Clyde remained on the ground for a while, the breath burning in his lungs as if fire coursed through them. His entire body pulsed with the aftershock of that final deflection, that Zeus’s full wrath concentrated into one lance of divine fury.
He had held it back but now he was paying the price. He just acting tough back then but the pressure of that attack actually pretty devastating.
The mist around him faded to a wisp. The weight of everything caught up to him all at once.
His limbs felt leaden. His vision blurred at the edges. All that happened had pushed him beyond even his higher being limits right now.
But now... now he felt it all start to crumble. His flesh protested. His mind flickered dangerously close to collapse.
"Damn it..." he whispered to himself, the words barely audible. He thought that it would be enough.
After everything he thought he had surpassed the threshold. That with more strength of the Ancient One infusing his every cell with his high lever and Asqa beside him, he could kill more.
But that last clash proved otherwise.
He had survived but nit as strong as they thought. He knows that Asqa also exhsusted.
Still... they had killed five Celestials.
Fujin. Amaterasu. Tsukuyomi. Susanoo, and Hachiman.
That alone will be shifted the balance of the cosmos and send terror rippling through the higher realms.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his cracked lips even through the pain.
"We’re not done yet," he thought.
Asqa knelt beside him, her breath shaky but steadier than his breath.
Her hand gripped his arm. She helped him up slowly, letting him lean against her as they both rose.
Their bodies trembled under the strain of what they’d endured.
"I can barely move," Asqa muttered, her voice low but calm.
Clyde gave a dry chuckle even as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. "You and me both."
Their gazes met again. They didn’t need to say much. The bond between them that was forged in carnage and pain said more than words ever could.
The sound of approaching feet echoed across the courtyard. Clyde turned his head slightly to see the mansion’s guards rushing forward in alarm.
But Clyde raised a hand slowly, fingers trembling.
"I’m fine," he said hoarsely. "Stand down."
The guards hesitated, clearly uneasy at the sight of their master barely able to stand, covered in burns and blood.
But they obeyed, backing away silently.
Clyde and Asqa turned toward the mansion. Step by step, they made their way through the courtyard, past the statues and broken stone, and through the tall front doors that creaked open for them without a word.
The halls were quiet.
They said nothing as they moved.
Finally, they reached the bedroom that Clyde thinks offering a cold kind of comfort.
Clyde dropped onto the edge of the massive bed, exhaling deeply. He leaned forward, elbows on knees, head low. Sweat mixed with dried blood on his face.
Asqa sat beside him, her body stiff. One of her hands rested on his back. Not gentle, but grounding as if saying she is present beside him.
They sat there in silence, the weight of the battle hanging heavy in the air. And just like that for few minutes.
No victory celebration or joy for now. Its not the time for that yet.
Only the raw truth of what they’d survived and what still lay ahead.
The truth is they still not strong enough and need to do more.
In the ruined domain of Amaterasu, ash drifted like snow through the scarred sky, and the once radiant palace now lay in smoldering ruins.
Cracks ran through the ground like bleeding wounds. Fire left by the solar flare still flickering from shattered walls.
Zeus knelt amidst the wreckage, his body trembling. His figure now hunched, hands planted on scorched earth as if the weight of the world had suddenly crushed him.
His face was pale, eyes wide with disbelief, staring blankly at the broken remains of his fallen kin.
He still remembered how Clyde deflected his strongest attack with one hand. Clyde also looks like he didn’t put a lot of effort.
Bael approached slowly, his crimson cloak fluttering in the sulfurous wind.
"We need to go," Bael said flatly. "There’s no time to mourn the dead."
Zeus didn’t respond at first. But when he finally lifted his head, lightning crackled in his eyes, flickering wildly.
"You just don’t feel it," Zeus growled, his voice rising. "Because they weren’t your kind!"
He turned his gaze down toward the storm god, the faintest twitch in his jaw.
"My kind?" he echoed coldly. "I thought we were in this together now. We shouldn’t be divided by kind or realms."
The words hung in the air and Zeus felt it sharp in his heart.
Zeus looked away, exhaling harshly. He realized the truth in Bael’s words but his pride would not let him apologize. The grief and fury was still too fresh.
Bael’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing more. Instead, he turned with a slow, deliberate movement and raised a clawed hand.
A portal shimmered into existence, swirling with violet flame and blood-red light.
"I’m going to gather the rest of the higher beings," Bael muttered. "You do whatever you want."
Without waiting, he stepped through, his army following behind like shadows slipping into the void.
The portal remained open.
Zeus stared into it, jaw clenched.
Then, after a long moment of silence, he rose to his feet.
"I’m coming," he muttered, almost to himself.
He gestured behind him, and his thunder warriors formed ranks.
With a last glance at the ruin around him, Zeus stepped into the portal. His soldiers followed close behind, vanishing one by one as the silent, broken, and mourning domain of Amaterasu was left behind.
They start to fly in the void between realms again until eventually Bael choose a direction.
"I will go meet the World Master now," Bael said. "Are you coming?"
"Yes," Zeus answered after a while.