Ikki took a deep breath, feeling the electricity still crackling on his skin as he stepped forward, leaving behind what remained of Ladon—nothing but a disturbing silence in the garden that the dragon had once protected.
His feet crushed the grass beneath them as he walked toward Thalia and Zoë, who stood a little further ahead, watching the scene in shock.
Zoë's eyes were fixed on the empty space where Ladon should have been. Her body was rigid, her lips slightly parted, but no words came out. It was a silence heavy with grief.
Ikki stopped before her.
"Let's go," he said simply. "We still have to climb the mountain…"
Zoë didn't respond immediately. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and her expression was somber. It wasn't just sadness; it was a silent mourning, an internal conflict between duty and pain.
"I… cared for him…" she murmured softly, almost to herself.
Ikki understood. Ladon wasn't just a guardian to her. He had been a part of her old life, a link, in a way, to the past she had abandoned. Now, that link had been destroyed by her own hands… by his hands.
"I know," he said, not justifying himself, not trying to soften what had happened.
Zoë closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then, she opened them again and looked at Ikki. Her gaze was still sad, but also resolute.
"We had no choice," her voice was firm now. "If we want to save Lady Artemis, then we must continue…"
Ikki nodded and then looked at Thalia, who was watching the scene without saying a word. She sighed and crossed her arms.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's just get this over with."
Ikki turned and started to climb the mountain, feeling the presence of the two close behind. There was still a long way to go, but one thing was certain: they could no longer turn back.
At the top of the mountain, ruins rose like specters of the past. Blocks of granite and black marble were scattered like the wreckage of a forgotten civilization, some as large as entire houses. Broken columns pointed to the sky like skeletal fingers, and bronze statues, once majestic, were now deformed, as if melted under intense heat. The air carried the smell of burnt stone and something metallic, like scrap iron exposed to a storm.
Ikki ascended alongside Thalia and Zoë, his blue eyes shining intensely as he assessed the scene.
Thalia observed everything with apprehension, her voice emerging in a whisper laden with fear:
"The ruins of Mount Othrys…"
Zoë, beside her, kept her eyes wide. Her tone was serious and worried:
"Yes… This is bad. It wasn't here before."
The presence of that titanic fortress on the mountain was an ominous portent, a sign that ancient forces were awakening once more.
"The Titans' fortress in the mountains…" Zoë continued, her voice heavy with tension. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was torn to pieces."
Thalia glanced around, cautiously assessing the scene, as if expecting something to emerge from the rubble.
"But… how is it here?"
Zoë took a deep breath, her gaze filled with concern.
"It moves the same way Olympus does," she explained. "It always exists on the borders of civilization. But the fact that it's here, on this mountain, is not good."
Thalia frowned, her fingers instinctively closing around her spear.
"Why?"
Zoë hesitated for a moment, as if afraid to say aloud what she already knew.
"This is Atlas's mountain," she murmured, and then her expression changed drastically. A shiver ran through her body. "Where he holds…" Her voice faltered. "Where he *used* to hold the sky…"
Ikki felt a tightness in his chest upon hearing those words.
He didn't know what he expected to see when he reached the top, but something inside him became uneasy, a premonition as heavy as lead.
When they finally reached the peak, the scene before them made his blood run cold.
A vortex of gray clouds spun furiously, forming a chaotic whirlwind in the sky. Its weight, however, did not rest upon the earth, but upon a fragile figure.
A twelve-year-old girl, with reddish-brown hair and a torn silver dress, knelt under the crushing burden of the sky. Her body trembled, her knees barely supporting the weight, and her arms were shaking, but her gaze remained firm, defiant.
The Sky.
It was more than just a weight.
It was the principle of creation, the point where the primordial forces of the universe intertwined. The space where Uranus, the Sky, and Gaia, the Earth, gave birth to their children, the powerful Titans, who shaped the history of Earth. And now, the Sky—an entity not only of force, but of origin—rose, compressing everything around it with its infinitely ancient and crushing power.
Someone had to hold it, or it would collapse upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything else within a radius of over four hundred miles. And once you held the burden, there was no escape.
"My lady!" Zoë darted forward, the pain evident in her voice.
But Artemis tried to stop her, her breathing ragged.
"Stop!" she commanded with visible effort. "It's a trap. You must go now…"
Her voice was weak and exhausted. Sweat covered her forehead, and her small body was bent under the force she was bearing. They had never seen a goddess suffering in this way. The weight of the sky wasn't just physical—it was a prison, a punishment that could destroy even a deity.
Artemis felt the crushing weight of the sky on her shoulders, each second seeming like an eternity. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and her vision flickered between reality and exhaustion. She had already accepted that her situation was hopeless—the sky wasn't something one could simply push away, and every moment there drained her strength.
Then, footsteps approached.
She looked up, expecting to see Zoë, perhaps one of her other Hunters… But when her gaze met that pair of sapphire blue eyes, her heart skipped an unexpected beat.
Ikki.
He was there.
Her first instinct was guilt. He shouldn't be here. He should be far away from this, he should have continued his journey without getting involved in this conflict of the gods. But there he was, standing, staring at her with an intensity that made her forget the weight on her back for a brief instant.
Relief came soon after, so strong it almost made her falter. He had come. He was there to help her.
A million emotions crossed her face in a matter of seconds. Guilt, happiness, surprise, perhaps even a touch of something deeper that she didn't dare name.
For a moment, tears threatened to form in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly, refusing to let them fall. Not in front of him.
Zoë bit her lip, her eyes shining with tears. Without hesitation, she ran forward, pulling at the chains that bound Artemis, as if she could free her with her own strength.
Then, a deep voice, laden with sarcasm, echoed through the air, interrupting the moment.
"Oh, how touching."
Everyone turned at once.
There, standing with a satisfied and cruel smile, was the General. His brown silk suit seemed out of place amidst the destruction, but his presence exuded an undeniable threat. Beside him, Ethan Nakamura watched the scene with cold eyes, while half a dozen dracaenae carried a golden sarcophagus—an omen of something much worse about to happen.
"The Hunters' lieutenant shedding tears for her lady. But tell me, Zoë… does it really matter? In the end, you'll all be just forgotten dust in the corners of history."
Beside him, Ethan Nakamura watched silently, his sharp eyes analyzing each of them. The half-dozen dracaenae held the golden sarcophagus firmly, their forked tongues flickering as they watched the demigods like predators about to attack.
Thalia clenched her fists, her breathing heavy.
"What's inside there?" she snarled, pointing at the sarcophagus.
The General smiled, a cruel glint in his eyes.
"Oh, this? Just a gift for the world… A rebirth awaited for millennia. Something you won't live to see."
"You want us to stand here arguing while Artemis suffers?" Ikki said coldly, his voice charged with electricity. "If you want a fight, let's get this over with."
The General chuckled.
"Oh, boy… You think you can change anything here? That you can fight a Titan and emerge victorious?"
The air grew tense. The wind howled among the ruins of Othrys, the clouds swirling with an energy charged with danger.
Ikki narrowed his eyes.
"I don't think. I *know*."
As he affirmed, his eyes flashed.
The energy around him began to vibrate, the atmosphere heavy as if the sky itself were awaiting his command. He extended his hand, his fingers curved toward the horizon.
With a smooth movement, the air around him began to spin, as if he were commanding the winds flowing from the mountains and the dark clouds. The pressure increased rapidly, and before anyone could react, a colossal wave of wind rose, forming an immense, invisible wall.
The force of the wind condensed around the General's group, surrounding them in a furious whirlwind. The sound of the roaring hurricane was deafening, like the scream of an uncontrollable storm. Razor-sharp air currents, fast as blades, sliced through the space with force, creating an impenetrable barrier that separated them from Ikki and his group.
The dracaenae screamed, being tossed from side to side by the hurricane, while Ethan tried to use his sword to cut through the wind. The General, however, seemed calmer, watching the scene with a crooked smile.
The hurricane spun around them, its winds now turbulent and relentless, trapping the enemies within, a prison of air and force.
Thalia watched wide-eyed as the hurricane Ikki created swirled around them. The wind howled, violently pushing everything in its path. The sound of the whirlwind was deafening, but there was something deeply calm about the way he controlled the storm. The tension in the air dissipated as the circle of wind closed around the General and his allies.
Zoë, beside her, watched with a mixture of admiration and worry, knowing it wouldn't hold her father for long.
The goddess was still there beside her, exhausted, the pressure of the sky still weighing on her shoulders, but her eyes, though tired, shone with a light of recognition.
And then, she smiled. It was a weak smile, pained, almost imperceptible, but it was impossible not to notice. An expression of relief crossed her face, even as the pain of exhaustion threatened to render her unconscious.
While the three had their own reactions, with a swift and agile movement, Ikki moved away from the hurricane that still held the enemies immersed. He knew he couldn't waste any more time. Artemis still needed to be freed from the sky.
He quickly appeared in front of Artemis. A myriad of emotions crossed his gaze as he saw her in that state—weakness, suffering, something that should never be associated with her.
The fury within him burned like a storm about to explode, but deep down, he knew the truth. That rage was a reflection of the love he felt for her—a love planted by fate, forged by forces beyond his will. But it wasn't real. He knew that. And for that reason, he controlled himself.
With firm steps, Ikki advanced, feeling the tension in the air. He moved around Artemis, stopping behind her. Gently, but with unwavering firmness, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed against the icy, heavy clouds.
"I'll take care of this…"
The moment he took the weight of the Sky upon himself, Artemis gasped and collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Her body trembled from the effort, and Zoë immediately rushed to her side.
When he held the Sky, the sensation was instantaneous: the heaviest thing he had ever felt, as if he were being compressed by a crushing force, stronger than any enemy he had ever faced. It wasn't physical pain, but an oppressive weight that consumed every muscle in his body. It was as if all of creation were in his hands, and he was the only one capable of withstanding the pressure.
"Take her away from here," Ikki commanded, his voice firm.
Zoë hesitated for a second, but nodded and began to help Artemis to her feet, who soon began to recover at a rapid pace.
Meanwhile, Ikki looked at the chains that still bound the fallen goddess's wrists. Without hesitation, he raised his foot and stomped on them with force. A crash echoed through the mountain as the chains shattered in a flash of electricity. [Lightning] roared through him, and the chains were reduced to dust in an instant.
On the other side, the General extended his arm and, with a swift and precise movement, launched a powerful punch towards the hurricane encircling his group. The impact was colossal, the air distorting around the blow, and in an instant the hurricane was crushed, dissipating as if it were a mirage before the General's overwhelming force.
As the wind calmed, the General's eyes fixed on Ikki, who now held the Sky, a monumental task. The smile on his face widened, more pleased with the difficulty of the moment than with true victory.
The General watched the scene with a satisfied smile. His eyes gleamed with triumph.
"Exactly as planned…" he murmured.
Due to his heightened senses, Ikki realized.
This was the plan. To trap him under the Sky just as Atlas had been imprisoned.
But if they thought that would work on him, they were completely mistaken.
A smile appeared on his lips as he used only one hand to hold the sky. With his other hand free, Ikki made a quick, almost imperceptible movement, bringing it down near his waist and taking the stance of someone about to throw a punch, slightly crouched, using his elbow and arm to support the weight of the world. Then, he shot his other fist towards the Sky with all his might for the first time in his life.
The punch landed squarely.
The impact was so powerful that the sound of his fist reverberated through space, as if time itself had stopped for a second.
The Sky, which had threatened to crush everything around it, completely disintegrated, pieces of energy and light dissipating into space as if the very essence of creation had been ripped away. The released energy was so intense that it illuminated the horizon, creating an explosion of light that spread to the stars.
The impact traveled through the firmament, spreading like a shockwave, striking one of Jupiter's moons and a part of the planet which disintegrated with the pressure, vanishing from the solar system.
The silence after the explosion was almost absolute, a sense of emptiness hanging over the mountain.
Ikki cracked his neck, his movements calm and measured, as if the feat were nothing more than another step along the way.
His eyes were fixed on the horizon towards the destroyed sky. The particles of this concept were absorbed by his [Conceptual Void], granting him enlightenment on the concept of [Sky], which filled another 1% of the void in his soul. He had mastered yet another concept. Now he could say that the [Sky] was his domain, and he could be considered similar to Uranus, who was the embodiment of this concept.
He turned his attention back to the people present.
Zoë and Thalia were paralyzed, their eyes fixed on Ikki, unable to fully process what had just happened. The shock was evident on their faces, as if the world had slowed down around them. Zoë, who had always been an unflappable warrior, had her lips parted, speechless, and Thalia was completely stunned, her hands still gripping her spear, which she had summoned earlier in the heat of battle upon seeing the General destroy the hurricane, but her gaze was fixed on Ikki's imposing figure.
The General, who always believed he had control of the situation, was perplexed. His eyes narrowed as he tried to rationalize what was happening. He had seen many powerful warriors in his life, but this… this was something completely different. Something he hadn't expected, not even in his worst nightmares.
"Impossible…" he murmured to himself, his expression overflowing with shock.
Beside him, Ethan Nakamura was completely frozen. His eyes widened, and dread began to creep through his body. He had never imagined that a demigod could possess such destructive force.
The thought that a mere demigod held this power made his stomach churn. It was greater than any divine force he had been taught to respect. Kronos knew what he was doing when he sent Luke to assist the General… but now, everything seemed to be spiraling out of control. Ikki's presence had altered the Titan of Time's plans, and he'd been sent as a replacement.
The dracaenae, who had been defeated by the hurricane earlier, were all on the ground, motionless and frozen in horror. Their bodies were covered in frost, as if the mere act of looking at Ikki had stolen their strength. They, creatures of war and terror, were now terrified and subdued by the demigod's presence. Even with their immortality, they were completely powerless before the power emanating from him.
Meanwhile, Artemis, still slightly weak from the crushing weight of the Sky, watched the scene with a resigned smile. She never ceased to be surprised by Ikki.
Every time she thought he couldn't surprise her anymore, he went further, showing more of his strength.