Year 917 — Month 8-9 of the War
The Lesser Demon's Interrogation
The lesser demon had been captured during the Covenant's offensive in month eight. It was not a significant demon—it had no particular power or authority within the demon hierarchy. It was simply one of thousands of lesser beings that had been summoned into the living world to serve as cannon fodder in the Titan war effort.
The capture had been accidental. The demon had become separated from its unit during a Covenant assault and had attempted to return to the demon realm through what it believed was a dimensional gateway. Instead, it had stumbled into a Covenant containment zone and had been captured before it could escape.
Pallas had ordered the demon interrogated. The interrogation was conducted by practitioners who specialized in demonic communication—beings who understood how to apply specific ritual pressures that disrupted demonic coherence enough to make communication possible without causing complete dissolution.
The interrogation had been expected to yield tactical information about Titan force dispositions or about demonic capabilities. What it actually yielded was something far more strategically significant.
"The barriers require constant maintenance," the demon revealed, under the specific pressure of the interrogation ritual. "The barriers are not fixed structures. The barriers are dynamic boundaries that must be maintained through continuous application of power from both sides of the dimensional divide. If the maintenance from the living world side ceases, the barriers will collapse. If the maintenance from both sides ceases simultaneously, the collapse will be catastrophic."
The Covenant interrogators pressed for more detail.
"Who maintains the barriers from the living world side?" they asked.
"Iapetus," the demon said. "He is the primary anchor point. The other Titans contribute power, but Iapetus is the central focus. If Iapetus dies or is removed from his position, the barriers will begin to fail."
The implications of this revelation were immediately clear to Pallas, who was observing the interrogation. The Covenant did not need to achieve complete military victory over the Titans. The Covenant only needed to neutralize Iapetus.
The Strategic Shift
Pallas brought this revelation to Kronos within hours of its emergence from the demon interrogation.
"This changes everything," Pallas said. "We do not need to defeat the Titans militarily. We need to eliminate or neutralize Iapetus. Once Iapetus is no longer maintaining the barriers, they will collapse. Once the barriers collapse, the demons will begin to retreat or will cease to exist. The Titans' primary advantage disappears."
"How certain are you of this information?" Kronos asked.
"Eighty percent certain," Pallas said. "The demon had no tactical reason to lie about this. The demon appeared to be providing information about a basic structural principle of the barrier system. But even if we account for possible deception or misunderstanding, the information is worth acting on."
Kronos understood what this revelation meant: the war's final phase was becoming clear. The war would not be decided through the grinding attrition of military campaigns. The war would be decided through direct confrontation between Kronos and Iapetus.
The question was no longer whether the Covenant could win the military war. The question was whether Kronos could confront Iapetus directly and emerge victorious.