The battle ended in an instant.
Campe’s body had the many animal and monster heads torn off, and the dragon lower body was stripped of scales, bleeding from place to place.
On top of that, the snakes that made up her snake-hair had also all been decapitated.
“Hades, stop. I told you the goal wasn’t to kill Campe.”
“Zeus, since when were you able to give me orders?”
“That’s not it, the Hekatoncheires and the Cyclopes asked us not to.”
“Hmph, even so, I cannot forgive this giant bitch who insulted and belittled me.”
Ignoring Zeus’s attempt to stop him, Hades went ahead and chopped off the heads of the snakes that made up Campe’s snake-hair.
Then he braided each head together one by one and made a necklace, hanging it around his own neck.
Zeus and Poseidon frowned at the sight, but didn’t say anything.
Given how urgent the situation was, neither wanted to waste time arguing with Hades.
“Zeus, let’s hurry and bring them back to our lines. Since no messenger has arrived yet, it seems Kronos still hasn’t noticed our absence.”
Zeus agreed with Poseidon’s opinion, and the two quickly led the Hekatoncheires and the Cyclopes back to their main camp.
Just as they returned, Kronos was receiving Campe’s messenger-bird and pushing forward hard.
“Damn it, they’ve already arrived!!!”
And thus, they unexpectedly got to witness the overwhelming strength of the Hekatoncheires.
With the strength pouring out of their hundred arms, they seized Titans and hurled them away; most Titans collapsed under their sheer power.
“You wretched family, blocking me to the very end.”
““Heh, it’s not like we ever considered you family in the first place.””
Kronos frowned as he looked at his brothers, the Hekatoncheires, then retreated.
When Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades arrived safely at the stronghold, everyone erupted in cheers.
According to Gaia’s prophecy, their victory was already all but guaranteed.
* * *
The battle lines were reorganised, and both Titans and gods alike knew the final war was approaching.
“Zeus, even though Lady Gaia’s prophecy is being fulfilled, we still can’t be certain.”
“Well, we still haven’t managed to properly subdue Father Kronos….”
“Hah! What father? That man is nothing but an enemy. And if the Hekatoncheires hold him off just a little longer, we can subdue Kronos ourselves.”
Metis’s concern and Hera’s words were both valid.
Since I—the irregular—was born, no one knew how the prophecy might shift.
Of course, that didn’t mean our current power was incapable of suppressing Kronos.
“Hera, but we can’t focus solely on Kronos.”
“Poseidon is right. Demeter and I are already fully occupied protecting the goddesses following us.”
At Hestia’s words, Hera fell silent.
Given our current situation, we siblings were filling the gaps in our insufficient forces with our own power.
Just then, the Cyclopes entered our tent.
“We happened to overhear you talking.”
“That’s right, a shortage in numbers can be solved with weapons.”
“Overwhelming firepower solves every problem.”
With those words, the Cyclopes placed overwhelming firepower directly into our hands.
Brontēs, the Thunder-Smith, forged Zeus’s lightning; Steropēs, the Lightning-Smith, forged Poseidon’s trident; and Arges, the Brightener, forged Hades’s helmet.
Then they forged one hundred fifty cannons that the Hekatoncheires could carry and fire two at a time, repaired Hera’s crown, and created her magical staff.
They also created a veil infused with Gaia’s divine power—something that didn’t even exist in myth—along with Hestia’s glowing poker and a portable altar.
“What is always lacking is firepower.”
“Overwhelming firepower makes anything possible.”
“What we need is an explosion.”
They then continued producing bombers and cannons for the gods to use, like firepower-mad maniacs.
Naturally, the gods couldn’t use everything they made.
Watching the weapons piling up endlessly in the storage tents, Poseidon shook his head and thought:
‘What are you, the United States in your past life….’
* * *
The Hekatoncheires dominated the battlefield from range, firing one hundred fifty cannons—one in each hand—unleashing overwhelming firepower.
With the Cyclopes’ weapons helping Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon awaken their true divine essence, Kronos could no longer handle even a single one of them alone. This meant no Titan could stand against the three brothers together.
Hades’s helmet, which he thought was oddly plain for something made by firepower fanatics like the Cyclopes, transformed into a black beam-saber….
Meanwhile, Hera fully awakened her divine essence thanks to the crown and magical staff formally acknowledged and passed down by Mother Rhea and Gaia.
Demeter accepted Gaia’s veil, and Hestia accepted her blazing poker and flame-kindling altar, each awakening their true divine essence as well.
Once the six siblings awakened their complete power through the long war, and with the Cyclopes and Hekatoncheires joining forces, the Titans were pushed to the brink.
Now, only a small number of Titans remained in Kronos’s vast kingdom.
All the others were captured and were now under watch.
“Ah… Gaia’s prophecy has finally come to pass. I could not overcome Gaia. I have danced on the strings of those Protogenoi.”
Kronos lamented.
He had overthrown his father and ushered in the Golden Age, yet in the end, he had been toyed with by the Protogenoi. He no longer had the will to endure.
“Atlas, open the gate. We have already been defeated, so I suppose I must allow myself to be played with by Gaia’s hands.”
Kronos opened the gates himself and walked toward the six siblings.
Then he acknowledged his own defeat.
“You have won. In the end, I could not escape Gaia’s grasp—my loss. Now the Golden Age will fade, and the Silver Age ruled by you shall come….”
With Kronos’s declaration of defeat, everyone shouted at the top of their lungs.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
We have won!!!
Long live Zeus! Long live Poseidon! Long live Hades! Long live Hera! Long live Demeter! Long live Hestia!
* * *
After ten years of war, the six siblings who had captured all the Titans first locked them inside Kronos’s royal palace.
Then they gathered the Titans and gods who had helped them and began discussing the Titans’ treatment and rewards for merit.
“What are we to do with them?”
“Well, everyone must at least agree that we cannot leave them on the surface.”
“But Hera, you know they can’t be imprisoned just anywhere.”
“We can’t force them into hard labor either. Even if we’re stronger now, their power would still be a nuisance.”
“I agree with Poseidon. Other than us, there’s almost no one capable of restraining them.”
“Then what about placing them in the Underworld instead?”
“Styx, your suggestion is good, but someone would have to constantly keep them in check and watch over them.”
“And besides, they’re ultimately children of the goddess Gaia.”
“What are you trying to say, Zeus?”
“That… we lock them all in Tartarus. That way, we’ll only need minimal surveillance, and on top of that, the goddess Gaia won’t be able to control them.”
At Zeus’s final statement, everyone recoiled in shock.
Poseidon wasn’t surprised—he knew this would happen just like in the myths.
But aside from him, everyone else knew exactly how horrifying Tartarus was, so Zeus’s proposal stunned them.
“Why are you all so startled? In the end, that’s the only place they can go.”
“But Lord Zeus, they’re your own blood.”
“Yet they’re also the ones who opposed us.”
“Zeus, the goddess Gaia won’t stay quiet.”
“Demeter, you all heard Father’s final words. To truly begin our age, we cannot remain puppets of the Protogenoi.”
Hera and Hades remained silent, seemingly agreeing with Zeus’s reasoning, and Poseidon also had no room to object.
After all, the true age of the Olympian gods only began after they later defeated Gaia’s final catastrophes—Typhon and the Gigantomachy.
“I am in favor. In the end, the only choice is to exclude them completely.”
“I agree as well. If they remain on the surface, they’ll only be a problem.”
“I abstain.”
“I’ll abstain too.”
With Hera and Hades in favor, and Demeter and Hestia abstaining, the decision passed to Poseidon.
If Poseidon opposed, the plan to imprison them in Tartarus would fail.
Until now, the gods had upheld a policy that if even one opposed a major matter, it would not be carried out.
Everyone present focused on Poseidon’s lips.
“I also agree. However, if the goddess Gaia later presents a clear and certain solution regarding the Titans, then we will remove them from Tartarus.”
Everyone nodded at Poseidon’s words.
If there was a definite, safe method, they had no need to insist on Tartarus.
“Then I shall take that as the decision and put it into effect.”
Bang, bang, bang—
* * *
Thus, the gods imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus and entrusted the Hekatoncheires with guarding them.
The Hekatoncheires accepted the role with joy.
““Ha ha, now you will taste hell too.””
““You damned monsters!!!””
And Atlas, strongest among the Titans aside from Kronos, was made to bear the sky upon his shoulders.
“My apologies, Tethys. I couldn’t prevent the punishment of Atlas, your sister’s son.”
“Don’t be too sorry, Poseidon. I knew this would be the boy’s fate eventually. Still, I’m relieved that Prometheus and Epimetheus will receive rewards. That’s fortunate for my sister. And besides, Atlas and Menoitios were never the obedient sort.”
“I’m glad you see it that way.”
Next was the distribution of rewards for merit.
The issue remained of how to divide honors among Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Hera, who had performed the greatest deeds.
The gods worried that another war might break out over this.
Everyone knew the power of the four very well. And remembering what had happened ten years ago, they couldn’t help but feel anxious.
What they didn’t realize was that ten years of war had matured all six siblings.
They could now think a little deeper.
A good example was Hera choosing to abstain.
“I abstain. My authority is already well-established. I have no desire to start another great fight here.”
With the abstention of Hera—the strongest goddess—only the three brothers remained.
Zeus, who wielded the greatest lightning and had grown rapidly in power; Hades, the most aggressive and authoritative god whose very arrogance seemed glorious; and Poseidon, already the master of all seas in the world.
The two brothers didn’t consider Poseidon a competitor.
Poseidon, beloved by Oceanus, was already a sea ruler of a level far beyond what Pontos or his son Oceanus—both Protogenoi—could influence.
The clearest proof was the drops of Oceanus’s water that always drifted gently around Poseidon.
They were the core essence of the primordial sea encircling the world.
Here Zeus devised a plan.
Since Poseidon was the flawless ruler of the sea, only the sky and the Underworld remained.
If he could shove Hades into the Underworld, then Zeus would naturally become King of the Gods—after all, the King of the Gods had always been ruler of the sky.
“Then, brothers, how about we draw lots? If we each try to hold everything the way Father did, we’ll only be repeating the past.”
Poseidon had no interest, so he agreed. Hades had complaints, but since Zeus and Poseidon both agreed, there was no point resisting.
“Fine. Let’s do it fairly with Lady Gaia’s leaves.”
After drawing lots, the results were as expected: Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the Underworld.
“You damnable Zeus… You toy with me.”
“So, brother Hades, are you saying you will oppose the choice of the goddess Gaia?”
“You little bastard I could chew apart!! One day I’ll bring you great suffering.”
“Bleh. Bweeeeeh.”
Even after maturing, those two still hadn’t lost their childish streaks. Poseidon shook his head and went over to his sisters.
“Aren’t you going to stop them? With Hades’s personality, he won’t let this go.”
“Well, even Hades can’t overturn the choice of the goddess Gaia.”
“Still, I feel like there’ll be major revenge later. Maybe he’ll stage a rebellion at the most critical moment?”
“But Hades got careless. Of course Poseidon would gain the sea. How could he not expect Zeus to pull tricks? And that red-haired goddess of wisdom is stuck right at Zeus’s side.”
Hera, Demeter, and Hestia all scolded Hades instead.
‘True, with the goddess of wisdom acting as Zeus’s bag of clever schemes, Hades really did let himself get dragged along.’
‘Now all that’s left is distributing rewards to the remaining allies. Once that’s settled, the true age of the Olympian gods will begin. The war was exciting, but honestly a bit tedious too.’
Among the Titans who fought on our side, Kratos and Bia received the opportunity to stand closest beside Zeus, now the King of the Gods ruling the sky.
The goddess Tethys was placed in charge of all the gods’ promises and oaths.
And thus, at long last, the true age of the Olympian gods had begun.