The air split with a sound beyond thunder.
Bolts of lightning danced across the cracked sky as Zeus descended first, his divine form blazing with white-gold light. Beside him, Cronos tore open a rift in space, stepping through it like a god of time made flesh. One by one, the others followed — Poseidon with the roaring sea swirling behind him, Hades cloaked in black fire, Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and the rest.
And then, the Titans emerged — immense, regal, ancient — their presence bending the horizon. Hyperion's light, Themis's balance, Atlas's strength, Oceanus's current. Together, they formed a line of radiant divinity stretching across the broken Earth.
Before them, the world lay in ruin. Cities had turned to dust. Oceans boiled where the King of Erasure's presence passed. The very air flickered with patches of nothingness — the silent mark of annihilation.
And at the center of it all stood the King of Erasure himself.
He smiled — or perhaps it was only the echo of a smile. The emptiness where his eyes should have been reflected the dying world. Every step he took dissolved the ground into void.
⸻
The Gathering of Divinity
Zeus raised his lightning spear. "That's far enough, creature." His voice thundered across the landscape, the words heavy with divine command. "This ends here!"
Cronos's voice followed, colder, steadier — the voice of time itself. "You've escaped your prison once. You won't get a second chance to unmake creation."
The King of Erasure tilted his head, and the wind died instantly.
His voice came softly, almost amused.
"Unmake creation? Is that what you think this is?"
He took a single step forward, and the clouds above evaporated, revealing a starless sky.
"I am not destruction, children of light. I am the correction. I am the silence that follows your endless noise."
Hades's chains snapped outward, wrapping through the ground, binding reality itself. "You'll find silence in Tartarus soon enough."
The King's smile deepened.
"Tartarus… I erased that long before your kind learned fear."
The ground shook. The gods' divine auras blazed brighter — Zeus's lightning stormed across the horizon, Poseidon's oceans roared upward, Athena's runes ignited into pure wisdom flame.
The Titans joined them — Hyperion's radiance cutting through the darkness, Atlas anchoring space itself to prevent it from collapsing.
Together, the powers of old and new combined — creation itself gathering to defend its existence.
The light was blinding.
The energy deafening.
For the first time in eternity, gods and titans stood as one.
⸻
The Stand of the Divine
Zeus's voice boomed through the chaos. "You will not erase this world! Not while Olympus stands!"
Cronos added, his tone heavy with purpose, "And not while time still flows."
A pulse of divine energy rippled outward — gold, blue, white, and black all merging into one. The sheer pressure cracked the surface of the Earth, splitting mountains and evaporating seas.
Every god roared their battle cry in unison.
But the King of Erasure simply stood there — still, silent, his expression unreadable.
When the light faded, he was untouched.
He looked around at the assembled pantheon, his laughter like glass breaking.
"So this is the sum of creation's arrogance. All your power — yet you can't touch me. You're fighting the inevitable."
Zeus snarled. "We've defeated the impossible before!"
The King of Erasure slowly raised his hand, palm outward — and the air screamed. The entire battlefield warped, colors bleeding from the world until everything was grayscale.
His gaze swept over the gods, through their defenses, through their light.
And then his voice — calm, sharp, final — cut through the silence.
"I'm not here for you."
Every heart froze.
"I'm here for Valentine."
⸻
Shock
The air seemed to vanish.
Zeus's lightning faltered.
Cronos's hand tightened on his scythe.
Even Poseidon's ocean waves stilled midair.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Athena's voice broke the silence, quiet but trembling:
"…Megumi Valentine?"
The King of Erasure's head turned slightly, as though he were searching for something — or someone.
"He carries what was once mine. My core. My essence. The shard of erasure embedded in mortal flesh. He carries the echo of my prison."
He smiled faintly — a smile without warmth.
"And I intend to reclaim it."
Zeus's expression darkened. "Then you'll have to get through all of us first."
"All of you?"
The King's laughter rippled through the empty air like a fading heartbeat. "You misunderstand. You're not barriers. You're witnesses."
The ground beneath him dissolved into nothing, and a wave of void energy spread out like a shockwave, consuming everything in its path. Gods and titans shielded themselves as existence peeled away in ribbons of white flame and black mist.
Cronos shouted, "Hold the barrier! Do not let the void expand!"
Hyperion raised his hands, summoning radiant solar chains that wrapped around the spreading void, struggling to contain it. Themis lent her power of balance, anchoring reality. The gods poured their strength into the barrier, light pouring from their forms until the world burned gold.
For a moment, it worked.
The expansion halted.
But the King of Erasure merely raised his gaze toward Olympus — and his smile widened.
"I can feel him watching. Hiding. Afraid."
The energy in his voice shattered the barrier like glass. The gods staggered backward, the sheer weight of his power making even Zeus fall to one knee.
Lightning bled from Zeus's form as he shouted, "Stay focused! We can't let him reach Megumi!"
Cronos's eyes narrowed, glowing with the power of time. "If he touches Valentine now, he'll absorb what remains of his mortal soul… and ascend beyond even Uranus's reach."
The King of Erasure turned his head slowly toward Cronos, as if amused by his insight.
"Ah… Cronos. The defier of fathers, the breaker of destiny. Still trying to outplay time itself?"
Cronos gritted his teeth. "If I must."
He swung his scythe, unleashing a slice of pure temporal energy that tore across the battlefield — freezing everything it touched. For an instant, even the King's form flickered.
Zeus seized the chance, throwing his lightning spear forward with a roar.
Poseidon followed with a tidal surge.
Ares charged, flame blazing from his sword.
The Titans unleashed their ancient powers in unison, the sky igniting in blinding light.
For a heartbeat, it seemed like the tide might turn.
But then—
The King of Erasure moved.
Not fast — simply inevitable.
He reached out, and the light vanished.
Every attack, every surge of power, every scream — simply gone. Erased.
He stood at the center of silence once more, unscathed.
And then, softly, he whispered — words that crawled into every divine heart.
"This is not your war."
He looked up toward the heavens, eyes narrowing — sensing something far away.
"Come, Valentine. The end awaits."
And then he was gone — dissolving into the void, leaving behind a world trembling at the edges of existence.
⸻
Aftermath
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Ash and fragments of light drifted through the air.
The gods stood wounded but alive, their auras dimmed.
Even Zeus looked shaken — something none of them had seen before.
Poseidon's voice was grim. "He didn't even try to fight us."
Cronos sheathed his scythe, his eyes distant. "Because he didn't come to destroy Olympus or the titans. He came for the only one who carries a part of him."
Athena's gaze turned toward the horizon, where faint cracks in reality pulsed. "Megumi Valentine."
Zeus clenched his fist. "Then we have no time to waste. Prepare the seal. Every second counts."
Cronos nodded. "I'll rally the titans. Hyperion — help Hephaestus forge the binding sigils. Themis, maintain the dimensional balance."
"And Megumi?" Athena asked softly.
Cronos's voice lowered, heavy with a truth none of them wished to speak.
"If he fails… there will be no more universes left to save."
⸻
Far Below
On Earth's edge, far from Olympus's light, Megumi Valentine stood on a cliff, his hand pressed to his chest as he stared at the pulsing void in the distance. He could feel it — that cold, familiar heartbeat.
The King of Erasure had come.
And he was calling his name.
Megumi's golden eyes flickered, shadow crawling through them.
The orb within him thrummed violently, as if answering the King's summons.
He exhaled slowly.
"So… it begins."
Behind him, the winds carried faint voices — those of gods, titans, and mortals preparing for the final stand.
Megumi didn't turn.
He only stared at the endless darkness ahead.
"Then I'll end it."