point
Demeter watched in horror.
She had not spoken.
She had not chosen.
She had stood in silence, torn between Olympus and Hades.
But now?
Now, she knew.
Because she could still feel him.
Even across the void, even with Apollo's strike racing toward him, she felt Hades.
And she realized something terrifying.
She did not want to lose him.
Before she could think, before she could question, before she could stop herself—
She moved.
Faster than she ever had before.
Faster than even the gods around her could react.
The Defense of the End
The spear of the sun raced toward Hades.
The power of light, of prophecy, of a god who had ruled the heavens since the beginning—
It was meant to end him.
But before it could strike—
It met something else.
A single golden barrier, woven from the essence of life itself.
A power Apollo had not expected.
Demeter stood before him, her hands raised, her eyes burning.
The sun stopped.
The attack shattered.
And in that moment, Olympus was broken.
Because Demeter had chosen her side.
And it was not with the gods.
Foreshadowing: The True War Begins
The first attack had been made.
And now, Olympus was at war.
Not just against the Outer Gods.
Not just against the unknown.
But against itself.
Because Demeter had defied Apollo.
And soon, more gods would be forced to choose.
Would they stand with Olympus?
Or would they stand with the three who had stepped beyond gods?