The sky broke beneath the fury of Zeus.
Storm clouds stretched from horizon to horizon as the king of Olympus unleashed his power without restraint. Lightning speared downward in countless columns, turning entire sections of the battlefield into molten earth. Mountains collapsed beneath the force of his attacks, rivers changed course as the earth split apart, and entire armies vanished beneath the destruction. At the center of it all stood Mike, laughing.
Blood poured from a dozen wounds. One horn had cracked near the base, several scales hung loose from his chest where Zeus's spear had pierced him repeatedly, and one eye was little more than a burned ruin. None of it mattered. He threw his head back and laughed as lightning crashed around him. "Yes!" he roared. "That's what I'm talking about!"
Zeus descended through the storm with a look of fury etched into his face. Lightning crawled across his armor continuously, and the spear in his hand hummed with enough power to level cities. His eyes burned with contempt as he stared down at the dragon before him.
"You are a plague," Zeus thundered.
Mike grinned. "You keep saying that like it's supposed to affect me. All of you just repeat the same shit."
The spear struck as Mike twisted at the last second, but the weapon still tore through the battlefield behind him, vaporizing thousands of mortal soldiers in a single attack. Neither of them spared the dead a glance. The armies below had become irrelevant the moment the gods committed them to this battlefield.
Mike launched himself forward and drove his fist into Zeus's jaw hard enough to stagger the king of Olympus. Only slightly, but enough to make Mike's grin widen. Zeus answered with lightning. The blast struck Mike point-blank and engulfed him in divine fury. The earth exploded beneath him, stone vaporized, and the resulting shockwave flattened entire forests.
When the light faded, Mike emerged from the center of the destruction still laughing. Burned flesh hung from parts of his face and smoke rose from his body, but his excitement had only grown.
"Again!"
Zeus stared at him. For the first time, there was something new behind the king's eyes. A feeling of concern began to form in the back of his mind.
The battle intensified as more gods joined the fight. A bronze-armored deity charged from the left only for Mike to intercept him instantly. His claws punched through the armor and golden blood erupted across the battlefield. The god screamed as Mike bit deeply into his shoulder and tore away a massive chunk of flesh. Divine essence flooded through him immediately. The burned scales across his body began repairing themselves while his ruined eye slowly regenerated.
"Holy shit," Mike muttered before ripping the god's head off and devouring more of the corpse.
Zeus roared and hurled a bolt of lightning powerful enough to send Mike crashing through an entire hillside. Before he could recover, three more gods descended upon him. One carried a flaming sword, another wielded a massive hammer, and the third floated behind them wrapped in silver fire. It didn't matter.
Mike caught the sword wielder's blade in one claw before punching through the god's chest. The hammer bearer struck him from behind, cracking bone and shattering scales. Mike laughed harder. He grabbed the god by the face and slammed him into the ground repeatedly until the body stopped moving, then tore off one of his arms and devoured it. The familiar rush of power spread through him once more, healing his injuries almost instantly.
The silver-robed goddess attempted to retreat. Mike caught her ankle before she could escape and swung her through another charging deity, smashing both into the ground in an explosion of blood and earth.
Zeus launched himself forward as a thunderclap pulsed across the battlefield.
His spear pierced straight through Mike's side and lifted him from the earth. Golden lightning surged through the wound, but instead of fear or pain, Mike's grin widened further. He grabbed Zeus's wrist.
"Got you."
Then he head-butted the king of gods.
The impact echoed across the battlefield. Zeus staggered and Mike drove both claws deep into his ribs. Golden blood sprayed through the air.
For the first time, Zeus screamed.
The battlefield seemed to pause.
Every remaining god of Olympus heard it.
Their king was bleeding.
Their king was hurting.
Mike stared at the golden blood covering his claws before looking back up at Zeus.
"Oh."
Zeus tore himself free and unleashed an explosion of divine lightning powerful enough to flatten everything around them. Gods and mortals alike were thrown aside as entire sections of the battlefield ceased to exist. The resulting devastation transformed the plains into a wasteland of molten rock and shattered earth.
Mike rose from the rubble still smiling.
Zeus hovered opposite him, breathing harder now. His armor was damaged. Golden blood dripped from multiple wounds. His expression had darkened.
"You are not supposed to survive," Zeus growled.
"Just fucking attack me. Stop talking."
Another wounded god attempted to crawl away through the destruction. Mike landed beside the injured deity, tore off an arm, and devoured it before ripping away the second. The god's screams echoed across the battlefield as divine essence flooded through Mike once more. Broken bones repaired themselves. Torn muscles regenerated. Deep wounds closed.
Mike rolled his shoulders and looked back toward Zeus.
This time the panic etched on the king of Olympus was unmistakable.
Because Zeus finally understood the problem.
Every injury Mike suffered could be healed by devouring another god. Every reinforcement sent against him became another source of strength. The battlefield itself was becoming a feast.
High above the destruction, Mephistopheles sat comfortably in a summoned chair while applauding enthusiastically.
"Bravo!" he shouted. "Wonderful! Spectacular! Absolutely catastrophic!"
Mike punched another god through the side of a mountain.
Mephistopheles applauded harder.
The battle devolved into pure chaos. Zeus abandoned restraint entirely and unleashed the full fury of his power. Lightning covered the world. Mountains vanished. Distant cities crumbled. Gods died merely from standing too close to the conflict. Human armies ceased to exist as collateral damage. The battlefield stopped resembling land and became a monument to destruction itself.
Mike met every attack head-on.
Their collisions split the sky. Shockwaves rolled outward for miles. Entire formations of soldiers disappeared beneath the pressure generated by their clashes. The war had become something beyond mortals or kingdoms.
When the latest explosion finally faded, Mike and Zeus stood amidst the devastation.
Both were wounded and bleeding.
But there was one critical difference.
Mike was smiling.
Zeus was not.
The king of Olympus looked around at the ruined battlefield. At the dead gods scattered across the wasteland. At the armies that no longer existed. At the dragon standing before him.
Zeus looked uncertain as the panic in his expression grew more intense.
Mike saw it and started laughing again.
A deep, wild, relentless laugh that rolled across the shattered plains. The laughter of something no longer afraid of gods or punishment. Something that viewed the destruction of gods and armies alike as entertainment.
Zeus slowly tightened his grip on his spear as the storm darkened overhead.
Far beyond the clouds other pantheons were beginning to stir.
Zeus looked towards the horizon with a solemn look on his face. The panic slowly shifted to a grim understanding as the king of Olympus realized this could be his end.