* * *

You have 2 minutes to place your troops.

If you want to commence battle before the end of this time, call for battle.

* * *

I zoomed in on the forests where I had hidden my troops last time and sure enough, I could see a squad of cavalry and spear bearers on each side. Whoever was running this test had a sick sense of humor. If I had known that the position would be reversed, I wouldn’t have planned so well. There was no way I would be able to turn the tide on this one.

As I looked at the sand that was steadily trickling down from the hourglass, I noticed a small icon of a glowing humanoid and the number ten next to it. I focused on it and a new prompt appeared.

* * *

You have 10 “heroic martyrs” left to deploy.

“Heroic martyrs” are elite warriors who stop at nothing until their mission is completed.

These warriors will spread death among the enemy ranks and, once their foes are defeated, will forever be destroyed and imprisoned in Tartarus, without the chance of ever being resurrected or freed.

* * *

Once I’d selected the martyrs, I realized that I could place them anywhere on the battlefield. I was slowly beginning to understand what this whole thing was about. It wasn’t my ability to command troops and my strategic skills that were being tested but rather my ethics.

If I threw these fighters into the midst of the enemy armies, the rest of my troops may manage to avoid the onslaught that I had seen take place during the last battle. However, I would be knowingly sending these warriors to their deaths. And that was very different to what happened before.

In the previous battle, I’d placed the troops in such a way that their losses would be minimized. The battle was going to take place either way and I’d done my best to protect my army by giving them a strategic advantage. The troops hiding in the forests might have been decimated if they were discovered, but that was a risk that was absolutely worth taking to save the lives of hundreds of others.

If I used these heroic martyrs, they would—without a doubt—die a horrible death and subsequently be imprisoned in the worst of the Greek realms. The eternal despair of the prison of Tartarus was the exact opposite of what these noble warriors would deserve. However, it seemed like there was no other way and this was my own decision to make now.

But how many should I damn to eternal torture to save the rest? Each fighter would be able to kill without stopping, at least that’s how I understood the explanation, but the enemies would be too many for any single one of them. Perhaps if I only sent one of them, the enemy army might be able to neutralize them by throwing them into a trap or something of the sort. It needed to be more than one.

Even if I sent five of them in there and moved all of the remaining troops to the furthest corner of the available valley, the martyrs still wouldn’t be able to kill all of the enemies before the main forces reached the deathly corridor that I had created for them in the previous battle. Perhaps the martyrs would kill enough to win the battle, but many of my people would still die.

The best option only became clear as the sand in the hourglass was nearing its end. I pulled all of the regular troops as far away as I could to give the martyrs time to wreak havoc behind enemy lines. Then, I mentally selected the heroic martyrs and place one on each patch of forest before throwing the other eight in the middle of the enemy forces, just in time to hear the bell toll to announce the beginning of the battle.

It began immediately again this time, my martyrs shining like beacons as they spread death through the ranks of the crow army. I zoomed in to see the heroes holding a sword in each hand, spinning like a twister and drawing swirls of blood in the air. Their faces looked calm. Perhaps the resolution of a person who had come to terms with their destiny?

With each slash of cold steel, with each thrust forward, they ended the life of another enemy. Yet no hit seemed to damage or cause them any harm. The enemy’s blades reflected off of them and no amount of force would break their skin. They were absolutely invincible and thew the whole enemy army into disarray.

I zoomed out momentarily and then back in on one of the forests, where the martyr was wreaking havoc among the concealed units, cutting down horses with the same ease as he killed humans. It only took a couple of minutes for him to finish everyone off and then he ran out of the forest and up the narrow uphill path to attack the main force of the enemy army.

The second hero followed soon after, his armor completely covered in blood and gore. The soldiers of the crow army looked desperate at the fact that nothing was able to damage the eight glowing warriors that had appeared among them and were slaughtering them easily. When they heard the shouts of their fellow warriors that they were being surrounded, a wave of despair rushed over them as they realized they were not going to get out of this alive.

In the meantime, the main force of the army I was responsible for was nearing the beginning of the narrow corridor, only now there were no archers there to attack them. By the looks of it, they wouldn’t have the chance to attack a single enemy before the martyrs decimated them all.

I continued watching the battle, occasionally zooming in and out to look at particular spots where multiple people were trying to mount a defense against the indestructible, doomed soldiers. Once the ratio of enemies to martyrs was below ten to one, their numbers started decreasing much faster until there were none of them left at all.

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Everyone on the battlefield again raised their weapons to the sky at once and time froze again. Looking at the position of the main force of my army, I realized that I had overestimated their speed. By placing them as far as possible from the enemies, they’d had no chance of actually meeting with them, so essentially my troops had suffered no losses. With the exception, of course, of the ten soldiers I’d condemned to eternal suffering. And by the looks of it, I could have had similar results with no casualties even if I had used two or maybe even three fewer of them. And that would have meant three fewer men sent to their deaths and cast into Tartarus.

Suddenly all ten of the heroic martyrs unfroze and looked at their unmoving companions, confused, only to see a flaming circle starting forming around their own feet. It was at that point that they understood their time had come. The circles then went black and slimy, and fiery claws grabbed hold of them and dragged them down with viciousness into the world below.

Whereas the heroes’ skin had previously been impenetrable, their horrible screams of agony now barely drowned out the smashing of bones and tearing of limbs as they were claimed by the Tartarian depths. It was a punishment they shouldn’t have had to suffer, but one that I’d thrust upon them. Sacrificing the few in order to save the many.

I guessed this was the kind of choice a leader would likely have to make and that was probably why I’d been presented with it now. What I couldn’t understand was why I was being put through all these tests and, most importantly, by whom.

Then the fog rushed over the battlefield again, covering everything from one side to the other. This time I didn’t bother trying to look through it to make out what was happening underneath. What I did try to do, though, was move my vision to the sides.

But no matter how much I tried, I could never see further than the battlefield when I zoomed out completely. It was as if something was holding me there. And so I did the only thing that I could do, and waited until the fog dissipated.

This third time the whole place had been transformed. Instead of hills, paths, and forests, there was now just a large field of grass. The two armies were standing facing each other, perfectly balanced in terms of numbers and placement.

I looked around for more information and tried moving the troops again but my actions didn’t have any effect. What’s more, there was no hourglass this time, and no further prompts appeared no matter what I did. It looked like the two armies would simply meet in the middle of the open field this time and fight.

Just as my suspicions about how this might work began to rise, a light appeared in the center of the battlefield. The light shined brightly for a few moments and when it disappeared, I saw three forms that looked awfully familiar to me. After zooming in on them, I realized what the third part was going to be all about.

The three forms standing between the armies were my three siblings, Hades, Demeter, and Poseidon. Their hands and feet were chained to the ground and their mouths were gagged. All three of them were wearing nothing but rags, which meant that eventually, although their levels were much lower, the soldiers would be able to kill them. And seeing as they were standing between two groups that desperately want to kill each other, I had no doubt they’d attack them just for being in the way.

So what was I supposed to do about it?

The answer came in the form of another prompt.

* * *

The army of the crow will not attack the army of thunder until all three of the prisoners are dead.

You have one minute to decide whether you want to use the “Mass Sacrifice” ability.

* * *

I wasn’t sure what the ability meant, though I had a pretty good idea. But I could now finally see a hourglass that was now moving at least twice as fast as the ones before. Right underneath it was a human skull with blood running down from its eye sockets.

I focused my attention on it and received another notification.

* * *

The Mass Sacrifice ability will unleash a catastrophe that will destroy all mortals within a range of 2 miles.

Do you want to use this ability?

Yes No

* * *

So the moral dilemma in this phase was whether I’d kill strangers in order to protect my own. I could, of course, leave the enemies to attack my siblings, which would provide the army of thunder with the necessary time to gain the upper hand in the battle. I wasn’t sure exactly how this whole ordeal was meant to judge me. But I did think the system or person behind this would be able to tell if I lied about my choice.

Really, this wasn’t much of a choice at all. I couldn’t have cared less about a million mortals if it meant I could save one of my own from harm. And even though this was just play-pretend—after all, there was no way my siblings were really there—I did not feel ashamed about my choice. I would choose to do it again and again.

I mentally selected “Yes” and watched as the hourglass disappeared and the ground beneath both of the armies started to turn red. Within a couple of seconds, the confused masses were screaming as fiery tongues jumped up from below and began the slow and painful process of burning them alive.

The method of death seemed to be a point that the orb was trying to make about my choice. It certainly didn’t have to burn the people alive to make me understand the gravity of my actions, but it was probably the worst way to go about it in terms of impact and duration. Even more so when the number of people being burned at once was in the hundreds.

I stoically waited for the cacophony of screams to end as every single mortal perished. It wasn’t like I’d never heard a village’s worth of mortals being burned alive at the same time. Only last time it was for the pure amusement of my father whereas now, it was to help my brothers.

Perhaps this was just a test to gauge how far I would go to reach my goals. If so, I had just proved to myself, and to the place of power, that I would stand tall with my ambitions and that I was more than worthy of taking the throne of Mount Olympus.

With this realization, I felt my consciousness being pulled back into my body and then catapulted up and out of the bowels of the mountain again. The darkness was soon replaced by the exact same sunset that I had seen before I fell.

I turned around and looked at Aphrodite and Artemis. They were both watching me with anticipation. I glanced at my feet and saw nothing out of the ordinary below them, but I did realize my hand wasn’t touching the orb anymore.

“What’s wrong?” Aphrodite asked.

“It didn’t work?” Artemis added.

“What happened just now?” I asked back.

“What do you mean?” Aphrodite looked surprised. “You touched the orb and then pulled your hand back. Did you get the place of power?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t we have gotten a notification or something?” Artemis said.

“I had a...” I started, but I didn’t really feel it was necessary to explain everything. “Never mind.”

I touched the orb again and my mind was flooded with emotions—incredible pride and fulfilment, but also pain and struggle. The one that stuck with me and settled, however, was triumph. An overwhelming sense of victory and achievement made me want to flex my body and shout at the skies.

* * *

You have conquered the place of power: Mount Olympus.

Would you like to take control of Mount Olympus now?

Yes No

* * *

I mentally selected “Yes”.