Zenobios, his wife, and his younger brother stood before the towering steel gates of the demon castle. Behind them, Admetus and Daniil still clashed with the dragon guarding the entrance.
"How do we open this?" Athanasia asked, glancing at her husband.
"With force, of course," Areios said without hesitation. Zenobios nodded.
"No other way. We break in."
"Now that's what I like to hear." Areios grinned and swung his battle axe with excitement. "Want me to do it?"
Zenobios thought for a moment, then gave a nod. "Go ahead."
"Hehe…" Areios stepped before the gates, gripping the great axe with both hands. With one swift motion, he brought it crashing down against the steel.
The sound of impact came late, exploding outward in a gust that splashed the moat's waters onto the land. The hinges groaned, the massive gates tore free from the obsidian walls, then toppled inward with a thunderous crash.
For a moment, even the dragon, Admetus, and Daniil froze in awe of such brute force. The gates hit the ground with a quake before battle resumed.
"Always showing off," Zenobios said playfully.
"Can't help it," Areios smirked. "In the mortal realm I'm always preaching. Gets boring at some point."
"Well, I don't mind, haha!"
They stepped into the castle. But waiting inside was another guardian. The fallen gates had crushed one leg of a wyvern, but even wounded, it charged.
Without hesitation Athanasia leapt forward.
"Can't let you men hog all the fun!" she shouted, spinning her scythe mid-air as she dove. The wyvern snapped at her, its jagged teeth glinting.
"Let's trim those ugly fangs," she said in a deceptively sweet voice.
With a flash, her scythe swept clean across its jaws, severing the tips of every tooth. Landing gracefully atop its beak, she balanced there as the wyvern writhed. The pain hit all at once. Screeching, it smashed its skull against the castle walls in agony.
The tremors shook the throne room. Aeonoch lifted his gaze to the swaying chandelier, Euryssa tense beside him.
"They've arrived," he murmured.
"Father, what do we do?" she asked, panic rising.
He didn't answer—only sat deep in thought.
Finally… the Elder God comes to my turf.
***
The wyvern screeched louder, thrashing from the burning pain in its ruined teeth.
"Sigh… troublesome beast," Athanasia muttered, floating down lightly.
"Don't worry, sister, I'll finish it," Areios said.
"Thanks. I just don't want to ruin my robe. Charis dressed me in this before I woke up in Arcadia," she pouted.
"Hahaha!" Zenobios burst out laughing.
"W-What?"
"I was wondering why you didn't just kill it right away. Makes sense now."
"You got a problem with that?" she shot back, cheeks flushing red.
"No, ma'am," Zenobios said quickly, hands raised in surrender, grinning at her fluster.
"Geez, you lovebirds…" Areios rolled his eyes. "Fine. This won't take long."
Charging forward, he hacked through the wyvern's legs with one sweeping strike. The beast roared, flailed its wings, then lifted into the sky, blood raining down like a crimson storm.
"Where do you think you're going?" Areios muttered. He glanced at the walls, gauged his path, then bolted. His sandals gripped the stone as he sprinted straight up the castle wall with godlike speed. At the top of the watchtower, he leapt, the force of his jump launching him toward the fleeing beast.
"It's over. Give up."
He swung his axe upward, the blade tearing through the tail and running all the way to the skull, splitting the wyvern clean in two—like scissors cleaving through cloth. Its body crashed to the ground in a torrent of blood and entrails.
Areios landed and slammed his right fist into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Now that was fun," Areios said, slicking his long hair back with one hand.
"Hmph. Show off," Zenobios muttered.
Areios laughed heartily, "Ahahaha!"
***
The castle doors were surprisingly ornate. Zenobios studied them and muttered,
"I didn't expect demons to care about aesthetics."
"Ha! Everything here has been surprising," Athanasia added. "It's far cleaner than I imagined."
"True enough." Zenobios placed his hand on the door. A moment later, an unseen force hurled it inward.
The massive slab of metal shot straight at Aeonoch, who sat casually on his throne. Without shifting his posture, he lifted a single finger. The door froze inches from his face, then drifted aside as he lowered it neatly into a corner of the throne room.
"It's not courteous to blow down another man's door," Aeonoch said coolly.
Zenobios smirked as he and the others stepped forward, the throne looming at the far end of the vast hall, nearly two Atlantean longships away.
"Well, my bad," Zenobios called, voice echoing across the chamber. "I should've torn this whole castle to ash instead."
Aeonoch's lips curled into a smirk.
The air thickened. A deadly battle was about to begin.