The sky split open.

Thunder didn’t roll—it roared, howled, like a beast wounded by fate. The heavens bled crimson as celestial lightning arced through the skies, searing the firmament. Rain poured down, not water, but something heavier—mixed with ash and divine residue. Olympus itself trembled.

High upon the *Altar of Judgement*, chained by glowing celestial runes, knelt a boy.

*Kyrillos*.

Barefoot, beaten, and broken—not by combat, but by betrayal. His once radiant robes were in tatters, his body scorched with marks of restraint, divine bindings pulsing against his skin.

He was seventeen.

The boy once praised as the Prodigy of the Silver Flame, the Heir of the Celestial Phoenix Sect… now a heretic, condemned by those who once toasted his victories.

Around him stood the *Twelve Grand Houses*, their banners flapping wildly in the divine storm. Faces half-shadowed under golden helms and jeweled crowns, yet none dared look him in the eye. Only one figure, hidden in the rear, wept silently behind a silver veil—*Aphrodite*.

Beneath Thalorion, far below the Obsidian Tower where light dared not touch, something ancient began to stir.


The *Leviathan Seed* — buried beneath the city's roots, dormant for centuries — pulsed once. And then again. Its heartbeat synced with the discord above.


Following Niko's tip, Kyrillos laid the trap: Calliope would fake vulnerability. News of her "leaving" the Council due to mistrust was planted. Rumors spread fast.


She offered to "escort" Calliope away from Thalorion.


Along the journey, Alethea subtly poisoned her — not with death, but *disorientation*. Ancient dust from the cult's alchemical trove that blurs memories and causes rage spikes.


But Calliope had taken the counter-agent beforehand. As the hallucinations began, she played along — until Alethea whispered:


*"Once the seed blooms, you'll beg for the end."*


Sophia, still connected to the Heart of Nyx, felt something.


A deep *groan from beneath the city*. A pulse of energy not of this world. It wasn't demonic. It wasn't divine. It was… *hungry*.


She fell into a trance — visions flooding her mind:


- A city swallowed whole by a shadow serpent.


- A *young child*, crying, with *the mark of the Sovereign* — buried alive.


In secret, Kyrillos, Andreas, and Niko intercepted Calliope and Alethea mid-journey.


Alethea, cornered, unleashed *shadowfire techniques* that twisted gravity and burned light. But she was outnumbered — and outmaneuvered.


Before Kyrillos could strike the final blow, Sophia arrived — holding a crystal she'd extracted from the Heart of Nyx.


"I need her alive," Sophia said. "She's the key."


"You think I'm your enemy? I'm just a messenger. You've already lost."


In the lowest chamber beneath Thalorion, deep cracks formed across ancient runes. Black mist seeped upward. Chains that bound the *Leviathan Seed* began to snap.


Chapter 19: The Leviathan Awakens