The cavern trembled.

Not subtly. Not faintly.

The very bones of the Second Layer shook as two forces collided at the center of the ancient chamber.

Stone cracked like thin glass beneath the first impact. Frost shattered from the walls in violent bursts, turning the air into a storm of glittering shards. The waterfall of golden-tinted water buckled sideways as the pressure of their power distorted the air itself.

Atlas moved first.

Sekhmet moved faster.

Sunfire erupted from her shoulders as she launched forward, her armor blazing with divine radiance. The golden aura of Heaven burned against the frozen mana saturating the cavern, and where the two powers met the air screamed.

Their fists collided.

The shockwave detonated outward.

The pool of Amrit-touched water exploded upward in a spiraling column. The cavern ceiling groaned as cracks spider-webbed through stone older than civilizations.

Atlas slid backward several meters, boots carving trenches into the frozen floor.

Sekhmet did not slide at all.

She stood there, flames flickering around her like a crown of living sunlight.

"You really chose this," she said quietly.

Atlas straightened.

The crystal containing the single drop of Amrit remained in his hand, its golden glow steady despite the chaos.

"I did."

Sekhmet exhaled slowly.

"Then die for it."

She vanished.

The instant she moved the cavern erupted again.

Atlas barely raised his arm before her fist smashed into him like a falling star. The impact launched him through a wall of stone and ice, his body tearing through layers of frozen rock before slamming into the far side of the cavern.

The entire chamber shook violently.

Above them, the waterfall split momentarily as pressure distorted gravity itself.

Behind the battlefield, the Ice Monarch’s daughter moved.

No one noticed her at first.

All attention was drawn to the two gods tearing the cavern apart.

But she had not survived centuries of imprisonment by being slow.

The instant Atlas and Sekhmet collided again, sending another thunderous shockwave across the chamber, she stepped forward.

The crystal lay briefly unguarded as Atlas was driven backward through the cavern floor.

She grabbed it.

The moment her fingers closed around the crystal, warmth surged through her body. The drop of Amrit inside shimmered like a captured sun.

The cavern shook harder.

Atlas burst back through the collapsed wall of stone, moving like a meteor.

His fist collided with Sekhmet’s jaw.

The sound was like thunder inside a cathedral.

Sekhmet staggered for the first time.

But she smiled.

"Good."

Sunfire exploded outward from her body.

The flames did not behave like ordinary fire. They burned with the authority of Heaven itself, warping the mana of the cavern and turning the air into a blazing storm.

Atlas stepped forward through it.

His coat burned away in places, divine energy clashing violently against the sunfire.

"You would die for a drop of Amrit," he said calmly.

Sekhmet tilted her head slightly.

"You wouldn’t?"

Atlas shook his head once.

"No."

He stepped closer.

The pressure of his power began to rise.

"You really don’t love your life enough."

The words were quiet.

But they struck harder than any blow.

Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed.

"Life?" she said softly. "This was never about life."

Her fist slammed into Atlas’s ribs.

The cavern wall behind him disintegrated.

Atlas responded instantly, grabbing her arm and driving his forehead into hers with brutal force.

The impact shattered a ring of stone around them.

"You think Heaven is worth dying for," Atlas said, gripping her wrist tightly.

Sekhmet twisted violently, wrenching free before driving her knee into his stomach hard enough to crack the floor beneath them.

"I know it is."

Atlas wiped blood from his mouth.

"You sound like a soldier who forgot how to think."

Her sunfire flared brighter.

"And you sound like a traitor."

They collided again.

The cavern erupted.

Their fight became something beyond combat.

It was two divine forces tearing reality apart inside a confined space.

Each blow cracked stone.

Each movement bent the mana veins running through the cavern walls.

The waterfall itself began to distort, the Amrit-infused water splashing wildly as the pressure of their power turned the entire chamber unstable.

The Ice Monarch finally moved.

Until now he had watched.

Measured.

Observed.

But the cavern was beginning to collapse.

He raised one hand.

The ice walls of the chamber surged outward, thickening and reinforcing the structure as ancient magic awakened in the surrounding stone.

Frozen pillars erupted upward, stabilizing the cavern as Atlas and Sekhmet continued their battle.

Then the Monarch stepped forward.

Sekhmet saw him.

"You too?" she said, wiping blood from her lip.

The Ice Monarch did not answer.

Instead the temperature of the entire cavern dropped sharply.

The sunfire around Sekhmet sputtered slightly as the frozen mana surged.

Atlas moved.

He used the moment perfectly.

His fist smashed into Sekhmet’s ribs with crushing force.

Bone cracked.

She flew backward through three frozen pillars before slamming into the cavern wall.

For the first time she looked genuinely injured.

Blood ran down her armor.

Her breathing deepened.

But her eyes still burned with determination.

"You still don’t understand," she said hoarsely.

Atlas approached slowly.

The dragon daughter stood several meters away, clutching the crystal tightly as the cavern continued shaking.

"What am I supposed to understand?" Atlas asked.

Sekhmet pushed herself upright.

"That Heaven needs it."

Atlas shrugged slightly.

"Maybe."

He stepped closer.

"But you don’t."

She lunged again.

This time faster than before.

Her injured body did not slow her.

Her fist tore through the air toward Atlas’s throat—

But the Ice Monarch’s power struck first.

A spear of compressed frost slammed into Sekhmet’s side.

The blast sent her spinning across the cavern floor.

Atlas followed instantly.

He grabbed her armor and drove her head into the stone beneath them.

The cavern floor cracked like a frozen lake.

Sekhmet’s sunfire flickered wildly.

Blood spread across the stone.

For several seconds neither moved.

Then—

Sekhmet laughed.

It was weak.

But genuine.

"You two..." she murmured.

Her eyes flicked toward the dragon.

And something changed.

In an instant she moved.

Her body blurred.

Atlas reached for her—

Too late.

Sekhmet appeared beside the dragon.

Her hand closed around the girl’s throat.

Divine energy erupted instantly.

The dragon gasped.

Her body convulsed as her transformation began—

And then stopped.

Sekhmet’s divinity crushed the process like a vice.

"You move," Sekhmet said coldly, "and I snap her neck."

The cavern fell silent.

Atlas froze.

The Ice Monarch’s eyes became very still.

The dragon trembled in Sekhmet’s grip, her strength fading as divine pressure suppressed her nature.

Sekhmet leaned close to her ear.

"You thought this was over?"

Her gaze returned to Atlas.

"Give me the Amrit."

Atlas did not move.

Sekhmet tightened her grip slightly.

The dragon’s breath hitched.

"Give it to me," Sekhmet repeated.

Atlas studied her calmly.

"You are very determined."

Sekhmet’s expression darkened.

"And you are very stupid."

Atlas tilted his head slightly.

"You’d kill a hostage for a drop of liquid."

Sekhmet said nothing.

Atlas sighed quietly.

"I was right."

Her eyes flashed.

"About what?"

"You really don’t value your life."

Before Sekhmet could respond—

The dragon moved.

Despite the divine pressure crushing her transformation, she forced her arm upward.

And threw the crystal.

Straight toward Atlas.

Sekhmet’s eyes widened.

Atlas caught it instantly.

The moment the crystal touched his palm—

Everything changed.

Power surged through him.

Not violently.

But completely.

The single drop of Amrit resonated with his existence like something recognizing its rightful bearer.

Atlas’s aura exploded outward.

The cavern shook harder than before.

Sekhmet barely had time to react.

Atlas vanished.

The sound barrier shattered inside the cavern as he moved.

Super-sonic speed compressed the air into a thunderclap.

Sekhmet looked up—

Too late.

Atlas appeared directly in front of her.

His fist descended.

One strike.

Just one.

The impact detonated across the cavern like a god falling from the sky.

Sekhmet’s body flew backward through the cavern entrance, smashing through stone and ice before disappearing into the tunnel beyond.

Silence followed.

Dust settled slowly across the chamber.

The dragon collapsed to her knees, breathing hard.

Atlas stood where he had struck.

The crystal now empty in his hand.

The drop of Amrit had vanished.

Its power flowed through him now.

The Ice Monarch watched quietly.

"You used it," he said.

Atlas nodded once.

"Yes."

Moments later—

Voices echoed from the tunnel.

Footsteps approached rapidly.

One by one figures entered the cavern.

Pegasus arrived first, wings torn and feathers stained with blood. Behind him came the rest of Atlas’s team.

The bastard son of Zeus leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

The half-blood demigod looked around the destroyed cavern in shock.

Stone rubble covered the floor.

The waterfall had partially collapsed.

Mana veins flickered violently along the walls.

"Gods..." someone muttered.

The demigod looked at Atlas.

"Is Sekhmet dead?"

Atlas simply nodded.

The demigod exhaled slowly.

Pegasus wiped blood from his chin.

"So..."

He glanced around the shattered cavern.

"Mission complete?"

Atlas looked toward the tunnel where Sekhmet had disappeared.

"Yes."

Iris stepped forward.

Her expression was curious.

"What about Michael?" she asked.

Atlas turned slightly.

"I already know."

The others looked confused.

Atlas continued calmly.

"He escaped his prison."

The dragon glanced at him.

Atlas nodded once.

"So we don’t need to worry about that anymore."

The team exchanged glances.

Pegasus stretched his wings slowly.

"So we go back?"

Atlas looked upward.

Toward the distant surface of Hell.

"Yes."

He turned to the dragon.

She stood quietly beside the Ice Monarch now.

Atlas approached her.

"You are leaving with us."

She said nothing.

Atlas’s voice remained calm.

"Go to the mortal world."

Her eyes lifted.

"And do what?"

Atlas smiled faintly.

"Find Michael."

Her expression shifted.

"You will find him," Atlas continued. "In my kingdom."