“Not too long now before we’re in position,” The voice of the pilot came in through my headphones. 

When I had initially boarded the helicopter, I thought that, even with noise-cancelling headphones, the thunderous buzzing of the whirling blades would certainly come through. Imagine my surprise that, once I had popped them off, the loudest thing I could hear was the tinny voice of those aboard with me.

There were only four of us in the helicopter at the moment; two pilots, me, and our most auspicious guest. I couldn’t see either pilot except for the backs of their helmeted heads while I could see Kronos in all his full glory.

He wasn’t as majestic as I was expecting him to be; when you hear that you’ve been appointed as the personal liaison with a home-grown god, and a rather young one at that, you start to imagine all the different ways he’d appear, how he’d act.

Rather than the ambitious, imposing giant of a man I had expected--mostly because who would take the name ‘Kronos’ without intending the titan implication--he was a rather reserved individual.

Additionally, he looked rather average; if I didn’t know what he looked like and I saw him on the street, no way would I have thought he was a god.

His short brown hair was longer than allowed for me while it’s frizzy and unsettled nature suggested a lack of care in his appearance. Rather than wanting to stand out, he dressed himself up with the same gear as those in the infantry; camouflage as well as protection.

He just looked like a regular soldier.

Throughout the whole ride here, he hadn’t said a word to me. Maybe it was my fault, too in awe to initiate a conversation, but he didn’t seem like the most talkative person.

However, even his impressiveness had a limit; I eventually got to grips with my emotions and tried to say something, seeing how we wouldn’t have long left to chat.

“We’re all very grateful that you have decided to help with this mission,” I began. I didn’t really know what to say and so just stuck with something simple. Perhaps it was unbecoming of my station or situation but I didn’t know.

“If it wasn’t me, another god would’ve helped out,” He spoke firmly. His voice, unwavering, betrayed confidence but his reply made him feel grounded.

“Even so, their skillset wouldn’t be as helpful as yours is,” I replied.

“You would’ve found other ways for them to be the most useful.”

“If I may ask,” The pilot suddenly spoke out, precluding my opportunity to respond to Kronos. “What are the details about what’s going to happen? Apart from the overall goal of retaking Vegas.”

As with anything involving a god, the level of secrecy was unparalleled. However, since it wouldn’t even be an hour until the pilot found out, I thought it was okay to tell him.

“We’ll be hovering outside the Golden Lion Casino,” I began. It didn’t matter which casino it was, really; they were all in practically the same predicament. Down below us a ghost town filled with monsters, Manifestations, and desolate buildings whose only inhabitants were the hearts that fueled this whole disaster.

And for some reason, they just keep popping up.

“Once we get the signal, Kronos will do his thing and then we’ll go in to clear out the heart,” I summarised. I get details concerning what Kronos would do vague, partly because I wasn’t exactly fully privy to it myself and partly because he was a god--it wasn’t my position to be telling people what his System Specialisation was.

“Why are we only doing this now? It’s already been years,” He asked inquisitively, seeing if he could get more information from me.

“The most recently emerged heart here has a Minokawa-class Manifestation. We destroy all hearts when the Manifestation can fly as soon as possible--that’s the rule,” I informed him. 

No matter how much of Vegas’ situation was known or not, this Manifestation was so big that anyone with eyes and traveled to a hill overlooking Vegas would be able to see the thing flying; there was no way it would stay hidden.

Furthermore, if it decided it had had enough of Vegas and wanted to see what other cities offered, it would definitely be seen. Best to let the public know that it existed beforehand so they could at least prepare for the worse case scenario.

Right as the words left my mouth, right beneath us, a staggering shadow in size inched forwards at what could only be described as frightening speed for those on the ground.

The shadow was massive, larger than the biggest buildings here, even. I stared at it in awe, even though I was already briefed on the creature.

I turned my head, glancing upwards, and then I saw it. It’s skin was glistening and purple, the total lack of feathers unlike any flying bird I knew. It had no feet nor any mounds suggesting they ever existed. It’s wings were giant and wide, it’s presence domineering.

Just seeing it in the flesh sent shivers down my spine; any safety I had from my air supremacy--far enough away from the monsters on the ground--was thrown away in a heartbeat once I saw this thing flying above us.

Estimates had placed its overall form, not its wingspan, at roughly the size of a dreadnought; how it could even fly was magic in itself. Its wings should’ve been causing a tornado with each flap but yet… It wasn’t.

There was always dissent over calling the strong ‘gods’. Some was theological arguments, others were simply disbelief that somebody could be that strong. However, for me, in that moment, seeing that creature, and knowing that the qualification of being a ‘god’ meant being able to kill something of that strength all on your own, I was never firmer in my own beliefs.

“We should probably get this over with soon,” Kronos called out from our collective silence. His voice was calm, unperturbed. As it should be; he had nothing to fear--not like the other helicopters hovering in the sky around us.

It was then that in each of our ears, we received the signal; a voice spoke to us, telling us everything was in position and all that was left was for Kronos to do his thing.

Upon hearing that, he stood up with immaculate balance and stood at the side of the helicopter--nearly falling off. Once the auspicious casino was within his sights, he took a step back and let go, keeping his footing without holding onto anything.

Instinctually, I felt my fists clench and sweat being to appear on my skin; for me to attempt such a thing was ridiculous in the level of danger I’d be incurring on myself.

With one hand outstretched, raised towards the casino, he closed his hand into a fist suddenly, the muscles tensing in his body like he was pulling on a tense rope.

He held his form like that for a few seconds before apparently seemingly satisfied.

Next, with his other hand, he reached out into thin air and gripped nothing, the strain evident. Whatever he was doing, it was clearly and demonstrably weighing on his mind. Needless to say, it was no small feat.

One hand held firm and as stationary as a rock, the other began to pull back slowly, ever so slowly. Initially both hands were together but after a few second, one hand reached to the forearm of the other.

Every inch he pulled, the longer it took to cross the distance to his torso--like he was pulling an ever increasing weight. It took literal minutes of me intensely staring at him before his other hand was pulled all the way back to his chest, almost like drawing a bow.

And, with that, he let go dramatically, letting out a large breath of air I could only see, not hear, and his whole body relaxing at once.

He stumbled back into his chair, exhausted.

I was only half watching him, however. Halfway through pulling his arm back, I looked down towards the ground, and began to see its effects.

It was hard to notice but once you did, it was obvious. In the immediate vicinity surrounding the casino, all the monsters, all the ridiculous, disgusting creatures, just stopped moving. Some paused mid-step while those that were flying just froze in place, not falling but not actively maintaining air either.

The scene outside began to resemble a diorama rather than a living, breathing ecosystem of monsters and hives.

As he pulled his arm back, the area of effect began to grow. It went from the immediate vicinity to encompassing the total height of the building to even further beyond that, barely scraping the neighbouring goliath structures. I could even see some monsters climbing the walls freeze in motion of a completely unrelated building.

Once Kronos was done and collapsed back into his seat, the frozen world below remained still but the beast above remained prowling. Those on the ground were properly feeling an immense amount of relief now but those of us in the air? There was still a permeating, pervasive threat still around.

“Will you handle the Manifestation as well?” I asked. It wasn’t an order, but I couldn’t help but let hope seep into my tone. I’d feel so much better if he did, after all.

“Give me a few minutes,” He breathed out heavily. He didn’t even turn to look at me as he spoke.

And so, a few minutes went by. Down below, the mass of barely perceptible ants began to move in an organised fashion. Whatever tanks and vehicles they brought along transferred people to the front lines as they flooded the streets outside the casino. 

With remarkable efficiency, they set up lines and groups as they established themselves at the foot of the casino, warding off any monsters that still remained active in the zones unaffected by Kronos.

The only thing that could could really mess this up was if one of the Manifestations from the other strong hives in Vegas decided to pop in.

Thankfully, however, that didn’t happen. Kronos recovered slightly and used far less effort in stalling the beast above and then announced that he had done his duties.

Exhausted and enervated as he was, he was in his most vulnerable state. Whether the pilots knew that I didn’t know but once all was done, I swiftly ordered for us to return back to base; we had no more reason to remain here unless we wanted to be hunted down by a stray monster. For Kronos to use his spec, it was necessary we would be out of his affected bubble.

The last thing I saw of the mission was the ground units, infantry, flooding into the casino, invading the hive, before the helicopter was turned around and we were flying back.