The Olympian God of Destruction

by derpmaster9000

Pardoned from his initial erasure by the Omni-kings after his universe's defeat in the Tournament of Power, Beerus is sent off to the universe of Greek Mythology for a second chance at life. How will he fare, being reborn as a god in the wacky, and at times, downright absurd world of ancient Greek Myth? Only time will tell...

13. Chapter 13

The Olympian God of Destruction:

Chapter 13: The Titanomachy VI

The week passed by in no time at all.

Beerus' learning of the teleportation and shapeshifting had gone on rather smoothly. After Zeus had explained how both were done, Beerus had been able to pull them off almost immediately, given he already had absolute control over his inner power in its entirety. Over the course of the week leading up to today, where Beerus would be joining with one of his new allies, Styx, in sending Hyperion on a wild goose chase, he'd made sure to train them both rather extensively. Not to the same amount of time he'd spent doing the training Gaea had set up for him to achieve his ascended state, but more than sufficient enough for him to become adept at the use of both. After all, compared to the training he was going through to attain his own True Divine Form it was pretty easy all things considered.

He'd also shown his little brother he intended to keep his word and had given him three additional spars over the course of that week. All of which were also spectated by everyone again, and had ended with Zeus resoundingly being defeated each time, but as Zeus – or rather as Metis had so eloquently put it – the point of a spar wasn't who won or lost. They were meant for improvement mainly. And that was something both had gotten. Beerus with the use of those two abilities by focusing mostly on them during said spars to become increasingly proficient in their use the best way he knew how. And then Zeus in general by learning from each mistake he made in the spars to become sharper, faster and stronger in Beerus's eyes. At the very least his punches no longer looked like he was just flailing his arms about, anyhow.

Regardless, it was over now, and the time had come for him and Styx to send Hyperion well off their trail. As he came out of his shorter than usual training session using Gaea's seemingly impervious dummy, pretty much everyone seemed to have finished up what they were doing, at least for the moment, to see him and Styx off on their little detour.

The instant they all saw him appear, Hestia wasted little time making her way over and giving him a warm, loving hug from the front. Her sizeable breasts squishing against his chest from within her tunic. The soon-to-be god of destruction instantly feeling her warm, comforting and soothing aura wash over him, which never failed to make him feel better.

"Good luck out there, brother." She said with a kind, hopeful smile as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I hope to see you return safe and sound."

"Heh, I'll be fine Hestia." Beerus replied, showing little awkwardness in her embrace, which was easily down to her uplifting, warmth-filled aura, as he patted her head and gently slinked his other arm around her. A calm, small smile on his face. "I doubt this'll take long. Fetching Gaea's sons out of this Tartarus place will probably be a longer endeavour than sending that moron in the sky well off our current residence. I'll be back before you know it."

"Heh, we'll hold you to that." Hades remarked, as he and the rest of his siblings, including Zeus, moved closer to him. Their mother, Gaea and Metis staying back. He was pretty sure he spotted Amaltheia as well in the corner of his eye standing near the mountain cave's entrance as well to see them off. "In any case, when you get back, how's about a spar?" His ghostly pale brother said with a smirk as he jutted a thumb over in Zeus' direction. "As insightful as it is watching you and Zeus go at it, I'd much prefer to get a more hands-on experience."

"Same here." Poseidon nodded with a bit of enthusiasm. A little nervous at the prospect, but excited nonetheless. "I'd like to get in on that as well, if you don't mind. After seeing those spars between you and Zeus, I can't deny I'd like to see where I stack up after all the effort Mother's put into us, and how I could further improve."

"Hmph. Is that so?" Beerus smirked himself at their requests. According to their mother, following the latest spar with Zeus yesterday, it'd also been quite beneficial for the rest of his brothers and sisters. With their improvement rate in her own words becoming significantly better overall from watching them and soaking it all in.

That being true, if they wanted a spar, this could be a good way for him to check that himself. He'd be lying after all, if he said he didn't have some investment in seeing how they'd progressed, and outside of Demeter early on, he hadn't gotten 'hands-on' with any of the others, excluding Zeus obviously. And this leant itself as a good opportunity to do that.

"Very well, if that's what you want." Beerus agreed with a small nod, as he and Hestia separated. An idea popping into his head then. "In fact, you know what? I'm feeling a little generous, so seeing as I haven't been directly involved in the rest of yours training yet, how about I have a spar with each of you once I get back? I'll take one of you on each day starting from tomorrow, how's about that?"

"Sounds good. Looking forward to it." Hades nodded, as did Poseidon in agreement at this, while Zeus just shrugged with a smile, knowing he'd get his own anyway.

"What say you, Hestia? Would you be up for that?" Beerus asked politely, given he was regarding his favourite sibling, as she stepped back to the side. "I know you're not one for violence, so if you don't want to do anything more than what you're already doing on that front with our mother, and would prefer something else, feel free to let me know."

Hestia simply regarded him with a serene grin. "The offer for an alternative is appreciated Beerus, but I must say that I'd prefer to spar with you. As you said, I may not like violence, but I understand with the way things are right now, that I will definitely have to step up and fight as well. That has been clear to me for some time now. It'd be best if I was fully prepared for that, rather than underprepared."

Beerus nodded in acknowledgement. Not disputing the claim, nor did anyone else. In fact, the others bobbed their heads resolutely in consensus with her words. Something that made it clear that he, and Zeus he supposed, wouldn't be the only ones of their siblings directly battling against Kronos and the Titans. As if that hadn't been obvious enough already. And to think, he'd once believed she'd stick behind with their mother a while back once he got them out of Kronos' belly, whilst he went out to deal with him and whoever else on his lonesome. It felt good in away, to know that all of them were prepared to back each other up and were so open about it.

That had been something he and Champa had never really had, though they'd still cared about the other in the end. Funny how life worked.

"Very well then. Just so long as you're aware that I won't be going easy on you." Beerus finally said back somewhat teasingly, but also serious at the same time. Though, admittedly, just the thought of striking her, even for him, felt like a disgusting act. He'd still do it though, if it meant she would be good to go. After all, their enemies would definitely not be pulling their punches, and it'd be ludicrous to think that they would. He may have gotten a little softer, he had to admit that at this point, but he hadn't gone that soft.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Beerus." Was her response. The smile and pleasant attitude never leaving her. "Feel free to go as hard as you want on me. I know it'll be for my own benefit in the end, after all. And besides, it also means I get to spend a bit of extra time with you, which is always nice to have."

Hestia, I swear you are too good for this world, sometimes. Beerus thought earnestly, as he shook his head in bemusement.

"I'll have to agree with Hestia on that one." Said Demeter kindly with a smile that seemed mostly innocent, as she stepped closer like Hestia had done. Just one short step away from glomping him, as she threw herself into him with a hug of her own that was a wee bit too enthusiastic, hopping off her feet as she circled her arms around his neck. All but squashing her own perky pair into his chest as she did. "You were such a good help for me last time, Beerus, so I know you'll be a great help in this as well. I'm looking forward to it!"

"Uh, yeah. That's good to hear, Demeter…" He responded with notably more awkwardness, giving her a light pat on the back. The elder cringing inwardly and scrunching his face a little as she pecked him thankfully on the cheek this time, something a certain other sister of his didn't fail to notice, as the blonde separated from him and gave him a wink. One that, again, he was sure a sister shouldn't quite be giving to their brother.

"Good luck out there from me as well. Though, I'm sure you won't need it."

"Right…" Beerus recovered relatively quick as she stepped back, and he found his attention going over to Hera then, who'd folded her arms around her waist as she eyed him with an odd smirk on her features.

"You already know what my answer is." She said confidently. Her prideful attitude shining through. "As I told before our training began, try not to dissatisfy me with your guidance, Beerus."

"Hmph. Still with that cheeky mouth, I see." Beerus smirked back at her amusedly. Recalling her words from back then quite well. "I look forward to seeing for myself if you've got more than just sass to you, Hera." With that, he made to walk away. "I'll see you all again in a bit. Expect for me and Styx to bring back some more company."

And expect for me to give you a little surprise when you get back, Beerus. Hera's smirk turned devious, as she watched his retreating back.

"Styx, you ready to go?" Beerus called out to the Titaness, who appeared to have been in a bit of a conversation with her assembled children off to the side prior to that.

She turned to him, long wavy-brown hair swishing lightly in the wind along with her white cloak, as she gave an affirmative nod. Her expression mostly serious, but with a hint of a smile on her beautiful face. "Yes. I'm ready whenever you are, Beerus."

"Good." Beerus glanced towards Gaea, her massive mounds giving a light wobble as she gave him a thumbs-up. Her expression downright giddy knowing this was the day she would likely be reuniting with her unjustly imprisoned children. Then again, she'd pretty much been like that throughout the whole week leading up to now, and he imagined she'd be like this tenfold once he actually brought them back here.

Not giddy enough however to forget to tell him to be on-guard down there. Though she couldn't confirm it, she had made sure to let him know earlier in the week that there'd likely be someone guarding the space that her sons were trapped in. No doubt ordered to do so by Kronos. As to whom though, even she didn't know, as they'd likely originate from down there, putting them outside of even her domain.

There hadn't been much concern for it though, as she knew how powerful he was even without his own True Divine Form yet, and even if not, Styx was with him as backup. The warning was more of a simple heads-up to expect some opposition, and that was about it.

His mother gave a proud smile at him for all the effort he was putting in for the rest of them. Her arms folded just beneath her bosom as she mouthed to him a, "See you soon, son."

Metis simply gave him a silent, but respectful look as she folded her arms by her waist as well. One that bid him farewell and good luck in getting the job down without actually saying a word, as she gave him a small nod. Showing confidence in his ability to get this done, after what he'd accomplished thus far.

"Just before we go, make sure that you stick close by me. If you end up straying, I won't be able to shield you from Kronos' gaze above in the heavens." Styx explained, as they came within breathing distance of the other a few paces later and Beerus turned his attention completely to her. The Oceanid wasting little time in offering him a hand then. The motion peeling her flowing cloak open slightly to reveal bit of her creamy legs. "We'll also need to be making physical contact in order for us both to dematerialize with the other and appear in the same location, so take my hand."

"Fair enough." Beerus agreed, gripping the aforementioned dainty hand with his own, even if he still wasn't a fan of this sort of physical contact. They'd need to be on the same page for this, and if this was a requirement, he could more than put with some basic handholding to get the job done.

"So, what way would like to go about this to start off?" She asked, meeting his gaze before staring up into the sky, where the golden lines left behind by Hyperion's chariot could be seen in the distance, which was definitely a good deal closer than it had been a week ago. "We can simply appear east or west near where he is and wait for him to spot us. Or," This time, Styx' smile broadened with a mischievous edge to it. "we could get his attention the old-fashioned way, if you know what I mean."

Beerus, catching on to what she meant by that almost immediately, chuckled as he gazed towards the sky with an amused, but somewhat vicious smile. "Oh, I'm definitely going to like having you around…"

Above in the heavens… a good distance away…

"So, any luck yet finding them yet on your end?" Theia asked somewhat casually, leaning her elbow over the side of the chariot, resting her face over her palm. Her deep, shimmering blue eyes glancing at her consort as she took a small break from surveying the passing ground below. "Because I'm still drawing a blank."

"Not yet." Hyperion replied, whipping the reins over his stallions as he kept a levelled expression. "I get the feeling we're getting closer though."

"You do, huh?" She quirked a brow curiously. "Has your domain tipped you off yet to something that could be hiding them?"

"No, not yet." He shook his head. "Just a gut feeling is all. Like I'm about to run into something fami-ugh!?"

Theia's eyes widened as she caught something suddenly strike her brother-husband in the face before he could finish. A shockwave suddenly following, spreading out from around the chariot and rocking it, as before she knew it, Hyperion was sent flying off the vehicle and plummeting at breakneck speeds to the ground far below. His body crashing into the landmass and causing an explosion of force as he struck it, sending debris flying everywhere as he was laid out in a massive crater that could be easily made out from the chariot's current position in the sky.

"That's good instincts. Too bad it didn't help you." Theia heard a male voice she hadn't heard before say mockingly, causing her gaze to snap towards the direction it'd come from as two shadows cast over her. Her eyes widening further as she saw a purple-haired god that perfectly matched the description she'd been given of the main one they were hunting's appearance, and perhaps more shockingly, the cloaked form of Styx next to him. Both figures hand-in-hand as they now stood perched atop the edge of the chariot she was by. The former lowering his other foot, which was smoking a little from the kick he'd just delivered, to the edge.

"Wha-" Theia quickly rose to her feet in a small panic, only to find a foot being slammed into her face before she could fully react. Styx's cloak billowing back behind her, leaving her outstretched, curvy leg in full view as another shockwave burst forth from her own strike, sending Hyperion's consort hurtling back in relatively the same direction he'd gone. Her body crashing into the ground below as well, forming a crater beneath her that while not as big as the first one made, was still pretty damn large.

"Nice kick." Beerus complimented, as Styx brought the lithe appendage back beneath her rustling cloak.

"Same to you." She nodded with a pleased grin. "Though I suppose that's to be expected from someone of your calibre."

"Heh. Don't bust out the praise just yet. Better if we wait until everything's set and done before we start patting each other on the back." Beerus' gaze fell down to where they'd launched the two, as did Styx, just as Hyperion rose to a knee and glared up at them. "Hey jackass! Were you looking for me!?" He shouted down to him over the roaring wind, flashing a toothy smile. "Well I'm right here! Now why don't you come and get me!"

Hyperion's face contorted into a mask of pure rage as his body dematerialized from where it'd been launched. Just as his far larger form rematerialized on his chariot and struck out with a fist, the duo had vanished into golden specks, leaving him the sole inhabitant of the vehicle for the moment. Ichor spilling from his mouth as the side of his face was somewhat indented. His head snapped left and right with an infuriated expression as his eyes glowed with a divine flare.

"You little shit!" He yelled furiously, heavenly light radiating from his body as a golden aura overtook his form. "You dare to test me!? Do you have any idea who you're messing with, you punk!?"

His sister-wife was quick to reappear beside him not a moment later as the chariot and steeds had halted their travel. Her expression holding more of a cold fury to it, as unlike her consort, her face had already fully recovered from whatever damage that kick may have inflicted on her. Her eyes spotting the duo now looking up at them from the ground to the east a good distance off.

She needn't have bothered to tell Hyperion this though, as it was clear he already knew where they'd reappeared, and glared daggers down at their direction. Well, more specifically Beerus, as he didn't seem to care about Styx's presence like she had. Though that could easily be put down to the animosity he felt toward him trumping any amount of surprise he also may have felt seeing her down there with him, as his aura started to become denser. His power spiking skyward with his raw emotion.

"You're going to regret showing your face to me again, you cocky little bastard!" He roared, as his form began to glow brighter and brighter, beginning to light up the sky now. "I'll show you just how far beneath me and my brothers you are. How inferior you truly are, here and now!"

Styx only showed a hint of concern as she felt his power begin its ascent, and it became clear what he was about to do, but otherwise remained calm and collected. This was it. He was going to use it right away, as she thought he might do when confronted with Beerus again. With Gaea's help though, they still had a good chance at this. And if things went sour for them, she was prepared to use her own True Divine Form if need be to ensure their plan could still feasibly work, since Beerus didn't have his own yet from what she understood.

She then glanced toward him and told him to get ready, as they felt the Titan's power rise and rise. His ascension to his True Divine Form being imminent. Beerus merely smirked at this, however. And from her perspective, seemed to be rather amused at what Hyperion had just shouted down.

And that was because to Beerus, with all the experience he'd had from back in his old days unbeknownst to her, he knew an overly emotional fighter when he saw one. Particularly those that were angry, and clearly felt slighted, and the Titan up above fit that to a tee more than he'd been expecting. Surprise attack or not. Which meant he might be able to make this even easier than anticipated, if he played his cards right here and now.

"You're pathetic." The purple-haired deity suddenly said loud enough for them all to hear. "You're calling me inferior, yet you're not even hesitating to jump into your True Divine Form for someone you claim is far beneath you? Hah! Just who the heck do you think you're fooling with that garbage!"

"What?" The Titan's ascension paused briefly upon hearing this, as his glowing eyes bared down on them. Boring a hole through Beerus skull.

"You claim I'm far beneath you and the rest of those buffoons, yet you need your ascended form to prove that? Surely you could do so with your normal state if what you said is true. Unless of course, I'm to take you using your True Divine Form right away as an admission that you don't have what it takes as you are now?" Beerus' smirk broadened. "Is that it? Are you afraid that if you don't use that I'll end up slaughtering you if you manage to catch us? Just like I did to Kronos and that musclebound moron who got in my way last time?"

Styx instantly realised then and there what Beerus was doing, and why he hadn't immediately been ready to flee. The Oceanid had to do her best to hide the sly grin that was forming, as Beerus did something even she hadn't quite considered trying when going into this. Something that was well worth a shot, and if it succeeded, would certainly make what they were trying a good deal easier to accomplish.

"Afraid? You think I'm afraid of you?" Hyperion scoffed with a near distorted voice, whilst his body continued to glow brightly, on the cusp now of ascending to his ultimate form. "You're nothing but an impudent little bastard! You lucked out last time. If we'd taken you completely serious back then and ascended sooner, you and your little group of misfits would've never made it out of Mount Othrys!"

"Ah! Was that a concession I just heard?" Beerus taunted back with an exaggerated 'gotcha' expression as he leaned his head forehead with a hand cupping his ear. Latching on to his counter so he could turn it on its head. "If you'd 'ascended sooner', huh? I knew it." His gaze turned downright smug as he pointed up at him emphatically. "No, you and I both know it, don't we? That you need that True Divine Form of yours to come after me. Because without it, you're too damned weak otherwise, aren't you?"

Theia's eyes narrowed sharply from hearing those words. She'd heard about what he'd said before back at Othrys a while back, but it seemed as though Hyperion hadn't been exaggerating about the sheer gall that this fledgling god had.

Hyperion, however, was seething from the insult. The parting words Beerus had delivered to him before escaping Othrys replaying in his head, which only further caused his rage within to boil over from the new deity's unprecedented level of audacity that he hadn't received since the days of his horrible father's reign. His fists clenched by his sides and radiating pure, heavenly light in numerous rays jutting out in multiple directions. "Weak…? You dare to call me weak?"

"Yes. I do dare. Because you are weak." Beerus shot back, knowing there and then he had him, as he lowered his hand and placed it on his hip. "So, you know what? Go ahead and transform if you wish. Go ahead and prove my words true. Demonstrate to us all just how worthless you are by having to rely on it to even have a chance at catching me."

"You… Piece of shit…!" Hyperion's teeth ground down as his hair shadowed over his eyes. His godly aura beginning to simmer down. "You honestly believe I can't take you down without it, huh?"

"I don't believe. I know you can't." The former cat deity sniped back again, taking a page out of his sister Hera's book as he turned his nose up to him. And despite how far up Hyperion, Theia, and the chariot was from them, there was no mistaking how much he appeared to be looking down on him. "I can see it written all over your face. The moment you saw me, you always intended to hop straight into your ascended state, because deep down you know you're screwed without it."

In that moment, Hyperion thrust his massive hand outward, sending out a large, almost blindingly bright beam of heavenly light down from it towards Beerus and Styx.

Rather than just teleport out of the way, Beerus tugged on Styx' hand and forced her to crouch with him and let the huge, destructive beam sail right over their heads by a hair's breadth. It then dug deep into the ground, forming a deep chasm as it reared off into the distance, cleaving a mountain in half miles upon miles behind them before the beam dissipated entirely. The entire sequence having taken place in under one-trillionth of a second.

"You loud-mouthed worm…" Hyperion hid his wrath behind a sneer. His godly aura having dropped back down to its more regular state around his form, as his eyes remained lit up like a flare. His desire to transform in order to batter the cocky upstart falling away for the moment. "Underestimating me will be your undoing. You want me to come for you as I am? Fine then, let's play your little game. Forget my True Divine Form, I can crush you without it, you miserable little shit!" He exclaimed with a voice loud enough to boom throughout the area.

Heh. Hook, line and sinker. Beerus thought with a toothy grin, controlling the chuckle that rose from his throat, as both he and Styx straightened up. His other hand raising up as he flipped him the bird, just as he'd done to Kronos over a month back. "Oh yeah? Go ahead and try, jackass!"

Just as Hyperion prepped another beam attack in his hand, the two's forms shimmered away. His domain-enhanced senses picking up their new location almost immediately off in the distance, close to where he'd seared through the mountain.

"Theia, take the reins and steer." Hyperion all but commanded to his wife, as he grabbed and threw them to her. She caught them easily and gazed at her husband as he balled both of his hands into fists again, enveloping them in his unearthly light. His expression truly murderous from her perspective, but inwardly she wasn't much better after hearing and witnessing that cocky fledgling's insolence towards them. Which was why she proceeded to follow her consort's order implicitly and was in no way argumentative when he stated flat out, with eyes burning brighter than their son Helios above them, "I'm going to blast them to smithereens."

Meanwhile, shortly after rematerializing further down from the two Titans, Styx looked toward Beerus with a full-on grin of her own, as they immediately started to run further east at high speeds. "Well, that was something. I expected to be having to deal with him at his height of power right now, but you just managed to goad him into coming after us without it. How did you know that would work?"

Beerus gave what could be interpreted as a shrug whilst they ran almost side-by-side. Him taking a small lead in front of her. "It was more of a hunch at first, really. I could see it in the way he looked at me. There was nothing but contempt and rage there towards me. Those that are controlled by their emotions like that, are a lot easier to manipulate." He knew this not just from doing it himself to foes in the past, either out of boredom or for his own small amusement, but also from personal experience. Mostly from Whis, who at more than one point had pointed out how his own temper clouded his judgement more often than not. Something that even now, he hadn't quite shirked off.

"Hmm. Well, I can't argue with that." Styx conceded. "Still, I find it quite impressive that one as young as you are is already so attuned to such a thing."

Heh. Him, young. He'd just let her think that. It wasn't entirely inaccurate to be fair, at least as far as his new physical body was concerned. "The compliment is appreciated, but as I said before, leave the praise for later." The two quickly veered and jumped left as a beam of light soared crashed into where they'd been and melted a huge hole in the ground. "We've got business to attend to."

They both glanced back and saw their pursuers right on their tail. The chariot pulled by their divine steeds moving even faster than they were, as it quickly gained on them. The two being able to make out Hyperion stood atop the back-edge now of the chariot whilst Theia steered ahead. His aura blazing with two fists outstretched to either side of him, coated and glowing intensely within what looked to be spheres made of his heavenly light.

"And just where do you think you're running off to after all that big talk, you cocky shit!" He exclaimed with a ferocious scowl, before thrusting his fist out and sending another high-speed light beam directly at them. One they were both forced to hop away from again. Except instead of hitting down where they'd been, just like back in the castle, the beam of light curved and headed straight for the direction they'd dodged to.

"Hmph. This again?" Beerus almost scoffed, as he and Styx avoided the beam of light again by jumping to the side and rocketing off in a fast sprint further east still. The former trusting his actions enough to not teleport away with him.

Once again, the beam curved and followed behind them at unimaginable speeds. Beerus knew he could cancel it out like he'd done last time, but that would require more effort than was necessary, and would definitely leave them both open. Something he was proven right for thinking, as both he and Styx caught a second beam being sent from Hyperion's other fist. One which flew passed where they were heading given how close their Titan pursuers were above them, before looping round in an instant and homing right in on them from where they were running to at a blistering pace. Leaving them in what looked to be a pincer attack from their back and front by the two massive beams of heavenly light that were both now mere feet away from colliding with them.

It was then that Beerus gave a short, wordless nod to Styx. She gave a brief motion of understanding in that tiny fraction of a second, before the light seemingly encompassed their forms. The whole area being blanketed in impossibly bright light as the two beams collided, one that could be seen for thousands of miles out in every direction before the two cancelled each other out.

Theia didn't bother to ask her brother-husband if he'd landed or not, as his flaring eyes glowed a little brighter. A hint of frustration evident on his angered features making it clear he hadn't landed, if the fact that their bodies weren't there where the beams had struck was any indication.

Indeed, they hadn't. Beerus and Styx reappeared an even larger distance away than before, and immediately got back to running again as they were more than within Hyperion's range still.

"So how far out should we take him and that stupid broad before we shirk them off?" He asked, not the slightest bit unnerved by Hyperion's efforts. So long as there was no ascended state being used, he knew without question he could handle him and that woman he was with chasing after them.

Styx barely held back the humoured snort at how he referred to the Titaness. Not that she was about to correct him though. "Well, I'd say that's rather simple. They'll throw the barrier up soon enough, I'm sure of it. We'll lead them to believe it's working for as long as we can, by physically dodging everything they, or rather Hyperion, throws at us. I'll let you know when we've taken it far enough, and from there, we'll dematerialize out from under their noses. Sound good?"

Heh. He genuinely wished he could see the looks on their faces when that happened. Given how pissed that buffoon up above was, he didn't doubt his expression following that would be downright comical. It'd make for a good laugh, he was sure. "Yep. Gotcha. I'll leave our final vanishing act to you then when that happens, seeing as I have no idea how to get to this Tartarus place without you."

Instinct kicked in a minute fraction of a second later, and both lunged to the side yet again as another beam of light careened passed them. They were then forced swerve left and right as one beam after another blasted down on them, absurdly bright to an obnoxious degree in Beerus' opinion as the land around their darting forms was perforated beyond recognition.

"Get back here you little rats! I won't let you escape!" They heard Hyperion roar, and immediately teleported again, landing once again much further east and bolting forward. The chariot was blazing overhead in an instant, and the angered Titan was already raining down a volley of light beams upon them, literally pumping them out through his thrusting fists. All of which the two bobbed and weaved through, only narrowly avoiding some, admittedly, as they punctured gaping holes all around them.

They vanished again and reappeared way further up, and as expected, the Titan twosome and their chariot drawn by numerous magically endowed stallions was sailing right over their heads in an instant. A rain of light beams came down on them again, and it wasn't long before they teleported up again after dodging their fair share.

This time however, it appeared that Hyperion had finally had enough already of them doing that. "Theia!" He called out angrily without even down looking at his wife, as they covered the distance that Beerus and Styx had made again. The Titan basically announcing to the runaway pair what was about to happen. "let's nip that annoying dematerialisation of theirs in the bud! They won't be able to evade me for much longer if we throw up the barrier!"

"On it!" She nodded in acknowledgement, and almost instantly, their eyes glowed a similar radiance as a wave was released from them both.

Unlike at Mount Othrys, Beerus actually felt the barrier coming up, as it was occurring in real time rather than already being put up. Though he couldn't physically see it, he knew it was there and had manifested in a decently wide radius around them. And it wasn't stationary either. He could just tell it was moving with the Titan couple up above, as it trapped them within its invisible borders.

Or so the two chasing them from above thought anyway.

"This is it." Styx remarked, leaning into his ear as they ran so that only he could hear her. "Everything's going according to plan. Better even. Just keep dodging until I give the signal, okay?"

"I'm in your hands." The purple-haired fledgling replied, as they both quickly veered hard to the left to avoid another beam attack that blasted the ground.

"Nowhere to go now, you little shits! Keep running away all you want, but you won't be able to avoid my attacks forever." Hyperion sneered. His anger coming down to a more containable level, as he saw himself one step closer to taking the arrogant fledgling of Kronos out. His arms then bent by his sides and cocked back, heavenly light shining brightly from his fists, almost headlighting over Beerus and Styx despite it being the daytime. A testament to just how luminous the Titan's domain-given light was even in his base state.

It was about the only warning they received, before Hyperion starting thrusting both his fists out one after the other in rapid succession. His arms a blur of motion as he sent a vicious hail of light projectiles down on them rapid-fire. Like all the beams previous, they practically melted through the ground as soon as they touched it, created deep, wide holes in the earth as he littered the area with them.

Beerus and Styx evaded most of them as the ran by. Some of which, even to Beerus, came dangerously close to landing. Every dozen or so they dodged through, one or two came within barely a centimetre from either deity, to where they could genuinely feel the blasts grazing off their skin, causing it to sizzle or burn from the heat generated. All as they either flew by their faces or penetrated the earth close by their feet, forcing them to hop over the massive hole that'd be created from it.

Hundreds upon hundreds more were fired from the Titan of heavenly light, as they ran through what had been once lush lands and the occasional forest. Nothing was spared from the Titan's onslaught on top of them. Both Beerus and Styx spotted numerous animals getting vaporised on the spot, being nowhere even remotely fast enough to react to Hyperion's blasts speeds. The purple-haired god couldn't help but notice his companion cringe each time they swiftly darted through a forest area in particular that got absolutely ravaged by Kronos' brother's light blasts.

He knew she hadn't been hit, so despite the situation, he found himself wondering why she was pulling such a face because of it. As they forced to weave through one blast after another battering the ground around them, he made the wise decision to keep that question for later, if he even still cared by that point to ask.

"Tch! I've had enough of this!" Hyperion exclaimed in frustration after a while from above seeing his current attacks being ineffective on them. His rapid rain of light ceasing not a moment later as he took in a breath. His aura then grew denser around his barely clothed form as he brought his balled fists coated in heavenly light above his head, opening them up and then clasping them together. His sleek muscles bulged and tightened around his arms, as the two spheres of light combined together into one much larger one over his head. His stance almost resembling that of a baseball pitcher getting ready to throw, as his contemptuous smile grew wider. As though he was about to wrap this whole thing up in one fell swoop. "You think you're slick dodging all those? Try evading these then, you infuriating worms!"

Without any more preamble, he swung his arms down, and the large sphere that engulfed both his hands was suddenly launched forward, flying passed their chariot and their steeds, as well as both Beerus and Styx well into the distance high in the sky. For a brief instant, the former GOD of Universe 7 was puzzled by this, but as soon as the massive orb was far enough away from their fleeing forms, it stopped dead in its tracks. And when it did, Beerus' battle-honed instincts flared up to warn him of the impending threat. And it wasn't hard to tell that Styx was on a similar wavelength either.

In but a fraction of a second later, suddenly dozens – no, hundreds – of beams burst forth from all around the orb, whipping and looping around as they spread out in all directions like missiles. And as the two ran forward, it became very evident why that was, as they started to home in on them quite like some of his earlier attacks. Unlike last time however, there were swiftly covered from literally all angles. No matter where either glanced to, it was clear there was no opening to dodge through the dome of light beams boxing them in even if they wanted to. No matter where they moved to from here, they were guaranteed to get caught by and bombarded by them if they didn't do something soon, as they all converged on them with the intent to obliterate.

"No more places to run now, Beerus!" Hyperion boomed as the chariot halted, using the formerly feline deity's name for the first time within earshot of said god with nothing but derision, as he watched them converge from above the dome created. A certain level of glee in his voice as he saw the end drawing near on their little chase. He knew it wouldn't kill them as that was an impossibility for their kind, but it'd definitely stop them in their tracks and hopefully blow off a few limbs. He wouldn't allow either, Beerus especially, to recover. He'd keep hammering them after this until he was satisfied, and then as planned, bring Beerus back to Kronos to deal with him for good, and then find the others he'd escaped with later perhaps. "Who's the one slaughtering who now, you arrogant twat!"

While Hyperion was assured that he had them though, Theia began to get an uneasy feeling as the beams closed in on the two. She could feel something was off in that moment. That something didn't feel right, but she didn't know what. All she could do, was watch the two as the beams closed in on their running forms, now mere feet away from collision at every angle.

It was in the last possible second before impact, that Styx locked her gaze with Beerus, showing off her glowing eyes and concentrated expression. Her form, as well as his, beginning to glow for the briefest of instants, letting Beerus know without words what was coming. The latter simply grinned back, before shifting his attention up to their pursuers, right as all the beams of light were less than a foot away from them.

Then, in full view of Hyperion's molten gaze, Beerus gave him the same parting gift that he'd given to Kronos following the escape from Mount Othrys.

He flipped him the bird.

Boom!

Theia's eyes widened as the beams of heavenly light all struck the same spot at once, creating a massive shockwave that spread out throughout the area and far into the distance as they crashed against each other. The resulting light show being so blindingly bright, that had she not been who she was, would've definitely forced her to close them in order to stop her eyesight from being lost, even if temporarily.

Hyperion seemed to catch on quick as well, as the light soon died down to reveal a gigantic, several hundred-metre wide and exceedingly deep crater. An empty one, with their targets missing completely. Not blown to bits by his attacks but gone. Vanished. Not a trace of their presences left behind this time that he could lock on to. His head now fully healed from the blow he'd been struck with beforehand, the male Titan's anger quickly mixed with being stupefied at the situation. "What…? Did they just…?"

"Dematerialisation…" His sister-wife confirmed it. A look of shock on her face too. "They just… used it…"

The question of 'how' entered both their minds. And it wouldn't be for some time, as both stared gobsmacked within the chariot, that both of them would inevitably piece together that someone had shut down their barrier, as well as who was the most likely to have done so. And that was when one conclusion would be reached. One that would truly make Hyperion's divine blood boil.

They'd just been had.

Meanwhile…

"Well, that went over smoothly." Beerus commented with a humoured look to him. The duo now well out of Hyperion's range, at least in his base state, and pretty much in the clear.

"Indeed." Styx agreed. "I came into this expecting that to be a good deal harder than it was, but your taunts pretty much made that almost a trivial matter to attend to. I'd say we've bought a good amount of time with that ploy." Her expression then turned a bit sour. "Bit of a shame we had to put the forests through that in particular, but I don't think that really could've been avoided."

"Oh, since you brought that up, mind telling me why you seemed so put off by those?" he couldn't help but ask curiously.

Styx just sighed while shaking her head. "I guess with all that's going on you weren't told about the finer details of the world. The reason why I was put off is because there was no doubt plenty of dryads in those forests, who most likely either lost their lives or were badly hurt by Hyperion's assault." Before Beerus could think to ask what a 'dryad' was, Styx elaborated quick. "And before you ask, dryads are the nymphs that live in trees. And unlike myself and others like me or you, they are capable of death since their existence is tied to where they were born. You destroy those, and you destroy them."

"Ah." Well, that answered that then. He didn't have to ask what a nymph was, since he'd already met them a long time ago back in his previous dimension on a select few planets. Nature spirits, if he recalled from what Whis had mentioned to him. Beings that provided the part of nature they were tied to remained intact, couldn't be killed by normal means. It seemed they resided here too and under much the same principle. "So that was it."

Back in the day, Beerus would've just shrugged and not given it a second thought. Now though… well, he still didn't really care all that much if he was being honest. He'd been a destroyer god for an eon back before his rebirth, after all. He did feel a very, very slight pang of guilt for it but that was about it. He'd, again, gotten softer since his old days from his previous universe, for sure, but he wasn't nearly bad enough to muster up any serious feelings of sadness or regret for those he didn't even know. That was a bridge too far for someone like him at the moment and was unlikely to change. If it were Hestia or any of his other siblings in that situation, he'd give a shit, but some random nymphs he would've never met, most likely? No. Not at all. And at the end of the day, that scenario had been kinda unavoidable, so there was no real use getting worked up over it anyway. At least in his mind. His new twin sister would've definitely thought otherwise.

"Regardless, what's done is done." The Oceanid asserted, pushing her feelings about that to the side as she focused back on the more important topic. "You can let go of my hand now, if you want. Now that we're not being chased anymore, we can afford to just keep close-by since we'll now be heading into the underworld."

From there, Beerus obliged and let go of her hand as he took proper notice that they were just outside the entrance of a cave. One that Beerus could see a river flowing out of.

"This is an entrance to the underworld, huh?"

"Yes. One of many. This one in particular however, is the one that I resided in mainly." The Oceanid revealed, as they made their way inside. "The river that I'm associated with, which also bares my name you see, runs out through here the most. My river also acts as the bridge between this plane and the underworld, where the rest of it lies, essentially making me a gatekeeper of sorts between the two."

"Hmm. Fascinating." Beerus nodded along, somewhat intrigued by this as they made their way further inside along a small path beside the flowing river. "Does that mean you could block someone from reaching down into the underworld if you wanted?"

"If I wanted to, I could do a whole lot more than just block their path." Styx stated cooly, without a hint of arrogance. "For example, if one of our enemies were to fall into my river and become submerged beneath my waters even for just a moment, I could enforce my will upon them and render them completely powerless for quite some time after the fact."

"You could?" Beerus blinked. "Even against Kronos or one of his merry band of morons?"

"Yes. None of them would be safe from my power if they were. Even if they were in their True Divine Forms, if they were submerged within my river, I'd still be able to render them powerless, even if with much more effort. They'd effectively be within my domain, after all. Quite literally." Styx then motioned towards the river itself as they walked along and quirked up a grin. "If you don't believe me, then feel free to jump in if you doubt my words. I can give you a personal demonstration to prove it, if needs be."

The way she delivered that with such confidence and certainty made it clear to Beerus rather fast that this was no mere boast. He'd like to think he'd been around the block long enough to be able to tell when someone was telling hard truth or spewing crap. And right now, he was getting the undeniable feeling that she was simply telling it how it was.

He eventually ended up shaking his head. "Nah. I'll take your word for it. I can tell you're not the type to lie or exaggerate about her abilities."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She smiled earnestly, before her face once again took on a much more serious countenance. "There's no being save for a select, small few at the moment, that would be unaffected by my river's hold, and you're well acquainted with one of them already."

Gaea. Of course, she would be.

"Anyways, I think we're far enough in now. It's about time we hitched our ride."

Wait, their ride? What did-

Before Beerus could even finish that thought, space itself seemed to warp ahead of them around the river. Then, right before the fledgling deity's eyes, a small wooden boat steadily appeared, floating through the special warp as if it were a common occurrence. There was a being stood at the back of it as it fully came through, rowing down the river toward them. He was male, with skin so ghostly white he'd make Hades look tanned by comparison. His arms, and indeed the rest of his body was scraggly looking, with dark robes worn over them. His hair was jet black, but unkempt and looked greasy as it fell down to his shoulders. His face looked frighteningly malnourished, almost skeleton-like with how hollow his cheekbones were. A dark mist seeming to seep out of his slightly parted lips as he stopped the boat in front of them. Two hollow pitch-black sockets where eyes should've been stared over at them. And when Beerus met his 'gaze' so to speak, it was almost the equivalent of staring straight into the deep, bottomless abyss, and having it stare right back at you.

"This is Charon, Beerus." She introduced them. "He's been the ferryman for the underworld for about as long I've been around. He'll be the one to take us down into Tartarus. I would've done so myself, but unfortunately Tartarus isn't a place even I can just freely materialize us to. That's where he comes in."

While Beerus could accept her reasoning for teleportation being a bust, given she'd know more about this stuff than he did, he found himself befuddled by one detail. "How did he even know to be here, though?" he asked while raising an eyebrow at the decrepit-looking ferryman. Not put off much by his appearance, given he'd seen worse before.

"I requested his aid to come here and help us when we arrived, and he agreed to do so." The ghastly-looking ferryman bowed his head silently at this, as Styx eyed him with a slightly amused look. "And in case you need to ask, this river and me are essentially one and the same, as it's my domain in case you forgot. This means that anything or anyone that's on or within my waters, I can communicate with them using my mind if I choose to. That includes Charon here." The ferryman once again bowed his head in acknowledgment of this. Affirming that she spoke the truth.

Ah, telepathy… The soon-to-be god of destruction thought in realisation, as understanding dawned on his face. "Well, alright then. Guess that settles that." He then turned his attention back to the newcomer with narrowed eyes. "He'd better not screw us over though."

"I… won't…" Charon groaned back in reply. His voice deep and warped to the point it felt like each syllable uttered came with an eery, uncanny reverberation attached.

Beerus, still not unnerved in the least, nodded at his short response, feeling no lie within it. As such, seeing as Styx seemed to trust him as well, it didn't take much else for him to shrug and make his way on to the boat with the Oceanid. It was best not to waste any more time lollygagging around if he could help it. He still had some folks to bust out of captivity, after all.

Charon didn't say another word as both stepped over on to his boat, which tilted slightly from their added weight, but otherwise remained upright above the river's depths as they took seat across from each other in front of him. Once the ferryman was sure they were both fully on, he quickly manoeuvred the boat around, and started rowing back where he'd come from.

Beerus felt the air and space shift around them as they passed through the special warp he'd come from. The fledgling god took a look around as they passed forth to the other side. Though there didn't seem to be any light source there lighting up the place, it was somehow bright enough for him to see everything around him quite easily. Admittedly however, there wasn't much to look at. At least not where they were. The landscape beyond the waters of Styx's river was mostly desolate and dreary. The ground as far as could be seen had a greyish tint to it, with only the occasional being, what appeared to be pasty-white, but still rather attractive nymphs, wandering about the area. Though their travel, at least to Beerus, seemed to be rather aimless. Like they were heading off in random directions without any set destination in mind.

He might've deigned to ask his companion, or even the ferryman, why things felt so gloomy down here, if he actually cared to. As it was though, he was just down here to bust those Heka-whatevers and Cyclopes out of this Tartarus place. So, he simply turned his head away from the drab scenery and sagged in his seat. The somewhat cool air licking off him as he told Styx to let him know when they arrived in Tartarus, as he closed his eyes and rested for the time being.

The journey was mostly quiet from there, with just the sounds of Charon rowing and the rustle of water passing under them reaching both Beerus and Styx' ears. It was about the time where Beerus started to feel an intense amount of heat around them a little while later however, that he suddenly became alert again. His eyes snapping open from the sudden, and very steep temperature change as it started to feel like they were in a furnace.

No, that was downplaying it. The only time he'd felt heat like this before was that time Champa had struck a lucky hit on him way back in their youth and sent him crashing through a sun. The kind of heat that would've incinerated most mortals from his previous universe had they been exposed to it for even a fraction of a second. It was that scorching hot right now, all of a sudden.

"Huh? What the heck…?" When Beerus looked out over the boat instinctually to see why, he quickly understood why that was. They weren't sailing through a river of water anymore. To his genuine surprise, they were now rowing through a river of literal, searing hot fire sloping downward. The bright orange flames flowing around almost like lava as they occasional licked up into the air, like small waves from a body of water. Visible steam pouring out from just about everywhere, damn near creating a dense fog all around them, as Charon proceeded to row through it without a care in the world. The wooden boat and row completely unaffected by the flames, no doubt due to magical enhancement.

"This is the river Phlegethon." Styx spoke up, seeing the surprise on his features from their current locale, and managed to hide her mirth at his somewhat dumbfounded expression as she elaborated more. "It is the river of fire that leads down into Tartarus. Quite the sight, isn't it?"

"Yes… It certainly is…" The purple-haired deity could do nothing other than acknowledge the fact, as he looked out across the flowing flame river that strangely acted similar to how any normal stream of water would. This was certainly something he hadn't come across before. Not something that could actually inconvenience him seemingly, but it was still quite the… well, unique scene to behold. That was for sure.

"You can take a dip in it if you want." Styx offered like she'd done for her own river, but this time much more jokingly. "So long as you don't mind the flames torching off your tunic and leaving you bare, of course."

"I think I'll pass." Beerus shot that down immediately whilst glancing toward his companion who gave a small sigh.

"That's a shame. I don't think I would've minded getting to see you like that." She teased with a small, but cheeky smile. "It would've made for quite the sight you have to admit."

Groaning slightly, Beerus just rolled his eyes at her obvious jest. He wasn't as annoyed by it as some of the crap Gaea had said though, seeing as it was rather tame. "Oh yeah, me swimming bollock naked through a river of fire. What a 'sight'." His words were dripping with sarcasm before he practically deadpanned at the 2nd generation Titaness with an unamused look. "You're starting to sound like Gaea when she really wants to annoy me."

The eldest Oceanid let out a genuine giggle at his response. "Just trying to lighten the mood a bit, is all. Gaea's told me that you're rather receptive to this sort of teasing, so I thought I'd give it a whirl and add an extra bit of levity to our trip."

Of course, she did. Even when he was going out to fetch her imprisoned sons, she just had to find a way to have him teased for whatever reason. At the very least, it had nothing to do with Hera this time though. That would've really brought a hard moan out of him, and definitely not the good kind. "Trust me, I put up with enough of this teasing crap from her back on the Isle. Pay her no mind on that, she just loves to irritate me on occasion for whatever reason."

"Fair enough." She agreed, able to see the truth in his words. "In any case, we should be arriving down in Tartarus relatively soon. Charon can make short work of it, after all."

Charon grunted in acknowledgment of the compliment, though it was hard to tell if he was actually pleased or not. Regardless, their voyage down to Tartarus continued unabated, with the small boat moving at a solid pace with the 'rapids' of the river. Certainly, a lot faster than one would expect a boat so small to be able to move. They'd been somewhat slow at first upon entering this realm, but now they were moving at blurringly fast speeds through the Phlegethon river.

After about a minute or so, Charon piped up suddenly. "We're… close… get… ready…"

"Ready for what?" Beerus blinked, noting the odd urgency in his warped voice.

"For the plunge." Styx replied for him. "Right up ahead is the true stretch of the river before we reach Tartarus, and it's a pretty steep drop from here."

"How steep?"

"Very…" Charon uttered in her place. The single word was delivered so emphatically however, that it had Beerus not wanting to question further. The tone alone said it all, as a dark glow overtook his form and the boat's. "Brace… yourself…"

That was the last thing that was said before it happened. The downward slope they'd been on previously, in an instant, slanted down further to the point it was one small step away from becoming a waterfall of fire. The hot wind all but smashed into Beerus' face, whipping his hair back and Styx's forward with her cloak as the boat drove down at mindboggling speeds. Fire and brimstone being launched everywhere in their wake, as their forms and the boat blurred down like a bullet, only unimaginably faster.

Both Beerus and Styx held on to the boat, with the former having to squint in order to keep his eyes open with all the netherworld air, a mixture of dense steam and mist of all things at this point gushing into his face. A rather pointless endeavour, as it'd become so thick as they plunged, that even he could no longer see anything in front of him other than the two inhabiting the boat with him, and only just barely. Styx's face was scarcely visible to him now, whilst Charon had practically become little more than a vague silhouette as they dropped down with the river of fire. He might as well have been blind.

It felt like they were falling forever, like it'd never end. They'd just keep sailing downward at bastard high speeds for eternity. That was the initial feeling Beerus got, considering they were moving almost as fast as he could at his best, yet there looked to be no end in sight. That's how far down this place seemingly was.

Eventually though, after about thirty odd minutes in real time, the boat finally 'splashed' down at what Beerus assumed was the bottom. The freakish momentum it'd had up to that point getting sucked away near instantly upon impact.

Beerus felt it almost immediately even before he started looking around. The very atmosphere here was much different from even the underworld. Leaving the intense heat aside, he found himself taking back what he said about the underworld up above prior. When his eyes laid bare to the absolute hellscape where they currently were, the underworld above seemed like a paradise by comparison. The river of fire that'd brought them here stretched out and looked to go endlessly off in multiple directions with no end in sight and broaden out the deeper he looked. The actual land he could see was completely barren from all life, and somehow with a more greyish tint than the land up above. Speaking of above, a quick glance up revealed nothing but pure darkness so encompassing it was actually a wonder this place was even lit up a little. All with an extreme air of gloom and doom that purveyed throughout the entire area.

A cord was struck within him the longer he looked around the desolate, fire-laden area, and without him being able to accurately explain why, he got the sense that this was the kind of place you never wanted to end up in. As though if you did, you might as well be damned.

His amber eyes widened then all of a sudden. He had no idea how it took him this long to sense it, but he could feel an overwhelmingly strong presence somewhere deep in the bowels of this place. It was hard to put a gauge on exactly how strong whomever this was, but it's power was definitely way less hidden away than Gaea's had been. He didn't know how it'd measure up against him at his best back in his previous life as a GOD, but he could tell with certainty that this being held immense might. In terms of raw power, whoever the hell was down there was above most of the GODs he'd known back then. He couldn't tell by how much, but from what he could currently sense, this being was definitely superior to them, which came as quite the surprise.

"Welcome… to… Tartarus…" Charon groaned, the mist and steam having mostly cleared away now that they were here.

"This is enough from you. Thank you for your assistance, Charon, but we can handle the rest from here ourselves." Styx said kindly, giving a small nod of respect and appreciation for the ferryman's ride as she stood up. "You can return to the underworld up above now. I know how much you don't like it down here, after all."

"Happy… to… be… of… service…" The pasty-white, eyeless ferryman inclined his head respectfully as well. Given how almost no emotion showed on his face though, it was sort of hard to tell if he even meant that at all.

At this point, Beerus had also stood up, giving a small bow of his head to the ferryman as well for his help, before both he and Styx hopped off the boat and onto the closest bit of land. As soon as their feet touched down, he glanced back to where the boat was, only to find it and Charon already gone. It didn't creep him out or anything, but it did let him know that teleporting out of this place, unlike going in, seemed to be possible for whatever reason. A good detail to know, though he found himself curious as to why that was the case.

"Okay. Now it's just a matter of finding where in here exactly the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes are held and busting them out before getting out of here." Styx basically stated the obvious, and Beerus pushed his curiosity over the teleportation detail to the side, along with the presence of that absurdly powerful being for now, seeing as it didn't seem interested in moving. All so he could focus on the more pressing matter at hand.

Guess I just have to sense out for them then, now that we're here. He thought to himself, as he quickly got to doing just that, his senses scanning over as much of this place as he could. It didn't take long for him to feel several other presences straight ahead of where they were by what felt to be a good few hundred miles. Nearly all of them were faint, but for one, and Beerus found himself turning to Styx, as she appeared to finish scanning over the place just like him. One simple question on his mind.

"May I ask how many of these sons of Gaea's would be imprisoned down here, exactly?"

"About six in total, if I remember correctly." Styx told him without hesitation. "Three Cyclopes, and three Hekatonkheires. I'm gonna guess you noticed there was seven down this way too?"

"Yep." Guess that meant Gaea was spot on about their likely being someone guarding over them in their prison. "Looks like I'll have to deal with whoever that is too. They don't feel all that tough anyhow, so this shouldn't be hard."

"Famous last words?" Styx teased with a small, humoured grin as she threw her mirthful gaze at him. Not put off by the atmosphere of the place in the least.

"As if." Beerus snorted. He then started to move forward towards what was basically his captive uncles. "Let's just get on with it."

"As you wish." Styx met his stride side-by-side with him, as they swiftly ventured further into the place.

On their way, they passed by numerous caverns that led to different areas, all of which had entrances of varying sizes. Some ranging to barely above their height and wide enough for a few their current size to fit through, whilst others were massive, reaching upward by about fifty to a hundred feet or so.

Those were nothing however, compared to the one they eventually stopped at in front of a short while later. An open cavern that stood thousands of metres tall and wide, shrouded mostly in total darkness from where they stood. They needn't be able to see inside physically however, as they could both sense the six figures inside, as weak as they felt right now.

Up close, they could feel something encompassing the seemingly open cavern. An invisible barrier of sorts different to the one that Hyperion and Theia had used on them earlier. No doubt set up to keep them inside, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who was likely responsible for its creation.

One thing was for certain though. At least one or more of the beings in there had to be enormously large to warrant the entrance and exit to the cavern being so huge. He'd naturally seen bigger of course, Super Shenron being a prime example, but that was besides the point. All that mattered, was getting them out of here.

He gave a look over to his companion, who glanced back and made a motion of deference toward him and whatever he wanted to do next. And with that, he decided, it was time to get their attention.

"Oi! You lot in there!" He called out with a loud voice that echoed deeply throughout the entire area, as he focused his gaze back into the massive cavern. "You're the sons of Gaea that Kronos imprisoned here, I presume?"

For a brief moment, there was nothing but silence, save for the echo of the fledgling god's own voice. Then, once the echo of Beerus' voice dissipated, both heard loud footsteps coming toward them. Multiple sets, in fact, and it wasn't long before both he and Styx were able to see eyes staring back at them as whatever was in there came forward and stopped. It was hard to tell which belonged to who, but there was a lot of them. Three massive, round eyes attached to three different, 25-foot-tall, bulky-looking silhouettes closer to them looking down at him and Styx. Taking his gaze up further, the purple-haired god saw that close to where the cavern's peak was, there was what looked to be hundreds of even bigger eyes staring down at him from the top centre, the top right, and the top left. The highest of which being close to ten thousand feet up from where he stood on three gargantuan silhouettes that took up the entire width of the cavern easily.

It was then, that both heard the deep, distinctly male voice from the one-eyed silhouette in the middle speak up. Their cadence sounding mostly confused. "Who… are you?"

"My name is Beerus, and the one with me here is Styx." The purple-haired god introduced himself and her with a smirk, as he brought his hands behind his back, bumping his fists together. "She brought me here, so that I may set you all free from your unjust imprisonment down here."

That got their attention. Beerus would have to admit, it was a sight to behold, watching all those huge eyes collectively widen at once from his declaration. Shock clear in their gigantic orbs, before a mixture of hope and excitement seemed to overtake them not long after.

"Y-You will!?" Another, much deeper and louder voice rung out from within. This one clearly from one of the utter behemoths towering over the one-eyed ones, which Beerus was certain was the Cyclopes, and themselves. Though this time, he couldn't quite tell which it was. "You're actually going to get us out of here!?"

Waiting for the echo to quell down first, Beerus then replied back with his smirk broadened. "But of course. That's the sole reason I came down here, after all. I gave my word to your mother that I'd bust you all out of here, and I intend to keep it."

"M-Mother made you promise that, did she?" Beerus nodded affirmatively up to whichever of the three colossuses, which were no doubt the Hekatonkheires, had spoken. "I knew it… See brothers! I told you she wouldn't abandon us!" The immensely large silhouette to the left shifted, making it clear it was the one that'd been speaking, as it shouted out with elated hope to its brethren. "Mother would never allow us to be put down in this shithole if she had any say in it!"

"Quite right." Beerus affirmed, after once again waiting for the behemoth's echoing voice to simmer down. "Gaea's been quite eager to see you all again, and I must say, I myself was quite intrigued to meet you all. You see, I've rather recently declared war on the very bastard that trapped you all down here, my so-called 'father' Kronos." His smirk turned into a vicious grin. "I intend to be victorious in that, and Gaea has told me you'd all be of great help to me in that endeavour, seeing as you all have a bone to pick with him after what he's done. Am I right?"

A deep, almost earth-shaking rumble sounded off from within, originating from the Hekatonkheire in the middle this time. A massive greyish hand about the size of one of the one-eyed silhouettes below thrusting forward suddenly and slamming palm-first into the invisible barrier, causing waves to emit from the impact. And when Beerus' gaze levelled up at the one who'd done it, he could swear that even in the darkness, he could see the being baring its teeth, from about fifty different places. One where he assumed it's head to be, and the rest beneath the other sets of eyes around the area of its head, which he could now make out noticeably humongous lumps for, as it smiled at him almost ferally.

"Oh, you have no idea. If we weren't being sapped of our strength by this place, we would've broken out of here long ago and battered him for doing this to us!" He bellowed, revealing the reason why they felt so weak, and hadn't escaped on their own. "There's not a moment that's gone by where we've been stuck in here, that I haven't imagined crushing his body into paste with each of my bare hands." The other two Hekatonkheires seemed to nod in agreement at this from the shadows, gaining similar toothy smiles below each set of eyeballs they had. "That arrogant prick deserves nothing less for the shit he's put us in."

"Hehe. I couldn't agree more." Beerus chuckled, before a dark-purple aura encompassed his form, and his eyes began to glow a golden hue. "Try not to get too excited though. I have my own personal grudge against him, you see, so I'd prefer it if you left his suffering to me. Rest assured though, I'll be sure to cause him enough pain and misery for the lot of you before I finish with him. Sound alright?"

"So long as you don't mind us having a front-row seat for that when you do, that's fine." Their smiles turned wider.

"So, you're all in then?"

"Bet your ass, we are." The Hekatonkheire responded resolutely. The other two and the Cyclopes murmuring in agreement, showing their excitement at the opportunity being granted, wanting out of the pit more than anything. "You get us out of here, we'll be in your debt, Beerus. So long as you don't try to throw us back in here down the line, we'll have your back whenever you need it."

"Good to hear. That's all I needed to know." Beerus stepped forward and clenched his fist, coating it in his dark-purple aura. The muscles on his arm bulging out with veins appearing, as he brought forth a good chunk of his destructive power. His glowing amber pools eying the space that separated them and where he knew the barrier to be. "Now then, you might want to step back, because I'm about to plough right through this barrier separating us."

"Beerus!" Styx suddenly called aloud in alarm, her eyes widening. "Get back, now!"

In that moment, Beerus' senses kicked in and he felt the seventh presence from before whizzing right in their direction from his side. Instinct took over, and following Styx' warning, he and her both leapt a good way's back as the aura around him dispelled, narrowly avoiding getting smashed into, as something massive flew by at incredible speeds.

"You will do no such thing!" A shrill, near ear-grating female voice shrieked, as something flapped its wings before flying and looping around in the air. An audible thud echoing throughout the area, as whatever had tried to crash into him landed right in front of the barrier around where they'd previously been standing. "I cannot allow you to free the prisoners!"

What… the hell is this? Beerus couldn't help but think in a mix of befuddlement and disgust, as he got a good look in what now stood in their path. Almost having to do a double take at what he was seeing now barring his path. It – or she – he supposed, was a naked woman in appearance from the top that was about the same size as Hyperion or the Cyclopes were, with small, relative to her size, pearly white breasts and pale nipples with a placid skin-tone. Her hips were wide, and her waist was small, with a face that most would probably consider reasonably attractive, though it was hampered by the sharp, draconic canines jutting down and up past her pinkish lips.

And if that was about it to any abnormalities in her appearance, then Beerus wouldn't have felt the kind of distaste he did right now. Sadly however, that was about where her humanoid features ended, and where the more monstrous began. Starting with the fact that her dark-green hair was long and serpentine, flowing down like wriggling snakes down to where her bottom would be, if it weren't for the fact that her lower half was also serpentine. Numerous hisses ringing out with what looked to be a thousand vipers jutting out around the end of her lower body as 'feet'. Jet black wings were unfurled atop her shoulders, as fifty bestial heads of lions, boars, and other wild animals were arranged on the sides of her torso. All of them growling hostilely at him, as what looked to be a deadly scorpion stinger the same colour as her wings rose over her head menacingly, poised to strike at any moment.

All in all, she was a real abomination of nature, if Beerus had ever saw one. She literally looked like some child's bastardized drawing brought to life, where they'd just hobbled a woman together with a bunch of different animals in a grotesque fusion.

"So, you're the one who's guarding them, huh?" Beerus asked, getting over his befuddlement of her appearance pretty quick. He couldn't quite shake off the disgust though, given how much of a horrid mishmash of creatures this woman, if she could even be called that, was.

The 'woman' hissed, quite like the vipers that made up her feet. Her beady red eyes glaring down at him, as the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires trapped behind her groaned at her getting in the way. "Yes. My name is Kampe, and I'm under strict orders by Lord Kronos to ensure those behind me do not escape. I cannot and will not allow you to interfere!" Her bestial heads and vipers growled and hissed venomously in unison, all glaring a hole right through him. "I shall give you but one warning, little one. Leave this domain here and now, or I shall flay your skin from your bones while I tear you to pieces for your transgression!"

"Flay my skin from my bones while you tear me to pieces?" Beerus's eyes narrowed sharply. "That's quite the threat you just made. But are you aware of whom you just threatened?" He asked, a dangerous edge seeping into his tone, as he stared unimpressed at the monster-woman. "You should know, I'm not the type that takes kindly to such empty threats being thrown at me."

"Empty!?" The she-monster shrieked with rage, the bestial heads and vipers' eyes glowing red along with hers, as her glare on him intensified greatly. "You dare to insult me!? I'll rip your head off for that!"

"Go right ahead and try. I promise you'll regret it." Beerus scowled, feeling that her power-level wasn't even a fifth as good as his own was at its current peak. "Listen here, Kampe was it? I can tell you're not exactly the brightest, so let me give you a warning. One you should have no problem understanding." His clenched fist was suddenly coated in his dark-purple aura again, as it encompassed the rest of his form a second time. "Get out of my way now and forget about that order you were given if you value your life. Because if you don't…" His gaze turned dark and foreboding, promising nothing but destruction as he glared at her unflinchingly. "I'll destroy you."

"Destroy me?" Kampe hissed angrily, her wings giving a single flap as she burst forward. Her razor-sharp mouth opened wide in a snarl as she brought her hands forward, rearing her stinger back for a brutal stab at her stationary target that was much smaller than she was. "You shouldn't jest like that, little one!"

Charging forward, she showed no fear as she lunged in for him with her stinger. This brash attack by the she-monster was a fatal mistake, for as soon as she was within striking distance and struck down with her stinger, the purple-haired deity slipped past the skewering blow with ease. The move getting him within Kampe's guard as she overextended with his own fist cocked back and pumped up with the majority of destructive force he could currently muster, as his feet pushed off the ground. And in that tiny interval before he threw his own attack, their eyes met up close, and when they did, Kampe was immediately struck with the sense that she'd just made a grave error in judgement. Like she'd just cemented her own death sentence with this single act.

This realisation came far too late for the female monstrosity, as she saw his aura-coated fist blur towards her. There was no epic battle that took place from here between god and monster. Not even close. The altercation was over in the blink of an eye, ending just as quickly as she'd arrived to get in his way, as his balled fist impacted with her face.

A deafening bang followed, like a sawn-off shotgun going off, only much worse, as the force of Beerus' punch kicked up a heavy shockwave that blew intense winds throughout the space of Tartarus they were in. Kampe's whole head being obliterated from the counterblow in a ghastly spray of dark-golden blood with lumps of flesh and fragments of her eviscerated skull being launched away in the direction he'd punched, smacking against the invisible barrier. All that remained being the stump of her neck, as her abominable body flopped limply to the ground in the next instant on her front. The growls and hisses of the bestial heads and viper feet having ceased in that moment, as the main head was blown to bits.

Beerus landed back gracefully on his feet with some of the monster's blood dripping off his form, as the rest splattered and gushed on to the ground as well as atop her motionless corpse. Pooling out near Styx, who didn't look shocked at the outcome, given the power she'd seen him display prior when holding back, and the power she'd sensed from the Tartarus denizen beforehand.

"Shouldn't jest like that, huh?" Beerus snorted derisively, glancing back at the now headless monster-woman. "Looks like the only one 'jesting' around here, was you. If you're able to heal and come back from that, take what's just happened as a lesson to be learned. That when I'm merciful enough to give you the opportunity to back down unharmed, you should take it." He then brought his attention back to the barrier and those trapped within it, who'd stepped back as he asked them to. "My apologies for the mess, but it seems it couldn't be avoided."

Nobody didn't notice how casually he spoke of it, as though he or someone else had tripped and spilled ambrosia all over the floor, rather than bursting a monster-woman's head apart like a balloon. Styx herself almost chuckled at the nonchalance the first-born son of Kronos displayed after meting out such an end, temporary or not, to the six sons of Gaea's prison guard. His attitude making it clear that the now dead Kampe had been little more than a minor distraction, and one he certainly hadn't appreciated.

That didn't stop the excitement from the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes from returning, seeing their annoying guard disposed of with ease. The fledgling god getting back into position with his aura flaring, as he cocked his fist back again.

"Now then, with that annoyance dealt with, time to get you all out of there." He remarked unpretentiously, as he thrust his fist forward, leaning his whole body into it for good measure, along with the fullest extent of his power just to make sure it broke first go. And it did, shattering like glass all around as soon as his fist made contact. The near invisible shards now dissipating into the air almost as fast as they were broken apart, as the barrier was made no more. All with an even more ferocious shockwave that resonated throughout the area, heralding the release of those who'd once been trapped behind it.

The six brothers looked on with awe at the young god, as the sapping effect of the pit they'd been in vanished along with the barrier, as if to make it even more clear their captivity was over.

Seeing he had their attention, Beerus hopped back over to his partner-in-crime Styx after motioning the now former prisoners of Tartarus forward to finally get a good look at them. The first of which to step forward being the Cyclopes trio. All of which looked near identical when they stepped into the lighter part of the place outside the cavern they'd been in for far too many years. All of which with green tunics that fell by their knees with just a single strap holding it up on their left shoulders, exposing their well-built chests and muscular arms. Their skin was tanned, and just as they appeared in the dark, each had only one massive eyeball on their heads, all the same colour of brown. About the only real distinctions they had, was differing hair colour. The middle having a patch of messy black hair, whilst the one on the left had dirty brown, and the one on the right had more blondish.

The trio then made a wide berth for the Hekatonkheires that came out next, with Styx even ushering Beerus to get back even further for the three behemoths as they lumbered out. Their massive, ashen-grey feet stomping down into the light at several hundred metres in both length and width, making the Cyclopes nearby, and the corpse of Kampe look like little more than bugs compared to them. Like their feet, the rest of their skin was ashen-grey, with the only thing covering them all being smock-like, brown garments from their hips to their lower thighs. Their upper bodies were completely exposed, showing off the ultra-dense muscles that made their bulky torsos and arms. And speaking of arms, all three had a hundred arms each, fifty sprouting out from either side of them, and as Beerus suspected, they all had more than one head. There was the one you'd expect atop their shoulders, but then there were the dozens of somewhat smaller ones that littered throughout their chests and shoulders, adding up to a grand total of fifty for each.

All of their heads held the same dark eyes, and the 'main heads' as Beerus would refer to them as, all had dark, unkempt hair. The only thing really differentiating them, being the slight differences in height in his view, with the middle being the tallest, the left one coming in second, and the right being the shortest. Something that most people wouldn't bother to notice, given they were all around ten thousand feet tall, and about half as wide. Big enough to accidently squash anything that wasn't around the size of a small mountain or bigger without even noticing.

The ex-GOD of the now defunct Universe 7 found himself acknowledging inwardly that the mountain-sized goliaths were somewhat unsightly, but honestly, that was about it. He'd seen uglier. Hell, the creature he'd just smashed through was an example of that in his mind. Once the power of the Hekatonkheires in particular was no longer hindered though, Beerus found himself grinning wide as he felt their true power-levels, and quickly understood another potential reason Kronos had locked them away.

They were strong. Plain and simple. Taking a comparison purely from a base state perspective, neither Kronos nor any of his merry band of morons came even remotely close to the power that dwelt within these trio of hundred-handed beasts. Hell, as he was now, they even dwarfed him by quite the extensive margin. So much so, that he doubted they had True Divine Forms themselves, because it didn't feel like they needed them. Though to be fair, he hadn't quite witnessed anyone ascend to their True Divine Form just yet, seeing as he'd cut Hyperion off, so his opinion on that would need to be taken with a grain of salt for now.

"Well then," Beerus started with a bit of amusement. His hands placing themselves with satisfaction on his hips, as the eyes of all the Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires fell on him. "ready to leave, boys?"

AND CUT!

So, Sunday was truly annoying. Ended up with another power outage, this time not from worker incompetence but just random ass weather. Gotta love how we're sunny one minute, and then go cloudy with some thunder the next. Had to wait till today for the upload to be possible after that because of the weak internet connection thanks to that crappy weather, which is infuriating. Sorry for not having this out on the 25th regardless, especially considering I once again had it done on the day yet couldn't upload the damn thing. However, this annoyance has gotten me pumped to make up for this in August, by having four chapters come out that month. I won't give the exact dates, because at this point I know I'm just tempting fate to smack me with inconveniences, but I AM bound and determined to smash four of them out in that month, so look forward to that guys. It'll be a busy month for me for sure.

Next chapter will contain the reunion between mother and sons, along with Hera's way of getting back at Beerus, and some other stuff I'd say.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter to some degree, and I'll see you in the next one.