Kratos stepped forward, frost curling from the Leviathan Axe as he raised it in defiance.
"I've slain gods for less," he said coldly, voice low and steady. "You are no different."
Beside him, Asura's phantom arms ignited, flaring outward with raw, searing energy. Sparks hissed where his fury met the void.
"Then let's destroy the stars themselves!" he roared, stepping forward, heat radiating like molten fire.
Eon tilted his head—not in fear, but something dangerously close to amusement.
"Very well," the cosmic arbiter said, voice rolling through the void, deep and calm. "Let us test the power of your wrath."
A sphere of pure cosmic energy gathered in Eon's hands. Gravity twisted, stars spiraled backward, and time itself shivered. The Chrono-Scepter rose high, a staff of galaxies and starlight, threatening to tear reality apart.
Kratos and Asura stood side by side, eyes locked on the arbiter. A long pause stretched between them—silent, charged, two forces of nature aligned in understanding.
"Stay out of my way," Kratos said gruffly.
Asura snorted, grin feral. "Only if you stay out of mine."
And then—Eon unleashed the blast. A beam of cosmic annihilation screamed across the battlefield, tearing through the air like judgment incarnate. Kratos and Asura surged forward into it, fury and resolve burning as one.
Eon's True Power
They fought shoulder to shoulder, striking blow after blow. Sparks of cosmic fire collided with shards of frost, shattering marble and splintering stone. Cracks ran across Eon's cosmic shell, as if galaxies fractured within him. For a fleeting moment, it seemed they might succeed.
Then the stars in his chest swirled faster, coiling inward like a spiraling whirlpool.
"Time… is but a thread I can sever," Eon said, voice echoing across the void.
The next instant—Kratos found himself back at the temple entrance, charging forward again as if caught in a loop. Muscles strained, every movement resisted the pull of repeating time.
Asura struck the same blow into empty air, again and again, fists blazing but landing on nothing as reality coiled around him like a living serpent.
Eon's Taunt
Eon floated above them, immense as a storm of stars, eyes flickering like supernovae.
"Kratos… Ghost of Sparta. Son of Zeus. Father of Atreus—the boy fated to surpass even the gods."
Kratos' eyes widened. Knuckles whitened around the haft of the Leviathan Axe.
"…How do you know that name?" he growled, low and tense.
Eon's gaze shifted to Asura, voice dripping with icy insight.
"And you… Asura. Father to Mithra. Blind to the endless carnage your wrath leaves behind."
Asura's body trembled, aura flaring like molten fire, veins glowing gold.
"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF MY DAUGHTER!" he bellowed.
A shockwave blasted outward, cracks spiderwebbing the marble floor beneath him.
Reality Breaks
Eon's cosmic limbs whipped outward, spiraling like galaxy arms. They seized Kratos and Asura midair, binding them in coils of shimmering energy. Stars bent, twisted, and spiraled; reality folded in on itself.
"Children of wrath… you would burn universes for those you love. But your rage cannot escape cosmic law," Eon said, cold and measured.
The pressure tightened, squeezing the breath from their lungs. Kratos grimaced, frost trailing from his axe in rapid bursts.
"Witchcraft…" he muttered, hoarse.
Asura thrashed, eyes blazing, veins bulging like molten cords.
"I'll tear you apart!" he roared.
Suddenly, Eon thrust them backward with a colossal shockwave. Kratos slammed into the ground, skidding across shattered stone. He rolled, struggling to rise, blood dripping from a cut above his eye. Eon loomed overhead, shadows writhing around his massive form.
Raising the Chrono-Scepter, Eon pointed it directly at Kratos. A blade of cosmic energy ignited along its tip, crackling like bottled supernovas. With a flick of his wrist, the blade descended—aiming straight for Kratos' chest.