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...

33. Chapter 33

AN:

Say I'll have this out by 10-11ish pm eastern time on the 10th.

Proceeds to finish it around that time.

Forgets to publish the damn thing around that time too, before going to bed.

Wake up, think I have actually uploaded and begin work on the next chapter, among other things. Somehow doesn't check Fanfiction or AO3 for two-and-a-half weeks.

Finally does check in on Fanfiction on the 27-28th just to see how the latest chapter is doing so far.

See that I got multiple PMs and such rightfully asking where the chapter is, because I didn't upload the damn thing…

For fucks sake, I've never wanted to plough my head through my computer screen harder than right now… Sorry about this, lads. Can't believe I made a fuck-up like that. There is no excuse for this kind of brain-fart. Hope you all can forgive me for that. Will take extra care to make sure something as embarrassing as this doesn't occur again. Date for the next chapter will be up soon on my profile, along with explanation of things.

Not that that's out of the way, before the chapter starts, there's something else I gotta get off my chest real quick.

It would appear that someone on YouTube, unknown to me for quite a while, has been taking and reading my work on the platform, without crediting me and has essentially been passing it off as their own, in a way.

I'll be frank, if you want to take my work and post it elsewhere, so long as you credit me as the original author, I don't mind in the slightest, and even think it's wonderful that you enjoy my work that much to where you're willing to do that. Where I draw the line though, is when you take it, without my knowing, and post it with a voiceover without any sort of acknowledgement that you took it from me, fooling people into thinking that you made it.

For those of you who may have watched this person's videos, and thought we were the same person or something, I'm dispelling that right now. I have never reposted my work on YouTube and read it over for content, so if you see this individual's channel or any other like it that's basically reading The Olympian God of Destruction or any of my other fics, just know that isn't me, and if I'm not credited for it, then that person is basically being a sneaky little twat, thinking they could get away with what essentially boils down to blatant plagiarism, without me finding out.

Outside of Fanfiction, the only platform I have personally posted my stories on, with the same username as here, is on Archive Of Our Own(AO3 for short). If you spot anyone using this work or any of my works elsewhere, without my name being credited, just know, its full-on stolen, and that person really ought to be brought to task for pulling that nonsense, rather than having the sliver of creativity needed to write their own story.

Okay, rant over. On with the chapter now.

The Olympian God of Destruction:

Chapter 33: The Titanomachy XXVI

Around the Isle of Crete…

Something had gone wrong.

Kronos could feel it the instant it happened.

Following the collision of calamitous forces between his scythe's energy slash and Briareus' dense, divinely imbued storm, which had saw him and the Hekatonkheires pushed away from each other, he had continued to do battle with them. Their aggression such that he could scarcely afford to focus his senses elsewhere to view the other goings on of the final battle, lest he risk himself being too open for attack.

Then, right at the moment where he and his ugly, gargantuan siblings had forcefully disengaged from one another and he'd been beginning to wonder when in Tartarus' name Aegaeon was going to grant he and his side the Ophiotaurus' boon, two things very quickly occurred in succession.

The first, was that suddenly, nearly all of the violent rage that'd so consumed the hundred-handed ones vanished, both from their features and their body language, as each of three giants, who'd been ready to charge him in yet another rash action to try and pulverize him, came to a stop. Their once reckless abandon battle behaviour, which had held true for most of their confrontation, thanks to Menoitios' influence, now seeming non-existent.

Kronos didn't have to wrack his mind much to figure out, in that instant, that Menoitios must've been defeated. Had that been all there was to it, the Titan king wouldn't have given such a development much pause, as he had anticipated such an event occurring at some point. After all, his biggest use was in making it easier to whittle down their forces, while making said forces, especially the hundred-handed brutes, easier to keep some level of control over, while awaiting Aegaeon's sacrificing of the Ophiotaurus and granting of its boon. The boon that would allow him to evade the fate his bastard father desired for him.

Unfortunately, the second thing that became evident but a moment later, blasting over his senses, was what sent a chill down his spine and had what felt like a pit opening up in his gut, as his eyes couldn't help but snap away, into the distance. Their vision drawn to the pillars of light shooting infinitely high into the heavens. Four from Olympus, one from nearby and the last from further out. Each a different colour and with a mighty pressure that had his eyes wide with shock, as he recognised the presence that each one gave off, as they all rapidly climbed toward ascension.

His children… His blasted children… Not just the ones granted unique weapons by those damned, one-eyed brothers of his, but all of them, were now doing as he'd felt Beerus do earlier. They were all pushing themselves into a True Divine Form, despite the fact that none of them should've been able to do so, with barely over a year of life behind them. The sons could get an excuse, given he could simply pass it off as them gambling with the use of their weapons for that, which he was sure would take its toll for them taking a shortcut, but as far as he knew, his daughters didn't have a weapon like that crafted for them. And yet there they were, with their brothers, transforming into the ultimate state of being for their kind, much, much earlier than what should've ever been possible.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, as that happened, one other horrifying thing occurred, which shouldn't have been possible. And it had to do with the precautions he'd put in place to hamper any kind of excessive growth from his children.

Most of their kind believed the position of 'King of the Universe' to be but a title to describe one's roll in being the ruler of all there was, but that wasn't really true. When one took on the reigns of ruling over the Universe, as he had when he'd dethroned, castrated and chopped apart his father, as he'd come to realize, there was more to it than that. When he took the role of king, he'd also taken on the domain of the entire Universe itself, in a way.

It was 'in a way', because the connection to it didn't feel like his other domains. Where they felt like a blanket or cloth being woven around his soul, the Universe… it felt more like a thin string that was latched unto him.

Even still, such a connection held a great deal of weight, for the Universe was, to put it simply, the most vast and all-encompassing of domains. One which had existed as but a void of endlessness long before any other concept or being came to be, as far as he'd come to understand. One without a primordial spirit attached to it, holding no consciousness of its own, unlike that of the concepts that were 'birthed' from it, so to speak, at the so called 'dawn of creation'. The event in which his mother's spirit, along with Nyx, Aether and Eros had emerged and formed around the concepts they embodied to this very day.

That second-to-last part was particularly important, as the domain of the Universe – otherwise referred to as 'Khaos', the once primeval emptiness, by his mother, which had been adopted by all others as the conscious-less once-void's name – contained every other domain as but a subdomain of itself. Thusly, in a sense, being connected to the Universe meant one was technically also connected to all ideas that'd come from it.

That being said, due to this, the Universe was infinitely more complex in its workings than every other domain beneath it, which included his main domain of time, and thus, seemingly made it almost impossible to truly control and fully become one with. His father, as far as he knew, had never even tried to become its proper master, in his own arrogance, whereas he had put forth effort toward it, but for his efforts to only allow him one singular ability by harnessing it to the best of his ability. Said ability allowed him to assert a degree of authority over the subdomains of the grander universe and metaphysically lock them off from being claimed.

It was one of the first things he'd done after recovering from the injury he'd sustained from his eldest son, after he'd so brutally escaped from his stomach with his other children. He'd been sure to lock off all his brethren's domains, in case any of his spawn were to attempt to take them for themselves, which, while yet to be proven, could've led to them usurping the Titans dominance over them, if they'd tried hard enough.

He'd also made sure to lock away the most major of domains which could cause serious trouble if claimed and held even as just the secondary holders of, let alone if they managed to supersede over and become the primary holders of. Those domains being the sky, the sea, the earth and the underworld.

There had been two others he had tried for, despite how straining it felt holding away so many domains already, but had been unable to leash, much to his confusion. However, such a confounding thing did not matter right now. What did matter, was the sudden sensation that hit him in that very moment, where he felt the metaphysical locks he'd put on various domains shattering into nothingness!

No… This doesn't make any sense! How can this be…? He thought to himself, a sense of dread filling him at the sight and sensation that showed itself to him, which had his hands subconsciously shaking and clenching hard. This shouldn't be possible… How have my locks been broken… and how are all of those brats able to ascend, all of a sudden!?

"Surprised?"

Kronos started at the sound of that voice he could never forget, as mocking as could be in its cadence, as his eyes snapped back in front of him, staring wide-eyed with shock, at his most loathed of all the spawn he'd had with Rhea, floating but a few scant metres away. Having somehow gotten so close to him without being detected beforehand.

Beerus' feline features were settled into the nastiest, most feral and wicked of grins, as he glared back at him, with his blasted sword held in one hand, while the other was bare.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" His son sneered, not once taking his eyes off of him. "The best part of it is, this wouldn't even have happened without your desperate bid to guarantee your victory."

"W-What…?" Kronos near cursed himself for the stutter, as the fear that'd clawed at his heart for so long, began to bloom out of control, at his eldest son's words.

"You just had to get hopeful, didn't you? That the Ophiotaurus' boon could save you from me." The mention of said creature by his most hated enemy had Kronos stilling once again, as the pit in his gut widened beyond comprehension. A sight his damned boy seemed to take pleasure in. "Oh yes, I knew about your sorry little attempt to avoid your fate. Your dear old father made sure of that."

His father!? Ouranos had… No… No, how could he have been so stupid!? Of course, it had to be him. "He was the spy, all along…" Kronos all but whispered, feeling the urge to smack himself for having not figured that out earlier. As weakened as he may have been, he was the fucking sky itself, for crying out loud! Being able to listen in on any of his discussions whilst he dwelt upon Othrys was hardly an impossibility for him, even as neutered as he was.

"Took you long enough to realize." Beerus taunted, as his purple, destructive aura waved and blazed around his shining form. "He let me know of your little plan, so I decided, what better way to crush any hope you had of getting away from me, then in a cruel, but oh so amusing twist of irony, to turn what could've been your guarantee to salvation, into a guarantee of your destruction!"

Kronos, on instinct, flinched back in alarm, his senses focusing entirely on his son, as he just barely raised his scythe in time for the sharp metal of the arced blade, coated in his blood-red aura to clash against Beerus' blade, set aglow with his dark-purple, as the feline-looking god rushed forward with a one-armed swing.

CLANG!

"Nngh!..." The Titan of time grunted, feeling his shoulder nearly pop out of its socket, as the collision of the two destructive blades and their powers caused an immediate shockwave to billow out. The blast-wave buffeting and forcing even the Hekatonkheires to root and shield themselves, as it not only shook, but warped the very space around them. The clash making the endless land, sea and sky tremble in unison, first around Crete, then instantaneously afterward, like the rapid expansion of space-time during a big bang, did so everywhere else around them at incalculable speeds!

"You were a fool to think you could escape my wrath, Kronos!" Beerus bellowed. The baleful rage he'd beenholding in for this very moment, festering and growing the longer he had to wait, now finally bursting forth, as his features peeled back into a snarl of such ferocity, that as Kronos was forced back, caused a shiver of terror to fall down his spine, as he looked into his son's eyes. The destroyer's pools promising nothing but ruination, as he glared back. "The time has finally come for you to pay for the humiliation you gave me the day I was born in this world, when you dared to swallow and trap me within your rancid stomach!"

Kronos was forcibly shoved back then, from the power his son exuded. His titanic, scythe-wielding form sent careening back at high speeds, which the feline-looking god was swift to follow. His purple form almost flashing into existence right in front of him again in a burst of raw speed that the Titan could barely keep up with and forcing the startled deity to grip his scythe in both hands and raise it in front of himself in a guard to block the kick he sent. One that would've otherwise smashed into his chest and sent tremors down both his arms, shaking the very bones beneath his flesh from the raw power behind it, as he was yet again sent flying back.

"Nnrgh!... Damn you!..." Face scrunching up into a hateful snarl of his own, Kronos, despite the ringing in his arms, took full advantage of the space afforded to him this time to twist and swing forth his scythe, sending forth an arc of space-splitting energy toward his pursuing child. The hope being to at the very least slow his charge down and give him a little bit of extra time to think.

"Do you really think something like that will hamper me!?" Beerus screamed out, not impressed in the least, as he rushed forward with his sword at his side, and a fist prepped by the other, coated and brimming with his aura of destruction, as he thrust it forward to meet the oncoming projectile. His punch connecting, then smashing through the arc of energy like it was nothing! The arc being reduced to countless fragments of dissipated red mixed with purple, as the god continued to press forward, not even remotely slowed down!

"What!?" Kronos cried in further alarm and encroaching panic, as he swung his scythe again, meeting the swing of Beerus' blade head-on with the tip. Their meeting and collision yet again causing a universe-wide shockwave to occur, shaking and warping all of space just as much as before, as Beerus overpowered Kronos, turning his blade mid-clash and sending the Titan's arms and weapon flying up above his head. The act leaving a stunned Kronos open and vulnerable as Beerus, still only wielding his blade with one hand, swung downward diagonally, biting into flesh from pec to hip in one single stroke!

"Gaaahh!" The Titan Lord staggered back with a short, pained scream. His eyes unable to help themselves, when they snapped down to his wound, deep enough to cut well into his divine flesh, but shallow enough, thankfully, to not cut into bone, as flecks of purple rose and scattered from where he'd been slashed. His hand shakily hovering over his chest, as not a drop of ichor came oozing out, whilst his healing ability failed to begin addressing the wound in any way whatsoever.

"That right there, is only the beginning." Beerus remarked, his tone colder than ice, despite the evil smile he wore. "Your punishment begins now, Kronos. And trust me, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be pleading for the end!"

"No… No!" Kronos exclaimed back in distress, as Beerus shot forward, aiming to attack and wound him more. The Titan Lord, just about able to perceive the swift plunge for him, barely blocked the next swing of Beerus' blade with his scythe, but very quickly felt his son beginning to overpower him again.

Gazing deep into the fiery, abyssal pools that were his eldest son's eyes, Kronos discerned now more than ever, in that small moment, where time – even for he, the master of it – felt like it dragged on, that fate, his father's cursed, preordained fate had come to greet him after all. Despite how ruthlessly he'd tried to alter it, it'd come for him anyway, in the form of his vengeful son.

I curse you, Kronos! You may overthrow me this day but mark my words, you insolent fool. Just as you have overthrown me here, so too will your own son do the same to you!

The damning words of his father that day, yet again rang in his head, louder and more prophetic-feeling than ever before, as the Titan king stared down the very physical personification of his father's curse. Kronos did what he could to shake them off and deny such a destiny being his reality, but as Beerus glared back at him and began to push him back further, he found that near impossible to do, especially as it seemed as though the visage of a smiling Ouranos appeared behind his son.

As if to punctuate that then, Beerus suddenly launched into a flurry of skilful and precise one-armed attacks with his blade, each of which Kronos was desperate to block, deflect or evade, bobbing and manoeuvring his massive frame around as best he could. Despite the Titan's best efforts though, the rapid strikes of his son's sword proved overwhelming, as each time they clashed, his progeny was able to break through his guard and score a glancing blow across his arms and shoulders. The sharp edge of his destructive blade biting and tearing through his skin over and over as it did.

They may have all been shallow, but that didn't mean they didn't fill Kronos with any less panic, as from the fronts of his hands to the ends of his shoulders right by his neck, he was soon left with short and long cuts all over. Each one bringing with it a searing-hot pain that would not leave him, while producing not a single drop of his blood with them, replaced instead by those blasted purple particles. A visual signification to him by now of a wound which would not heal, much like the first cut over his torso, which still remained fresh over his body.

"You have nobody but yourself to blame for how this is going to go, Kronos!" Beerus bellowed, his features shining with pure malice, as he continued his assault on the Titan, who began to sweat profusely from the exertion of keeping up with the god of destruction's current speed and mitigating the damage of his attacks. "No matter what you do now, there is no escaping me! And I don't care how much you may end up begging for mercy, because I'm going to enjoy every second of this!"

Roaring out that last bit, Kronos' face split into an expression of pure horror, as Beerus slammed the flat of his blade against the shaft of his scythe with more force than he'd previously been using, sending the weapon flying up and spinning out of his hands, far above his head. His arms left shaking and raised from the blow, his guard broken and body left wide open, as Beerus cocked a fist back, enveloping and practically submerging it beneath an exceedingly thick layer of his destructive aura. The sheer raw power alone being packed into it, being more than enough to shatter his bones if it connected. An injury that would otherwise be mostly superficial, made downright devastating with the nature of his domain behind it.

Time seemed to slow down for Kronos yet again, in that moment, though he had not willed it so and doubted he even could, against the force of nature that was his eldest son. The more recent words of his father echoing in his mind like the previous, as Beerus' fist slowly inched towards him. Just as taunting now, as they were back then.

You think yourself better than me, you foolish boy, but you never have been. Everything is going along as I have decreed. Your own eldest son has finally come along to take you down and no matter how futilely you try to stop what I have forecasted, it will only end in your defeat.

His defeat…? His defeat!? After all his preparations, this was how it all ended for him!?

No!… This can't be how it ends for me!… It can't!... I won't allow it!... Mind pushing itself into overdrive as he sensed the devastating threat to his very existence, Kronos felt his immense determination to not end up as his father had foretold break past the fear and anxiety that coursed through his veins, as he pulled upon his domain for aid. The Titan king summoning every ounce of will power he could, as he focused on the path he'd taken to being in his current position with the utmost focus and desperation, as Beerus' mighty, destruction-fuelled fist loomed within but inches of his features.

"Hmm!?" Then, just as Beerus' fist was about to strike home on the Titan's face, the destroyer's eyes widened when his nemesis' body suddenly fizzled, then warped out of his sight, causing his punch to strike nothing but air, which funnily enough, had begun to move again. The destroyer paid no mind to that though, instead being more focused on the way in which space-time had rent around the area his bastard father of this world had just been, tipping off the god rather quickly that whatever had just happened, it certainly wasn't simple teleportation.

Beerus didn't let the surprise of this trick get to him though, as his senses fired off and let him know that Kronos was behind him now. Not by a few feet, which would be ideal for a counter-attack, even if Beerus was fast enough to intercept it, but by a good few kilometres, practically putting him near slapping distance of the Hekatonkheires, whom had wisely and respectfully refrained from getting involved in his battle. As he quickly swivelled around, however, the GOD noticed that the Titan had willed his scythe back into his hands and had it raised high above his shoulders.

Beerus tensed slightly for a long-ranged attack, but he needn't have bothered, as Kronos took the time he'd given himself to slash downward with his weapon. The power of his scythe, instead of being used to send another projectile, was instead utilized to carve through that which would've been invisible to the naked eye of even a god in a sharp streak of red. Just because it couldn't be seen by the naked eye, didn't mean it wasn't felt though, as Beerus immediately noticed that the power which'd been trying to reassert itself over him to block some of his capabilities suddenly disappeared.

It took all of about the blink of an eye for Beerus to recognise what the Titan had done, as he'd personally witnessed the same act done by Kronos at the end of every other siege ever done upon the denizens of Olympus, throughout over a year of battles. That being the breaking of the barriers both sides had set up to stop the other from making an instant retreat or being more difficult to face and get any proper offence off on, through the use of teleportation and shapeshifting.

"I will not be taken down here! Not by you or anyone else, you wretched spawn!" Kronos screamed in fearful determination, as a faint, golden glow peeled over beneath his blood-red aura.

"Are you actually going to try and run away with your tail between your legs again!?" The god of destruction didn't need to have a high level of intelligence to know what was going through Kronos' head at this point, as he barked out a cruel laugh, glaring him down as his voice boomed and carried all across Crete. "There's nowhere you can flee to, now. Nowhere that I will allow you to flee to. This is it, whether you like it or not, you spineless fool. This is the day where you meet your destruction by my hand."

"You don't get to decide that, you damned brat! I couldn't care less of your opinion!" Kronos bellowed back defiantly, in response, as the golden glow became more pronounced around his form, whislt he made sure to keep stock of the Hekatonkheires behind him, who suspiciously had yet to move, even now. "I am the Titan Lord. The king of the Universe! And contrary to whatever lies my father may have whispered in your ear, the only master of my fate, is me! Not him, not you, nor anyone else, do you hear me!?"

The Titan could tell his odds in straight-up confrontation now with his eldest son would be very low, with him having the Ophiotaurus' boon. Fighting him now, with what he'd just been granted, would be stupid and reckless. Neither of which were things he'd ever been, unlike Iapetus' son Menoitios, whom had already been felled by this monster of a child he'd sired with Rhea, who'd represented nothing but an awful omen for him from the moment he was born.

I can fix this somehow… Kronos thought to himself, keeping his eyes firmly locked on Beerus, as he felt himself begin to dematerialize. This blasted child of mine may have gotten the advantage over me thanks to my cursed father, but I can remedy this! The Ophiotaurus will reform soon enough, just as it did the previous time with mother. Though it'll be difficult, not to mention a wound to my pride, I can hide myself away for as long as it takes to find it. I don't care if it takes me hundreds, or even thousands of years to do so. So long as I get my hands on it, I can perform the rite and make my own wish to override whatever my wretched spawn asked of its power, ensuring their fall and my preservation!

Not to mention his rule over the Universe. Sure, in his absence, Beerus and the rest of his children would most definitely take over, but such a thing would only be temporary. A humiliating, but necessary outcome in order for him to ultimately come out on top. Beerus and the rest of his putrid siblings could have their little victory now, but in the end, he would return to revert whatever perversion they made to his kingdom and make things right.

Just then, before his dematerialization could complete, however, Kronos felt a pulse wash over him from within, both invasive and devouring, locking him in place and filling him with a whole new level of shock, then fright, as the golden glow around him suddenly dissipated. The Titan's eyes going wider than ever before, as his body moved and head whipped to and fro, looking over himself in disbelief, as gold turned to a sickly shade of dark-purple before fading away in flecks twice as fast as the golden glow had been summoned up!"W-What…? How…?"

"How, you ask? I already told you the answer, you buffoon."

Kronos' head snapped back up, followed by his body recoiling back, as Beerus appeared in front of him a little over a meter away now, flecks of gold mixed with purple from having used the very ability he'd just tried to. His son's eyes glowing with a deep abyss of vibrant purple that swirled and peeled out from the rims of his eye-sockets like wild vortexes of pure calamity that promised all-consuming ruination, as a pulse was released from them as well. One that held the faintest touches of the deity's aura, as it travelled at far greater speeds than any pulse the other gods, including himself, had set off for anything, forming what the Titan recognised as a new, intangible barrier for all around them and the other battling gods. One that seemed to stretch on endlessly, even from Kronos' utterly horrified perspective!

"There's nowhere I will allow you to flee to!" Beerus vociferated with dark delight, as he moved forward, slicing in with his leg while Kronos was caught off-guard. To the Titan's credit though, he did still try to evade it at the last second by yanking himself away, an act which mitigated the force he took significantly, as rather than the whole foot, only the destroyer's toes made contact with his side.

The power behind even that though, was still enough to drive the breath out of Kronos and damage his hip, as his body was sent careening away, both from the nearby Hekatonkheires and from even Crete itself, as he flew across the ocean and into the distance. His forced path causing the waters themselves to violently split in two, forming a chasm that plunged deeper the further out he went.

"Well, looks like you're going to be having plenty of fun getting him back for all he's done." Briareus spoke up for the first time since being freed of Menoitios' influence. His massive voice that echoed across the Isle carrying none of the anger from before, but instead delight of his own, as he saw and sensed his foul brother's pain and fear, which brought a smile to all his faces, as it did with his brothers, before he turned his main head from where Kronos had been sent to Beerus. His smile becoming somewhat apologetic. "A shame none of us could get our own strikes in on the bastard, especially given what he managed to pull with us and Rhea, but I'm sure you'll do more than enough damage to him for all of us."

At the mention of his mother of this world, Beerus' head briefly turned in the direction he felt her faint presence in. His eyes locking on to the shuddering, unconscious form of Rhea, who lay crumpled on the ground half-a-kilometre away, her whole body having reformed by now in her base state, in a messy, expanding puddle of her own ichor, with but mere scraps of her soaked tunic remaining on her otherwise nude person. He also didn't fail to notice the long, but shallow cut across her back that refused to heal, which looked to be drawing a constant stream of ichor from her, as the scrunched-up expression on her unconscious face spoke of nothing but unbearable agony.

So, that's what that overgrown gardening tool of his is capable of if it lands, even with a cut as shallow as that, huh? I can see why Ouranos was never able to take a physical form again after being chopped up by it. Not to mention why Gaea cautioned me of its potential. The god of destruction thought to himself, soaking in with his own eyes what the weapon Gaea had personally forged all that time ago was capable of, even for a wound that would otherwise be superficial, even to a mere mortal from his old universe.

If this were the old days of Universe 7, even if she was his mother, Beerus wouldn't have hesitated to simply leave her there, or at most, put her in Whis' temporary care, as he dealt with the being who'd dared to wrong him.The thought of doing that now, though, simply leaving her there to stew with such a condition, as he pulverized Kronos, brought a brief pang in his chest. One that, while not huge or anything, was enough to have him halt in his tracks temporarily.

Wordlessly, a miasma of even darker purple than his skin and aura emanated from Beerus' eyes, as he focused on the wound. The profusely bleeding cut beginning to glow a dim shade of his aura's colour, as the destroyer narrowed his gaze, feeling a resistance against his power's effect that he'd not gotten up to now. No doubt the destructive will of the scythe's power attempting to fend his off, refusing to be overridden by his will.

Not in any danger at present and able to give his full, undivided attention to it, Beerus' eyes then snapped wide open. The miasma escaping from them becoming larger and thicker as, in annoyance at its resilience, Beerus smashed the supernaturally destructive wound with the full brunt of his will. A will of destruction at its purest and most conceptual form, which soon washed over Rhea's lesion, bathing it a much stronger shade of purple, as flecks of it began to rise up and dissipate.

It didn't take long for the Titaness' features to soften then. All the anguish that'd been written on her face being steadily erased, leaving nothing but a remarkably peaceful visage remaining after a moment. A comforted smile soon appearing, as she slumbered away from her defeat earlier. The scythe-wound that her former consort had dealt now removed from her person, both physically on the outside, leaving nothing but unblemished skin behind, as well as spiritually on the inside, where the cut made to her soul faded into nothingness.

The three hundred-handed giants, who got to view this happening, each held stunned expressions at this turn of events, as they all felt Rhea's presence become much more pronounced from what it had been not even a moment ago. A sign of total recovery that shouldn't have been possible, given what she'd been wounded with, yet there she was, going from pained shuddering to a calm and relaxed rising and falling of her bosom, as she slept away serenely.

"You three can leave the rest of the fighting to the others. You've more than done your part splendidly for this war." Beerus said to them then, his voice pulling them out of the short stupor his destruction of Rhea's wound had put them in, as he let out a breath from the exertion before turning to them. The god offering an acknowledging glance toward the trio of giants, as he sensed the devastation his siblings in particular had been causing, with what appeared to be the elements themselves weaponized, from what he could hear and feel happening far away from him. All as they, with the exception of Hestia, tore into their opposition mercilessly.

Almost all activity seemed to briefly grind to a halt, however, when a dazzling fire blossomed near Olympus and quickly stretched out across the lands and waters. One that rose high enough to reach far into the heavens, as it brushed through everything in its path and brought both Beerus and the hundred-handed ones' attentions to it. Each being able to note that the heat rising from it, while plentiful, wasn't hot in the conventional sense, as it didn't burn even the smallest of leaves or grass, nor did it seem to affect the sea in any way, as it rushed through the isle of Crete, enveloping Beerus and the giants in its flaming touch.

While the fire was new, he recognised the aura fuelling it, amplified well beyond what he'd ever felt of it before. It didn't have any real effect on him or the Hekatonkheires, but it did garner genuine surprise from them, as they felt what it was really doing. Various spirits that'd been severely dampened, suddenly stirring back to life with increasing vitality.

Beerus' mother of this world was no different, as he briefly turned back to her again, taking note of the way her body began to slowly shift, with the beginnings of consciousness ready to set back in, in just a short period of time, as opposed to how long it should've taken her.

Seeing and sensing this, along with what he felt beforehand from his siblings prior, for the destroyer, it was enough to make him feel a small sense of pride, as a savage smile formed over his lips before he fully turned to and addressed his gigantic, multi-headed and multi-limbed companions again. The three of which, while stunned at what they were sensing, each felt a certain sense of pleasure seeing how massively lop-sided the final battle had turned for Kronos' side.

"Oh yes, you definitely won't be needed for backup over there with the others." He remarked with dark amusement at the added exclamation point that the fire had brought up, bringing the trio's attention fully back to him. "That being said, however, while I deal with Kronos, there's one other thing you can do for me, if you wish, which I'm sure you'd take pleasure in."

Taking the hint from his tone that it had something to do with their mutually despised adversary, the three hundred-handed giants pushed aside their awe at the miraculous feat the god who freed them from their prison just pulled off. None of them able to help the monstrous grins that adorned them at the destroyer's words.

"Just say what you need of us." Briareus replied on behalf of he and his brothers, as each reached up and cracked their necks in anticipation. "We'll do it gladly."

Meanwhile…

Neither Koios nor Metis said a word, as the pillar of bright and shining golden light that covered Hestia's form eventually began to fade. The brilliance and majesty of the heavens-piercing glow being soon replaced with the equally as mesmerising, radiant glow of Hestia's gold, gentle-flamed aura, which highlighted and accentuated her new form perfectly.

Gone was the pale, blemish-less skin she'd previously had. In its place, her skin now shone a gorgeous, harmonious, pure yellow-gold, with her large, round breasts and crotch veiled by calmy-dancing, orange-white fire that highlighted her sublime curves in a unique and transfixing way. Her long-flowing hair, which had previously been dark, now beatifically floating and drifting behind and above her head like the gentle flames of a burning hearth, but with touches of blue, yellow, orange and red tipping and flowing through a radiant, white shade that dominated every strand. Her eyes, which'd always glowed gold, did so even more intensely now, accompanied by soft, pale-lilac flames that could barely be seen, but somehow enhanced the lustre and striking glamour of her sclera.

The more subtle, easily missed detail that both spectating deities made out quickly and couldn't help but be partially hypnotized by, was the fact that her body didn't just glow with skin a yellow-gold. On closer inspection, similar to her hair, but far more subdued, it appeared to softly flow like a flame in a tranquil wind, becoming more pronounced around her fingertips and toes, waving along her nails as freely as an open blaze.

What was not so easily missed, was how hot she was too. And Koios, in particular, didn't just mean visually. He could both physically and spiritually feel the holy heat that she generated while aloft above them. The kind of heat that didn't burn a single thing around her, leaving even the lightest bits of vapour untouched, whilst simultaneously warming the body, mind and soul of the Titan and Oceanid beneath her in a comforting way that neither had ever felt before.

Koios didn't so much pull himself free from his cratered place in Olympus' hide, as he did sag and slide out and unto the ground. The Titan falling on his knees in a loose posture that wouldn't have looked out of place in a home, relaxing by a vibrant, burning hearth with family, being bathed in its easing warmth. Metis wasn't much better, practically kneeling – almost reverentially – with a serenity she'd not had before, as if all the woes and troubles she'd faced in their battle were but a distant and forgotten memory.

The eldest sister of the Olympians glanced about herself almost as much as they did, drinking in her new form with a tender appreciation and awe, before she turned her complete attention to them, once again. More specifically, to Koios, as she floated down and stopped in the centre between said Titan and Metis, with her arms elegantly raised by her sides. Her expression upon her enchanting features, surprisingly, not one of malice or even hostility, but sangfroid with an underlayer of kindness that felt so out-of-place when directed at him, given he was her enemy, that it had him feeling just as flat-footed as he was eerily calm in her presence.

"What you see before you, is the result of our side's wish with the use of the Ophiotaurus." Hestia remarked cooly and matter-of-factly in a distorted voice. Her words knocking both other deities out of the trance she'd put them in and gaining a visible look of shock from Koios in the process, as her claim sunk in. Her new form and power-level, which should've been impossible to garner otherwise, given her youth, instantly quashing any argument against such an assertion. "Forgive me if this sounds condescending, but your ploy to ensure our defeat has been turned against you, making any chance of victory you had before, incredibly slim at best, non-existent at worst."

Outstretching one of her hands toward him, she showed him a wondrous, peaceful smile that had Koios' gut fluttering and his veiled crotch tingling strongly with desire, having never witnessed such a winsome, pure goddess before. "I'm not one who is inclined to violence. I'd rather settle disputes peacefully, if I can." She said, her tone nothing but sincere, as she met the Titan's gaze. "With that being said, if you would agree to surrender, Koios, I assure you that no further ill or harm will come upon you."

Right as she said this, the entire world around them warped and shook, distorting in colour as an immense clash of powers took place away from them. Koios, mostly unaffected by it thanks to his ascended state, sensed where it'd come from and very quickly grimaced at whom was responsible. Their most hated enemy of all the rebels, but also the most terrifying in terms of his potential, was in a True Divine Form of his own and in battle with Kronos now. And worse yet, the battle was on Crete where he knew the Hekatonkheires were, who could jump in at any time or, on Beerus' orders perhaps, turn their attention to himself and the others, now that they were no longer distracted.

And that was without getting into the new power-levels of the other Olympians around him that he sensed as well, as two began to engage above him with their larger forces, which weren't as strong as he, his siblings or nephew were. The other two that'd been closest to them now seeming to be engaged with said nephew, whilst the last fast approached them all from further out with a dark, spine-tingling presence that made most chthonic gods seem pleasant by comparison. Each of them, including the ascended goddess before him, holding the kind of raw power alone that would allow any of them to match the strongest of he and his brethren, just from what he could currently detect.

In short, his brethren's side weren't in a good position anymore. Whilst his pride wouldn't allow him to admit to what the younger goddess had just told him verbatim, he also wasn't arrogant enough to deny that his side's chances of victory had indeed just plummeted considerably with the latest development. All that in mind, he'd be lying if he said a part of him didn't give the eldest Olympian's offer genuine thought, as he pushed himself up to his feet.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline that offer." He soon said, paying little attention to the way Metis looked at him, as he did, as the wind seemed to begin moving again, before the world was subjected to another reality-warping quake from the father-son battle beginning on Crete. His voice carrying further distances again, as he replied calmly and with a kind of politeness not even Metis had seen of him. "As generous as that may be, I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a second your brother would honour such an agreement, especially after what he proclaimed back on Othrys to me and the others, which incited this war in the first place. And besides…" Koios cracked his neck, as he focused closely on Hestia and Metis with his eyes and senses. "My pride will never allow me to bow to him or any of his allies."

Hestia could hear her friend and ally Metis shake her head at his reply and mutter, 'You damned fool.' under her breath. The younger goddess, however, merely sighed, having had a feeling, despite the current situation, that he would not accept such a merciful offer. "I see. I can't say I didn't expect that, but nonetheless, it is a shame to hear you will not be pacified by that."

"Tell you what," The Titan began, his tone reverting back to the one both Metis and Hestia were more accustomed to hearing, after more than a year of seeing how he acted. One that oozed an irksome confidence – which admittedly was more subdued this time around – as well as, when it came to those who caught his eye a certain way, a degree of lecherousness, as he smirked at them. Hestia more so than the Oceanid. "if you wish to pacify me, then you can do so after I and my brethren have won this war, when I have you and Oceanus' daughter over there inside my personal bedchamber, as my spoils of war!"

"Spoils of war?" Metis scoffed at that, as she glared back at the perverse Titan while getting back into a fighting stance, with her legs spread and planted firmly, while her arms and hands were up and ready for both offence and defence. "I see you still haven't given up on your absurd sexual fantasies."

"Oh, they're far from absurd, Metis." Koios rebutted, inwardly feeling much less confident in such a scenario being possible at this point, but knew how weak it'd be to show such emotion. So, even at the cost of potentially looking delusional, he refused to let any doubt seep out of him, choosing to firmly believe his side still had a chance and demonstrate confidence in it, regardless of how unrealistic a victory might actually be at this point. "You might have gained an advantage with stealing the Ophiotaurus' boon out from under us, but if you think that alone will be enough to defeat us, then you're sorely mistaken!"

Determined to win, even against the new odds, Koios didn't hesitate to plough his fist into the ground once again, pumping his power through it, as he further cratered the already misshapen earth and created an explosion of force. One that carried with it a familiar, but even denser dust cloud filled with his aura for camouflage, which quickly blasted over both goddesses and expanded omni-directionally, soon covering tens of thousands of kilometres all around in the blink of an eye.

"Ugh… This again…" Metis groaned, head tilting and eyes darting left and right, as she was now unable to sense the Titan's exact location anymore, his presence was all around them, whilst his physical form was totally obscured even from their enhanced vision. They wouldn't know where he was now, until he was right on top of them, at practically point-blank range! "And this hypocrite had the nerve to talk down to me about this tactic, when he's more than willing to repeat the use of his own variation." Still able to feel Hestia's presence, even if she couldn't see her anymore, the Oceanid called out to her in warning. "Be careful, Hestia! This cloud of dust doesn't just obscure his location from your vision, it makes it impossible for you to detect him through sensing his presence as well. Be careful!"

"All will be fine, Metis." Hestia replied, her voice still completely calm, devoid of any fear or apprehension. The same ringing true for her face, which showed no sign of worry, as the thick, aura-infused cloud of dust rolled around and brushed over her skin, effectively making her blind to her surroundings.

"All will be fine, hmm?" Koios voice resounded from everywhere, a hint of mockery in his tone. "For all of Metis' intelligence, even she couldn't figure out a counter to this tactic, while she was caught in it. Seeing as you seem rather confident though, let's see how you do against me!"

Appearing behind her, though there was no way Hestia could've known that, Koios' massive frame loomed over her much smaller frame, rearing a fist back and aiming it down for the newly ascended goddess' head for a brutal, crushing blow. One that he made sure to pack with all the power he could, so that even if she was able to withstand it, she'd be disoriented enough for him to take full advantage and keep the pressure on her until she was taken out. And there wasn't a damn thing Metis and her clones would be able to do about it, as he then went for her.

Smirking to himself, the Titan thrusted his fist down with all the force he could produce! His aura condensed so thickly around his clenched hand that it would've almost been hidden entirely, as his shoulder and back swung with his arm, putting his entire weight behind the blow to maximise its destructive power.

BAAAAAAM!

The ear-splitting sound was deafening, as his fist made contact. A shockwave billowing out from the collision which ruptured the earth beneath, causing the entirety of Gaea's plane to quake, as his knuckles crushed down against Hestia, forcing a grunt out of Metis a way's away, who braced herself against the expulsion of force and the sharp change in pressure. Koios' smirk broadening as he heard Hestia make her own sound, one that he couldn't make out as well as Metis', but one he was sure was a noise of pain.

Heh, maybe that wish of the Ophiotaurus wasn't as much of a gamechanger as he'd –

"A superb punch." The Titan's eyes shot wide, as he heard Hestia's voice sound off beneath him. His smirk falling away in shock, as he heard the calmness that was still present in her tone. "Even with the Ophiotaurus' wish, someone of your standing is still a threat that must be taken seriously."

In that moment, the dust around them didn't so much disperse, but incinerate right before the Titan's eyes! The thick cloud, in its entirety, being burned away in a wave of bright orange fire, which to Koios' bafflement, didn't carry the slightest bit of added heat to it, from what the goddess' body was already outputting on its own, as the two were exposed to Metis' own widened eyes once again.

Below the stunned Titan, Hestia hunched over slightly with bent knees, not quite in a crouch and looking quite pristine, as one of her hands was raised above her head, planted against Koios' intruding fist, having stopped it dead in its tracks before it reached her skull. The aura around the Titan's much larger hand having vanished, as it shook and failed to force the goddess' hand down from its position, as it seemed to have been covered in the same flames that'd just erupted off of her, like the rest of her ascended form.

"W-What in the…?" Koios recoiled back, pulling his fist away as if it'd been scorched, when in truth, it hadn't even been scratched, despite the orange flames attached to it now. The same couldn't quite be said about his mental fortitude, however, as he stared at the eldest Olympian in disbelief. "How did you…"

"You gave yourself away at the last, when you powered up for that punch. The cloud couldn't completely cover your location when you got greedy and went all-out like that." Hestia explained, as she stood straight and turned to regard him with a composed stare. "Judging from your reaction, you clearly didn't anticipate me being able to block your blow."

No. He hadn't. Matter of fact, his anticipatory ability to mentally foresee all his opponent's movements before they happened hadn't given him anything just now. It still wasn't, he noted, much to his escalating alarm.

"What in Tartarus' name have you-hgnh!?" Koios was cut off abruptly, his mouth swinging open and launching spit-infused ichor, as his side bent inward from a brutal kick. One that had him losing his balance, as he was suddenly pushed toward two other appendages. One a dainty-looking fist which bashed into the side of his face and cracked his orbital bone, snapping his head into an equally as vicious knee that smashed into his jaw, almost shattering it as it sent his head whipping back and his body sailing upward into the sky!

"Don't go forgetting you still have me to deal with, Koios!" Metis yelled out with aggressive emphasis, having shaken off the surprise Hestia's newfound power had left her with, as she and her two newly-formed clones came in to assist her younger cohort against the Titan.

"Ungh!... Damnit all!" Koios groaned, as he forced himself to a stop several dozens of metres above them. The pain of Metis' attacks already beginning to subside, as the damage healed. The Titan of intelligence glaring down at his two opponents after being so thoroughly countered, failing to take notice of how the weirdly painless fire that Hestia had placed on him hadn't snuffed out, but instead spread from his hand, all the way up to his shoulder and left pectoral at this point.

"My offer is still open, Koios. I'm not so cruel that I would not allow you to avoid any further torment, provided you surrender. No matter if they're friend or foe, I do not like to see those around me suffer unnecessarily." Hestia called up to him again. Her words lacking any condescension and brimming with a level of honesty and compassion, even for an enemy like him, which briefly left Koios stumped.

"He won't listen, Hestia. You're only wasting your breath on someone like him!" Her Oceanid ally rebuked, as she and her clones shot upward, aiming to overwhelm him with numbers.

It was then, that a particular sensation struck all three deities. The feeling of the barriers, which kept them all contained and battling more simplistically, being broken. An act that, given how many times it'd happened over the course of various battles across more than a year's worth of war, nobody had to guess at who had initiated it.

The instant this occurred, Koios, with his domain of intellect, understood the situation immediately. And no matter his pride, for something like that to have happened, it most likely meant that his brother was about to retreat, despite how catastrophic the consequences of such would be, because he saw the current situation for their side as no longer tenable. Or more accurately, given how selfish his brother could be, the Titan king's own position as being untenable.

In this moment, he and his allies all had the chance to retreat themselves, before a new barrier was constructed around them, which they would meet in kind with their own. To retreat now though, would be as good as admitting defeat. And with how strong the Olympians side had been made with that wish, by powering up the children of Kronos, there was little chance they didn't take the initiative to chase after and perform a siege of their own on Othrys, which he knew most would instinctually return to.

Stay and fight or retreat. Neither option was good at present, but the latter, in his mind, was worse, because whatever ground they'd covered would be made null, as they put themselves in a fully defensive position against a reinvigorated enemy. One more than capable of annihilating Othrys and forcing them back into battle again. To make such a foul decision, they might as well just surrender, as Hestia had offered him, for all the good it'd do for them.

Their weaker allies might make the latter choice, if they were allowed to, due to their wills not being as strong, but he knew his primary kin would not. Kronos no doubt knew it too and was willing to sacrifice them if it meant he could get away easier, no doubt to hide until the Ophiotaurus presented itself again, what with how much their plan had hinged on its capture and wish granting. A plan that'd been discovered and turned against them.

Grrr! Fuck it! Koios mentally screamed in frustration, as he made his decision, demonstrating his quick wit, as even with all those thoughts in his head, he was the first to launch into the use of one of the abilities that'd been locked off from him prior. And before the Oceanid and her clones could reach him, his body gave off a soft, golden glow beneath his aura, before he vanished from view, leaving behind a trail of golden flecks.

Metis, who watched this happen, let out a huff of annoyance. The 2nd generation Titaness wondering if the elder Titan hadn't just fled, after taking the barriers' shattering as an order to retreat, until she stretched her senses out. Her eyes widening as she and her clones whipped back in alarm toward Hestia, who floated above the ruined ground without a guard, seemingly, as the massive frame of Koios now appeared behind her once again! His hands clasped and already raised above his head for an axe-handle strike upon Hestia's cranium!

"I won't run! I'll defeat you both here and now, no matter what!" He screamed aloud, his words sounding like they were more for pumping up his own confidence than anything else, as his clasped hands swung down, along with all of his upper-body, at full speed! The Titan clearly intending to try and flatten Hestia yet again, as his attack shot down too quickly for either her or Metis to respond to through teleportation of their own, with the former not looking in any position this time to block or counter in time, unlike before!

VHOOOOM!

To the Oceanid's amazement, however, Koios' attack stopped just shy of hitting Hestia's head, as the flames that'd reached his pectoral suddenly expanded outward again, bursting out almost like a raging inferno over the rest of his body, turning from orange to a deep, vibrant red. The Titan's form soon barely visible beneath the thick, enveloping fire that now covered him from head-to-toe, as his whole body froze in motion.

"W-What… is this…?" The Titan spoke in shock, barely above a whisper, as his vision blurred. The flames still not burning him physically or producing pain, as he floated there behind Hestia. Instead, as he was locked in place, Koios felt his muscles, emotions and mind relax in a way they never had before, despite his best attempts to keep them focused.

"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but sadly, it appears that you forced my hand." Hestia began, while looking up behind her at the still, fire-coated form of one of the mightiest Titans. Her eyes still carrying not a lick of hostility, as she offered him a sympathetic smile that, in Metis' humble opinion, he did not deserve. "You see, the Ophiotaurus didn't just enable me to reach this level of power. It would seem that its boon has also granted me the knowledge of what I am now capable of, with the domains that I have." She explained, garnering a look of surprise and awe from the Oceanid and her clones, particularly at the fact that the goddess had access to more than one domain at the minute.

Koios heard every word too, but felt a struggle to keep himself conscious at the same time. His will… His will to fight on… to keep going… it was suddenly ebbing away. Dwindling like the embers of a dying fire, and there was nothing he could do to stoke it back to its previous brilliance. That should've brought him fear, and it did, but that powerful emotion barely lasted an instant before it ebbed away too, taking with it the hate he also used to fuel himself, along with several more sensations

Floating up and placing a gentle hand against Koios' flame-covered chest, right around where his heart would be, as she continued. "What I have enveloped you in now, is a sacrificial flame. One that I have complete control over to burn away whatever I will it to, as a sacrifice into its heavenly fire. Had you been aware of its properties earlier, there's a small possibility you might've been able to stop it, but now that it covers you whole, there is no resisting it."

Metis watched on with her clones in a sense of awe, as Hestia turned away. A fragrant, sweet aroma unlike anything she'd ever smelt before assaulting her nose, rising off the flame-covered body of Koios like incense, as the younger goddess lowered herself down. Her hand, still planted on his chest, bringing the now limp-looking frame of their Titan foe down with her lightly, laying his body down on its front within one of the many craters they'd made, before she stepped away. His hazy eyes barely able to watch her through her flames, as his consciousness continued to fade.

"Your anger, fear, frustration, hatred, hostility and most of all, your prideful will itself, which would've driven you to fight us to your last breath. I have burned them all away, so as to end our conflict as painlessly as possible." She said resolutely, with a hint of sadness at having to force such a thing on him, as she rose up and began to fly away.

Burned… them…? Koios, in his last moment awake, wanted to reach out to the goddess, but found himself incapable of willing even a single finger to obey his command. Annoyance did not fester at this though, for it'd been burned away. Instead, he found himself wondering what this wonderful smell was, that wafted into his nose as he lay in the dirt of his mother's earthen form. It felt so good… Made his heart and mind feel such tranquillity, free from the burdens that'd plagued him…

As the Titan's vision soon went dark, all the flames on his frame receded rapidly until they were gone, leaving behind nothing but the wondrous smell brought forth by the Titan's immolated emotions and his nude, pale form, as his ascended state was no more. His expression peaceful though, with his face pressed into the soft dirt, as he lay there, not in troubled sleep after being brutally felled like many on both sides had been and would be, but in serene slumber. The kind one could typically only achieve in the comfort and safety of their home, amongst a loving family.

"Rest now, uncle. Your part in this is over." Hestia whispered softly, feeling him fall into unavoidable sleep, as she moved away.

Clones flanking her, Metis watched her ally, as she ascended up to her. A comforting aura blazing through the goddess stronger than ever, making the Oceanid feel totally relaxed and at ease as she sensed what her eyes had shown her. That Koios had indeed been rendered unconscious, and all without a sliver of damage being dealt to his person by Hestia, as that magnificent aroma wafted off of him, further compounding the sensations Hestia's presence alone were giving her.

"That was… sublimely done, Hestia…" The Oceanid remarked, not knowing what else to say, other than praise, at the ease with which Koios had been handled, even if it was too merciful for him, in her tastes. "Not how I'd have preferred it… but a victory is a victory, nonetheless…"

"Your feelings are more than valid, as was your desire to defeat him on your terms. You'll have to forgive me for taking that from you, Metis." Beerus' twin replied, while placing a comforting hand on her cohort's shoulder and flashing her an understanding smile. "As I've made clear before though, while I'm willing to fight for my family, I detest violence. And so, now having a way to end the battle without bloodshed, and with him refusing to see reason and surrender on his own accord, I merely put this new ability of mine to use without a second thought."

"It's fine. You need not explain yourself to me, Hestia." Metis shook her head, before looking down toward the now unconscious Titan. "He'll get his punishment for his choices from Beerus, more than likely, once this is all over."

As soon as she said that, both felt the formation of a new barrier that stretched vastly around them, which carried a faint, purple tint to it for a brief instant, getting a small chuckle from the older goddess.

"And speaking of Beerus, it looks like he's making sure none of our enemies can escape." Stretching her own senses out, Metis recognised Kronos' presence within Beerus' barrier, confirming for her that he'd stopped the Titan king from fleeing, somehow. As well as that, she both heard and felt the elements of nature itself be beckoned on command both right above and far away from Olympus, as their enemies were assaulted harshly, continuously dwindling by the second in the former's case from sheer, overwhelming force, as the sky, sea and earth rumbled in chaotic chorus. "As are your other brothers and sisters, in their own way, it seems."

"Indeed." Hestia gave a small nod in agreement, as she too heard and felt what her siblings were summoning forth. She also felt the distinct lack of any barrier being placed on them, so as to halt certain abilities, to which she doubted was due to negligence on the part of the Titans or their remaining allies, who no doubt had felt Beerus' envelop them. Which could only mean one thing, and from the look that crossed over Metis' face, she seemed to have realized it too.

The Oceanid's expression then took a thoughtful turn, as her attention returned to the younger goddess. A dangerous smile tugging at her lips. "Hestia, dear," She began, garnering her fellow deity's full attention again. "You said the Ophiotaurus granted you the knowledge of how your abilities work… And you also mentioned that the sacrificial flame you just conjured to defeat Koios could burn away whatever you will it to, yes?"

"Provided whatever it is I'm trying to burn away from something, which includes the whole, has my target covered by the flame in their entirety, and whatever it may be does not have the capacity to resist or counteract it, then yes, I should." Beerus' twin sister nodded. Her gaze turning inquisitive then, as she folded her arms by her waist. "Why do you ask?"

The Oceanid's dangerous smile broadened, as she mounted her hands on her hips. "Given the way things are going now, we're on our way to victory, despite our enemies' best efforts to crush us. However, some of our enemies still have the will to fight. Still believe they have a chance to win. No doubt in large part due to how well they did against us in the beginning of this battle, where they were able to take most of us off our best mental fortitudes through the use of magic and use that to take down so many of our own, in an admittedly impressive strategy."

Metis' attention then briefly turned to the skies, both right above, and far out from Olympus in separate directions. The one she focused on the most, being where she sensed her sister and Prometheus, along with Krios and Theia, who appeared to have entered a lull period in the fighting. One in which she could sense the defiance and will to fight on by the male Titan, whilst the Titaness, on the other hand, seemed to be more conflicted. Both of which, like the remaining parts of their dwindling forces, the Oceanid felt the need to crush the remaining hopes of.

"That being said, what I'd love for you to do, provided its possible, of course, is take all that progress they managed to make against us…" Turning back to Hestia, Metis' gaze was unforgiving and sadistic, as her eyes glowed with a malice that the younger goddess knew only their adversaries could bring out of her. "and just as you did with Koios' capability to fight us, burn it to nothing!"

Around that time…

"Th-That… cannot be…" Theia stuttered in shocked confusion, as the different coloured pillars of light faded, leaving behind six enormous pressures and power-levels that each easily rivalled her and her brothers, if not surpassed them outright! "Kronos and Rhea's other children… They've ascended…?"

"What is… the meaning of this…?" Krios uttered in stunned disbelief, feeling the six new divine powers himself. The sheer power he sensed from each alone causing him great worry, before that turned to white-hot anger, partially out of necessity to keep his nerves tough, as he flung his gaze and attention toward Prometheus and Styx. "How is this possible!? Just what in my bastard father's name did you do!?"

"Oh, we didn't do anything, Krios." Prometheus replied with a shit-eating grin that had the 1st generation Titan seeing red, as he jutted a thumb at himself and Styx."Beerus' brother Hades is the one responsible for this happy little turnabout. Perfect god for the role of intercepting and taking down Aegaeon. Beerus couldn't have chosen better with him, I'd say."

Krios' anger fizzled away in an instant, replaced by shock yet again at the casual dropping of the storm god's name, as the world warped and shook around them, causing both him and Theia to briefly glance away toward the Isle of Crete. Their senses notifying them that their youngest brother was now locked in conflict with his eldest son, which it didn't take a genius to figure out he was already struggling against, when by this point, neither he nor the Hekatonkheires should've been a problem for Kronos. Not if the god Prometheus had just brought up had been successful procuring the Ophiotaurus and sacrificing it for them to guarantee their victory on this day.

If a pit hadn't already opened up in Theia's gut, it certainly did then, as the future-seeing Titan's words sunk in with what they were now seeing and feeling, making the implication behind them clear. The lack of newfound power for them, coupled with the absurdly high powers she felt from Beerus' siblings and himself currently, bringing about a horrifying realization for her, as to her side's current predicament, which suddenly looked a lot bleaker.

"We've known what you'd hoped for since the day Kronos first revealed his true plot against us to you. Your precious father was very thorough in sharing with us such information, amongst other things, just to ensure your downfall." Styx remarked, a feral smile upon her regal features at the way the two's faces contorted in horror at that revelation, while snapping back to her. A great pleasure filling her, at watching hated enemies of hers beginning to squirm. "Unfortunately for you and yours, this is where it all ends, not with glorious triumph, but in devastating defeat."

"Defeat…? You think we'd dare lose to you…?" Krios grit his teeth and clenched his fists harder, pushing the horror down in place of outrage and defiance at such words, even if, realistically, it was almost impossible to argue with her.

"It's not about what we think, at this point, uncle. This is merely the truth of the situation. Though, do feel free to lie to yourself, if you wish." Prometheus shrugged, while nonchalantly propping his hands on his hips. "Even should you manage to take us down, you'll still have the now ascended siblings of Beerus to deal with, which I'm sure you can tell, just by the power radiating off them alone, won't go very well for you. And that's without a certain trio of hundred-handed, fifty-headed giants getting involved. Or Beerus himself, after he's done dealing with Kronos, just as I foresaw in my vision."

The Titan of forethought's words were punctuated not only by another world-warping shockwave originating from Crete, but also by the clashing that took place around where Atlas was, as well as the new battle that'd begun around Olympus, where the Titans' supporters were.None of which seemed to be doing well anymore, despite having the numerical advantage. The tides appeared to be turning just that quick.

"Grrr!... Damnit… Damnit!" Eyes and body shining, Krios suddenly thrust his arms wide with a snarl, as a pattern began to become visible around his abdomen and in his eyes. "To Tartarus with all this! So what if they've gained power equal to us!? Our side is far from beaten yet! Bring the siblings of Beerus! Bring that bastard himself and even the Hekatonkheires at their fullest might, I don't care!" The heavens above lit up for the Titan of constellations, as suddenly, from above, a shining, star-formed lion appeared. Its hulking size dwarfing the being who'd summoned it a hundred times over, as it dove down with a roar that made distant clouds evaporate and various mountains and the gods that personified them far beneath tremble in terror.

"Guess you're going the delusional path, then." Prometheus couldn't help but jab at the elder Titan with a smirk, as he and Styx both dodged in opposite directions out of the gargantuan, cosmically-constructed predator's range, as it shot down past the two. Its enormous frame rearing back as it let out another howl and launched back up with blistering speed, looking ready to pounce on him, as his eyes glowed and peered into the future, allowing him to trace its new trajectory and actions perfectly, as he launched back. His body getting just out of range from its claws, which swiped down for him, before he pushed forward to throw a punch into its face.

He was accosted by Krios before he could, however. The older Titan diving in from his blind-spot and hurling a spear constellation at him. One that had his eyes going wide and glowing again, as he peered into the future while narrowly dodging it, the tip only skinning off his arm and drawing a small stream of ichor that whipped through the air, as the lion stretched its mouth wide.

"Styx!" Prometheus called out to the river goddess in alarm, as she rushed in from the lion's apparent blind-spot to slam it away. "Don't, it's a-"

His words weren't quick enough, as the aggressing Styx suddenly had her own eyes widen, as she was forced to abruptly change her plans at the last second, raising up an arm in defence, for all the good it did her, as the lion suddenly turned. Its tail stretching and flicking toward her like a sharp whip, crashing into her arm hard enough to shake every bone in it, from fingers to shoulder, briefly leaving the goddess stunned despite blocking the worst of it, as the constellation-formed predator rounded on her. The beast completely ignoring Prometheus, as it opened its maw wide and with furious, hungry temperament, pounced on the goddess, snapping its sharp-fanged jaws down upon her in the blink of an eye!

"Nngh!..." The eldest Oceanid could do nothing but grunt in heavy exertion, as her hands and feet slammed down on the beast's upper and lower jaws in an attempt to stop it from devouring her. The effort showing on her strained features, as its mouth slowly forced itself down, making her muscles pop and her bones crackle and quake from the pressure, as her knees, elbows and back bent. Streams of gold blood leaking from her palms down her arms and sides, as well as the soles of her feet, pouring down into its open mouth for it to taste, as she'd had no choice but to press them against the razor-sharp tips of four of its teeth. All of which had quickly punctured through the skin, steadily and gruesomely pushing themselves deeper through her flesh and into her bones.

Prometheus would've loved to help her, but he was forced to pull away even further, as Krios summoned forth a dozen star-patterned spears that floated around him, before each shot in his direction, aiming to skewer him with high speed and precision. The Titan using his foresight to predict where each would aim for and using that to dodge the volley, by bobbing and weaving his body around them, contorting his frame in all sorts of manners to ensure he wasn't struck or grazed even once.

His hands then flew up and grabbed the shaft of a thirteenth, which was held by a growling Krios this time, just before it could stab into his neck. Both struggling against the other's strength in the air, as Prometheus thrust a foot up for his foe's gut, only to be blocked by Krios' knee, as the older Titan pushed him back.

"Theia! Styx is wide open! Blast her now, quick, so we can be rid of her and then deal with Iapetus' irksome son together!" The Titan god of constellations screamed out, while not once taking his eyes off of Prometheus, knowing how slippery the future-seeing Titan could be.

No response came though. For unbeknownst to Krios, who had preoccupied himself with taking on the two younger gods, Theia had been frozen in place within the air since the revelation that their brother's plan had been foiled and turned against them. The Titaness having not even heard a single word her brother had just spouted, as reality itself seemed to bare down on her with fangs far sharper than any animal constellation Krios could summon forth.

What are we going to do…? She thought to herself, biting her own lip hard enough in her anxiety to puncture and make her ichor dribble out of the corner. Kronos' plan for the Ophiotaurus was what gave me the confidence I needed to push on in this war with everything I had, because no matter the power that our enemies possessed, so long as we got its boon, just like my brothers got all those years ago with our father, we'd be able to achieve victory.

She'd been let in well on said creature's capabilities after the initial briefing of their plan of attack. How its power had been such, that it turned what should've been a failed ploy to rid themselves of their heavenly father, into an absolute, guaranteed success. Its wish granting ability was capable, according to Kronos especially, of turning the impossible into not only the possible, but the assured. Just the one wish that it granted upon sacrifice, was enough to make what would otherwise be a reckless and full-on assault that they'd pulled on the onset of this battle, into merely the opening act of their ultimate triumph.

The idea of such a power was what had filled her with the belief that they would eventually win, as tough as their opponents were. That even if in the final battle, things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse, its wish would be the safety net they needed to snatch victory from what would've otherwise likely been the jaws of defeat. It'd allowed her to shove any doubts about herself or their side's chances away and focus on getting vengeance for her brother-husband and then, someday, reuniting with him proper once he eventually, hopefully recovered from what Beerus had done to him. All with a proud and welcoming smile telling him that they'd done it, and that the rule of the Titans was secured, which he'd love to hear, even if he'd be greatly annoyed that he'd missed it all.

All that had been dashed now. Their wish, their guarantee to victory, had been both stolen and used against them, allowing the rest of Kronos and Rhea's children, outside of that freak of nature Beerus, to obtain ascension. What in Tartarus' name could even be done now? Even Kronos had admitted that the Ophiotaurus was their one true shot to beat them, and that anything less, left their chances quite slim.

He'd said that to them over a year ago now, back when their foes, outside of the aid of the Hekatonkheires, were most certainly weaker. Had nothing changed, other than them losing the wish, they'd be in a terrible spot as it is. But with their enemies weaponizing the wish against them? Things were now far, far worse than they'd ever been previously.

Is there even a point in fighting anymore? The Titaness pondered in ever-plunging despair. With them having the Ophiotaurus' boon on their side, to continue fighting now… would it not just be a futile effort…? Her senses stretching out past herself, her brother, Styx and Prometheus, she felt the powers of Beerus' siblings as they did battle with their forces, with her brother Koios and her nephew Atlas. The first of which were already getting torn into, the second was continuing to fight what she could feel was a losing effort,and the third was already struggling against his new challengers.

The Titaness could feel it in her divine bones and soul, from the thunder that boomed and the wind that now howled for the heavens, to the fertile earth which rumbled to bellicose life with all that could grow while rattling with spirit, and then the waters of the boundless sea which did roar. Combine all that with the soothing, yet highly dangerous fire that could threaten to burn any and all that it touched to nothing and the disturbing, spine-chilling presence, which felt as though the chthonic plane itself had come alive without Tartarus' bidding and risen above to swallow whatever it touched into the abyss?

Well, even without Beerus' oppressive presence that felt like it practically sung for the annihilation of all that got in its way like an unstoppable force on top of that, all together, the children of her sister and youngest Titan brother felt utterly indomitable at this very moment.

Would continuing to fight now… merely just be delaying the inevitable? Theia thought, as her belief in victory steadily crumbled with each passing moment. A part of her wanting to continue fighting regardless, because that was what her brother-husband Hyperion would want and what he'd do, in her situation. Another, ever-growing part of her though, which was quickly eclipsing the other, was that same part of her that she'd squashed over a year ago, while believing herself to be in this for the long haul, which had considered giving up the fight and surrendering. To do so and hopefully be granted mercy, which would allow her to steer away from the worst of any potential punishment at the hands of the Olympians, as well as be by Hyperion's side, though he'd most definitely hate her for doing so…

"Theia!" The Titaness was shaken from her depressive thoughts, as her name was angrily bellowed loud enough to make her ears ring, the sound travelling far and wide thanks to the air beginning to move again. Her eyes, which to that point had been staring aimlessly down at her own feet, now snapped upwards in alarm, where she saw her brother glaring back at her over his shoulder, while also keeping some of his sights locked on Prometheus, as the two struggled against one another. "Just what in heaven's name do you think you're doing, huh!? Don't just float there, Styx is-"

"Haaaaaaagh!" A recognisable voice screamed, as there was a sudden, loud cracking sound, which was then followed by what vaguely sounded like shattered glass, as Theia whipped her head in the noises' direction. Her eyes landing on the figure of Styx and the fading, torn body of what appeared to be a lion constellation, as ichor dripped from the younger goddess' hands and feet for a brief instant, before it tapered off. Her arms coming to her sides as she balled her bloodied hands into fists, looking ready and rearing to go, as she felt the older Titaness' gaze on her and snapped a ferocious glare in her direction.

"Heh. Looks like you just lost that opening." Prometheus couldn't help but comment mockingly, which only served to enrage Krios further, as one of the older Titan's eyes stared in disbelief at the chance his sister had just passed up. No, more accurately, the chance she hadn't even been aware that she'd had!

For the son of Iapetus, however, as he looked over his combative foe's shoulder, he saw right away why Theia hadn't done anything about the opening to take down Styx that Krios had given her, with one of his most powerful constructs. It was obvious from her body language alone. Most of her will to fight appeared to have already left her. Even now, she was hesitating on what to do, when earlier, she would've either rushed in to aid Krios in whatever way she could, or rushed in to continue her battle with Styx, which had she done so but a moment ago, with said goddess pinned and distracted, would've certainly led to Styx being taken out.

Styx herself seemed to have noted the change in demeanour as well, for rather than rush her down in hatred and batter her into pieces immediately, she stalled while holding the Titaness' uncertain gaze. The latter having taken a defensive posture in anticipation of an attack, but it didn't look sharp and definitely did not speak of one who was ready to continue battling to their last breath. It spoke of one who was unsure what to do next.

"Grrr! Damnit, Theia! What's wrong with you!?" Krios barked out, becoming increasingly baffled by his sister's inaction, and worse yet, the conflicted emotions that he could see running over her features, even from a glance. So much so, that he threw caution to the wind, pushing hard into Prometheus to force the younger Titan back with a grunt, allowing him to pull back and separate, as his domain's power flared to life again. Genuine strain beginning to show on his face, as he poured his power into the summoning of an even more powerful constellation than that of the lion from before, which appeared in his eyes and on his chest, as the heavens above him lit up again.

"Oh, great…" Prometheus groaned as his eyes glowed, showing him what was to come just before it appeared, which had him and Styx, who had sensed the danger herself, pushing back far away to avoid the enormous, star-formed serpents that shot down on them with long fangs bared. The two snakes hissing and lunging for them again, when they saw their targets escape their initial attack, seeking to swallow them whole and ingest them, much like the lion before them had.

Said lion seemed puny now, for the heads of each serpent alone were twice the size of the previous predator's whole body! Not to mention that the serpents were even more aggressive, if that could be believed, as both slithered and raced through the air as though it were solid ground, snapping their long-fanged jaws out again and again, forcing both of the Olympian allies to continue backing away and evading. All while searching for a proper opening to attack back, lest they ran the risk of getting chomped on by constructed predators determined to ensnare and eat their prey.

And whilst they were being held off, Krios was quick to round on his sister with an outraged expression, pushing himself over to where she still floated, not having moved from her spot since being told of their plan's decimation. The Titaness looking away and refusing to meet his eyes, as he snarled at her. "Theia! Sister! What is the matter!?" He yelled out. His tone angry, but with a hint of genuine concern, as his sister continued to look away with an increasing visage of pessimism that he didn't like. "Why aren't you aiding me!? I'll need your help to ensure we take down these two cretins. Please," He said a little more softly, almost desperately, as his placed his hands on her shoulders. "I need you to have your mind and heart in this. This is no time to be getting conflicted on me! Not when we're-"

"When we're what?" Theia cut him off, her own voice raised and dispirited, as her gaze finally met his. "What are we, brother? Close to victory? Is that what you were about to say? Because, with how things are going now, I can't see how we could possibly even begin to achieve that!"

Before Krios could respond to that, both he and his sister felt the barrier they'd constructed, as well as the one their enemies had constructed to lock off shape-shifting and teleportation, be ruptured apart.

Both gods knew almost instinctively who was responsible. Both also knew the only reason why such an act would be committed, given it'd already been done many times before, in the lead up to this battle.

Krios held back the grimace from reaching his face, while Theia let it blossom fully, thoroughly unsurprised that her younger brother, who'd no doubt figured out the situation by now, was most likely going to try and flee, in order to attempt to escape the curse that their father placed on him.

"Look," The timing on that couldn't have been worse for the Titan god of constellations, yet even still, he put on a determined look, in the face of what most would call the turning tide toward being marmalized by the opposition. "I know things are looking incredibly bad for us, but-"

"There's a way out of this, you know." The elder Titan's head snapped to the side, looking over his shoulder, as he was again interrupted, this time by Prometheus, who floated only a few metres away. The body of Krios' snake-construct behind him, after he'd materialized over to them, given the small, golden flecks fading away from his form. "You don't have to go down in miserable defeat like Kronos will."

"You stay out of this!" Krios roared in outrage at the gall of his brother's son, his body and eyes lighting up as his will commanded the serpent Prometheus had disappeared from to rush forward and attack, which the star-formed creature did gladly. Its hiss full of venom, as it launched its enormous frame toward the 2nd generation Titan, mouth stretched wide and ready to tear him apart with its fangs.

The creature's head made it about a few metres away from its target, before Styx suddenly appeared, striking out with a scream of fury in its blind-spot with a devastating kick that packed her full weight and power behind it. The force behind the blow, as it smashed into the snake's cheek, producing a massive BOOM and shockwave, as its body violently whipped back. The Oceanid's own body bashing right through its head at the same time, breaking it apart into countless pieces of starlight, which the rest of its serpentine body soon followed suit in doing. Its lowered guard having made it easier for the goddess, who could also teleport once again, to destroy it in one single blow.

Krios snarled at this, immediately pushing his power to the fore to try and trap both in a new barrier, so as to stop the use of said ability. To his shock, however, the wave that released from him barely made it a few feet out, before it was suddenly erased in a slew of purple particles, as a ginormous barrier, tinted briefly in a similar shade of purple, stretched out over him and everyone else, while asserting itself over him.

His other summoned snake, which was rounding on them now, fangs bared and giving a mighty, predatory hiss, barely made it halfway through its lunge, before Styx disappeared in a flash of gold, only to reappear above the creature, delivering a similarly powerful kick through its skull. The brutal blow making the rest of its body spasm as she caved through its head foot-first in a shower of light and what vaguely appeared like shattered glass. The rest of it fading away soon after, as it 'died' from the impact.

Krios, feeling some genuine panic seeing this, tried yet again to summon forth his own barrier, only this time, the wave released barely made it millimetres away from his shining skin, before it was reduced to nothing, just like before. An instance that only made him even more panicked, enough to where it started to peel through unto his face, as he tried a third time to summon a barrier, which evaporated even faster this time, almost mockingly so.

Theia looked worriedly at her brother as she saw this, knowing what he was trying to do as she witnessed him fail several times, which in any other situation would've been impossible. All the while, both Prometheus and Styx looked at each other briefly, figuring out pretty fast who had made this barrier appear, given the recognisable aura packed into it. The duo feeling varying degrees of amusement seeing Krios fail to conjure his own barrier to contain them, which naturally gave them a huge advantage.

"As I was saying," Prometheus continued, getting a nod from Styx to remain passive for the moment, as he turned his sights back to the Titans, specifically to Theia. "there's no need for you to go down like Kronos will. Surrendering now, like my father did, will spare you any further torment and will also promise you leniency in the decision of what to do with you, once this battle, this war, concludestoday."

"Tch! Like I'll buy any of that nonsense!" Krios snapped vehemently. His eyes and part of his body lighting up, as a star-formed sword materialized in one hand, before the pattern on his body and eyes shifted into something else, forming a round shield-construct in his other hand for added protection, as he entered into a readied battle stance. His sword close to his raised shield, looking ready to stab either of them if they came close. "Pay no mind to a word this traitor says, sister! If we give up now, it will not stop us from being humiliated by that bastard Beerus at the end. Not to mention the shame it shall bring to you, when Hyperion eventually recovers and finds out that you gave up, rather than continue to fight with everything you had!"

"Heh. 'Eventually recovers', hmm?" Prometheus chuckled, shaking his head, as though he was disappointed by Krios. An act which fully earned him Theia's undivided attention. "I'm afraid that's a little too optimistic, given his situation."

"What do you mean?" The Titaness asked quickly and worriedly. Her face a mask of fearful concern, as she made to push forward, only to be held back by her brother's shield-baring arm.

Sensing how much more malleable she was, given how rattled she'd become by their wish being taken away and what was currently going on away from them, involving the Olympians, Prometheus suppressed the smirk that threatened to come over his lips, as he regarded her slyly. "Oh, did Styx not tell you? Well, I suppose we did get told this only recently by Lady Gaea, and neither of you were in a very 'communicative' mood up to now, so I guess that makes sense."

"Don't let him trick you, sister. I guarantee you his words will be nothing but poison!" Krios piped in, turning half his gaze toward his sibling and giving her a look that demanded she ignore the younger god. To his dismay, however, it appeared she hadn't heard a word, much less seen his gaze, as her own was locked firmly on Prometheus.

Said Titan shot the Titaness what appeared to be a sympathetic look, as he crossed his arms over his chest, also pointedly ignoring Krios. "Truth is, by himself, Hyperion has no chance for recovery at all, from what Beerus did to him. After taking a longer look over him, Lady Gaea told us that her previous assessment of his recuperation was incorrect. It appears that the damage inflicted not just on his body, but on his very soul itself, was so severe, that he's essentially stuck in an abysmal, catatonic state for the rest of eternity."

"H-He's what…!?" Theia cried out in horrified alarm. Her eyes wide and stricken with anguish, almost on the verge of tears at hearing such a claim, as one of her shaking hands gripped subconsciously against Krios' shoulder, making the latter cringe, not only from the exceptional force put on it without knowing, but also from the overwhelming distress on his sister's face. And at news that, despite his outward denial earlier, even he wasn't truly sure was dishonest or not. "N-No… That's…"

"I know it's hard for you to hear, but it is the truth. Your unfortunate reality is, supposing you do manage to somehow triumph today, against all odds, it will be a hollow victory for you at best, Theia, if you're hoping to be reunited properly with your consort Hyperion at the end." Prometheus continued, laying it on thick. "You can attempt to deny my words now, if you wish, but being the Titan goddess of sight, if you were to lay eyes on him yourself, you'd see that I speak no falsehood."

Styx smirked in the background, as she watched the Titaness tilt her head downward, breaking eye-contact with her ally as she appeared to be falling even deeper into woe, while watching Krios squirm, as he struggled to come up with something to say to comfort her. Naturally hating both, at the minute, she couldn't find this sight anything other than pleasurable, whilst at the same time, knowing where her companion was going with this, and knowing what he wanted to achieve. Which, if he did, would only make this even more of a beautiful scene for her.

"Damn it… Theia, listen to me! He's only saying this to crush your spirit!" Krios argued in vain, face scrunching up further when he saw that, again, she wasn't reacting to his words in any meaningful way. "Do not allow this koprias' words a stay in your mind. Whatever he spouts is not worth the air it wastes and defiles! Keep strong, keep fighting, and regardless of what condition our brother Hyperion may be in, we will help him to a full recovery, after we defeat the rebel-"

The Titan's words cut off abruptly, as something suddenly slammed into his senses. Something that filled him with just as great a shock as the Olympians ascension earlier had, as his eyes snapped downward, looking out across Olympus and all the land and waters surrounding the largest mountain in the world.

What he saw was a grand, majestic fire spreading out across Gaea's and Pontus' planes with incredible speed and vigour. Its bright, orange-white flames licking as high as halfway up Olympus lofty height in what seemed like the blink of an eye, unlike anything he'd ever seen. The fire, despite its fast spread across countless miles, even as far up as he was, he noticed that it did not actually burn anything in its wake, nor did it so much as even boil the surface of the waters it touched.

The aura it carried... it reminded him of a hearth-fire, the longer he felt its presence touch his senses. The kind that brought with it a sense of calm and intimacy that only one's own home could usually bring up.

That wasn't what sent a shockwave through his senses, however.

No. It was what was occurring within that colourful and ethereal blaze, that sent ten different kinds of dread crawling up his spine. The presences of the fallen, of their enemies fallen, made weaker after their defeat and rendering into unconsciousness, suddenly springing back up to life! Their energies, their wills, surging back with a vengeance, as their consciousness, which he could feel even from here, steadily began to return to them all far, far sooner than it ever should've.

"Well now…" Styx whistled, both in pleasant surprise and malignant glee, as she too, along with Prometheus and Theia, felt what was going on down in the expansive fire, as she and they glanced down at it. The eldest Oceanid having definitely not been expecting this, and from the look on Prometheus' face that mostly mirrored her own, he hadn't either, even with his future vision, but she more than welcomed it. Especially as she felt her own children's presences beginning to rise up once more, which brought her an added sense of delight, given they'd definitely get to see for themselves, the fall of the Titan rule with their own eyes.

Naturally, of course, the goddess couldn't help but turn back to Krios, in that moment, taking extra gratification in the way Theia's expression had sunken even deeper into despair behind her brother, sensing all the progress they'd made against them being rendered null in real time. All while putting the Titan side in a position that, frankly, couldn't have been worse for them.

With a cruel, vindictive smile curling her lips, Styx asked one simple question to the stunned Titan, who now looked as if his entire world, which he'd been trying his hardest to keep upright, had just been flipped upside-down. "What is it you were saying about defeating us again, Krios?"

"Pre-Preposterous…" Was all the Titan could say in response, as he felt all the strides his side had made being undone. His poker face failing him in his shock over this new development, as the worry and fear over their situation mounted.

"Judging from what I'm sensing, I'd give it little more than a moment or two before every last one of our forces that you managed to take down prior, are back up and ready to go again." Prometheus chimed in, sinking his teeth into what he could feel Beerus' twin Hestia had just somehow done with a shit-eating grin, as he turned his sights back to the two Titans. His gaze focusing in on Theia. "This is your last chance to give in, so I'll ask you this, Theia. Would you rather go down with your Titan brethren and their allies, forever losing your brother-husband in the process? Or would you rather the opportunity to be spared the punishment coming Kronos' and his followers' way while getting Hyperion back, even if it means he may hate you for a while?"

That last bit had the Titaness snapping to attention again. Some of her despair fading away in place of astonishment, as she looked at the son of Iapetus in partial incredulity. "W-What…? But I thought you said…"

"I said he had no chance of recovery on his own." The Titan of forethought cut her off, not even needing his future-sight to know what she was thinking. "With Beerus help, however, all that damage done to him, which would otherwise be permanent, can be immediately reversed. He can revert him back from the abysmal state he put him in, back to full strength, once again."

Prometheus then teleported in a shower of gold particles, as Krios suddenly charged him, his star-formedblade stabbing into where he'd been with such force, that had it struck, it would've run him right through, even if Prometheus had tried to block.

"Nrgh!... Bloody wretch!..." The Titan growled, both in fury and trepidation, as he turned and snapped his sights over to where Prometheus had disappeared to, which was right beside his sister. The Titan was about to make another charge, but found himself being forced to pull his construct shield up to defend himself, as Styx teleported in front of him and made him grit his teeth, as her foot smashed into his shield. The reverberations shooting up his arm, as he felt the strength behind the blocked blow that stopped him in his tracks. Unable to do much other than watch, as his conniving bastard of a nephew leaned into Theia's ear, as he spoke loud enough for all of them to hear his words. Virulent words.

"I know this might be hard on you, but I promise, if you cease fighting us and accept your side's defeat, like with my father, I can ensure that you'll be spared from any punishment. As for Hyperion…" The 2nd generation Titan leaned in just a little more to the stiff Titaness, who previously had been more than prepared to tear their throats out, and whispered lowly enough so that only she could hear. "If you go a step further than surrender and actively aid us in the defeat of Kronos' remaining forces, I promise you that Beerus will reward you with your brother-husband's swift recovery, and contrary to what you may believe, may even allow you both to keep your stations, if you become loyal to him."

"Ngh…" Theia cringed, as she bowed her head and seriously considered the offer, feeling a mix of emotions, as she grappled with what to do. "What assurance do I have, other than your word, that things will play out as you describe?"

"Not much, but it's better than nothing." The younger Titan replied honestly with a shrug. "Other than this offer, you and I both know what the alternative is, and given that it's clearer than ever who will ultimately prevail in this conflict, I have no reason to lie to you. Nothing to gain from it, that I won't already have regardless. What I offer you now, is a kindness, plain and simple. One that you only have one chance at taking, for another will not come after."

As soon ashe'd said that, Krios managed to force Styx back with his shield-arm, shoving her out of his way as he dove forward toward the two. Prometheus was quick to teleport away again to avoid a direct blow from his star-formed blade, which shot just above Theia's shoulder, right where the younger Titan's face had just been. Another growl erupting from the flustered elder Titan, as he spun around to look back at Prometheus, who had reappeared where he'd been floating before Krios had dove in the first time, with Styx coming down next to him.

"Damn bastard! It's not enough that you're turning the tide, but now you seek to turn my own sister against me!?" He screamed in rising outrage, his panic hitting an all-time high, as he recognised there was nowhere that they could retreat to now, even if they wanted to. The only option left, outside surrender, which he would never do, was to continue fighting. A prospect that, as his senses told him, based on what he could sense going on away from them, wasn't looking good by any stretch of the imagination, especially if he were to end up doing it alone, he thought, as he tilted his head toward his sibling. "Theia, please, whatever he told you, banish it from your thoughts! He's only trying to trick you into betraying me and our allies for his own amusement! Nothing more!"

"Y-You are probably right, brother…" She responded lowly, her voice hesitating as she met his eyes.

"Do not allow yourself to be conflicted by him. You are better than that, sister." Krios said back, gaining a sliver of hope that he was actually getting through to her and warding off whatever corruption his brother's son was trying to instil in her, as his sights turned fully to their most immediate enemies. His senses never letting forget about the enemies beyond them as well, expanding greatly now that the previously defeated forces were being brought back. "Remember yourself and whence you came from. As dire as the situation is becoming, there's still a chance we-hrgk!?"

Ichor spilt forth from the wide-eyed face of Krios, running down from his open maw, as a blade made purely of violet-coloured light pierced through the back of his throat and out through his mouth in a splatter of blood. His body frozen in shock, as he tried and failed to look back behind him.

"I sincerely apologize for this, Krios, but I'm afraid there's no better alternative. Even if there's a chance that he's lying to me, his offer has become my only way to get Hyperion back, now." Theia told him, her voice a little shaky, but otherwise resolute, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll accept any hatred you throw toward me for this betrayal, brother, but I hope that one day you might be able to forgive me, and understand why I felt I had to do this…"

With her piece said, the traitorous Titaness flung her light-covered arm upward, sending a spray of ichor out in an arc as it sliced up through the rest of his head, practically bifurcating it into halves that split apart. The Titan's aura and shining form vanishing in an instant after, along with his constructs, as he was rendered unconscious in a most brutal manner, whilst his now limp body was held aloft on its shoulder still by Theia, who refused to let his body drop in an undignified manner, despite the act of treason she'd just committed.

That worked even better than expected. Thought Prometheus with a satisfied smile, whilst catching a look from Styx. One that, while pleased with what she'd seen, carried some disappointment at not being able to do such an act personally to either of them, as she made it clear without words, that she'd abstain from attacking the Titaness she still clearly hated.

Given how spiteful she could be, that was about all he could ask of her, now that they'd officially gained a new ally. One that he hoped Beerus would be receptive to granting the wish of, once he found out what she'd done, much as he hoped he'd be, in pardoning his father, for the willing surrender he'd given earlier…

All the while…

Both the remaining forces allied to the Olympians and the ones allied to Kronos halted in their battle, as all eyes suddenly fell down on Olympus in a mix of awe and surprise, as they watched the massive pillars of light fade away. What was left behind, was four figures of such immense power just a short distance below, that it sent a shiver down the spines of every enemy of the rebel faction, while sending forth a newfound ray of hope and belief in the now much less angry allies of Beerus.

Two of the four figures atop Mount Olympus, who all captured the senses of their fellow gods and goddesses the most, vanished too quickly for any of the minor gods and goddesses to keep track of and take note of any details, other than where they shot off too. That being in the Titan general's direction.

The other two remained, standing tall with both elegance and grandeur in their ascended states, side by side.

The goddess on the left, doing away with pale skin, hazel eyes and her chestnut-brown hair for features even more striking. Her skin now glowing a soft, velvety red with what looked to be an almost intangible veil falling over her face, highlighting her radiant, pinkish-red pools that swirled with resolve and regal pride. Her long-flowing, silky hair now becoming almost like a thin, beatific veil in its own right, as it floated exaltedly by her back with a lightness comparable to air. What was perhaps most intriguing, was the way the wind picked up around her, turning a tint of red and purple, as it wrapped around her curvy body which had lost its tunic, quite like a rich fabric woven perfectly to fit her. The controlled air forming what appeared to be a diaphanous, loosely draped gown that gathered by her waist and touched as low as the soles of her feet, falling over her magically-covered E-cup breasts and crotch.

In her fullest essence, she was captivatingly gorgeous in a way that had even her enemies caught up in her beauty, which at that very moment, felt distinctly like a bride prepared for marriage, and a queen of heavenly presence that commanded respect.

Meanwhile, the goddess on the right, quite like her sister, did away with her pale skin, straw-blonde hair and olive-brown eyes. In their place, was skin that shined a bright shade of orange and eyes that glowed a light mixture of apricot and fern green. Her D-cup breasts and crotch being covered by shimmering, dark-green, plant-like roots that seemed to have grown out of nowhere all over her wondrous figure, twisting and turning in patterns along her torso, neck and limbs. From them, what appeared to be leaves and other plants, like various, fabulous flowers, bloomed all along their branch-like surface, before they terminated by her wrists and ankles, while the bare roots wrapped well around her palms, feet, fingers and toes. Her long-flowing hair finishing up her transformation, by turning a yellowish-orange with its own newfound luminosity and flowing behind her with the distinct visage of perfectly domesticated wheat and barley that billowed in the soft caress of a bright season's breeze.

While captivating in her own right, the young goddess felt like an extension to nature itself. Gaea's nature, in specific, that commanded respect much like her sister, but with a more earthly air to her that felt just as royal.

"Those of you still remaining who valiantly fought for our side, you may stand down now." The ascended goddess on the left, Hera, spoke calmly with a heavy tint of authority to her tone, one that instantly brought both friend and foe alike to attention, with the sheer amount of power that exuded forth from her every word.

"My sister speaks the truth. You have all fought well for us and we respect your efforts, but it is time for those of you remaining to rest, for we shall be taking the initiative in this battle from here on out." The ascended on the right, Demeter, spoke just as calmly as well, with her tone carrying just as much authority as her sister, as both glared up at their thirty-strong opponents.

The nymphs and other divine beings, which now numbered seven in total, merely nodded their heads in agreement, awestruck by what the sisters of Beerus had become, as they all collectively backed down with a word, floating away from their shared enemies.

"A-Are you two seriously planning on taking all of us on by yourselves!?" One of their enemies closest to them from above, a nymph with similar shining skin, eyes and floating, transformed hair to Styx, shouted down at them in disbelief. Her words carrying down, as the wind finally seemed to be picking up movement again. Her shock over their confidence of taking on all of them partially overriding the shock of them having attained True Divine Forms in the first place. "S-Surely you can't think yourselves so strong that you could do battle with all of us and actually prevail with just the two of you!"

"So, how does half for me and half for you sound, sister?" Hera asked, while casting her older sibling a glance, not even acknowledging a single word that came from the nymph above them.

Demeter met it back with a small, but competitive grin and somewhat friendly air, as if they were speaking about a simple home-cleaning task. "That will do me just fine, sister."

Right then, before any of the assembled thirty deities above could react, the nymph closest to the two newly ascended goddesses let out a frightful, wet gurgle of pain, as thick, brownish roots suddenly sprouted from the soil upon Olympus' peak and pounced upward with terrifying speed, accuracy and purpose. Numbering at a dozen and glowing the same aura that Demeter currently did, which had now become a beauteous mix of vibrant orange and green, their sharp tips were a blur as they speared through the Nymph's flesh simultaneously. Variously-sized spurts of ichor following, as two of each stabbed right through her arms and legs, while the remaining four impaled her through her pelvis, abdomen, chest between her boobs and her neck, all driving straight out the back of her.

Her fellow supporters of Kronos flinched back in horrified astonishment, as a few soggy, guttural noises, each weaker than the last, rose out from her briefly spasming body, before it gave out on her. Her consciousness slipping away, as the shine on her body vanished, leaving pale, golden-bloodied skin behind, as her nude, perforated form was violently wrenched up and back by the roots that'd punched through her, before being whipped down unto the floor of Olympus' peak with a deafening crash.

"O-Oh my-hhlgk!?" Another Nymph, who was the closest to the one who'd just been skewered and slammed hard enough to paste what remained of her, didn't even get the time to truly express her shock over her companion's swift and vicious end, as Hera suddenly flashed into existence behind her. The younger goddess having moved so quickly in the brief moment of surprise, that her form was barely even a blur before the eyes of her foes. Her right hand's index and middle fingers smoking from how rapidly fast she'd struck her enemy's pressure points, something she'd learned well to exploit from observing and sparring with her eldest brother. The young goddess doing so with such force and precision that as soon as her target's body even registered it'd been hit more than a dozen times over all around its torso, it contorted in various, grotesque ways.

Left unable to move and defend herself from such a combination, the Nymph's shining green-blue skin reverted back to a light-olive, as Hera's leg whipped out, finishing her off with a horrid decapitation that sent her face-smashed head flying with a vibrant spray of gold. The body part, which lost its lustre as its blood spewed out from its stump, impacting wetly against a minor male god's chest. Blood and viscera splashing all over his front, as the wind was knocked out of him and he was sent soaring back several metres from how hard his ally's head struck him, all but combusting against him as it did in a shower of gory bits and bone.

"What's wrong? Too afraid to fight back?" Hera taunted haughtily, planting her hands on her hips while sticking her nose up at the remaining twenty-eight adversaries, who did nothing but stare at her and her sister like brainless buffoons, as the headless body of her first victim fell to Olympus gracelessly. "Is your resolve so weak that seeing two of your own be beaten in such a swift manner is enough to cow you?"

The world shook around them as she said this, startling the slew of minor deities out of their stupor and bringing them back to reality, as Demeter didn't bother waiting for them to come to her or her sister. Her flowery, plant-riddled body flashing up toward her enemies with equal speed to her younger sister, as she came upon two other deities, one male and the other female. Both of which glowed with a more brownish colour to their radiant skin, which made them stand out from the sea of blue and grey that dominated the rest of her enemies True Divine Forms.

The female recoiled back upon seeing her, while the male, attempting to be brave, kept his nerve enough to throw a punch toward her face. One which Demeter promptly blocked with ease, catching his fist in her palm before squeezing and twisting it all in one motion, earning a scream of pain from the god, as his larger bones cracked and broke beneath the pressure of Demeter's dainty-looking hand. All while his body was yanked sideways into an even more vulnerable position that the goddess took full advantage of, striking out with a sharp fist, much like Beerus had taught her through sparring, directly into his gut while he was too distracted by pain to tense it for impact.

His body bent over her arm from the blow, mouth yawning wider than his eyes while his ichor spritzed out, as her fist caved wrist-deep throughhis belly and ribcage, right into his intestines with a resounding SCHLUCK!

"Hrrgk-kklhk!?" The male deity's whole body then began to spasm, his face warping in pure agony as he tried to let out a gurgled screech, only for the noise to come out strangled. The reason for which became obvious when, to the intensifying horror of those around them, especially the goddess closest to them, something began to move beneath the surface of his skin. Something that slithered and wriggled from where he'd been impaled by Demeter's fist, all the way up and down his body, bulging his flesh out as it reached as far as his scalp and the tips of his fingers and toes.

"Brother!" The Nymph closest to Demeter screamed out, as she partially got over her fear and launched forward in panic, seeking to aid her brother.

A big mistake, as Demeter was faster and took the opportunity to grab her by the neck with her free hand, whilst the branch-like roots that swirled around the arm attached sprung to life, with several new roots, fully coated in her aura, growing out and then lashing forth. The sharp ends of them puncturing out her arms by the elbows before she could reach up to grab the younger goddess' appendage, and also puncturing out through her knees, putting a painful halt to any attempt at kicking her. She wasn't even allowed to shriek, only being able to let out a choked, gurgling sob, as the hand around her throat squeezed, putting immense, crushing pressure on her windpipe.

As that was occurring, Hera bounded back into action herself, the wind at her beck and call, as she moved with speed that her enemies struggled to process, causing multiple shockwaves as she knocked numerous gods away with nimble strikes. Her body becoming like a whirlwind as several of them overcame their shock at her movements and tried to attack her from various angles, only to be repelled with broken bones and contorted body parts, as she yet again utilized her elder brother's pressure point techniques. All the while, she pushed forth and smacked away others who attempted to defend themselves rather futilely from the goddess.

Hera's aggressive antics were enough to rouse the other deities, whom she'd pointedly not attacked, and brought some of their attention fully to her. Rather than engage, however, some of them pulled back, fearful of the incredible might that their foes now wielded, and seemed to be ready to fly away in retreat.

The instant they turned away, however, they were all sent recoiling back as, suddenly, what looked to be utterly gargantuan wheat stalks imbued with a menacing aura blasted out from the fertile land that still dotted Olympus' peak in an explosion of soil. Their enormous hides towering over the would-be fleers, with each stalk stretching as high as several kilometres, while being as girthy as half-a-mile. Their heads that carried seeds being even wider, expanding out as far as a full mile.

Each of the would-be fleers found themselves more wide-eyed than ever at the absurdly large plants, all clumped close together like the regular, everyday wheat they'd seen on occasion in various fields dotted throughout the endless world. Only difference being, when these moved, it wasn't because of the wind, and just the process of them shifting back at high speed alone, was enough to make the now alive air fold in on itself, as if it was being dragged away, creating a tumultuous whistling that ached their ears and sent shivers down their spines.

The world shook a second time then, as the mountain-sized stalks whipped forward with speed too great, given their largeness, to evade. Each being closest to their range, with disquieted expressions, brought their arms up and summoned forth all their might available to block, as the stalks came crashing down on them with an unbelievable KROOOM! The very majestic mountain from which they'd sprouted from with normally impossible zeal quaking from the collision, as despite blocking the worst of the blow, each of the deities' arms were crunched apart in the process, as they were sent rocketing down. Their agonized sounds going unheard over the roar of the wrenching winds, as they struck into the quaking mountain-peak's surface, each creating craters multiple times larger than them, while further shaking Olympus.

Those that watched this happen, could do little more than snap their stunned gazes between the giant, aura-imbued, weaponized crops and the one who'd clearly summoned them. The goddess who's body now glowed with the air and volatility of nature, similar to Gaea herself.

All the while, being even closer now, the goddess who'd been caught and choked by Demeter was given a front-row seat to witness her brother's gnarly demise, as from his eyes and mouth first, exploded forth sturdy, plant-like roots that seemed to feed on his ichor. Following that, to her astounded and afraid eyes, was the last choked, muffled whimper he made, before many more roots suddenly tore their way out from his flesh, sending what ichor wasn't being absorbed into them, along with bits of his bones and organs flying out in numerous directions.

To those too staggered to look away from the grisly sight, it looked as though a tree had grown itself out of him, using his divine blood as a way to flourish out faster and sustain itself, leaving hardly any of the god left by the time it was done, as Demeter let him fall from her hand.

"Y-You… mon… ster…!" The Nymph in said goddess' grasp gagged out, before a SNAP echoed out, as her neck was broken with a swift flick of Demeter's wrist, before the roots stabbed through the Nymph's limbs fractured from the younger goddess' arm.

"You chose to be our enemies, and seek to aid our father in our destruction. Don't go acting now like you wouldn't have worse done to us." Demeter said, genuine offence leaking into her tone, at being called such a term, as she threw her now limp, de-transforming body directly into another god, who tried to attack her in that moment, sending them both flying back and smashing into the mountain-sized stalk of one of her summoned wheats.

To say that the proceeding moments thereafter was one-sided, would've been an understatement by anyone's metric, as Demeter launched into action like her sister, barrelling forth without fear into her remaining enemies. The minor gods tried to fight back with numbers, knowing there would be no running, giving it their best to overwhelm the two Olympians, only to end up with their own attacks always repelled, while being forced to take the hardest blows they'd ever personally taken in their immortal lives. And whether they managed to block or took them full-on, it mattered, as the results were the same, in broken bones, misshapen bodies and, over time, the sound and brutal defeat of more and more of them, decreasing their ranks.

Not even the destruction of the barriers keeping them all contained and limited during the slaughter of Kronos' followers proved very useful to the Olympians' foes. For those who either didn't fully comprehend what such a thing meant, or wilfully chose to believe it was a part of an elaborate backup plan by Kronos, attempted to use teleportation or shapeshifting to gain an advantage didn't fair any better. No matter the position they gave themselves through teleporting, or the form they took, no matter how big or small, from flies and birds to horses and big cats, the minor gods were repelled and countered all the same.

To both the allies of the Olympians watching from a safe distance, as well as the allies of Kronos desperately trying to gain whatever advantage they could, the disparity between the two goddesses' new capabilities and that of their own, more than ever, became abundantly apparent. For while the allies of the Titan king used those abilities, at no point during that brief window did either Demeter or Hera ever resort to using either ability themselves, despite it being at their disposal too, and the answer for why was blatantly obvious. They didn't need them.

Instead, all they used, was a combination of simply superior reflexes, along with the application of their new abilities, to make even their brief inclusion into their enemies' arsenals effectively moot.

If they tried to use avian or insect forms to fly around and get a different angle while the sisters seemed preoccupied with their companions? An immensely powerful gust of wind tinted slightly red would blow through from nearly every direction, ones too strong even for the ascended deities to fight against in their altered states, as they were held in place and savagely squashed beneath the intense pressure with such speed, that none were able to let out anything more than wheezes, as they failed to escape via teleportation. Their munched remains being blown away and spread out to salt the peak of the Olympian's abode.

If they were larger mammals, looking to stomp or pounce on them from above or behind, while the remaining companions kept them busy from the front? Carnivorous plants of size great enough to easily fit the transformed, attacking deities in their mouths punched out from the fertile soil, with a vibrant glow of orange and green around them. Each opening its 'jaws' towards their pinkish-red centre, before snapping down on their would-be attackers before they could dematerialize.

Those who got trapped within their leafy jaws squirmed and wriggled about in panic-filled pain, unable to focus enough to teleport away or even change back into their normal, ascended forms, as they were all swiftly, odiously dissolved by the super-powered fluids secreted within. Their muffled screeches sending shivers down the spines of enemy and ally alike, as they watched them be digested until only their skeletons remained, which were promptly spat out to the mountain-floor below, scattering their fluid-covered bones all over the place.

It wasn't long after a barrier briefly tinted purple expanded over them all, blocking off Beerus' sisters' enemies from teleporting and shapeshifting yet again, the group of gods opposing both the sisters, as well as the duo's allied spectators who watched on in awe, had gone from thirty to ten in total. All of whom had wilfully created distance between themselves and the sisters, as their wounded, but still able bodies recovered. The rest being laid out across Olympus in varying states of defeat, from fully formed and unconscious, to badly warped, pulped, and even transmogrified plant-states, if Demeter was responsible.

"H-How in Gaea's name is this even possible…?" One of the ten who were still conscious, another Nymph, who's skin glowed a turquoise-blue with eyes and wave-like hair a lighter shade, asked in the purest of fright, as her battered body – courtesy of a brief bout with Hera, that she'd somehow survived – steadily healed itself. The minor deity favouring one of her arms, holding it with the shaky hand of the other, as it draped limply down by her side. Her eyes, filled with terror, remaining focused on the two goddesses who had so easily demolished much of their group. "W-We may not be as powerful as any of Lord Kronos' siblings or nephews, but we're strong enough to be acknowledged and even have the advantage of numbers against them, yet…"

"Yet you're all being pulverized?" Hera finished for her. The goddess' calm, almost pitying words, travelling forth over the wind and into the ears of all remaining allies of Kronos, as if Hera was right next to all of them simultaneously. The younger deity looking down upon them from her more elevated position with her arms folded beneath her bosom and an upturned, borderline snobbish nose to go with an unimpressed stare that both spoke of disappointment and of having expected better from them. "Honestly, it's almost impressive how foolish and weak you all are."

The remaining allies of Kronos pulled varying expressions of displeasure at the youngest female Olympian's scathing opinion of them. Some feeling the compulsory urge, due to pride, to call her an arrogant bitch for brazenly insulting them like that, but the words never touched their tongues. First, because of the trepidation that said goddess had fast beaten into them alongside the sister who floated next to her, with taking down two thirds of them in such a short frame of time. The second, was because while she was indeed a bitch, as far as they were concerned, calling her arrogant implied misplaced confidence, and at this point, after what she and her sister had just accomplished, to say her confidence wasn't well-earned, felt downright silly.

"It'd be best if those of you remaining surrendered. It won't stop you from being punished for aiding our father against us, but at the very least, you will avoid a more brutal end to your battle with us, which you have no chance of winning. That is, of course, unless you want to end up like the rest of you, which now litter our abode." Demeter piped in bluntly, trying to offer them a more merciful end to their part of this conflict, as she mounted her hands on her hips.

Hearing this, however, Hera had to hold in a snort at her sister's shoddy attempt to proffer mercy. Her absent-mindedness rearing its head again with how she worded the offer, either forgetting or having not been paying enough attention during her own massacre of them to recognise the pride present in those still conscious and able to fight.

Either that, or she was trying to imitate Beerus, who had said similar to any enemy who'd faced and been trounced by him, prior to their foes usual retreat over the last year. Though he'd always done it, as far as she'd seen, in either a bored or semi-mocking way, which more often than not, was either just a way to easily bait them in for a swift, final blow, or as merely his way of saying, 'I'm done with you', before blazing past them for another target. Which was almost always their father.

Regardless, the only effect Demeter's offer had on those still conscious, as their injuries were either mostly healed or fully healed, was to grit their teeth in harsh scowls and ferocious glares directed at them, as their hands balled into fists. The few weaker willed that'd been among them, who would've otherwise tried to run away, even with the aura-imbued wind and massive plants against them, having already been taken out.

"Y-You think it's that easy!?" One of them – a bald male deity with very dark-blue, glowing skin, a sleek, muscular build and greenish-blue, shining eyes – barked out in rage. His hunched over posture making him appear on the verge of attempting an assault on either goddess. "We will never submit to you, or your ilk! Especially not after we've come so far, taking down as many of your side as we have!"

There was both verbal and silent agreement at his word, as all the remaining ten gods and goddesses rallied forth to continue fighting, despite the abysmal odds they faced against the two sisters. Their expressions, while perhaps not as hard as they would've been at the earlier stages of this battle when they held the advantage, still managed to appear resolute before the Olympians.

Had Hera the benefit of foresight, like Prometheus, she would've laughed at how quickly those expressions morphed, once a sudden sensation struck them all. Each of their gazes briefly shifting downward from it and being met with the sight of a brilliant blaze forming and reaching as high as Olympus' midway point, as it expanded out rapidly below them, soon covering over every patch of land and sea where their forces battles had or were taking place on or above.

"W-What…?" The Nymph from before muttered in spine-shivering shock. Her progressively worsening expression of dread that overtook the courage she'd had a fraction of a second ago encapsulating the very drastic mood shift of all her fellow, remaining Kronos supporters. All as a certain goddess' power, contrary to what it always did with her friends and family, sent extreme perturbation and fear shooting through their beings, because of the effect it had on all their enemy's fallen that were caught within it. On their broader army. "N-No… That can't be… real…"

"Oh, wow! This is incredible!" Demeter called out with a wide grin, having the inverse of her foes' reactions, feeling both pride and excitement, as she felt her sister's aura present within those colourful flames, and what it was proceeding to do. Hastening the revitalization process of their fallen allies, from what should've been an hour at minimum, to mere moments with how each of the unconscious deities responded to her power's embrace. Their souls practically crying out with restored vigour, as they steadily began to come to. "All of our allies that were previously beaten… Dearest sister Hestia is bringing them all back!"

"Indeed. And her timing couldn't have been better." Hera commented smugly, as she proceeded to look even further down her own nose at their remaining opposition, tone becoming so slathered in condescension at this point, that one wouldn't be remiss for thinking it was one of her domains. "What is it that one of you was saying just a moment ago, about coming so far against us, by taking so many of us out? Because it seems to me that very soon, not only will you be inferior to us in power, but also, once again, vastly outnumbered too!"

"Th-This is a nightmare…" One of Kronos' supporters whimpered, all but hugging herself as the truly cruel reality of their situation asserted itself worse than ever. "If we end up having to face off against all those other gods and goddesses again, while we're still facing these two, we'll be annihilated…"

"Oh please, you're already getting annihilated as is." Hera brought a hand beneath her chin, as she let out a scoff. "The only thing their coming return will bring, if any of you are still conscious by then, is more spectators to your demise."

"That being said, seeing as you spat in the face of my sister's offer of surrender, I think it's about time we drew this little 'battle' of ours to a conclusion." Eyes now glowing strongly past her near-invisible veil, the youngest of the Olympian sisters outstretched the hand that'd been by her chin toward the remaining minor deities opposed to her family, as her aura thickened around her. The knowledge granted to her by the Ophiotaurus of what else she could do, playing through her mind. A brief consideration being given to bringing forth a massive storm of her own, like the one she could hear far out in the distance, summoned forth by her younger brothers, to finish off the stragglers.

Ultimately, though, she settled on casting a spell upon the goddesses in particular that, given their loyalty to one another and her bastard father, would be the most ironic to watch take effect.

"Arrgh!?..." The effect came without any further flashiness, as each of the female deities suddenly all clutched their heads in pain, feeling something foreign invade their minds, which they immediately tried to resist.

The male gods, which were in smaller number than their female counterparts, making up only three of the ten remaining adversaries, started at this. Two simply looking on in worry, wondering what was going on with them, while the last, who, funnily enough, was the very one that'd barked up against her sister's offer, immediately made his way over to the Nymph who also, by sheer coincidence, had been the one whimpering about the situation being a nightmare.

"Dear, what's wrong!?" He asked while resting his concerned hands on her shoulders with the clear kind of fretting that only a close family member or a romantic partner could have. Something which Hera, by instinct, thanks to one of her domains, knew to be the latter, as she could sense that they had been married.

She knew not if either had been unfaithful during such a union, but whether or not they had, the young goddess felt not an inkling of remorse, when the previously bleating Nymph let out a low growl. Her glowing eyes very briefly flashing red, as did her fellow goddess allies, before, to the shock of both her partner, and the two other male gods watching, she rounded on him with a bestial-sounding snarl. Her teeth bared like an animal driven into a murderous rage, as she forced a scream of torment to erupt from her consort, when her hands flew up, plunging her thumbs directly into his eyes with a nasty, blood-spilling SQUELCH!

"What the fuck!?" One of the two other male gods screeched in panic, as their fellow god struggled against his wife, clutching her shoulders and trying to force her off as she dug her thumbs deeper into his eye-sockets. Her other fingers grasping and scraping down on his face, threatening to rip it off, as her offending digits twisted, grinded and gouged his eyes out with the passion of someone hooked deeply in the darkest throes of madness.

Said god came to regret speaking, as the heads of all six other goddesses snapped to him, with the same bestial look and snarl as the one tearing her husband's eyes out. A madness unlike any he'd seen overtaking them, as they all suddenly rushed him with white-hot, blinding rage, forcing a yelp out of his fear-washed features, as he bolted and darted around their lunges, clawing hands and fists.

The remaining male god watched this with goggled-eyes, mouth agape as their female allies, failing to get at their male counterpart right away, turned on and began attacking each other! A disorderly free-for-all ensuing from pure insanity and their sudden, rageful malintent, as they clawed at each other's skin, gouged out eyes, twisted and in some cases ripped limbs clean off in a violent spray of ichor and battered one another with cruel, debilitating blows to any and all parts of the bodies. Every last one of them trying to tear the other apart.

The other male god, who had escaped being ripped apart by his fellow divinities, just stared on at this outcome, looking just as baffled as the one who hadn't just been chased, before both his and his compatriots snapped over to the last male god and his wife, when the former erupted with another scream. This one more animalistic, as he broke free from his consort's eye-gouging clutches with a brutish kick to the jaw, which had her head whipping back with a loud CRACK!

They were about to call out to him, even at risk of drawing the ire of the mad group of goddesses pummelling and mutilating each other, spilling their own blood copiously over themselves and their once companions. They halted and stared in stunned, horrified disbelief however, when rather than disengage, he suddenly let out a beastly snarl and lunged at his temporarily disoriented consort, grabbing and pinning her arms to her sides, as he sunk his teeth into her neck! A gargled shriek leaving the goddess, as he wrenched his head back, tearing out her jugular in an aggressive gush of ichor that splattered all over him and her.

Neither saw the faint orange and green glow that briefly permeated through his eyes as he did, before, in a truly depraved show, he chewed and swallowed the flesh he'd barbarously bitten off. And then, he dove right in, as his consort was still gargling on her own blood, he dove in again, ripping into her eviscerated neck with his teeth like a wild creature driven purely by hunger, to the point where all rationale was lost and replaced with the need to sate it.

He was repeatedly kicked in the groin for this, via flailing legs of the agonized goddess, but the pain such should've brought didn't seem to impede him. The only indication that he felt the increasingly weak smack of either leg into his crotch, being the grunts that he gave into her bleeding, glowing flesh and the way he somewhat stiffened up at first, before he chomped and ripped into her windpipe with even more vigour. The god not giving her neck any reprieve to properly regenerate, as he dined on her with cannibalistic fervour.

The other two male gods, who watched this and the free-for-all going on between the other goddesses with speechless shock, disgust and fear all wrapped up into one, didn't stay that way for much longer, as both clutched their guts and heads simultaneously. Their wills attempting to resist something most foul that'd into them on the non-physical plane, but quite like their compatriots, they found themselves quickly losing out to the foreign power's heinous embrace.

At that point, rational thought fled, as a sensation of starvation struck them both like a sickle to blades of grass. Something that, due to their nature as deathless beings who didn't require sustenance, should've been an impossibility. And yet, they felt it. Felt it as the sensation consumed them, made their stomachs growl and whine so loudly and powerfully with yearning for satiation that it echoed not just in their ears and their blanking minds, but their very spirits themselves.

When the two gods next turned to one another, it was with snarls that matched the ferocity of their fellow deity devouring his consort, as they both launched for the other. Their arms meeting in a tackle as both bit down ferally on the other's shoulder, grinding through glowing skin, flesh and even bone before long with their teeth.

Hera turned to her sister as all the carnage below them took place, a smirk plastered over her face along with a curious glint in her eyes, as she saw her with a raised hand, casting a spell much like herself, with her pools glowing just as brightly. "I see I'm not the only one who can manipulate minds and spirits to my whim. What exactly did you inflict those three with?"

"Those three?" Demeter smirked back in a rare, knowing way, causing Hera's head to briefly swivel back to their foes. The sight of the six mad goddesses now suddenly sinking their teeth into the bodies and flesh of those they were fighting and tearing apart meeting her gaze almost immediately. "My magic effected all of them, unlike yours it seems." She said with a smugness that brought an aggravated twitch to Hera's eye. "To answer you, though, I struck them all with an insatiable hunger too overwhelming for any to handle, driving them mad with an unimaginably strong lust for flesh. How about yours?"

The younger sister's smirk was much more strained when she glanced back to meet her older sibling's eyes and saw the even smugger smile that she was giving her. "I drove the goddesses mad with a violent rage toward their own, one that's even stronger, should they be married."

"Oh? Can't affect any of the male gods, then?" Demeter quirked a brow, and Hera could feel the twitch in her eye growing stronger the more teasing her sister's tone became.

"I can affect them too! They just… have to be married or betrothed first…" For the first time in a while, the younger, pride-filled sister felt somewhat self-conscious, as she turned away from her sibling with a pout, while folding her arms beneath her bosom in a less than mature manner.

Demeter giggled, feeling a sense of superiority over her sister that not even the spars she'd won against her could match. "That's quite the shame, Hera. I guess your domains are just more limited in what they can achieve then mine are. On the positive side, though, we both now know who's definitively superior to the other, at least~."

A most un-ladylike growl surfaced from Hera then, as her body shook with anger, before her eyes glowed again, as she brought a hand up near her face, squeezing her fingers so deep into her palm as her aura blazed, that she almost drew blood from them.

The result was immediate, however, when gales tinted red with greater power than before struck the madness-afflicted deities, bunching them all together in an instant as they fought and ate one another regardless. That didn't last long though, as the red winds bared down on them from all angles, near-instantly crushing them all into one golden, gory paste that soon dropped with a mighty SPLAT to the soil below.

"Hey!" Demeter whined, head snapping between what'd just happened and Hera herself. "No fair! You could've at least told me you wanted to finish with them outside turning them on one another! We agreed to half each, remember?"

"Apologies, sister. It slipped my mind." Hera replied back in a way that made it clear she wasn't apologetic at all, as she refused to turn to her, not wanting her to see the ugly way in which her beautiful face had scrunched up with petty wrath.

That didn't stop some of the Nymphs who they'd told to stand down from seeing her expression, though. Nervous beads of sweat falling down each, as they all collectively decided it best to not speak of it to anyone, lest they earn the goddess' ire.

"How about I make it up to you with a contest between us later? One where I demonstrate my definitively superior abilities to yours." Hera all but threw down the gauntlet, finally throwing her head back at her sister, once she had more control over her features. Her glare as potent as ever.

Demeter met her intense stare back with one of her own, as she cocked her hip with the back of her hand perched on it and narrowed her eyes in challenge. "Oh, you're on, sister. Just know that it won't be you that comes out the victor. It'll be me."

As that was going on…

Atlas' instincts screamed at him in alarm, as those pillars of light piercing through the heavens faded away, his body moving and raising his massive, muscular arms in defence, as two glowing figures blurred into existence before him. Both bringing a smaller fist down on him simultaneously, as they crushed their knuckles into his forearms. The combined force of which brought forth a grunt of exertion and minor pain from the Titan of endurance, as he felt a shockwave, rather than billow out around him, form over and run through him instead, as he was launched back a good mile from his assailants.

"Nnrgh!..." Bringing himself to a stop, Atlas gritted his teeth, as his arms shook against his will momentarily, making him feel his dense, divine bones rattle beneath his flesh, before he forced them to halt. Lowering them then, the Titan looked out across from him, as a massive thunderbolt zoomed toward him at breakneck speed, making his eyes widen and forcing him to thicken his aura around him defensively, as it struck him too quickly to evade.

ZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!

Unlike with Themis' attacks earlier, however, the Titan felt every bit of the attack, as it washed over him.Its unimaginably strong electrical energy blasting away at his tough nerves and sinking beneath his radiant flesh, where he could feel it beginning to burn at his organs, seeking to destroy them and him. Rather than scream, however, even with something as agonizing as this, the pain Atlas felt in his True Divine Form from it was only enough to make him shiver and grunt, as he bore the full brunt of a focused discharge. One powerful enough that, unbeknownst to the Titan, it could've obliterated Beerus' old universe countless times over.

The powerful surge of lightning hadn't even begun to fizzle, however, before Atlas detected another projectile heading toward him at just as high a speed. His eyes snapping wide open, as he saw an aura-laden, tri-pronged weapon, which he'd previously avoided with but a light flesh wound nary a moment ago, now whizzing toward his chest. All while spinning around at such high velocity, as waves of magic-infused water formed and swirled dangerously around its every inch, that it resembled a vortex. One focused on a single, sharp point like a drill, ready to gore through anything that stood in its path.

Kronos' right-hand god was forced to brace himself, keeping his cross-armed guard up, as that gyrating gyre of death crashed against his tensed arms. Muted pain flared through him before long, as it quickly flayed his skin, sending drops and ropes of ichor flying and spiralling out, as it dug into his flesh.

Atlas could feel the shockwaves passing over his body as he resisted its advance, sending those very tremors he'd dealt with before wracking his being, alongside the shocking strength of the lightning, which fought to paralyze his nerves and rupture him from within. It was a familiar feeling, though unlike the last time he'd dealt with the side-effects, he was in his True Divine Form now, making him the absolute embodiment of endurance itself on every conceivable level. And with the fullest extent of that domain fused into and being one with his very self, he gritted his teeth some more, even as the very attack he resisted drilled deeper and deeper into his dense arms' flesh, fast approaching his bones.

"Hrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Not one to let himself be done in so easily, however, the muscles all around Atlas' massive frame bulged and tensed, as his aura spiked with vigour and he let out a hyper-masculine bellow, before, in an impressive show of will and strength, he punched both arms up into the air. An immense wave of force projecting out of him in that instant, backed by his magic, as he forcefully repelled not only the weapon that tore through his flesh down to the bone, sending it spinning back in the opposite direction from him as its coating of water was blasted away, but also the bulk of electricity still blasting through his body. The latter dispersing into the air, which had begun to come alive again around him.

"Impressive, Atlas. Though what you were just hit with was not the strongest we could've thrown, the fact you were able to withstand both so well, as opposed to how badly you were felled the last time, just goes to show the difference your domains make when you're ascended like this, as opposed to when you're not." A warped, but recognisable voice spoke up. Their words carried strongly over the now moving wind, even as the world itself shook around them from a battle between his Lord and his Lord's bastard son that'd just commenced, and which Atlas wished he could help with, but knew well he had his own problems to deal with.

Said 'problems' came in the form of two gods, who appeared not too far away from him in a flash, floating side-by-side, who both immediately made their trusted weapons appear in-hand.

The one on the right, who wielded and had thrust that damnable trident towards him, was the second youngest of the Olympians, Poseidon, for Atlas would recognise that weapon and aura of his anywhere, at this point. No matter how insanely powered-up it had become.

The god had undergone a massive shift in appearance. With his tunic having vanished and his genitalia magically hidden, his once tanned skin was now replaced with a gleam of several different shades of blue, all of which reminded Atlas of the sea. His arms and legs, which had rippled with muscle before, now rippled with literal waves of swirling water that bulged and expanded twice as wide around his watery biceps and thighs as they did the rest of his limbs. All whilst the rest of his body's skin shifted, rising and falling slightly like the frothing surface of the infinitely vast ocean before a storm fully struck, with his sclera glowing out with an almost pure, deep green with hints of blue twisting and spiralling about within like a mesmerizing maelstrom.

His wavy-black hair, moustache and thick, burly beard had also transmogrified, the latter two becoming almost like a misshapen whirlpool of deep blue that curled and bulged in innumerable places, as it fell from his jaw to near his chest, while becoming like gentler, thin and swirling waves as they pulled up above and around his lips. The former, meanwhile, cascaded and gushed behind him down his back at an angle, curling up at its sides while whipping back and forth of its own accord, like intense rapids or a chaotic tsunami repeatedly collapsing in on itself in varying mixtures of blue and green to complete his new look.

The one on the left, who was the one that'd spoken to the Titan, wielded his trusted thunderbolt in one hand, while holding a resplendent shield of bronze in the other, which crackled with electricity that circulated around and highlighted it with its own glow, that matched the sky-blue aura its owner projected. Said owner being the youngest of the Olympians, Zeus, as Atlas could never forget the feeling of his aura or the look of his incredibly destructive weapon either.

Like his brother, his appearance had shifted drastically. His tunic also gone and his genitalia obscured by magic, his skin became like that of a grey-white cloud around his torso, which still maintained his chiselled physique, as cloud-like flesh sculpted into obscenely defined muscle and hard abs that somehow also looked ethereal and airy. All as wind whistled and condensed through them, as if being packed inside through supernatural force, ready to burst forth at any moment. His arms and legs, meanwhile, turned progressively darker, giving them the appearance of bundled darkening grey to pitch-black storm clouds that swirled and shifted about, bulging by the thighs and biceps like Poseidon's did.

Unlike his brother's watery limbs, his flashed and crackled with intensely bright lightning that circulated and criss-crossed all around and inside his limbs menacingly. In stark contrast to them, however, his mighty beard and long hair became a pure-white, breaking off in tiny wisps near their edges, which floated by as if still connected. The former becoming more lumpy in its appearance, as it fell majestically down to his chest, whilst his hair floated behind him and down past his shoulders like multitudinous, thin, wispy strands stretched to their limit before fading away with a striking level of grandeur befitting of heaven itself. All topped off with eyes that glimmered the grandest of electric-blue, which sparked with small tresses of lightning at the rims of his sclera.

Their power-levels were what truly struck Atlas the most, for they were easily as strong as his father and uncles were at their peak now, with the capability to push significantly higher than them, if what he could detect was accurate. And that included his king, their father, Kronos.

"By my parents' honour… My eyes and senses, indeed, do not deceive me. You two, as well as Beerus' other four siblings, have ascended…" The Titan remarked, stating the obvious, as his arms rapidly healed, along with his somewhat damaged insides, until it appeared as though he'd never been struck in the first place. His eyes narrowed on the two, and expression deadly serious, as his enduring will squashed down the shocking and quaking side-effects of the weapons that'd hit him dead-on. "Given what your elder brother said before he fled from me, as well as the fact this should otherwise be impossible, given how young you all are, it is apparent, much as I wish it were not so, that you have taken the Ophiotaurus' power for yourselves."

"Indeed, we have." Poseidon replied in his own distorted voice, as he hunched his body over and angled his trident toward the Titan. A light chuckle arisingfrom his throat. "Good to see you're not dumb enough to go into denial about that plan of yours backfiring. Shame you've still got that arrogance about you, though. You really ought to be careful with what you say, spouting such a laughable lie about our brother fleeing from you of all beings!"

Atlas only just barely swerved to the side in time to mostly avoid a pressurised, extremely sharp blast of water imbued with aura that erupted from Poseidon's trident, as the god suddenly thrusted it forward and threw his body behind it. Its dense hide scraping along his side and ripping through the outer layer of his flesh with a small spritz of ichor, as the Titan launched himself forward, barrelling toward the two deities with a determined and aggressive look on his face. The slightest beginnings of anxiety being crushed beneath the weight of his iron wall of resolve, before it could make him hesitate, as he showed not even a hint of fear, in the face of this new truth.

"I will not deny that you all gaining the power of that creature complicates things, however, do not dare think that I will be cowed by your newfound capabilities!" The Titan exclaimed, ignoring his adversary's taunts, as his muscles swelled outward, along with his thickly dense aura, as he charged forward with balled fists and intent to batter his adversaries into submission. "I shall take you both on and crush you with all my strength, no matter what you've been granted by that wish. And I shall do the same to the rest of your siblings, if required, in order to ensure victory for the Titans!"

Zeus was about to rebuke him with an attack of his own, but held himself back, as did Poseidon, as a shroud of darkness flew past them. One that managed to make even their spines tingle a little, despite being ascended now, as it met Atlas' charge, crashing against the Titan, as the latter threw his fist toward it, producing a deafening THOOM as the collision created a massive shockwave. One which was drowned out by another, even greater one that arose from Crete around the same time, warping the world a second time around them all.

"You're going to crush my brothers with this level of strength?" A dark, distorted voice scoffed from within the shroud, as a hand of pitch-blackness that radiated a miasma just as dark halted the Titan's blow and much larger fist.A pair of eyes glaring out from within, appearing like stars being devoured by a black hole, with how they swirled a hellish, orange-red around broader pools of pure shade that would've made even the primordial goddess of night herself blush, as their owner forcefully batted the Titan's larger arm to the side. "Don't be ridiculous!"

Atlas, despite himself, felt a shiver travel down his spine that he had to quash, as he pushed forward and threw an immense haymaker with his other fist, which glowed brightly with the amount of power pulsing through it. His blow, aimed for the being who got in his way, swung and missed, however, scraping through nothing but the rising winds and flecks of blackness, before the breath was driven out of him, as that same hand of darkness from before bashed into his abdomen. The strike cracking a rip as it sent him back several dozen metres, before the Titan righted himself, clutching his gut as the injury swiftly healed.

With eyes forward, the Titan general watched as the shroud gave way and showed what lied beneath. A figure of equal size to the two brothers behind the god, both physically and in terms of the power that could be sensed from him.

His body, like his hand, was mostly one of absolute darkness that emitted a miasma of gloom to rival even the blackest corners of the underworld itself. He, like the two behind and just about everyone else who ascended, had his genitalia obscured. His torso, which shifted and distorted in shape, almost like a shadow, had what looked like a small river of fire, like Phlegethon, running across the pitch-black surface. Along the front of his torso, it branched off into two separate streams of orange-red, when reaching his pelvis, where they cascaded down his shadowy legs, which flickered at the front and back like a flame dying down and then resurging in quick succession terminating around his feet. The fronts and soles of which were also like a mix between shadow and flame, as they glimmered a mix of black and orange-hued red.

Over his chest, the flame-like river branched off in six different directions, forming like narrow, grass-like leaves across his pectorals and reaching up to the base of his neck and shoulders, resembling that beautiful flower, which was native mainly to the Asphodel fields in the underworld and carried its namesake. Across both his arms, which shifted and flickered like his legs did, those rivers of fire ran as well, becoming swallowed by what seemed like multi-layered shadows that made up the god's skin, right as they reached his wrists. To top it all off though, what had once been a bushy beard and moustache almost as large as Poseidon's, became wispy and wavy, rippling from side-to-side like light bending a shadow, as did his hair, which elongated and fell like a fluttering veil of gloam down to the small of his back, with his blasted helm donned atop his head. The ornament radiating an even deeper darkness than the rest of him around it as, for the moment, it went without use.

"Hades…" The name rose up from the Atlas' lips with bile, as he recalled the voice and aura, even if it'd changed somewhat. The air around him reminding the Titan of both Nyx and Erebus, whom he'd only had the pleasure of meeting once, each, in a more physical form, as well as the pit itself that resided at the bottom of the underworld. The primordial son of Gaea, who potentially rivalled her in power, Tartarus. And that put him more on edge than ever before, not that the proud, powerful Titan let it show. "So then, I'll be dealing with all three of Beerus' younger brothers at once…"

"Hah! 'Dealing' with us, he says." Zeus let out a foreboding laugh, as his cloud-formed body began to excrete what appeared to be dozens of small, dark wispsthat floated through the air all around him. "It appears the only thing bigger than your muscles, is your bravado, Atlas. And I think it's about time we fully cut that down to size!"

Atlas' body tensed hard, as those wisps quickly formed into a dark storm cloud that swirled and billowed with malice, obscuring Zeus from view first, before expanding out with the rising howl of wind, branching streaks of lightning and the boom of thunder. Its airy, water-condensed body shrouding over both Poseidon and Hades before long, and enveloping Atlas not long after, as it spread out far and wide across the exquisite sky, reaching halfway toward Olympus from the many miles out that they all were, while rising just as high up.

The Titan didn't have to wait long, before he was accosted again. His ears, thanks to the wind, being able to vaguely pick out something careening toward him from below at a million kilometres-per-planck unit, prompting him to swing to the side, barely avoiding a fifty-metre-wide geyser of pressurized sea-water that erupted past him with frightening force. The kind that would've eviscerated a lesser deity – ascended or not – on impact.

His evasion didn't mean much, however, as his senses alerted him to Poseidon's approach, just before his trident could sink its tri-pronged teeth into his flesh, where he narrowly brought his massive hands up in time to catch it. His aura pumping through his thickly muscled hands enough for him to withstand the force of the simpler thrust, stopping the weapon dead in its tracks along with Poseidon's momentum, as their eyes met with a glare.

The younger deity simply smirked back, however, and Atlas found out quickly why that was, when he was suddenly struck in the side of his head with enough force to crack his skull. The perpetrator – whom he knew to be Hades, as he could not see or feel said god's presence anymore, because of that blasted helm's cloaking capability – following up with another powerful shot to the other side of his head, whilst his hands were preoccupied. Both being strong enough to send a weaker deity's head clean off their shoulders, but merely caused disorientation for the Titan of endurance that would only last a brief instant.

That small period, little more than a blink for a god, was all Poseidon needed to pull back, his eyes glowing and his aura shining, as he sent out a mental command to that which had become his domain through the Ophiotaurus' wish. The boundless sea beneath them responding, rippling and churning at Poseidon's behest, as it launched another geyser of water, just as large as the last and imbued with aura, far up into the heavens and the massive storm cloud Zeus had conjured.

Atlas couldn't evade it this time. He could only brace himself with his aura flaring strong, as it crashed into him. The impact rattling every bone within his muscly, monumental body, as he was submerged within it and forced to endure its excruciating pressure attempting to compress him into a mushy mist. Showing his resilience, he fought against this, tensing his every muscle and aura, as his lips split apart, showing a nasty, tooth-grinding scowl, as the glow of his eyes increased with his burgeoning aura.

ZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!

"Hrrrghk…!" Before he could blast away that which trapped and sought to crush him, however, the streaks of deific lightning that coursed constantly through the thick, black cloud of Zeus' making all converged on the piercing pillar of water that held the Titan down. Countless cosmically-destructive volts of electricity fusing into the water pillar, which conducted and led the bolts straight to Atlas, electrocuting him on the spot with such ferocity, that his divine skeleton became visible, as the electricity surged out of every pore and every orifice of his body. Even those obscured by magic.

The Titan's supressed, muffled shriek, as he was made to endure both at the same time, was still audible to the trio of gods that were his opponents, which brought the brothers no small amount of pleasure seeing their bastard father's most loyal, right-hand god suffer.

To Zeus and Poseidon's amazement, though, especially given they'd put more effort in this time, despite all the agony he must've been in, the Titan did not fold. Demonstrating the power of his domain, he endured once again, that which would've felled any who were lesser than himself, most of his Titan brethren included.

No. He didn't just endure. Despite all the pain inflicted upon, as his insides were undoubtedly melting by the second, his will rallied back, muscles ballooning out even bigger, as he looked to be trying – and succeeding even – in his stride to break his way out from his prison of water and lightning. His power pushing both outside forces away from him yet again, as he looked to be ready a free himself in but a moment, with a warrior's roar ready to surface beside it.

Hades cut that off with swift brutality, as his shadow-like form re-emerged just out of the pillar's reach, the fingers of his now raised hand becoming like tendrils, as the shot forth. Their dark, wispy forms becoming even more like flames along their hides as they raced toward the Titan, with the tips becoming exceedingly pointed and sharp, as they smashed into Atlas' chest. The five shadowy tendrils piercing right through his aura, as they sent him flying back out of the electrically-charged water prison, which fizzled away shortly thereafter, and managed to punctured through his skin, deep into his flesh.

"Want to be stubborn? Why don't you try this then!" Hades hollered in his bone-chilling voice, as his magic sprung forth at his order, lighting up the inner rims of Atlas' punctured flesh a molten, orange-red hue.

"Y-You… Bastard!..." Atlas cursed him, even as fire burst forth from his maw and he held in another scream of torment, as his ichor boiled beneath his skin. His flesh, bones and several organs being set ablaze inside him, as more tendrils shot out from the ones stabbing through and turning his inner-body into a furnace of flames, coiling around the rest of his torso, along with arms, legs and neck to keep him completely contained and at Hades' mercy. All as he was torched from the inside-out.

"I'll give you this, Atlas. You're certainly more durable than I'm willing to wager any of your allies are. However, I have not the patience to deal with a pointlessly drawn-out battle, just for the sake of testing my new abilities, so I shall be ending this here!" The second eldest son of Kronos and Rhea declared with fierce finality, as the tendrils that punctured the Titan spasmed and broadened in size, becoming double what they were before, and spewing forth twice the chthonic fire inside the increasingly writhing Titan of endurance and strength.

"Aaargh-nnguh!... Y-You think… eargh!... It'll be-hnngh… that easy!?..." Atlas bellowed with pained groans in-between, as his blood-stream throughout his body burned like the river Phlegethon itself, only much, much hotter. His shining skin bubbling and steaming, as flames ejected more profusely from his mouth, while also blasting forth from his nostrils, the rims of his eyeballs and even his ears as every organ of his body, which had only been half-healed from prior damage to begin with, were steadily scorched further and further.

The Titan, just as he'd done before, endured this horrid process as long as he could, maintaining a level of focus that no other Titan – perhaps not even Kronos – could match in such a terrible situation, all in the belief that he'd be able to get himself out of this scenario under his own power. And his resolve was rewarded, as merely a moment later, when the limits of his domain's capability to keep him going were being reached, he sensed it. The breaking of the barriers that kept them contained.

In that precious instant, Atlas cared not for what the meaning of that meant, nor did he care for the fact that his adversaries had felt it too, as he summoned forth all his concentration, despite blood and organs being incinerated within him. His resolve keeping his focus from slipping, even during a period of pure agony that rent through his very being, as his mind centred on what he wanted it to, bringing a soft, thin glow of gold to his form beneath his aura.

Before the trio's eyes then, his body vanished in a slew of golden particles, leaving Hades' tendrils nothing to latch on to, as the Titan, heavily damaged but rapidly healing both internally and externally, appeared above Hades with a fist reared back. The younger god, sensing this in the nick of time, brought his other arm up to block out of instinct, as Atlas' fist smashed down on it, packed with all the force the Titan could currently raise, sending the darkness-formed deity careening down and away from him with a sizeable shockwave.

Rather than follow-up on Hades, however, Atlas immediately used this small opening to spring toward Zeus and Poseidon, who looked ready to pounce on him in that instant. His other fist swinging in and impacting against the shaft of Poseidon's trident, which he raised in defence. And although this resulted in no real damage for the young deity, the impact did still send him flying back from the amount of power the Titan had pumped into his punch. Rounding then on Zeus, even more healed than before, he summoned forth all the power his body could handle in that instant and swung a hook for the youngest of the brothers.

CLAAAAANK!

Atlas growled in annoyance, as instead of flesh, he felt his fist, packed with his absurd strength, smash against the front of Zeus' electrically-charged, resplendent shield of bronze, which he raised in time for defence. One that, coated in an azure-blue aura, withstood every bit of his punch against it, so much so that the vibrations that travelled through it from the force, weren't enough to get even the slightest of reactions out of the young god who wielded it.

"You like that?" Zeus grinned with pride, not budged by Atlas' strength like his older brothers, due to being more prepared. "This aegis was a gift from someone who helped raise me in my earliest days. It will not fold to you, no matter how much strength you manage to put into your blows, Atlas!"

Lightning surged through the shield and into Atlas' arm as Zeus exclaimed this. Having no choice to but to suffer through the cosmically-strong shock that passed through his limb and throughout his mountainously-muscled, marble-looking body, the Titan general reared back, shaking off the paralyzing attempts of the electricity that coursed through him. His eyes wide open and senses on their highest degree of focus, as he narrowly dodged the retaliation strike from Zeus, who thrust his body up along with his charged aegis for an uppercut to his jaw, while the other hand prepped his thunderbolt.

Atlas couldn't focus too much on that last bit, however, as he was then forced to back up even more, even rearing his head to the side in order to avoid the thrust of a blurringly fast trident. Something which would've otherwise skewered his skull, but instead merely sliced through the skin on the side of his head, drawing small lines of ichor that blew away in the wind.

This movement, sadly, only put him in the crosshairs of a returning Hades, who forced him to turn and bring his arms up in a full guard, as a limb comprised and overflowing with darkness crashed against his bulky forearms. The resounding shockwave of its awe-inspiring force being mostly covered up by the dark cloud covering them all, as Atlas was sent back several miles, feeling a ringing in his semi-healed bones.

All along the way, thunder boomed harder in his ears, along with the hellacious howls of wind from all directions, as lightning zipped and flashed menacingly throughout the enormous, pitch-black storm cloud he'd been swallowed in. And as if to add insult to injury, that was when he also felt the full formation of a gigantic barrier, which his eyes saw a tint of purple in for a small moment, trapping him yet again without any legitimate form of retreat, if ordered.

The strongest of the Titans let out a shuddering breath as he came to a stop, not once letting his senses falter, as he kept track of his three opponents and what they might do next, as well as everything else around him, which did not fill him with any sense of confidence.

"It is over for you, Atlas. No matter what you do now, the outcome of this battle, just like all others around us, will end most unfavourably for those aligned with our bastard father." The warped voice of the Olympians youngest, Zeus, spoke out again. His every word travelling with the wind, which there was no doubt he held at least some control over now and slamming even more loudly into Atlas' ears. Enough to where he was certain his ear-drums would've ruptured were he any weaker.

The Titan held no response to this. None verbal anyway, as he felt how badly their forces had dwindled in so little time, since his brother's brutal defeat, with Koios being among those who'd been felled and his father, seemingly, having disappeared altogether. Krios and Theia were still at large, but Atlas could sense the desperation in the former, particularly as he tried and failed to produce a new barrier of their own, while the latter seemed to have lost any semblance of fighting spirit, which did not bode well at all. His Lord, from what he could tell, wasn't in a good spot, either, and to Atlas' chagrin, gave off the sensation of someone who was more than prepared to flee, if given the chance.

The worst one for the Titan general, however, was the feelings he could sense coming from his dearest daughter, who'd also, obviously, been beaten. Her emotions of sorrow and crippling fear striking him like nothing else had, as he felt the pain she was in, upon the peak of Olympus, left to do little but watch and sense the carnage wrought upon her allies. Upon him.

Atlas dared not to think of if things could get any worse, but destiny must've decided to screw with him anyway, as before any of the three brothers he was facing could launch another attack against him, a fire unlike any he'd seen or felt burst forth from near where Koios had been stricken down. One that rose stupendously high and expanded out far and wide, across the lands and sea, covering every area that one of the day's battles had taken place in or around. And which seemed to begin rapidly undoing all the progress the Titans' forces had made against the Olympians, as all of their felled allies were put on the fast track to full recovery and awakening in mere moments. Something that both shocked and made Atlas feel increasing unease, despite his stubbornness.

"Heh. You know, somehow it doesn't surprise me that this is something our dearest sister Hestia would be capable of, after receiving that boon. She's always had a way of making things better for us." Poseidon's voice rung out this time, with his previous hostility replaced by one that was a mix of awe and care, and Atlas could well imagine him to be holding a genuine smile at that very instant, as the thick, cloudy layers all around him made it impossible to visibly see the god, even if he could sense him.

"Indeed, she has." Hades' voice rung out this time, sounding his agreement, as Atlas sensed him drawing near. The shadowy form of his arm bursting through the cloud layer, fingers splaying out in tendrils once more, which Atlas responded to by darting to the side, so as to avoid it. This only resulted in his massive frame being forced to bob and weave even more around it, as the shadowy limb whipped forth, releasing more tendrils of darkness that sought to contain, as well as maim, the Titan. "Let us not waste time admiring her new ability, though, for we have a so-called 'general' that needs to be dealt with. And given his particular closeness to our bastard father, I am in no mood to offer him any kind of mercy!"

Both other brothers seemed to agree with him, for they both soon joined in, in trying to end him, and Atlas soon found himself being in constant peril, as he fought and evaded the elements themselves. His body dodging what attacks he could from the three brothers, while being forced to tank others, as Zeus hurled and struck at him with wind and lightning, Poseidon struck at him with water geysers and water-drill thrusts from his trident and Hades came at him with shadow tendrils and fists and kicks aplenty, when in close-range. The latter, typically, when abusing his helm's power of invisibility.

Never in his entire life, had Atlas been so forced on the defensive, as he was then, clinging on for dear life to not be devastatingly dropped out of his True Divine Form and resoundingly defeated. His domain of endurance working overtime to keep him going, as for every blow dodged, another landed. His body, which'd mostly healed up before the next relentless assault began, enduring mounting punishment from the trio that most deities either couldn't have withstood, or would not have been able to take nearly as well as he did.

The word 'well' being a charitable term, for by the time Atlas had somehow managed to push back enough during the brothers' attack on him to breach up and past Zeus' storm cloud without being taken out, the Titan was a mess. His body healing from serious internal wounds, such as burst arteries, severely burnt organs and broken bones, mostly around his rib cage and head. His arms, legs, chest and sides having nasty, blood-drooling gashes that ranged from shallow to inches deep from either Poseidon's trident or Hades' dark tendrils.

Shocks of electricity danced over his form, attempting to stun his movements and render him paralyzed with a mind of static, whilst tremors attempted to dominate his very being, ridding him of any semblance of balance and stability. Just as they had over a year ago after he'd been nastily felled by the trident and thunderbolt.

Atlas resisted both with a vengeance, keeping them at bay, as he forced his senses to remain as strong as ever. Something which allowed him to barely dodge Zeus' blasted thunderbolt, which came zooming out from the cloud toward him with a mighty BOOM.

A sharp breath released from the Titan, as he felt out around him one last time. The scene even worse than before, with another of his uncles defeated, as well as their remaining, additional forces, leaving only himself, Theia, whom he could still sense in her ascended state, and Lord Kronos. Meanwhile, all of the previously felled enemy forces were coming to, whilst the Olympians themselves were stronger then ever and the Hekatonkheires were in reserve.

At this point, the odds were so heavily stacked against them, that the chances of victory were close to zero. It was likely anyone else would just give up, at this point.

As the trio burst from the cloud themselves this time, hot on his tail, Atlas found himself snarling at them in defiance. Call it stubborn pride, or perhaps even blatant foolishness, but even as dreadful as things were for him and his side, the very idea of surrender made his skin crawl. Made his soul itself bleed with disgust.

"You three little bastards think taking me down will be that simple!?" The Titan roared, his power pulsating out higher than it ever had, as he delved deep into his domains' power, his aura blasting off of him like an explosion, as his hands raised high above his head, fingers curling inward, as they seemed to plunge into space itself high in the heavens, creasing that which should've been intangible, as his digits hooked in deep. Something that instantly set off the alarm bells in all three of his pursuers. "Think again!"

Before any of the brothers could stop him, Atlas let out a harsh war-cry as he threw any degree of caution to the wind and wrenched his arms down with all his might, pulling on space itself as if they were curtains' he was yanking down.

As soon as he did, all hell broke loose, as heaven itself lurched.

AND CUT!

And that's the chapter folks. And despite what I claimed before, it ended up being slightly longer than the previous one. On the upside, a huge bulk of the content was covered here too, which is nice. Next chapter, for sure, will not be as long as this or the previous.

For those of you who are of the mind that this is dragging on and/or wondering when we're getting to the end, if you haven't noticed, please take a gander at what this chapter went through. 3 out of 5 conflicts were resolved, leaving only two remaining, plus whatever Beerus wants our multi-armed and headed giants to do, and a small section, perhaps, with the awakening gods. In other words, next chapter will be the finale of the Titanomachy saga. Yep. We've finally reached it.

As for this chapter itself, pretty much all the Olympians have ascended now and gotten their own unique powers to them. And as some of you no doubt noticed, a certain trio of brothers have taken domains that they should've only taken after taking lots to divide up the universe. Why is that? Well, as they say when it comes to time-travel: Even the smallest of changes can have huge ripple effects.

One such change, was in Hades being the one to use the Ophiotaurus' power. In myth, we can either assume it was Zeus, given he had it stolen from Aegaeon, or was never used at all. Here, it was used by Zeus' older brother, whom may word and most certainly would vie for a wish differently than his younger sibling would, even if just slightly. And when it comes to wishes of such magnitude, even the slightest change can make a big difference.

Also, before anyone goes at me for Atlas surviving all this shit in his ascended state, a reminder that he's the concept of endurance in physical form. Man is naturally going to be able to withstand way more punishment than most, if not anyone else in his position. The damage sponging is real, lol.

With all that out of the way, including my apology for this lateness that shouldn't have happened, hope you got some form of enjoyment out of this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one. Hopefully, it's a satisfying finale for all of you, or at least most of you, given you can't please everyone, lol.