CHAPTER 111: BREAK THE CHAINS

The days passed like slow thunder.

Lucifer made himself at home in Olympus in a way only he could—without permission, without shame, and without the faintest concern for the rules. By the third day, half the palace staff knew his face. By the fifth, they knew the smirk that came before he said something that would either make you blush or throw a plate at him.

He wandered the gardens, lingered in the libraries he wasn’t supposed to enter, and spent far too much time in the training grounds—never to fight, but to lean against the fence and watch. The women noticed. So did the men.

Zeus noticed most of all.

He didn’t trust Lucifer. Not yet. Not enough. Which was why Hermes had been given the job of keeping eyes on him at all times. The messenger god didn’t like the assignment, but Zeus knew Hermes was the only one fast enough to keep up.

Zeus made it clear—if Lucifer even looked like he was about to start trouble, Hermes was to tell him before the first spark hit the air.

Lucifer seemed to know he was being watched. He never acknowledged it, never looked at Hermes directly, but Zeus caught the small glances—sideways smirks, like a man who knew exactly how many steps ahead he was.

On the seventh day, Zeus left Olympus without telling anyone where.

He stepped through a crack of stormlight, vanishing from the mortal skies into the Thundervoid.

The realm stretched forever in every direction—an endless ocean of black stormclouds lit from within by bolts of white-blue fire. Each thunderclap here could split a mountain. Each wind gust could strip flesh from bone.

Zeus walked on nothing, his boots pressing down on solid air as arcs of lightning curled around his arms and shoulders. The Thundervoid was his domain, his crucible.

He didn’t come here to relax.

He came to think.

Lucifer’s arrival had shifted the air around Olympus. Not openly, not enough for the gods to talk about it yet, but Zeus could feel it. A change in the weight of the game. And then there was the big one—the "old man" Lucifer called his father. The presence Zeus remembered from his other life.

The system’s main quest still burned in his head. Unite or conquer all pantheons. It was insane on paper, impossible if you counted that one.

Lightning struck the space around him in a circle, grounding his thoughts in the raw pull of power. He’d have to think in steps, not leaps.

He flexed his fingers, calling more lightning to his palms, letting it bite into the skin. The arcs danced between his hands like wild beasts on chains. This was how he calmed his mind—through raw force and repetition.

Then he remembered.

After the fight with Tartarus—when he and Hades had dragged that pit back into silence—the system had chimed. He’d ignored it in the chaos. He hadn’t checked it since.

Now seemed like a good time.

"System," he muttered. "Show me the last notification."

The air in front of him warped. Blue-white runes spiraled out, forming a solid screen of light.

[HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED]

Quest: Break the Chains

Objective: Defeat a primordial being without external divine army support.

Status: Completed.

Summary: You faced Tartarus in open conflict and emerged victorious with the aid of one ally. You have demonstrated strength above the expected limits of a reigning god. This action has altered the balance of fear among primordial entities.

Rewards:

– Title Unlocked: "Breaker of Depths" – Passive intimidation against all primordial and abyssal beings. 35% decrease in hostility chance.

– Ability Unlocked: "Chainrender" – Once per lunar cycle, instantly break any binding, seal, or divine shackle, regardless of origin. Cannot be countered below Overlord-Class authority.

– Divine Stat Boost: +25% to Authority, +15% to Endurance, +10% to Dominion Control.

– Hidden Reputation Unlocked: Your name has entered the whispers of the Deep Ones. Beings beneath creation now recognize you.

Zeus narrowed his eyes at the last line. That one was new.

The whispers of the Deep Ones.

He could already guess that wasn’t a good thing.

Lightning rippled harder through the Thundervoid, as if the realm itself was listening. He dismissed the screen with a flick of his hand, letting the light dissolve back into the void.

The title was useful. The ability, even more. But the reputation? That meant he was now on someone’s map, and it wasn’t just the old man’s.

His mind moved to strategy—what the next months would have to look like, which pantheons he could reach out to first, which ones he’d need to break before they saw him coming.

And always, the image of Lucifer at the back of his thoughts. A wild card. A danger. Or maybe... an edge.

A flash of gold cut through the black storm ahead. Hermes who is the only one with access to this realm.

The messenger landed lightly on the empty air, looking unbothered by the lightning snarling around them. "You said to tell you if he started anything. He hasn’t. Unless you count driving Aphrodite’s attendants insane by existing."

Zeus gave him a look. "Nothing serious?"

Hermes shrugged. "Not unless flirting counts as a crime now. Though I did see him slip into the north archives yesterday. Can’t say what he took—if anything."

Zeus didn’t answer. He just let the lightning wrap tighter around him, thinking.

Lucifer wasn’t here for no reason. That much was certain. And Zeus couldn’t decide yet if the man was waiting for the right time to act... or if he was already acting in ways no one could see.

He dismissed Hermes with a nod and turned back into the void, letting the lightning roar louder, filling his head with white noise.

When he finally left the Thundervoid and stepped back into Olympus, the sun was setting. The marble caught the orange-red light, throwing long shadows across the courtyards. Somewhere in the gardens, he heard laughter—the low, familiar sound that could only belong to one man.

Lucifer.

Zeus didn’t change course. Not yet. He’d watch. He’d wait.

The game had only just begun.