At the bottom of the cavern, where the light of Olympus barely penetrated and shadows thickened like ink, a presence arose. It did not come with a crash, nor a roar, but like a silent void, an invisible weight compressing the air and space around us.
Then the form appeared. Immense, terrifying, moving like a cloud of flies, it materialized as a grotesque yet majestic being. Beelzebub, Lord of Flies and of Tartarus, had awakened. His translucent wings crackled with dark energy, and his gaze pierced the soul, as a sovereign surveying mere puppets.
The red lycoris pulsed in my chest more fiercely than ever. Siegfried, chained but imposing, remained motionless, his silhouette tense as though weighing every breath in this abyss. Zeus, hovering above the pillar, flinched, but did not retreat. Even the King of Olympus seemed humble before this ancient, subtle, and overwhelming authority.
Beelzebub slowly tilted his head, regarding his guests with icy disdain.
— Gentlemen, he said calmly, your presence here is… incongruous.
Every word echoed in our minds like the cavern itself resonating, each vibration pressing upon our flesh and souls.
— I ask you to leave these places, he continued, and though my words are polite, their reach allows no negotiation.
Zeus furrowed his brows, but his pride did not allow him to step back.
— Who are you to give me orders? he demanded, his voice resonating through the void and into my veins of black stone.
Beelzebub raised a single finger with disdainful grace, and the simple gesture made the pillar of Tartarus tremble.
— I am silence incarnate, he replied. The guardian of what must not speak, of what must not exist beyond the chains of Tartarus. Your disorder and arrogance are offenses to the order I have forged since the world's beginning.
The lycoris in my chest flared, burning brighter than ever.
— I never sought silence, I whispered. But I will not leave. Not now. Not here.
Beelzebub tilted his head as a master judging an insolent child.
— Audacity… fascinating. But you do not understand. Here, the laws of rebellion and Olympus hold no sway. Your strength is ephemeral, your existence fragile… yet I can give you a lesson more… concrete.
Before we could react, he made a subtle gesture. The air vibrated, the ground seemed to dissolve beneath our feet, and a whirlpool of shadow and black light enveloped us. We were no longer bound to the pillar, nor to the burning ground of Tartarus. The cavern vanished like a mirage.
But what followed was worse: we were not transported together.
Zeus was hurled into a realm of emerald clouds and storming lightning.
Siegfried was drawn into a labyrinth of black flames, where ether chains seemed to coil around his mind.
As for me, Jormund, I fell into an abyss of black crystal and incandescent rocks, where the lycoris burned in my chest like a glowing warning.
— Where… where are we? Siegfried stammered, unable to move in his new environment, the vibrating chains around him.
— Where you will learn the true meaning of silence… and of order, resonated Beelzebub's voice directly into our minds, distinct for each of us.
Each realm seemed designed to test us individually. Each bore the mark of its invisible author, a personalized trial to measure our resistance, our rage, and our will to survive.
— Return, Beelzebub said one last time, and you will find silence… or its death.
The vortex dissipated, leaving us isolated, each in an unknown domain. Tartarus and its secrets now seemed more inaccessible than ever.
The lycoris in my chest still burned, but it was no longer a mere flame: it was a signal, a warning, and above all, a promise of vengeance and return. The silent war, the struggle against imposed order, had just entered a new dimension… and we were alone.