Back at the Forge, Hephaestus sees the duo and said with a susprirsed expression: "Kratos? Can it be? Does this mean lord Hades rules no longer?" Kratos said this to the Smith God: "The god of the Underworld is dead." Hephaestus laughed a bit before saying this: "Dead? Hah! Hades deserved to suffer. Though I thought his death impossible." Cecelia nodded a bit as she said this as well: "That's what I thought as well. But then again, looks can be deceiving." Kratos added in when looking at her: "Olympians overestimate themselves." Hephaestus chuckled when looking at the pair: "Interesting. I will keep that in mind, Spartan." Cecelia looked over onto the other side and saw this gate that seemed to be beautifully designed. Hephaestus said this as he said a glimpes of her line of sight: "You need the soul of a god to use the Hyperion gate, Kratos. And that one has not been used for centuries. I'm sure it is broken. Otherwise I would have seen my beautiful… " Cecelia could tell by the lost trail of the Smith God's voice that he has lose someone precious to him. The Smith God continued to speak as Cecelia was listening to this story: "You know, Kratos. I wasn't always like this. A monster. I was once the most prized craftsman in all of Olympus. Zeus rewarded me with my marriage the beautiful Aphrodite. My mother, Hera, bragged of my talent. But the day you killed Ares was the day my world was torn from me. That day Zeus became fiend you now know. Worst of all, he took my beloved daughter, Pandora. My reason for living..." Cecelia felt her heart broke for Hephaestus because she can understand that feeling. Though her situation is not the same, she had lose her parents three years ago. He continued to speak when looking up at the ceiling if the Forge: "I spend my time here, trying to recreate her. I fail. Again and again. She still lives, Spartan. I can feel it. You…you Kratos...you can bring her back to me." This is where Cecelia could see a difference when reflecting his story to her past. She doesn't have her parents, but Pandora is likely alive. Kratos shook his head and said before turning around to walk away: "Your child is not my concern." The Smith God responded in a bit of a mournful way as Cecelia looked over: "But surely you can understand. You were once a father too." When seeing Kratos out of sight for the moment, she turned to the Smith God and said this: "I have lose my parents three years ago, so even I have a similar feeling to it. But this is a promise that I'll make, Hephaestus. When and if all of this is over, you'll have my word that I'll bring Pandora back to you." This seemed to make him happy as his gigantic index finger patted her head before she hurried over to catch up with Kratos.
Returning back to the living through the Hyperion Gate is easy enough as Kratos has the soul of Hades from the last fight. Venturing the journey on foot, she wanted to say something but didn't want to annoy him. But the silence was broken when he was the one to speak, "You said that you've lost your parents three years ago. Why did it happen?" She starts to think back into her past and then answered: "...it was when our town was attacked by one of my former enemies. He calls himself the Sinner Aion and he's known as a very powerful Contact Devil who's also manipulative and clever in a sense. When the entire town was later saved, Aion forced me to make a choice. He forces me to choose who will live and who will die between my parents and my sister Azmaria. My father...he fought bravely but was stabbed through his heart from behind him by Aion. My mother used the last of her magic to seal Aion away before she died. I should've fight harder. I should've stayed behind to save them...but I have promised to keep my sister safe. Although I did the right thing...I never felt so weak..." Kratos shook his head and responded: "You're not weak. Not in my eyes. Your parents did what any parent would do to protect their children. If anyone is weak, it's this Aion because he's a coward to put your loved ones in danger rather than facing you head-on " This caused her to blush lightly and she mentally was able to keep her composure in check. Suddenly, something strongly shakes and even Cecelia is surprised to see Gaia who is barely alive. She said as soon as she sees Kratos, "You live, Spartan? The blood of Cronos served you well. Quickly, you must help me!" This seemed to anger Kratos because he didn't forget of her betrayal earlier ago. But Cecelia decides to step up as she spoke: "I'm not sure how it'll work. I mean, you have seemingly betrayed him despite that you weren't severely injured." Gaia protested and pleaded when she's hanging on: "You know I had no choice. You must help me! I must face Zeus! The Titans must take down Olympus...!" Cecelia said this as she unsheathes the Yamato and used her magic to energize the blade, "I'm sorry. But I will not let you get in the way. This is Kratos's war! Not yours!" When using the technique called the Judgment Cut, many sounds of a sword's strikes and cuts can be heard. As the sound of this sword echoed a bit when its hilt hits the end of its scabbard, bright lightning in several patterns shocked for painful damages. Gaia screamed in pain as the same lightning shocks injured her body and she fell backwards into the abyss below while her severed left hand later rolled down from the cliff.
Kratos asked after a few seconds passed by, "What is that sword that you wield frequently? It's not like the Blade f Olympus. Yet, its power is strong to cut down even a Titan like Gaia with lesser effort than I have seen." Cecelia answered as she looks at him to be sure that he has her attention: "It formerly belonged to the older twin brother of one of my comrades. Depending on the condition of its current wielder, it can cut through even space and possibly through time itself. I never use the Yamato to see it for myself though." Moving onward, the two found the severely injured Helios the Sun God as he's unable to move. That's when a battalion of Olympus Sentinels converged on the wounded Helios by forming a shield that Kratos could not damage due to their Onyx shields. It's a valiant effort, but even that defense is rendered useless against the power of the Yamato as Cecelia used the Judgment Cut technique of which eradicated those soldiers into ashes when she puts the sword back in its scabbard. Fearing for his life, the injured Helios pleaded as he looked up: "Kratos...I have not forgotten the debt I owe you. Save me now as you once saved me from Atlas. And I promise to repay you in full." Kratos could tell that Cecelia was thinking of sparing the Sun God, but her kind heart might not be the best solution right now. He said as he took a few steps forward: "If you wish to repay me, tell me where I can find the Flame of Olympus!" Helios chuckled despite of his injuries and said to the Ghost of Sparta: "The Flame? You will never defeat Zeus, Spartan. You will forfeit your life in trying" Kratos stated to the injured Sun God himself: "Of all the lives you should worry about, Helios, mine is not one of them." Helios then stated before looking up: "Feel the power...OF THE SUN!" He unleashed the powerful light of the sun to blind Kratos, but the Ghost of Sparta was taken aback when Cecelia proceeded to help him once again by using her dragon wings to fully shied him. Slowly but surely, the duo got within a closer range and began to stomp violently on Helios's head repeatedly. The Sun God called out for mercy and said this: "Wait! Wait! I can tell you that to destroy Zeus you must step into the flame to receive its power-" Kratos interrupted and shouted firmly as he's not convinced: "You lie, Helios! Hephaestus told me the flame kills all those who touches." Helios said in dismay as he tries to get up but couldn't do so: "And you believe him?! That freak has fallen from the graces of Olympus!" Kratos stated firmly once more as Cecelia recalled of the Smith God's words: "That is exactly why I believe him." Helios said coldly when looking up at the Spartan: "My death will not lead you to Zeus." These words came out from Kratos's mouth when looking down: "That is where you are wrong."
Kratos then turned to Cecelia and said this as if it's both an order and out of concern: "You might want to look away. This is something that you might not want to see." He then grabbed his head and started to pull it fiercely. Her eyes widened when he then delivered a powerful hit on Helios's neck t break it before grabbing the Sun God's head again and started to pull it with all his might. Helios screamed in pain as Kratos brutally tore off his head of which ultimately killed him. Helios's severed head screamed in pain and anger as Kratos observed it. With the death of Helios, the clouds blocked the sun and the outcome is the storms clouding the sun that brings eternal darkness across the lands of Greece. It seems apparent that each demise onto mankind is formed in one disaster after another each time a God from Greece is killed. But there is not a moment to waste as there are still a few Gods that would rise against Kratos for Zeus. No matter what the challenge would be, Cecelia is still going to keep her promise of using her magic of redemption and creating better realities to bring peace and set Kratos free of the sins he had unintentionally committed onto his own family.
Disclaimer Notes:
* Aion and Azmaria are the fictional characters from the anime called Chrono Crusade
* Yamato is one of the Devil Arms' weapons from the Devil May Cry franchise