The courtyard was nothing but rubble, the ground carved with molten cracks from Tom’s flames and jagged scars from Jackson’s lightning. Yet the Greater Titan still stood, its flesh seething, glowing like magma beneath stone. Its roar didn’t just echo—it shook the marrow of their bones.

  “Don’t flinch,” Victor’s voice cut through the chaos, steady, commanding. His eyes glowed with psychic focus as shattered debris froze midair, orbiting him like blades. “This isn’t a monster. It’s an adaptation. Every second we hesitate, it evolves.”

  Leo cracked his fists together, cosmic sparks rippling off his skin. “Then we don’t give it a second.” He blurred forward, the shockwave of his punch detonating air itself—Cosmic Ripple—slamming into the Titan’s chest. For the first time, the beast staggered.

  But instead of falling… it laughed. A guttural, grinding sound, like stone grinding bone. Its wounds closed instantly, skin knitting back with black fire.

  “Adaptive regeneration…” Sasha’s voice was tight, her hands twitching with time runes. “We only get one opening. Fail, and we’ll never land another.”

  Selena’s threads snapped into existence, glinting silver in the moonlight. She hooked into shadows, ruins, even her allies, weaving a net. “Then I’ll hold it. Just don’t let my strings break.”

  The Titan roared again, but this time, its body changed. Its torso cracked open, sprouting molten arms tipped with claws. The courtyard blazed under its heat.

  Daniel froze—terror seizing his chest. He could feel the voice inside his head again. Awaken. Or watch them die.

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  He shook his head, too scared to listen.

  Noir, standing beside him, grinned like a madman despite the sweat on his brow. “Kid, you look like you’ve seen the afterlife already. Don’t worry—if we die, at least we’ll die looking cool.” A portal flicked open at his feet, pulling a Titan claw away just before it crushed Daniel.

  “Focus!” Victor barked. His shards spun faster, crashing into the Titan’s molten chest, stalling it. “Tom, Jackson—now!”

  Tom roared, his spear of flame glowing plasma-blue. Jackson matched it, thunder blade alive with storms. Fire and lightning spiraled together, crashing into the Titan’s chest like a meteor. The explosion incinerated half the courtyard.

  Smoke. Silence. A moment where everyone dared to hope.

  Then—the Titan’s true roar.

  It wasn’t sound. It was pressure—a living wave of destruction. The blast shredded Selena’s threads, cracked Leo’s fists, sent Victor skidding across the rubble, and forced Noir’s portals shut. The ground itself bent, trembling like it would collapse.

  Daniel fell to his knees. His ears rang, vision blurred. Yet inside his mind, the whisper grew louder.

  Daniel fell to his knees, his lungs burning, ears ringing with the echo of that monstrous roar. Dust choked the air, the Titan’s molten claw rising above him like the hand of a god about to crush an ant.

  And then—he heard it.

  A voice that wasn’t his own. Deep, resonant, filling his skull like a storm.

  This is your chance. Awaken.

  Daniel’s eyes widened. Heat surged through his veins. Not fire. Not lightning. Something older. Deeper. A raw, crimson light erupted from his body, spilling across the ruins in waves.

  The Greater Titan froze mid-swing, its molten chest trembling. For the first time, it looked uncertain.

  Victor, bloodied but standing, let out a short laugh. “Hah… knew it.”

  Leo grinned, cracking his knuckles despite the fractures in his arms. “All those punches we took were worth something after all.”

  The courtyard went still, the Titan staring down at a boy now wreathed in impossible crimson aura.

  —End of chapter

  Next chapter preview ??

  “Crimson light tears through the night, and for the first time—the Titan hesitates. Daniel stands tall, his aura cracking the earth beneath his feet. Every eye—Victor, Leo, Tom, Jackson, Noir, Sasha, Selena—locks onto him in awe. The Titan roars, adapting, its molten body shifting into something more grotesque. “Daniel… what the hell are you?” Jackson whispers, lightning crackling at his fingertips. “Doesn’t matter,” Victor smirks. “He’s ours.” The battlefield explodes—flames, thunder, threads, time itself colliding with destruction. But Daniel’s voice cuts through the chaos: “I’ll end this—my way.” The Titan unleashes its true core, a sun of annihilation ready to erase everything.And as the world holds its breath, crimson will clash with apocalypse.”

  Next time, on Son of Gods—Chapter 10: Crimson Awakening.