Chapter 3: The Battle for the Underworld
The abyss rumbled.
Erebus moved like a living shadow, his form shifting between solid and formless, his eyes two pits of endless void. He had existed long before Olympus, long before Titans, before even Time itself. He was Primordial Darkness, and he would not surrender his domain without a fight.
Hades stood firm, unshaken, unafraid.
"This realm is mine," Erebus growled, his voice swallowing sound itself. "You are a child of Olympus. You do not belong."
Hades tilted his head slightly. He felt the weight of the Underworld pressing against him, testing him. But he did not bend.
"I do now," Hades answered, his voice as cold and certain as death itself.
Erebus struck.
Darkness exploded around them, the force of his attack shattering reality itself. The Underworld twisted in response, its very fabric writhing at the presence of two opposing gods.
Hades did not move.Instead, he reached deep within himself. Power stirred, ancient and waiting.
His left hand ignited with cold fire—a flame that did not burn, but consumed. The first embers of the Fire of the End.
His right hand closed into a fist, and the world around him slowed. The endless drift of the spirits stopped, frozen in place by his will. Time did not rule here.
Erebus hesitated for a fraction of a second. It was enough.
Hades moved.In a single step, he was upon his enemy.His fist struck Erebus, and the Underworld screamed. The impact sent ripples through reality, shaking the abyss to its core. The souls of the dead wailed as the very foundation of the realm trembled.Erebus snarled, striking back, his form shifting into tendrils of darkness. They wrapped around Hades, seeking to consume him whole.Hades closed his eyes.
He did not resist. He did not fight against the darkness. Instead, he accepted it.
The shadows swirled around him, but they did not consume him. They bent, twisted, and became part of him.
Erebus realized too late.
Hades opened his eyes, and in them, the abyss reflected back at its master."I am not afraid of the dark," Hades said simply. "I am the dark."
Erebus screamed as the Underworld itself rejected him. The realm shifted, reshaped, and accepted its new king.
The last remnants of Erebus dissolved into nothingness.
The battle was over.Hades stood alone in the silence, the new ruler of the Underworld.The souls of the dead watched, waiting.And for the first time, Hades spoke to them.
"Kneel."
And they did.