Cocytus spreads his vast, tattered wings, lifting his monstrous form into the air. Around him, the very moisture in the atmosphere freezes, crystallizing into thousands of jagged glacial lances that hover, their needle-sharp points all aimed at the black phoenix.
The phoenix ascends, a dark streak against the pale sky. He weaves and twists, his movements a blur as he evades hundreds of the icy projectiles. Yet, thousands remain, closing in from every conceivable angle, a blizzard of certain death.
The phoenix tucks his wings close to his body.
"Kwaaaa!!"
With a piercing cry that splits the air,he unfurls his wings violently. A wave of dark blue flame erupts from him in a perfect, expanding sphere. It meets the lances, and they do not melt; they vanish, turning instantly into a vast, rolling bank of superheated white fog that blankets the landscape.
From within the fog, a colossal claw, larger than a warship, tears downward. The phoenix brings his own wings up as a shield. The impact echoes like a thunderclap. Cocytus's razor-sharp claws fail to deal serious injuries, only chipping away a few obsidian feathers, but the sheer force of the blow sends the phoenix hurtling backward through the air.
The phoenix rights himself, his violet eyes narrowing. 'He is the same level as the Kraken. I can't afford to hold back any longer.' The twilight flame, usually a soft glow, erupts around him in a blazing corona. The very aura around him shifts, becoming thick with a ferocious, ancient evil, like a palpable dread of the deepest Underworld dungeons given form.
Suddenly, Cocytus's breath hitches. His massive body grows heavy, his powerful wings feeling like lead. An instinctual terror, older than his own consciousness, seizes him. 'What is he? This is not a battle; this is a predation.' His limbs tremble, and his eyes, against his will, refuse to focus on the terrifying figure before him.
The phoenix opens his beak. A concentrated ray of that same blue flame, cold enough to burn existence itself, lances out. Cocytus reacts on instinct, blasting a torrent of his absolute-zero frost breath. The two forces collide, but the dragon's power is overwhelmed in an instant. The blue flame washes over him, searing his scales and drawing a roar of agony from his throat. The damage is superficial because Hades is holding back his power, as he needs the river god alive, not dead.
"ROAARRR!!!"
Blinded by pain, Cocytus thrashes, his eyes scanning the fog. He doesn't see the phoenix, now wreathed in destructive twilight flame, diving into a blistering charge. An immense impact shatters the silence, striking the dragon square in the back. The force is catastrophic. Cocytus plummets from the sky like a fallen star, crashing into the icy plain below. The entire North Pole shudders from the impact, and a massive crater is born, its edges glowing with residual heat.
The phoenix hovers, looking down at the unconscious form. Then, his head snaps toward a distant mountain. His gaze pierces the thick snow, finding a titan spy hiding and observing the entire battle. The phoenix's beak opens, energy gathering for a final, erasing strike. A low groan from the unconscious Cocytus in the crater causes a micro-second of distraction.
BOOM!!!
The blue flame ray releases. The entire mountain evaporates into nothingness. But in that fleeting moment, the titan spy fumbles and activates a teleportation amulet, his form dissolving into light just before the annihilation reaches him.
"Aaaaaa!!! The rat escaped!" The phoenix's cry of frustration echoes across the tundra. He glares down at the crater. "This happened because of you." His head tilts skyward. 'I have even less time now.'
'Shadow Bind.' 'Gate of the Underworld.'
From Cocytus's shadow, chains of solidified darkness erupt, wrapping tightly around the unconscious Cocytus. The ground beneath the dragon opens into a swirling violet portal, and the bound form is dragged down into the depths, the gate sealing shut behind him.
The phoenix stretches his senses across the world. 'Lethe has moved from her original location... she is in the east, with Styx.' With a powerful beat of his wings, he turns and flies toward the eastern horizon, a streak of black against the sky.
From behind a dense cluster of frost-covered bushes on a distant stellar peak, a small, furry head peeks out. "Haah…Haah…Is the monster gone?" The divine beast, Stellar, watches until the phoenix disappears. Only then does he stumble forward, collapsing onto the snow. "Phew…He's finally gone."
---
The titan spy materializes in the courtyard of Atlas's palace, his body slamming onto the polished stone. He lies there, breathing in ragged, painful gasps, his heart hammering against his ribs. Sweat pours down his face.
He looks at his own hands; they will not stop trembling. 'Hah…Hah…What was that thing?' He tries to push himself up, but his legs buckle beneath him, shaking uncontrollably like a newborn calf's.
The grand doors of the palace open. The Titan Atlas emerges, his muscular frame clad in a simple chiton, his blond hair and golden beard gleaming. Behind him follows a grieving nymph and a cluster of servants.
"Greetings, Lord Atlas," the spy gasps, forcing his trembling body into a kneeling position.
Atlas looks down at the miserable creature. "What happened to you? Why did you use the teleport amulet?"
"Lord Atlas... I have found... the murderer of your son."
"Speak," Atlas commands, his voice low and dangerous.
"In the North Pole... a giant black bird with gleaming violet eyes was figh—"
The nymph interrupts, her voice a wail of despair. "My lord, that's it! That black bird killed my innocent son!" She collapses to her knees, clutching at Atlas's feet. "You must have revenge! He slaughtered our boy mercilessly!"
Atlas flicks a glance at the servants behind him. They immediately step forward, gently but firmly pulling the sobbing nymph away.
His eyes return to the kneeling titan. "Continue."
"That black bird... he trashed Cocytus as if he were nothing. After that, he spotted me and attacked. I am only here because of the amulet."
'Cocytus is a mid-level God Chief. For a creature to dominate him so utterly... it must be at the peak, or perhaps even God King level. A significant threat.' Atlas gives a slow, deliberate nod. "You have done an excellent job. Go to my villa and rest. We will discuss your reward later."
"Thank you, my lord, for your generosity."
'This could be a major threat. I must investigate this myself.' As he thinks this, a servant approaches. "My lord, your chariot is ready."
"Hmm… good." Atlas looks at the competent servant. "You may take an artifact from my treasury for your service."
The servant drops to his knees. "Thank you, my lord! I will never forget your generosity."
"Kwaaa!"
Atlas flicks the reins lightly.The griffin shrieks and begins to run, powerful wings beating as it lifts the golden chariot into the sky.
---
Atlas reaches the North Pole, his chariot circling the devastation. An entire mountain is simply gone, and the ground beneath is still smoldering, stained a deep, crimson red from the intense heat. His eyes fall upon the massive crater. Within it, he spots a single, obsidian-black feather.
He lands and picks it up. The edge is so impossibly sharp that it slices his finger, and a single drop of golden ichor wells up and drips onto the snow. 'A feather as sharp as a sword of divine artifact level...'
"First, an unknown creature rampages in the sky realm, and now this black bird," he murmurs to the desolate wind. "I do not know why, but I feel this is all a sign. An indication of something ominous on the horizon." His gaze then falls upon a trembling form trying to hide behind a glacier—the divine beast, Stellar. He points. "You."
"No-o, n-no! I didn't…do it!" Stellar stammers, his whole body quaking. "I-I am just a weak divine beast! T-This was all... a giant black bird's fault!" 'Aah! I want to leave, but my body won't move! Of all the days to be a witness...'
"Hmm… Do you know where that black bird went?" Atlas asks, his voice calm but leaving no room for disobedience.
"Y-Yes, my lord. It flew... toward the eastern direction."
Without another word, Atlas tosses a piece of ambrosia onto the snow before the terrified beast. He turns, boards his chariot, and with a command to his griffin, heads east. The hunt is on.