I Am Zeus - Chapter 225

Chapter 225: Hell was waiting.
Hell was not still.

It never was.

It was alive—breathing, shifting, whispering with a thousand broken voices that crawled across the air like smoke. The red sky churned, bleeding into itself, while rivers of molten iron snaked between obsidian cliffs that pulsed like veins. Every scream, every echo of pain, was part of its rhythm.

But that rhythm was changing.

Far below the burning sky, in the endless heart of Pandemonium, the Lords of Hell gathered. The throne room was vast, carved from the fossilized bones of dead angels. The pillars that held it up still bore faint halos, corrupted into dim circles of ash.

At the center, upon a throne that breathed like a living wound, sat Mephisto.

His smile was gone.

He leaned forward, resting one clawed hand on his chin, watching the storm of crimson energy crackle across the distant sky. He could feel it—the ripple in the fabric of the underworld. The seal had been broken.

“They’re coming,” he murmured.

The word slithered through the chamber. The other kings stirred.

Baal’s shadowy form flickered into focus, his voice like grinding stone. “So the fool opened the gate himself. How predictable. He brings his gods into our den, thinking he’s a hunter.”

“Let him think it,” drawled Asmodeus, lounging on his throne of frozen tears. He traced a finger along the edge of his wine goblet, which bled instead of poured. “The upper realms are not built to survive here. Their light will rot. Their wings will burn.”

Moloch, his massive bulk hunched over a cracked table of skulls, let out a low growl. “Then why do I feel fear?”

“You mistake excitement for fear,” Mephisto said softly. He rose, his black robes moving like smoke. “It’s been ages since the heavens dared step foot here. The old wars ended before most of our kind learned to crawl. And now, the thunder king comes to play savior.”

Belial laughed—a horrible, gurgling sound. “Savior? No. He’s desperate. He’s tired. They all are. They think uniting the pantheons makes them strong.”

“It does,” Baal rasped. “And that makes them dangerous.”

For a moment, silence. Even the flames in the walls dimmed, as if listening.

Mephisto turned his head slightly, and the darkness around him deepened. “Call the legions.”

At once, the command spread through the air like a virus. Bells that hadn’t rung in eons began to toll, deep and discordant. From the canyons of the damned came the sound of chains snapping loose.

All across Hell, the ground stirred.

The first to move were the Infernal Guard—armored beasts with molten bones and eyeless skulls, climbing from the blackened earth like ants from a hive. Behind them came the twisted remnants of fallen gods—those who had betrayed light long ago, now little more than walking memories of power.

The skies split open as winged horrors took flight—creatures stitched from nightmare and sin, their bodies bound by chains of glowing sigils.

The rivers of fire churned faster. From beneath them rose the Archfiends, each one a fortress of flesh and bone.

And at the farthest depths—deeper than any mortal soul had ever fallen—a low, resonant growl shook the entire plane. The Great Beast stirred, its eye cracking open for the first time since the dawn of exile.

Lucifer had told it to sleep.

Now, it was awake.

Mephisto stood at the balcony overlooking Pandemonium, his hands clasped behind his back. The crimson sky flashed with lightning—not divine, but infernal, laced with black veins that tore through reality itself.

“They think they bring the storm,” he said softly. “But they forget where the first storm was born.”

Baal’s shadow rose beside him. “How do you want to play it?”

“Slowly,” Mephisto replied. “Let them feel the weight of this place. Let the air gnaw at their divinity. Let them taste fear before they bleed.”

Asmodeus tilted his head. “You want to toy with them.”

“I want them to remember why this world was sealed away,” Mephisto said, his tone cold. “I want Zeus to see the truth his Father never told him.”

A faint tremor ran through the chamber. The floor cracked open, revealing a pit filled with screaming souls. From it, a massive hand made of molten chains clawed its way out.

Moloch grinned. “The Gate-Spawn are ready.”

“Good,” Mephisto said. “Send them to the plains of shadow. That’s where they’ll arrive first. I want them greeted properly.”

Belial’s form shimmered, his voice echoing with dark humor. “You sound almost nostalgic.”

“I am,” Mephisto said, stepping forward. “It’s been too long since Heaven’s light touched this place. I want to see if it still burns.”

He raised his hand. The air trembled.

From every corner of Hell, black towers burst upward, piercing the horizon. Bridges of bone linked them, forming a vast network that pulsed with infernal energy. At their center, a black sun began to form—a living vortex of shadow and flame.

The armies moved beneath it, rank upon rank of demons and damned souls gathering in formation. The roar of the legions rolled through the valleys, shaking the bones of the dead.

And then—faintly, distantly—they heard it.

Thunder.

The sound rippled through the red clouds, foreign and sharp, carrying a rhythm that did not belong to this world.

Baal turned, his shadow flickering. “They’ve entered the first layer.”

“So soon?” Asmodeus murmured, his smirk fading. “Eager, aren’t they?”

“Good,” Mephisto said. “Let them come. Let them see how deep Hell truly goes.”

He walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the storm gathering below. Every flame bowed toward the sound of thunder. The heat itself seemed to pulse faster, as if Hell were excited for the battle to come.

Behind him, Baal’s voice rumbled. “Do we alert the others? The deeper lords?”

Mephisto didn’t turn. “No. Not yet. Let them watch. If the gods want to descend, let them earn the right.”

Lightning flashed again, this time closer. Through the haze of smoke, faint figures appeared on the far horizon—silhouettes moving through the firestorm.

The storm of Olympus had arrived.

Mephisto’s smile returned, slow and cruel. “The guests have found the door,” he said softly. “Let’s make them feel welcome.”

He extended his arm, and from his palm unfurled a blade of shadow that pulsed with living darkness. The weapon screamed softly, as if eager to taste divine blood.

Asmodeus rose from his throne, his wings spreading in a rustle of black feathers. “Shall we greet them ourselves?”

“Not yet,” Mephisto said. “Let the first wave soften them. When they begin to believe they can win—that’s when we’ll step in.”

Baal’s shadow smiled. “I like this plan.”

Moloch slammed his fists together, the sound echoing like thunder made of iron. “Let’s make the mountain bleed.”

And all around Pandemonium, the armies of Hell roared.

The sound was a single, deafening note—a declaration of war that shook the bones of creation itself.

In the red sky above, the black sun flared brighter, casting its sick light across the land. The rivers boiled. The mountains cracked. The Great Beast lifted its head, the chains around its throat snapping one by one.

The world itself seemed to hold its breath.

And far above, on the edges of the first infernal plain, Zeus and his army stepped through the burning fog. Lightning flickered across his body as he surveyed the endless horizon of fire.

Hell was waiting.