Chapter Summaries

Andrea learned that Achilles had defeated Ares and wounded Aphrodite, then discussed with Ryan how Fate’s tribulations and Root Order shaped people’s destinies. Ares prepared a golden-net ambush for Achilles in a secluded valley outside the Athenian pass.

• Andrea read a military report describing Achilles’s attack on the Allied Forces’ camp and his defeat of Ares, as well as Aphrodite’s injury.
• Ryan confirmed the report and explained that Fate gave Achilles great power alongside a destined weakness and a tribulation he had to face.
• Andrea considered recruiting Achilles, but Ryan said Achilles had to complete his journey before he could join Athens.
• Ryan explained the three grades of Root Order and guessed that Achilles stood between the highest and middle grades, with failure likely reducing him to the latter.
• Ares arrived at a secluded valley outside the Athenian pass and buried a golden net as a trap for Achilles.

Achilles fought Ares for a full day in a secluded valley, only to be caught in a golden net when Ares fled toward its exit. Chiron witnessed Achilles’s capture and decided to seek Athena’s help in rescuing him from Olympus.

• Achilles agreed to duel Ares the next day, and they fought from morning until evening without a victor.
• Ares grew stronger as the battle continued, but Achilles managed to cut off a strand of his hair.
• Ares called off the fight and fled from the valley, so Achilles chased him toward its exit.
• A golden net sprang from the ground and trapped Achilles, allowing Ares to plan to take him to the Divine Mountain.
• Chiron saw Achilles’s capture from his cave and decided to seek Athena’s help, believing he could not rescue Achilles alone.

Chiron sought help rescuing Achilles from the God of War, but Andrea could not reach Athena, so he followed a young man's suggestion to seek out Earl of Ilos. He discovered the earl was Iapetus, who had been watching the conflict from Athens and asked Chiron why he had come.

• Chiron told Andrea that Achilles had been captured while fighting the God of War and asked her to seek Athena's guidance, but she said the goddess had sent no oracle.
• As Chiron left, a young man told him that Earl of Ilos might help him enter Olympus and find allies.
• Chiron traveled through the night to Earl of Ilos's manor and recognized the earl as Iapetus, the God of Speech.
• Iapetus explained that he had stayed in Athens to watch the conflict and believed Zeus would target him, then asked Chiron why he had come.

Chiron sought Iapetus’s help rescuing Achilles, and the Titan gave him a secret route onto Olympus. Chiron also obtained the cursed Divine Sword Laevatein as another possible means of helping Achilles, while Ares brought his captive to Olympus and prepared to consult Aphrodite.

• Chiron explained Achilles’s plight to Iapetus, who judged that the mortal’s survival depended on the gods’ response to Zeus’s ambitions.
• Iapetus gave Chiron a map to Helios’s hidden passage between Olympus and the Sun Temple, warning that it would not be enough by itself to rescue a mortal.
• Chiron planned to seek Hecate’s interest in the rescue and considered how Achilles might use his strength to escape Olympus.
• A sealed stone box arrived for Chiron through Artemis’s help, containing the Divine Sword Laevatein, whose power came with the curse of the true sun’s burning.
• Ares returned to Olympus with Achilles bound in a golden net and decided to notify Aphrodite before dealing with his captive.

Hera explained that she had allowed Ares and Aphrodite to stage Achilles’s execution, expecting the spectacle to teach them a lesson if they failed. On the execution platform, Ares’s blades and arrow could not harm Achilles, whose body bore the power of the Styx, so Ares prepared to try lightning and fire.

• Hestia questioned Hera about the gathering of the gods and the planned execution, and Hera said she had agreed to support Ares while leaving herself free to intervene later.
• Ares announced Achilles’s sentence before the gathered gods and ordered two servants to cut him into a thousand pieces.
• The executioners’ blades bounced off Achilles and destroyed them, while Achilles mocked Ares.
• Ares shot Achilles with a powerful arrow, but it struck him without causing harm, and the gods noticed dark runes appearing on his skin.
• Ares recognized that the power of the Styx protected Achilles and said he would use lightning and fire instead.

The gods failed to harm Achilles until Ares struck him with stolen Thunder Fire, which Achilles survived. Aphrodite then enlisted Hephaestus to imprison Achilles in a golden net and gradually destroy his Styx-protected body with Sun Fire and Thunder Fire.

• Boreas, Notus, Eurus, Morus, Eurynomos, and other gods attacked Achilles, but his Styx-hardened body remained unharmed.
• Ares unleashed stolen Thunder Fire on Achilles, but Achilles survived and mocked the gods as his chains began to crack.
• Hera recognized that Ares had failed and considered using her Divine Office to sever Achilles's connection to the Underworld, but chose not to act yet.
• Aphrodite rejected Ares's offer to fix the humiliation and agreed to Hephaestus's plan to contain Achilles.
• Hephaestus asked Ares for Thunder Fire and explained that he would use the Sun God's divine temple and Sun Fire to wear down Achilles's Styx Power over time.

Chiron infiltrated the Sun Temple to rescue Achilles and brought him a powerful divine sword, but Achilles chose to remain on Olympus rather than escape. After sensing the sword’s connection to the Sun Chariot, he resolved to grow stronger and challenge the gods again.

• Chiron learned from a Nymph that Achilles was being held in the Sun Temple and would be smelted by Hephaestus the next day.
• Chiron used a secret passage beneath Olympus to reach the unguarded Sun Temple, where Achilles was bound in Hephaestus’s golden net.
• Chiron gave Achilles a stone box containing a divine sword whose power resisted the Sun Chariot’s light.
• Achilles sensed that the sword and Sun Chariot shared a connection and that the sword longed to reunite with something within the chariot.
• Achilles refused to escape with Chiron and declared that he would use the sword to make up for his failures and ultimately overturn Olympus.

Achilles chose to remain on Mount Olympus and challenge Zeus, while Chiron left with doubts about the God King's knowledge of the hidden passage. Zeus watched them in secret and revealed that he intended to let Achilles challenge him, as Hephaestus arrived the next morning to begin his work.

• Achilles refused to leave Olympus, arguing that he would face his destined death by confronting Zeus, and Chiron gave him the sword before departing.
• As Chiron left, he wondered whether Zeus had known about the hidden passage and sensed that someone might be watching him.
• Zeus watched Achilles and Chiron with Clymene, who blamed Iapetus for revealing the passage and urged Zeus to punish him.
• Zeus said he would not personally attack Achilles and planned to summon the gods to confront him if Achilles reached the God King.
• The next morning, Apollo took away his Sun Chariot, and Hephaestus arrived at the Sun Temple with the materials for his work.

Hephaestus began forging Achilles in the Sun Temple, using divine flames and special materials to weaken and integrate his Styx Power. After forty-eight days, Hephaestus reported progress, and Ares visited Aphrodite to share the news.

• Hephaestus started the forging, surrounding Achilles with three divine flames while Achilles's Styx Power resisted them.
• Achilles endured the flames for days, then accepted materials that strengthened his body and helped his Styx Power merge more deeply with him.
• By the fourteenth day, Achilles recognized Hephaestus's plan and continued enduring the process, viewing it as both a danger and an opportunity.
• Forty-eight days after Hephaestus entered the Sun Temple, Ares learned that the forging had made a breakthrough.
• Ares visited Aphrodite, who acknowledged the news and let him follow her into the temple.

Achilles escaped Hephaestus's furnace after completing his transformation and claimed the Divine Sword Laevatein. He set out to challenge Ares and began his assault on the mountain peak where the God of War Temple stood.

• Hephaestus prepared to seize Achilles's soul as the hero's body merged with the power of the Styx.
• Ares's divine blood entered the furnace, and Achilles completed his transformation while holding back the eager sword in its stone box.
• Achilles burst from the furnace wielding Laevatein, destroyed Hephaestus's throne, and struck the craftsman down before sparing him.
• Hephaestus warned Achilles that defying Zeus would mean death, but Achilles rejected his offer of help and declared that he could claim the God King's throne.
• Achilles sensed Ares and the goddess of beauty nearby, caught the sphere of dusk, and headed toward the God of War Temple to begin his attack on Olympus.

Achilles used a powerful divine sword to attack Ares and shatter part of Mount Olympus, while Zeus chose not to intervene directly. The Olympian gods agreed to summon outside help, and Zeus sent Zephyrus to invite a reclusive god to subdue Achilles.

• Ares mistook the pillar of sunlight from Hephaestus's forge for a harmless breakthrough and reassured Aphrodite.
• Achilles struck Ares with his divine sword, destroying part of Mount Olympus, then drove his attack toward Ares's buried aura.
• Zeus held the main peak steady while the other gods gathered in the Golden Palace and watched the battle unfold.
• Zeus told the gods that Achilles's sword came from the Spirit World and asked them to capture him without risking a conflict with the Primordial Gods.
• Zephyrus proposed inviting reclusive gods to help, and Zeus gave him his token and ordered him to seek one out.

Zephyrus visited Theia in the depths of the starry sky to report that a Divine Artifact on Mount Olympus carried Hyperion’s aura, but Hecate intervened before Theia could act. Hecate kept Theia from leaving, while Zephyrus escaped to continue his mission for Zeus.

• Zephyrus traveled into the starry sky to seek help from Theia, the Mother of Light.
• Zephyrus asked Theia where Hyperion was, and she suppressed him with her Divine Power.
• Zephyrus told Theia that an enemy on Mount Olympus wielded a Divine Artifact with Hyperion’s aura.
• Theia sensed a concealed presence, and Zephyrus fled as an unseen force struck at him.
• Hecate revealed herself and stopped Theia from going to the mortal world, saying she had promised to help someone and invoking Fate.

Zephyrus sought ancient gods to recruit as reinforcements for Zeus, securing Aether and Hemera’s agreement before asking Coeus and Phoebe. Phoebe persuaded Coeus to let her go with half his celestial bodies, while Coeus chose to remain in seclusion until the time was right.

• Zephyrus escaped Theia and reflected on how her power exceeded Hera’s, then continued his mission for Zeus.
• Zephyrus invited Aether and Hemera to join Zeus’s cause, and they agreed after making preparations.
• Zephyrus visited Coeus and Phoebe, but Coeus initially refused to involve himself in outside affairs.
• Phoebe argued that Zeus might gain power by defeating Great Divine Powers and suggested Coeus could share rule over darkness with him.
• Coeus gave Phoebe half the celestial bodies under his control and let her go, while he stayed behind to wait for a more suitable time.

Phoebe accepted Coeus's partial authority over the starry sky and agreed to help the divine court stop Achilles. As she and Zephyrus returned to Olympus, Achilles overpowered Ares and the giants, then charged toward the Golden Palace to confront Zeus.

• Phoebe took the Stone Frame cross and began wielding part of Coeus's authority over the celestial bodies.
• Zephyrus led Phoebe toward Mount Olympus to stop Achilles.
• Achilles used Laevatein and his Black Gold Armor to batter Ares, breaking weapon after weapon as Ares struggled to evade him.
• Zeus reassured the gods in the Golden Palace that Zephyrus had returned with Phoebe, while he reflected on the approaching conflict with Hecate.
• Achilles destroyed the falling stars sent against him, strengthened Laevatein with a sphere of light, and turned toward the Golden Palace.
• Achilles leaped toward the Golden Palace and taunted Ares to face him before Zeus and the assembled gods.

Achilles fought Ares on Mount Olympus while the gods debated whether to capture him, until Zeus revealed that a guest was arriving. A mysterious Black-Clothed Man confronted Achilles and challenged him to illuminate the space beyond a circle of darkness, promising him the God King's Throne if he succeeded.

• Achilles battled Ares as Phoebe called down storms and meteors, while Hebe used her Golden Cup to help Ares recover from his wounds.
• Hestia and Apollo urged Zeus to have Achilles captured, but Zeus listened until he announced that a guest was coming to visit the divine court.
• The Black-Clothed Man appeared with two attendants, and Achilles mistook him for a possible ally before declaring that he wanted Zeus's throne.
• The Black-Clothed Man agreed that Achilles could claim the throne if he proved his ability, then drew a black circle and challenged him to illuminate what lay beyond it.

Achilles entered the Black-Clothed Man’s dark domain and failed to overcome its illusion, despite wielding Laevatein. The Black-Clothed Man defeated him, took Laevatein, and sent him plunging away from Olympus, while Zeus learned Achilles had not returned to the mortal world.

• Achilles accepted the Black-Clothed Man’s challenge and stepped into the black circle, which carried him into the Lightless Zone.
• Achilles tried to use Laevatein to illuminate the darkness, but its power produced no light he could perceive.
• Achilles mistook two distant eyes for the light he had created, and the Black-Clothed Man revealed that he had only found stolen light.
• The dark domain collapsed, and the Black-Clothed Man declared Achilles the loser.
• The Black-Clothed Man struck Achilles, knocked Laevatein from his hand, and sent him falling toward the mortal world.
• The Black-Clothed Man told Zeus that Achilles had not returned to Silver Moon City and turned the River Styx’s power into a sheet of paper.

After Achilles was defeated on Mount Olympus, Erebus accepted Zeus’s invitation to a divine assembly, where the gods restored the mountain and celebrated. Achilles fell through the Underworld and into Tartarus, leaving Zeus convinced the threat was settled.

• Zeus warmly welcomed Erebus and presented him to the assembled gods as an ally, while Erebus agreed to attend a banquet on Olympus.
• Apollo, Zephyrus, the Goddesses of Youth and Life, and Erebus helped restore the ruined and poisoned mountain before the gods entered the Golden Palace.
• Zeus watched Achilles fall through the Underworld, noting that the Underworld Moon’s unseen watcher did not intervene.
• Styx appeared in the river, regarded the unconscious Achilles with an unreadable expression, then vanished as the current carried him toward Tartarus.
• Achilles fell into Tartarus, and Zeus concluded that the mortal would not return to the world above.

Heracles and Amon returned to town with the living Erymanthian Boar, and the merchant offered them a sea chart after Heracles fulfilled his contract. The merchant revealed his guilt over a past voyage to the Great Vortex and asked to join Heracles on a journey back there; Heracles agreed, but the merchant’s name remained to be told.

• Heracles and Amon traveled through the town after the prolonged darkness ended, and Heracles delivered the living Erymanthian Boar to the middle-aged merchant.
• The merchant honored his promise and showed Heracles a sea chart, then reacted with fear and shame when Heracles asked about the Great Vortex.
• The merchant recounted how a priest of the God King had ordered him to betray an imprisoned god, and admitted that he had followed the order despite regretting it.
• The merchant explained that he had abandoned his old faith and now worshipped the Goddess of the Wilderness, then asked to accompany Heracles to the Great Vortex.
• Heracles accepted the merchant’s request and invited him to tell his name.

Oileus showed Heracles and Amon an elemental-powered vessel designed to travel underwater, clearing the way for Heracles to sail toward the Eastern Sea. Meanwhile, Amon found Silver Moon City sealed behind a barrier and chose to use a god’s mark on Heracles to create an opportunity to enter.

• Oileus explained that the sea was too dangerous for an ordinary ship and revealed that Element Crystals powered his cylindrical vessel.
• Oileus activated the vessel and showed Heracles how it sealed itself, hid its extraordinary fluctuations, and moved through the water using mechanical force.
• Heracles concluded that he could finally prepare for his voyage, then wondered why the God of the West Wind had not resumed his trial.
• Amon discovered that Silver Moon City’s barrier prevented unauthorized entry and decided against risking a direct attempt to pass through it.
• Amon chose Heracles and the god’s mark on him as a possible way to gain entry to Silver Moon City.

Zephyrus searched for Heracles and tracked him to Silver Moon City, a place hostile to Olympus's gods. He prepared to enter through the Bronze Gate, unaware that a black bird had watched him and been destroyed.

• Zephyrus returned to the mortal world to find Heracles, whom he had lost after the hero defeated the Nine-Headed Serpent.
• Zephyrus followed a mark he had secretly placed on Heracles and discovered that the hero was inside Silver Moon City.
• Zephyrus decided to enter the city through the Bronze Gate because he could not bypass its maze or force his way in.
• Zephyrus transformed into a bird and noticed a black bird watching him, then killed it with a powerful current of air.
• Zephyrus flew toward the Bronze Gate, leaving the treetop quiet again.