36 The Fall of Titans

"What is this?" Apollo asked, his golden eyes glowing in excitement.

"It's an instrument I created," Hypnos revealed. "It is something that directly speaks to the souls of others in a language that predates words." He paused. "In another term, it is called the piano."

"Are you finally going to teach me this language that predates words?" Apollo immediately requested.

"Well, you can only try for the throne of the musician, since the throne of Light is already taken," Hypnos said with a smile.

"So is that a 'yes'?" Apollo asked carefully.

"Yes,"

—Hypnos to Apollo on Music.

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Finally, the Titaness of Order thrust the sword of light into the world of chaos. "I will have Order!"

And there was Order, purging chaos into nothingness—a beam of light erupted from the sword held by Themis, striking and illuminating the ruined battlefield.

The fabric of space on the battlefield was instantly split apart to divide into different sections, slowly evolving into realms. The Titans and Gods tried to resist the Order instinctively, but it completely overwhelmed them, separating and enclosing them within realms in different battle groups, all according to the will of Themis:

Zeus and Hera vs. Kronos.

Altas vs. Demeter and Hades.

Hyperion vs. Helios.

Iapetus and Menoetius vs. Kratos and Selene.

Poseidon vs. Perses.

With the thrum of space, the Order of Themis was established, almost sealing her divided spaces. The Titaness of Order began to analyze her creations, and immediately, uncertainty bloomed in her heart. It stemmed from the obvious problem she noticed with her realms: despite her initial successful establishment of order, it would become more difficult to maintain once everyone began fighting each other, particularly Zeus, Hera, and Kronos—she had an instinctive feeling that her order wouldn't last more than a few minutes under their fight, even with the supposed assistance of Hecate and Mnesmosyne.

A dreamy power descended from the sky, as if hearing her concerns. It merged with her order, strengthening it exponentially.

And thus, the final battlefields of the Titans and Gods were completely separated into different metaphysical realms, preventing any possibility of the birth of chaos.

Themis stood in silence with Mnesmosyne and Hecate, gazing up at the sky. Despite the shocking developments of the war, it cannot be denied that they had failed to live up to their commander's expectations, most likely disappointing him. But they didn't continue to wallow in their grief, forcing their attention back to the ensuing war.

"Allow us in, Themis," muttered Hecate, breaking the silence.

"The thrones…" Mnesmosyne whispered lowly.

"Leave them," Themis said, shaking her head.

"But, but..." Mnesmosyne bit her lower lip.

"Themis is right," Hecate stated. "Remember our Lord's adage: drastic times call for drastic measures."

"The tides of war are already turning in our favour." Themis added, "Seal them." She looked at Mnesmosyne and Hecate together. "There can be no more variables."

Mnesmosyne took a deep breath, understanding the stakes, and nodded to Themis and Hecate.

Themis, in concurrence, waved her hand, granting them free passage through the realms of battlefields.

The Lady Magic and the Lady of Remembrance immediately teleported into the order of Themis, their hearts set in victory.

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In one of the metaphysical realms, Zeus and Hera stood next to each other, confronting their father in clashes of auras.

"What in Tartarus happened, Zeus?" Hera fixed her gaze on her inept brother.

"He tricked me!" Zeus snapped.

"Oh, daughter," Kronos chuckled maliciously, "it wasn't really that difficult; Zeus has too many flaws, and I just exploited one of them for my trick, and he easily fell for it like a fool, which in a way, he indeed is—"

"Enough!" Zeus yelled and summoned a cosmic bolt, but Hera stepped in and placed her hand over his shoulder.

The Goddess of the Stars cocked her head in mock concern at her father. "If I were you, Father, I would stop provoking Zeus and instead concentrate on finding a way out of the hopeless situation I'm trapped in right now."

"Enough with your fatuous words, daughter." The Titan King merely snarled. If he truly had any trepidation over the deteriorating situation of his side, he didn't show it all on his face.

"Indeed," Hera said as she rose from the ground, bathed in starlight. "Considering your situation, it's pointless; after all, you're up against not one, but two cosmic gods." She looked at her brother with clear meaning in her eyes, and he ultimately nodded begrudgingly, so they joined hands.

They charged at Titan of Time with a war cry, releasing all of their strength without restraint and directing hundreds upon thousands of cosmic beams of starlight and bolts of cosmic lightning, all powerful enough to repeatedly destroy earth countless times.

The Titan of Time, on the other hand, unleashed his power without restraint and pointed at the approaching attacks before uttering, imbuing his voice with all of his might. "Freeze."

The domain of staticity immediately engulfed the entire realm, freezing everything in chains of time, but before Kronos could rejoice, the ocean of starlight and lightning literally tore through the chains of time, countering his might due to the sheer difference in conceptual power between both sides, and his domain was destroyed.

With that, the last hopes of Kronos shattered like glass, unleashing all of his suppressed emotions from his heart.

Variables—too many variables that he had not anticipated or foreseen for this final war—completely ruined his chaos plan. He had some prospects of victory before beginning his plan, but even that was gone now.

And the Titan King tasted an emotion he had long forgotten—despair, despair unlike anything he had ever felt. It was threatening to consume his entire being. Despite all of this, there was no change in his countenance as he grabbed his scythe tightly and prepared himself to face the cosmic attacks of his wretched children.

Did you expect him to just give up in the face of this hopeless situation?

Like in Tartarus, he would!

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In another metaphysical realm, Helios and Hyperion confronted each other with grim determination, their swords clashing against each other.

The Titan of the Sun knew it was time—the time that Lord Hypnos had said would come. He began to understand the true intentions of the Primordial of the Sleep after witnessing the ascension of Themis and Demeter; the artifacts didn't just grant them the blessing of the Primordials; they also gave them a chance or a window to become something more, something greater than just godhood.

Helios wasn't certain what it was, and he didn't waste time pondering it during the war, rather preferring to take his chances with the Primordial Artefact. There was also another reason behind his decision: it was time for him to step up and finish the crucial task that the Titanesses ultimately failed at. He was well aware that this was not going to be easy, but he was never one to turn down a challenge....

Hyperion literally yanked Helios out of his fleeting thoughts, finding an opening in his defense, and kicking him in the gut, hurling him to the other side of the realm.

"Disappointing," Hyperion shook his head, walking towards his son.

"You never learn, do you, my dear son?"

"I am not your son!" Helios snarled and hurled a hail of fiery balls each the size of the palace at Hyperion.

"So disappointing," Hyperion sighed, raising his sword and swinging at the fire balls, unleashing a slew of light slashes that collided with each of them precisely.

BOOM!

A terrifying explosion erupted, blindingly illuminating the entire realm. Taking advantage of this, Helios summoned the golden primordial orb right away. He looked at it emotionally; the memories of his entire life strangely flashed past his eyes.

The Titan of the Sun wasn't sure if he would succeed in this endeavor, but as he said, he was never one to turn down a challenge, so he began to imbue his essence into it with a blazing determination.

Hyperion finally managed to wave away the explosion, and the sight that greeted him from the dispersing lights widened his eyes. "Is that—" he charged at Helios with all his might, his titanic body breaking into a colossal beam of light, threatening to tear Helios apart to his last particles.

But it was too late; Helios began to shine, his figure shedding infinite light to the point where it almost looked like the sun itself had descended on the world, which would actually be very fitting to describe this situation, for he had been granted rudimentary control over the cosmic concept of the sun by Day herself.

The infinite light of Helios literally forced Hyperion out of his divine form. An array of white chains appeared out of the light, completely entangling and suppressing the Titan of Light.

The Titan of the Sun rose from the ground, bathed in auric brilliance, his hair shimmering like golden flames. "Goodbye," he said firmly to Hyperion, who met his gaze with startled yet despairing eyes, giving him some gratification. "May we never meet again."

Helios spread his arms wide, as if attempting to hold the entire world within them. "Feel the power of the Sun!"

And the world felt it—in the Nile of Egypt, an old man riding a golden boat suddenly looked up at the sun and grunted in annoyance, and in the lands of Shinto, a beautiful divine woman in kimono robes frowned and looked back at the sun, and in the northern regions, a fiery woman rode a chariot through the sky while a gigantic wolf chased her, but abruptly, she turned and looked at the sun in shock, and in the lands of India, a bright man emitting golden rays was seated in a flying vessel pulled by seven horses, but suddenly, he stared at the sun with furrowed brows, and so on and on.

And under all of their eyes, the sun hanging high above all began to expand to the point where it occupied all the sky on both sides of the world. The blazing golden sun emitted an infinite number of scintillations of light that seemed to consume the world in its scorching embrace.

Concurrently, the cosmic sun in the center of the solar system brightened, unleashing a flurry of solar flares like the arches of heaven at the green earth that melted everything in its path, including space itself. It broke the material laws of the cosmos, arriving before Earth within an instant.

Helios manipulated it all. He willed them to join together to form a colossal pillar of light right above the Europa, more specifically the ruins of the throne room of the Titans, and then he brought his hand down.

The pillar of heaven descended onto the earth. Its descent was far too fast, to the point where others only registered its existence from within their battlefield realms when it was only a few inches above the ground. With that, all hopes of interpreting it died before it could even be born.

BOOM!

The pillar of heaven graced the earth, unleashing waves after waves of golden light and sweeping the entire world in the even more brilliance of the sun.

The first to bear the brunt of it all was Hyperion, whose titanic figure was immediately disintegrated in the ocean of the blazing light. Next were the divine thrones of the Titans, which too disintegrated under the veils of the sun, but the throne of Kronos only melted and was half-destroyed. Finally, the ground forces of the Titans, who all burned away into ashes under the flames of the sun. As for the remaining things and beings on the planet, the golden veins of the sun passed harmlessly through them.

Helios felt it in the air, in the sky, and throughout the world; it filled his senses, causing him to heave a long, emotional sigh.

Victory, it was.

He never knew it tasted so sweet.

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All the Titans sensed it right away: their powers, like their thrones, began to fade into nothingness. They were already losing the war, but the destruction of their thrones sealed the deal.

The Titans fell like dominoes, overwhelmed and defeated by the Gods, until all that remained was Kronos, their king, who remained as obstinate as a mule, refusing to admit defeat to his children.

Zeus and Hera strode towards a battered and bruised Kronos, whose powers were also waning, affected by the partial destruction of his throne, but still they didn't dare underestimate their father, keeping their senses and instincts sharp and clear.

"You have already lost, father." The Goddess of Stars uttered, staring at her father. "Give up,"

"Never," the Titan of Time hissed, his gaze fixed on his children.

"So be it," The God of Lightning snarled, fed up with his obstinate father. He yanked the crushed scythe from his father's grasp. His father tried to resist, but his might was totally lost.

"Father, there is no honor in continuing to make a stand when you have all but lost," Hera remarked kindly. "It won't make you look great, but it will just affirm to others what you really are—"

"A stubborn fool," Zeus finished for her, raising the scythe at his father.

"Perhaps I have lost." Kronos laughed darkly. "Perhaps not. My dear children, you may never know."

The prophetic words of the Titan of Time caused no ripples on the countenance of either of the cosmic gods.

"We have defeated you, and we can very well do it again," Zeus thundered majestically, his declaration resounding throughout the battlefields and attracting the attention of all—Themis had already removed her order when the pillar of heaven fell on the throne room, bringing all the different battlefields back together.

Kronos just laughed crookedly, sending chills down everyone's spine, but it was cut short when Zeus swung the cursed scythe at him, plunging him into the claws of eternal darkness.

As the Titan Lord had done to his father, the God of Lightning continued to sever Titanic being of Kronos into a thousand pieces with lightning speed. "A fitting fate, don't you think, sister?" he finished, looking back at his sister, who was just staring at the shimmering pieces that were once their father.

"Yes," Hera said. "Ironic as well."

Despite the victory they had achieved together, there was no warmth in their tones, and they didn't notice the subtle change that had happened between them either, and it would be a long time before they did; by then, it would be too late...

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Under the twilight of the sun, the Gods gathered with their allies on the ruins of Mount Othrys as the Cyclopes dragged the chained Titans before Zeus and others, forcing them to kneel in shame and unwillingness before the remains of their Lord.

Zeus strode before his defeated enemies. "Ah, my dear relatives," he chuckled, coming to a halt in the middle of them. "For the crime of being on the wrong side of a war, I, Zeus, God of Lightning and Thunder, cast you into the dark pits of Taratus for the rest of eternity."

All of the Titans hung their heads, their faces obscured by their own shadows, but Altas laughed at his captors. "You know nothing about how the cosmos works, puny gods!" he bellowed. "If you banish us, your victory will become meaningless."

Zeus proclaimed. "I can assure you that I know more about the universe than you ever did. So, of course, I was aware of the problem with the sky that would render our victory meaningless, but fortunately, I have found a solution." He gave Altas a warm smile. "Well, cousin, don't you always boast about your unending strength? Here is your moment to truly prove it to us—you are going to hold up the sky all by yourself."

"What?" Altas blinked.

"Brontes, Arges, Steropes," Zeus called. "He's all yours."

The Elder Cyclopes dragged the stunned Altas to a distant mountaintop near the ruins, where the sky was dangerously nearing Earth.

The God of Lighting finally turned and nodded to the God of Underworld, who then raised his bident and struck down on the ground, causing the earth beneath the Titans to rip open, revealing a dark and silent passage that led to the pit of evil that was Taratus. Through it, the Titans fell, and the last thing they saw was the sleeping face of a bearded man shimmering in the sky, his mouth rising to form a vicious smile that contrasted his serene countenance, before darkness consumed them.

And so, after a long and arduous ten years, the Titanomachy ended with the victory of the gods.

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