Now is not the time to despair!
Boom!
Just as the Sun Chariot was about to safely ascend to the peak of the sky, a massive surge of divine power shot up from below, striking both the chariot and the four solar horses.
The Sun Chariot shook violently. Phaethon, panicking, looked down at the earth and saw two towering gods locked in battle amidst the mountains of Thrace, in the northeastern part of Greece.
Both of these gods were male.
One was a Titan, a giant with a muscular build, appearing to be around thirty years old.
The other was a younger god, also tall and broad-shouldered, looking to be in his twenties.
As the two clashed—fists against fists, spears against spears—the mountains and plains of Thrace trembled with each blow.
Fortunately, after Zeus and Poseidon had wiped out the humans of the Bronze Age, the new fourth generation of humanity was sparse. So, the battle between these two gods didn't cause the kind of unimaginable devastation it could have.
The massive divine power that had just struck the Sun Chariot and the solar horses was clearly a stray attack from their fight.
"Wow, that's incredible!" Phaethon couldn't help but exclaim, feeling the overwhelming waves of divine power from the battle below, even from his high vantage point in the sky.
"They must be two greater gods—no! They've got to be supreme gods, just below the King of the Gods!"
Each of the four solar horses pulling the chariot had the power of an intermediate god. Together, their combined strength could rival that of an ordinary greater god.
But the sheer force of that stray attack, just a byproduct of the battle below, had been enough to shake the Sun Chariot. That was something no mere greater god could do.
Phaethon focused intently on the two supreme gods fighting below. Soon, he noticed a small, winged goddess joyfully circling the Titan, as if singing in delight.
Meanwhile, in the shadow of the younger god, a red-haired goddess flickered in and out of sight, amplifying his power.
Unfortunately, despite both being supreme gods, the younger god was clearly outmatched by the Titan.
Even Phaethon, witnessing a divine battle for the first time, could tell that the Titan was merely toying with the younger god, not even using his full strength.
As Phaethon tried to guess the identities of the two gods, their spears clashed once more.
Then, whether by accident or design, the younger god's spear flew backward, slicing through the air toward the sky.
Whoosh!
A devastating slash of divine power shot toward the Sun Chariot at lightning speed.
If Phaethon's father, Helios, had been driving the chariot, he would have easily deflected the attack, just like the Titan below. But Phaethon was not Helios.
Even the four solar horses knew Phaethon couldn't handle the divine strike. They panicked, speeding up in an attempt to veer off course and avoid the attack from below.
"Whoa, hold on!" Phaethon yanked the reins roughly, his voice almost pleading. "You can veer upward, but whatever you do, don't fly downward!"
It was noon, the time when the sun's light was at its brightest and most intense.
If the Sun Chariot veered below its path, wildfires would break out across the land, giving Zeus a perfect excuse to strike Phaethon down with his thunderbolt.
Of course, even veering upward was a near-suicidal move for Phaethon.
Back in the mountains of Thrace, after fending off the younger god's attack, the Titan noticed the Sun Chariot drifting off its usual course. He glanced up at the sky.
"So, it's not my brother Helios driving the chariot today, but his son."
Turning his gaze back to the younger god in front of him, the Titan frowned and asked, "Son of Zeus! Was that an intentional strike on the Sun Chariot just now?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" the young god said, his face expressionless.
"Titan, who refuses to bow to my great father Zeus, let's continue our fight! I will defeat you and take your divinity, along with your rule over Thrace."
"What a pity! Since you're too arrogant to recognize your own limits, I guess it's time to end this little game of ours."
As the two gods unleashed their earth-shattering divine power and clashed once more, high above in the sky...
Phaethon, standing in the Sun Chariot, was now engulfed in blazing golden flames.
This was because he had flown too close to the sun. The solar power the chariot absorbed had exceeded what Phaethon could handle, and the excess had manifested as the Sun's fire, pouring out from the chariot.
Though his body was covered in the fierce flames of the sun, filling him with terror, Phaethon managed to stay calm through sheer force of will.
"It's fine! It's fine! I'm covered in the sacred ointment my sister Circe made for me. These flames can't hurt me."
The ointment, smeared over Phaethon's body, acted like an impenetrable shield, protecting him from the fire.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, realizing the flames could only burn on the surface of his body, his eyes widened in horror. He saw flames pouring out of his mouth.
"What—what's happening? The Sun's fire from the chariot can't harm me, so why am I—"
Focusing on his body, Phaethon was shocked to discover that, at some point, flames had started burning inside him.
As the fire raged within, a strange, unfamiliar divine power—one that wasn't of the light—began coursing through every part of his body.
This is terrifying—so terrifying—my body is burning from the inside. I have to find a way to put out this fire!
Driven by a powerful survival instinct, Phaethon looked down at the vast, blue Mediterranean Sea below.
If he could just steer the Sun Chariot into the sea, the endless water would surely extinguish both the flames on his body and the fire burning inside him.
But…
No.
He couldn't let the chariot dip below its proper path. If he did, he wouldn't be met by the embrace of the sea goddess, who could douse the flames. Instead, Zeus's thunderbolt—powerful enough to destroy even gods—would be waiting for him.
"Even if my body is burning, even if I'm reduced to ashes in the end, I can't give Zeus a reason to kill me!"
With that resolve, despite the flames consuming him inside and out, Phaethon pushed down his fear and pulled the reins, guiding the Sun Chariot back onto its proper course.
"Phaethon…"
High in the sky below the heavens, Circe's eyes widened in pain as she saw her brother's body engulfed in flames. She let out a heart-wrenching cry.
"My child! Now is not the time to despair!" The voice of Helios, the Sun God, echoed in Circe's ears.
"Phaethon is a descendant of the Sun God! If he can overcome his fear of the Sun's fire and master his true power, then there's still hope for him to survive."