Theodore was fully prepared to fight all twelve Olympians when he entered the throne room. Though the current development was fine for him too. ‘…They might be silently hoping that I would win.’
He’d read about the story of how Poseidon led a rebellion against Zeus, but of course he lost miserably and was punished for his actions afterward. But now suddenly there was an unknown, newborn god that’d managed to defeat their king…
It was obvious that their lingering anger would start to resurface.
The moment Zeus raised his weapon, Theodore rushed inside and wrapped his body around the room’s perimeter, making sure that there was no gap for anyone to escape. The lightning bolt was hurled full-force towards his face but he easily weaved and let it hit the walls instead.
He counterattacked immediately with Frozen Disaster, casting his domain and rain down ice shards towards his target, who instantly dodged and avoided everything that was thrown at him.
‘…As expected of a lightning god, he’s fast.’
Chilling frost covered the battlefield in mere seconds and a howling storm brewed above all of them. The gods that were watching from the sideline couldn’t help but stare in awe at the serpent.
Athena mumbled to herself with a frown. “…Did Boreas take a liking to that snake?”
“Doesn’t seem like it…” Artemis tilted her head. “Perhaps…He’d learned it from somewhere.”
“How is that possible? There’s no way a mere monster can learn the magic of gods.” Ares spoke up with his arms crossed.
Athena seemed to think otherwise, she sighed and shook her head. “That isn’t a ‘mere monster’, he’s a newly born god in the form of a serpent.”
“Eh?”
“I’m not surprised by your stupidity at this point…”
“Are you mocking me!?”
“Hey.” Poseidon glanced at the gods bickering behind him and immediately everyone went quiet, he was only second to Zeus, after all. “This is an opportunity for us…We can take over the throne this way.”
“What if the snake wants Zeus’ seat?” Hermes looked worried. “I mean…Why else would he come all the way here to fight him?”
“He won’t take the throne.” Asclepius walked towards the group with his hand still gripping tightly at his burrowed sword. “His goal is ‘revenge’.”
“Revenge?” Poseidon was intrigued.
“It’s a long story, but he’s with the mortals. Zeus had done something to upset him…He also wants me to be the one to deal the final blow.” Asclepius glanced down at his weapon, the blade was sparkling in a way that seemed like it was urging him to use it.
‘SWOOSH!’
Something brushed over the gods’ head and a thunderous explosion rang out. Theodore turned his head around and glared angrily at the gods. [Stop fooling around! At least be aware of your surroundings!”
Theodore had used his tail to swat away one of Zeus’ lightning bolts, but in the process it’d done some damage to his scales.
[You are affected by the Status Condition: ‘Paralysis’.]
[‘Sky’s Absolute Grasp’ is in effect! It prevents you from dispelling the debuff!]
[Abnormality detected!]
[The Status Orb has been digested!]
[The Unique Magic ‘King’s Lightning’ has finished its registry!]
[You have gained resistance to all Lightning-based attacks!]
[‘Paralysis’ has been changed into ‘Static’!]
< Lvl. 2 Type: Combat Magic. Requirement for Upgrade: Usage and increase proficiency. Cooldown: Depends on spell (5 seconds to ???) Description: Magic belonging to the king of the sky, only those with specific qualifications can use this noble art. It is one of the strongest magic belonging to the gods and so far only a few had managed to earn the rights to wield its unimaginable strength. Spell List: -Sky’s Absolute Grasp -Lightningbolt -Shock Absorb […]>> [You possess the Lightning Element. The Skill ‘Wild Thunder’ has been consumed!] [You possess the title of a King! You are qualified to use ‘King’s Lightning’!] < Origin: Sky’s Absolute Grasp Type: Hinderance Description: A weaker version of ‘Paralysis’, instead of fully incapacitating the opponent, those inflicted with ‘Static’ will have their speed reduced by 70% and Lightning-based attacks have a slight chance of ‘Chaining’, dealing damage to the target up to 5 times.>> Theodore would’ve smirked if he could. ‘Good timing, the slowdown is annoying but it’s better than not being able to move at all.’ Unknown to his opponent’s thoughts, Zeus continued to throw his deadly lightning bolts at Theodore, who blocked with Scales of the Serpent and Dark Veil. “You bug! Just die!” [Is that how a king is supposed to behave?] Theodore taunted as he casted more Frost Spears and threw all of them towards his target just for them to be met with Zeus’ attacks. [Let’s see who dies first then.] [The Unique Magics ‘Frozen Disaster’, ‘Immortal Flames’ and ‘Eternity’s Cycle’ react to their master’s wish!] [A new spell has been created under ‘Eternity’s Cycle’.] [Eternity’s Cycle: Dragon’s Ambition.] When the spell was casted, a light form of a dragon emerged from the Devouring Winter’s ground. It let out an earth-shaking roar and spread its wings before shooting a breath of blue energy from its mouth. [The ‘Dragon’ has taken the ‘Ice’ element.] [Its attack has been boosted by the effects of the domain!] [The Ambitious Dragon expresses its desire to rise above the god ‘King of Olympus’!] [The ‘Dragon’s’ Attack power has risen!] < Rank: A+ Origin: Eternity’s Cycle Type: Damage. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Cost: 650 DE Cast Time: 10 Seconds Cooldown: 3 Hours Description: Dragons are considered to be at the pinnacle of all life forms. However this particular dragon cannot help but feel dread at the thought of something being above it; the immortal gods. It deeply wishes to become a creature on par with them and so when faced with a being that has ‘Divinity’, it will gain immense attack power and will not stop fighting until a victor is decided. [The ‘Dragon’ has not yet been named.] [The ‘Dragon’ can switch between the ‘Ice’, ‘Fire’, and ‘Lightning’ elements.] [The ‘Dragon’s’ stats corresponds to the caster’s Intelligence and Attack.]>> The dragon’s first attack unfortunately missed only by a hair’s length, Zeus managed to throw himself to the side just in time and the energy beam blew up the ground behind him instead. ‘…What’s this? Why is that attack so fast?’ It was as fast as lightning. The dragon didn’t let its opponent recover at all and shot another breath at its enemy. This time it hit Zeus right in the torso and sent him flying against the nearby pillar. The king of the gods was now laying with his back against the broken pillar and coughing up golden liquid. He managed to glare at Theodore despite not being able to move. “…Do you truly think that this would be enough to kill me?” It didn’t take long for Zeus to start getting up, but Theodore didn’t attack him immediately since he could feel that something was off about the god’s aura. He quickly raised his guard and ordered the dragon to attack Zeus once again, and just as he expected, his opponent still had something up his sleeves. The god of lightning’s powers suddenly bursted outwards, meeting with the dragon’s energy breath and pushing through it as easily as a hot knife through butter. The concentrated bolt of pure electricity shook the throne room as the dragon roared in pain and frustration, but it couldn’t do anything against that amount of power and shattered into pieces. If Theodore had been the person to cast a spell at Zeus, he could’ve possibly ended up like his poor dragon. He didn’t know what had caused the sudden power-up until Poseidon shouted out in pure anger. “ZEUS! HOW DARE YOU STEAL OUR DIVINITY AGAIN!?” “SILENCE!” Zeus ignored the gods’ frustrated pleas and attacked Theodore with multiple lightning bolts, all of which had been strengthened by the stolen powers. Theodore could tell at a single glance that each strike could deal devastating damage despite all of his defensive capabilities. He weaved and dodged all that he could but in the end some of them managed to hit him. Stunned and locked by the excruciating pain of being struck by lightning multiple times, Theodore left a few seconds of an opening for Zeus to exploit. The god gathered his power around him and created an aura of electricity. “You shouldn’t have come here all alone, serpent. Now die.” The lightning ring compressed into a ball and a beam of pure energy shot towards Theodore, the speed of which the attack had traveled would leave no room for anyone to avoid. Zeus was sure of his victory and laughed. “…Stop laughing already you old f*ck.” Has anyone mentioned how much Theodore Varan hates being provoked? The serpent had shrunk into his human form, his royal gown slightly tattered with burnt marks and tears. “It’s not over until it’s over!” [Archangel’s Might.] A wicked fog gathered around Theodore’s hand and took the shape of a sword. The moment he had the weapon in his grip, he lunged forward and struck Zeus with enough force to knock him back once again despite him managing to put up a shield just in time. “Keukh!” The god vomited more ichor, his back hunched over with pain. Theodore left his opponent no room to recover and rushed in again, drawing his sword back as far as he could in preparation for a horizontal arch. Zeus responded quickly and summoned his lightning bolt once again and their weapons collided, sending discharges in all directions. The gods that were watching from the sideline were forced to back away from the powerful impact. Unlike everyone else who was observing with stern expressions, Ares looked intrigued and excited. “Amazing…! That child is good with the sword!” “Ares, this is not the time…” Poseidon sighed. “But…Maybe this truly is our chance.” Asclepius glanced at his father, Apollo, who was staring blankly at a beautiful golden bow in his hand. “…Have you decided?” Apollo took a moment to reply, without looking up, he spoke in a solemn tone. “…Yes.” “Then?” The sun god lifted his head with resolve in his eyes. “I’ll help.” Asclepius' smile grew wide and he turned towards Theodore. “Hey kid! It’s our turn now!” Theodore didn’t turn around but he heard his signal, he met Zeus’ lightning bolt with a slash and used the force to propel himself backwards, landing close to the gods behind him. “Do it properly.” “Roger~” Like passing a baton, Asclepius replaced Theodore as Zeus’ opponent and held out his borrowed sword defensively, while he might be a medicine god, he’d lived long enough to learn a few unrelated skills here and there. “I’ve steeled myself! I will face you!” Zeus didn’t say anything but his expression spoke of his annoyance. He raised his weapon and the ceiling suddenly began to part with a violent shake, revealing a brewing thunderstorm above them. Theodore’s domain was being overwritten by Zeus’ and he could feel the power of Devouring Winter slipping as the seconds passed. He tried to take back control, but to his surprise, found that he couldn’t. [The effects of Serpent Bearer’s Domain have been forcefully canceled.] [The King of Olympus has casted ‘God King’s Sky’.] Even Poseidon summoned his trident. His face looked grimmer than everyone else. “…Looks like he plans to kill every single one of us.” “What is he doing?” Theodore asked with his eyes fixated on Zeus, the god hadn’t moved an inch but an electric field was orbiting around him, preventing anyone from attacking while he summoned his domain. “God King’s Sky will use Sky’s Absolute Grasp at random intervals…” Athena answered instead. “It also gives Zeus more control over Olympus' sky.” “In other words, we’re f*cked.” Hermes took a step back as if he was preparing to run away the moment he saw an opportunity, after all, he was a messenger god not fit for fighting. “What are you scared of?” Surprisingly, the one to speak was Asclepius, who didn’t move an inch from the front line. He showed no fear and was even smiling. “If any of you die…I’ll just revive you.” “We do have the greatest physician on our side…” Hera, who’d been keeping quiet until now, finally spoke. She was the least yet the most likely to betray Zeus, though it seemed that she’d been weighing the pros and cons up to this point. “Alright, I deem that we have a winning chance, I shall join.” “Mm~ I would rather not…” Aphrodite didn’t seem to mind who wins and loses and she stepped to the back with Hermes. The rest of the gods had come to a swift agreement and readied their weapons and armor. Poseidon waved his trident and a band of water wrapped around them. “It’s unfortunate that Hephaestus and Hades aren’t here…But we’ll have to make do with just us.” [The God of the Sea’s ‘Liquid Waves’ soothes the soul!] [Attack has increased!] [Speed has increased!] [Defense has increased!] [Combination with the fire element will activate ‘The Ocean and Land’s Symphony’ and their attack power will be increased by twofold.] Theodore’s eyes widened at the System’s notifications, he was already expecting the gods’ powers to be strong, but this was beyond what he’d anticipated. ‘So Poseidon can buff his teammates?’ By the time Poseidon had finished casting ‘Liquid Waves’, the sky rumbled and lightning flashed ahead. The protective aura around Zeus disappeared and he immediately began his attack. “I will execute all of you traitorous bugs!” “Poseidon!” Theodore leaped forward and used ‘Immortal Flames’, picking a spell that crossed his mind at that moment. The sea god saw what he was trying to do and used an attacking spell. [‘Phoenix Wings’ and ‘Tidal Crash’ are perfectly synchronized!] [‘The Ocean and Land’s Symphony’ has been activated!] Water and fire blended together into a column and it met with Zeus’ ruthless lightning bolt, they exploded instantly on impact and engulfed the entire room in thick smoke. ‘RUMBLE!’ Despite successfully counteracting the first attack, God King’s Sky had casted another one directly on top of them. Athena was quick enough to use her signature Aegis shield to barely block Sky’s Absolute Grasp. “Ugh!” “Athena!” Artemis looked over at her sister with worry, though she had no time to check up on the goddess’ condition since Zeus had sent another lightning bolt towards them. Ares successfully swiped it away with his spear but the amount of force behind it was too much for him to handle. His arm dangled helplessly as he gritted his teeth, trying not to let out a pained cry, though it was already written all over his scrunched-up face. “Damnit!” When the dust finally settled, Zeus was levitating off from the ground while lightning shot out from his body, each bolt managing to leave a heavy dent on whatever they touched. [Your divinity only fuels me! How foolish of you to put your hopes in a mere snakelete!] Theodore clicked his tongue. ‘I don’t want to use anything that would make the Scale notice me…I need to save it for Ra.’ He didn’t know how exactly Zeus was stealing powers from the other gods, but he would assume that Ra can do the same thing since he was also the king of the gods. ‘Whoever made that rule is stupid and should just die.’ He was getting annoyed and impatient…He wondered if he should just use the Great Cycle to get this all over with, but his rationality somehow managed to calm his raging mind down. ‘No, I should stick with the plan…We have a dozen people on our side so the odds should be with us.’ Zeus sent another attack at them and this time Theodore was the one to block, swatting it away like a bug using his sword. “New plan, just support me okay? Since from the looks of it all of you are struggling.” “Hey! How dare you—“ “He’s right, we can barely take on Zeus’ bolts because he’s constantly draining our divinity,” Athena cut off Ares. “The best we can do is stay back and support this child.” Theodore glanced towards Asclepius. “Just watch for now, you’ll get your chances.” The medicine god nodded. “I understand, I’ll do my best.” No one else got to say anything more since Zeus began to attack them once again, this time his lightning bolts were larger and fiercer than before, combining this with the storm up ahead, it turned the battlefield into Zeus’ personal playground. Theodore didn’t falter under the clear disadvantage and rushed forward, covering himself with Scales of the Serpent and trying to find a weak spot in Zeus’ defenses. Unfortunately, the lightning god managed to block every single one of Theodore’s heavy slashes, but this didn’t discourage him at all. ‘I knew this won’t work…Physically, I’m weaker compared to him.’ Fighting Zeus at close combat meant that the gods behind him only had to watch their heads, but the battle wouldn’t move forward this way since Theodore had the speed to go against Zeus’ strength while the god couldn’t even land a single hit. ‘Do I really need to use Chaos?’ Theodore tried to think up some strategies, even while he was deep in thought, his body didn’t stop moving. Just as he was about to switch to using Eternity’s Cycle, a glimpse of hope revealed itself among the many flashing bolts. It was an arrow made of pure fire. It headed straight towards its intended target; Zeus, slipping through the electrical shield and hitting him in the right shoulder. This caused the god to stagger just enough that Theodore managed to close in the distance and land a critical blow to the chest. Zeus somehow managed to stay standing and he used the momentum to create distance. He glared at someone behind Theodore and he spat out something bad in ancient greek. “…You’ll regret saying that to my mother.” Apollo frowned while he pulled back his bowstring and a fire arrow appeared in between his fingers, nocked and ready to fly. Before Zeus could do anything else, another arrow came flying at him, this time it was shining silver, this one struck his left leg and severed his tendons. Artemis was fuming with anger as she readied another arrow and shouted. “Apologize right now you son of a b*tch!” Theodore couldn’t help but smile, after all, for him the best support are always archers. He didn’t continue to stand around for long and quickly charged in, imbuing his sword with Chaos and black smoke rose from the blade. In a single second, he was close enough to attack. Only an afterimage was left behind as Zeus’ right arm flew off the shoulder while ichor gushed from the wound. Not even leaving another moment for the god to scream, Asclepius appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back with the Ophiuchus’ Sword. “KEUKGH!!!” Zeus spat out ichor as he fell onto his knees, his eyes were wide from the intense burning pain and his face red with anger. He glared at everyone just as the lightning domain was forcefully canceled because of its master’s injuries. “…You…How…d-dare…” ‘BOOM!’ Just when everyone thought it was over, Zeus suddenly released a powerful electrical blast from his body, knocking the gods away far enough that they crashed into the walls. Even the ones that were staying back weren’t safe from this blow, let alone Asclepius, who was standing at ground-zero. He’d completely lost consciousness and was buried under the rubbles.. Theodore managed to somewhat withstand the force, though he was still thrown back a decent distance. This gave Zeus enough time to pluck the sword from his back before crushing it in his fist, completely ignoring the cut he gained from it. [The Ophiuchus’ Sword has been destroyed. It had returned to its twin Staff.] “Even if I perish…I will take you down with me you vile serpent!” Violent sparks crackled through the air around Zeus. Theodore didn’t pay much attention to what the lightning god had said though, instead, he was focusing on a singular notification panel that’d appeared in front of him. Reading its contents made him smirk unknowingly. “…Take me down with you..huh.” [‘Lightbringer’ suggests another solution!]