The Ghost Rises Again

*** Wow, the story is blowing up huh. Thanks for reading and supporting this story. So Here's banger of a bonus I prepared for you folks. I tried to write battle properly as possible. Hope it was good enough. Next chapter drops in 24 hours. Enjoy. ***

Equip: Avenger.

Edward's soft words fell like thunder across the clearing. Everyone had been ignoring him , thinking he would be easy prey with the 4 gods present.

How wrong they were.

The four gods present—Ares, Heracles, Artemis, and Hermes all turned their gaze toward the man standing there, now surrounded by a flash of light. Hippolyta was shocked when she looked towards the place where Edward stood, and whatever else stood there now in his place surrounded by blue lightning flashes.

The calm and carefree demeanor he had worn so long evaporated, replaced by something terrifying, something primal.

Edward's handsome face turned pale, almost ghostly white. Muscles beneath his skin bulged and rippled like a storm stirring in the flesh. A ghostly streak of crimson painted the left side of his face, mirrored on his chest. The faint light of dawn flickered against the Spartan armor now clinging to his muscular frame.

When his eyes reopened, the warm, gentle light that had lived there was gone, replaced by a cold fury burning deep and unrelenting.

On his back, two blades materialized, oddly shaped and chained, their rattling not a gentle chime but the mournful tolling of funeral bells.

Hippolyta stared, shocked. The man she had seen as charming and approachable was now something far different. He was a warrior born anew, a ghost risen from the ashes.

Ares stepped forward, curiosity mingling with challenge in his voice. "So, the rumors were true. You possess more than a single soul. And judging by your armor, you come from Sparta, my dominion. You think a mere Spartan can stand before the gods? You think a costume and some cheap trickery—"

He couldn't finish the sentence.

Before he could finish, Edward's body vanished from sight with a violent burst of wind.

Boom!

Suddenly, he appeared right before Ares, his hand clamping down on the god's face like iron jaws.

Ares didn't have time to react. One moment he was speaking. The next, Edward's hand was crushing his face. The God of War's helmet cracked instantly from the force. With one mighty swing, Edward drove Ares into the rocky ground.

CRACK!

The war god's eyes widened—surprise twisting into pure, cold fear. Edward's grip tightened, and then with brutal force, he slammed Ares' head deeper into the jagged ground.

Crack.

The earth beneath them groaned and fractured, the island trembling violently, stones splintering and fissures spider-webbing out from the impact. Trees shuddered as if caught in an unseen quake.

Ares coughed, blood spattering from his mouth as a muffled groan escaped his lips. He was planted deep within the earth. The single blow filled with rage would have knocked out an ordinary god. But it only managed to injure him deeply.

Heracles' eyes widened in shock, Artemis gasped, and Hermes, ever the swift one, leapt back with a splash of sweat pouring from his brow. "I am supposed to be the fastest god of Olympus, yet I didn't even see him move. What… what kind of monster is he?"

Artemis was the first to recover, her eyes narrowing with fury and alarm. She leapt backward, stringing an arrow and firing with a sharp feminine cry, "Unhand him, mortal!"

Edward's gaze sharpened as the arrows sped toward him, glinting lethal in the morning light. With a simple flick, his blade deflected the volley, the metal ringing with deadly precision. His voice cut through the tension, deep and cold. "Very well."

Before any could react, Edward vanished again, a blur too fast for any god to follow.

Artemis gasped. Too late.

Her eyes widened in shock as he appeared before her instantly . Without hesitation, Edward's fist shot forward, crashing into her abdomen with merciless power.

Bang!

The sickening crunch of breaking ribs echoed through the air as Artemis let out a pained shriek. Her body was thrown back like a ragdoll, crashing through trees and boulders, tearing through the landscape until she landed deep within a mountain crevice, motionless.

Heracles roared in fury and charged, wielding his massive stone sword with deadly force. The ground shook beneath his steps, his rage palpable.

Edward did not flinch. Without turning, he raised a single hand and caught the enormous weapon with ease. The air tightened, the very essence of strength and power pressing against his grip, but it held firm.

Heracles' blood ran cold, panic flickering in his eyes as he struggled fruitlessly to wrest back his sword. He launched his whole body to kick Edward away, but he only pushed him back a few steps, but he managed to break his sword free from his grasp.

"Who the hell are you, bastard?" He bellowed, voice cracking with fury and disbelief.

Edward's voice was a low, chilling whisper that sent shivers through the very bones of the gods present.

"I am the Ghost of Sparta. But you can call me Kratos, your doom."

****

Heracles froze for a split second, confusion flashing in his eyes. He didn't understand the name and didn't care. But something deep within him recoiled. The cold fury in Edward's voice, the unnatural weight of that name, made his blood turn.

But Heracles was a god. A warrior. He roared and launched forward again with primal strength, swinging the sword with both hands now in a wide arc aimed to cleave Edward in half.

Heracles roared, charging with fury, his massive stone sword raised overhead. "You bastard!" he bellowed. "Face me properly!"

Edward met it with his chains.

CLANG—CRRRACK!

The twin blades caught the edge of Heracles' weapon mid-swing. Sparks exploded as metal screamed against metal. For a second, they were locked — brute divine strength against cursed fury.

Then Edward twisted.

He slid one blade down Heracles' weapon, sidestepped, and slammed his knee into Heracles' stomach.

BOOM!

The impact echoed like a cannon blast. Heracles coughed blood instantly, the force folding him forward. Before he could fall, Edward spun his body and whipped both chained blades around his torso, locking the god in place. He grabbed the giant sword firmly once again.

Heracles staggered, caught in disbelief . The sheer force behind Edward's grip froze the demigod's instincts. Edward's form pulsed with power—his aura was no longer just that of a man but wrath incarnate. His knuckles whitened around the sword's edge as veins throbbed with surging rage, and in the blink of an eye—

Crack!

He snapped the stone blade in half like twigs. Heracles barely had time to register what happened before Edward's fist found his face.

Boom!

The ground exploded beneath Heracles as he was driven into the earth like a meteor, rock and soil erupting around him. Blood and bits of broken teeth sprayed around . Heracles staggered, wide-eyed, but didn't get the chance to recover. Edward turned, raised his leg, and kicked him square in the chest.

THOOM!

The force launched Heracles like a cannonball. He flew across the air, plowing through the island's jungle, tearing through trees and rock as if they were paper. His crash landing sent up a plume of dirt visible for miles.

Hermes clapped his hands together, summoning his caduceus. "Tch… This guy's no joke. Looks like I'll have to get serious."

He blurred, zig-zagging across the battlefield in streaks of gold, appearing behind Edward, then beside him, then above. "Let's see you block this—"

Before he could finish the move, a chained blade lashed out like a serpent and wrapped around his leg.

Hermes's eyes went wide. "What the—!?"

Edward yanked hard.

SLAM!

Hermes's body smashed against the ground with bone-rattling force.

SLAM!

Again.

SLAM!

And again.

On the final swing, Edward flung him across the field like a ragdoll, and Hermes bounced off the terrain like a skipping rock before slamming into a cliffside and disappearing into the dust.

Silence fell.

Only the crackle of broken earth and the distant groans of the downed gods remained.

Edward stood tall above the cratered ground, his chest rising and falling with slow, ominous breaths. The chains on his back slithered to life, coiling down his arms like sentient serpents. He turned slowly toward the last standing god—Hermes.

Hermes had always been quick, always confident in his speed. But now… fear crept into his bones. His instincts screamed to run, to vanish, to put half the world between him and this creature. But even as he turned, a shadow loomed beside him.

Too late.

Edward's hand grabbed his ankle mid-flight.

"No ....Please.." Hermes began to shout, but his voice was cut off as Edward hurled him downward.

Smash!

The messenger god's lithe form bounced against a cliffside, then another, ricocheting violently before slamming into a marble column. Blood streaked the white stone. Hermes tried to get up, wings twitching on his sandals, dazed.

Edward walked toward him like a force of nature. Each step cracked the ground. The once-golden armor of the gods was now smeared with dirt, blood, and dread. Hermes raised a trembling hand, trying to call on his divine power—

But Edward was already there.

He seized Hermes by the throat, lifting him high into the air.

"You gods… all bark. No bite," Edward scoffed.

Then came the punch.

A single, brutal punch—hooked clean across Hermes' jaw. The force sent the god's body flying into the ocean with a sonic boom, waves splitting outward as if Poseidon himself had struck the sea. A geyser of saltwater erupted skyward as Hermes disappeared into the depths.

"Hermes!" Artemis shouted as she made her way back from the wreckage of mountain stone. Blood stained her silver robes. Her bow cracked along its spine. But rage and pride burned in her divine veins.

She leapt into the air and loosed three glowing arrows in rapid succession, each blessed by the moon's fury. They whistled like screaming spirits toward Edward's chest.

Kratos didn't dodge.

He caught all three with his bare hand.

With one flick of his wrist, he crushed the divine arrows into splinters.

Artemis froze mid-air—just as Kratos leapt up to meet her.

Boom!

They collided in the sky. His fist drove into her sternum, knocking the wind from her lungs. Then another strike—this time a vicious backhand that split her lip and sent her careening back down, trailing silver blood.

She hit the ground with a deafening crash, carving a trench into the earth as her body tumbled and skidded through rock and root.

Hippolyta watched from the sidelines, stunned into silence.

She had seen men fight. She had fought many heroes.

She had seen gods war against mortals, and mortals pray for a painless death.

But this? This was no man. No mortal. Not anymore.

This was a reaper in flesh. A punishment from the very depths of Tartarus itself.

Edward or rather Kratos—turned toward her for a moment. His eyes were still cold, but something in them flickered. Just for a moment. Recognition? Restraint?

Surprisingly, despite the fury and blood, she could see the same eyes she saw last night. Unfathomable, yet so lonely.

But there was no time.

The ground exploded as Ares rose from the crater Edward had slammed him into. Blood poured down his forehead. His armor dented. Fury burned in his eyes.

"You dare humiliate me?!" he roared, veins bulging as he raised his war axe, now engulfed in divine flame.

"I AM WAR ITSELF!"

Edward raised both hands. The Blades of Chaos burned brighter.

Then the two titans collided.

Clang! Clash! Crack!

Their weapons met mid-air with a boom that shattered the air like glass. Every strike was a cannon blast. Every movement shook the island.

Ares brought down his flaming axe, aiming for Edward's' head—but he just rolled under it, slashed with his left blade, then spun and smashed his right into Ares' ribs.

The War God coughed blood and retaliated with a shoulder slam—but Edward didn't move.

Instead, he caught Ares' shoulder mid-slam, twisted, and slammed him into the dirt again.

The ground split open. Lava cracked beneath them.

"You call yourself God of War?" Edward growled. "You know nothing of war."

Ares screamed, summoning a barrage of ethereal weapons—spears, swords, axes—all raining down like meteors.

Edward jumped into the air, spinning his blades like a cyclone. Each divine weapon shattered on impact as he roared upward.

Ares was already above him, charging with his axe again.

Edward let the god attack as if watching a toddler trying to fight him.

Then, mid-air, he grabbed Ares' arm, broke it with a snap—

—and with his other hand, sliced the blade of Chaos across Ares' chest in an X-shaped gash that glowed with searing heat.

Ares screamed in agony.

The two came crashing back to earth in a tangled mass of fire, blood, and fury.

BOOOOM.

The crater left behind smoked and burned. Half the island looked like it had been hit by a cataclysm.

Edward stepped from the smoke. His armor cracked. His body slightly bloodied—but unshaken.

He dragged Ares behind him by the hair, the War God barely conscious.

"I killed you once," Edward scoffed, dragging the limp form forward like a butcher hauling a carcass. "And I'll do it again."

He raised his blade, but a sudden flash of light halted his strike.

Artemis fired a barrage of arrows once more—each of them empowered by divine wrath. She had risen again, cracked but not broken.

"You will not lay another hand on him!" she shouted.

Edward turned toward her with a tired grunt and threw Ares' broken body at her like a sack of rocks.

The impact sent both gods tumbling into the trees.

Hermes, who had been taken out earlier rose from the rubbles, then vanished faster than anybody could blink. Edward looked coldly at the god who fled and spat out some blood, " This is what passes for a god? God's here are pitifully weak."

Heracles had reemerged from the ocean as well, his body steaming, eyes wild with rage. "I won't lose to a man! I am the son of Zeus!"

Edward looked to the sky and roared, "Then die like your father will."

Heracles rushed again, bellowing with all his strength.

Edward didn't wait and met him with the Blades of Chaos. 

The first strike cut off Heracles's left hand. Golden blood flowed like a fountain. But Heracles didn't stop . With a beastly roar , He swung his right Arm. 

Edward caught it Effortlessly and twisted it. Heracles howled in pain as Edward pulled strongly, ripping out the arm. Heracles , the god of strength and the greatest of Greek heroes, was crying in pain now. He barely spoke with his broken jaw," Stop.... spare me.."

Edward looked at him with disgust and spoke, "That's all? When you enslaved the Amazons, didn't they also plead mercy? And you want mercy now? Well, here's your mercy, son of Zeus." He gripped his neck firmly and twisted it. A shockwave of power erupted from the location.

Snap!

The sound rang through the surroundings. Ares and Artemis looked with fear as Edward threw away Heracles's lifeless body without any emotion. He looked toward Hippolyta who was standing far and spoke roughly,"Give a piece of cloth woman. my hands are dirty."

Hippolyta: Eh?

She was dumbfounded for a moment before realizing Edwards was speaking to her. She was in far too much shock to process the situation. She absent mindedly searched for any piece of cloth but couldn't find any. She gritted her teeth and took off the inner clothes she had wrapped around her chest under the armor and threw it Edward.

Edwards took the cloth and wiped his hand from the remains of Heracles, then wiped his blades. He turned towards the remaining 2 gods and spoke," What are you waiting for? the battle is over only when one of us is standing."

Then, softly, he turned back toward the sun.

"Zeus sends his children to do his dirty work," Edward muttered, voice cold and emotionless. "I wonder… will he come himself next time?"

Ares and Artemis thought in their mind at the same time as they heard his words, "What kind of monster have we unleashed upon ourselves?"