CHAPTER 177: THE QUEEN AT THE GATES

The journey back to Portentia was a slow, weary march. The victory at the Sunken Temple felt less like a triumph and more like they had barely survived a natural disaster of their own making.

Nox was quiet, his mind replaying the Administrator’s message. ’A third Royal Flag. A dragon.’ It was a breadcrumb, a deliberate nudge from the game’s puppet masters to push the narrative forward. But it was a breadcrumb he couldn’t ignore.

They arrived back at their city to find it in a state of quiet, tense readiness. Vexia had sent a magical message ahead, and the city was prepared for the inevitable fallout.

"Olympus will not let this insult stand," Vexia stated as they gathered in the throne room. "Zeus will retaliate. It is only a matter of when and how."

"Let him come," Elisa grunted, polishing a massive, slightly-melted axe she’d ’liberated’ from Hephaestus’s forge.

"His retaliation will not be a direct assault," Nox said. "He’s a king. He doesn’t get his own hands dirty if he doesn’t have to. He’ll send someone else."

As if on cue, a frantic scout burst into the room. "My king! A ship! A Greek trireme has appeared in the harbor! It flies the banner of Olympus!"

They all rushed to the balcony. In the harbor, a single, elegant ship had dropped anchor. A lone figure stood on its deck. A woman, dressed in a simple, white chiton, her face a mask of serene, unnerving beauty.

"Hera," Vexia breathed, her voice a mix of awe and dread. "The Queen of the Gods."

Hera did not shout. Her voice simply washed over the entire city, a wave of divine authority.

"People of Portentia. Your ’king’ has defied the will of Olympus. He has brought the wrath of my husband down upon you all. This is a war you cannot win."

The players on the walls began to murmur, fear spreading through their ranks.

"But," Hera continued, her voice softening, "it does not have to be this way. Deliver the head of the usurper, Nox, to my ship. Do this, and your city will be spared. Refuse, and your annihilation will begin at sunset."

The plaza below erupted into chaos.

"She’s right! We can’t fight the gods!"

"He’s doomed us all!"

"Traitors," Elisa snarled.

"You cannot force loyalty on those who have lost hope," Serian said, her face pale.

Nox just stood there. ’This is his real attack. He’s not trying to break our walls. He’s trying to break our will.’

He turned and walked back into the throne room.

"Where are you going?!" Mela demanded. "Your kingdom is about to tear itself apart!"

"I’m going to give them what they want," Nox said.

He walked to the center of the throne room. He dismissed his armor. He looked at his companions.

"You guys trust me, right?"

"Yes," Serian said without hesitation.

Elisa just grunted.

Vexia and Mela gave slow, cautious nods.

"Good," Nox said. He handed his scepter, Regulus, to Serian. "No matter what happens, don’t interfere."

He walked back out onto the balcony, unarmed and unarmored. He looked down at the terrified, angry crowd.

"You want my head?" he called out. "You want to trade my life for your safety?"

He walked to the edge of the balcony. "Fine."

And then he jumped.

He landed in the center of the plaza with a heavy thud. He was surrounded.

"Here I am," he said, spreading his arms wide. "No armor. No weapons. If you want the gods’ mercy, all you have to do is take it."

The crowd was silent. No one moved.

"What are you waiting for?" Nox taunted. "Are you soldiers? Or are you cowards?"

A man in the front of the crowd, one of the first to join him, stepped forward, a rusty sword in his hand. "You’ve doomed us all!" he screamed.

He charged.

Nox didn’t move. He just watched him come.

The sword swung.

And stopped, an inch from Nox’s neck.

The man was frozen, his arm trembling. He couldn’t do it.

"I am your king," Nox said, his voice a quiet whisper. "I am the one who gave you victory. I am the one who gave you hope."

He looked past the man, at the rest of the silent, watching crowd. "The gods offer you mercy as a slave. I offer you a chance to be free. I offer you a chance to fight."

He looked up at the sky. "I offer you a chance to tell them to go to hell."

He turned his back on the man with the sword. He turned his back on the entire crowd. He started to walk back toward the courthouse, his back completely exposed.

The plaza was silent. The man with the sword let it fall from his nerveless fingers.

Then, one by one, the players in the crowd began to kneel.

It started with one, then a dozen, then a hundred. Until the entire plaza was filled with kneeling soldiers, their heads bowed not in fear, but in a new, unshakeable loyalty.

On the balcony, Serian was crying, tears of pure, unadulterated pride streaming down her face. Elisa was just shaking her head, a slow, impressed grin on her face. "Damn," she whispered. "The kid’s got style."

On the ship in the harbor, Hera watched. The serene, beautiful mask on her face finally cracked, replaced by a look of pure, divine fury.

"Fools," she hissed. "You have chosen your own destruction."

She raised her hand. The sky began to darken.

***

The sky above Portentia curdled. The sun was blotted out by a storm of bruised-purple clouds.

On the courthouse balcony, Vexia’s hands flew across her holographic interface. "It is a Class-4 Divine Manifestation! The city’s wards will not hold!"

Nox reached the top of the courthouse steps and turned to face the harbor. Serian handed him his scepter.

The first bolt of lightning struck. It was a pillar of golden, divine fire that slammed into the magical barrier over the plaza. The ward shattered.

"So much for the shield," Elisa grunted.

"Her power is too great," Mela said.

"We don’t have to fight her," Nox said. "We just have to fight her army."

The sea around Hera’s ship began to churn. From the depths rose a legion of mythological beasts. Hydras, Cyclopes, and legions of armored hoplites on the backs of giant, winged sea-turtles.

"This just got a lot more interesting," Elisa said.

"Vexia, get the wards back up!" Nox commanded. "Elisa, Mela, you’re with me! We meet them at the water’s edge! Serian, you have command of the plaza! Hold this ground!"

He didn’t wait. He leaped from the balcony, his void wings erupting from his back, and shot toward the harbor. Elisa and Mela were right behind him.

They reached the docks just as the first wave of monsters was wading ashore. A Cyclops raised a massive club to smash a warehouse.

"I’ve got the big one!" Elisa roared, and charged. Her warhammer met the Cyclops’s club with a thunderous impact.

Mela was a ghost, weaving between the beasts, her poisoned needles finding the soft spots in their hides.

Nox flew high above the chaos. He saw Hera on the deck of her ship, directing her monstrous army. ’She’s the source. Take her out, and the whole army falls.’

He folded his wings and dove.

Hera saw him coming. A serene, cruel smile touched her lips. She waited.

A new figure rose from the sea beside the ship. It was a massive, thirty-foot-tall water elemental, a simulacrum of Poseidon, holding a trident forged from pure water pressure.

The water-god raised its trident, and a hundred-foot wall of water erupted from the ocean, a liquid shield to block Nox’s path.

Nox grinned. He held his scepter forward. ’Liona, boil it.’

The purple gem on Regulus pulsed. A beam of incandescent void energy, laced with the fiery power of his Infernal Monarch armor, shot out.

The beam hit the wall of water. The divine water flash-boiled, a massive, explosive cloud of superheated vapor enveloping the entire harbor. Hera cried out as she was engulfed in the scalding steam. The water-god simulacrum was torn apart by the explosion.

When the steam cleared, Hera’s ship was a wreck. The goddess herself was on her knees, her skin burned, her chiton singed. The army of monsters, their connection to their summoner severed, wavered.

Nox landed on the deck of the ruined ship. He stood over the fallen queen. "It’s over."

Hera looked up at him, her eyes full of a shocked, burning hatred. "This is not over, mortal. My husband will see you torn apart."

"I’m counting on it," Nox said. "But you won’t be around to see it."

He didn’t kill her. He pointed the gem of Regulus at her forehead. "Monarch’s Edict," he whispered. "Go home."

Hera’s eyes went wide as the absolute, undeniable authority of the Edict washed over her. She tried to resist, but her will was not as strong as his. She screamed in fury as her own magic, now bound by his command, began to teleport her away.

"You will pay for this!" she shrieked, her form dissolving into a swirl of golden light. "You will pay!"

Then she was gone.

Nox stood on the deck of the ruined ship. He had faced the Queen of the Gods and won. But he knew this was just the beginning. Zeus would not send another champion. He would not send another army.

Next time, he would come himself.