And in a moment, the avatar spread out, warriors vanish-ing with him, but leaving the three of them alone in the chamber. The fragment pulsed in his hand, filling him with a strange, dark energy, buzzing like adrenaline, raw and untempered.
Kiera let her breath out slowly, then looked at him. "You okay?
Zypher nodded, though his pulse was racing. "Yeah. We should go. Whatever Ares was, I don't think he's going to let us forget this easily."
Orion grinned, but there was a haunted look in his eyes. "Just like old times. A fight we barely walked away from.".
They left the Spire and vanished into the darkness of Neo-ilka, but Zypher felt no sense of Ares releasing itself from within him. More than just power, that fragment was a line direct to the god himself, a conduit throbbing with the rage and wrath of an old force that had fed on war's chaos.
As he made his way through the darkened streets of the city, Zypher could feel a presence upon him-think Ares, god of war, watching him, waiting. Some unspoken promise, a challenge, hung in the air. And with each step, the fragment pressed deeper, the rage of Ares swirling with his own-an ongoing reminder that to wear the power of gods was also to carry their shadows.
And as they vanished into the darkness, Zypher knew it was only just beginning. The gods of Olympus were waking, and with each piece they discovered, they were drawn deeper into the storm.
A chunk of Ares rested heavy in Zypher's pack, thrumming with a raw rage that seemed to bleed through the air around him. The further into Neo-ilka's twisting streets they were, the more he felt the essence of Ares begin feeding into his mind, pressing upon his thoughts like an ember of hot coals. Yet he knew each small segment was yet one stride closer to completing the tool - the Divinitas, a thing of might to enforce the will of the gods.
They both slipped into an unfurnished room in their lair, a derelict sub-level section of a disused factory complex. Kiera sat next to Zypher as he opened each piece they had managed to dig up with wonderful gentleness. The Divinitas was forming, a complicated, interlocking system of shards and parts, each one inscribed with a distinctive energy. He could see how the fragments were to come together, each having a slot meant to fit precisely with the others. But even now, as only a part of the weapon, its aura radiated an overwhelming presence.
"Do you ever wonder why it was created, Zypher?" Kiera asked, her voice low. "The Divinitas, I mean. Why the gods would let mortals keep something like this?"
Zypher's fingers traced the edge of the Ares fragment, its jagged scarred surface somehow retaining an echo of the war god's own fury. "From what I've learned," he says, "they didn't just allow it. They needed it. Maybe the gods saw a time coming when they'd be at the mercy of technology and mortals- like now.".
Orion paced back and forth across the entrance, standing watch. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Sounds like they got spooked. Rise of the mortals, and their tech advances, and their powers wane. They created a failsafe, in the form of a weapon, something to turn those tides if they ever lose their grip.
Zypher held up the fragment, and its glow lit his face. "This is more than a safety net, though. This is a promise—a bond that ties us to their strength, to their flaws, to their existence itself." He paused, thinking back on the encounter with Ares. "When I touched this, I did not just feel his power, though. I felt him… his ambition, his anger. He is part of this weapon now, part of us.".
Kiera's face softened, the analytical intensity in her eyes muddling with a faint reverence. "Perhaps that's why it's so dangerous. We're carrying pieces of them with us. Literal fragments of gods. And they won't take it kindly if we wield their power lightly.".
All held their breaths in amazed silence as they looked at the fragments. Each held an innately divine sliver-a spark that could set the world aflame or bring it to its knees. And yet, there was something deeply intimate to the fragments, as if each somehow contained the essence of a god's intent, waiting to find someone worthy enough to carry it.
Finally, Zypher lifted his head to look out at his team. "These fragments, this tool-it is our only chance to rebalance Neo-ilka if we do not let the corporations and tyrants find it before us. They'll make something worse than what the gods meant it to be. And the gods? They might just end up as shadows lost to the machinery of this city forever.
And then we're done, Orion finally said. And then we will claim the Divinitas, by parts, and we will make it ours."
Zypher nodded. "Then we move on, but we do not forget what we are doing. Every fragment has a purpose, its own. will, almost. Ares showed us this. The weapon does not merely have to be used; it must be treated with respect.".
Kiera stared hard, "And we don't forget who we fight. Every corporation within Neo-ilka, every syndicate and rogue god now knows of the Divinitas. They'll do whatever in their power to take that away from us".
While he spoke, something was going on in Zypher's head: power possessed a cost. That's what this weapon promised to its masters: untold strength was theirs for the taking; at least, it would have to be for those who were willing to bear the burden of divine anger and avarice.
And with one final look about at his team, Zypher stuffed the broken fragments into his pack. They still had a ways to go, and each step forward would take them closer to the center of the gods' power—and closer to the perils who would kill, or die, for it.
None was spoken, the silence of comprehension resonating among them as they prepared for their next target. They had promised themselves, promised Neo-ilka: they would see this through to the bitter end, whatever it might cost them. And so, slipping back into the city's shadows, Zypher felt the weight of the
weapon settle over him like a mantle—a burden and a blessing, heavy as the gods themselves.