If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want !
/-\
The ruined halls of Olympus seemed to recoil.
Ares felt it first.
Not power, he knew power. Not fear because he thrived on it.
This was an overwhelming presence.
The shadows at the far end of the hall thickened, pooling unnaturally between shattered columns and broken statues. They moved against the direction of the firelight, swallowing gold and marble alike, until the darkness itself peeled open.
Someone stepped out.
Ares stiffened, grip tightening on nothing.
The Firstborn turned sharply, instinct screaming, eyes narrowing as the presence fully emerged.
A man, calm as if he didn't just interrupt a battle of Gods.
Violet eyes glowing softly.
For the first time since the slaughter began, the Firstborn hesitated.
The Firstborn reacted on pure reflex, reaching back and ripping the double axe from his back, yanking it free as if tearing a thorn from flesh. With a snarl, he hurled the weapon across the hall.
The axe vanished into rubble with a thunderous crash.
Ares staggered, stunned not by the loss of his weapon, but by the disrespect.
"You.." Ares turned fully toward the newcomer now, studying him, realization passing over his face. "You're him."
Arthur stepped fully into the ruined light.
Ares's eyes widened slightly.
"The one Diana spoke of," he said slowly. "The mortal who wields death."
The Firstborn shifted his stance, power flaring subtly around his body as it assessed Arthur anew. his gaze sharpened, ancient and predatory.
"Who," he demanded, voice low and resonant, "Who are you? Another one of his children? I cannot keep count.. How many did he conceive after me?"
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
Instead, the shadows surged.
They flowed upward, wrapping around his body like liquid night, layering, shaping, hardening. Plates of black armor formed seamlessly, edged with elegant violet energy. A regal knight's silhouette emerged, a helm settling into place, eyes burning brighter beneath it.
When he finally spoke, his voice carried effortlessly through the shattered hall.
"I," Arthur said calmly, "I'm the end of your story."
Ares let out a short, incredulous laugh despite himself, eyes flicking over the armor, the aura, the way the shadows bowed to Arthur's presence.
"Mortal?" he scoffed. "Was that a joke, or does Diana have a twisted sense of humor? There's nothing mortal about you."
Arthur didn't look at him.
"You can leave," he said simply. "I'll take it from here."
Ares's jaw tightened.
He stepped forward, calling his axe back. It tore free from the rubble and slammed back into his grasp, lightning crawling along its edges.
"No," Ares said, eyes burning with war. "I'll take my piece of him. Even if I have to go through you to do it."
Arthur finally turned his head.
Just slightly.
"That," he said, voice cool and certain, "would be unwise."
The air behind Arthur rippled.
A presence manifested.
From the shadows rose a knight tall, immaculate, violet eyes glowing beneath a long red mane helm. His armor gleamed darkly, edges sharp.
Blood Red Commander Igris the Shadow Marshal.
He knelt immediately, Demon King longsword planted, head bowed.
Arthur didn't raise his voice. "Make sure he doesn't interfere."
Igris rose in silence.
Ares's eyes widened not in fear, but surprise. "A soldier… no.." He grinned despite himself. "Doesn't look like a mere soldier."
The Firstborn's gaze flicked between Arthur and Igris now, confusion turning into irritation. This was not how this was supposed to go.
Igris moved.
Faster than thunder.
Ares barely raised his axe before the impact sent him flying his body tearing through broken pillars and crashing into the far end of the hall, lightning exploding uselessly around him as he skidded to a halt.
Arthur didn't even watch.
His attention had shifted.
Zeus lay motionless on the shattered marble floor, blood pooling beneath him, divine light completely extinguished.
Arthur walked past the Firstborn as if he weren't there.
The Firstborn snarled and struck.
Arthur raised one hand.
Didn't turn or look.
The shockwave erupted outward like a god's wrath made flesh, an invisible mountain slamming into the Firstborn mid-motion. The impact obliterated columns, tore chunks of the hall free, and sent the ancient being hurtling through walls and stone, vanishing in a roar of destruction.
Silence followed.
Arthur knelt beside Zeus.
The shadows dimmed slightly around him, his violet eyes studied the fallen God king, not with triumph or hatred.
With understanding. Quietly, to himself, he spoke.
"One thing you were right about, King of Olympus." Arthur murmured, voice low and almost regretful. "…your fears. And now.."
Arthur rose slowly.
****
Darkness.
Not the roaring abyss of Tartarus.
Not the iron halls of Hades.
Not judgment, nor fire, nor chains forged by gods.
Just nothing.
Zeus drifted within it what remained of him, thoughts unraveling. No body. No thunder. No crown. The sky he had ruled for ages was gone, replaced by an endless, silent void that neither welcomed nor rejected him.
'So this is it.'
The realization came slowly, painfully clear.
No gates.
No river.
No judge.
Death had not escorted him anywhere.
Death had simply ended him.
"…So the prophecy was true," he murmured, though no sound traveled. "Death did claim me… completely.. but it is not so bad..."
For the first time since his first existence, Zeus felt something unfamiliar.
Helplessness.
He reached out, out of habit, out of instinct calling not to Hades, not to the fates he had outlived, not to Olympus that now burned.
Nothing answered.
Until, a voice.
Gentle.
Warm.
Not commanding, fearful or reverent.
A voice that did not demand obedience.
"Zeus."
The void trembled.
He turned if turning was even possible here.
Two violet eyes opened in the endless dark.
They were not cruel.
They were not merciful.
They were absolute.
From the skyless void, a hand formed black as night, edged with faint violet light, reaching down toward him. Power radiated from it.
The voice spoke again.
"Arise."
The hand closed around what remained of Zeus's essence.
The darkness resisted.
Chains he had never seen wrapped around him, final, silent and absolute, it was death's true grasp.
And then they shattered.
Zeus felt himself pulled free, ripped upward through layers of nothingness. As he ascended, one final thought crystallized within what remained of his mind.
This was not just Death and it did not spare me.
It claimed him, and handed him to something greater.
Reality crashed back into existence.
Olympus still burned.
The shattered hall trembled as shadows surged, coalescing beside Arthur like a living storm. Lightning cracked, not gold or divine but violet-black, jagged and cold.
A figure stepped forward.
Tall.
Armored in living shadow.
Lightning crawling across dark shadow plates.
Zeus.
No, what he had become.
His eyes burned violet, no longer ruling the sky but serving the abyss beneath it. Thunder rolled at his back, obedient, altered and now truly eternal.
Without hesitation, the Shadow Zeus knelt.
The sound echoed through the ruins.
"Monarch."
The Firstborn staggered back, disbelief flashing across his face.
"…Impossible," he hissed. "You just died.."
Arthur stood calmly, shadow blade forming in his hand elegant, lethal, final.
"Death did claim him," Arthur said, voice steady. "And here he is."
He raised the blade and leveled it toward the Firstborn.
Arthur didn't look at Zeus.
"I'll grant you a rematch," he said quietly. "This time, show no restraint."
Zeus rose behind him, lightning crackling in response.
Arthur's voice dropped, final and cold.
"Kill him."
Thunder roared and Shadow Zeus unleashed his power.
/-\
If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my patreon at
"https://www.patreon.com/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want