Are you alright? What the heck? He woke up and first thing he asked is if i am alright? Astrea said to myself with confused look on the Luke, when the laugh woke her from the trans.

Haha, this guy is best! Cronos said, with hands on his stomach, still laughing.

What? Did i do something wrong? I asked confused. Looking around two gods, he spotted four mans frozen in time with weapons already ready to kill someone.

Okay, all the shit around can wait, we should clear the things here. Not sure who stopped time, but can you please unstopped, so i can care of the things here. I said calmly.

Sure, i can. But are you sure you can handle it? Cronos, said.

"No problem," I said with full confidence, without the slightest doubt that I could fail.

"Then here we go!" Cronos snapped his fingers. The world around us came to life. Birds began to sing, the wind whipped against my face, and the four men in front of us rose again. This time, without hesitation, they came straight at us. But it didn't take long before they all lay unconscious on the ground. Four precise strikes to the back of the neck, and it was done.

I looked around. All four of them lay motionless. The last thing I needed to do was take their weapons. I reached for the first sword when suddenly I heard Astrea shouting at me:

"Wait, don't touch them!"

Too late. The sword was already in my hands. At that moment, I understood why she had warned me.

Voices. They began flooding my mind, whispering, shouting: "Kill them. Kill them!" They were full of hatred and anger—toward the gods. It was no wonder that the four men had been possessed and wanted to kill Astrea. This was hatred of the highest kind, the kind that weak-willed people succumb to, becoming pawns to these voices.

The longer I held the sword, the more I realized that even the strongest could fall to it. I could feel my mind starting to falter. But I am who I am—and I refuse to give in.

"Haha, this is something! No wonder they attacked you, Asti!" I said with a laugh, glancing at Astrea, who was staring at me in disbelief, silently thinking to herself: Asti? Asti?

I turned my gaze away from her, fixed it on the sword in my hand, and declared loudly: "I don't know who the fuck you are, but this won't work on me!"

The voices in my head suddenly grew louder, trying to take control of me. At that moment, I did the only thing I knew will work in situations like this—meditate. I sat down on the ground, calmed my mind, and immersed myself in deep contemplation. My battle had just begun.

In my mind, there was only darkness—darker than anything I had ever seen in this world. I didn't know where I was, but I instinctively felt that this was a place no mortal should ever set foot in.

Then I saw massive chains, holding what appeared to be a giant. Or perhaps something even more terrifying? It had several heads—no, far more than just several. I didn't want to count them, but I was certain the number was nearing a hundred.

The sound of chains and a loud laugh pulled me from my thoughts, followed by the words: "Very interesting. A human who can resist me. One who doesn't succumb to the hatred in weapons. What are you?"

I looked at him and, laughing, said: "I am who I am, and your hatred means nothing to me. And apologies, my name is Luke."

"Interesting, interesting," the giant mused. "You're more capable than I thought. Purging weapons of my hatred? What exactly are you doing out there?"

"Oh, it's just meditation. It helps me calm my mind," I replied calmly, without fear.

Haaaaaahaaaaa! You're amazing! One day, I'll claim you, possess you, and exact my revenge! I heard the giant's last words before I returned to my body. I looked up to see the swords now shining white, instead of the dark, cursed ones I had seen before.

Astrea and a god I didn't recognize were staring at me, shocked, unable to believe their eyes at what had just happened.

"What happened?" the unknown god asked, or rather, inquired. Astrea simply nodded, as she had the same question.

I looked at them both and began explaining everything from the beginning—the attempt to possess me by sword, and the conversation with the strange giant. Finally, I added: "But there's one thing I don't understand—how were the weapons purified? Instead of the dark sword, I now hold a beautiful one in my hand, which hums with energy, and seems to be freed from its curse. The same goes for the other weapons around us."

"We can't answer that exactly," Cronos replied with a smile. "But if I were to guess, it's because your willpower was stronger than Typhon's hatred in weapons and so you porified them.

Astrea kept staring at me, still in disbelief over what had just happened. A boy who isn't from this world, with an unknown blessing, able to resist Typhon... what's going on? These were the thoughts of the goddess of justice. Her train of thought was interrupted by the loud laughter of Cronos and me.

"Haha, that was an interesting interaction! I never thought I'd see a mortal who could resist both me and Typhon, and even meet him in Tartarus. Hoho, you're truly something!" Cronos said with a laugh. To which I replied, "Ha, it was fun! And the name of that giant is Typhon? Interesting, I must remember that!"

"Enough! Do you know what just happened? And do you realize what you've done? How can you take this so lightly? And you! We need to have a serious talk..." Astrea said, but I placed a finger to her lips and simply replied, "We'll discuss everything, but first, we need to ask those four where they found the weapons and tell them to show us exactly where."

I said to the four men who had been trying to sneak away quietly, but when they heard me, they stopped and simply said: "We're very sorry. We don't know what happened, but of course, we'll show you where we found them."

"Deal. Astrea, let's go check it out first, and then we can discuss everything you want. For now, we need to make sure there are no more weapons like this, because, from what I've gathered, these weapons are far more dangerous than they appear." I said, gathering the remaining weapons and motioning for the men to lead the way.

Behind me were only Cronos and Astrea, who was staring at me in disbelief, but she knew I was right, and this had to be done first. Astrea turned to Cronos and asked, "Are you coming with us, or is this where our paths diverge?"

Cronos placed his hand on my shoulder, and with a heavy heart, he said, "Unfortunately, you know I can't stay for long. I'd like to help more, but Ouranos isn't fond of me meddling in earthly affairs. All I can say is that this isn't the last time we'll meet, and Astrea, follow this boy. From my judgment, his appearance in our world is no coincidence, and his presence could change the world for the better, but also for the worse. Who is better than the goddess of justice to keep an eye on him? I know what you endured a month ago. I know it's hard, but from my perspective, that boy could be your salvation."

Tears welled up in my eyes at Cronos's words, and with all my strength, I just said, "For now, I'll go with him, but what comes after that, we'll see once I speak with him."

"For now, that's enough. Take care, and we'll meet again soon. You should hurry though, someone is waiting impatiently for you." Cronos pointed to the distance, where Luke was leaning against a tree with a smile, and I could hear him say, "Asti, hurry up! Adventure awaits us!"

I couldn't help but smile at how excited Luke looked. I wiped my eyes from the tears and said to Cronos, "Thank you for your help. Take care, and we'll meet again soon." With a smile, Astrea turned and headed toward Luke.

Cronos spoke quietly, "Whether you want it or not, your fate is already tied to that boy, Astrea. I can see it, how the dark aura of your loss is slowly fading away from you. That boy has an aura around him—wild, yet undeniably comforting. He has the power to win allies from anyone. Astrea, that boy will help you get out of all the bad things, and not just you. You deserve nothing but the best. And you, mother, why did you bring him here, for what purpose? Those are the questions I want answers to. And where to find the answers? Best at the source, which, unfortunately, is now unreachable, untraceable. Gaia, where the hell are you?"

The last words of Cronos before he disappeared from the depths of the forest, where the boy's and his goddess's story began.