19 Fighting Cronus and Escape?

PA pang of guilt lanced through me. Hestia was right. Blinded by the thrill of my newfound abilities, I hadn't stopped to listen, hadn't bothered to understand the bigger picture. Shamefaced, I mumbled an apology.

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[Cronus POV]

A frown creased Cronus's brow as he regarded Prometheus. "Are the preparations complete?" he rumbled, his voice heavy with anticipation.

"Indeed, your majesty," Prometheus replied, his voice a respectful murmur. "The ritual to summon a portal to the prison realm is ready to commence."

A grim satisfaction flickered across Cronus's face. "Very well," he boomed, his voice echoing in the vast chamber. "Let us begin." With a wave of his hand, he commanded Prometheus, "Commence the ritual!"

Prometheus bowed deeply. Stepping before the intricate design etched onto the floor, he began to chant in an ancient tongue. The runes, glowing with an ethereal light, resembled constellations swirling across a celestial prison. Some glyphs depicted monstrous beasts, others, desolate landscapes. As the chanting reached a crescendo, the runes pulsed with a vibrant green energy.

Suddenly, a blinding light erupted from the ritual, momentarily engulfing the chamber. As the luminescence faded, a sight both magnificent and terrifying unfolded before them. An ominous blue portal swirled into existence, its edges crackling with raw power. From its depths emanated an unsettling symphony of sounds – the guttural roar of a volcano, the rhythmic popping of unseen bubbles, and the ominous crackle of something burning.

A grim resolve hardened my features. With a gesture of power, I manifested an avatar – a being capable of unleashing the might of a high-ranking god upon its detonation. The clone, its purpose understood, offered a curt nod before stepping resolutely into the swirling blue maw of the portal.

[Hades POV]

A considerable amount of time had passed since I urged my siblings to push their limits in training. Thankfully, my own relentless pursuit of mastery had borne fruit. I can now access my true form instantaneously, the raw power no longer a hurdle for immediate manifestation. Additionally, the duration I can maintain it has seen a drastic improvement. This newfound control over my power fuels my determination to see this plan through.

I then felt a portal connecting to this realm open up. I understood that we were about to have a confrontation with our father, Cronus.

Calling out to my siblings, I informed them that Cronus would be descending upon this realm. We would have to face him and defeat him if we wanted to be free from this prison.

Nervousness flickered across their faces at the prospect of facing our father. However, from Poseidon, I sensed anger and a thrill at the thought of confronting the one who imprisoned us here.

Hera stammered, "What should we do now?" Her voice betrayed her fear.

I met her gaze and sighed. It crossed my mind that she might be the weakest link in this situation, but I pushed that thought aside. "I will engage Cronus in battle," I declared. "Since we'll be facing only an avatar of him, I'm confident in my power to defeat him."

Taking a deep breath, I began, "However, to escape this realm, the best course of action is to destroy it and create a portal to the overworld. You must be careful, though. Spatial storms will most likely erupt when the destruction begins."

A deep voice echoed throughout the cavern, booming, "It appears you are quite confident in your powers, Hades, my son." Silver particles swirled around me, coalescing into the imposing figure of a man. He possessed a physique like the pro bodybuilders from my previous world, with flowing white hair that reached his neck and a long white beard that grew in an unruly manner. There stood my father, Cronus, a living God King now materialized before me.

"That I am, father," I said. "Enough of the chit-chat, state your purpose, Cronus."

Cronus chuckled, a deep rumble that echoed through the cavern. "We have all the time we want, Hades," he said. "Indeed, enough of this pointless talk. I've come here to propose a deal."

I met his gaze unflinchingly, letting him continue.

"Pledge your loyalty to me," Cronus declared, "and I will make you my right hand. You will be granted freedom from this realm."

"Don't you think that's a bit unfair, Cronus?" I said. "Being your right hand changes nothing. It's just trading one wasteland prison for another, albeit a more colorful one. I wouldn't wish this fate on my enemies, let alone stoop to becoming your servant. Death would be a kindness."

Cronus warned me to think carefully. However, I refused him instantly.

With a sigh, Cronus muttered, "It's a pity I couldn't recruit you." He then addressed us all, "Then it seems it's time I sent you all packing."

Without wasting any time, I activated my true form. My divine flesh began to rot away, instantly replaced by flesh made from death energy. I teleported near Cronus and punched him in the gut, sending him flying backward until he crashed into a wall, leaving a huge crater from the impact. "Impressive," I heard Cronus say. I sensed him using the power of time on himself. Knowing what was about to happen, I slammed my hands together in an attempt to block the attack. However, it sent me crashing down several mountains. I immediately got up and cast Soul Siphon, draining the life essence from living beings throughout the realm, weakening them and potentially causing death. I placed a barrier around my siblings while doing this.

I could feel Cronus reversing the time around him to distort the effects of my soul siphoning. We were now in a confrontation between my siphoning and Cronus's time manipulation. A shimmering wave pulsed outward from him, momentarily reverting the very fabric of time around him, weakening the tendrils of dark energy reaching out from my attack.

He lunged at me, his hand blurring as it reached out. A sense of sluggishness washed over me, my movements feeling heavy as if caught in thick molasses. But I negated this effect with the help of my death energy.

Then, I used my control over riches to create weapons. Black, obsidian swords materialized in my hands, crackling with an aura of dread that pulsed with a cold, sickly green light. With a thought, I imbued them with the power to inflict wounds that wouldn't simply heal, but would fester and corrupt, slowly eating away at his flesh. The very essence of the blades held the power to sever a sliver of his soul with each strike.

I bombarded Cronus with them. Even with all the power in this avatar, he couldn't evade all the attacks and soon became clumsier. Though his temporal rewind, a shimmering distortion around him, removed some of the curse effects, he couldn't remove them all at once. The main ability of the curse was to erode his flesh and soul while eating away at most of his resources.

Cronus, not expecting this outcome, roared, "This is not over, Hades!" He roared again and summoned bubbles of materialized time. These shimmering spheres, like warped reflections of reality, pulsed with an otherworldly hum as they hurtled towards me. Though I managed to avoid being trapped within them, I still took a lot of damage as their temporal energies lashed against me.

Almost instantly, Cronus bombarded me with Time Shards: sharp shards of temporal energy that inflicted debilitating wounds. Jagged cracks of shimmering energy erupted from his fingertips, tearing through the air and leaving deep, festering wounds that pulsed with a sickly green light.

I could feel my time running out in my true form.

So, I summoned flames of death – deadly pure white flames that grow stronger as long as they burn other concepts. Anything other than death is just nutrition to them. These flames began devouring the entire domain, a white inferno that consumed everything in its path, hungrily reaching towards Cronus, who was panicking and unable to do anything against them. He just roared, "You will pay for this, Hades!"

I too felt weakened from the fight and could feel myself losing consciousness soon. However, I refused to give up. I noticed the entire realm was about to collapse and spatial storms were forming.

With a surge of power, I focused on the memory of the overworld, a realm bathed in sunlight and teeming with life. The world around us shimmered, then dissolved. We reappeared on a grassy plain, the warm sun a stark contrast to the desolate prison we had just left. Relief washed over me, momentarily pushing back the exhaustion gnawing at my core.

But our reprieve was short-lived. The effects of the battle and the strain of maintaining my true form were overwhelming. Sensing the familiar pull of the underworld, my only safe haven, I channeled the last vestiges of my strength. The world swirled once more, and then we were there, in the cold, familiar embrace of my domain. My vision swam, and I collapsed onto the hard stone floor, darkness claiming me.

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Chapter Length- 1,486 Words

Author's Message: How was the fight? It took me nearly 40 minutes to write that and also drown me in power stones!