His attention quickly shifted to Artemis, whose brows were already creased in a frown.
“Given your success in the prior challenges, you will now face theultimatechallenge,” Hades declared, his lips shaping the penultimate word with a mischievous smirk. “This ultimate challenge may prove fatal to you should you not convince my deadliest guardian of your abilities.”
A loud growl erupted along with his words and rumbled through the room. It produced a sound like a storm pulling aworld from its roots, causing every stone to tremble, and the hearts of all people present to quiver with fear.
Cerberus’s massive form ascended from the darkness, materializing behind the two gods and his shadow towering over every mortal at once. The three-headed beast inched closer to the contestants. Their eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and curiosity, moving slowly and reverently as if it was drawing out the moment before it unleashed terror upon them.
The tones of each of his snarling heads differed, yet they all shared one dreadful thing: the need to spill blood and devour the souls of those who feared them.
“I shall?—”
“Cease your discourse.” A commanding voice cut through Hades’ speech, and Shadow instantly directed his gaze toward the bloody skies of the Underworld, witnessing Zeus’s descent.
Your presence was not expected, basileús.
The entire area shook, and the mortals became unbalanced as the god’s feet slammed into the ground, creating an earthquake-like effect as his thunderbolt cracked the ground open. When one of the girls stumbled on the ground, the boy with whom Shadow had seen Charisma talking to in the earlier days quickly helped her regain her balance and stand back up.
While Zeus’ unique, defiant smirk remained on his face, he raised his right hand, and a silver plate appeared on his palm with a quick snap of his fingers.
This is a very dangerous situation.
Artemis’s eyes were painted in a murderous shade, and her jaw clenched at the sight of her father. Zeus, at the very moment she opened her mouth to speak, removed the top from the silver tray. A piercing cry escaped from the head of his Medusa, and it resonated like a dagger’s echo against a crystal glass.
Trying to get closer to his friend, Hades attempted to advance but was only able to move one step forward. Heremained trapped while stone covered his body, beginning with his legs, advancing up to his chest, and eventually consuming him—along with Artemis too. Zeus fixed his gaze on them, ensuring they turned into stone, aware that his aegis would be less effective against deities than it was against mortals. He only had a matter of minutes until they would come back to their original form.
Shadow shifted his attention to Charisma, fearing she had been turned into stone as well. He observed that she had not been touched by Zeus’s aegis. Instead, she was gripping the staff even tighter, the realization of what was about to happen hitting her like a tidal wave.
Of course you are protected, my fylachtó. The last remains of power you had taken from the staff are making you immune to other spells.
And you, basileús, judging by the smirk on that defiant face of yours, were aware of this, no doubt.
“I must reminisce about the time I called you a fascinating mortal,” he began, slowly advancing toward her while covering Medusa’s head.
Charisma tried to stand tall, her shoulder taken back and her chin up as she gazed at the god, but there was a burning tension creeping behind her eyes. Maintaining eye contact without a break, her pupils grew larger while she compulsively picked at the dry skin on her lips.
Endeavoring to maintain a confident demeanor while facing your possible death.
If I would’ve had a heart, it would’ve got out to you in this very moment, Charisma Sinclair.
“Yet you proved to be a fool,” Zeus stated, briefly halting in front of her, his presence overshadowing her diminutive form. “In this scenario, how should a god such as myself deal with a fool likeyou?”
Charisma’s eyes widened, taking in the horrific tableau of her colleagues, their forms frozen in stone. Her frame gave a slight, involuntary jerk, which Shadow interpreted as a fleeting internal wince at the thought of helping the other mortals. Wisely, she refrained from making any moves, acutely aware of Zeus’s unwavering attention.
A tear traced a path down Charisma’s cheek, making its way to her tightly clenched jaw before falling to the ground. With her hands trembling and fingers fumbling around the staff, she seemed to no longer be present. It seemed as if she was reconsidering her choices now that the plan she had agreed to was doomed for failure.
“What is the matter, fascinating human? Has perhaps . . .” he cut through the silence, pausing briefly as he subtly sniffed somewhere behind Charisma’s back. “Ashadowgot your tongue?” he added, his smirk that was already curling his lips turning into a mischievous one.
Bringing my name into this matter will not make you seem more intriguing, basileú. It will only cast you as a foolish man lacking confidence in his own actions.
Pathetic.
Charisma’s lips remained pressed in a firm line, and when her gaze eventually met his, her eyes briefly flickered while her hands clenched into fists. Despite the impassive mask she tried to maintain, Shadow sensed a silent scream, while her need for revenge was exposed by the shallow, measured breaths she took.
Zeus stated, “If you choose not to speak now, you will be forced to speak later.” And with a quick gesture, he bound her wrists, causing her to drop the staff.
With a snarl, he watched it hit the ground, and just before he could grasp Charisma’s arm, he took the relic and vanished it from sight. Shadow couldn’t help but observe the mortal’s skin. The absence of any black markings, which had previously beenspreading across her hands, served as evidence that Charon’s bits of power had entirely vanished from her body.
“Let me go,” she growled between gritted teeth, but it only made him laugh at her.
