The war began the moment Acheron chose her publicly.

Not during the judgment hall.

Not when the chains broke.

Not even when he abandoned the throne.

Those were warnings.

This—

This was collapse.

The hospital windows shattered outward without warning as black shadows erupted violently across the city skyline. People screamed in the streets below while abyssal mist flooded through intersections like rising floodwater swallowing civilization whole.

And far beneath both worlds—

The Underworld broke open.

Eva felt it through the contract instantly.

Pain.

Ancient pain.

The kind belonging to kingdoms dying.

Acheron went completely still beside her.

The shadows around the hospital room froze unnaturally.

Then every light in the building exploded simultaneously.

Darkness swallowed the room whole.

Only silver cracks beneath Acheron’s skin remained visible now, glowing faintly through the blackness like fractures splitting apart the shape of a god.

The goddess near the broken windows looked sharply upward.

“They moved faster than expected.”

Acheron’s voice turned dangerously cold.

“Who?”

The answer arrived before she spoke.

The sky tore open.

A massive silver fracture split across the storm clouds above the city while divine light poured downward through the mortal world like burning judgment.

Not one god.

Dozens.

The Court had come personally.

The hospital shook violently beneath the force of their arrival.

Eva’s stomach dropped instantly.

“They followed you here.”

“No,” the goddess whispered quietly.

Her expression darkened.

“They came to kill him.”

The shadows around Acheron exploded.

The entire hospital floor cracked violently while black frost consumed the walls in massive spreading waves. Every machine nearby burst apart instantly beneath the pressure of his power surging out of control.

Sofia cried out weakly from the hospital bed.

Eva turned immediately toward her sister.

The black veins beneath Sofia’s skin spread farther now, crawling visibly along her throat while the plague responded to the collapsing veil outside.

Everything was happening too fast.

The goddess stepped backward from the gathering shadows.

“The Underworld has entered civil collapse.”

Eva looked toward her sharply.

“What does that mean?”

The answer came from Acheron.

“It means they finally chose war.”

His voice no longer sounded remotely human now.

Not because of rage.

Because something deeper had awakened beneath it.

The Lord of Death stepped toward the shattered hospital windows while shadows spiraled violently around him like living storms.

And suddenly Eva understood something horrifying:

He had already decided how far he was willing to go.

All the way.

Outside the city, silver light rained downward from the fractured sky while abyssal darkness surged upward to meet it.

The mortal world had become a battlefield between gods and death itself.

The goddess turned toward Eva urgently.

“If the Court destroys him now, the throne may stabilize before the abyss fully crosses worlds.”

The silence afterward turned lethal.

Acheron slowly looked back over his shoulder.

The silver in his eyes had vanished entirely.

Only darkness remained now.

Not empty darkness.

Hungry darkness.

Ancient enough to terrify immortals.

“And if they try?” he asked softly.

The shadows around the room screamed.

The goddess did not answer immediately.

Because everyone already knew the truth.

Millions would die.

Possibly both worlds.

The realization crashed heavily into Eva’s chest.

No.

No, this could not happen.

Not because of her.

The contract beneath her wrist burned violently again.

Then suddenly—

Images exploded behind Eva’s eyes.

The Underworld throne split apart beneath black oceans.

Ancient gods burning beneath living shadows.

Acheron standing alone in a ruined kingdom covered in silver blood while the abyss swallowed eternity behind him.

And one final vision—

Her own hands stained gold instead of red.

The vision shattered instantly.

Eva staggered sharply.

Acheron crossed the room immediately.

“Evangeline.”

Fear flickered visibly through the darkness beneath his skin.

The contract pulsed wildly between them.

Something was changing again.

Not him.

Her.

The goddess noticed instantly.

“The awakening accelerates.”

Wonderful.

Everything remained deeply catastrophic.

Outside, divine light slammed violently against the city streets while black mist surged upward from the underground transit tunnels beneath the hospital.

The abyss had reached the mortal world completely now.

Screams echoed through the streets below.

Not ordinary screams.

Soul screams.

Eva’s blood turned cold.

Acheron heard them too.

The shadows around him became instantly murderous.

“You brought war into their world,” he said quietly toward the goddess.

Her expression hardened.

“You abandoned your throne for a mortal.”

“And you threatened her life.”

The hospital walls cracked instantly beneath the force of his voice.

The goddess finally looked uncertain.

Not afraid yet.

But close.

Because Acheron no longer resembled a ruler protecting balance.

He resembled extinction wearing the shape of a man.

Suddenly the city outside went dark.

Completely dark.

Every building.

Every streetlight.

Every signal.

Gone.

Then the shadows moved.

Massive black wings unfolded across the sky above the city.

Not literal wings.

Worse.

The shape of death itself spreading over the mortal world.

The gods descending through the silver fracture above immediately halted.

Even immortals hesitated now.

Eva’s pulse hammered violently.

Because she understood.

The Court had not arrived merely to stop him anymore.

They had arrived because they were terrified.

Acheron turned toward the shattered windows once more while darkness consumed the hospital room around him completely.

The contract beneath Eva’s skin screamed with emotion so violent it nearly stole her breath.

Not hatred.

Not rage.

Love twisted into something apocalyptic.

Then, quietly—

Almost gently—

Acheron spoke the sentence that finally broke the last illusion of peace remaining between gods and death.

“No one touches her again.”

The Underworld answered immediately.

Far below reality itself, the throne of death shattered.