CHAPTER 54: A’S ENDGAME 8 (BROTHERS)

Time seemed to slow as their eyes locked, both aiming straight for what would be mortal vital points.

But then, the wind shifted.

White lightning tore through the sky, striking between them and forcing both to recoil, shock flashing across their gazes.

"I am Zeus."

The voice resonated from above.

[System Alert]

Potential Rival: Zeus.

Intimacy: Retrieve balance.

Threat Assessment: At current level, he holds a 40% advantage.

Allen’s system notified his mind as he and Hadas withdrew in opposite directions, separated by the sneering holy lightning.

"Who’s the man? Or rather... God?" Allen whispered, bewitched by Zeus’s image as the deity descended from the heavens in golden radiance. Even the air seemed to pause in adoration of him.

Clothed in a swirling robe of white and purple, he descended like the clouds themselves. His eyes crackled with raw lightning, shifting between sky blue and gold. His long white hair flowed past his shoulders, and his beard shaped itself into bolts of lightning.

"Long time no see, brother," Hadas teased from the opposite side of Allen, his face twisting into a dangerous smirk—one that carried unspeakable hatred.

"And if it isn’t my ungrateful brother who never tires of failing." Zeus muttered, his face narrowing with both anger and disgust as he pointed his scepter—a steel staff charged with divine power—at Hadas.

"This time will be different... I’ll settle our scores," Hadas grinned, showcasing his decaying teeth, arms spread wide.

"That’s what you always say, brother. We were born with our destinies. I, in the skies, to rule over all beneath my feet. Poseidon, in the sea, to rule as its God. And you, Hadas—your position was far below us both—in the Underworld, to rule the dead. Why not accept reality?"

Zeus taunted, striking his scepter in a furious arc. The air around it buzzed with lightning. His feet never touched the ground—no, he was too divine for that. He hovered, balanced even more than the wind itself.

"I am the eldest of you both!" Hadas roared. Darkness burst from him like an exploding smoke grenade. "By right, I am meant to sit on top!"

"But reality didn’t write it so—" Zeus cut in sharply, his frown deepening, his presence dominant.

Hadas clenched his teeth like a furious lion, his body trembling—not with fear, but with the power about to erupt.

The air... Hadas thought fiercely. The fear in the air is weak now. But this moment—this is the moment—

His thoughts exploded into a shout: "I’ll take what rightfully belongs to me!!!"

There was a quiet boom as his body gave way, dark dangerous mist spreading. In his hand formed a black and red staff—not straight, not refined—looking instead like a chaotic branch, radiating disorder.

"I needed two more days of consummation, but I didn’t get it..." Hadas whispered to himself, gaze narrowing to the ground. "But I still won’t lose." Darkness flared as he charged at Zeus, trailing like the exhaust of a smoking engine.

"Haah!"

Both Hadas and Zeus roared as they closed in, weapons ready to clash, their limbs moving with opposite purpose.

BOOM!

Both centers collided, lightning roaring on one side, darkness screaming on the other. The ground beneath shattered, the impact carving a crater as deep as the distance between sky and earth.

"Tch..." Allen hissed, backstepping rapidly to avoid the ground explosion. "That strength... it isn’t what I felt fighting him earlier. Hadas is going all out. They’re completely out of my league."

He took a rooted stance, debating whether to join the fray. "Naa... going in would be suicide. But somebody has to pay for the damage they’ve caused."

"You selfish bastard!" Hadas roared as they pulled apart for a moment.

"Ungrateful being!" Zeus answered as their scepters clashed again, darkness and lightning sparking on opposite sides as if to emphasize their eternal balance.

Hadas shifted again, hands poised as though performing a ritual. More dark mist poured out of him, accompanied by a heavy, audible boom.

The wind shifted, and even the moon seemed to flee. If the sun had its way, it too would have stayed hidden.

"AHHHH!"

Hadas roared, his body shifting—transforming into the skinless, twisted form of the old hag he once was. White face, arched back, yet now he converted every ounce of fear he had consumed into raw power.

"Incarnate!!!" he bellowed, thrusting his hands skyward. A distant, chaotic boom echoed.

"What’s that?" Allen muttered, eyes darting to his far left, where flames erupted like a roaring volcano.

It wasn’t for fun. No—this had always been the plan. Hadas had summoned a smaller army before, hoping not to draw Zeus’s notice. But now? He needed soldiers to harvest the fear he craved to sustain himself.

"How dare you open a passage to the Underworld here! I created this planet, and no one destroys it!" Zeus thundered, lightning charging around him.

The real fight had begun. The clouds themselves danced with his anger.

ZAP! ZAP! BOOM! ZAP!

Allen heard nothing but chaos as flashes tore the sky apart. Hadas’s darkness lagged behind, failing to trail Zeus’s speed, while lightning scalded the earth with every strike.

The ground trembled—not from their duel, but from the Underworld bleeding into the mortal plane.

Grotesque figures clawed their way through: warped shadows, spirits of vengeance, a scattering of infernals, and fewer yet—demons.

"Damn!" Allen rasped, preparing to bolt, eyes crackling with red lightning—

But then a voice rang clear in his mind. Familiar. Commanding.

Don’t move an inch from where you are.

"Tamara... is here?" he whispered, stunned as his eyes widened. She descended with Natasha and Elara, all three shrouded in holy light.

Tamara had restored Natasha’s life by returning her soul. To Elara, she had replaced pain with unmatched warmth.

The crusade of Underworld beings halted instantly. They had wills of their own, unlike the enslaved goblins, and to beings of their level, such holy light was a red card.

"Damn you!" Hadas roared, clutching his head as shadows dispersed around him midair.

"You brought your mistake here!" His gaze burned as he beheld Tamara, the obstruction she now represented to his feared armies.

Even Zeus seemed shocked at her presence. He had created her as a daughter of Olympus, yet she had chosen a path of neither light nor darkness, leaving the heavens without a word.

"I didn’t even know she still existed," Zeus muttered. Then, inwardly, he realized: That explains why the Allen boy grew so fast. He had her help.

"Her brother!" Zeus bellowed, his body blazing with divine lightning, his eyes radiating unbearable light. "Let’s end this. I have other matters to attend to."