As the solar brilliance pierced through Tartarus.
"Damn!" Chronos, his body half-burnt, rolled distressedly on the ground, his eyes stubbornly fixed on the figure approaching slowly from the sea of fire.
"Don't flee, Former King of the Gods. Our time here is far from over," Cyd declared, raising [Reforged Pandora] into Ares Mode. The sea of fire swirled around the sword blade, and in a breath, a hundred-meter flame great blade materialized.
"I've endured far longer in Tartarus than you imagine, Chronos," Cyd clenched his fist, "and I've been prepared to wait forever. Even with your immortal body, can you withstand the eternal consciousness battling against me?"
"Ha? Can you solve me quickly and leave?" Cyd stepped forward, swinging the hundred-meter flame great blade with thunderous force towards Chronos.
"Is that so? Who said I'm just another god?" Chronos scoffed softly, a black aura spreading from him, enveloping the entire world. Colors faded away, the threatening flame great blade halted in mid-air, everything stood still—no wind, no temperature—everything ceased to exist.
Chronos circled around the roaring flame great blade, approaching Cyd at a leisurely pace.
"My grip is that of time," Chronos slowly raised his hand towards Cyd's eye.
Humans have many involuntary movements, like instinctively closing their eyes when something threatens them. Yet, in this frozen moment, Cyd's eyes remained fixed, seemingly unable to see, as Chronos's finger inched closer to his eye.
"Time is the eternal, unchanging principle of this world!" Chronos bellowed, "I, who control time, should reign as king in this world! No one can defy me!"
But why... can you see me?
It was unclear when Cyd's eyes and his met. Clearly impossible, yet a profound sense of dread caused Chronos to punch directly at Cyd's head.
"Don't look at me like that!"
Cyd's head jerked, his left hand switched to Hades Mode [Reforged Pandora] with lightning speed, the sharp sickle slicing Chronos in half from bottom to top.
"You call me immortal!"
Chronos's body rapidly healed amidst angry roars.
"Even your sickle cannot kill me. I cannot die!"
"Then let's put an end to this!" Cyd raised [Reforged Pandora] to Hephaestus Mode, swinging the hammer down on the upper part of Chronos's body.
"Your words are useless!" Flesh rapidly accumulated on the incomplete mass, and Chronos appeared angrily before Cyd again.
"I won't leave a bone in you," Cyd exhaled heavily, summoning thunder from the clouds to inscribe on [Reforged Pandora]. Cyd aimed the scepter at Chronos's head. "No hiding now—"
[Reforged Pandora] —— Zeus Mode
"That appearance... Zeus!!!" Chronos roared angrily, charging at Cyd.
"—— ——"
The thunderous light engulfed Chronos instantaneously, piercing through him and the mountain peak behind him. Cyd staggered back several steps under the terrifying recoil.
"
"You shouldn't have wielded the strength of Zeus against me."
Blood spurted forth as Cyd's eyes narrowed ruthlessly. The scepter fell from his grasp, dropping to the ground as his left arm unraveled under the terrifying force.
"I may not excel in combat, but I control time—standby, acceleration, deceleration, and leaps—I am the embodiment of time," Chronos said coldly, looking at Cyd's bloodied form. "As long as I destroy that object, you won't be able to use the power of the gods."
"Is that so?" Cyd raised an eyebrow. The scepter fell to his left side, where a radiant white jade bracer fluttered onto Cyd's left wrist. It seemed as if an invisible hand was wearing the bracer and grasping the scepter. "This blessing isn't something you can destroy."
A snow-white skeleton sprouted from Cyd's fractured arm, the blood vessels and muscles rapidly covering it until finally, the snow-white skin appeared. A flawless left arm materialized within Chronos's sight.
"I'm not done yet, before I finish you off completely!"
"No! I can't end like this!" Chronos wanted to retreat for the first time.
He possessed an immortal body; death was not an option. Even if Zeus couldn't do it, even if he defeated Zeus, he had never felt the urge to flee when facing Cyd. It was impossible to finish; Cyd didn't die, Chronos didn't die, and there was no way to stop Cyd's control over time. While Cyd could wield the power of thirteen gods and could transform weapons, the key was the bracer and the weapon that he couldn't destroy. It was a battle that could never end; he could kill Cyd countless times, just as Cyd could slaughter him the same number of times. Perhaps one day, his immortal nature would be consumed!
"No, I must avenge them!" Chronos's distorted face revealed his resolve. "You're the reason I'm been stalled!"
"Ha?" Cyd tilted his head. "As long as you give up on revenge, I won't kill you. Unfortunately, all you see is destruction in your eyes. It's a pity. I don't seek to be a hero, but I do seek to protect them in this world."
"Then I must banish you from time!" Madness flashed in Chronos's eyes as black rays swept over the world once again.
"You'll perish by my hand!" Cyd hurled [Reforged Pandora], twisting the thunderous scepter into a long spear in his hand. He flung it towards Chronos with a backhanded throw.
"It's too late!" The long spear pierced Chronos's body, yet he laughed, blood gushing with his laughter.
The world engulfed in black light began to collapse. It wasn't time coming to a halt, but rather time revealing a loophole and a crack. If time could be seized in the world, could something exist in this static crack?
"—— ——-"
Countless black palms stretched out from the void, seizing Cyd by his limbs and head.
"What kind of ghostly thing is this?" Cyd attempted to pull away the palms with his hand, but his hand merely passed through them. It was as if these palms were mere illusions, yet the immense force they exerted was all too real.
"This place knows no concept of time—a true prison of exile. Once you're captured here, you'll never escape," Chronos chuckled, clutching his chest. "You can give up thinking while you drift there!"
"Damn!"
The immense force pulled Cyd directly into the void, akin to sharks smelling blood, the countless black palms rapidly engulfing him.
"I must stop," Chronos coughed up blood. "Zeus, you've succeeded; I won't be restored for thousands of years."
"I'm not finished yet!"
Cyd's left hand broke through the black palms extending from the void and reached towards Chronos. Passing through the long spear that had pierced Chronos, Cyd switched to the sickle, slashing through the air towards Chronos's body.
"Come at me!" The sickle violently dragged Chronos towards Cyd's left hand at incredible speed.
"No! No!" Chronos went mad, tearing at his own body frantically. However, he was truly weak at the moment, unable to even tear at his own weak godly body.
"—— ——"
Cyd's left hand firmly gripped Chronos's face between his fingers, slowly pulling him into the void of time.
The dim, devilish black pupils gleamed, reflecting Chronos's desperate face amidst the chaos.
This battle to the death felt nearly eternal.
How long had it been?
A year?
Ten years?
A hundred years?
A millennium?
Eternity?
Cyd couldn't say for certain, for this was a realm beyond time.
But one thing was clear to him.
Cyd collapsed to his knees, his body ravaged as if a child had been mercilessly toyed with. Pierced from head to toe, his ribs cruelly torn out. In the past, such wounds would have healed, but now there was no sound, no blood flowed. Perhaps there was nothing left in his body to bleed.
Cyd fell, his heartbeat weakening, yet his eyes remained steadfast, staring at [Reforged Pandora], now lying among the remains.
In this final moment, he almost managed to beat Chronos into a pulp with [Reforged Pandora]'s Original Mode. But before turning into a pulp, Chronos managed to tear out one of his ribs.
"——-"
[Reforged Pandora] began to open slowly—or rather, unfold. It was a pattern Cyd had never seen before. A massive ring with two long and short indicators at its center. The remains of Chronos seemed to be drawn towards it as if by some force.
"This time, it's truly over..."
The showdown between these immortal beings ended with both sides exhausting their immortal essence.
Struggling, Cyd turned over and raised his left hand towards the heavens.
"I will triumph... for the gods..."
"Master... I... perhaps saved... the world..."
"—— ——"
Cyd's left hand gently tapped the ground.
"I should be able... to rest for a while..."
With his life's protection of immortality gone, his heartbeat ceased to exist.
"To everyone, I will fulfill my promise, so... wait for me a little longer..."
The bracer firmly wrapped around Cyd's left wrist, its black crystal still emitting a gentle, persistent brilliance.