Big Update:

Due to college related stuff, the two chapters meant for October didn't come out, and the one I did have mostly finished, after several re-edits, was put on hold for a finish until now due to a family member having a terrible fall, and then the ramped-up work that needed doing on my game project for college. For the former, I had to help them to the hospital and ended up staying there with them, making sure they were okay, as they gave us all quite the scare. Poor guy thankfully didn't have a concussion, but whatever way he landed had both his mouth and part of his face around his eye swollen up badly, alongside the flesh on the latter being torn open and needing stitches.

Can't say I expected something like that to happen, but life throws you some serious curveballs sometimes, and lately, it seems to love throwing shitty ones my and my family's way. Thankfully, he seems like he's making a full recovery, so that's some good news on that front, at least.

As for the final college project, well, it looks I might need your guys' help with it, if you don't mind. In order to show I did my due diligence on it, I have to show that I got proper feedback on it, as otherwise, other than my opinion, I have no idea if I did well or not.

I've managed to get a few people to help on that, but not enough, according to my lecturer, so, if any of you have the time today/tomorrow, I would really appreciate you giving it a go and then giving me feedback on the game itself. It's a 3D platformer, for anyone curious, and its for the PC/Mac. Link for where to download it will be down below, just remove the spaces, and the feedback survey link will be on the game page.

It'd be a real weight lifted off my shoulders if even just six people had the time for this, and I'll be sure to give anyone who does it a shoutout in the next chapter of this, which will now be coming out in early December, so I have more time to dedicate to my last college project for my degree. Just be sure to put your name on here down in the survey somewhere, that way I know you actually did it, and deserve credit.

For those of you put off by the lack of chapters in this and the last month, don't worry either. Once my project is out of the way at the end of November, I'll have December fully free, and thus will be making that the month where 3 chapters are being cranked out, each of which will probably be the longest chapters of this whole fic, thus far. So, take that as my apology, and Christmas present to you guys, if you will.

Anyways, on with the chapter!

The Olympian God of Destruction:

Chapter 30: The Titanomachy XXIII

Far away from Olympus…

"Take this!" Menoitios bellowed, his powerful voice alone warping the atmosphere around him, glowing eyes shining with violent rage, as he drove himself down at full-throttle toward the ground. Beerus' smaller body, which was beneath his and in his grip, ploughed into Gaea's plane first with a THOOM, creating a hellacious explosion of force from the impact, which uprooted enormous chunks of earth as the deities burrowed deep within. A messy crater of incomprehensible depth forming around and beneath them, as both gods came to a stop at its epicentre.

Beerus, thanks to his destructive aura, remarkably had withstood the charge and subsequent smashing into the earthy depths of whatever landmass of Gaea's he'd been launched into. His body, while bruised and battered, due to not being able to fully nullify the force behind such a brutal collision by a being currently way stronger than him, was still in one piece. The immense pain still sucked, and he could feel the ichor filling up and dribbling out of his mouth as much as he could feel how brittle his divine bones were, but it was better than being shredded apart like he would've been had he not called his domain's power up defensively just before the Titan had struck him.

His current foe, who's much larger frame loomed over and casted quite the shadow on him, had taken notice too, and sneered down at the smaller god, as he wrenched his body off the ground with his torso-consuming hand. The Titan making sure to pettily drag his head up through the rocky terrain as roughly as he could, forming a trench from the effort, even if the effect it had on Beerus with his aura up was minimal at best. The much bigger deity's figure glowing with malice as he raised his foe up to eye-level with him.

No words were exchanged. Only a growl of fury from Menoitios, as he flung the hand holding Beerus skyward, sending the 'younger' god flying high into the heavens. The smaller god's body spinning out of his control as he reached heights far greater than Olympus' peak, before Menoitios' towering frame practically teleported above him with his newly gifted speeds, hands clasped above his head, before he brought them down with enough strength to crush Beerus' spine in a clubbing blow, despite his protective aura. The strike instantly sending the god of destruction hurtling at space-bending velocity back down into the ludicrously wide and deep crater he'd made with him.

Just before his body would've collided with the cold earth, however, Menoitios utilized his speed to blast himself down ahead of Beerus, and land right where he was about to impact, front-first. The ascended Titan having just enough time to raise a glowing, clenched fist enveloped with a denser form of his heavenly aura up at the perfect angle for Beerus to slam down on in the next instant. The instantaneous cracking and breaking of bones all across his torso, along with the repulsion of ichor that splattered out of the smaller deity's now gaping mouth following the rough landing on the Titan's knuckles being like wondrous music to Menoitios' ears. The cascading and splashing of the golden liquid upon his features afterward only making the moment even sweeter for him, as he relished in the moment of finally being able to inflict the pain he'd sought to deal all this time on the rebel leader.

After basking in that moment long enough to catch his enemy's glare, his tongue scythed over his lips to taste his enemy's blood, demonstrating more of his barbarism as his free hand flew up and latched unto both his foe's legs, enveloping them from the knees-down in an iron-clad grip. The Titan was quick to pull his fist away from the smaller god's torso then, barely allowing the rest of his body to sag downward from nothing holding it up, before he started swinging him around above his head. His spinning arm picking speed swiftly, as he let out a cruel, aggressive laugh, turning his rotating limb and the captured Beerus into a blurry, tornado of purple and red, one that expanded upwards in a space-contorting twister that erratically spasmed back and forth. Its hide whipping and drawing in all the excess debris that'd been launched up from when the two had struck down on the earth, and shredding them apart into complete nothingness as the twister pierced up into the sky above.

Within its eye, Beerus felt like his non-ascended body was turning into jelly as he was swung about in Menoitios grip. The buffeting winds generated from the Titan's hyper-fast spinning motion with his arm and Beerus' body having any negative effect they would've had on Beerus being, for the most part, harmlessly erased, though this did little to help with the insane motion itself causing the most absurd dizzying feeling in the destroyer's head and being had ever felt. Even if he was fast enough to truly process it, he doubted his mind could properly function under these conditions, and yet again, were it not for his aura, his insides and outsides would've become a messy stew of flesh and bones rapidly shooting up and out of the god-made tornado from the forces he was being subjected to.

"You've been quite the annoying pest, Beerus. I'll give you that much. But now that I'm in my True Divine Form, it won't matter what shenanigans you pull. I'll crush you all the same, and then present your broken-spirited body to Lord Kronos and his scythe once I'm done showing you your place!" Menoitios angrily screamed with conviction and power, his words barely even being heard by Beerus, as he let go of the god's legs, and let the smaller deity's body be launched up and swallowed by the divine twister he'd summoned with his titanic strength.

"Erghaaaa…!?" Beerus could only groan, a noise that didn't even reach his own ears thanks to the intensely howling, special-rending winds carrying and flinging his body about like a ragdoll in its impossibly strong hold. His frame forced to follow the spinning, misshaped tunnel of roaring wind, as he spun wildly up its body, his vision dancing and spinning as he failed to keep up with where he was. The whole world seeming to lurch and violently shift in all directions, making it impossible to judge where or what position he was in, as he quickly shot up further and further, with no end in sight.

That was, of course, until four different, radiant lights zipped by his spiralling vision, and before Beerus knew it, the tornado trapping him and no doubt sending him up to another follow-up attack from Menoitios was blasted apart with a booming WHOOSH after multiple, simultaneous battle-cries rang out. Something which left his body to twist and roll up in the air, hundreds of thousands of kilometres off the ground, still completely out of control, until someone got behind him and grabbed his shoulders, halting his momentum as he crashed up against their sturdy frame.

"Apologies, Beerus. It took us a moment to follow you two after he sent us flying like that." The gravely, warped voice of Kratos spoke by Beerus' ear. The glow of his dark, bloody-red, muscular body casting a shade over the purple-haired god, as the latter regained his bearings. "Are you good to go?"

"I'll be fine." Beerus replied whilst politely – for him – shrugging off the eight-foot tall, glowing behemoth's grip on his shoulders. His gaze instantly zipping downward, where Kratos' three siblings floated close-by, glaring daggers down at Menoitios, who appeared to have paused beneath them mid-flight with a glare of his own directed at all of them, particularly the four children of Styx.

"Hmph. So, you four want to get a beating too, do you?" the Titan growled, his smile from earlier disappearing into an annoyed and aggravated scowl, as his fists clenched by his sides.

Bia scoffed back challenging, folding her arms beneath ber shimmering bosom cockily with a smirk that succeeded in getting on Menoitios' nerves right away. "Don't get too carried away, Menoitios. You might be stronger than all of us physically, but against all four of us in battle, we can make that advantage of yours matter precious little."

"Big talk, considering how easily I sent you and your pathetic siblings flying the instant I flexed my power." Menoitios' aura seemed to become even denser, in that moment, as his eyes looked like they were catching flames around their rims. His already enormously broad, bulky body somehow bulking up just a little more, as his rage seemed to intensify, and near invisible waves projected outward from around his form, passing over everything omni-directionally in a seemingly endlessly-expanding radius.

"It'd be most unwise for you to judge us based off that one moment where you surprised us." Nike remarked coldly, feeling a fury of her own beginning to blossom as her hands clasped together by her breasts, almost as if in prayer, as her presence sent out a nigh-invisible wave of her own over the bodies of her allies, mainly her siblings and Beerus. Their forms gaining an added greenish glow over their outlines briefly, as she passed on the blessing of victory to them. "I will warn you now, Menoitios. To get to Beerus, you'll have to go through us first. And battling against and defeating us will be no easy task, no matter how powerful you may think yourself to be."

"I'll have to run through you all first, to get to him, huh?" Menoitios cocked his head, while his lips split open to show his glimmering teeth ground down against each other, as his expression shifted again into a bloodthirsty, bestial smile. "Here's a better idea. Seeing as you fools chose to interrupt me again, how's about I add to the fun, and run through all of you at once!"

The four spawn of Styx barely had the time to tense in anticipation, before the Titan roared and charged upward like a heat-seeking missile. His huge frame barrelling towards the lesser gods and Beerus with such blistering speed that the four gods – and Beerus with the added assistance of Kratos, who suddenly latched on to his shoulders again – were barely able to move to the side and out of the Titan's range, as he zoomed past them. Their dazzlingly white wings flapping with urgency, as they all watched his body ascend higher, before coming to a stop almost half-a-mile above them, and then turning back to them with an animalistic snarl.

"Get ready, he's about to dive!" Zelus boomed a warning, feeling an anger of his own bubbling up from being underestimated as his words came true, and the Titan's hulking frame came shooting back down just as quick. The hulking brute's attention instantly squared in on Kratos and Beerus specifically, as he reared a fist back, almost his entire arm now coated in an even thicker, shinier shade of his majestic aura.

"Kratos, look out!" The aforementioned god, as well as Beerus, heard the added, distorted warning cry of Nike, as though they – or more specifically, Kratos, given he was the only one of the two who could react – required it. The eight-foot-tall deity already in motion, face twisted into a mask of silent alarm and bubbling rage from Menoitios' arrogance, as he was to pull himself and Beerus back just enough to avoid the Titan's divebombing fist.

Unlike before, however, where Menoitios shot well past them, he came to a stop around their level, glowing eyes glaring a hole through both, before he turned halfway, and brought his forearm up with another bestial snarl to block the double kick from Bia and Nike targeting his side. The collision generating a shockwave that, up this close, would've held quite the effect on Beerus in his base-form were it not, again, for his aura destroying the excess force attempting to blanket him.

"Someone clearly isn't all that bright!" Bia mocked, feeling angrier than usual, as she and her sister pushed off his forearm with their feet to create some distance as he swiped out with a backhanded fist in their direction for retaliation. A deep, monstrous growl ringing out of his throat as the two narrowly avoided the blow, with the shining skin of his knuckles barely tickling their temples as they swung by their faces. "'Heh. 'How's about I run through all of you at once!', huh? Seriously?" The minor goddess laughed condescendingly. Challengingly. Eyes brimming with increasing amount of wrathful violence to be administered. "That's some tough talk, coming from a dumbass like you who got his ass kicked every time he tried to fight on his own against Beerus since joining the war. You think just because you've ascended now that that suddenly changes what the outcome will be?"

The shine of his eyes rising with his anger and the intensity of the near-invisible waves rushing out of him, Menoitios balled his other fist for a further attack, aimed specifically for the obnoxious bitch that dared insult him, only to be accosted by a diving elbow drop to the back of his skull. The blow strong enough to push his head down, and make his upper-body bend a little forward as it absorbed the force of the blow.

"I'll have to agree with my sister. Of all the moves you could've made, separating yourself from your allies like this just to fight Beerus wasn't the sharpest thing you could've done. If anything, you couldn't have made a dumber move!" Zelus grunted, his teeth gnashing together in ascending aggravation as he made sure to dig his elbow into the back of his enemy's head as roughly as he could, before launching back as the Titan, who seemed to have taken the attack with little issue, swung back and up with another backhand that missed its mark.

"Grr! You bothersome, impudent gnats!" Teeth gnashing together in increased fury himself, the muscles around Menoitios' titanic form seemed to bulge even bigger yet again, as his aura became thicker once more, and danced more erratically around his frame, as the waves passing out of him came with greater potency. "Think you can get away with mocking me, do you? Well, guess again!"

Zelus, seeing the Titan telegraphing his punch, gave a swift glance over to his sisters, who nodded in kind to his subtle signal to get ready, as the Titan thrust his fist out toward the winged child of Styx. Zelus' borderline pink form dodging back to avoid the blow, just as Bia and Nike got ready to attack from his blind-spot again.

That was of course, until a feral smile blossomed over Menoitios' face, as his fist fully outstretched forward, with his knuckles came several feet away from Zelus, as a compressed shockwave imbued with his magical power burst forth from his fist and hurtled directly into the irksome male god. Zelus' face contorted into surprise at this, and then pain, as the shockwave blast smashed into his unprepared form, crushing down on his front and sending rivulets of golden, glowing blood ejecting from his open maw, as he was sent flying far away with an immense BOOM!

"You bastard!" Though startled by this, Neither Bia or Nike allowed what Menoitios just did to stop them from advancing while he wasn't looking at them. Instead, they let it fuel their wrath towards the Titan, which felt white-hot at this point for both sisters, as they synchronized their attacks, and drove in on either side of the hulking behemoth. The goddesses spinning their curvy forms around as Bia slammed the heel of her foot into the left-side of the Titan's head, while the front of Nike's foot impacted against his right-side at the same time. The dual-collision generating a hefty shockwave as an after-effect, which travelled for many miles all around, blowing apart the nearest clouds to them, which were still a fair ways' away.

Though his face was smushed inward in either direction from the two goddesses' feet, Menoitios, to both's surprise, didn't look much hurt by their attacks at all. Instead, rage blazed in his glowing eyes, as his aura thickened and spasmed around him a third time, bulging his frighteningly huge muscles even more, with veins beginning to pulsate and stand out all along his body with a similar glow to Kratos's.

As this occurred, rather than back away, which would've been wise, and more in-character for the two in case of a counter-attack, both sisters growled in acute frustration, and launched into a flurry of close-quarters attacks, belabouring the Titan's body with punches, backhands, elbows, knees, sidekicks and roundhouses. None of which were synced up like their initial combo, and only became more and more off-base to the other as they continued raining blow after blow down on Menoitios. Their faces turning into snarls as their attacks, while not lacking power, progressively lost more finesse and precision, and became wilder and more careless, as they battered him with all their might.

Their combined assault was ineffective, and that should've been obvious, yet they kept attacking him despite that, until his fists clenched by his sides, and he let out a deafening roar! One that packed so much raw, uncontrolled power behind it, that the lesser goddesses found themselves being flung back and away from him because of it, and forced to right themselves in the air several metres away from him. The two curling their bodies with their limbs to better withstand the force behind his voice's shockwave as it buffeted them.

Kratos, who didn't handle it as well, due to holding unto Beerus, simply grit his teeth as his muscle-bound body was pushed back steadily while enduring the waves of the Titan's bellowing voice crossing over him. Even Beerus was gritting his teeth quite strongly too, as his destructive aura was unable to fully neutralize the force being exerted on him, and felt ichor pool from his nose, eyes, ears and lips, as multiple organs and blood-vessels ruptured from the high-power sound, which travelled and hit way, way faster and harder than sound ever ought to.

This didn't stop him from being able to call his sword back to his hand, clenching the hilt tight as he focused as much as he could over the pain he was feeling, knowing the latter was but only temporary, as he flicked his gaze away into the distance. His amber eyes narrowing in on the crimson light casting over Crete, now clashing with shades of greyish-blue, and feeling the moment he'd been waiting for to finally get his full vengeance for the humiliation he'd suffered after being reborn in this world only one step away.

Before that however, the destroyer found himself glaring down at the roaring Titan who'd foolishly chosen to get in his way and challenge him with nothing but malice, before he flicked his gaze over the daughters of Styx, and then up to Kratos behind him, as he both saw and felt the rage pouring off of them. The kind that felt both natural and unnatural at the same time, which had him narrowing his eyes into slits, for while he himself was angry too, it wasn't to the extent where he was both blinded and controlled by it. Unlike the children of Styx, who all looked ready to try and rush at Menoitios recklessly to attack him, even though it was clear their attacks were ineffective against him now.

This was new. Menoitios had gone into his True Divine Form before during earlier assaults on them, but Beerus couldn't recall a single instance, and nor had it been brought to his attention, that something like this began to occur with him around. They all knew that he was the Titan god presiding over rash action and violent rage, but from what they'd seen, that just applied to him, and increased his power the more rage and thirst for violence he felt. Apparently, they'd been wrong to assume that was all his ascended state was capable of.

The destroyer wasn't ignorant to the nigh-invisible waves passing by that came from the Titan, which his destructive aura managed to protect him against. It was clear as day those were having an effect on his allies, and the longer they passed over them, the more blind with rage they were getting. Evidenced by how, despite the shockwaves slamming into them from his roar, the two goddesses were stupidly peeling their guards back and trying to force themselves closer to him, even if it was at a snail's pace, and the effort would be counter-productive. Especially considering how open they were to an attack when he noticed them within melee range.

Given how bad his sisters already were, it was a miracle in Beerus' eyes that Kratos hadn't just yanked him out of the way and bull-rushed Menoitios, given his inflamed expression, heavy veins dancing around his features, and harsher clutching of his shoulders. The latter enough to easily crush them to dust on accident, were his aura not up. It honestly looked like it was taking every ounce of will-power the minor god of strength had not to just mindlessly charge in like his sisters were trying to, which was likely aided by Beerus' much closer proximity to him. Something which possibly acted as a reminder to what his and the others' main goal joining him here actually was. To help him.

That was when Beerus noticed his aura flickering around Kratos' hands, somewhat enveloping them, and causing purple sparkles to dance over his knuckles, travelling up his arms and around his entire body, as faint as it was, and he felt like face-palming once he did.

His aura wasn't just protecting him, but Kratos too, due to him being latched on to him, and Beerus seeing him as an ally, rather than an enemy. The effect was small, clearly, given Kratos was still deeply affected by Menoitios' power, but it was enough to give him a sliver more rational thought than his sisters had.

Sensing an opportunity, while Menoitios was still roaring and not actively seeking him out, Beerus slapped a hand over the minor god's hip, and despite having never done this before, focused his mind as hard as he could, and enforced his will over his domain in a different way than normal. The god of destruction pushing his domain's power into Kratos, not in a way meant to destroy him, but to aid him, just like Nike did earlier by giving them all her divine blessing for victory.

The effect was almost immediate, with Beerus' power surging through the beefy deity before a thin, dark-purple outline appeared over him and beneath his raging aura. The latter of which quickly simmered down, as Kratos suddenly blinked. Confusion coming over him as the thick veins faded from his face, and his expression became much less murderous. His grip over the destroyer's shoulders lessening considerably, as he turned his befuddled gaze down to him.

Before he could even utter a word, Beerus cut him off. "No time to explain. Just listen." He said, ignoring the throbbing pain in his skull and insides from the Titan's screech, as he shifted his gaze back to Menoitios and began focusing on his domain with the help of his sword. The purple-haired god swiftly issuing a command as he did so to the deity keeping a hold on him, which was meant for the rest of his siblings too, provided they were even still capable of following instructions. "Keep that bastard distracted for me as long as you can… I don't care what you do… just keep him off me, for a moment. This shouldn't take long."

Kratos barely heard the god of destruction over the horrendous screech by Menoitios, as his gaze took note of Beerus' ironclad focus and the sword he now held in hand. It didn't take him long to figure out what the 'younger' deity had in mind, and once he did, the minor god of strength gave a wordless nod of acknowledgment in the purple-haired deity's peripheral, as he waited for the Titan to end his awful bellowing.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for that, as the Titan's high-powered scream cut off a split-second later, leaving Beerus' ear-drums temporarily burst and the children of Styx' ears ringing. What followed it, however, was the Titan turning his immediate aggression unto Bia and Nike, who'd managed to bring themselves dangerously close to him. His hulking frame easily tanking their latest blows, a punch and a kick respectively, to either side of his jaw effortlessly, before he turned on Bia first like a raging, wild animal, as he threw a punch of his own in the middle of her throwing another one of her attacks.

Kratos left Beerus to the side in that instant, and charged the aggressing Titan whilst Nike, now from behind, slammed the side of his head with an arcing kick that he didn't even feel, as Bia, mid-attack with her own punch, failed to react to his in time. The goddess' being exploding in pain, as she felt her head and upper-torso very nearly get ripped off the rest of her, and her spirit get damaged enough to knock her out of her True Divine Form, when Menoitios' massive fist struck her. The heavy impact creating a great shockwave that BOOMED outward as her own glowing red form was sent crashing down to the earth at superluminal velocity. The impact blasting up many chunks of earth like Beerus' body had done while causing an intense earthquake below, which itself caused fissures and breaks in the land all around, as the sea itself split and roared to life in breaking tidal waves and tsunamis as far as the eye could see.

"You awful wretch! How dare you!" Nike snarled uncharacteristically, her rage doubling at the sight of her sister being temporarily dispatched, as she launched into a series of rapid-fire strikes against the Titan's exposed back, seeing nothing but red and caring not for the fact that none of her attacks were of any consequence to her foe. Such a realization never registered with her though, as the CRACK and BANG of her blows filled her ears from pummelling the Titan's spine with everything she had.

"Awful wretch!?" The Titan turned his attentions to Nike, his eyes blazing with even more violent rage of his own, which only made Nike's worse in the process too, as he took easy offence to that insult. "Know your place, worthless daemon!" Menoitios bellowed, as he spun around with a clenched fist and sent it sailing toward the smaller goddess, who looked in no hurry to try and dodge, as she foolishly went for another punch of her own to meet his.

That was until Kratos made it in the nick of time, tackling his sibling away from a fist collision that would've seen her lose an arm at least, startling the goddess out of her would-be punch and causing the Titan's blow to miss, hitting nothing but empty space.

"K-Kratos, brother! What do you think you're doing!?" Nike screamed in her brother's face as they came to a stop dozens of metres away, a molten hot fury painting her features as she glared at her sibling for intervening like that.

"I should be asking you that, sister." Kratos bit back, holding on to her to stop from charging in recklessly, while keeping an eye on Menoitios, who's glare was shot their way. The eight-foot god keeping his hissing voice low enough so that only his sister could hear him. "You should be smart enough to recognise your attacks have no effect on him. Yet, instead of being the bright sister I know, you continued, and even now want to persist, in blindly attacking him without any plan, as if rapid-fire strikes that don't even feel like a small breeze to him could somehow accomplish anything!"

Nike's teeth ground together hard enough to nearly crack them, as her glare toward her brother only intensified, becoming like knives poised to stab him in the back of his head. "Are you calling me weak, brother?" She asked, taking Kratos by surprise, as he felt and heard the venom in her tone, now directed mainly at him.

"What? No! I was only-hungh!?" Kratos was cut off, the air blasted out of his lungs and droplets of ichor flung from his open maw, as his hulking frame was bent over double by a strong elbow to his unprotected gut. His eyes shooting wider than saucers as Nike used that moment where his grip slackened off her sudden attack to slip away from his arms.

"I am not weak, brother!" Nike screeched, leaving Kratos stunned by her behaviour, as she grabbed him by the sides of his head, and pulled his face down into a brutal, resounding knee that crushed his nose and cracked his skull as it sent a shockwave billowing out from the impact. The bigger god's head whipping back from the blow, with golden, glowing blood spewing out from his temporarily mashed features, his entire body staggering away in the air, and left too shell-shocked to intervene, as his sister turned with a bestial growl. Her eyes shining far more like Menoitios' then her own, as she launched herself toward the Titan. "I am strong! Strong enough to batter this piece of shit into the ground even on my own, so don't get in my way!"

Kratos was left to watch, stunned beyond measure by his sister's out-of-character outburst, as she got within range, and began hammering into Menoitios' face and head with a slew of fists, elbows and kicks, which like all her attacks before, were ineffective against the Titan, as he reached out. His massive hand engulfing Nike's head in a suffocating grip that didn't deter her from continuing her futile attacks. She didn't even bother grabbing the wrist of his hand in response, to try and pull it away. Her sole goal seeming to be as violent as she could with him, regardless of what it yielded, as she just kept slashing her limbs out and smashing them against him in increasingly uncoordinated, sloppy strikes that were as ungraceful as it gets. Each one looking worse than an amateur who didn't know how to fight.

"You think you're strong?" Menoitios hissed, his warped voice carrying so much offence to her declaration, alongside unparalleled fury, that it was impossible to miss how insulted her words made him. Flames quite literally bursting forth from his eyes, as his aura thickened for a fourth time, and his muscles became even larger. "A little, insignificant daemon like you knows nothing about real strength!" With that emphatic statement made, Menoitios snarled as he closed his hand around her head.

"No!" Kratos yelled in panic, still not fully recovered from Nike's attack on him, as he made to push forward and help, but it was too late. A sickeningly loud CRUNCH echoed all around, as Menoitios clenched his hand into a full fist as hard as he could. His palm and curling fingers crushing the minor goddess' head in an instant, creating a wave of force on its own that nearly pushed Kratos back as he came to a stop with a hand outstretched.

His sister's body having immediately went limp, arms and legs dangling downwards and swaying like limp noodles held over a kitchen utensil, as ichor and glimmering chunks of flesh and bone fell past the Titan's finger gaps. The goddess' gory bits splashing and splatting over her shoulders, back and bosom, before they, along with her body, lost their radiant shine. Her complexion returning to its normal shade, and with it, her tunic, now bloodied, returned briefly. The garment not even lasting a second before her close proximity to his raging aura quite literally burned it away to cinders, and seemingly charred her now nude, curvy form as black as coal.

"Hraaaagh!" Menoitios gave another war-cry then, as his free fist barrelled forth and slammed into her headless, blackened body, instantly disintegrating her into little more than ash, which blasted out with the force of his punch. The ashy cloud crashing into Kratos, covering him almost head-to-toe in Nike's powdery residue, and even getting into his mouth, which quickly gagged and hacked the substance of his sister right back up. His mostly mended face now one of horror and disbelief, having witnessed his sibling's brutal, if impermanent, demise.

He knew she'd be back in an hour at minimum, as he could already feel her ashes peeling away from him on their own to reconstitute her, but for the remainder of the battles ahead today, unless a lull period happened, she was down for the count. And that fact left him momentarily speechless.

One of his siblings had actually fallen… That'd never happened before. In all their previous battles, they and their mother had always made it through without being defeated. And now, Menoitios of all people had been the one to put an end to that streak in emphatic fashion, while making it look easy.

Too easy. The Nike he knew would've never struck him like that, nor would she have misunderstood his words as she had and got upset over them and then blindly charged their enemy with zero caution and assault him so rashly like a mindless, violent beast. That sounded more like Bia, and even she wouldn't be near as monumentally reckless and unintelligent as Nike had just been in her final moments.

"You son of a bitch!" A familiar, distorted voice roared with aggravation, smacking Kratos out of his thoughts, as he caught his brother Zelus shooting past him with murderous rage, and hurtling toward Menoitios like a bullet!

"Oh, you're in for it now, you fucker!" Bia's warped voice roared with equal fury, as she blasted up from where she'd been sent, sending rocks and debris flying everywhere, and rapidly ascended to where Menoitios floated.

Neither had a plan, nor had any sense of self-preservation, quite like Nike, as their bodies became whirlwinds around the Titan's. Their fists and feet slapping and smacking against Menoitios' bulky body with every bit of power they could draw. The BANGS and BOOMS of their blows resonating for untold kilometres, as they struck with no effect on the Titan's sturdy skin. His fiery gaze flashing between the two, as they circled and belaboured him.

"That all you have?" Menoitios growled even more bestially than before, looking annoyed more than anything else, outside of being angry, as he glared at the gnats trying to fight him and getting in his way with contempt. His body already prepping up to deal with both of the pathetic roaches at once, as his arms raised high in the air.

Understanding the severity of the situation at hand if Menoitios succeeded in taking out both of his other siblings right now, Kratos wrenched himself fully out of the stupor he'd been put in via Nike's devastating loss and wracked his mind quickly for a solution to this conundrum. The god knowing that his usual method of dealing with it, which was with his fists, being utterly worthless here, and knowing that he'd need Menoitios' attention firmly centred on him if he had any hope of fulfilling Beerus' order.

Less than a moment later, as Menoitios' arms were fully raised, with fists balled and ready to smash down on the heads of his siblings, the bald daemon did the only thing his stressed mind could think of, that could work, as the ashes of Nike continued to peel from him.

Talk shit.

"Why don't you shut up and find out, you overgrown buffoon!" Kratos purposefully taunted him. His voice booming loud and clear for all to hear, and making Menoitios pause. His flaming stare flying to him, as the minor strength deity went on. His face turning as mocking as he could make it. "Your arrogant mouth spouts nothing but stupidity and hot air. So, how about instead of irritating my ears with the piss that is your words, you actually prove you've got what it takes, and defeat me! For I am the strongest of my siblings!"

"You what!?" Menoitios barked back aggressively. The Titan seeming to forget about his siblings' existence for the moment, and Kratos capitalized on that for all it was worth.

"Oh, you heard me, dumbass! What's wrong? Don't have the guts to come at me? Too afraid to show me what this supposed 'real strength' is, huh!?" The bald deity taunted again, using his still mostly outstretched hand to make a 'come get some!' gesture to the Titan. "Looks to me like you're no different now than how you are in your base state. Talking shit while doing nothing to back it up! No wonder your brother Atlas and father Iapetus always look exasperated with you. From where I'm standing, you're nothing but a self-absorbed idiot who can't do anything right!"

Kratos bore witness to both Menoitios' power and aura exploding outward with a louder THOOM than thunder, sending both his siblings flying back and away from the Titan for miles, as the behemoth's gaze burned white-hot. His frightening stare and full, undivided attention zoned in on the muscle-bound spawn of Styx. Steam erupting from clenched teeth, as many, many veins circled and travelled along his features, pulsating and throbbing with overwhelmingly malicious intent. "You dare!?"

Oh, he dared alright. Even if staring him down now made him feel a deep, clawing fear that he'd never experienced before, Kratos remained steadfast and willing to see Beerus' order through to the end, as he brought his arm back, jutting a thumb up toward his broad chest. "You bet I do, you belligerent bum! Now, quit wasting time and get your ass over here so I can teach you a lesson even your pea-brained mind will never forget!"

When Menoitios let out another enraged battle-cry and shot forward with the intent to pulverize him into dust, just as he'd done his sister, Kratos knew his plan was a success.

All that was left to do now, was do as Beerus wanted, and keep the Titan's attention diverted long enough for the former to reach his zenith, and then hopefully, avenge his fallen sister and potentially himself and his other two siblings, if they fell too, by putt the enraged Titan down for the count. Just as he'd done his uncle.

Meanwhile… around the base of Olympus…

"Ack!" Pan hacked out ichor as his hooves dug deep trenches into the darkened soil, and he came to a stop where Mount Olympus began, his entire torso stinging from the blow he'd just been struck with, as he heard the sound of distant, yet loud thunder above. His radiant form having a new shade of azure blue being cast down from the sky on him for a brief moment, as he recovered.

He was no longer in his usual form, naturally, else the attack he'd just been dealt would've splattered him against Olympus' hide. His skin having turned a mixture of glowing green on his front, while his sides, hair and hooves had become a dimly shimmering brown to contrast. His hair, regardless of where it stuck out on his body, waving about like ethereal flames on his person, as his facial features took on a more bestial appearance than normal. His shining face resembling a cross between a canine, a snake and a wild man, with sharp, emerald-shining fangs protruding out of his mouth and down past his lips, and slitted eyes that emitted a deep, multi-coloured green-brown phosphorescence.

"What's the matter, Pan? Don't know what to do now that you've been forced into a battle with me like this!?" Pan's tormentor bellowed, as the god of the wilds barely managed to dodge out of the way from a blazing, orange-gold fist that careened into the mountain's hide, cratering several metres deep and wide, while shaking the heavenly mountain. It did not break though, not that the assailant expected it to, given its durability, as he pulled his fist and wasted little time shooting toward Pan, who'd backed away. "At this rate, you'll end up no different from your worthless followers!"

"Oh, fuck you, Krios!" The ascended god of the wilds snarled with rage, as he got a guard up in time to tank another devastating punch from the ascended Titan. One that he managed to hold steady against this time, obliterating the ground beneath him, and making it quake as an after-effect of the impact, as he took it on his forearm. The beastly-looking deity glaring a hole through his aggressive foe, as both fought for dominance for a second, batting the other's limb aside, despite the size disparity, and getting into a blindingly fast battle of fists and kicks being dodged, parried and blocked. The latter being done most often by Pan, something he was doing increasingly poorly as a full second, which was basically an eternity to the two in their current forms, went on. All while the former two were done mainly by Krios, who looked to be having a much easier time, almost as if he was just playing with him for some sick amusement.

Krios' body, like his fist, held an orange-gold irradiance to it now, with his tunic long gone, showing off his impressively muscular physique. What looked like countless drawn patterns, which glowed a much dimmer shade of the rest of him, traversed his entire figure, before terminating at his at the peak of his neck, just before his jaw. His hair had elongated out, and like Pan's waved about like ethereal flames, only his burned much brighter, rose higher, and shifted about much more wildly behind and around his head, as its shade was dominated more by glimmery gold than orange. His eyes being the opposite, radiating a thick, orange hue, with only flecks of gold being noticeable in the shining sclera, dancing about within as though holding their own sentience, never staying in one spot for even a moment.

Not that Pan cared for such a detail right now, as he threw steadily more sloppy attacks that did nothing to impede his opponent, who kept laughing at his attempts to strike him with anything meaningful.

His anger was ever-rising, and pointed at nobody other than Krios, who'd dared not simply to just attack him, but had also reduced the large forest he and his Satyrs and Nymphs had been using for cover, as well as their home, to cinders. All that beautiful wild-life, he'd watched be eradicated the instant this orange-gold bastard had descended on them, leaving them in a barren wasteland. He'd barely been able to ascend in time to save himself, but his followers hadn't been so lucky.

Some of his Nymphs were fighting above with the rest, but most had been down on the ground with him, and had been helpless to do anything but burn to ash alongside their Satyr brethren when Krios had struck down. The most infuriating and unforgivable part of that, was that while most of his remaining followers that'd been on the ground with him would regenerate, a good few of his follower Nymphs had been linked to the physical constructs within the very forest that was now annihilated. And with them gone, there would be no coming back for those followers of his. They were gone for good now. Eradicated from existence permanently with their domains' destruction.

And he'd watch it all happen. He'd watched the fucker kill his beautiful Nymphs all in one go, without a shred of remorse, and if anything, he seemed to have taken pleasure in the fact, with his face holding a sadistic smirk as he looked down at him, when he wasn't laughing his ass off, anyway. Both of which only making his rage bubble higher and more intensely, as he gave an animalistic hiss and glared a hole through his enemy's soul, unaware of the nigh-invisible waves that were washing over him.

Pan had always been someone who wore his emotions more on his sleeve than most, which was why he didn't pay any mind to the fact that it was becoming increasingly impossible to think clearly right now, as he continued trading blows with the Titan. In the back of his head, he knew he should be trying to separate from Krios, and get enough distance and time to let out his patented screech. Something which would be amplified to the extreme in its effect now that he was in his True Divine Form, even if it would also harm his allies, now that they were no longer protected by the barrier.

It wouldn't affect them as much as it would their enemies, given Metis had been wise enough to ask if there was any way for them to be immune to his screech, just in case this exact scenario happened where the barrier was destroyed, and they might still have need of his voice. At the time, he'd been all too happy to give her and the others a long-lasting blessing, which would make them more resistant to it. He wished it could've made them immune, but none were willing to become his followers to get the full effect of the blessing, given that it involved swearing a binding oath to him of fealty, which would make them his subordinates. Something none of the gods were willing to do, not just for the sake of their pride, but also because it gave him a solid degree of influence over them that would be everlasting, and none were comfortable with that.

There had also been the alternate option, mainly given to the goddesses, of becoming immune for a time to his screech, by allowing him to fornicate with them, and pass on his blessing through the sexual process that had them being subservient to him. That had gotten an even harsher rejection than the first option, though, and even had some of them backing away from him in disgust, with Hera in particular calling him repulsive for even suggesting that. Something that at the time, he'd brushed off, but at the moment, now that he was thinking back on it with his currently rising anger, made him wish he could've knocked her over and force-fucked the daylights out of her for that slight until she was little more than a terrorised mess on the ground.

"Heh. What's on your mind, Pan?" Said god's violently lewd thoughts of Hera were dashed away when he heard Krios speak up again, his tone mocking and condescending in one, as both heard and ignored the conveniently timed sound of thunder booming far above them yet again. The sound much louder this time, as another dazzling flash of azure blue came and went, all in incredibly slow motion, as far as they were concerned. "You look like you're thinking awful hard about something there."

"You'll pay for what you've done." Pan replied back after a primal growl, his mind becoming even more blurred, as his vision became red with rage. His sole desire now, being to wipe that smug look off the Titan's face and tear him to pieces. "I'll make you pay dearly for the damage you've done!"

And of course, the prick chose that time to chuckle cruelly, pissing Pan off further, as the whizzing flecks of his eyes zoomed around and assembled into a pattern within his sclera, becoming like dots joint by a thin, golden line. One of the patterns on his body, around the centre of his back, glowing greater as the air around them shimmered, and something in the heavens above seemed to light up, forcing the god of the wilds to squint as it glared down on him specifically.

A fleeting part of his divine instinct kicked in, in that moment, screaming at Pan to get away as fast as he could before it was too late, and went utterly ignored, as the enraged god of the wilds continued to wail out with ineffective strikes that never truly landed on the elusive Krios.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Pan, but the only one who's going to be paying for their actions this day, between the two of us, is you!"

Around that time… Upon Olympus…

The strike of thunder echoed across the majestic mountain-top, the area and the sky around lighting up with a mesmerizing shade of static-blue, as Zeus jumped high and let out a battle-cry as he hurled his trusted lightning bolt toward his foe. The bolt of divine electricity zipping and zagging with faster-than-light speed and obscene destructive energy that would give just about anybody not in an ascended state an unyielding form of trepidation.

His enemy, the buffed-up daughter of Atlas, however, was the exception in this case. Her multi-coloured aura-laden body bouncing far to her left as the bolt came close, letting the powerful weapon of destruction zoom past her features. The goddess' now toned, muscular frame darting forward then with unreal speed that made her a fuzzy blur to her enemies, as she leapt up into the air to meet Zeus. And just as the latter's thunderbolt blasted apart the edge of the mountain-top before it fired off with a BOOM into the distance, the bearded, silver-haired god felt his world explode with agony before darkness became his companion, as the front of the blonde beauty's foot sliced through the air and collided with his face.

The attack instantly shattered his cranium, crushing his nose and making his eyes pop like squished grapes, as he was sent packing back down to the mountain-top floor with a ferocious crash! What remained of his head, which oozed flesh, blood and bone, barely clinging to his body, as it cratered back-first against the ground, before ploughing a trench that went deeper and deeper as his body shot all the way to the other side, where it eventually came to a halt right by the ruins of Beerus' palace.

"That attack might've worked if I was how I usually am, but with my father's boon, you're going to need something much better than that if you want to beat me!" Kalypso yelled out with a playful, but malicious grin, as she landed back gracefully on the ground. Her ears having already picked up the sound of someone charging her from behind.

Taking a step while turning to her side, Kalypso looked over her shoulder as Poseidon's trident lanced by with pin-point precision and velocity that would've torn through her spin and stabbed out her front, if they were in normal circumstances, and she hadn't evaded. The female deity taking a brief moment to lock eyes with Zeus' older brother, and give him a small giggle at his attempt to blind-side her, before she thrusted her leg up, slamming the flat of her foot into his exposed hip with a side-kick. One that immediately broke it as the young god howled with pain, his body bending sideway over her obtrusive foot, before getting launched away with a rippling, mini-shockwave.

It was only through pure instinct that Poseidon dug the sharp tips of his weapon into the mountain-floor, digging three small, but increasingly deep trenches himself before his air-born, hunched body came to a stop while dangling off the rim of Olympus' summit.

He wasn't there for long though, as Kalypso flashed over to him, gripping his trident just below where the weapon split apart into its three sharp tips, and easily yanked it out of the ground. The goddess holding it parallel to the mountain floor and the ground far, far below, as the wounded Poseidon dangled by the edge, clinging on to the opposite end with all his strength, as he glowered at her, whilst ichor dripped from his lips.

"That's quite the fierce look you've got there." Kalypso cooed, feeling her heart race in a way it never had before, as she quickly swung the trident overhead, and brought Poseidon down in a slam on the mountain floor. The strength behind it indenting his body into the magically-enhanced soil, while creating a major updraft of wind alongside a compressed shockwave that sent the bottom part of her tunic fluttering and flying up wildly, giving the open-mouthed, groaning god a brief gander at her unprotected areas beneath. Her full, toned, creamy thighs and pink lower lips being a sight he would've enjoyed seeing, were it not for the pain shooting through the back of him alongside his mangled hip.

"Keep that image fixed in your mind, if you want. It's the closest you're ever going to get, after all." The blonde beauty remarked, upon seeing where his eyes had ended up, as she fished his weapon out of his loosened grip, swung it around to where the sharp tips were aimed down at him, and then stabbed it down with a little extra 'oomph' into his chest. The god being forced to let out a wheezing 'guhk' sound, as the three ultra-sharp blades were sunk so deep that flesh and bone were cut through like butter. His heart being the main organ that was run through and turned to pulp, as he could feel the tips of the trident breach and poke through his back, causing ichor to ooze and spurt out.

"You stay right there now. I'll be back for another short round with you in a moment." She said, knowing he'd come attack her anyway once he'd recovered, as she stepped over him and paid the tan-skinned god no further mind for the time-being, as she smiled over toward the direction she'd sent Zeus. Said god having yet to rise from where she'd smacked him to, but his three sisters certainly had. The trio of gorgeous goddesses having reformed completely and now steadily making their way to their feet with a small stagger.

Flashing closer to them with her enhanced speed, Kalypso clearly took the three sisters by surprise with her lone presence on the mountain with them, as she came face-to-face with Hera first, standing only a scant few inches from her. "Good to see you three are back up and about. Your timing couldn't have been better." She said cheekily, while locking eyes with the youngest of the three. "Maybe you can last a little longer in your first round of beatings with me than your brothers did."

Hera didn't need to hear more, and whatever confusion she'd had at Kalypso being the only foe she could sense on the mountain with them vanished swiftly, as her face pulled into a hard scowl, and her palm thrust out as she reared back. Her intent being to snap the goddess' head back and disorient her while using the momentum generated to push herself back and create some extra breathing room before going for a full-on assault.

Kalypso's head however, did not snap back. In fact, to Hera's shock, it didn't even budge. And far from being disoriented, the blonde didn't look the slightest bit fazed by the swift strike, as a muffled chuckle from her rang through, vibrations passing along the contours of the younger goddess' hand.

"Oh, come on. You can do better than that, right?" Kalypso taunted, one hand grabbing the back of Hera's head, while the other balled into a fist and shot toward Hera's gut. The latter letting out a choked, gargled cry of pain, as the daughter of Atlas struck right through her abdomen. A harsh, shiver-inducing SQUELCH noisily bounding out, as Hera's flesh was penetrated front-to-back, her intestines being pulverised and sent out in grisly chunks, alongside Kalypso's fist through her back, with pieces of her broken ribs and spine sent packing out with a golden splatter of blood to the soil. The rest oozing out over her torn tunic from either end of her torso.

"Sister!" Hestia cried out in shock at the ease with which Kalypso had just run her through, while Demeter immediately launched into action, getting to the other blonde's side before putting her whole body into motion and thrusting a full-force punch directly into her cheek. The impact causing a small shockwave that CLAPPED outwards, forming a small crater beneath herself, her sister and Atlas' kin.

And yet still, Kalypso didn't so much as blink from the attack. Instead, turning to face the middle sister as she twisted and yanked her arm out of Hera from the side, ripping off flesh, bone and blood alike in a huge, ghastly spurt as her limb shredded through her hip. The action further blemishing Hera's messy, torn tunic and leaving the youngest to weakly drop to her knees while gushing her life-fluid, as she rounded on Demeter, who tried to leap back after seeing her attack yield nothing.

Key word being 'try', for Kalypso was on her too quickly for her to keep up, grabbing the sides of her face with her hands as she gave a small hop, pumped her knees up to her chest, and then angled down before thrusting them forward. The flats of her feet slamming into Demeter's knees with a deafening impact for the child of Rhea and Kronos, as her bones snapped like flimsy twigs, and the parts of her legs below where she'd been struck were ripped right off. The middle sister letting out a similar pained cry to Hera's, as Kalypso's feet slammed into the ground, with the bloody, dismembered chunks of her limps flopping and pissing out ichor behind her, much like the stumps of her what remained of said limbs still attached to her body.

Dark-gold dripped bones, chipped and wobbling, jutted out from the torn flesh around Demeter's crushed knees, dousing the bottoms of Kalypso's tunic as well as her toned, muscular legs, as she held up her adversary eye-to-eye. Demeter's face coated in torment as her teeth clenched together to stop the agonised scream from continuing. An attempt at toughness that Kalypso found adorable, especially given the obvious tears pricking at her eyes.

Before Kalypso could say or do anything else though, she vaguely felt a wave of something wash over her, one that she recognised, and immediately made her grip on Demeter's face slacken enough to let the goddess drop to the ground, flopping unto her back as her leg-stumps failed to keep her upright.

"You know, that ability of yours really is something, Hestia." Atlas' progeny remarked, feeling the foreign power attempt to force increasing calm to the point of losing her will to fight upon her, as she turned toward the owner of said power. Her eyes taking note of the thin glow around her form, as well as the intangible waves being ejected from it and travelling all around Olympus, but centred more specifically at her. "Under normal circumstances, I'd be in quite the deal of trouble against it, even knowing its coming, seeing as I'm not nearly as adaptive as my father or those around his level. But…"

From Hestia's perspective, it appeared as though Kalypso suddenly appeared in a flash less than a foot in front of her. Her form leaving an afterimage behind where she'd previously been standing, and which hadn't even fizzled away, as the blonde beauty that'd undergone a recent transformation of sorts gently cupped her face in both hands. Almost as if to say that she was so fragile that any greater usage of strength would end up crushing her head into paste, which after what she'd just witnessed, was entirely possible.

"Thanks to father, I'm having a much easier time resisting it now." The blonde said, while stroking her cheeks with her thumbs in a playful manner that made the eldest born of the Olympians uncomfortable, as she futilely grabbed at her wrists, unable to pull the older goddess' hands away. "I suppose I do also have father to thank for these emotions I'm feeling right now." She continued, getting a small grunt of confusion from Hestia. "I always did yearn for a thrill, you see, but it would appear father's boon hasn't just made me stronger physically, it has made all of my emotions stronger too, particularly my excitement for this encounter with you all."

Her tongue then, as if having a mind of its own, scythed from one end of her lips to the other, as her eyes fell, soaking in Hestia's form like a predator eying a delicious piece of meat, before rising back up to her face. The oldest of Rhea's daughters now looking even more uncomfortable than before. "That… and I suppose my more… carnal emotions have been unnecessarily strengthened too. Now that I'm this close and not immediately bludgeoning you, I can't recall a time where I've ever felt such lust when looking upon a fellow goddess. Or even a hint of it at all."

She's rambling. Hestia thought to herself. Whatever her father did to make her like this, it hasn't just altered how she acts and feels, but has also made her rather over-confident, if she's willing to talk at length like this without fear of being punished for it. A foolish way of thinking normally, but with the boon she'd been granted, it appeared as though she'd become too fast to hit, if she didn't want to be, and too durable to hurt with their current physical strength, given what she'd just seen happen with her sisters.

Her foe's cockiness could still be a weakness though, if exploited correctly. The question was, how to go about doing that? Sure, they could always just wait for Hades to –

"Getting lost in thought, there?" Kalypso asked with some amusement, pulling Hestia from her mindscape and back to reality, as she met her gaze. "You know, it's pretty rude to start zoning out like that when someone's in the middle of talking to you."

"That's rich, coming from an uncouth spirit such as yourself, who besmirches my sister's face with her dirty hands!" The voice of Zeus bellowed, as the crackle of thunder and lightning, while only audible to those upon the mountain this time, echoed more boisterously for those who could hear it. As it did, every last fibre of Kalypso's body screamed at her to dodge, and she did not resist. Her feet jettisoning her from where she'd been standing, getting her a decent distance away before a bolt of lightning struck down where she'd been, right in front of Hestia.

The splashing electricity never touched or harmed the goddess though, as it began to form into the familiar, tall and muscular shape of the youngest Olympian. All of his features becoming pronounced, but never fading from their electrical visage into his more regular state.

"Uncouth spirit? Besmirches with dirty hands? I'd almost be insulted if those words hadn't come from your mouth, Zeus. Don't think I didn't notice the way your lecherous eyes roamed over me the first time we met." Kalypso rebuked, while mounting a hand on her hip. "Not that I wasn't flattered, of course, but with a gaze like that which so clearly shows what you're thinking, more so than anyone I'm acquainted with, you've got no business spouting such words at me."

"I have no idea what you mean." The electric form of Zeus replied in that innocent kind of way that said he knew she as correct, but had no intention of admitting it, as he got into a stance that looked like he was ready to charge.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't." Kalypso smirked, deciding to let it go. Inwardly though, she took note of not only him, but his almost completely recovered siblings around her as she kept her senses high, and how controlled their anger was. Their focus having not slipped in the slightest. Something she would've been rather confused about, were it not for a certain someone's presence behind the electrically-formed deity, and the intangible waves she was passively emitting from her aura.

Looks like Lord Kronos' prediction about her power being able to counter-act uncle Menoitios' was accurate. The progeny of the Titan general thought with narrowed eyes, lingering on Hestia for but a moment at this foreseen development, before shrugging as her grin widened. Not that that matters, though. Whether they're in an uncontrollable, violent rage or as calm as can be, it will not change the outcome. Not with the power father has given me, or what's coming when the Ophiotaurus boon eventually manifests.

That being said, she honestly preferred that they were in their right minds for battle with her. It would make things more fun for her, before the boon arrived, after all.

For instance, they could strategize and make things more amusing by pulling out moves she wasn't used to, like what the silver-haired god was doing right now. "I must say, though, that's a neat little trick you've picked up, Zeus. Coating yourself in your lightning like that. Let's see if it makes a difference!" She grinned, before launching forward, with the electricity-formed body of Zeus doing the same, surprisingly matching her speed this time, even if she wasn't giving it her full effort.

Right as she got close, though, she pushed forth more effort, and swung out her fist twice as fast as her foe was doing, punching him square in the jaw while his fist only had the time to cock back.

Her eyes widened then, as she instantly regretted doing so, for her fist struck through his head right away, whilst the rest of his body charged forth into hers, and as soon as it did, the mountain and the sky were lit up with a sea of static blue. The sound of thunder echoing harshly and much more powerfully than before, far reaching across the world, as Kalypso disappeared within the flashing, azure light, with only her agonized scream, barely audible to those upon Olympus, being heard beneath the loud crackle of lightning. All as she was hit with enough volts to fry countless galaxies condensed almost entirely upon her.

"I thank you for the compliment, though I must correct you on one thing, Kalypso. My latest little trick that I picked up has nothing to do with coating my body in lightning. I shan't explain what actually happened, but you're a smart girl, so I'm sure if you can still remember being hit by that, you'll figure it out." Zeus shot back with a pleased smile, as he stood up from the very spot she'd sent him packing to, having not once moved from there since recovering, as his hand outstretched and recalled his thunderbolt to him, once the blast had quelled.

Honestly though, coated himself in his lightning? While he could do that, he wasn't about to do something that would get him pasted again so easily, even if he'd get a backlash effect on her with his weapon. What that'd been, was something less mundane, in his trusted thunderbolt being formed in his own visage, and given his voice, as he controlled and used it to attack her from a more remote vantage point. Something he'd been looking forward to trying on one of their enemies since mastering it some days ago, and was more than a little happy to see how it'd turned out.

The attack would've been useless against anyone in a True Divine Form, but against a merely enhanced goddess who wasn't ascended? It'd definitely do some serious damage, he thought. And as the dust cloud that'd kicked up from the lightning blast dispersed, shortly following the dimming screen of azure, he wasn't left disappointed.

Standing in the centre of a scorched crater, still in the same stance she'd been when striking his doppelganger with her fist outstretched, was a heavily charred Kalypso. Her tunic utterly eviscerated off her form, leaving her blackened, bare figure in full view as large and small shocks of electricity danced around her. The goddess left spasming and twitching, with eyes glazed over and whited out, as smoke billowed off of nearly every pore, with only a few strands of her luscious hair remaining, now darkened and standing on edge.

"Hehe." Poseidon chuckled, having removed the trident from his chest and recovered from his wound, as he stood up from where he'd been laid out and eyed their damaged opponent. "Looks like someone got a little too cocky." He said, just loud enough for all on Olympus to hear. "That granted power made her reckless, not even thinking to stretch out her senses and make sure it was actually you, and she got roasted for it. Literally."

"Indeed." Zeus nodded in agreement, as he looked over and saw Hera and Demeter rising back up, bodies fully mended of all damage. "Honestly, it's hard to believe she's-"

ZHOOOOOM!

Zeus was cut off, and quickly found himself before blown off his feet alongside the rest of his siblings, as unbelievably strong winds and expansive shockwaves struck him and the others with explosive force. The five deities each either grabbing on to the ground, or in Poseidon's case, digging his trident into the ground to keep themselves more rooted to the mountain, as a blindingly bright light easily as wide and much, much longer than their home appeared by Olympus, seemingly piercing up endlessly into the heavens and swatting away any who happened to be unfortunate enough to have been undergoing an aerial battle in that vicinity.

The Olympians were forced to squint and shield their eyes from the glare, but were just about able to make out the massive sparkle around the area of the light that jutted up by their mountain, and could even make out the curvature of what was more evident to be a construct. One that was a brilliant shade of ethereal white, and there within it the sparkling area their eyes were on glowed even brighter, just like the twinkling stars of Nyx's sky, if they were to be brought up close.

And that was because it, along with the others, for there were more both below and above that area, were indeed said stars from the night sky itself, plucked right out alongside the constellation they formed, and materialized as a deadly weapon in their own right. One that the siblings had witnessed for themselves a few times before, during earlier attacks from the Titan side, and knew that their allies who could ascend freely had dreaded dealing with, given the seemingly endless variations the one causing this to happen could conjure.

The construct wasn't around for long, though. Barely enough for the five to vaguely make out the shape of a dipper when glancing upward, as the awe-inspiring visage of the weaponized constellation dissipated almost as quickly as it'd appeared, returning to the heavens from where it'd been so casually snatched from and used as a bludgeoning tool.

None of the five were given the time to ponder on if the recipient of said attack had taken well to it, however, before pained grunts and coughs filled their ears, and each of them turned their attention back to the lone foe on the mountain with them. Her hand having fallen down by her side, as her blackened, charred skin rapidly healed over into its usual pale, blemish-less shade, as ichor spilt from her hacking maw, and she fell to a knee.

"Yuh-You bastard!" Kalypso snarled in-between bloody coughs. Her insides, despite how they should've been fully healed, just as her outward appearance was, feeling like they'd been dipped into molten-hot lava with how badly they burned. Her hair, which had grown back, became frazzled and unkempt, sticking up at odd ends as volts of heavenly electricity spiralled and surged around her, both inside and out, making the act of standing back up again as ichor continued to spill from her lips a chore it shouldn't have been.

"You know, it'd be wiser for you to take it easy. You just took a full-on blast from my thunderbolt, after all. One that packed a good deal more power behind it than the one that vaporized your father during the first siege against us." Zeus commented, actively trying – and failing – to resist the urge to become distracted by her nubile, naked form, as sweat poured off of it from how much she had to exert herself to remain upright.

She may not have been on the same pedestal, in his mind, as Hera was, but with those fine, wide hips, perfectly sculpted midriff, toned yet shapely thighs, plump rump, glistening lower lips and a round, perky, quivering set of C-cup breasts topped off with the most vibrant of erect pink nipples? It was hard to deny that she was highly attractive. She'd already been so before, but with that buff from her father, she'd been brought to the next level in his mind, enough to be more appealing to the eye than his consort, and for the moment, purely because he hadn't seen them nude, was ahead of Hestia and Demeter too.

Poseidon whistled audibly then, sounding just as impressed as Zeus was in his thoughts at the sight of her, and instantly cutting through whatever tension there had been with his words. "Damn shame we're enemies," He said, nary a hint of shame in sight as her fiery gaze turned to him and he stood up with trident in-hand. A lopsided grin coming over his face. "Because with a body like that, there's no way I would've been able to resist, if given the chance, I tell you. Good grief…"

"Hngh… Even if we were on the same side, I can assure you, you wouldn't have to, because that chance would never come." Kalypso spat back, feeling somewhat spiteful now, as her muscles continued to spasm and ache, with shocks of electricity dancing mockingly over her flesh. "For either of you." She made sure to add, while parking her glare over in Zeus' direction, making it clear she'd saw him soaking her in with his pervy gaze top-to-bottom. "Handsome though you may be, clearly, neither of you are my type."

"As if anybody actually cares about that." Hera cut in, actually taking Kalypso a little by surprise, as she charged forward, her aura swelling around her as she delivered a punch directly into her fellow goddess' face. Something that, unlike the first time, actually got a reaction out of Kalypso, who's face turned into one of shock and pain, as her head was whipped back, her curvy legs sent stumbling several feet away before she righted herself and came to a stop.

"What really matters here, is that you've chosen to pick a fight with all of us alone, so I do hope you're prepared for what that entails." The youngest daughter of Rhea remarked with a deep scowl, as her punch earned her a fierce glare back from the befuddled goddess.

"Yeah, what she said." Demeter agreed, stepping beside her little sister as the two shared a narrow-eyed glance, before both turned their sights back to Kalypso. The middle sister of the Olympians choosing that moment to let her more aggressive side out, as her own aura flashed and glowed vividly around her.

Finding himself sharing a look between both Hestia and Poseidon in that moment, Zeus smirked as he placed a hand on his neck, and gave it a few cracks to loosen it up, all the while, his thunderbolt hummed with power within his grip. A sensation he didn't doubt was taking place between his brother and his trident as well, as sparks of lightning began to crackle in and out of his eyes, and in his free hand, a resplendent shield of bronze materialized. One that took to his lightning very well, as it enveloped it, giving it a superb, radiant glimmer that few objects in this world could rival.

It was an item none of his siblings had seen on his person before, but also one that they chose to leave any questions about for later, once all the battling was over.

"Hmph. Look at you lot, being so confident." Shades of her father's anger arising from her, Kalypso's face pulled into a snarl, as she addressed all five of them at once, paying no mind to Zeus' new armament. "You've no idea of the depths of the power bestowed upon me by father. I was playing around before to have some fun, but now?" Aura bursting back to life around her with a vengeance, as the lightning coursing around and through her became more muted, the goddess ignored the burning sensation in her organs, as her spasming muscles bulged slightly, tensing up as she looked ready to pounce.

The pressure being let off from her bare body was so intense, it made everyone else instinctively tense up as well, but none backed off. Instead, readying themselves into battle stances, as any remaining lewd thoughts of her naked form present in either Poseidon or Zeus' mind were pushed away by ones fit more for battle, just as the daughter of Atlas bellowed with absolute certainty and ferocity her promise to the heavens.

"Prepare yourselves, because I'm going to crush you all into paste!"

Meanwhile… Back around Crete…

"Hraaaaaaagh!" Kottus roared, shaking the island and the violently turning and shifting waters surrounding it, as his fists thrusted forward toward the red-glowing Titan who whizzed out near him. His hundred hands barrelling out with unimaginable power one after the other in swift succession, all aiming to batter their prey into nothing short of oblivion.

Kronos, demonstrating his agility when in his ascended state, ducked, weaved, turned and twisted in the air with his titanic body, becoming little more than a criss-crossing crimson streak, as he avoided each and every strike the bloodthirsty Hekatonkheire sent his way. Each balled-up hand alone being much bigger than his whole body, easily enough to crush him into paste if he let them.

His eyes, cold and calculating, spotted multiple openings that he could take advantage of and bite into him with his scythe while the giant attempted to smash him into bits, but for the time, he refused to take them. Not only because of the risk of Kottus being able to react in time and stop him, while landing a hit himself, but also –

"Haaaaagh!" The high risk of the other two, which he needed no reminder of, as they came charging in from his flanks. Gyges coming in quicker, as he hopped up, quaking the island from the simple act alone, and clasping his uppermost hands together above his head. The joint hands glowing with a dense bubble of divine aura that made the space around them spasm like crazy, as he attempted to drive them down over Kronos' head in the granddaddy of all axe-handle strikes, and squash him into a bloody smear upon the earth.

Kronos, having been paying enough attention to see it coming, swung his scythe up with a battle-cry of his own, as he backed away from Kottus' melee range. A dark-crimson arc of energy launching out and creating a dark, crackling rift through space and time as it bit through the air around the Titan-King, and to Gyges' surprise, acted as a shield for the Titan god, meeting his space-spasming axe-handle slam head-on. The collision creating an immense shockwave that met and overwhelmed all the other shockwaves happening close-by from other battles, as the hostile powers fought for dominance, both refusing to yield to the other.

As that was happening, Kronos prepped himself, torqued his body, and pushed forward with a punch of his own, using his free hand. His aura swirling around the shimmering appendage as he met the gargantuan fist of Briareus head-on. An equally as loud and powerful BOOM echoed as their fists clashed with one-another, and despite the size discrepancy, Kronos didn't budge. The force of his punch rivalling that of the last and eldest of the Hekatonkheires, creating another explosive shockwave that tore apart the outer-layer of the ground beneath them, sending chunks of debris flying everywhere as a shallow crater formed beneath the four colossally powerful beings. The impact also sending immense tremors out throughout the small landmass, and producing even greater sea-quakes across the vast, endless ocean, which added to the already torrential waters undergoing constant belches and tsunamis.

Kronos wasn't surprised in the least that this small island somehow held together against such overwhelming forces. For even though it was faint beyond belief – so faint in fact, that he was sure only he could sense it out under such stressful conditions as this in his ascended state – he could feel his brother Hyperion's presence far beneath the surface. From that bit of information alone, if he hadn't already been able to guess it, he knew well that his mother had elected to enhance the island's durability as best she could to stop them from accidently or intentionally breaking through to him through brute strength.

Kronos had no idea how long his brother would be out for under the effect of his eldest son's destructive power, but he did know this. When this war was finished, and he eventually woke up after they got him out of there, he'd have to have a word with him for the rash actions he took that got him in the position he was in now. Right before they busted out the food, drinks and sex for celebration of their victory, because what happened today would absolutely be worth the same kind of yearly celebration that their overthrowing of their bastard father was, if not an even better one, for him managing to rid himself of Beerus, and in the process, shut down his bastard father's final attempt to ruin him.

Re-focusing back in on the battle, Kronos willingly disengaged with Briareus when Kottus came forward again, and looked ready to punt him skyward with a devastating kick, as his shin launched up to meet the Titan Lord. The father of the Olympians managing to tuck his legs up into his chest, and have his aura envelop his feet as the massive shin surged up to his position, before he kicked out with them. The soles of his aura-infused, glowing-red feet meeting the swinging limb dead on in such a way that he nullified most of the force that would've otherwise struck him and using his leg and its momentum to launch himself back and away from the trio of hundred-handed ones. The move creating some solid distance as he backflipped to gain control of himself, before swinging his scythe as he was still shooting back, sending another arc of dark-crimson energy hurtling towards his enemies.

This one was much bigger than the first – which had dissipated by now under his command – as it rapidly sped towards the trio of giants with the full intent to tear them apart simultaneously. And Kronos wished it could've been that easy without the Ophiotaurus' boon, as the three monstrosities all came forward as one. Their auras spiking up high around their forms, as all of their hands glowed a deeper greyish-blue, and they roared as they thrusted them forward, warping space-time with those simple movements alone as they met his projectile attack directly, rather than try to dodge.

BOOOOOOOOM!

"Ngh!..." Kronos had to brace himself, clutching his scythe while holding an arm out over his face, as his attack and the Hekatonkheires fought against one another, kicking up the strongest, most deafening winds alongside the most intense shockwaves yet. Both of which crashed over him and were felt by the whole world itself seemingly, as the planes of Gaea, Pontus, and his bastard father Ouranos, shook violently. It wouldn't even come as a surprise to the Titan Lord is Tartarus could also feel this, as the whole of the cosmos itself almost seemed to lurch and bend in on itself, being left no choice but to withstand his and the three brutes full-on clash of powers and wills.

An idle glance that Kronos chanced towards where other fights around Olympus were taking place showed that the ones between the lesser gods in their True Divine Forms had been totally disrupted, with everyone forced to temporarily disengage as they all endured the brunt of the universe-spanning waves of power. And while he couldn't quite see those upon Olympus' peak, the fact that none of them were in an ascended state no doubt meant they'd be knocked off balance, at the very least. Especially with his brother's constellation attack having happened at roughly the same time, from his perspective, as he saw the construct towering impossibly high into the sky.

Stretching out his senses more, while he had the time, he recognised where all of his strongest allies were, and whom they were fighting. He paid particularly close attention to Krios, at first, who held the important job of keeping that irksome god Pan from getting too involved with their operation, by letting loose that patented screech of his. His gaze able to spot out the air-born body of the ascended deity, a mixture of glowing brown and green, hurtling up above where the constellation had sent him at high speeds through the endlessly far-reaching heavens. The god, remarkably, Kronos would admit, having managed to withstand the attack, given he was still fully in his True Divine Form, and he couldn't feel him fading out of it just yet.

Trusting his brother to handle him for good, he pulled his senses away from that scuffle then, idly took notice of Koios doing battle with Oceanus' clever little brat Metis, as well as Iapetus' battle with his wayward sons, Atlas' battle with Themis, and Theia's battle with Styx. All of them going well from his cursory judgment, no doubt helped by the surprising star, in a sense, of their final siege.

Speaking of that, his attention fully shifted to where he felt Menoitios scrapping with the children of Styx, one of which had already been defeated, and his most irksome son. The one prophesied to be his demise: Beerus.

Out of all of his subjects, in a funny twist of events, given how many thought his involvement would turn out, particularly his father and brother, Menoitios was turning out on this day to be the most useful in what he did, if Aegaeon's efforts were discounted.

This ability of his, to subject those around him to act more and more like he did the deeper he delved into his domains, was nothing short of a masterstroke at getting their foes to act out of turn, removed from their usual character, and make taking them down increasingly easy. And to think, it was something he hadn't even been aware of until recently!

Up until a month ago, he had not been aware that Menoitios was even capable of such a thing. In truth, he had merely thought of him as little more than a useful idiot that could be decent for distractions. But then, the younger Titan had gotten into another argument with Atlas about the way they were doing things, one which Kronos had been about to silence personally, when he'd sensed it. Sensed the waves of power leaking off Menoitios as he got angry, which had coincided with Atlas, who at that point had been doing a good job of keeping himself calm, also got angry as well.

It might've been argued as coincidence, but Kronos had not believed it so. Instead, he had risen from his throne, broken up the soon-to-be-fight between them, and had them follow to the underworld with him. Not only so that they didn't inconvenience his troops if his hypothesis was proven true, but also because Kronos had begun to suspect that there may be a spy in their midst. For while one could call it paranoia, he had felt that on a number of occasions, their enemies had seemed a little too unbothered by his strategies for it to be them simply adapting to what his forces did.

Regardless, feeling as though they were safe to test his hypothesis in the underworld, he'd told Menoitios to feed into his domains and increase his rage until he told him to stop. Something which, after a little pointless bickering with his brother, the younger Titan had done in his base state.

While the effect hadn't been strong, unlike how it was now, when in his True Divine Form, he and Atlas had both felt it that day. Simply standing there calmly, one moment, then in the next, both had felt their emotions turning steadily more wrathful, and their thoughts more rash and violent.

With his hypothesis confirmed, Kronos had made sure that Menoitios kept this added ability under tight wraps until the promised day arrived, the one where the Ophiotaurus would be captured and sacrificed. He'd taken extra care to make sure that the knowledge of it was only doled out – discreetly at that, away from any potential prior eyes or ears – to those he held the most trust in, like his brethren, and in Atlas' case, his daughter. All of whom, via Menoitios after some help from himself, were granted an immunity to its effects.

The others, whom Kronos held less faith in? He had elected not to even try and give them it, out of caution that they end up giving it to a potential spy, who would then flee and tell their enemy about what they were plotting, which he could not allow to happen.

Doing it all this way, they could maximise the ability's use against their enemies, using it to its fullest, and not having to worry about them catching on to it after forcing another retreat, and devising an effective counter for it. One that would no doubt involve his eldest daughter and her own unique ability, which he had accounted for, as if it did counter-act it, her ability would be confined to Olympus in its use today. And that meant only her siblings, none of which to his knowledge could ascend, were the beneficiaries. And that basically meant her ability was a non-issue.

The only unfortunate side of this plan, was that Aegaeon was not among those granted an immunity, so he'd still be under the effects of Menoitios' ability. However, seeing as he would be so far away from all the fighting, and knew his mission well, Kronos was confident that he would still end up completing his task regardless, provided nothing got in his way, and grant them the boon needed to guarantee victory this day.

And speaking of Aegaeon, he also felt said god's presence well enough away from the battle-field, on-land, alongside what was most certainly the Ophiotaurus. That fact alone would've made him smile, however, for some strange reason, the son of Pontus and Gaea felt further away from the creature than he ought to –

"HRRROOOOOOGH!"

Knocked out of his thoughts by the powerful, joint war-cries, Kronos grit his teeth, as he was forced to shift his gaze back to his three immediate foes, who with their might and divine power combined, managed to pulverize his arc of energy. The arc blasting apart and fizzling away until nothing but flecks remained, as smoke billowed out and around the Hekatonkheires outstretched, shimmering hands, which finally heralded the end of the world-shaking shockwaves and brutal, whipping winds. Conveniently around the same time the constellation in the distance also faded away.

"You really think an attack like that will take us out!?" Briareus roared, looking offended and outraged, as he and his brothers' muscles bulged, and their auras rose. Their faces, each and every one of them, contorting into ones of indescribable, violent rage as they were all, unaware to them, put deeper under the thrall of Menoitios' domains.

Glaring them all down, Kronos prepared himself for the next coming charge, knowing that even under the effects of Menoitios' ability, these three monsters were still utterly terrifying foes. Ones that he'd be wise to still remain cautious of, and ensure their attention was always focused on him, as they grew angrier, lest one turn their ire unto his allies in the distance.

The Titan king didn't fail to notice the eyes of his so-called 'wife' on him again, however, as he briefly flicked his gaze over to the mountain that she'd hidden herself within. The Titaness having moved out of the entrance by now, with her expression contorted away from the visage of fear she'd had before and into a similar mask of anger as the Hekatonkheires' were, as whatever cowardice and fear that had kept her within was consumed. Consumed by an anger that would not allow her to have her pretty little ass sat back inside the cave, waiting for the violence to end and hoping for him to be taken out.

Any lingering thought in the back of his mind about what could be going on with Aegaeon vanished then, the Titan king telling himself it was probably nothing, as his former queen let out the familiar pressure of one about to transform into their ascended state. An action that gave him goosebumps, as he couldn't help the feral smile that did dominate his shining features, seeing her under Menoitos' thrall too, and clearly committing herself to an action she would normally never even consider, given what it would get her.

"Kronos!" She roared in an uncharacteristic fashion, enough to very briefly garner even the Hekatonkheires' enraged attention, and capture her former husband's sadistic delight, as her skin and eyes began to glow a mixture of purple and red, as her voice became warped. "I'm through hiding! You will be my greatest fear no longer!"

"Oh, don't you worry, my dear." Kronos replied back, getting giddy at the chance to get his hands on his treacherous consort earlier than anticipated, even if he had to deal with the trio of hundred-handed giants at the same time, as his aura spiked higher, and his muscles tensed readily. "By the end of this conflict, I'm going to be so much more to you, than just a simple fear!"

AND CUT!

Well, that's the end of this one. You all know why it took this long to arrive, so I won't go over that again.

Got quite a few developments this chapter, and quite a bit of setup for the next chapter, which is going to be really long, given I plan to have every noteworthy character get some form of spotlight in it. Certain gods that weren't touched on in this chapter, will most certainly be touched on in the next.

I won't say anything else about the chapter itself, or what I intend to do. You'll just have to wait and see.

Anyways, I hope you all got some enjoyment out of this chapter, and I do hope some of you have the time and are willing to help with my college project. It'd mean a lot if you did, but I'll understand if you can't.

For those who have the time to spare:

derpyman90001 . itch . io / the – subterranean

Also, please ignore all images on the game page, as they're from the earliest build, and do not represent the current version.