Yama's sword hovered midair, his arm restrained by the whip coiled tight around his wrist—its gold threads sparking with divine energy.
He turned slowly.
Zeus stood behind him, his silver-white hair glowing under the swirling dark sky. His eyes—those infernal eyes—burned with divine wrath, and the golden whip of Olyrian flame tightened further around Yama's arm, drawing blood.
"I said," Zeus growled, his voice low and filled with thunder, "you don't touch what is mine."
Yama's lip curled. "You arrived sooner than expected, brother."
"Not soon enough," Zeus said, his gaze shifting briefly to Anubis. She lay bloodied and broken, barely conscious, yet still glaring at Yama with defiance. His jaw clenched.
"She dared to insult me," Yama hissed. "I showed her mercy. You should be thanking me."
Zeus yanked the whip, dragging Yama toward him with brutal force. Their faces were now inches apart.
"Mercy?" Zeus echoed. "You know nothing of it. You disobeyed the pact. You violated my claim—and you spilled the blood of a Demon Lord under my protection. You've made this personal."
Yama smirked. "She refused my offer. You raised a rabid dog, brother. I was only putting her down."
Zeus backhanded him—hard—sending Yama skidding across the cracked courtyard. He crashed against a pillar, cracking it in half.
The sky trembled.
Zeus turned his eyes toward Anubis. With a gentle flick of his hand, he summoned a barrier of white flame around her broken body, sealing her from further harm. Her pain would remain, but her soul would not falter.
"You did well, Anubis," Zeus said softly. "Rest now."
Then he faced Yama again, who was already rising with laughter bubbling from his chest.
"Hah! So it begins then?" Yama said, wiping blood from his lip. "The prodigal son returns. Will you fight for your stolen throne, Zeus? Or simply for your favorite pet?"
"I fight for what's mine," Zeus replied coldly. "The throne. My bloodline. And her."
He raised his hand—and thunder cracked open the skies. From above, his divine spear, Aetherion, descended like a comet. He caught it midair, and the ground trembled beneath him.
Yama's expression darkened.
"So it's true. You've fused the Celestial Spear with Tartarus Flame. You really are preparing for war."
"This is war."
Yama summoned his green flame again, surrounding himself in a vortex of corrupted demonic energy. "Then come. Let's see if the golden boy can still bleed."
Zeus didn't speak. He vanished—then reappeared mid-air above Yama, slamming Aetherion down with crushing force. Yama barely raised a barrier in time, and the spear shattered it with an explosive shockwave that leveled the entire courtyard.
They clashed again—Yama with his demonic blade, Zeus with divine steel.
Their battle was chaos. Flame against lightning. Light against darkness. Old blood against old vengeance.
Each impact sent shockwaves through the realms.
Anubis, barely conscious, watched from within the flame barrier. Even in her weakened state, the sheer magnitude of their power made her soul tremble.
Zeus dodged a flaming slash and thrust his spear forward, stabbing through Yama's shoulder. Blood burst out. Yama snarled, catching the shaft of the spear with one hand and muttering an incantation.
Dark vines erupted from the earth, wrapping around Zeus, binding his legs.
Yama roared and sent a green flame straight into Zeus' chest—Zeus grunted and flew back, skidding across stone.
But he rose, smiling. "I forgot how fun you were when angry."
"You won't be smiling long."
"I don't need to," Zeus said, eyes flashing. "Because I don't need to kill you. Not yet. I just need to remind you what fear feels like."
Zeus raised his hands—and the air twisted.
A massive sigil of celestial magic formed in the sky above them. Divine language—forgotten to mortals—burned in glowing arcs of light. The sigil pulsed once, and Yama's entire body froze in place.
"What—!?"
Zeus walked toward him, slow and steady, as the divine seal held Yama suspended in the air, paralyzed.
"You came for war," Zeus said. "But you forgot the most important rule, little brother."
Zeus leaned in close, his voice now barely a whisper but heavy with death.
"You don't start a war you can't finish."
With one final motion, Zeus drove Aetherion through Yama's chest.
The green flames erupted—but dimmed. Yama screamed, body thrashing against the divine seal, as his corrupted power began to fracture.
Zeus pulled back the spear.
Yama dropped to the ground, coughing blood, unable to stand.
"You won't kill me..." Yama gasped. "Not yet..."
"No," Zeus replied. "But next time... I will."
Zeus turned and walked toward Anubis. He knelt, brushing hair from her face. "You've done well. You held your ground."
"I... didn't win," she whispered weakly.
"But you didn't break," Zeus said. "And that matters more."
Behind him, Yama disappeared into shadow—wounded, humiliated, but alive.
For now.
Soon, Anubis drifted in and out of consciousness, her body limp in Zeus's arms. He carried her with care, the wrath from earlier now replaced by silence. The battlefield around them was scorched and fractured, the wind still whispering with echoes of divine rage.
He took her to the Sanctum of Renewal, a hidden chamber beneath the roots of Hades' forgotten spire—a place even gods rarely tread.
The room pulsed with slow, ancient magic. The walls were carved with celestial runes and infernal glyphs, a fusion of light and dark—just like her. At the center floated a pool of silver essence.
Zeus stepped into it with her in his arms. The moment her body touched the surface, the silvery liquid rose and encased her like a womb.
She gasped, her wounds beginning to close, her breath steadying.
He held her hand the entire time.
"You were reckless," he finally said, his voice low.
"I... wanted to stop him," she whispered. "I thought I could."
Zeus didn't look at her. "You summoned the Chains of Demonic Flame. Do you even know what price they exact from the summoner?"
Her brows furrowed. "I thought... it just took energy—"
"It drains your essence," Zeus interrupted. "Use it too often or too young... and it consumes your soul. If I had arrived a moment later, you'd be dust scattered across the planes."
Anubis went silent.
"You could've died," Zeus said again, this time softer.
"I would've died proud," she muttered. "For you."
That silenced him.
He stared at her. For the first time in ages, uncertainty flickered in his divine eyes. She wasn't like the others. She didn't fight for power. She fought for him.
"You don't understand what loyalty like that does to a god," he finally said.
"I don't care," she answered.
Zeus closed his eyes. "You will. One day."
---
Elsewhere...
In the underworld's forbidden sanctum, Aurora stood before a black mirror dripping blood. In it, she watched the confrontation play out, her expression unreadable.
She saw Yama's defeat. She saw Zeus—the son of her rival—standing victorious once again. And that girl... Anubis.
"I warned him," she murmured, voice dangerously calm. "He let emotions cloud his judgment."
The shadows around her flickered.
"You summoned me, Lady Aurora?" a deep, ragged voice spoke from behind.
"Yes," she said. "Prepare the Ascension Circle. The child I bore has failed me... So I will reclaim the power myself."
The figure hesitated. "You... You'll breach the pact?"
"I don't care anymore!" she screamed, spinning around. "If the realms will not hand me the throne... then I will burn the realms and shape a new one in my image!"
Her eyes glowed like dying stars.
"I will become more than queen," she hissed. "I will become Origin reborn."
---
Back in the Sanctum of Renewal
Anubis sat up, fully healed, her skin pale but no longer torn. Zeus stood a few feet away, watching her quietly.
"What now?" she asked.
Zeus looked at her with a gaze that weighed more than lifetimes.
"We train," he said. "Together. No more wild gambles. No more half-formed spells."
Anubis narrowed her eyes. "So I'm just your soldier now?"
"You've always been more than that," he replied. "But if you want to survive what's coming, you must become more than you are."
She stood up. "Then make me."
A flicker of pride crossed Zeus's face.
"I will," he said. "Starting now."