The great devourer - chapter 20
Derek led the way, cloak dragging against the dirt path. Arthur trailed close behind, eyes darting around nervously, while Abyss walked with the same indifference as if he already knew the road ahead.
Though inside the palace of garon it was different
Some Iraclis dared to stand against their king.
"If you are as almighty as you claim," one of them spat, "then why not face Abyss Isad yourself? Or are you afraid?"
Garon smirked, reclining on his grotesque throne of chained bodies. "Afraid? Yes. But I know someone who isn't."
With a flick of his finger, the rebellious Iraclis was slaughtered, his blood tossed to the hounds. The rest fell silent.
Elsewhere(yup it's parents day remember the weekend was giving for parents day!!!)
At the same time, Ethan was with his mother. He hugged her tightly.
"Mother... thank you for giving me such a cool experience."
She kissed his forehead warmly.
Eden stepped in, catching sight of them. His tone was playful, but his eyes betrayed a little ache.
"Okay, that's sweet. Guess I'll just go."
Ethan laughed, dragging him into the hug anyway.
Back to Derek and the group pov:
Back on the road, Derek broke his silence.
"I was called the Boy of Truth once. For exposing Garon. He burned everyone who believed me-then showed me their ashes as they begged for my help. That's when he made me the first Iraclis. His experiment. His proof of cruelty."
Arthur's jaw dropped. "You're that boy? Gods, I thought you were dead. Maybe worse than dead..."
Abyss spoke, voice cold and sharp. "Typical. And you still look up to divinity, Arthur? They're out of touch. Detached. Blind to how their choices shatter us."
Arthur flinched but said nothing.
Though quick cut to Leyla pov:(aka mansion)
Meanwhile, Leyla sat in her sprawling dining hall, a feast untouched before her. She sighed, stirring her food.
"I wish my dad was here."
Her butler, Alfredo, bowed gently.
"Your father is busy as an actor and model, Little Master. But if you'd like... pretend I am your father."
She smiled through her tears and hugged him.
"Okay. You've basically been my dad's dad-and now my dad too."
Alfredo chuckled softly. "Then I'll never retire. Not until you no longer need me."
Her smirk returned, genuine this time. "Good. Don't."
In the gate of the palace pov
The trio finally reached Garon's throne room. Without hesitation, Abyss lunged forward, his fist cracking the marble floor as he smashed into Garon, sending blood spraying.
The king laughed, spitting crimson.
"Say hello... to the Great Devourer. To Erebus!"
The shadows themselves twisted open. From the void emerged a kraken-like hand of pure darkness, seizing Garon and dragging him upward.
Half-man, half-abyssal horror, Erebus revealed himself. His torso was vaguely human, sculpted from midnight, but his lower half was writhing kraken-flesh made of shadow given weight. His voice was not spoken but imposed upon reality:
"I have come to feed."
Garon screamed, not in fear but triumph. "Finally! I've done my part. Now Olympus will be mine!" And then the Devourer consumed him whole as once said Erebus was sealed because he once tried to eat everything to darkness blinding by his own hunger
The throne room shook as Abyss grunted, forcing himself upright. His chest heaved, wind rippling like a storm about to break.
"I was saving this..." His voice was low, venomous. "For Kronos."
Then his body unraveled-flesh and bone dissolving into pure gale. The air screamed as it reformed, towering higher and higher, until a Titan of Wind stood where Abyss had been. His arms solidified, and from the currents of stolen light he drew a sword, forged of Arthur's radiance. With one step, he met Erebus's crushing shadow and clashed, the palace quaking under the force.
Behind the throne, hidden in the chaos, Maron stood frozen-chains trembling at his side. His father's words echoed in his mind.
Flashback
Garon's cruel smile gleamed in the firelight.
"Son, when I summon Erebus, you will use your bond. You'll chain us together, and we'll become one. Me and the Devourer, unstoppable. With that power, Olympus will fall."
Flashback end
Maron's lips twisted into a smirk. Cold. Cruel. Familiar.
"Why would I do that?" he whispered. "If he dies, I can take the throne for myself."
That's what happens when you raise children in betrayal-eventually, they betray you back.
Without another word, Maron slipped away, leaving Abyss to clash with the primordial. He didn't go to save his father. He went searching for Derek, an old bond he thought he could reclaim.
The battle raged on. Erebus's kraken-body lashed, shadows consuming, but the Titan of Wind held the line. Abyss drove his blade deep, yet the Devourer's maw opened wide, a living void beneath his monstrous half. The abyss within Abyss was swallowed whole.
Inside that crushing dark, Abyss clenched his fists. His voice, strained but steady, echoed:
"You want to devour me? Fine. Let's see you devour this."
He dropped his density, collapsing his form inward-creating a black hole inside Erebus's gut. Reality twisted, shadows spiraled, the Devourer shrieked as it tried to eat the singularity itself.
In that chaos, Abyss slipped free, torn but unbroken, his wind form stabilizing outside.
Erebus roared, regenerating, the air and void colliding like two worlds crashing.
And far away, in Olympus, the scene shifted.
At Zeus's palace, the storm king sat rigid on his throne, thunder cracking in his clenched fist. His expression hardened-not in fear, but in recognition.
"The primordial stirs again," he muttered. "And"Zeus paused furious before adding"the abomination of desolation abyss isad I hate that kid how is he even alive from Tartarus"said though the fight didn't end
The clash between Abyss and Erebus sent shockwaves through the palace, stone shattering, shadows writhing like living nightmares. Lightning split the sky above Olympus as Zeus's fury rained down, striking Abyss with jagged bolts.
"Abomination of Desolation!" Zeus roared from above, his voice cracking like thunder itself though Zeus pause abyss currently not his enemy but his card to defeat Erebus as he stroke the place with powerful thunder
Abyss barely flinched. He gripped his lightning-forged sword, the blade singing with the energy of Arthur's light and his own wind aura. The strike from Zeus's lightning met the sword, merging into a blinding white divine thunder, a storm that dwarfed the palace itself as he pointed the energy storm of power from above to the blade as he throw a powerful ray of divine thunder towards Erebus as
Erebus howled as the divine thunder slammed into him, pushing the Devourer back, retreating into the portal that had first unleashed him. The portal shuddered violently, swallowing Erebus in darkness as the air settled into an uneasy calm.
Abyss stumbled, exhausted, collapsing to the forest floor. The wind settled around him, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths. Then, out of the corner of his eye, a crow landed on a branch.
Without hesitation, he called forth a gust sharp as blades, tearing the crow apart.
Elsewhere - Asgard
Far from Midgard, the sharp winds carried a whisper of the battle. Odin's one eye gleamed as he watched the scene through the shattered remnants of the crow.
"That one... would be a problem," Odin muttered, his voice low but grave.
Loki leaned back, smirking, his mischief thinly veiled as concern.
"Then what would you do about it, old man? Surely you know Zeus won't tolerate you walking his territory."
Odin's voice was calm, commanding, yet deliberate.
"Not me. But you... you should lead. I will throw the responsibility at you."
Loki's jaw dropped. "Me? Lead? Against him? You're insane."
Odin's one eye glinted. "Then consider it your first lesson in consequences, child."