The battlefield was silent.
Tartarus was sealed. The battle was over.
Just empty.
The door to Tartarus was reformed, the battlefield void of life. Left behind were only the remnants of war. And in the middle of it all was Kael.
He lay on his back, his forearm covering his eyes as he wept uncontrollably. The weight of everything came at him at once. It felt like he was trapped in a nightmare he couldn't wake from.
He was crying for so long that he lost track of time—maybe it was just a minute, maybe hours.
eventually, he ran out of tears, so he removed his arm from his face and stared up at nothing.
Everything felt empty. Not just the battlefield—but himself.
He felt hollow.
He didn't want to move. He just wanted to lay here.
Then Cyrus came out from the shadows to break the silence. Licking away the tears, he pressed his nose up against Kael's cheek.
"C'mon, let's go, Kael," Cyrus growled.
He didn't answer. He just lay there, staring at nothing.
"Kael."
"No. Let me be alone for a while."
"But it's not safe here."
"I can't go back. What will I tell Mother? I'd rather die here than face her. It's better if I just lay here and die."
Cyrus understood his pain, so he just lay there next to him.
"I wish I was dead. So I didn't have to experience all this emotion."
"I can't go back," Kael whispered, his voice now softer. "What am I supposed to tell her?"
Just thinking about it made him break down again.
Cyrus' ears twitched, but he said nothing.
He let out a hollow laugh—void of humor, filled only with pain. "She's been waiting for him all this time. And I… I killed him." His voice cracked, but he kept speaking. "I'd rather die here than face her." His breath became uneven. "It's better if I just lay here… and let it end."
Cyrus' tail flicked, his body tense. But instead of arguing, he simply lay beside Kael, pressing against him in quiet support.
He felt a sharp pain in his chest. He turned to face Cyrus, his voice now a whisper.
"I wish I was dead."
"If I were dead, I wouldn't have to feel all this emotion."
And with that, Kael closed his eyes, letting the weight of it all consume him.
After a while, just laying there, he finally sat up.
As soon as he did, a sharp pain hit him in the heart. He fell to his knees.
His vision turned red. His head felt like it was about to explode.
His blood boiled, as if lava coursed through his veins.
He started coughing up blood. His throat burned. He couldn't stop vomiting—it just kept coming, thick and endless, filling his lungs with fire. His organs pressed and twisted, knotting together, spinning like they were being devoured from the inside.
Blood rushed through his veins too fast. His body swelled, then—
POP.
His veins ruptured.
Blood burst out of his veins and body like a sprinkler.
He tried to get up, but he couldn't move. His body wouldn't listen to him. Then—
SNAP. SNAP.
His bones cracked, as if his own muscles were squeezing, pressing, smashing, and crushing them.
He let out an agonizing scream so loud it shook the Underworld.
His limbs broke and reformed. His fingers, legs, and hands twisted unnaturally.
The only thing he could hear was his own screams—and the sound of his bones shattering and rebuilding.
Then—
More.
SNAP.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
His body broke. Reformed. Broke again.
His limbs twisted, reshaped, bent at unnatural angles.
Kael crawled across the ground, screaming in pain. Shadows slithered toward him, wrapping around his body layer by layer.
His screams stopped as the darkness swallowed him whole, forming a caterpillar-like cocoon.
Cyrus was changing too.
Dark tendrils wrapped around him, his body quivering with violent energy. His fur blackened, streaks of crimson glowing through his skin. His wings stretched wider, jagged, lethal. His claws sharpened into obsidian blades.
Hades' power was too great.
Too overwhelming.
Kael's body couldn't handle it.
So it had to change. It had to adapt.
His body evolved in response to Hades' power, becoming the perfect vessel for a god.
The darkness of the Underworld slithered toward him, absorbed by the cocoon as his transformation continued.
The cocoon thumped like a heartbeat, vibrating throughout the Underworld. Each pulse attracted different kinds of beasts and monsters. Hades was gone, his throne empty, and without a god, the barriers weakened. Weak monsters slithered and crawled through the cracks. Until Kael's transformation is complete, the Underworld stood powerless, unclaimed.
"Stop him" Kronos shouted from behind the door.
Cyrus, in his newly transformed state, stood guard, protecting it.
Day 1
A group of Cyclopes crawled out of the door. They were huge, their single giant eyes gleaming, their thick skin unyielding, their massive arms powerful.
Their eyes locked onto the cocoon.
They moved to attack—
But they were no match for Cyrus.
With a single swipe, he tore them into pieces.
Day 2
The next day, a massive serpent-like dragon appeared.
Like the Cyclopes before it, it fell just as fast.
Cyrus was faster. Stronger.
Days passed, and more monsters appeared—multi-headed serpents, a Minotaur, harpies.
Each day, more and more monsters arrived.
As Cyrus killed the monsters, Kael's cocoon absorbed them.
Day by day, the monsters kept coming.
Slowly, Cyrus grew exhausted from fighting nonstop for days without rest.
Day 7
A group of serpent like dragons wrapped around Cyrus, but they were no match for him.
He bit through one's throat, tearing it apart.
A Cyclops swung its massive club as Cyrus tried to leap up, but it struck his wing, sanding him crashing to the ground.
The harpies swarmed, their claws slicing through his flesh.
A hydra spat venomous acid—he dodged, but the Cyclops struck again, sanding him flying into the wall.
Cyrus struggled to stand, blood dripping from his wounds.
The Cyclopes raised their clubs, ready to end him.
But just as they swung—
Cyrus vanished into the shadows.
Khronos' laughter echoed.
"End him. Wipe out the last of Hades' bloodline."
The monsters turned toward the cocoon.
The harpies lunged, their talons aimed to tear it apart—
Then—
CRACK.
A hand burst from the cocoon, grabbing one of harpies by the throat—
And snapped its neck.
"Damn, Gramps, do you ever shut up"
Slowly, a tall figure stepped out.
First, his hand.
Then, his foot.
Then—Kael fully emerged from the cocoon, his body covered in layers of shadowy skin with the Helm of Darkness covering his face.
For a moment, the battlefield was silent.
The remaining monsters froze, their eyes locked onto the being before them.
Kael lifted a hand.
With a snap of his fingers, the entire battlefield turned pitch black.
The monsters screamed—but only for a second.
Then—
Silence.
With a single strike from his sword, the darkness devoured them.
They were gone.
Nothing remained.
The new god had awakened.