The journey through the dungeon's depths had been a buffet of horrors. The petrifying gaze of a Cockatrice had nearly claimed Leto, leaving her with a stiffened arm that still ached. A triple-headed serpent had nearly crushed them in its coils, its venom dissolving a portion of Demeter's shield. They had waded through acidic slimes and shattered stone golems, each victory earned with sweat, blood, and a growing collection of minor wounds and mythical herbs stuffed into Metis's pouch.
Now, battered but unbroken, they stood before the final door. A massive bronze gate, encrypted with glowing golden runes, barred the way to the Sky Pearl.
Metis's sharp eyes, however, caught a patch of faded script on the adjacent wall. "Here, something is written." She rushed over, brushing away centuries of grime. The others joined her, helping to clear the ancient letters.
Metis read aloud, her voice echoing in the silent hall. "Long ago, there was born the ghoul Morvud, forged from darkness and resentment. It fed upon wandering shades and the beasts of the abyss, growing vast in strength and hunger. Yet its craving knew no bounds, for it turned upon mankind, the sacred beasts, and even the divine. Then the Titaness Thetis descended in wrath, and bound Morvud within this prison…"
Metis fell silent, her mind racing. 'Suppressed, not killed. Why go to the trouble of building this entire prison, with all its challenges and treasures, just to bind it? Why not destroy it? Unless she couldn't.'
Zeus stretched, the movement causing a healing cut on his shoulder to pull. "I think we've rested enough. Time to end this burden on the world."
The others nodded, their faces set with grim determination. Metis, her unease growing, had no choice but to follow. Zeus placed his hands on the massive gate and pushed.
Creak!!!
The massive bronze door groaned open, its bottom edge scraping a trench in the stone floor. The air that washed out was frigid and carried the smell of a long-sealed tomb, dry rot, old blood, and something metallic and alien.
The chamber beyond was a cavernous pit, larger than any they had seen. In the center, a monstrous form was chained. Morvud was a nightmare of armored plates, jagged black scales, and swollen muscle. Chains thicker than ancient trees bound its limbs and torso, each link inscribed with fading Titan runes that glowed with a feeble, dying light. As the door finished opening, the beast's head, crowned with writhing, thorny tendrils, lifted. Two crimson eyes, like pools of fresh blood, snapped open, fixing on them with an ancient, predatory intelligence.
A low, guttural growl rumbled through the chamber, vibrating up through their boots. It stood, the chains screeching as they strained against impossible strength. Dust and stone fragments rained from the ceiling as it rose to its full, terrifying height, its horned head scraping the vaulted roof. Its claws, each as long as a sword, twitched, scraping grooves in the stone floor.
"Oh! My Lord Kaos!" Hera whispered, her knuckles white on her sword.
"Stay sharp!" Zeus barked, his own blade already humming with lightning. "It's strong."
"GRRRR…"
Morvud's chest expanded. His breath was like the sound of a bellows filling in a forge. Then it roared.
ROOOAARR!!!
The sound was a physical wave of force and pure hatred. It hit them like a wall, staggering even Zeus. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone behind them.
Morvud simply yanked one of its massive arms forward. The ancient chain anchoring it to the wall shattered the stone and whipped through the air like a colossal mace.
"Scatter!" Metis yelled.
They dove apart. The chain smashed into the ground where they'd stood, pulverizing the floor into a crater. Before the debris settled, Morvud opened its gaping maw and vomited a torrent of pure black energy.
'Dark Breathe'
The stream of darkness hit a pillar. There was no explosion, only a horrifying, silent dissolution. The solid stone pillar melted like wax, collapsing into a sizzling, bubbling puddle of slag.
"Don't let that touch you!" Demeter shouted, her face pale.
Zeus was already moving. He sprinted in a zig-zag pattern, closing the distance. "Hey! Over here, filth!" He leapt, bringing his lightning-wreathed sword down in a two-handed arc on the beast's anchored leg.
CLANG!
The sound was deafening, a shriek of metal on super-hardened scale. Sparks flew, but the blade barely bit. The recoil numbed Zeus's arms.
Morvud's other hand, claws extended, swiped at him. Zeus barely got his sword up in time to block. The impact was immense. He was hurled backwards through the air, flipping once before landing hard on his feet, skidding back several yards.
"Its scales are too hard for direct attacks!" Metis called out, her mind working furiously. "We need a weakness! Leto, its eyes! Demeter, try to bind its legs!"
"On it!" Leto's hands glowed silver. 'Astral Lance!' A spear of light shot across the chamber and struck Morvud square in one crimson eye.
The beast roared in pain and fury, its head snapping back. The injured eye smoked, but the rage seemed to make it stronger.
Demeter slammed her hands to the floor.
'Root Cage'
Thick, glowing vines erupted from the stone, wrapping around the monster's legs. For a moment, it was held.
But Morvud simply strained. The powerful vines began to splinter and snap like twigs.
Seeing it distracted, Zeus charged again. "Hera! Now!"
'Valor Crest'
A wave of golden energy washed over Zeus. His muscles swelled with renewed power. He channeled all of it into his sword.
'Thunder Strike'
This time, he aimed for the joint at the back of its knee. The lightning-infused blade bit deep into the softer tissue.
Black ichor, thick and foul-smelling, sprayed from the wound. Morvud bellowed, a sound of genuine pain, and its leg buckled. It crashed to one knee, shaking the entire chamber.
"We're hurting it!" Leto cried out.
But Metis's eyes were wide with alarm. "No! Look!"
The black ichor that had pooled on the floor began to writhe and bubble. From each drop, a smaller, skeletal ghoul clawed its way into existence, hissing and shrieking.
"It summons minions from its own blood!" Metis yelled, hurling a potion. It shattered amidst the new ghouls, releasing a cloud of acid that melted three of them into sludge. "Don't let it bleed!"
The fight became a chaotic mess. Zeus, Hera, and Demeter now had to fend off the swarm of fast, lethal ghouls.
Hera fought with a short sword and shield. "There are too many!"
Demeter created thorny barriers to funnel the ghouls. One got past her defenses and lunged, its claws scraping deep gouges down her arm. She cried out, and the wound immediately turned an ugly, necrotic black. Thin, dark lines began crawling up her veins.
"Demeter's infected!" Leto shouted, firing another Astral Lance.
Zeus was a whirlwind of lightning, cutting down ghouls left and right. But for every one he disintegrated, two more seemed to form from the leaking ichor. The ghouls he killed dissolved into dark energy, which snaked back into Morvud. The gash on its leg began to steam and visibly close.
"It's healing!" Zeus roared, cleaving two ghouls in half. "It's feeding on the ones we kill!"
They were trapped in a vicious cycle.
Morvud took advantage. It drew in another cavern-deep breath and unleashed another cone of 'Dark Breathe', aimed at the clustered Hera and the wounded Demeter.
Zeus acted on instinct. He threw himself in front of them.
'Aegis Maxima'
The golden dome flared to life just as the black energy hit it. The shield didn't just crack; it began to dissolve. The golden light flickered and died as the corrosive darkness ate it away, leaving Zeus standing unprotected, his vambraces smoking and pitted.
He was panting, the divine light in his eyes dimmed. "That… can't block that again."
Morvud, now fully regenerated, rose. It seemed larger, drunk on the dark energy. Its eyes glowed with fiercer malice.
"Zeus, we can't keep this up!" Hera said, her voice strained. "We're just making it stronger!"
"We need a new plan!" Demeter added, clutching her infected arm, her face beaded with sweat.
Zeus looked at Metis. She was watching, her eyes darting from the regenerating wound, to the summoned ghouls, to the chains, and finally, to the fading runes.
"Metis!" Zeus yelled, bisecting a ghoul. "Any time now!"
Her eyes snapped to his, a terrifying clarity in them.
"The chains!" she shouted. "Thetis didn't kill it because she couldn't! The chains are siphoning its power! The runes are failing! We don't need to kill it; we need to re-activate the prison!"
"How?!" Hera screamed, her shield cracking.
"The Sky Pearl! It's a pure, stable energy source! Our raw power is too chaotic, it would shatter the runes! The Pearl is the only key! We need to get it to the central chain anchor!" She pointed to a massive, rune-inscribed obelisk at the head of the chamber, where all the chains converged. A perfect, pearl-sized depression was visible at its peak. The obelisk was on the other side of Morvud.
Zeus understood. A brutal, simple mission. He grinned, a feral, reckless expression. "So I just have to run a little errand. Fine."
"It's not that simple! The Pearl is in a warded vault behind it. You'll have its full attention."
"Then keep him busy!" Zeus roared.
He charged, not at Morvud, but around it, a blue streak of lightning.
"Everyone! On Zeus!" Metis commanded. "We make a path! Leto, blind it! Demeter, trip it! Hera, the other eye!"
The team moved as one.
'Astral Lance'
Leto's second spear struck Morvud's remaining good eye. The beast shrieked, clawing at its face.
'Ancient Bindings'
Demeter gasped, pouring her remaining strength into a forest of vines under its feet. Morvud, disoriented, stumbled.
"Now, Hera!" Metis yelled.
Hera snatched a javelin, took aim, and threw. It was a perfect shot, striking the beast's clawed hand, forcing it back onto its wounded eye.
Zeus saw his chance. He poured on the speed, zipping towards the treasure vault.
But Morvud sensed him. It swung a massive, backhanded blow blindly through the air.
Zeus saw the shadow descending. No time to dodge. He crossed his arms and braced.
BOOM!
The hit connected. The lightning around him snuffed out. He heard his own ribs crack. The world became a blur of pain as he was flung across the chamber. He smashed into the far wall with a sickening crunch and slid to the floor, motionless.
"ZEUS!" Hera's scream was raw, torn from her throat.
Morvud, sensing its primary threat was neutralized, turned its bleeding face towards the remaining four. Its maw began to glow with the familiar, terrifying black energy. They were all in its path.
It was over.
But then, a figure stirred by the wall. Zeus pushed himself onto his hands and knees, vomiting a stream of bloody bile onto the stone. The world swam. Every breath was a hot knife in his chest. He get up.
Through the haze of pain, his blurred eyes fell on the chains. A memory of lightning dancing across a bronze shield.
"METIS!" he roared, the effort tearing a scream from his lungs. "THE CHAINS! THEY'RE METAL! CONDUCT THE LIGHTNING!"
He ran straight for the nearest massive chain.
Metis's eyes went wide. 'He was right!'
"All your power! Into the chains! NOW!"
Morvud inhaled for the final blow.
Zeus reached the chain and slammed both hands onto it. He unleashed everything he had left in one, raw, uncontrolled surge.
'MAXIMUM OUTPUT'
A torrent of blinding white lightning erupted from him, flowing into the metal. The ancient runes, starved for power, flared to life with a brilliance that outshone the sun. The lightning raced up the chain, and the moment it reached Morvud, the other chains glowed, creating a searing, interconnected web.
Morvud was a lightning rod.
It convulsed violently. The black energy in its throat destabilized and exploded in its mouth, blowing apart its own lower jaw. Its roar became a choked, sizzling gurgle.
"NOW! DON'T STOP!" Metis screamed.
Leto fired a continuous beam of astral energy into a chain. Hera and Demeter placed their hands on the chain Zeus was charging, pouring their raw divine energy into the circuit.
The chamber became a crucible. The air hummed, the stone grew hot. The smell of ozone and burnt flesh was overwhelming.
Morvud thrashed, but the chains were now conduits of agony. Its scales cracked and blackened. The ghouls dissolved into screaming puffs of shadow.
With a final, titanic surge from Zeus, the light became absolute. There was a sound like the world tearing in half.
Then, silence.
The light died. Zeus collapsed forward, his head cracking against the stone, completely still.
The chains now glowed with a soft, steady, golden light. The runes were fully restored, pulsing with healthy energy.
In the center, Morvud was on its knees, its body scorched and smoking, its jaw a ruined mess. The crimson fire in its eyes was gone, replaced by a dim, subdued glow. It was contained.
The prison had been reset.
Hera skidded to her knees beside Zeus, her hands fluttering over him, her face a mask of terror. Demeter slumped, shivering as she cradled her blackened arm. Leto slid down the wall, not even bothering to wipe the blood from her nose.
Metis stood alone, catching her breath. She looked from the pacified beast to Zeus's broken form. Her usual calculating calm was gone, replaced by a tightness around her eyes. 'The tool had not just held; it had rewritten the plan. And that made it unpredictable. Dangerous.'
Zeus stumbled back into the main chamber, the Sky Pearl clutched in his hand. It was cool and solid, a shard of swirling, cloud-like crystal that hummed with a power that resonated deep within his bones, a whisper of the dominion that was his birthright.
"The prison is stabilizing, but it's temporary!" Leto shouted, her voice tight. "The runes are already fluctuating!"
Morvud stirred on its knees, a low, hateful growl rumbling from its ruined maw. The chains, still glowing from Zeus's lightning, began to dim.
"We have to go!" Hera yelled, helping a pale and shivering Demeter to her feet. "Now!"
Zeus's grip tightened on the Pearl. This was what he came for. But if they just took it, the prison would fail completely.
"Metis!" he barked.
She was already moving. While the others had fought, she had been busy. From her belt, she produced a large, rough-cut crimson crystal that pulsed with a raw, violent heat. The core of the Behemoth, a creature of immense earth-fire energy.
"The Pearl was the primary power source, but any concentrated energy source can serve as a battery," she said, her voice calm and analytical despite the chaos. She sprinted to the central obelisk. "The runes don't care about the source's nature, only its potency. This will hold."
With practiced speed, she pried the Sky Pearl from Zeus's grasp and in the same motion, slammed the Behemoth Core into the empty depression in the obelisk.
The effect was immediate, but different. Instead of the soft, celestial light of the Pearl, the runes flared with a fierce, bloody red. The chains glowed like heated iron. The prison groaned, the energy now harsh and searing, but undeniably powerful. It was a brute-force solution, but it was working. Morvud roared in fresh agony, pressed down by this new, oppressive energy.
"It's stable!" Metis confirmed. "But it won't last forever. A century, perhaps two. But it's enough for us."
There was no time for celebration. "Then we're done here," Zeus said, taking back the Sky Pearl. The familiar, soothing power of the sky flowed back into him, a stark contrast to the violent aura now filling the chamber.
They didn't look back. As one, they fled the chamber, their footsteps echoing through the dungeon's halls. Behind them, the only sounds were the sizzle of the red runes and the muffled, impotent roars of a prisoner once again securely bound.
Once they burst out into the open air, they collapsed, gulping in the fresh, non-sulphurous breeze. The sun on their faces felt like a miracle.
Zeus looked down at the Sky Pearl in his hand, then at his battered, exhausted companions. They had the prize. The world was safe. For now.
Metis watched him, a calculating look in her eyes. 'The prison was secure, Zeus had its reward, and I had gained invaluable data on his limits and his obedience. The mission was a complete success.'
Her gaze then turned inward, following the same chilling thread. Thetis used a fragment of the Sky itself to power her prison. 'What was she so afraid of that required a piece of Uranus to contain?'