His mother’s fang struck at evil’s heart.

A divine light blinded his vision with a rain of golden stars sailing a sea of darkness. A veil of blue droplets and cosmic dust blew before his eyes. Kairos no longer felt blood running through his veins. In fact, he didn’t feel his body at all. He had become one with the universe, a spirit that transcended flesh and matter. He was the skies and the sea, the wind and the land, the past and the future.

A wolf’s howl broke through the cosmic silence.

A darkness formed at the center of the sea of stars. A cold jail deep beneath the Earth fit for a god. A monstrous abomination raged in its depths, bound by thick chains: a colossal, emaciated wolf whose fur was made of screaming human faces. A caged god. The child-eating father of beasts and slayer of Hades. The second calamity foreseen by the titan Prometheus. The nightmare that had haunted Kairos’ dreams and inspired dread in generations of werewolves.

For all of his terrible might, Lycaon was dying.

The Fang of Aurelia had pierced his avatar’s heart and through it, the wolf-god’s very soul. The terrible beast howled in pain and despair. With each note of his last symphony, a soul escaped his belly. Millions of innocent lights fled from his gullet to return to their rightful afterlife. Kairos noticed Tiberius among them, his face vanishing from the ghoulish tapestry of Lycaon’s skin. The vile god shrank with each soul that slipped through his grasp. From taller than Orgonos and larger than a dragon, he became no bigger than a common wolf.

The last two spirits glowed brighter than all the others combined; the spirit of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and his late son Zagreus. Their cruel deaths had granted Lycaon the power of a [God]. Their treacherous murder had earned the first werewolf his bloody throne.

With them went the last embers of life in Lycaon’s flesh. The wolf-god’s final howl ended with a whimper and his old bones turned to dust. His soul would fall into the depths of Tartarus to face the endless torments he so richly deserved.

Lycaon’s divinity quickly found a fitter vessel in Kairos.

A crown fell on the Travian King’s head; not one of fragile metal or ephemeral wood, but of power itself. His crown was woven from the threads of Fate itself and imbued with divine authority.

Authority over the beasts that roamed the land, the skies, and the sea. Authority over the assassins in the dark alleys of the world, the thieves in the night, the rogues in plain sight. Authority over the hunt for power, for blood, for knowledge.

Kairos was the god of all of these things and one more: the heart of his divine portfolio, the concept he embodied to his very core. He was ambition and exploration; he was the daring voice that encouraged men to push beyond the horizon, the pursuit of something greater than oneself.

He was Adventure.

Congratulations, Kairos Marius Remus. You have ascended to [God].

Your Legend evolved to [God-Shattering Spear]. You have achieved [Immortality] and can now create your own [Pantheon]. You earned the [God of the Wild Hunt] Legendary Skill, 6 levels (total 81), and 30 Skill Points.

[God of the Wild Hunt]: Legendary Skill, 5 Stars. You embody the hunt in all of its aspects, as both the beast and hunter. All creatures are your quarry, allowing your attacks to inflict super-effective damage to any target. If you designate a single creature as your prey, you instantly learn their location and can track them anywhere. Finally, you have authority over the Lycan curse; you can instantly dominate any werewolves in your presence, inflict the werewolf curse on any humanoid if they fail a [Luck] check, and lift it at will.

[Godslayer] has been upgraded to [Godsbane Rogue]: Legendary Skill, 5 Stars. You are the patron god of rogues and assassins, inspiring fear in the powerful; no one is safe from your blade. Your attacks bypass all forms of magical protections and damage resistance, including [Immortality]. You can slay even Personifications and Protogenoi, though they will swiftly reincarnate.

[Monster King] has been upgraded to [God of Monsters]: Legendary Skill, 5 Stars. The world is your pack. Any [Demigod] or lesser monster or animal with a lesser [Charisma] than yours instantly recognizes you as the apex of their world and submits to you. Intelligent creatures with higher [Charisma] than yours are not instantly dominated, but must obey direct vocal commands. Finally, you can infuse monsters and beasts with a portion of your divine might, granting them extraordinary abilities.

[Sun of War] has been upgraded to [Sun of Adventure]: Legendary Skill, 5 Stars. You are the lightbringer who shows the path to the ambitious and the daring. Besides keeping the previous benefits of your Skill, you can see even in complete darkness. You can also invite shooting stars, the heavenly adventurers, to smite down your enemies.

[Shipbound: Foresight, Monstrous Admiral] has been upgraded to [Shipbound: Foresight, Generation Ship]: Legendary Skill, 5 Stars. The [Foresight] ties generations of sailors together. The ship can summon all its crew members past and present to sail with it again. Dead crewmembers are raised as heroic spirits and will maintain corporeal form so long as they remain on the ship’s deck.

Your [Dawnspear] has regained its full power as a Rank 5 Artifact. You can now alter the world’s atmospheric currents and control weather on a global scale.

As his spirit returned to his body, Kairos felt greater.

The wounds that threatened to kill the Travian King mere minutes ago had healed. His body had changed into the perfect version of itself. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, Kairos had shed his mortality to take flight among the rulers of the world.

His skin was unblemished and strong, as eternal as the smoothest marble. Divine ichor ran through his veins instead of blood. The fires of creation burned in his heart. His seed could take root in any soil. His senses were sharper than blades, his hands strong enough to break stone. His face was without imperfections, a vision of unearthly beauty. He would no longer suffer from the ravages of disease or the pain of old age.

Kairos stood at the apex of the world as one of its masters.

A painful raindrop fell on his shoulder and brought him down to Earth.

Warning: Mithridates-Apollyon’s [God of Poison] Legendary Skill bypasses your [Immortality]!

Remember, slaves had said to ancient heroes at their triumphs, you are mortal.

Kairos returned to reality, standing tall on a flotsam remnant of the Thalassocrator. The Fang of Aurelia had vanished alongside Romulus; only rusted armor and sorrow remained of Lycaon’s fallen Legate. Taulas’ soul had left these bones for a better afterlife.

Nothing but fragments and shipwrecks remained of Mithridates’ fleet, Thalassocrator included. Yet the scene that welcomed Kairos was one of apocalyptic destruction.

Purple clouds obscured the sunlight and cast the world below in darkness. A rain of poison fell from them on Travians and Lyceans ships, polluting Pergamon’s bay. The glimmering plankton of its depths now glowed red. From Kairos’ point of view, the sea itself appeared to bleed.

A pillar of violet light fell from the skies.

The Foresight and other flying soldiers had retreated to avoid the onslaught, but seabound ships were not so lucky. The devastating light vaporized all that it touched. Wood burnt and the screams of men were silenced in a flash. The ocean boiled where the heavenly judgment fell, its surface simmering from the steam. Poisoned fumes rose in the air from the evaporating raindrops. Even the mighty Cetae retreated into the depths to flee the destruction.

Kairos’ eyes rose high until he noticed the shadow of wooden scales slithering through the clouds.

A colossal serpent long enough to encircle Histria coiled in the skies.

The creature Mithridates had turned into was both inspiring and terrible in beauty. Much like Kairos stood at the apex of humanity, the Poison Emperor now embodied the ocean’s primeval fury.

Each of them had the power to slay the other. No one else could. If Kairos didn’t stop Mithridates, the new god of poison would single-handedly lay waste to the army on his doorstep.

The ocean rises, Kairos realized. The bay of Pergamon threatened to overspill into the plain where Cassandra and Zama waged their battle. The coast crumbled from the acidic rain and tidal waves battering the shore. One of them was powerful enough to throw Hybris himself onto the land. The great sea serpent had been upstaged as master of the sea.

Pergamon’s walls would protect it from the devastation, but at this rate, it would become no more than an island of civilization surrounded by a sea of poison. Mithridates would defend his home by destroying everything else. The god of poison would rule over graves and tombstones.

Green light arose from the coast without warning. The poisonous waves crashed against a magical barrier that spanned the horizon, unable to break past them to ravage the lands beyond. A colossal shadow stood behind this wall, its single eye shining as its mouth cast incantations.

“Go, Kairos,” said Orgonos, God of Magic. Somehow, Kairos heard him speak the tongue of the gods in spite of the vast distance. “Fulfill your destiny.”

He would.

Kairos answered the call by summoning his golden spear. The Dawnspear glowed like the sun in his hand, brimming with divine power. The new god immediately sacrificed 30 Skill Points to raise his [Luck] to A-Rank to maximize his odds and upgraded his key combat Skills.

[Heartseeker 5]. When you strike, you kill. You always inflict critical hits with all your attacks and [Insta-Death] on those who aren’t immune to it.

[Leadership 5]. Your soldiers become extensions of yourself. Your allies naturally coordinate and do not take damage from friendly fire; additionally, they receive a large bonus to all stats and are immune to all mind-affecting effects, except your own.

[Spear Fighting 5]. You are the god of spears whose mastery awes mortals and immortals alike. Fate will bend so that your strikes with spears never miss.

[Raider 5]. You are a god of fear. Any creature you inspire [Terror] in will instantly suffer from [Insta-Death] if they can perceive you. This is a [Mind] affecting effect.

[Spellblade 5]. All your weapons will inflict an additional 100 percent magical damage that cannot be lessened in any way.

[Animal Companion 5]. Your soulbound partner is now a part of you. You can now fuse with your animal companion into a chimeric being if they wish it; the resulting being possesses the higher stats of either partner and their combined Skills. You are in control for the fusion’s duration and can defuse at any time.

[Avianship 5]. You can not only ride any flying creature as if you were born on the saddle, but fly by riding the winds themselves.

[Air Superiority 5]. Your chances to avoid attacks or hit targets while you are in the air increase by 80 percent. The bonus also applies to flying mounts you are currently riding. You always benefit from weather conditions and take no penalty from them.

[Stygian Curse 5]. You can summon a cloud of toxic miasma produced by the river Styx from your mouth. This miasma is [Poisonous] to the living, though you are immune to its effects. You are immune to the negative effects of the five Underworld Rivers. You can summon the waters of the Styx by striking the ground with a weapon; the river will pour out of the spot in a torrent, permanently cursing the land and slaying the living. Finally, the wounds you inflict cannot be healed by anything short of a [God]’s Legendary Skill.

[Telchine Sorcery 5]. You have adopted the Telchine’s goetic magical traditions. You have learned how to empower your gaze with the Evil Eye to inflict the following ailments: [Charm], [Blind], [Drain], [Petrify], and [Insta-Death]. The target must have a lower [Charisma] than yours and see your eyes to be affected, but the ailment is permanent unless magically removed.

“Rook,” Kairos whispered. “Do you hear me?”

“I’m here, Kairos,” his companion answered through a telepathic link. The vast battlefield that separated them had become a narrow gap. “I feel… I feel warm and strong. I am shiny within and without.”

“We both are.” Kairos cleared his throat as he watched the Foresight dodge a beam of light. Time was not on his side. “Are Andromache and Cassandra alive?”

“Yes. We have won. But the skies…”

“We will clear them.” Kairos clenched his spear. “Together.”

He sensed his griffin nod at the other end of the link. “Let’s go, Kairos.”

Kairos recalled his partner through their link. The griffin turned into a light that crossed the distant plains and sea to find its way to his best friend. The two had always been a single soul in two bodies; now they would become one.

Kairos closed his eyes as golden wings grew out of his back. His nails turned to sharp talons. An armor of metal feathers formed over his torso and limbs. The strength of a man and a griffin, the weaknesses of neither. The changes felt as natural as changing clothes.

Kairos’ wings expanded and he took flight. The blowing wind bent to his will when he soared across the skies.

I have to drive Mithridates away from the coast and my people, Kairos thought, the acid raindrops dripping on his feathers. To the open sea.

His [Seamanship] Skill informed him that the god of poison’s acid would dilute harmlessly in the vast ocean… if he was stopped fast enough.

Kairos rose through the mantle of purple clouds until he pierced through them. He flew higher than he had ever dared to, to the upper reaches of the skies.

There was a sea above the sea, one made of clouds rather than water. Purple smog and white nimbuses formed a layer separating Kairos from the world below. The dorsal fins of a giant serpent slithered under the bright sun.

“Mithridates!” Kairos’ voice boomed like thunder. “I challenge you! Let us settle this once and for all!”

The great leviathan answered his challenge.

The beast’s head arose from the sea of clouds in all of its terrible glory. Mithridates’ shape reminded Kairos of a mighty dragon with two gargantuan, translucent fins flapping on the sides like wings. His eyes were golden furnaces below silver horns the length of a tower. His jaws could snap a warship in half with a single bite; his gullet was a burning abyss.

Fighting this monster sounded as absurd as emptying the ocean with a bucket, but the Travian God-King had to try all the same.

The leviathan’s scales were made of the same thick wood as the Thalassocrator. Twisted copies of Mithridates’ fair human visage grew on each of them, forked purple tongues slithering between their fangs.

“Remember that you have chosen this, Kairos.” Mithridates’ voice was that of the cold and cruel sea; the wind that blew ships against clashing rocks, the tide that dragged sailors to their graves. “You have chosen to lead these men to their death on foreign soil! You will atone for my land's profanation with your life!”

“I have killed two gods.” Kairos pointed his glowing spear at the beast’s burning maw. A hundred fiery stars appeared in the skies above them. “And today I shall slay my third!”

The great leviathan roared in defiance, and the God-Shattering Spear summoned the stars down to Earth.

Zama’s army perished with him.

[One for All] allowed the general to share his successes and sorrows with his men. What had been their strength, the soldiers’ divine union with their general, became their demise. When Zama fell to the ground with a gashing wound on his chest, so did all of his soldiers. The lightning coursing through the skies died out without any mage to maintain it. The unbeatable Valian phalanxes that had thrashed Cassandra’s soldiers mere seconds ago crumbled like sandcastles.

Death reaped its toll.

Even [Regen] won’t save him from this, Cassandra thought as she stood over Zama. The agonizing general clutched two holes in his thorax deep enough that one could see the other side. His blood poured out of the flesh pits into the mud.

However, Cassandra paid more attention to her father-in-law. Dispater had collapsed from his injury. Zama’s sword had cut through his silver armor and stained it with blood.

“Lord Dispater, do not move,” Cassandra pleaded. Thankfully, Andromache immediately rushed to provide Dispater with a healing spell.

“I’m fine…” Dispater gritted his teeth, his face pale as Andromache’s glowing hands touched his wound. “I’ve had worse.”

“Agh…” Zama gargled, blood pouring from his mouth. It astonished Cassandra that he could even speak in his current state. “Twas… twas unexpected… didn’t think a Lycean…”

“Had it in him?” Pain strained Dispater’s smile. “A true general doesn’t ask of his soldiers what he isn’t willing… to do himself…”

General Zama’s eyes flashed with a brief look of agreement. He gazed at Cassandra’s fork, its points still dripping with his blood. “Was it… revenge for your husband?”

“Yes,” Cassandra replied. “I will not pretend it was for a nobler cause.”

“I understand… I fought in love’s name too…” Zama had enough strength to glare at Dispater. “Better love… than his greed.”

“I didn’t fight to protect anyone from Mithridates,” Dispater admitted bluntly. “I did it for vainglory. I was a fool and paid the price for my folly, I shan’t deny it.”

“Does it matter?” Andromache asked with a sneer. She removed her hand from Dispater’s flank, having closed the wound. “Whatever your reasons, thousands died for both of you.”

Zama snorted, his breath growing heavier and weaker. “[One for All] only works… if my soldiers were ready to die for me… and if I was… willing to suffer for them. One for all… all for one… My only regret… is that we failed to kill you.”

“Do you regret allying with Mithridates?” Cassandra asked. “With Lycaon?”

A flash of remorse appeared on Zama’s expression, but he held her gaze all the same. “Do you regret… Orichalcos?”

Cassandra sighed. “I do. I wish there had been a better way.”

Zama looked sorrowful in his last moments. “War makes a beast… of us all.”

“We will return your body to Vali for an honorable burial,” Cassandra promised her fallen enemy. “Though you were our foe, you deserved this mercy at least.”

“A burial… in the desert? You cruel woman, I would rather… the bottom of the sea…” Zama closed his eyes. “At her side…”

The Undefeated General had won a hundred battles in his life, but he could only ever lose one.

As his last breath left Zama’s body, Cassandra sensed a warmth take over her innards. A power within her as bright as the stars, as ancient as the world. The same energy that had raced through her veins in Achlys after inheriting her fork returned stronger than ever.

Congratulations, you have upgraded your Rank from [Hero] to [Demigod]! You have earned seven levels (total 67) and 21 Skill Points.

You [Legend] evolved from [Lady of Cinders] to [Fire’s Widow]. You have earned the [To the Bitter End] Legendary Skill. Your other Legendary Skills have been upgraded.

[To the Bitter End]: Legendary Skill, 4 Stars. Your determination to keep your allies alive grants them strength. When an ally fighting at your side would be killed, once per day they instantly regenerate from all their wounds instead.

More information appeared on the screen, but a quake interrupted Cassandra before she could analyze it. A violet light rained on the bay from above to sow death and destruction. The colossal shadow of an enormous dragon had appeared in the skies above Pergamon.

Cassandra had a sense of déjà vu. She thought back of Orichalcos, of the dreadful horror its puppet king had turned into once cornered. The dragon he had become looked pitifully small compared to the gargantuan beast devastating the Travian-Lycean fleet.

“What is that thing?” Dispater asked, his voice trembling.

“Mithridates,” Andromache hissed between her teeth. “That fool!”

How can we even fight something so powerful? Cassandra wondered. Ultor was alive, but so wounded that he would need extensive healing magic to recover. Rook couldn’t even fly anymore.

Wait.

“Where is Rook?” Cassandra asked. She had suddenly noticed the griffin’s absence. “Rook, where are you?”

“Cassandra.”

A voice echoed in her head, neither male nor female.

“We need you,” the entity said. “Come, please. There is no time. My captain and my feathered friend are fighting, but they need us. They need you.”

“Who are you?” Cassandra asked back as shooting stars lit up the cloudy skies.

“I am an explorer. I am the survivor of a hundred battles. I am the friend who witnessed your joys and sorrows. I am the hull and the deck, the sail and the oars.”

Cassandra had guessed the name before the voice even revealed it.

“I am Foresight.”

Kairos’ ship had finally become self-aware.

“It’s my other half,” Andromache whispered. “He’s calling me. He’s calling us.”

The nymph answered the Foresight’s summon and vanished in a bright flash of light.

Cassandra looked to the skies, and then at Dispater.

“Go,” her father-in-law said. Lycean soldiers rushed to his side and helped him stand. “Show the world your bravery, Cassandra. Make us all proud.”

Cassandra nodded and surrendered herself to the Foresight’s call. In an instant, she was teleported straight onto the flying ship’s deck.

Cassandra found it already crowded. The core crew except for Kairos was present alongside Agron, even though the minotaur had commanded the Bridgeburner in the naval battle. Cass’ own second-in-command Chloris and even the mermaid Nausicaa had shown up.

But the dead far outnumbered the living. Hundreds of spirits had answered the Foresight’s call, each of them made of translucent golden light and carrying spectral weapons. Cassandra recognized many familiar faces among them. People she had lost in Achlys, in Histria, and in so many other places. Julia had immediately set out to organize them while the Foresight reconverted its surface to expand its deck.

“Cass!”

Hearing Nessus’ voice brought a smile to her lips. The ghostly satyr approached her alongside Rhadamanthe’s specter and a third person Cassandra’s didn’t recognize. The man looked to be in his middle age, handsome with coal-black hair and a roguish grin. He lacked any weapon, and most importantly, he was alive.

“Who are you?” Cassandra asked with a frown. She knew each surviving member of the crew by name but couldn’t recognize the man’s face.

“The Foresight’s first captain,” said the stranger.

“The greatest pain in Zeus’ ass,” Nessus replied with a chuckle.

Cassandra activated [Observer], her eyes widening in shock upon seeing the result.

Prometheus, Titan of Foresight

Legend: Father of Mankind (God)

Pantheon: Titans.

Level: ???

“I told Kairos once.” The ancestor of all men smiled. “This vessel was named after me.”

“I am surprised the ship could summon you, Lord Prometheus,” Rhadamanthe said. He didn’t seem surprised to see the infamous titan among them, let alone alive. Cassandra thought he had perished in the Anthropomachia alongside the Olympians.

“I might have retired long ago, but this ship has sentimental value to me. I entrusted its captains with protecting the Sunsea, so how could I deny them my help in their last battle?”

“There better be an explanation once we’re done,” Cassandra said. Kairos knew, she realized. But he kept it for himself.

“There will be,” the titan promised, his smile unwavering. “Know that I will lend you my strength today, if you will have it.”

“With pleasure, Lord Prometheus.” Kairos’ late father Chron arrived with Panos’ ghost. “We will need every soldier we can.”

Cassandra smiled to greet her former captain and lover, until she noticed Romulus following them.

She quickly noticed something different in Lycaon’s Legate. His armor had turned into translucent golden light, much like the other spirits. His funeral mask now represented Taulas’ visage. The aura of dread and bloodlust that followed the undead had vanished, alongside his overwhelming power. He looked like the peaceful embers of an extinguished inferno; still capable of burning the unwary, but warm and soothing.

“Taulas? Is that you?” Cassandra asked.

“What I should have been, Cass. A free wolf, not a shackled bloodhound.” Taulas’ hands tightened on the pommel of his sword. “I am truly sorry for the pain I inflicted.”

“I do not begrudge you. It was Lycaon’s fault.” Cassandra smiled widely at her former friend. “But how did you—”

“Kairos freed him,” a familiar voice said behind Cassandra, “and me.”

Cassandra suppressed the urge to cry as she turned her head. Unlike Orpheus, whose wife had vanished when he dared to look at her, Tiberius’ ghost remained. Her husband moved to hug her and she returned the gesture. He was unfathomably cold to the touch, but she held him tightly all the same.

“I thought your soul was lost forever,” Cassandra whispered.

“I was lost, but I found you again,” Tiberius muttered back. “My spirit will always be with you.”

Cassandra broke the embrace as lightning thundered in the skies. The Foresight had summoned a bubble above its deck to protect its crew from acidic rainfall. The monster that Mithridates had become slowly ascended above the cloud; surprisingly, he stopped raining down destruction upon the Lycean fleet.

Considering Rook’s disappearance, this could only mean one thing. Kairos had engaged the great serpent in battle.

“Soldiers!” Julia shouted to receive everyone’s attention. Andromache stood at her side, her staff brimming with magical power. “You have all been summoned by my husband, King Kairos of Travia, captain of this ship!”

The Queen of Histria pointed a sword at the toxic clouds and the beast flying through them. “King Mithridates of Pergamon had surrendered his humanity to become a wicked beast! If not stopped, he will lay waste to the land and poison the seas! My husband is fighting him as we speak to save the lives of thousands! Millions! Dead or living, will you answer the call to arms?!”

“YES! YES!” many shouted. Cassandra raised her fork. “WE FIGHT!”

“This I like,” Julia replied before turning to Agron. “Go on, my friend.”

“My ship was flung at the walls when that creature came out of the Thalassocrator.” Agron’s voice brimmed with cold anger as he said that. “I survived and the Foresight called me, but I would have answered the call for blood even if I had perished. I will have retribution.”

Cassandra was no stranger to Agron’s violence, but never before had the minotaur looked so furious. His fingers trembled with silent rage. The Bridgeburner had been a gift from his previous captain and its destruction would be avenged with force.

“I have already fought a similar creature and I know how to deal with this one,” Agron declared, his Songaxe resting on his shoulder. “If he’s like that dragon I slew in Orichalcos, then we must target the head. What remains of Mithridates’ human body hides there.”

“King Kairos has already engaged Mithridates in battle,” Thales countered. “Our priority should be to distract the creature and assist him in battle. I suggest destroying the fins first.”

Chron’s ghost nodded before turning to Cassandra. “Which strategy do we follow, Cassandra?”

“Why are you asking me?” Cassandra asked with a frown. “Prometheus should take the lead. He’s the only [God] among us.”

The titan grinned. “On the contrary, child. No one is fitter for command than you.”

“You’re the first mate, Cass,” Nessus reminded her. “In the captain’s absence, we’ll follow your lead.”

Julia smiled. “Andromache informed me that you defeated Zama, Cassandra. If we won’t follow the person who could outwit the [Demigod] of strategy, who else should we follow?”

“Trust in yourself,” Andromache said. “As we trust you.”

Cassandra gathered her breath as hundreds of eyes from the living and the dead turned to her. She looked up at the colossal serpent above their heads, then at her deceased husband. Tiberius took one of her hands in his own with a reassuring smile.

His soul would follow her all the way down to Tartarus if she asked.

“Then I say we do both! Let us save our captain and cut down the snake’s head!” Cassandra raised her fork above her head, ghostly flames burning on its tips. “Today, we take down Mithridates and end this war! For Travia! For Kairos!”

“For Kairos!” the crew shouted as one. “For victory!”

The Foresight echoed them with a roar as it sailed across the clouds.

The dragon swept his tail as stars fell down to earth.

Like a cleaver cutting through soft flesh, the movement split the sea of clouds. Two waves of nimbuses spread as a terribly long appendage hit fiery rocks falling from the heavens above. Even though Kairos controlled the very winds, he sensed his control falter from the sheer blowback.

The shooting stars were no bigger than Kairos himself, and to his surprise looked more like incandescent stones than the miniature suns he had expected. The comets proved effective all the same. A hundred of these projectiles hit Mithridates everywhere it counted. Some bounced off his thick scales. Others exploded on contact with his vile reptilian visage. A few failed to hit their mark and disintegrated through the poisonous clouds surrounding the leviathan.

Tiny bits of flesh fell off Mithridates’ body by the dozens, but his scales shifted to cover the damage. He did not regenerate, not truly. Instead fresher scales hidden beneath the old ones moved to cover the openings Kairos’ projectiles pierced in his natural armor.

If I have to destroy them one at a time, we’ll fight until the next winter, Kairos thought. The Travian King had managed to drive Mithridates above the open ocean and redirected air currents to prevent destructive acid rain from spreading through the atmosphere to foreign lands. However, he wouldn’t be able to keep that up for long. Mithridates had become a god of equal power whose influence fought Kairos’ the whole way.

Go for the eyes, Kairos! Rook’s voice echoed in the back of his mind. The eyes!

Kairos threw his Dawnspear at the leviathan’s left eye. In spite of the impossible distance between them, his weapon flew by itself straight at its target. Fate bent cause and effect to ensure it wouldn’t miss.

The Dawnspear incinerated the beast’s eye in a fiery nova.

Mithridates let out a roar that shook the skies and the earth on impact. His jaws lunged at Kairos in righteous anger but snapped on empty air. The Travian God-King felt as swift in the wind as a fish in water.

For all of his immense power, Mithridates was as slow as his immense size implied. He could lay waste to islands and civilizations well enough, but struggled to hit a smaller target the same way a bull failed to sweep aside an annoying mosquito.

The transformation had also clearly driven the cunning Poison Emperor to madness. There was no strategy, no feints in his attacks. Only overwhelming strength and destruction. The leviathan’s uncontrollable power would harm the very land that he desperately sought to protect.

A lesser shard of Poseidon’s trident had turned King Triton into a mindless animal. Mithridates had managed to keep a sliver of wits through the strength of his resolve, but by taking the mantle of primeval might he had lost much of himself in the process. Unlike Kairos, his godhood hadn’t been earned but borrowed from an artifact. Mithridates had become the conduit of a greater power that he struggled to control.

You knew you could never hope to rule in your state, Kairos thought. You were willing to sacrifice everything to protect your home. Your throne, your sanity, your very humanity. If anything, I admire your resolve.

These thoughts made Kairos all the more determined to win.

If he continued to dodge and strike, he would eventually find a weak point to exploit in the leviathan’s armor.

If.

Either his Skills negate [Insta-Death] or this is all a shell, Kairos thought as Mithridates chased after him like an eel on the hunt. The beast’s left eye had turned into a charbroiled husk, the Dawnspear still stuck where it hit. Kairos’ [Stygian Curse] prevented it from regenerating. He should have fallen dead from that blow otherwise.

Agron had managed to slay a similar creature in Orichalcos by targeting a weak point on the forehead. Could Mithridates’ new form work in the same way? Was there a core of some kind hidden somewhere in that thick skull?

Kairos summoned his spear back to his hand and looked over his shoulder straight into the dragon’s remaining eye. “[Telchine Sorcery: Insta-Death]!”

The curse traveled through his gaze and failed to take hold in Mithridates.

“You shall not survive!” Violet light built up in the leviathan’s gullet. “[Profanation Breath]!”

Kairos immediately darted to the left as fast as he could, to exploit the leviathan’s new blind spot. Good thing he did, for the violet light soon erupted into a beam of terrible destruction. The sheer destructive power of the blast sent shockwaves rippling through the clouds like shattered glass. The horizon glowed in a violet blaze.

Kairos created a tunnel of wind in a desperate attempt to escape the ruinous light. The rogue turned invisible and moved up, hoping to fool the creature. It was all for naught. Mithridates somehow sensed him and oriented his jaw up to keep targeting him.

The leviathan ran out of breath before he could hit Kairos, but he immediately started inhaling again. The Travian God-King disabled his useless invisibility to strike from the right, aiming his spear at Mithridates’ last eye.

He almost threw his weapon when he sensed a subtle change in the winds. Something colossal rushed through the sea of clouds from below.

Kairos barely had the time to summon a tunnel of wind as a colossal geyser rose right below him. The sheer amount of pressurized water would have shamed a volcanic eruption. Its color was purple and reeked of poison.

Mithridates-Apollyon's [Thalassic Desolation] summoned the wrath of Pontus!

Kairos quickly found himself on the defense as two more, then three geysers rose from under him. He had to move left and right to dodge these mountains of water, and couldn’t throw his Dawnspear. He needed it to orient the winds, to give him the speed edge needed to escape. A direct hit from these attacks would vaporize him even with his immortality.

I need to summon more shooting stars, Kairos thought as Mithridates finished gathering energy. I need to make him miss me.

A volley of fireballs shot from the clouds below hit Mithridates in the right eye.

The surprise attack made the leviathan fire his beam prematurely. The ruinous light illuminated the skies but failed to hit its intended target.

None was more surprised than Kairos when he saw the Foresight rise from the sea of clouds close to Mithridates’ right. The ship was filled to the brim with soldiers. Kairos’ sharp sight, enhanced by his fusion with Rook, allowed him to see the crowds on its deck. Cassandra barked orders to Julia, Andromache, Agron, Thales, and so many more. Golden shadows of Nessus, of Tiberius, of Rhadamanthe, and Kairos’ family members raised bows and fire rods at the world-eating serpent. To his relief, the Foresight’s captain noticed Taulas among them.

None surprised him more than the titan at the ship’s helm.

Prometheus’ [Father of Mankind] raised the stats of all humans in his vicinity by one stage. His [Thief of Fire] Legendary Skill empowered [Fire] attacks! They will bypass [Fire] Resistance and Immunity!

Cassandra shouted an order and the Foresight’s crew launched a fiery barrage at the leviathan. Burning arrows, light projectiles, incendiary ballista shot and deadly spells flew by the hundreds. Each of them hit their mark to the tune of Agron’s songs.

Numerous explosions shook the leviathan and burnt the right side of his face. His wooden scales burned; his eye turned into a smoking crater; his silver horn snapped and fell into the void below with its fin. Festering flesh laid exposed under the bright sunlight.

The spear is community, the sword is solitude, Kairos thought. On their own, his men wouldn’t have even scratched a monster as powerful as Mithridates’ divine form. But from Kairos’ [Leadership] to Prometheus’ support and Agron’s magic, they benefited from dozens of buffs.

The whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

The enraged leviathan attempted to blow the Foresight out of the skies by ramming its hull from the side. The beast’s head hit the flying ship with enough force to shake it, but thankfully didn’t destroy it outright. The Foresight kept a steady course even as cracks appeared on its hull.

Kairos turned back to support his allies and flanked Mithridates from the left. The sun’s fiery flames formed at the tip of his spear and grew with the rising wind. A stream of flames incinerated the leviathan from one side while the Foresight bombarded it from the other.

A crown of fire soon burnt on Mithridates’ head, followed by a mantle of smoke. The mighty geysers that now marred the sky collapsed under their own weight as their creator failed to maintain them. The festering flesh of the leviathan’s head lay exposed for all to see.

“Kairos!” The Travian God-King heard Cassandra shout. “Now is the time!”

Yes, it was.

With all of our might! Rook’s voice echoed in his head.

The right moment had come.

Kairos created a tunnel of wind that carried on for kilometers before looping upon itself. He dove into it with all of his speed, all of his strength, all of his hopes. The currents that governed the clouds, the rain, the winds, and the sea pushed him onward. He grew faster and faster. Faster than the wind. Faster than sound. Faster than lightning.

The God-Shattering Spear looped in the skies, moving above the leviathan’s head and then falling down. Kairos pointed his spear at the beast who had been his bitterest rival, his greatest foe, his opposite. The tip of his weapon glowed like the morning star guiding the lost at night.

Images flashed before Kairos’ eyes. The day he stuck a dagger in Pelopidas’ eye and became a [Hero]. The first night that he shared with Andromache. The day of his wedding with Julia. His duel with Jason of Iolcus, the hunt for the Nemean Lion, his first time seeing Orichalcos. He remembered his duel in the skies with Teuta, his journey into the Underworld, and the death of Helios. And most of all, he remembered his mother’s death, his brother’s demise, and the sacrifices of all the brave people who had made this moment possible.

This blow carried the weight of his adventures, of his ambition, of his joy and his sorrows.

It carried the weight of his [Legend].

“Mithridates!” Kairos screamed. His hands trembled with jubilation. “Witness me!”

The leviathan let out a final roar as death struck from above.

Kairos drove into the creature’s forehead like an arrow of light. His spear pierced through burning flesh and poisonous veins. It drove through a skull strong as steel and a brain soft as silk.

All the way to the man within.

Kairos drove his spear through his heart. Then he pushed and pushed, until they came out of the other side.

When at long last Kairos’ momentum stopped, he was flying underneath the shadow of a great serpent. He had pierced a hole through its skull. A man hung impaled at the end of his spear, clutching a broken trident in his left hand.

“What did you have…” Mithridates bitterly spat ichor on the spear’s shaft. Light slowly faded from his tired eyes. “That I didn’t?”

Kairos glanced at the Foresight soaring through the sea of clouds and the hundred friends who followed him in battle. “I had them.”

Maybe Mithridates would have had a chance if they had fought on equal terms, one god versus another. But a true rogue never fought without stacking the deck in their favor.

Kairos would never have made it this far without the support of his crew, of his allies, of his family, and friends. He wouldn’t have become a [Legend] without them, let alone a [God]. It was their victory as much as his.

Whereas Mithridates had never learned to trust others, Kairos had let people inside his heart. They had filled it with warmth and strength.

“You always stood high above common men, Mithridates. It was your ruin… and your glory.” Kairos marked a short pause. “It’s a shame. Had things been different we could have been allies. We weren’t so different at the end of the day.”

Mithridates answered with a scornful laugh, a final look of defiance in his eyes. “Have you learned nothing, pirate king? It was because I saw myself in you… that I have hated you so fiercely.”

So spoke the last King of Pergamon as he turned to dust. The broken trident slipped from his grip only to find a new home in Kairos’ hand. The weapon that had destroyed the world once felt terribly light between his fingers.

Kairos flew to the side as the leviathan’s immense body fell down. The mighty corpse tore the sea of clouds apart in its fall, revealing the waters below. The gargantuan remains then hit the Sunsea’s surface below in a cataclysmic tide as the poisonous clouds returned to normal.

Kairos watched on with a mix of satisfaction, and to his own surprise, a little pity.

The ocean carried away the leviathan’s corpse as it sank, and with it, the last embers of a bygone age. The Thessalan Empire had died with its last defender.

Will we harvest parts? Rook asked in his mind.

“Not today, Rook,” Kairos replied as waters carried his fallen foe into the ocean's depths. “Not from him.”

Kairos turned to the Foresight and swiftly followed after the ship. He flew close to the deck, where past and present generations shouted as one.

“Kairos! Kairos! Kairos!” They sang. Men and women, the old and the young, the living and the dead, gods and mortals, it did not matter. At that moment they were one. “Kairos!”

Even the Foresight let out a cry of triumph.

Kairos smiled as he and his crew sailed the clouds, facing the distant sun.

The War of the Pantheons had ended.

The new dawn belonged to them.