The pressure built before the end came.
Ares stood at the center of it—bone and rust closing in from all sides, weapons forming and breaking in a relentless rhythm. Each strike shattered another skeleton, each step forward crushed another wave.
But they did not stop.
They did not hesitate.
They only came for him.
Ignis' voice cut through the chaos. "It's accelerating—whoever's controlling them is pushing harder!"
Aphrodite stayed close, her healing magic flickering as she moved with him. "Ares—there's too many—"
The ground trembled.
Not from the undead.
From something else.
The air shifted—heavy, suffocating—and then—
Silence.
Every skeleton froze.
Mid-motion.
Mid-attack.
For a single, suspended moment—
The battlefield held its breath.
Then—
Lightning fell.
Not from the sky, but from nowhere at all—pure force striking through the horde in an instant. The undead shattered, not cut, not broken—
Erased.
At the same time, the earth itself seemed to recoil. Water surged across the ground in a sweeping arc, crushing what remained, dragging bone and dust into nothingness before it could even settle.
When it was over—
There was nothing left.
No bodies.
No fragments.
Only scorched earth and damp stone.
Ares didn't turn.
He already knew.
Behind them stood Zeus and Poseidon.
They hadn't rushed.
Hadn't strained.
They had simply arrived—
And ended it.
Poseidon stepped forward slightly, his gaze sweeping across the empty field, the air around him still carrying that quiet, crushing depth.
"…he's close," Poseidon said.
Zeus' expression darkened.
"Hades."
The name settled like a weight.
Ares' eyes narrowed slightly.
Zeus turned, his attention shifting to the three students. "Return to the academy."
Ignis opened her mouth. "But—"
"That was not a suggestion," Zeus said, voice calm but absolute.
A pause.
Then—
"We'll handle the rest."
Poseidon was already turning away, the air distorting faintly around him again, water gathering at his feet as if preparing to carry him elsewhere.
Zeus stepped forward once—
And both vanished.
Gone.
Not retreating.
Hunting.
—
The walk back felt quieter than it should have.
No undead followed.
No signs of pursuit.
But the absence itself felt wrong.
Ignis broke the silence first. "…that name."
Aphrodite glanced at her. "Hades…"
Ares said nothing.
But he remembered.
Not the name.
The feeling.
That presence—
Watching.
—
Back at the academy, the walls felt tighter than before.
The three made their way to Ares' room without speaking much, the weight of what they had just seen still lingering.
Inside, the space felt almost too small for the conversation waiting to happen.
Ignis leaned against the desk, arms crossed. "So. We're just supposed to ignore that?"
Aphrodite sat on the edge of the bed, quieter. "They didn't look worried."
Ignis scoffed lightly. "That's what worries me."
Ares stood near the window, gaze distant.
"Hades," he said.
The name didn't feel unfamiliar.
It felt…
Distant.
Like something just out of reach.
The door shifted slightly.
"…I've heard that name."
All three turned.
Odyssey stood there, hand still on the door, his usual nervous composure shaken more than they had ever seen it.
Ignis raised a brow. "You've heard of him?"
Odyssey stepped in slowly. "Not personally—but… stories. Old ones."
Aphrodite leaned forward slightly. "What kind of stories?"
Odyssey swallowed. "The kind people don't like repeating."
He adjusted his glasses, clearly unsettled. "Hades… he's not just some mage or necromancer. He's said to be the ruler of the underworld. The king of the dead."
The room stilled.
Odyssey continued, voice quieter now. "If he's real—if it's actually him—then… that explains it."
Ignis narrowed her eyes. "The undead."
Odyssey nodded. "If he commands them, raising armies like that wouldn't mean anything to him."
Aphrodite looked down slightly. "…but why now?"
That—
No one answered.
Ignis spoke again, more serious this time. "If someone like that is moving… then this isn't just random attacks. It's leading somewhere."
Ares finally turned from the window.
"What does he want?"
The question hung in the air.
Unanswered.
Unsettling.
Odyssey shook his head slowly. "If the stories are even half true… then whatever it is—"
He hesitated.
Then finished quietly—
"—it won't be small."
Silence settled over the room again.
Outside, the academy continued as normal.
But inside—
A name had been spoken.
And nothing about it felt distant anymore.