This was it. The final stretch. My father's palace lay on the next level and I was more than ready to fight him now.

Using Cerberus as the last guard before I reached him might have been a great idea in practice, as I would have been devastated if I needed to fight him, but my father didn't think with his heart. There was absolutely no way I would ever hurt that pup, even as lost as he was in his grief and confusion of not having seen Hades for months, I would never strike back. It was obvious, at least to me, that his reaction was based on the fact that he was hurting, not because he wanted to hurt me specifically.

Seeing him alive and knowing that he was safe from my father's clutches was enough to give me one last boost before our final confrontation. In other words, his plan to use Cerberus as his last bastion had the exact opposite result to the one he’d no doubt been hoping for. I was more ready than ever.

And yet nothing could have prepared me for the person waiting for us at the nine hundred ninety-ninth step.

* * *

Name: Rhea

Race: Titan

Class: Queen of Titans

Level: 65

* * *

"Mother!" I exclaimed, and ran to her, invited in by her open arms. "It's so good to see you."

"It is great to see you too, son," she replied, hugging me even tighter than I was her. "You have grown much more in the past few months than you have in last decades."

"I had to," I replied, looking into the eyes. "How are you, Mother? I noticed that none of your troops assisted father's during the siege."

"I cannot control what Cronus does. He is too far gone into his own paranoid mind to return now," she replied, "but I would never do anything to bring you harm."

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"But why did you stay here? After everything he did to my— to your children. Why?"

"Cronus and I are bound by magic older than the titans. Much as no titan can mortally wound another, I can't leave his side and he can't leave mine. Those are some of the laws of titans."

"You don’t have to worry about anything anymore, mother. It's all going to end soon. Another titan might not be able to hurt him, but I will. And your bond to him will be broken."

"Listen to me, Zeus," she said, holding me tightly by my shoulders. "Cronus may not be in his prime in terms of his mind, but he is as powerful as ever. He hasn't been the king of the Greek pantheon for all those millennia without good cause."

"And it is high time for a change—" I started, but she interrupted me.

"I can't go through this again, Zeus. I just can't. You are the last one. My mind will not make it if I lose you too. I implore you. Turn your back now and leave."

"As much as I value your opinion and wisdom, Mother," I said, and took my spear out of my inventory, "I will not back down. Not now that we're so close."

"A titan-killer…" she muttered as she took in my new weapon, and for the first time I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Can it be that the prophecy he’s been afraid of for all these years might actually be fulfilled?"

"He made sure it will. I never set out to do this, and would rather have lived a happy life with Demeter, Poseidon, and Hades. He brought this on himself."

"Are you sure you can do it?"

"I’m sure I can't do it alone," I admitted. "But we just might be able to do it together." I looked at my companions.

She smiled at the sight. "You all remind me a lot of our first titan clan. Always ready for war. Ready to make the world a better place. Are you willing to give your lives for this cause?"

"Not for the cause," Aphrodite replied.

"For Zeus," Artemis said.

Aphrodite nodded in agreement.

"For Zeus," Ares and Hephaestus echoed together.

"In that case, go with my blessing, children," she said, and looked up at the skies above. "And know this. The whole Greek world watched you climb Mount Orthys. Everyone sees now that I am letting you pass. Make me proud, and free this world from the tyrant that my husband has become."

We all nodded at my mother, and continued walking toward my father's palace at the back of this level. The building looked a lot worse for wear than when I had last been there—when Cronus devoured my siblings. Parts of it had collapsed completely, probably as a result of the metamorphosis he underwent when his true form awakened.

"Buffs," I said, and Aphrodite instantly started casting all of her supportive skills.

Ares followed along with his own buffs just as she was about to finish. She then cast Blessing of Life, the ultimate skill provided by her new weapon that would bring us back to life automatically, with full HP, MP, and all of our buffs intact.

Ready for the worst, we walked through a large opening into the palace of Cronus, the king of titans.