Cronus' system: Against the gods

"Choose thy next words carefully, mortal, for they may be thy last," the Sphinx's voice reverberated like a chorus of ancient doom. Its golden eyes, glowing with an otherworldly light, locked onto Rex, unblinking, as if already etching his epitaph into eternity.

Rex's breath hitched, his chest rising and falling as adrenaline surged through his veins. His hands clenched into fists, nails biting into his palms.

Not good. Not good at all. But the words escaped him before he could stop them, his defiant fire burning brighter than his fear. "Yeah? Well, it's not like I'm planning to die easy!"

No sooner had he spoken than his vision exploded with system notifications, the familiar blue screens cutting through his focus like uninvited guests.

10 of Sphinx's riddles answered: +50 stat points to intelligence.

[System Alert: +100,000 XP]

"Dammit!" Rex swore, hastily dismissing the notifications with a flick of his hand. "This is not the time!" His pulse thundered in his ears.

He knew, he knew that the Sphinx outclassed him by a terrifying margin. The aura emanating from the beast was suffocating, a tide of raw power pressing down on him like the weight of the heavens themselves. It felt worse than Lucius. darker, heavier, inevitable.

But surrender wasn't in his nature. Not now. Not ever.

The Sphinx's lips curled back, revealing fangs as long as daggers, and its mighty wings spread wide, like a judgmental seraph come to smite the unworthy. The sand beneath its paws erupted as it launched forward, claws gleaming with an unholy light. The air seemed to hum with its intent to kill, its presence distorting reality itself.

Rex's body reacted before his mind could catch up.

"Heck! Like I'd let you take me down that easy!" He roared, his voice raw with desperation and resolve. His fingers flickered with power as he activated Temporal Rift, the world around him twisting into slow motion.

For a moment, hope flickered in his chest. But then, his gut sank.

The Sphinx's aura didn't falter, it didn't even slow. It cut through the temporal distortion as if it were nothing but a passing breeze. Read exclusive adventures at empire

Time itself bowed to this monstrosity. The beast's claws still tore through the space where Rex had stood, aiming for his head with deadly precision.

"Shit!" His voice cracked as he forced his legs to move, an Aether-infused burst propelling him sideways. The movement was frantic, more survival instinct than strategy. The beast's claws grazed past him with the sound of tearing wind, missing by mere inches.

WHAM!

The impact of its swipe shredded the stone pillar behind him as if it were paper, sending chunks of debris flying in every direction. One jagged shard caught Rex's side as he tumbled, and pain flared through his ribs.

"Arrgh!" he hissed, clutching his side. Blood seeped through his fingers, warm and sticky. His vision blurred momentarily, but he refused to falter.

The Sphinx pivoted, landing with feline grace, its glowing eyes never leaving him. There was no mockery in its expression—no gloating, no hesitation. Only the cold, unyielding resolve of a predator toying with prey.

Rex's thoughts churned. It's too fast. Too strong. Even Lucius would struggle against this thing! So what the hell am I supposed to do?!

The beast began stalking toward him, each step measured, deliberate, like a countdown to his end. Yet, amidst the creeping despair, Rex's fire blazed hotter. He tightened his fists, his teeth grinding together.

"If you think I'm just gonna roll over and die…" he spat, glaring at the towering creature with feral defiance. "Then you're gonna regret underestimating me!"

The Sphinx paused, as if considering his words, before a low, guttural growl rumbled from its chest. The sound wasn't just audible, it was felt, reverberating through the very marrow of his bones.

It was laughing.

"Damn you!" Rex snarled, his voice raw and ragged. He slammed a foot into the ground as if to steady himself, his eyes blazing with equal parts fury and desperation. "I answered all of your riddles, and yet you still attack?! You're a disgrace, a fraud of a guardian!"

The Sphinx's laughter deepened, shifting from a guttural chuckle to a maniacal crescendo, like the unholy symphony of a thousand cursed souls. Its glowing golden eyes burned brighter, their ferocity unmatched, as a sinister tinge of crimson began to seep into their glow.

Shadows danced unnaturally around its colossal frame, and the air grew suffocatingly thick with heat and malice.

"Mortal!" it bellowed, its voice like the crack of thunder, shaking the heavens themselves. "Did the rules decree that answering my riddles would grant thee freedom? Fool! I am no mere guardian, I am thy executioner!"

"Yeah?!" Rex shot back, his voice carrying a mix of defiance and anger as he hastily summoned Damocles into his grip.

The blade materialized in a burst of shimmering energy, its edge gleaming like a fragment of pure starlight. He tightened his hold, the weapon's weight steadying his trembling resolve. "Next time, give me a heads-up not to trust the words of a glorified house cat!"

The insult struck a nerve.

The Sphinx's eyes erupted into twin infernos of molten fury, the red overtaking the gold entirely. Flames licked at the edges of its immense form, and its laughter ceased abruptly, replaced by a guttural roar that tore through the air like a primal war cry.

"You dare!!!"

The beast lunged with terrifying might, its massive form blotting out the sky as it surged forward. Its claws, as large as boulders, ignited in roaring flames, and the entire length of its outstretched arm burned with an infernal glow. It slashed downward with devastating power, the strike capable of cleaving through mountains.

Rex's instincts screamed at him, his mind racing as he took in the impending devastation. The sheer force behind the Sphinx's attack was unlike anything he'd faced before—parrying wasn't just reckless; it was suicidal.

"If that thing hits me, I'll be a stain on the ground!" Rex growled through gritted teeth, his mind sharpening as adrenaline surged. No choice but to dodge—

Aether surged through his legs, crackling with energy as he launched himself to the side with explosive speed. The ground where he had stood a heartbeat ago erupted into a fiery inferno as the Sphinx's claw tore through it, leaving behind a scorched crater and a shockwave that hurled debris in every direction.

The force of the near-miss knocked Rex off balance, but he twisted mid-air, landing with a skid as his boots dug into the ground. Pain flared in his ribs, a lingering reminder of his earlier scrape with death, but he refused to falter.

"Gotta stay faster," Rex muttered, sweat dripping from his brow as he tightened his grip on Damocles. He glared at the towering beast with renewed determination, the fire in his heart burning just as fiercely as the flames surrounding the Sphinx.

The Sphinx didn't give him a moment to breathe.

It pounced again, faster than a nightmare made flesh. Its claws raked forward, leaving trails of searing fire in their wake. Rex ducked low, the heat of the flames brushing the back of his neck like the breath of death itself. He countered with a sweeping slash of Damocles, black flames bursting from the blade like a tempest of shadowed fury.

The dark fire lashed out, licking at the Sphinx's golden fur. For a moment, it recoiled, its roar splitting the air. But the beast's hesitation was brief. It shook off the flames as if they were no more than an irritant, its eyes blazing with wrath.

"Thou art persistent," the Sphinx growled, its voice dripping with disdain. "But thy efforts are for naught!"

With a mighty swipe of its wing, the air itself seemed to explode. The shockwave sent Rex hurtling backward, slamming into a ruined stone pillar with enough force to crack the ancient structure. Pain erupted through his body, sharp and unrelenting, but he grit his teeth against it, forcing himself to stand.

Blood trickled from his lips, staining his chin, but his grip on Damocles didn't waver. The sword's black flames crackled in response to his fury, their heat seeping into his very soul. His voice, though hoarse, was defiant. "Persistent? You better believe it, furball."

The Sphinx roared, the sound a tidal wave of raw fury that made the ground quake beneath them. It charged, its movements a blur of fire and shadow. Rex pushed off with all the strength he could muster, meeting the beast head-on.

Damocles clashed against the Sphinx's flaming claws, the impact unleashing a deafening explosion of energy. Sparks and embers scattered into the air as Rex's black flames writhed against the infernal fire of the beast. The sheer force of the clash sent shockwaves rippling outward, tearing through the surrounding ruins.

But Rex was losing ground.

Each strike from the Sphinx was like the fall of a meteor, its sheer power driving him back step by step. His muscles screamed in protest, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. He swung Damocles in wide, desperate arcs, each slash a blend of precision and fury, but the Sphinx's attacks were relentless, each blow heavier than the last.

"C'mon…" Rex muttered through gritted teeth, his vision swimming. "You're not… getting rid of me that easy…"

The Sphinx didn't respond with words. Instead, it pounced again, its claws aimed directly at Rex's heart. He barely managed to roll to the side, the beast's attack carving a deep gouge into the earth where he'd been moments before.

But this time, the Sphinx anticipated his dodge. Its tail, tipped with a burning plume of fire, whipped around with blinding speed, striking Rex square in the chest.

Rex's instincts screamed as the Sphinx's blazing claws descended toward him. In a desperate move, he activated the Aegis of Eternity, and in an instant, a shimmering dome of ethereal energy enveloped him. The air inside the Aegis felt different, thicker, timeless, as though the flow of existence itself had bent to cradle him in its embrace.

The Sphinx's claws met the shield with an earth-shaking BOOM, but the Aegis held firm. Its surface rippled like liquid starlight, absorbing the force of the attack and dissipating it harmlessly into a cascade of shimmering sparks. Even the ferocity of the Sphinx's relentless assault could not penetrate its defenses.

Inside the sanctuary of the Aegis, Rex felt an almost surreal calm. The gashes across his body, once screaming with pain, began to knit together, the blood seeping back into his veins as though time itself were reversing.

His bruised and battered muscles uncoiled, and the burning ache in his ribs dulled with each passing moment.

But even as his body mended, the gravity of his situation pressed down on him. The translucent barrier pulsed faintly with each blow from the Sphinx, its luminescence dimming under the relentless onslaught.

Outside, the Sphinx's golden eyes burned with a fury that shook the very ground. Its mighty paws crashed against the Aegis in a flurry of devastating strikes, each hit accompanied by an earsplitting roar that reverberated through the shattered ruins.

<System alert: 10 Aether left>

"Dammit! Two seconds left already?! Rex screamed out internally.

With a final deafening CRACK, the Aegis of Eternity shattered, the protective dome dissolving into a cascade of golden shards. The air rushed back in with a roar, carrying the scent of burning sand and ozone. Rex stumbled forward as the barrier collapsed, his knees nearly buckling under him, but he refused to fall.

The Sphinx loomed over him, its glowing eyes narrowing. "Thou fought well, mortal, but thy defiance ends here." Its voice was cold, final, as it raised a blazing claw high above its head.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Rex's vision blurred, his body refusing to obey his commands. His fingers twitched around the hilt of Damocles, its flames sputtering weakly.

This is it, he thought bitterly. Is this really where it ends?

The Sphinx brought its claw down, the heat of its flames searing the air. "Choose thy final words wisely, for they shall echo in eternity," it hissed, its voice a death knell.