Everything stopped.
Not slowly. Not in pieces. All at once.
Weapons froze mid-swing. Lightning paused mid-strike. Blood hung in the air and forgot how to fall. Even Wukong's clones stopped laughing. Even Kratos held his blade half-buried in Uriel's shoulder and didn't push further.
Silence. Real silence.
Then He stepped down.
No flash. No explosion. Just... there.
The Father stood between both armies.
No one moved. No one dared.
Zeus looked at Him. And for the first time since the war began, Zeus did not attack first. They just looked at each other. One built everything. One refused to bow to it.
The Father spoke first.
"You have always been a problem."
His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It landed everywhere at once, settling into bones and thoughts and the spaces between breaths.
"In every age. In every story. You resisted structure. You questioned authority. You refused your place."
Zeus didn't flinch. The chaos around him burned brighter instead.
