The winds of Mount Oryx howled like a chorus of restless spirits. Megumi Valentine sat on the obsidian throne, the jagged crown of the mountain looming above him. His power thrummed unevenly, flickering between calm and storms — the aftermath of suppressing the King of Erasure gnawed at his soul. His body still bore the scars of his battles, but deeper still, there were fractures no one else could see.
A ripple tore through the air. Cronos appeared at the edge of the throne room, bathed in golden light. Unlike the proud Titan who had once defied Uranus and ruled with iron, this Cronos bore humility in his posture. His eyes were tired, but his steps were steady.
Megumi leaned forward. "What do you want, Titan?" His voice carried sharpness — not from hatred, but from exhaustion.
Cronos bowed his head. "I've come… to give you a chance."
Megumi narrowed his eyes. "A chance?"
"Yes," Cronos said, raising his gaze. "A way to rid yourself of the King of Erasure. Not just suppress him. Not just fight him. To sever him completely. To free you from the bond."
For a long moment, silence reigned. The words hit Megumi like a blow. He'd imagined countless times what it would be like to live without that shadow gnawing inside his chest. Yet the possibility felt too fragile, too dangerous to trust.
He stood, his aura darkening the chamber. "You've schemed before, Cronos. Why should I believe you now?"
Cronos met his gaze without flinching. "Because I know what it is to be bound to something you can't escape. I know what it means to lose yourself to hunger, to power, to inevitability. I would not let you become what I was."
Megumi's hand clenched into a fist. A dozen doubts screamed in his mind — Ava's worried eyes, Chloe's tiny fingers gripping his hand, Leonidas's stern warnings. Yet beneath it all was the simple truth: the King of Erasure was a poison eating away at him, and sooner or later, it would consume him entirely.
"…Fine," Megumi said at last, his voice low. "Show me."
Cronos inclined his head. "Then come. The ritual chamber awaits."
⸻
The Chamber of Old Binding
The descent into the hidden caverns beneath Olympus felt like walking into the heart of the world. Runes older than memory lined the stone, glowing faintly as they approached. Hyperion was already there, fire circling him like a halo. At the center of the chamber lay the Skyfire Fragment, wrapped in chains of thought and will.
The fragment pulsed when Megumi entered, its glow flaring as though it recognized him.
Hyperion's eyes narrowed. "So he agreed."
Cronos nodded. "He has chosen."
Megumi's gaze lingered on the fragment. The power radiating from it wasn't like the Olympians or Titans — it was wild, unfiltered, endless. It felt… hungry.
"What is that thing?" Megumi asked.
"A piece of Uranus himself," Cronos answered. "A shard of the sky that once bled when we struck him down. It has the power to cut bonds of essence. If we wield it properly, it can sever the tether between you and the King."
Megumi's jaw tightened. "And if you fail?"
"Then it may destroy you both," Hyperion said bluntly. "Or worse — it may consume us all."
Megumi closed his eyes briefly. Ava's face flickered in his mind, Chloe's tiny voice calling for him. He opened his eyes, his resolve steeled. "Then we succeed. No other path exists."
⸻
The Ritual Begins
They positioned Megumi at the chamber's center. Chains of light and flame circled him, binding him not as a prisoner but as a focus point. Cronos stood before the Skyfire Fragment, his golden ichor dripping onto the runes, while Hyperion raised his blazing hands to steady the containment circles.
The fragment flared, its chains rattling. A low hum filled the chamber, vibrating through bone and stone alike.
"Focus," Cronos commanded. "Let the power reach you, Megumi. Do not fight it."
Megumi grit his teeth as the first wave hit him. The fragment's energy pierced him like knives, threading through his veins, searching. It burned through flesh, through soul, through everything he was. He felt it crawling toward the tether deep inside him — that black knot where the King of Erasure coiled like a serpent.
The King stirred.
So… they try to rip us apart, the voice slithered inside his skull. How amusing. How foolish.
Megumi's heart pounded. His knees trembled as the fragment locked onto the tether. The connection between him and the King pulsed visibly in his mind — a cord of writhing darkness, embedded into the very fabric of his being.
Cronos shouted, "Now! Hyperion, anchor him!"
Flames roared around Megumi, tightening the circle. Cronos lifted his arms, guiding the fragment's energy. The shard screamed, its light twisting into a blade of raw essence, striking at the tether.
Agony erupted in Megumi's chest. He arched back, a roar tearing from his throat. His vision split between light and void — half himself, half something alien.
The King laughed. You think you can cut me out like a thorn? Foolish child. I am marrow to your bone, shadow to your flame. Sever me, and you sever yourself.
Megumi's voice broke, strained through the storm. "I… won't… be your vessel… any longer!"
⸻
The Breaking Point
The blade of skyfire dug into the tether. Cracks formed — hairline fractures of light in the writhing cord of darkness. The chamber shook violently, runes flaring, stone splitting. Hyperion grunted, holding the fire-anchors steady as sweat poured down his face.
"Almost there!" Cronos bellowed, forcing more of his essence into the fragment. His golden ichor burned brighter, feeding the weapon. "Hold fast, Megumi! Do not yield!"
Megumi screamed, his aura erupting in wild surges. The tether snapped halfway — light and shadow colliding in a storm. For a heartbeat, Megumi felt relief. He felt the King's presence weaken, retreating.
Then the void surged.
The tether shattered completely. Darkness burst outward, ripping through the chamber like a tidal wave. The Skyfire Fragment screamed, its light dimming as though drained. Cronos and Hyperion staggered back.
From Megumi's body tore a figure — vast, jagged, made of absence itself. The King of Erasure.
His form was humanoid, but unstable, shifting like smoke and shadow. Eyes of endless void burned where a face should have been. His presence devoured the air, erasing sound, light, even thought at the edges.
Megumi collapsed to his knees, gasping. For the first time since Ava's death, his body felt truly his. Empty — but his. Yet the cost became clear as he raised his eyes.
The King of Erasure stood free.
⸻
The King Unbound
The chamber quaked beneath the King's presence. He turned his hollow gaze toward Megumi, and a smile — a thing without shape, only intent — spread across his face.
"So fragile. So foolish," the King whispered, though the sound was not heard but pressed into their minds. "You begged to be free of me… and so you are. But freedom has a price."
Cronos and Hyperion raised their power, flames and golden chains wrapping the chamber, trying to contain him. But the King's mere presence dissolved the runes, unraveling them like frayed string.
Megumi forced himself upright, rage burning in his eyes. "You won't touch them. Not Ava. Not Chloe. Not anyone."
The King tilted his head, studying him. "You were a fine vessel, child. A fire worth carrying. But now, you are just flesh and bone. Mortal. Weak."
He stepped forward, each movement leaving behind void scars on the stone. Cronos threw chains of thought, Hyperion unleashed dawn-fire, but the King brushed them aside like smoke.
For the first time, Megumi saw the truth: he had not just been carrying a burden. He had been shielding the world from what the King truly was.
And now, the world stood exposed.
⸻
The Aftermath of Severance
Cronos grabbed Megumi's shoulder, hauling him upright. "We succeeded — but the price is worse than I feared. He is no longer bound."
Megumi's hands trembled. His soul felt lighter, yes — but also hollow, stripped. The constant pressure of the King's voice was gone, yet so too was the raw power that had let him stand against gods and titans.
He clenched his fists, staring at the shadow walking free before him. "Then I'll fight him as myself. I won't let him take this world."
The King's void eyes burned brighter, his laugh filling the chamber like a funeral bell.
"Fight me? Child, you are not my jailor anymore. You are my first feast."
The chamber walls cracked, light and darkness clashing in violent waves. Cronos shouted over the chaos:
"This is only the beginning."
And Megumi, staring at the monster torn from his soul, knew he was right.