A final, shimmering line connects the stars of the Lyra constellation on the Celestra strapped to Krios's wrist. The pendant hums, its power settling into a complex, interlocking pattern he has spent hours perfecting. A grim smile touches his lips. "With this, the preparation is complete."
A heavy silence falls. The very air grows still and thick, pressing down on the Western Pillar. Then, with a world-splitting crack, the sky tears open. Raging thunder bursts from boiling clouds, and the rain begins to pour in relentless, diagonal sheets.
Krios rises, his movements deliberate. He secures his dark blue armor and grips the hilt of his Wave Blade. He walks to the center of the open ground, his back straight, hands behind him. His gaze is locked on the empty space across from him, waiting.
A blinding flash of lightning strikes the earth. Krios's eyes close against the glare for a single heartbeat. When they open, Zeus stands there. Water streams from his white hair and beard. He is clad in golden armor, his sleek, white prosthetic arm gleaming in the storm-light. His eyes, burning with fury, fix on Krios.
"Krios!" Zeus's voice booms, cutting through the storm's roar. "Today, I will settle our final battle!"
Krios doesn't answer. His fingers fly to the Celestra, tracing the Sagittarius constellation. A shadow of a centaur archer manifests behind him, drawing a bow of pure starlight. In his palm, a miniature star ignites, then fractures into a hundred arrows of condensed light.
'Stellar Arrow.'
He hurls the volley forward. But Zeus is already moving, a golden blur, his prosthetic arm crackling with blue lightning. He leaps high, punching not at Krios, but at the air between them.
'Aeroblast!' 'Thunder Vein!'
An intense pressure of air, visible as a shockwave, rips across the ground. Through its core, high-voltage lightning veins snake forward.
The two forces collide. The explosion demolishes the ground, cracking the stone foundation of the pillar. Small puddles vanish into steam. Dust and pebbles are blasted in all directions.
Zeus is blown backward but twists in mid-air, landing in a crouch. Krios skids back, but his fingers are already tracing the Cancer constellation. A shadow of a giant crab forms behind him, its shell glowing. The defense buff absorbs the worst of the impact.
'No time to recover. He's too fast.' In an instant, Krios draws Capricorn. The shadow of the sea-goat appears, and the world slows to a crawl. Raindrops hang like diamonds in the air. He steals a glance at Zeus, who is already beginning another charge, his prosthetic arm a beacon of gathering power.
'Two seconds. That's all I get.' He doesn't waste a millisecond. In the stretched-out time, his finger flies across the Celestra, weaving three constellations into a single, glorious command.
'Gemini + Libra + Virgo = Astral Harmony.'
Three exact copies of himself blink into existence around him. Then, the Capricorn's effect snaps. Time rushes back in.
In a blink, Zeus is beside him, the lightning-clad fist driving toward his face.
'Astral Step.'
Krios moves with a hair's breadth to spare, his feet landing on the air itself, each step leaving a fleeting, blue ethereal glow. His clones instantly surround Zeus, their Wave Blades poised to pierce his armor.
"Tch!" Zeus clicks his tongue in frustration. No room to swing. No clear shot. With a roar, he diverts the punch, smashing his fist into the ground. A catastrophic lightning burst erupts at his feet, the concussive force vaporizing two clones and throwing the others back.
The blast rips through the air, shaking the mountain's edge. Krios skids across the shattered tiles, his boots carving twin trails. The rain hisses against the scorched earth.
Zeus stands amid the smoke, armor steaming, eyes glowing white. Lightning crawls across his prosthetic arm like restless serpents.
'He's still standing. Good. The clones bought me two seconds to analyze.' Krios steadies his breath, lifting his Wave Blade. Water spirals around its edge.
Zeus grins, a flash of white in the gloom. "You still think tricks can match thunder?"
Krios doesn't answer. He shifts his stance, feet parallel, sword low.
Zeus dashes. The ground cratered under his first step. Krios's remaining clone moves to intercept, but it's too slow. Zeus's punch lands like a cannon blast, vaporizing it into white sparks. He spins, lightning wrapping his body as a shield, but Krios is already advancing from the smoke.
He catches the timing of Zeus's spin, swings horizontally, then pulls back just as a counter-punch slices the rain in half. 'Too close. His follow-through leaves a blind spot on the left shoulder.' He presses the advantage, drawing Taurus across the Celestra. A flash of crimson light surges through him. His next strike lands with brutal, enhanced force, leaving a trail of golden ichor on Zeus's armor.
Zeus staggers a half-step. The grin returns, sharper now. "Finally fighting back."
He ducks under Krios's next swing, and his prosthetic arm drives upward into Krios's guard. 'Lightning Burst!'
The world becomes pure, searing white. Agony lances through Krios's chest as he is thrown backward, rolling painfully across the ground. Trails of lightning cling to him, his armor blackened and smoking. Every nerve screams. 'Too much... even for me.' Gritting his teeth against the tremor, he forces his blackened fingers to trace the Virgo constellation. A warm, emerald radiance washes over him, knitting flesh and bone, but a deep, psychic fatigue remains—the price of forcing his body back from the brink.
The clones attack again, buying him precious seconds. Zeus smashes one aside with a backhand. The other darts under the blow, stabbing upward. Zeus catches the blade in his metal palm; electricity pours down it, shattering the clone instantly.
'They're holding…Celestra's enhancement is stable.' He lifts his hand. "Celestial Mantle!" A thin, shimmering veil of blue light wraps around him.
Zeus inhales sharply, and the air thickens, pressure rolling in like a physical wave. "Still hiding behind layers," he scoffs, voice sharp with contempt.
Krios responds with action. He raises his Wave Blade, the rain spiraling around it. 'Tidal Reversal.' He swings downward. The arc of compressed water rips toward Zeus like a blade of fluid glass.
Zeus raises his arm; lightning counters water, steam exploding between them in a deafening hiss. The blast forces both men apart, visibility dropping to zero.
Through the fog, Zeus moves first on instinct. Krios shifts to Capricorn. Time slows. Zeus's sprint becomes a sluggish advance. Every droplet hangs suspended.
Krios sidesteps, swings low, the Wave Blade cutting a shallow line through Zeus's leg armor. He resets his stance for a follow-up, then Capricorn's effect ends.
Time snaps back. Zeus's knee comes up; Krios catches it on his forearm but still slides backward, his boots grinding on the broken stone.
Zeus smirks. "That little time trick won't save you twice."
"Don't need it twice," Krios mutters.
He signals his clone;they move in unison. Two Krios, two Wave Blades, a pincer assault.
Zeus charges headlong into them. The clone feints. The real Krios vaults above, spinning his blade downward. The strike connects another shallow cut, but lightning retaliates immediately, traveling up the sword. Pain flashes across Krios's face. He twists midair, letting the energy disperse through his armor's vents before landing in a crouch.
Zeus's prosthetic pulses, the bright lines crawling across it now glowing a dangerous orange. 'Almost full,' he thinks. 'One more shot. That's all I need.'
He raises both hands, gathering the storm itself. The wind screams.
"Cyclone Core!"
Air and lightning spiral together, forming a sphere of churning, destructive force. It expands, drawing in rain, dust, and chunks of the ruined pillar.
"That'll erase the entire field…" Krios draws Cancer; a shell of starlight forms around him. "Astral Shell." His clone mirrors him.
The Cyclone explodes outward. The shockwave hits like a mountain. Krios's defense ripples, cracking at the edges. His clone is thrown into the air but re-stabilizes, shimmering faintly.
Krios stands his ground, armor scorched but intact. Zeus lowers his smoking arm. His breathing is controlled, but the prosthetic now thrums with a violent, unstable energy.
'Need to release it. Now. Or it'll consume me.'
Krios catches that fractional hesitation. "He's at his limit." He presses Celestra against his forearm. "Gravity Lock."
The ground beneath Zeus glows red. The air congeals into syrup, slowing his movements to a crawl.
Zeus snarls, forcing one step forward, muscles straining.
Krios tightens his grip on the Wave Blade. "That arm is useless if you can't move."
He charges, each strike a controlled, precise piston blow. Zeus parries what he can, but the gravitational drag forces him back, inch by bloody inch.
'He's actually pushing me back...' Realization and fury spike in Zeus's chest. 'Fine. No more holding back.'
He slams his prosthetic into the ground. A pulse of raw lightning shatters the Gravity Lock sigil, cracking the earth apart.
Krios leaps back, hand raised. "Stellar Arrow!"
Hundreds of blue lights materialize and rain down. Zeus braces, covering his torso. The barrage hammers him, flooding the field with dust and static.
When it clears, Zeus is kneeling, one arm covering his head. His armor is scorched, his breathing ragged—but his grin is a terrifying thing.
"Nice fireworks." He stands, electricity coiling madly around the glowing white prosthetic. "My turn."
He vanishes in a flash. He reappears a heartbeat later, right beside Krios. The punch hits Krios square in the chest, throwing him across the plateau like a discarded toy.
The clone immediately moves to intercept, but Zeus is already extending his prosthetic.
"Chain Arc!"
Beams of lightning shoot out, connecting the clone in a split-second. The field erupts; the clone staggers but endures, shielding Krios as he struggles to his feet.
Krios coughs, tasting iron. "Too fast…" He looks at Celestra, its glow now faint and flickering. "Just enough for two last gambit."
He raises the pendant. 'Gemini + Libra + Virgo = Astral Harmony.'
Light floods the sky. Six new clones emerge beside the existing one—nine total, all moving in perfect, silent synchrony.
Zeus squints. "You never learn."
Krios steadies his breathing, the taste of blood in his mouth. "Let's test that arm's limit."
The nine Krios move as one. Their Wave Blades cross and weave, forming a rotating pattern of death, a shifting constellation of steel.
Zeus pivots, deflects, counters, but every hit forces him back. The rhythm builds—left, right, overhead. 'He's predicting me,' Zeus realizes. 'Every strike aimed at my recovery window.'
He catches one clone's blade, twists, and throws it into another. The two explode into sparks, but reform seconds later.
"Persistent bastards!" He slams his prosthetic into the ground once more.
'Storm Pulse!'
A ring of lightning expands, blasting all nine Krios back. The real one slides to a stop twenty meters away, half-kneeling, a web of cracks across his chest plate.
'He's in the red,' Krios notes, seeing the white-hot glow of the arm. 'The next blast will be all or nothing.'
Zeus straightens, chest heaving. "You feel that, Krios? That's power."
Krios stands, every movement a effort. "That's instability."
"Same thing." Zeus lifts his arm to the sky. Lightning from the clouds spears into it, feeding the overloaded core. The storm darkens until the world feels like it's ending.
Krios takes one step forward. "Then let's see which breaks first."
He drives his sword into the ground, carving a massive, three-circle sigil.
'Taurus + Capricorn + Libra = Astral Fortress.'
Walls of radiant, geometric light rise around him, shimmering with cosmic density. The clones regroup inside, channeling their power into the structure.
Zeus's eyes blaze with apocalyptic light. "Try blocking this."
He swings his arm down.
'Overload Burst!'
The lightning is a divine hammer. The world turns white, and sound dies.
Inside the glare, the Astral Fortress shrieks as it breaks. The first layer holds for a second, the second bends, the third shatters into a million star-fragments. Krios's clones are torn apart, their forms dissolving as they pour the last of their energy into holding the line.
Krios kneels, hands gripping the Wave Blade, Celestra flickering wildly above his heart. "Hold…!" he snarls, blood trickling from his lip.
The storm's pressure drives him into the dirt. The sigils flicker and die. The light breaks, and the sound returns—a rolling explosion that shears the top of the mountain ridge.
Krios is thrown back, hitting the ground hard. His armor is half-melted, the Wave Blade buried nearby. Celestra dangles, its light faint but stubborn. He drags in a ragged breath, his body a map of pain.
Through the haze, Zeus stands, his breathing ragged, his stance uneven. But he is standing.
'So that's the price of overloading,' Krios thinks, his vision swimming. 'Even he can't walk away unscathed.'
Zeus tilts his head, his voice a hoarse scrape. "Still alive? I'll give you that."
He takes a step forward. And then, a low hum fills the air. The tiny orbs of light Krios had been experimenting with before the fight ignite, rising from where they were hidden in the stone. They swirl around Zeus, connecting into the specific, complex constellation he had perfected at the start.
'Celestial Prison.'
Chains of solid light snap into existence, binding Zeus. A dome of compressed celestial energy envelops him, pressing inward. Krios has poured every last drop of his power into this.
He stumbles to his feet, voice weak but triumphant. "This was my true preparation, Zeus. I knew I could never defeat you. But I can trap you. This prison is reinforced with the cosmos itself. Escape is—"
Crack.
A hairline fracture appears in the dome. Then another. From within, a pressure begins to build that has nothing to do with lightning or storms. It is older, colder—the pressure of the infinite sky itself. A voice, layered with Zeus's own and something profoundly ancient, booms forth.
"SKY WRATH!"
The prison explodes. Not in a blast of light, but in a silent, expanding wave of nothingness that erases the very air. Krios's mind blanks. All his strategy and cunning is replaced by a primal, ice-cold dread. He is no longer looking at Zeus. He is looking at the void between stars.
"No..." he croaks, scrambling backward, his body shaking uncontrollably. "That divinity... those eyes... It can't be—Uranus."
The dark clouds vanish instantly, revealing a cold, starry sky. Zeus steps out, his eyes gleaming with dark blue, cosmic light. Step by step, he advances on the crawling Krios. He reaches down, his prosthetic arm clamping around Krios's throat, and lifts him effortlessly. Krios struggles, his kicks futile against the divine strength.
Zeus hurls Krios into the sky and then meets him there, his fist—now fused with the essence of the sky—driving into his chest.
The impact cracks the air. Krios flies backward, crashing through the giant Western Pillar as if it were glass, his body tunneling deep into the heart of Mount Orthys.
Zeus lands, the dark blue light fading from his eyes. He breathes heavily, the glow of his prosthetic arm finally dimming.
"Damn it! I don't want to use that!"
Suddenly he looks up toward the peak, where Cronus's castle stands. He touches his chest; his heart is racing, a cold dread seeping into his veins.
"What is this feeling? As if something is terribly, terribly wrong."
"Kwaaaa!!!"
A loud, piercing cry echoes through the mountain. A huge shadow falls over Mount Othrys, cast by a colossal black phoenix soaring above.
Zeus looks up, his face grim. "Hades…"