I spent months training in silence.
I no longer focused solely on the spear. I studied the sword, the dagger, the axe, the hammer not to master them, but to understand them, their stances, their flow, their weakness. I wanted to know how to counter them to strip down their pride and reveal the openings behind their strength.
By the end of it, my body moved like water, and my hands knew how to kill in a dozen ways.
When I entered the war chamber, Hecate was waiting, arms crossed, her eyes focused on the map.
"Our third target," she said, "is Noctandrath. Very little is known about him only that he's a floating giant eyeball that wanders the far northwest valleys. There are whispers he once held the strength to face Cardinal titans. We don't know his full power… but we know one thing: he's a great variable. Which means he must be eliminated."
I nodded, already shifting into my Black Phoenix form. Hecate mounted, and we soared together into the swirling winds of the far northwest.
I dove into the deep valleys barren lands where the air itself swirled with darkness. Shadows clung to the jagged cliffs, and in the narrow caves below, demonic creatures glared from shadows. Wailing ghosts echoed with chilling, sorrowful cries that clawed at the soul.
Whenever I stared into the shadows, the creatures shrank back, retreating deeper into the ravines.
To locate Noctandrath, I invoked my Secret divinity. The moment I sensed his presence, I accelerated toward his position without hesitation.
Hovering over a half-decayed corpse, I saw him. A grotesque, floating eyeball with thousands of twitching tentacles. His limbs had latched onto the corpse, slowly absorbing its remaining essence like a leech draining life.
But the moment as he sensed us he vanished, teleporting away.
I called upon my secret divinity again to trace his new position, and we followed swiftly.
We reached him once more.
This time, I didn't speak. I simply inhaled and exhaled a blue flare, a breath of icy flame meant to burn beyond flesh and into the soul.
But again, he teleported.
The chase continued. Over and over, I tracked him, and over and over, he slipped away, until finally, he tore through the fabric of reality and escaped into another dimension.
Drained, both mentally and spiritually, we found a nearby cave.
There, beneath the cold stone and silence, we rested for a while.
But,
Suddenly
A flash of light.
No warning. No sound.
Just a sudden, blinding brilliance a piercing beam that cut through shadow like a spear.
---
When I opened my eyes… I was on my throne.
My head was heavy.
A crown rested upon it. Black and ancient, the symbol of my kingship. Around me stretched the halls of the Underworld.
But they were empty.
No Hecate.
No souls.
No shadows.
Only silence.
Confused, I stood and left the palace, ascending to the mortal world.
I walked through cities, valleys, deserts. Then… I saw her.
A woman flying quietly under moonlight, holding a warm, glowing lamp in her hand.
Blonde hair. Kind aura. Familiar.
Hestia.
"Sister!" I called, flying toward her.
She turned.
And screamed.
She screamed like she had seen death itself.
"A MONSTER! A DEMON! ZEUS!! HELP ME!!"
She ran toward Olympus, her cries echoing through the air.
Before I could follow, a lightning spear tore through the clouds and struck me in the chest, throwing me back. I gasped, stunned.
I looked up. And there he was.
Zeus.
"You monster!" he roared. "How dare you harass my sister?!"
I was frozen in disbelief.
"What are you saying? I'm Hades! I'm your brother!"
But the gods began to appear one by one Poseidon, Metis, Prometheus, Themis, Demeter, Hera and other gods and in their eyes, they only see me as a beast.
"He lies!"
"Look at him! That's not a god that's a curse!"
"End him now!"
I reached out with my divine perception, trying to see the truth behind their words. But all I felt was disgust, fear, hate, sin.
"Why are you doing this, I am your own brother"
And then Hestia looked at me with a twisted expression of revulsion.
"Brother? How can a monster like you be my brother? Is this your new trick?"
The sky cracked as everyone attacks rained down upon me. I fought back barely but their combined might was crushing.
Then came the blade.
Not from the front.
But the back.
I felt cold steel pierce through my spine.
I turned… and my entire soul shattered.
Rhea.
My mother.
Her expression was one of joy, like she had accomplished something glorious. She pulled the sword from my back with no hesitation, raising it for the final blow.
And in that instant, I used what little strength I had to teleport myself back to the Underworld.
I collapsed into the throne, bleeding, gasping, soul fractured.
All around me, the palace pulsed with a strange presence like something watching. Like something waiting.
Suddenly strange and low and deep voices echoing in my ears.
'Why do you hold back…?'
'Why do you still trust them…?'
'They called you a monster.'
'Your own family members whom you care most attack you without any hesitation'
'Do you forgot what your divinity show you, how they look at you. Disgust. Hate. Fear.'
'Your own mother stabbed you in the back. Don't you remember her face how bright smile is as she accomplished something grand.'
'Whole world is like that. They will never accept you even your mother.'
Whispers clawed at my mind I try to refuse this all. But deep down… I agreed.
"Yes…They betrayed me. Tried to kill me."
The voices rose in unison, dark and furious.
'Then show them what a true monster is.'