The battlefield was drenched in the blood of gods and Titans alike. The moment Perses fell, the world seemed to pause—every pair of eyes, divine and mortal, frozen in shock. No one had ever considered that a Titan could die, truly die. And yet, his remains crumbled to dust beneath my feet, his domain now thrumming in my veins.
Then Cronos' voice shattered the silence.
"MURDER THEM ALL!"
His roar was a command, a decree of utter annihilation. The Titans screamed their fury, rallying behind their king, their sorrow and rage transforming into renewed bloodlust. The battle surged forward, but something had shifted.
For the first time, they knew fear.
The next seven years were a storm of blood and agony. Our forces were whittled down to almost nothing. The skeletal soldiers I commanded were shattered and reduced to dust. The nymphs, satyrs, and lesser deities who had stood by our side fell one by one. Every day, we burned our dead, but the pyres were never enough. The war drained us, body and soul.
The Titan army was not unscathed. Menoetius, Astraeus, and Pallas had surrendered, their once-mighty forms now bound in unbreakable Adamantine Chains. I watched them kneel, their pride swallowed, their defiance dimmed. It was not mercy that bound them—it was necessity. We needed prisoners to bargain with, should we ever need it.
Cain and Abel had perished, their mortal bodies crumbling beneath the weight of the war of gods. Thanatos, Moros, and Ker had fought valiantly, but after six relentless years, I ordered them back to the Underworld. They have served me well. Thanatos had protested, of course, his cold, empty gaze lacking all emotion but edged with something I almost thought was grief.
"I do not want to flee, Lord Hades. I want to stay here and continue to fight! I want to stay by your side!"
"You are not fleeing," I had told him. "You are simply returning home to prepare to welcome your Lord home. This is now a battle between my siblings and I against our father, so go home and rest up, I am so thankful that you have even come and joined the war."
He hesitated before bowing low. "Please be careful."
I watched him and his siblings leave, standing upon the ruined cliffs of Mount Othrys, the final battle was upon us. Our forces were stripped to their very bones—Zeus, Demeter, Hera, Hestia, and I were all that remained. Five against six... no this would be two against six.
I looked across the battlefield where Cronos and the remaining Titans were standing, Atlas stood at the forefront, his massive form shadowing the ground, his fists clenched as he stared at me in anger. Beside him, Hyperion's golden flames flickered hungrily at his body. Iapetus, Krios, and Koios stood behind Cronos.
Cronos himself stood still, as he stared right at me. His golden eyes were pierced as he said something to the others causing them to laugh... god I could so take his eye, just imagine me rocking a golden eye and red eye!
Zeus stepped forward, lightning dancing across his skin. "Enough talk. This ends today."
"Indeed, it does." I muttered in agreement.
Lightning split the sky as Zeus threw his thunderbolt with all his might toward the Titans as Atlas slapped it aside sending the weapon flying, Zeus grumbled as his thunderbolt appeared back in his hand.
We charged into battle, as Zeus headed toward Atlas, as I gripped my blade, shadows writhing around me as I ran toward my first target.
Hyperion, the Titan of the Light, surged forward, his golden armor blazing like the dawn. His massive spear cut through the air with a roar as he swung it toward me. But I stood unyielding, an immovable force. The shadows answered my call, spiraling around me, cloaking me in an impenetrable veil of darkness.
Hyperion's spear plunged through the void, only to meet empty air. He leaped back as he lifted a hand toward the sky.
"Alright! Let's see if the corpse god can survive the fury of the sun."
The heavens blazed. The sun got brighter as it bent to his will. With a thrust of his palm, a condensed beam shot down from the sun toward me, splitting the air with divine fire.
I barely had time to react. I dove to the side, shadows curling around me like a cloak, the heat licking at my heels as the blast melted the ground where I had stood. Another strike followed—another dodge, my breath sharp, the darkness my only refuge.
Then the third came. I twisted to avoid it, but not fast enough. The beam clipped my shoulder, and agony exploded through me. My armor sizzled, flesh burning beneath it. I hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop, smoke rising from my wound.
Hyperion laughed, spinning his spear. "You cannot outrun my beautiful light of judgment, boy!"
I pushed myself up, pain flaring, but I smirked through the agony. "Maybe not." Shadows rippled at my feet, surging outward like ink spilling over the earth. "But I can surely devour it."
"Im sorry wh-"
The darkness lashed out. Tendrils shot out from around me as they slithered toward him as they wrapped around his limbs, wrenching him backward. Hyperion snarled, his golden radiance flaring in defiance. He struggled, his divine fire scorching the tendrils, burning them away—
But I was already moving.
I closed the distance in an instant, my sword a streak of black lightning. The Stygian blade found its mark, slamming into his ribs and driving deep. A roar of pain tore from his throat as I twisted the weapon, feeling the satisfying crunch of breaking bone. Ichor spilled down his gilded armor, marring the brilliance of his light.
He staggered, but I did not let up.
With a flick of my wrist, the shadows roared to life again. Adamantine chains burst from within, coiling around his arms, his legs, his throat. Hyperion gasped, his strength faltering, his golden radiance dimming as the chains constricted, as it dragged him into the shadows. He tried to scream, but the darkness choked his voice, swallowing him whole.
"Stay put like a good boy." I said as I dodged a massive stone axe. I looked back to see Krios heaving as he gave me this murderous look.
"You stole him from me!" Krios roared, constellations flaring to life around him. The sky itself twisted in response, stars aligning into weapons that rained down like falling blades.
I dodged, weaving between the celestial onslaught as shadows coiled around my limbs, quickening my movements. His axe came down in a savage arc, the impact shattering the earth where I had stood just moments before.
"Perses made his choice," I taunted, my voice a dark whisper in the chaos. "And now you'll suffer for his weakness."
Snarling, Krios lunged again, his strength tearing through my defenses, forcing me back.
I let him swing again, let the axe carve through empty air—then struck. With a flick of my wrist, shadows lashed out, wrapping around his weapon like living chains. They coiled tighter, constricting, and with a sharp crack, the axe split in two, the pieces tumbling uselessly to the dirt.
Krios barely had time to register his loss before I was upon him. My fist slammed into his ribs, my new domain of destruction kicking in. Bones crunched beneath my strike, the force sending him skidding across the battlefield. He gasped, clutching his chest where deep cracks now spiderwebbed across his blackened skin.
"You—" he wheezed, rage flickering in his eyes even as his body failed him.
I didn't let him finish as Adamantine chains surged from the shadows, snaking around his limbs and yanking him to his knees. He thrashed, roared, but the chains held, pulling him deeper into the abyss at my feet.
"Why don't you keep Hyperion company." I murmured, kicking him into the shadows. I turned to look at Zeus, and was surprised that he was still fighting Atlas so I moved on to the next enemy.
Iapetus, the Titan of the East, and Koios, the Titan of the North, advanced in unison, their towering forms radiating raw power. It was two against one, and they knew it. Their eyes burned with cruel certainty, their movements coordinated, practiced—a deadly combination forged over eons of war.
Iapetus struck first, his massive spear descending like a falling star, the force behind it enough to shatter mountains. I twisted away, barely avoiding the blow as the ground beneath me cracked and caved in from the impact. Dust and debris exploded around us, but I had no time to recover.
Koios was already upon me. Fast. Unnaturally fast. The winds carried him like a phantom, his blade flashing toward my throat. I barely managed to parry, my longsword shifting in an instant—morphing into a massive battle-axe that met his strike with a thunderous clash. The force sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, but I held my ground.
"Struggling, God of the Dead?" Iapetus sneered as he lunged again.
I didn't answer. Instead, I let the darkness flow through me, my weapon shifting once more—this time into a great warhammer. I spun, bringing it crashing down onto Iapetus' spear, the impact forcing him to his knees as his weapon splintered under the weight of my assault.
But Koios was relentless. He struck again, his blade grazing my side, drawing divine blood. Pain flared, but I forced it down. I countered with a vicious sweep of my hammer, forcing him back just long enough for me to change my strategy.
They were fast. Coordinated. I needed to be faster. More brutal.
Summoning every ounce of my strength, I drove my hand into the earth. The battlefield answered my call. The ground beneath us cracked and split apart as veins of molten gold—riches buried deep within the bones of the world—burst to the surface. The wealth of the earth bent to my will, taking form, solidifying into rugged chain's.
"It is a pity that I am out of Adamantine chains."
Before they could react, the chains surged upward, snapping around Iapetus' limbs, binding him in an unbreakable grip. He roared, struggling, but the harder he fought, the tighter they constricted. I wrenched my hand, and the chains yanked him forward, right into my waiting grasp.
I didn't hesitate. My warhammer shifted once more—this time into a jagged, barbed glaive. With a single, brutal motion, I drove the blade deep into his chest, twisting, feeling the Titan's body spasm beneath my grip. His breath hitched, his strength failing, his immortal form already beginning to fade.
"You know I am really getting into this whole shifting of weapons while fighting." I said looking at the glaive. "Makes things a lot more fun when you are the god of riches and can manipulate your weapons metal to change as you want, don't you think so?"
Iapetus looked so confused, but he opened his mouth to respond anyway but I interrupted
"Yeah, I don't really care about your opinion."
With one final tug of the chains, I sent him hurtling into the abyss of my shadows, his body vanishing into the endless void.
Koios hesitated for the briefest moment—a fatal mistake.
I was on him in an instant. My glaive dissolved, reshaping into twin daggers that sliced through the air as I launched myself at him. He twisted, trying to evade, but this time, I was faster. I caught him mid-motion, my daggers slicing deep into his side, ichor splattering across the battlefield.
He gasped, clutching his wound, but I wasn't finished.
Raising my hands like a finger gun as I summoned the pure force of Destruction itself. The air vibrated, space distorting as raw energy built in front of my fingers. Koios' eyes widened as he realized what was coming.
"You can't—"
"Bang." I muttered as I unleashed the small sphere.
The sheer force of it sent him sprawling, the winds that had carried him now betraying him, scattering in every direction. Before he could even attempt to rise, he was wrapped up as well in my chains as they pulled tight, dragging him toward the shadow that they come from.
Koios thrashed, his voice rising in fury and desperation. "You think this is victory, Hades?" His body began to sink into the abyss, his eyes burning even as the shadows consumed him. "Cronos will carve your name from history!"
I watched him disappear, his final words swallowed by the void. Then, silence.
I exhaled, my body aching, my power thrumming like an unsteady heartbeat. I turned as I looked to where Cronos sat, looking amused as he leaned on his throne. Zeus finally took down Atlas and knocked the bastard unconscious and chained him with his Adamantine chains as he charged toward father.
"Alright, time to kick my old man's ass."