"We're sending them to die," Hades finished, emerging from shadows with his usual grim honesty. "Not to battle. Not to victory. To systematic execution by something that treats gods like troublesome insects."
The silence stretched as divine minds grappled with the magnitude of their miscalculation.
Demeter's voice was barely a whisper. "The Painter's gateway was connected to THEY's network. When Parker destroyed it, I felt the ripples across multiple dimensions. Whatever he did didn't just stop a local threat—it sent shockwaves through cosmic infrastructure we don't even fully understand."
Zeus's eyes blazed with desperate fury. "Which is exactly why he must be stopped! Do you think his power will remain stable? Do you think he'll be content to simply protect his little corner of existence? That level of authority... it grows. It spreads. It consumes."
