The Violet Siege of Styx

Athena’s divided map tightens above the Styx. The river suddenly rears in violet columns, each shaping itself into a grasping hand marked with Hades’s stolen authority.

Soul-hooks lance from the rising water and strike Zeus, Thanatos, Cerberus, and Ares alike. Violet brands clamp onto divine essence, burning with a pull toward the hidden road.

Thunder fractures the nearest hands without breaking the hooks. Cerberus braces across the bank, all three heads snapping at the violet grasp while Thanatos shields the map with his scythe.

The brands pulse together, and the divided map bends toward a narrow breach beyond the palace wards. The route is finally tangible, but the hooks tighten around every member of the formation.

Ares plants the Spear of Ares into the ashen shore. His Divine Blessing flares through the bronze, while the Underworld Bond answers from the black earth beneath his feet.

Zeus pours thunder into the spearshaft as Thanatos lays his scythe across it, stilling the hooks' pull. Ares's wrath surges too fiercely, making the violet brands bite deeper before their strength can turn outward.

Ares bears down with legendary strength. The spearhead pins the joined power against the violet threads, Zeus's thunder and Thanatos's stillness driving through the Underworld Bond until every hook fractures and falls away.

The hidden breach remains open beyond the broken hooks, its route exposed at last. The effort wrenches Ares's bruised shoulder, and he drops to one knee with his arm burning, but the brands are gone.