A deafening crack splits the basin. Black stone shards whip past Ares as ancient chains fail and the wound below flares into a column of void-light. The floor softens underfoot, turning slick and hungry.
Hades and Thanatos are hurled back by the blast, skidding across the chamber rim. Ares remains at the edge, staring into the widening tear where the prison used to hold.
Thanatos
It is waking. If that seal breaks, the barrier between realms will not hold.
Hades
Ares, hold the breach. I am trying to force the wound closed.
The void surges again, and for one instant Ares sees shape in the darkness, vast and old, pressing against the torn prison from below.
Around the chamber, the violet pulse fractures into spiderweb cracks. If Ares fails here, the Underworld opens wider, and whatever sleeps beneath it spills into both worlds.
✓ Quest Accepted
Hold the breach