Sophia has seen her father's inner sanctum countless times over the centuries. Never quite like this though. The macabre display of corpses, severed heads, blood, and viscera found outside is thankfully not copied within the throne room, but that doesn't mean it's not unchanged in other, more subtle ways.

This was once the place where the King of the Heavens held court. The walls were made of marble and covered in intricate golden filigree while the windows were stained glass artworks that had light shining through them at all hours of the day.

The stained glass windows have been shattered one and all, no doubt for daring to immortalize her father's accomplishments and victories. And the room… the room is much dimmer than before, a darkness coating it that makes Sophia shiver even as she and Oren step inside.

She's grateful to be at the Otherworlder's side in that moment for more reasons than one, but most of all she's grateful to have him acting as a bulwark between her and her uncle's power. Tyranos' presence is palpable and powerful even now… as he sits where her father once sat, lounging back with his helmet off and placed on an arm of the throne and his sword resting against one of his knees.

The first thing Sophia notices… is that her uncle has clearly seen better days. He looks nothing like the false God of Travelers and Roads he masqueraded as to them for weeks, but neither does he look like the suave, silver fox he'd portrayed himself as back in the cave when he'd finally revealed his true nature.

No… Tyranos had been through some hard times from the look of things. The most obvious sign of which is the scar running along the entirety of his face from one side of his forehead all the way down to the opposite side of his chin.

The scar glows angrily with power that Sophia suspect is not at all Tyranos'. It looks almost like fire or lava, barely contained and certainly not healed in the least. Blood doesn't drip from it, but only because it looks like it's partially cauterized and partially not. A leftover wound from an Ancient Volcano God of some sort, perhaps?

And best of all… that's only what she and Oren can see. Just from that much alone, it's obvious that Tyranos paid a high price for his victory over the Ancient Gods of the Mortal Planes. Sophia can only hope they made him pay even more in other ways.

On top of that, her uncle isn't nearly as composed as he was back in the cave. His eyes are a little wild and snap to them the moment they step into the throne room. Sophia gets the impression that he knew they were coming… but she can also see how surprised he is when he finally sees what Oren is wielding.

She watches her uncle cycle through multiple emotions in a rather rapid time frame. First comes denial, a deep incredulity as he stares in confusion at Oren's armor and weapon. Then anger when he finally realizes what must have happened to make it possible. Finally, acceptance as he leans back on the throne and lets out a deep, rattling sigh.

Of course, just because he accepts what he's seeing with his own two eyes doesn't mean his anger dissipates.

"You two… I should have ended you both when I had the chance. Never would I have imagined you would be the greatest thorns in my side."

Sophia smirks a little at that, unable to help responding.

"Really? You would think you would know better than to underestimate an Otherworlder, uncle. Especially when you were there for when the originals nearly destabilized and destroyed all of Creation. Really, to so thoroughly miscalculate the threat Oren poses to you… one might just call that the height of Folly."

She can see the impact that last bit has as her uncle jolts and then narrows his eyes at her, positively seething.

"You foolish girl. Do you have any idea what you did to me? What you've done to the world?"

He'd probably be quite intimidating and scary under normal circumstances. Terrifying even. But Sophia has left her fear far behind her. She and Oren are in this to end things once and for all. They either win or die today, there is no in-between. With that in mind, Sophia sneers at her uncle, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

"I hope it hurt, uncle. I hope you suffered every moment of every day since we last laid eyes on each other. I hope my curses turned your every action towards folly, your every step towards misfortune, and your every plan towards ruin. Do you think I care if I hurt you, kinslayer?"

Tyranos' jaw clenches at that, before he smiles grimly.

"You should, niece. You really should. Did you not stop and consider what would happen if my plans were ruined? Did you not stop to consider what it would mean if I had to… improvise?"

Sophia frowns, but before she can respond the God of Tyranny leans forward, his eyes blazing with rage.

"Without your interference, things could have gone much more… peacefully. The Ancient Gods of the Mortal Planes would have fallen in days to my blade. My fellow Gods of the Void would have never seen me coming as I took care of all of them in one single masterstroke. Instead, every enemy was a battle of life or death. Every movement I took led to disaster."

She opens her mouth to say something pithy like 'I don't see how that's my problem', but Tyranos smiles evilly and the words catch on her tongue.

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"And yet… look at where we are now. Here I sit upon my throne. The Gods of the Heavens, slain by the discarded tool at your side. The Gods of the Mortal Planes, slaughtered by my hunters and myself. And the Gods of the Void… dead to the last. Every single one of them."

She'd suspected as much and she figured Oren had to, but it's still a bit crazy to hear it straight from Tyranos' mouth. If he's telling the truth, that would mean…

"It's just you and me now, niece. The last two divinities in all of the universe. Once you're gone, I will be the only deity left standing. Not just the God of Tyranny and Conquest… but the God-King of Creation itself."

Pursing her lips together, Sophia finds herself at a loss for words for a moment. Oren takes over for her, stepping forward sword in hand.

"That was your plan all along, wasn't it? All Sophia did was delay you."

Turning his blazing eyes in Oren's direction, the self-proclaimed God-King sneers. Then, like a switch has been flipped, he suddenly appears almost… nonchalant as he leans back in the throne again, waving a hand through the air with a feigned dismissiveness. Or at least… Sophia believes it to be feigned. It has to be feigned.

"Of course. But she didn't just delay me. Unfortunately… all those little mortals running around down there won't have a place in my new Creation. It took too long. Got too messy. Things got out that shouldn't have gotten out thanks to my niece's lovely little curses. They think they know me… and even my God Hunters unite to prepare to fight me now."

Letting out a bark of mad laughter, Tyranos shakes his head.

"Fools! Fools, all of them! I would have offered them salvation! I would have offered them freedom from choice! All they would have had to do was submit to my benevolent rule."

Sophia scoffs at that. She's not really sympathetic to the God of Tyranny's plight. So his patsies had turned on him? It was his own damn fault!

"What did you expect to happen? You made an entire organization of mortals and tasked them with slaughtering the gods. You made them hate everything divine. Of course they were going to turn on you, in the end!"

Tyranos growls in response, a very harsh growl that almost seems to grate on reality itself. Again, Sophia finds herself glad to be standing at Oren's side. Being this close to the Otherworlder protects her from the worst of Tyranos' presence.

"Stupid girl, are you even listening? It was all planned out. Those at the top would have handled things just fine for me. The transition from God Hunters to God-King Worshippers would have gone off without a hitch. Unfortunately, my Trusted Chosen got the idea in their head that they could act without consulting me first… and were massacred by the likes of you two weeks ago!"

His Chosen… Sophia's eyes widen as she realizes exactly what he's talking about. Those Elite God Hunters wearing Celestial Armor and wielding Celestial Weapons back in the armory. They'd died to a man trying to kill her and Oren. They… were Tyranos' Trusted Chosen. Not just the greatest fighters the God Hunters' had, but the actual leaders of the entire organization?

She blinks for a moment, a little stupefied that they'd cut off the head of the snake without even realizing it. Then, she smiles vindictively, giving her uncle a vicious glare.

"Good."

Tyranos looks taken aback for a moment before covering his face with his palm and hissing.

"Good? Is that all you have to say? I tell you that you've consigned every last pathetic mortal in all of Creation to death and all you have to say is GOOD?!"

Before Sophia can respond, Oren does it for her.

"You seem to be mistaken about our motivations, Tyranos. Maybe you still think of me as the Hero, even though that was never real. But the truth is… we aren't here to save the universe. We're just here to kill you. Because some people just need killing."

For a long moment, Tyranos just stares at them as Sophia firmly nods. Perhaps back when they traveled with him, they thought they were the big damn heroes. But he tore that naivety away from them. He ripped any remaining shreds of innocence they had away and left them with nothing but this. His death.

"… Besides, if you could really kill everyone, you wouldn't be telling us about it. You would have already done it."

Wait, what? Sophia looks to Oren… and then back to Tyranos. To her surprise, her uncle has stiffened upon the throne. Oren's words have rung true, somehow. No doubt sensing the same, the Otherworlder takes another step forward, pushing the advantage.

"Something is holding you back. Something is stopping you from finishing the job. It's not us… you were here long before we revealed ourselves. What's the matter, Tyranos? Trouble getting it up?"

The look in response to that is positively murderous and it only gets worse when Sophia lets out a completely natural giggle at Oren's joke. She can't help herself… it's funny.

For a long moment, her uncle looks like he might just have an aneurysm from sheer rage. And then, just like before… he suddenly switches right back to calm, cool, and collected. At least on the outside anyways.

"… You're right. This room, this throne… I should be able to amplify my divine power here in this stupid chair. I should be able to just wave a hand and wipe all life from the Mortal Planes with one thought."

What? That couldn't be true! And yet… there was a lot about her father and what he was capable of that Sophia hadn't known, she supposed.

"But the room fights me and so does the throne. My brother, or what remains of him, fights me. I have been working to erase the remnants of his power for quite some time now."

Sophia's eyes widen at that. Her father still lived on in some way? Enough so that he was able to fight Tyranos off and prevent him from taking full control of what were apparently the reins of Creation itself?

Oren isn't as frozen by this knowledge as she is, thankfully. He lifts his sword and points it at Tyranos, dropping into a combat stance.

"Then it seems we've arrived just in time to stop you before you can do so. And kill you once and for all."

For a moment, her scarred uncle's face is blank. Then, he lets out a dark chuckle, one that grows into a full-blown laugh. His hand comes down on the helmet resting on the arm of the throne… and the metal flows across him, covering his head. At the same time, he doesn't so much pick up the sword resting against his knee as it too flows up into his waiting hand.

Rising from the throne, Tyranos slowly shakes his head.

"No… I think it's the exact opposite. Your arrival in this place is more serendipitous for me than either of you realize. After all, what better way to break the last remnants of my brother's soul… than to spill his daughter's lifeblood upon the very floor of this chamber."

Lifting his own sword up, Tyranos points it at Oren.

"Thank you for bringing me exactly what I needed one last time, Otherworlder. Now do me a favor and die."

In a flicker of movement too fast for Sophia's eyes to even follow, the God of Tyranny and Conquest is across the chamber and swinging at Oren. Fortunately, Oren's eyes are better than hers and so is his speed. He's able to block the blow with his own blade and though she can tell it strains him for a moment… he holds his own, even managing to push Tyranos back a step and end the exchange on his own terms.

Sophia can tell that this gives Tyranos pause… but only for a moment before he strikes again. And with that, the final battle begins in earnest.

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