Thundervoid – 25 Years Later
BOOM!!
BOOM!!
CRACK-KRAAAA!!!
The sky split open with every strike. Thunder roared like a war cry from the heavens. Lightning rained down in violent bursts, setting entire sky-islands ablaze. Storm clouds twisted like beasts in pain, swirling above the battlefield.
In the middle of it all, floating high above the chaos, he stood.
Zeus.
No longer a boy. Not even a young man.
A fully awakened god.
He stood 2.8 meters tall, carved like a mountain of living thunder. His white hair flowed like stormclouds behind him, eyes glowing pure electric blue. Sparks clung to his skin like golden fireflies. Every breath he took sent tremors through the storm.
His armor had changed—upgraded by the very storms he'd conquered. The Aegis Scale now pulsed with layered divine energy, fused with lightning runes and celestial metal. The Skybreaker Gauntlets were reforged—now heavier, stronger, inscribed with ancient Titan-slaying glyphs.
Below him, the beasts charged again—winged terrors built from thunder and shadows. He raised one hand casually.
A bolt the size of a mountain came down like a falling god.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The air burned. The clouds screamed.
Zeus didn't even blink.
He floated down slowly, boots touching a shattered platform, surrounded by the glowing ashes of his enemies.
Then—
[DING!]
A massive golden screen flared into view before him, more complex and ornate than ever before. Divine runes spun around the edges.
OLYMPIAN CODEX — STATUS WINDOW
Name: Zeus
Title: Stormborne King, Son of Fate, Sky Incarnate
Divine Tier: 7 (Ascendant God)
Faith Level: Expanding – Recognized in multiple realms
Divine Power: 768/1000
Skills:
Lightning Flicker (Lv. 6 – Mastered)
Lightning trails his every step. Passive discharge can melt weapons. Can now chain multiple targets subconsciously.
Thunder Shout (Lv. 5)
Unleashes a concussive shockwave that can topple mountains and disrupt divine energy within a 200m radius.
Smite (Lv. 4)
Now capable of calling down divine-class plasma bolts. Impact radius: catastrophic. Regenerates faster based on combat flow.
Aether Step (Lv. 3)
Allows teleportation through storm clouds, lightning veins, and ley lines. Can be used offensively to 'blink-smash' enemies.
Stormcaller's Wrath (Lv. 2)
Summons a localized tempest that adapts to the enemy's elemental weakness. Can be channeled through Skybreaker Gauntlets.
Divine Presence: Storm Crown (Lv. 1)
Passive aura. Lesser beings must pass a Will Check to approach. Induces awe, terror, or submission in non-divine foes.
Zeus looked over the stats, smirking.
"About time that Title section stopped looking so empty."
He flicked the screen away and looked at the dark skies above. Clouds circled around him like they were waiting for orders.
Then he turned his eyes to the far distance—beyond Thundervoid, beyond the veil Gaia had created for him all those years ago.
He could feel Cronus now. The Titan King's grip on the world had started to shiver. The fear was creeping in.
And Zeus?
He was ready.
He cracked his neck, lightning licking up his arms.
"Alright. Enough warm-ups."
He raised a hand and ripped a glowing tear in space open, revealing the world outside. Mount Dikti. The battlefield waiting.
He stepped through.
Mount Othrys — The Garden of Stone
Moonlight spilled through the cracks in the high stone walls, washing the garden in cold silver. The flowers here didn't bloom like normal ones—they opened only under starlight, petals like crystal and frost. The air was still, too still, like the mountain was holding its breath.
Rhea paced along the marble path barefoot, robes clinging to her as the night wind whispered through her hair. Her fingers twisted nervously. She looked haunted. Tired. Her eyes darted toward the dark corridors behind her, as if Cronus might appear at any moment.
"Thirty-five years…" she muttered, voice low and sharp. "Thirty-five years of excuses. He's going to snap. He knows."
She paused, chest rising and falling too quickly, hands gripping the edge of her robe like she might tear it.
On the grass just ahead, lying with her head on a bed of roots and moss, was Gaia—barefoot, eyes half-lidded, as peaceful as the Earth itself could be.
She didn't even look up.
"You're walking in circles again," she said gently.
Rhea blinked, startled, and turned.
"He's going to demand I lay with him," she said. "And this time I don't have an excuse. I've used them all. The moon, the stars, divine sickness, fake headaches, rituals, grief…"
She dropped to her knees beside her mother, panic starting to rise in her throat like fire.
"If he touches me again—he'll know. He'll know Zeus lives."
Gaia didn't react right away. She reached out and plucked a glowing petal from the grass, examining it like it mattered more than Cronus himself.
Then she smiled softly and said:
"Why don't you come rest, child?" Her tone was light, teasing. "You can think of a new excuse in the morning. Something creative this time. Say you've taken a vow of silence and celibacy under moonlight."
Rhea almost laughed—almost.
She flopped down beside Gaia and stared up at the stars.
"He's growing impatient. I feel it in the air. He looks at me now like I'm a puzzle he hasn't solved yet."
Gaia nodded. "That's because you are."
"Mother," Rhea whispered, eyes watering, "what if he finds him? What if Zeus isn't ready?"
Gaia finally turned her eyes toward her daughter. There was no fear in them. Just something ancient. Slow. Certain.
"He is ready," she said simply. "More than you know."
The stars pulsed above them.
And far, far away—beyond the reach of Cronus's vision—a storm began to gather in Mount. Dikti. One not of clouds or rain.
But of return.
Rhea stood at the edge of the balcony, the cold wind tugging at her robes. Her eyes were fixed far in the distance, toward the southern sky… toward Mount Dikti.
A pulse had echoed through the world minutes ago. A tremor of power. Not loud, not explosive—just deep, like the heartbeat of the earth had skipped.
She felt it in her bones. In her breath.
Her lips parted, voice soft, almost like a prayer.
"He's back."
Her hand pressed against her chest, and for the first time in decades, the weight she'd carried didn't feel so suffocating.
"My son is back… Zeus is back, Mother."
A small smile broke across her face. Not wide. Not proud. Just relieved. Like her soul had finally exhaled.
Behind her, Gaia stood still beneath the shadow of an ancient olive tree, her long green robes tangled with vines and starlight.
But unlike Rhea, Gaia didn't smile.
She frowned.
Deeply.
Her voice was low, heavy with age and understanding.
"Yes. He is back."
She looked at the sky—not with joy, but with sorrow.
Because with Zeus's return, the storm had officially begun. The wheel of fate was turning again. The Titans would feel it. The gods would rise. The war would come.
And when it did…
Not all of her children would survive it.