The Weight of the Throne
The skies above Mount Oryx remained quiet, the wind brushing against the crumbled stones and broken divinity like whispers of a storm yet to come.
Megumi stood where the throne of Cronos once was — now dust scattered across ancient rock.
Across from him knelt the titan himself, head bowed not in defeat, but in something far heavier: regret.
Cronos looked up at the Fallen King with hollow, time-worn eyes.
"Is this what peace looks like, Megumi Valentine?" the titan asked softly. "To be feared by gods and pitied by titans?"
Megumi stared into the horizon, his golden eyes glowing faintly. "Peace died the day the gods murdered Ava and my unborn child."
He turned to Cronos, his voice calm, but with a buried storm behind every syllable.
"I don't need your pity. I need you to go back to Olympus."
Cronos blinked in surprise. "What?"
"You've shown weakness to them," Megumi said. "Let that weakness linger. Let them doubt you. Let them believe they've lost your will to fight."
"Are you asking me to spy on my sons?"
"I'm asking you to atone. For everything. Help me stop them before the world burns."
Cronos bowed his head once more — this time, in solemn agreement.
With a shimmer of golden light, the Titan King vanished, returning to Olympus.
⸻
Megumi exhaled slowly.
The power that now lived within him pulsed with quiet rage — eager, hungry, divine.
But he wasn't.
He turned to Leonidas, who stood in silence behind him, arms crossed, the weight of their war beginning to crush even his ageless shoulders.
"I need your help," Megumi said.
Leonidas raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't ask for help anymore."
Megumi gave a tired smile. "I'm learning."
Leonidas nodded. "Say the word."
"I need you to hide them," Megumi said, his voice steady. "Nyx. Medusa. They can't be part of this fight. Not now. Not against the gods. Not against the titans."
Leonidas's brows furrowed. "They'll never agree."
"They don't have to," Megumi replied. "They trusted me once. I need them to trust me now more than ever."
Leonidas walked forward, standing beside Megumi as he looked to the sky.
"I know a place," Leonidas said. "Hidden far away another dimension of sorts. Even the gods won't sense them there."
"Good," Megumi said. "Do it soon. They'll come for us again—and next time, it won't just be force. It'll be strategy. Assassins. Mind games. Fear."
Leonidas rested a hand on Megumi's shoulder. "You're carrying the weight of a crown no one can see, boy."
"I know," Megumi replied. "But I'll carry it alone if I have to."
As the sun began to rise behind them, casting golden light across the blood-soaked stones of Mount Oryx, Megumi closed his eyes.
Let them come.
I am the judgement the gods fear
I AM THE FALLEN KING.