Zeus hovered high above the battlefield, lightning dancing through his eyes.
A cold realization lingered in the back of his mind.
If he hadn't summoned the Aegis at the last second, Sunpiercer's arrow would have crippled him.
The shield had blocked the attack.
That didn't mean he'd escaped unscathed.
The Aegis possessed unparalleled defensive power, but maintaining it consumed an enormous amount of divine energy.
"Where's Hades?"
The question suddenly left Zeus's mouth.
The battle had escalated to this point. Even Poseidon, who normally contributed little beyond making noise and stirring up waves, had shown up.
Yet Hades was nowhere to be seen.
The absence bothered him.
One of the Celestial Court gods answered directly.
"We captured him."
A brief pause.
"He's currently imprisoned in the Celestial Court's dungeons."
"Impossible!"
Zeus's response was immediate.
The other Olympian gods reacted the same way.
If someone claimed Poseidon had been captured, that would have been believable.
Hades?
Not a chance.
That was Hades.
Even Zeus rarely challenged his brother without the protection of the Aegis. Otherwise, there was a very real possibility of getting beaten senseless.
The Celestial Court gods didn't bother arguing.
There was nothing worth boasting about.
After all, they had only subdued Hades because Persephone had fallen into their hands first.
Under different circumstances, many of them would have preferred fighting him head-on.
But their silence had an unintended effect.
To Zeus and the Olympians, it looked like complete indifference.
As though the Celestial Court couldn't even be bothered to defend the claim.
The implication struck like a hammer.
Maybe...
Maybe it was true.
The mood among Olympus darkened instantly.
The skies erupted.
Hurricane-force winds swept across the battlefield.
Lightning split the heavens.
Dark clouds swallowed the previously clear blue sky.
Zeus slowly raised his head.
Crackling bolts burst from his body and slithered through the air like living serpents.
Each arc unleashed violent energy shockwaves that shredded everything nearby.
The battlefield transformed into a realm of thunder.
Above him, countless bolts converged.
Thunder gathered from every direction, merging into the Lightning Spear clutched in his hand.
Among the Olympian gods, Zeus possessed the greatest authority over thunder.
And now he was drawing upon all of it.
While gathering power, Zeus secretly transmitted a message.
"Athena."
His daughter immediately turned toward him.
"Go to the Underworld."
"If Hades has truly fallen..."
Zeus didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Athena understood.
She looked at her father in surprise.
For perhaps the first time in a long while, she saw genuine resolve in him.
The situation had become that desperate.
The Celestial Court had arrived at Olympus with overwhelming force.
Seventeen beings on the level of divine kings.
A monstrous nine-headed lion capable of devouring chief gods whole.
The battle was no longer about territory or pride.
It was about survival.
Without the Lightning Spear and the Aegis, Zeus likely wouldn't have lasted this long.
This decision wasn't bravery.
It was necessity.
After delivering his instructions, Zeus stepped forward.
Divine might rolled off him like a tidal wave.
Poseidon reluctantly followed.
The other Olympian gods moved into position as well.
Zeus had already informed them of the truth.
The fate of the entire pantheon hung in the balance.
Thunder gathered around him.
More.
And more.
And more.
His aura rose continuously.
The pressure became almost unbearable.
It felt as though the next surge of power might erase the oceans themselves.
Then the wrath of thunder descended.
The sea trembled.
Countless tons of water rose into the sky before being torn apart by lightning.
Dark storm clouds descended from above, spreading across the horizon like a black curtain.
Sunlight vanished.
The ocean below darkened until it resembled an endless sea of ink.
Columns of lightning crashed down one after another.
The roar of thunder shook heaven and earth.
"That's incredible..."
Even Tempest felt genuine admiration.
Among everyone present, he understood the nature of thunder better than anyone.
And because of that, he recognized exactly what Zeus was doing.
The King of Olympus had become completely serious.
He was pushing himself beyond his limits.
Much like Odin, Zeus possessed power so overwhelming that his own divine body couldn't fully contain it.
Normally, he restricted himself to levels his body could safely endure.
Those levels were already enough to dominate most gods.
What he was using now was different.
This exceeded his natural limits.
Pain appeared on Zeus's face.
His body was beginning to break under the strain.
Yet he continued.
Solidified thunder rained down upon the Celestial Court.
The bombardment was relentless.
Every stray arc carved enormous trenches into the seafloor.
Entire sections of the ocean floor were ripped apart and vaporized by heat.
Energy waves rolled across the world.
The earth rippled like water.
Far away, entire coastlines trembled as the sea withdrew from the shores.
RUMBLE!!!
Within the endless darkness of the storm clouds, Zeus transformed.
Thunder wrapped around him.
His body expanded into a gigantic figure.
Golden light blazed from his features.
The Lightning Spear enlarged alongside him, growing into a weapon fit for a divine titan.
The Celestial Court gods immediately realized what was happening.
Zeus was preparing his strongest attack.
And this entire display so far...
Had merely been the prelude.
"That was just the warm-up?!"
Even the Celestial Court was stunned.
The Olympian gods were equally shocked.
Many had never witnessed Zeus in this state before.
The oppressive aura pouring from him was almost suffocating.
Black clouds churned overhead.
Endless lightning flooded into his body.
For a brief moment, the storm illuminated the world brighter than daylight.
Zeus's face turned pale.
A pained groan escaped his lips.
Then he roared.
"In the name of Zeus..."
The thunder carried his voice across the world.
"Meet your end!"
The giant drew back his arm.
Every ounce of strength in his colossal body flowed into a single throw.
Then he released the spear.
The Lightning Spear became a falling star.
Space tore apart before it.
The heavens split open.
The earth below cracked beneath its passage.
A radiant beam descended toward the Celestial Court.
An unavoidable strike.
An annihilating strike.
A divine strike.
Then it hit.
Not the Celestial Court.
Not any of the gods.
Instead, it collided with a small golden tower spinning gently in the air.
The Heaven and Earth Mystical Yellow Pagoda.
The ultimate defensive treasure manifested by the Black Hole Dimension.
Untouched by all techniques.
Untouched by all laws.
The strongest thunder.
Against the strongest defense.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRAAAAACK!
At the point of impact, unimaginably hot divine lightning exploded outward.
Countless flashes of light tore through space.
Ripped.
Ground.
Shredded.
The clash grew more violent with every passing second.
Then everything vanished into light.
The explosion swallowed the battlefield.
Destructive thunder crashed across the ocean.
The seafloor split apart, creating trenches so deep their bottoms couldn't be seen.
Uncontrolled energy surged in every direction.
Within seconds, the ocean floor had been melted into vast fields of multicolored crystal glass.
The air itself became scorching hot.
Tiny sparks crackled everywhere.
The entire world seemed trapped inside a furnace.
When the light finally faded, Zeus stood there breathing heavily.
His face was pale.
He leaned on the Lightning Spear for support.
His divine aura had fallen dramatically.
Even the projection of his divine soul appeared faint and unstable.
The attack had consumed an enormous amount of his power.
Still, anticipation flickered in his eyes.
He swung the Lightning Spear.
The remaining mist and smoke scattered.
Zeus looked toward the Celestial Court.
Surely someone had died.
At the very least, they should all be seriously wounded.
What he saw instead left him speechless.
The gods of the Celestial Court stood exactly where they had been before.
Uninjured.
Untouched.
Not a single casualty.
Not a single wound.
Many of them looked just as shocked as he was.
Above their heads, the golden pagoda continued to rotate slowly.
Each revolution released a circle of yellow light.
The protective radiance flowed downward, enveloping every member of the Celestial Court.
And it had blocked everything.