I Am Zeus

The silence on Olympus was deeper than any that had come before. It wasn't the quiet of anticipation, but of sheer, stunned disbelief. The only sound was the slow, heavy drip of golden ichor hitting stone.

Ares, the God of War, knelt broken. The massive, terrifying figure was reduced to a huddled form, one hand clamped over his ruined eye, his shoulders heaving with ragged, wet breaths. The air around him, once boiling with power, was now still and cold.

Kratos stood over him. His own chest rose and fell in heavy gusts, his skin slick with sweat and smeared with soot and his own blood. The Blades of Chaos hung loosely in his hands, their flames reduced to a dull, pulsing glow. He felt no triumph. Only a hollow, grinding exhaustion. It was done.

A flutter of movement, too fast for a mortal eye to follow, resolved into the form of Hermes. The messenger god landed lightly between them, his winged sandals barely touching the ground. His usual smirk was utterly absent. He looked from the kneeling Ares to the standing Spartan, his face a mask of open-mouthed shock. He cleared his throat, the sound unnaturally loud in the stillness.

"Well," Hermes began, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant. "I... suppose that's that." He glanced nervously towards Zeus's throne. "The, uh... the winner... by making the God of War yield... is the mortal, Kratos of Sparta."

The words hung in the air, seeming ridiculous even as they were spoken. A mortal had won. Not by trickery, not by a god's whim, but by sheer, brutal force.

From her place among the gathered deities, Athena watched, her grey eyes cool and analytical. She had seen the potential in the Spartan's rage, but this... this was a disruption. An imbalance. And as her eyes fell upon Kratos, she remembered the smoking ruins of her city, her temple defiled, her people scattered by his blind fury. Ares's humiliation was one thing. Justice for Athens was another.

A sigh, soft but carrying, escaped her lips. It was a sound of regret, of necessity.

She did not shout. She did not announce her intent. With the fluid grace of a hunter, her arm snapped forward. Her spear, a glinting shaft of divine light, flew from her hand faster than thought, aimed straight for Kratos's heart.

Kratos, his senses dulled by fatigue and the hollow aftermath of his vengeance, saw it too late.

But another did not.

There was a flash of light, a displacement of air that felt like the world itself had taken a sudden step. Zeus stood before Kratos, his back to the Spartan. The King of the Gods had not moved; he had simply appeared. His hand was raised, and clutched in his fist, stopped mere inches from his own chest, was the shaft of Athena's spear. The point quivered with arrested force.

The air grew cold enough to frost.

Zeus did not look at Athena. His gaze was fixed on some distant point, his expression unreadable. He held the spear for a long moment, the silent rebuke more powerful than any thunderclap.

Then, his eyes shifted to Hermes.

The messenger god flinched, understanding the command instantly. He swallowed hard.

"The... the contest is concluded!" Hermes announced, his voice regaining some of its usual speed. "But the grievances of Olympus are many! The Ghost of Sparta has had his vengeance upon Ares. The Goddess Athena now rightfully seeks her own for the sack of her city!" He gestured wildly between the two. "The next bout... is set! Athena versus the Ghost of Sparta!"

Kratos's head lifted slowly. His eyes, burning with a fresh kind of anger, found Zeus's. This was not over. It would never be over. They would throw champion after champion at him until he was worn down to nothing.

Zeus turned his head, meeting Kratos's gaze. The god's eyes were like deep, storm-wracked skies, holding neither malice nor kindness, only an immutable, cosmic order.

"You had your revenge on Ares," Zeus said, his voice a low rumble that vibrated in the stone beneath their feet. "You humbled him in the sight of all. A mortal feat that will be sung of for ages." He glanced at Athena, who stood rigid, her face a calm mask over simmering wrath. "Athena wishes her revenge for what you did to her city. To her people."

He looked back at Kratos, and for a fleeting second, something almost like pity touched his features. It was gone as quickly as it came.

"It is fair, son," Zeus said, the word landing with the weight of an anvil. It was not a term of endearment, but a statement of a relationship that was itself a cage. "You understand the currency of vengeance better than any."

With that, Zeus turned. He dropped Athena's spear. It clattered on the stone, the sound shockingly mundane. He did not look back at either of them as he walked slowly towards his throne, the matter settled by divine decree.

The brief respite was over. The hollow feeling in Kratos's chest was filled anew with a familiar, cold fire. He looked across the arena at Athena. She met his gaze, and now her anger was plain, a chilling, intelligent fury that promised a fight far different from the brutal onslaught of Ares.

He tightened his grip on the Blades of Chaos. The chains rattled, the embers on the blades glowing brighter as they sensed the rising storm of his will.

There would be no rest.

Elsewhere

"You really mean to invade Earth?"

"I do. Father will hate it, but that's the point. The real problem isn't the mortals—it's the gods. Insects, yes… but insects are dangerous when they swarm, especially under one commander."

"Then we strike the commander first. What do you say, Lucifer?"

Lucifer's gaze darkened, and he shook his head. "It won't be that simple. Their leader… he carries an aura like Father's. He isn't just a god—he's the king of them all."