The dead and the phantoms simply rose again. No matter how many times they were cut down, they returned. An endless supply.
In the vast central plaza of Olympus—once pristine, now a battlefield—Dante and his division faced Ares and his godly warriors.
Dante was one of the original archdemons, as old and formidable as Ares.
Even from the sky, I could hear their exchanged insults and threats. Ancient grudges rose to the surface, harsh and venomous.
Then they charged each other.
A wave of dark tide met a wall of gold and blue.
Dante shifted fully, unleashing his archdemon form. He grew massive, terrifying. Obsidian horns pushed through his skull, curving back like wicked blades. His eyes blazed with infernal fire. Raw power, thick with terror, rolled from him in crimson waves.
His own power of terror met Ares’s—two equal and ancient forces colliding. His battle-axe slammed into Ares’s broadsword. The impact sent a shockwave through the plaza, shattering windows for blocks. Sparks sprayed like meteors. The ground beneath their feet cracked open.
Behind them, the two armies crashed together. Demons against gods. Dead against living.
The gods wielded impressive power—sky and lightning, fire and water, earth and wind. Domains honed over an eon.
But death belonged to the King and Queen of the Underworld. It was our domain. Our authority.
And who could defeat an army of the dead that could rise again and again?
“Let’s go greet my brothers,” my mate said, his grin savage. “It’s time for a family reunion.”
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Hades
Unconditional Surrender
Zeus had retreated underground with the elite gods, fortifying themselves in their last bastion.
He finally understood what Persephone could do. My queen was more powerful than any of them and more dangerous than they could ever imagine.
Persephone and I stood at their door. Just the two of us. No army at our backs.
This was personal. This showdown belonged to my queen and me alone.
Persephone’s fingers moved with ease, weaving threads of blood. They coiled around the final ward and tore it down like rotting silk.
She grinned at me, and I brushed a kiss against her lips.
Together, we entered Zeus’s last fortress.
Cerberus came with us, his heads never still, constantly scanning for threats.
I remembered this place viscerally—every detail carved into my memory with acid.
Here was where Zeus and Poseidon had tricked me eons ago. Where they’d ambushed me with false words of brotherhood. Where they’d banished me to the Underworld.
The haven of the gods was hewn into the bedrock beneath the city. Massive stone walls, reinforced with magic. The main chamber was circular, columns holding up a domed ceiling. Torches flickered in sconces, casting restless shadows. A long table of gold dominated the center, where they’d held their councils and plotted.
The elite gods had gathered here, believing themselves safe behind their final defenses.
They were wrong.
