The Fourth Beast

40

Pandemonium

VII

Ares

2 hours before Great Red's imprisonment

14 hours after the Academy's lockdown

Ares, the Greek God of War, was standing at the heart of the training ground inside Olympus, a place that was empty and untouched for millennia.

He recalled the glorious days of Olympus. He remembered the clash of swords and shields, the resounding roars of mighty warriors, and the relentless banging of armor. This training ground had been alive with the energy, blood, and determination of countless Greek Champions. This was where they honed their skills and proved their valor. The echoes of those battles still hung in the air, even after all this time.

Ares let out a wistful sigh.

He turned his gaze to Olympus itself.

He felt it. The Throne Room, where the mighty Greek Gods and Goddesses once held court ages ago, was humming with Divinity once more. The massive twelve thrones, touching the very sky, were still empty but their presence now exuded the aura of authority and might, as it should.

It was not just the Throne Room.

The Inner Chambers, filled with statues of Greek Gods, Goddesses, and Champions... the walls, marked with tales of love, conflict, and adventures... the outer courts, where Gods and Demigods had once mingled... to Ares, everything came to life. An unmistakable sign that their Divinity and Authority were growing once more after a thousand years.

Everything was just as it should be but one element was missing, the laughter and the presence of the living.

Still... Ares smiled.

"We are home."

They had done it. They won.

After millennia's worth of planning and treachery, the home that had been taken from them was now, once more, in their possession.

Ares began to walk, the smile never leaving his face.

He passed the garden, various empty temples of both major and minor Gods and Goddesses, and finally reached the grand chamber.

Countless soldiers, the cream of the crop, were lining up outside the chamber. All of them immediately went down on one knee the moment they saw him, making Ares smile wider.

"When Apollo recovers his lost Divinity, I will need to ask him to heal Cane."

Despite his failures, Cane, his son, was an excellent soldier. And he had the brains and the muscles to be a good general. That was why he didn't remove him completely from their faction after his failure at the Dark Elves Island.

Ares moved past the kneeling soldiers and entered the chamber.

A sense of nostalgia hit him when he saw the twelve grand thrones. All these years, the grandeur of the Divine thrones had not diminished. The intricated markings were still pulsing with Divinity and Authority, albeit not as much as they used to.

But his smile waned when he saw the new furniture.

"We have a separate room for the war council, Athena, or did you forget?"

Athena looked up from the massive table positioned right in the middle of the room, "I have not," She then pointed at the thrones around her, "The Divinity here is stable and the connection to the outside world is fairly decent."