I was surprised.
Mildly, that is.
But in hindsight, it makes sense.
I dodged a quick thrust at my eye, then I used my sword to deflect another that was aimed at my heart.
A flurry of thrusts came at me, a sharp blade aiming at all my vitals unceasingly.
Just purely fast and precise.
The iconic strategy and martial prowess of Achilles simplified into a few words.
His sword wasn't very long, something time-appropriate for his period even. If anything, it was slightly on the smaller side, a sidearm, so to speak.
It was shorter than even my shortest blade, but god was he using it to devastating effect.
If anything, the fact that it was shorter was one of its strengths.
I was able to conceal the edge of it until he fully thrust it out, diminishing my perception of the blade itself by utilizing his body to block my vision.
He would even adjust his grab on the blade, changing it with each thrust. On one that came for my neck, his fingers were wrapped around the pommel, making me misjudge the distance, and he barely nicked me before I could correct myself.
On another, the base of the blade was between his fingers as he went low, hiding the vision of the blade with his chest and going for my thigh.
There were times where he adjusted his grip completely and went for a backhanded stab.
By all means, it was a beautiful performance of swordsmanship.
If Artoria was the type that used overwhelming strength to overpower her opponent, and Raikou was the type to utilize sheer technique to overcome gaps, then Achilles was the type that used trickery or deception in his blows.
Though, there was no thought in my mind about calling it 'underhanded,' nor would even Artoria—who holds very firmly on honorable combat—say so either.
Making openings, tricking your opponents' perceptions, utilizing advantages, and all of those sorts of things were fair game in combat.
Hell, Artoria fought with an invisible blade much of the time.
That being said, I had to narrowly deflect another stab aiming for my neck, forcing me to step back.
I noticed Achilles' smirk appear at that moment, and his speed increased to another level for a split second, and he had already stabbed back out again at my heart.
It caught me off guard, and I used my divine sword to meet it.
As the two blades connected, there was an eruption of thunder and lightning at the point of contact.
Achilles slit out of the cloud of dust and lightning that had been kicked up, coughing lightly and waving away the errant debris.
"Hah, looks like I got you." He said cheekily.
I grumbled because he was right. "Fine, that one was yours."
Sword training is good.
Training my divine authority was the priority, however.
I was so used to just…releasing all my divine power at an enemy that I wasn't used to using my sword for much more delicate purposes.
A spar where I don't release large swathes of divine power was genuinely a bit difficult.
I didn't do it consciously either; it was like a response to my emotional state, a split second of panic, and I lost control for that brief moment.
"Where'd you even get a sword?" I asked him, taking out a bottle of water before taking a drink and then tossing it to him.
"Bought it from a store around here. They had a lot of nice stuff. I was surprised that they had a proper blade from my time, so I couldn't help myself." He gave it a look over with a nostalgic smile before drinking from the bottle.
"Does it feel weird using a weapon outside of your class?" I hadn't considered that until now.
But he was a rider summoned with his spear.
"There's a slight…off feeling?" He scratched his cheek. "But it's not like I wasn't as trained with a sword as I was a spear. Muscle memory, or whatever you want to call it, kicked in, and it's about the same." He shrugged.
"You were known for your spear, so you were just as good with your sword?" I asked him.
"All Myrmidons mastered their shield, their spear, and their sword. In that order. If you couldn't hold a shield up with your brothers, you weren't cut out for it. If you couldn't throw your spear and take a guy off horseback, we didn't need you. And if you couldn't handle a sword, you were useless." He said that with noticeable pride. "But I admit, I was better with my spear. But I'm still passable with a sword; I am capable of being summoned as a Saber, you know. But it's not my strongest class."
"That's still impressive," I gave the due praise. "Siegfried."
He gave me a flat look.
I had to.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you around, but what brings you back?" I stabbed my sword into the ground, leaning on it.
"Sis and I just got back from exploring some parts of the world." He shrugged. "No real reason."
Well, as long as they're enjoying themselves.
Atalanta probably likes the journey, and Achilles follows her around.
"It reminds me of the old days, but not just traveling around Greece. I had some points when I was younger when I would wander around, kill some monsters, and save some damsels. You know, before I joined the army and all that. It was carefree."
"Not having any responsibilities, huh?"
"Exactly." He nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I would never trade my men for anything. But being a leader is tiring. I would miss the days of just training with Chiron, skipping out on paying for meals at restaurants, and the occasional village begging for a hero to save them. No marching orders, nor king trying to scream into my ear, and no political bullshit."
"Plenty of monsters to slay around here?"
"Tons. Sis and I hunted a yeti in some mountains that was messing with a town. We killed some winged serpent thing somewhere else that was pretending to be a god and demanded sacrifices. Oh, and we killed some giant sea monster over on the other side of the world."
Sounds like they had been having a good time.
"So, did you learn anything?" He looked at me with his cocky grin.
"It seems like you emphasize almost everything on quick thrusts."
He rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure my stupid nephew could have said that. We had bronze weapons back in the day; they bent, chipped, and snapped much easier than steel and iron. So if you caught someone's armor wrong, you lost your sword for good, and it's already your secondary. So you had to be very precise with your attacks."
Made sense.
"Let me give it a shot." I pulled my sword out of the ground. "If you don't mind."
He spun his sword in his hand before laying it over his shoulder. "Alright, show me what you got."
My sword wasn't made for quick thrusts. That isn't to say that it wasn't made for thrusts in general. It was…well, a standard longsword. Slightly shorter than a European longsword, but the general principle was the same.
And, obviously, I wasn't some novice that didn't know the basics of swordsmanship.
But…eh, I was trying to approach things from that mindset?
That was another thing from my time on Sakaar.
When I was without most of my means, it sort of opened my mind up to some possibilities. It's easy to get comfortable with what I have. That's not to say I wasn't reaching some profound enlightenment on the way of the sword or any nonsense.
Just…a different angle of thought, I suppose.
I have the bad habit of tunnel visioning things. And that could also apply to my own growth and training and learning.
Well, I didn't think I was going to match him, but what harm was there in just giving it a shot?
I leveled my sword up over my forearm, indicating very clearly what I was going to do.
Without hesitation, I stabbed forward.
He rolled his sword in his fingers before taking it in a reverse grip and swung it up to block, but the moment they connected, he seemed to realize the problem and twisted his wrist.
His sword sort of snaked around mine and turned into a deflection instead of a blunt parry.
Smart.
Truthfully, I was more like Artoria.
My thrusts may not be the fastest, but I put a lot of strength into them.
But just as well, that isn't to say that they're slow.
I released my own flurry of thrusts at him. Some slower, some faster, some stronger, some weaker.
He could more or less keep up even if he wasn't matching me in pure strength.
But he couldn't block them head-on; he had to resort to deflecting them as precisely as possible to avoid damaging his blade too.
The fact that his non-enchanted, historically accurate bronze blade didn't show even a chip in it was a testament to his skill.
But I did notice one problem on my end.
A small spark danced across my blade, turning into a tiny little snap of lightning that arced across the edge.
I quickly stopped and stabbed my sword into the ground. "This temperamental bastard."
It's not like it was alive in a normal sense. I suppose in the same way that other mythical swords have a sort of 'will,' so does mine.
And as one would expect from an authority of storm, it didn't like being contained.
I've never had problems with it in the past because when I used it, it was to release all that power. Even when I was using it on Sakaar—my authority in general—I was releasing the storm within myself.
I was, at this moment, keeping the growing storm contained within the sword itself.
And it did not like that.
A storm was loud; it was destructive, bombastic, and fury incarnate.
From primordial times, the storm was one of man's greatest fears. The sound of thunder as our ancient ancestors hid in their caves was a herald of utter terror.
And I was trying to get it to behave and stay quiet in its proverbial box.
I know that I'm not unique in having issues like this. I remember that Godou had his own issues with his authorities.
Authorities had their own wills as well.
It wasn't something I was born with. I controlled it because…because Susanoo let me. He took his loss in grace and didn't pout or stomp his feet. I think that's one of the reasons that my authority came to me so naturally.
But I never really used it…'wrongly' before?
I'm most certainly not using it in the same way as its original owner.
And that was my goal, much to my detriment right now.
I did have a plan; it was just going to take awhile.
If I can do what I did on Sakaar without days of buildup, it will be meaningful. Because that slash of mine was without a doubt one of my strongest attacks to date.
Achilles was patient, and I was grateful. He at least knew what I was doing, so he wasn't going to call me out on it or get upset that I was wasting his time.
Putting a hand back on my sword, I could just feel it.
The Storm wanted to be released.
Nope.
I forced it back down again, not letting anything leave from within the sword.
I let out a sigh. "What a bastard."
"Well, not something I've ever had problems with." Achilles put his arms up in a 'what can you do?' sort of way. "My dad's spear had a bit of bloodlust to it that I had to get used to, but that was about it."
"Well, if it's going to throw a tantrum, I'm just going to ignore it." I was starting to get annoyed. "Anyways, want me to enchant that thing so it doesn't break?"
"If you got the free time, I wouldn't mind."
I held my hand out, and he tossed it to me as I took an Enchanting Table out of my ring and set it up on the surface. "Anything special you want? I was just going to add durability."
"Can you make it so it doesn't tarnish?"
"Easy." I waved it off. "How about adding cool flames to it?" I said that jokingly; that earned a snort from him. "More seriously, I'll stop the edge from dulling easily, make it more durable, and make it retain its luster."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." He smiled.
"No problem, it's something easy."
"I've been curious about something." He crossed his arms as he watched me work. "Why exactly do you play with swords? I mean, aren't you a magus?"
"You know, not many people have actually asked me that question." I realized this right before I was about to answer. "They just sort of take it at face value."
"And…?"
"Well, it's a very deep, emotional, and philosophical reason."
"I'm starting to regret asking."
"Honestly, I just like swords. I like having treasures. I want to be able to use my treasures. So here we are."
"...Fair enough." He looked like he agreed with me.
It's hard to argue with the logic of 'I just like it.'
It really isn't that deep, despite my joke. When I was starting out, I was deciding what I wanted to focus on, and I liked both magic and swords.
Obviously, my repertoire expanded beyond that; I even have some spears, but the general idea stands.
I looked at my Divine Sword again and frowned.
I should head back over to that world and maybe get some advice. The heretic god Odin seemed to be somewhat amicable, or maybe I could squeeze something out of Athena there too.
"Hey, are you guys done yet or what? I want my turn again?" Mordred yelled from over where everyone else was.
I grabbed the sword off the enchanting table and tossed it to Achilles.
He gave it a swing and smiled happily. "All yours, Saber." Achilles held his hands up as if to surrender to her whims.
"Finally. Ready for round two?" Mordred grinned, walking over, her own sword materializing in her hand.
I glanced at Artoria, who was sitting with the others, and she gave me just a smile.
It was her turn, technically, but she didn't interject here. I had been going between them all, taking turns, as it were.
Ironically, Mordred was probably the best sparring partner for me in this instance. She fights more like a berserker, but not a mindless type. She knew how to use a sword, but she did things her way and how she liked to do them.
But at the core of it, she was wild and unpredictable. And she also had the strength and speed to back it up.
It made it hard to keep focus, which was…good training.
I pulled my divine sword out of the ground, pointing it at her, and she didn't waste a word, simply charging at me.
[Line Break]
It was a nice way to decompress.
Some might say that sparring, fighting, or training isn't 'taking it easy,' but compared to most of my life, this is practically a vacation.
The sheath on my sword was working well; I had it leaning up against the wall to the side, and it wasn't really making a ruckus.
Though as far as taking it easy went, nothing beat being able to take a nap while laying my head in someone's lap.
Izzy smiled down at me from above, and she gently ran a hand through my hair.
It really was nice to be back home.
I was going to have a nice family dinner with my family and not have any worries or responsibilities today.
Just as I had that thought, I felt my Kaleidophone buzzing in my storge.
"Fuck off." I answered it immediately.
"Love you too," Odin answered.
"What do you want? I'm busy," I asked.
"No, you're not; don't lie." Odin snorted.
I let out a long sigh; I knew how he was.
"Do you want me to hang up for you?" Izzy offered.
"Oh hey, it's the cougar." Odin's voice came through.
"I will end you," Izzy hissed.
"Wow, haven't heard that one today." He hummed.
"...How is Hela?" I realized exactly what he meant by that. "Not giving you any problems, I hope?"
"Is that him? Tell him to take me back right now or I will end him!" I heard a very distinct voice in the background on his end.
"About that," Odin replied.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Odin said casually. "I've been trying to get her laid, but it needs some work." Odin let out a long sigh. "Despite being my kid, she has no rizz."
"Please don't say that." I felt my eye twitch.
"That's how the kids say it these days, right? I'm young; I can keep up with the young'uns."
"Oh my god." I let out a groan, and I could hear Hela on the other end groaning too. "I'm starting to sympathize with her now."
"I'm still going to kick your ass when you come back." Hela said plainly.
"Good luck with that. How are your powers again?" I responded.
A series of ancient Norse expletives came from the other end. Well, I suppose it's technically Asgardian expletives that the Norse adopted?
"Why did you call me, Odin?" I finally got down to the heart of it, because he usually doesn't call without a reason.
"Alright, have something serious. Figured since rizzless over here was with me, we could do it as some father-daughter bonding."
I ignored it.
Ignoring it.
I wasn't going to comment.
"And…?"
"Remember how I said I was going to make plans to…retaliate against our little problem."
"Oh." I sat up in realization. "Shit, I forgot."
That's on me; my mind had been elsewhere.
"It's fine; we hadn't set anything in motion yet. But I had a thought." Odin was making some noise in the background; I didn't know what he was doing, but he was doing something. "Anyways, I gave it proper thought."
Despite his casual tone, I knew that he was serious when he needed to be. He was very reliable, despite sometimes wanting to punch him in the face.
If he said he was doing something, I could trust him to do it.
If he gave something proper thought, that meant he treated it with the seriousness that it deserved.
"What thoughts did you have?"
"I realized, why can't we be the terrorists?"
My immediate reaction was to call him an idiot, but I gave that statement genuine consideration and found myself realizing that I couldn't actually argue with it.
Obviously, he was being facetious with the way he worded it, but I could pick up what he meant.
"You're not wrong," I admitted.
It's not like we're some comic book heroes that have to wait for the 'bad guys' to fly out into the city and start causing a mess.
Hell, we're not heroes in any sense of the word.
Why exactly do we have to play nice?
"What do you need?" I asked.
"Can I borrow that eye of yours?" He asked.
That's how I knew he was actually serious and had a real plan. Well, I confirmed it at least, and he wasn't just playing around, not that I was suspecting him.
He was hesitant around this thing and wouldn't ask for it if it weren't for a purpose.
It only took me a moment to calculate his location based on the connection through the Kaleidophone, so I opened a portal and tossed the eye through.
"Thanks." Odin responded from his side as the portal closed.
"Do you need help?" I asked him.
"It's fine, it's not actually very difficult. Rizzless over here can help me. The only difficult part is making sure the…uh…traces can't be connected back to us."
Did I even want to know now?
If I had to guess, he was going to blow someone up.
Multiple someone's probably.
"You know, while you have her there, she can probably help with the Destroyer." I remembered that he was still working on that or something. He said he could get it up and running, and I trusted him.
"You have my Destroyer!?" I could hear her shriek from the other end.
"And that's my cue to hang up. See you later, brat."
"If you're bored tomorrow, watch the Devil's Rating Game; I'm going with Venelana, and I gave one of the contestants a huge gun."
"Sounds fun; I'll watch if I have time." He hung up.
Right, now where was I?
Oh yeah.
I laid my head back down in Izzy's lap.
She welcomed me back into position, seemingly uncaring about the conversation I just had with Odin.
I pulled her shirt up slightly so I could look up it from below.
No Bra.
She gave me a little pinch on the cheek but didn't rebuke me.
And all is right in the world.
[Line Break]
Non-Canon Omake: The Little Spider, Part 26
"Uncle!" Arachne exclaimed happily as the God of War landed between them.
"One of Zeus's brats." Atlas scoffed.
Ares glanced at Arachne, giving her a grin before focusing back on Atlas. "Yeah, this should be the first time we're meeting face to face, huh?"
Atlas narrowed his eyes. "The world is different in this era. Even I know that you're breaking the rules."
"Am I?" Ares laughed. "What are you going to do about it?"
Atlas was silent.
He was only half right.
Arachne picked up her Gae Bolg that had been discarded, dislodged from Atlas's back some time ago.
"Let's fight together, Uncle Ares!"
"Can you still fight?" He eyed her. "You got hit pretty bad there."
He was bloodthirsty.
He was a warrior.
He relished in a fight.
But that didn't mean he was foolish or oblivious to what winning a fight meant. Contrary to what many think, a warrior needs a good head on their shoulders. A warrior was someone who could judge a situation properly.
"A can still fight," Arachne huffed.
A few ribs were probably broken, and some other damage as well, but she wouldn't let that stop her.
Ares, however, just nodded. As the patron of warriors, he had to respect a warrior's will. If she said she could still fight, then she could fight.
He held his hands out; a mace appeared in one hand and a sword in the other.
"Thank whoever it is that threw Pop's lightning bolt through the garden. Mom is pissed, but it made an opening that let me jump in." He slammed his weapons together, making a loud ringing sound.
"Are you going to fight me, boy?" Atlas looked down at Ares. "I was old before even Zeus was born."
"Hoh." Ares chuckled. "Maybe. But you're not at full strength, are you? Hercules told me about his experience holding the sky up a long time ago. It's not an actual weight; it is pressing down on you just enough that it requires your full strength and the tiniest bit more to hold up. It was a matter of willpower, and you had been holding it up for thousands of years."
Atlas frowned. "Even if I hadn't fully recovered, I'm still more than strong enough to beat an uppity little brat like you."
"Wah!? He isn't at his best!?" Arachne cried out.
Ares snorted. "Of course not. Do you think you would have been able to last as long as you did if he were at full strength? You're good, kiddo, but you're not that good. But it's fine; he's not at full strength, but he also can't use his Divine Form."
Arachne spun her spear. "Fine, a will support."
Ares nodded, then he charged forward.
His mace swung forward, and it met Atlas's fist with a cataclysmic thunderclap.
Ares had to grit his teeth, but in a contest of strength, he was pushed back.
However, Arachne was up at Atlas's eye level, thrusting at his eyes.
Atlas was forced to abandon a follow-up on Ares, and he swung his arm to casually block her strike. Despite her being significantly 'less of a threat' compared to Ares, Atlas also was forced to acknowledge her strength up to this point.
He couldn't afford to get hit by one of her strange weapons.
Arachne shifted her spear to block it as he knocked her away.
Atlas took that opportunity to shoot at Atlas as well, kneeing him right in the face.
The ancient Titan let out a groan as his head snapped back, and ichor spilled from his nose. But that was far from enough to disorient the Titan of Endurance. His foot shifted back, he clenched his fist, and the full weight of his strength bore down on Ares.
Before he could hit the God of War, a nearly invisible string wrapped around him and pulled him out of harms way.
Atlas's fist sent out a shockwave that ruptured the earth and even shook the garden as it collided with the garden's metaphysical boundaries.
"Nice one!" Ares shouted, sliding across the ground as he caught his footing and ran back at the Titan. Each of his steps sunk into the ground from the force, like a stampeding elephant.
"Annoying brats!" Atlas roared furiously, holding his arm up to block Ares's sword, and then he caught the mace with his other hand, grabbing it and ripping it from Ares's grip and throwing it to the side.
The sword of the God of War pushed into the Titan's flesh, but it got stuck as Atlas flexed his muscles, then grinned. "Clench up, boy!"
The Titan's fist swung down again.
Ares abandoned his other weapon without hesitation and raised both his arms up to block.
Despite putting everything into blocking it, his guard broke and divine blood sprayed from his mouth as the Titan laughed.
Atlas barely noticed as the God of War clenched his hand; the light reflected a handful more threads. He twisted them around his wrist and pulled them with his full strength.
Atlas quickly turned around to see Arachne flying at him at high speeds. The threads of hers used as a slingshot.
The Titan jerked his head back, barely dodged a fast-flying Arachne; her spear slashed against his cheek, ichor falling upon the ground.
She touched the ground next to Ares again, using her spear to break her momentum as it dug into the ground.
"You okay?" Ares asked, letting out a breath.
"A can still go." Arachne was panting heavily. "Did ya measure him properly?"
Ares cracked his neck. "Yeah, I got a good measure of him now. He's a level above me in strength, but I'm slightly faster than him in his current state. It's…acceptable."
Atlas still towered over them. Even from dozens of feet away, his presence was looming. Despite this, Atlas didn't just charge recklessly; he wasn't a mindless berserker or someone who didn't know how to fight.
There was a reason he was the Titan General.
"Let me borrow one of your weapons."
Arachne barely hesitated. She pulled on one of her strings still remaining, and a spear shot over to him.
He grabbed it without thought, opening his mouth to say something, but it snapped shut as soon as he registered what he held in his hand.
"A will go first!" Arachne roared. "Mana Burst: Destruction!" She erupted in Demonic Power and Destruction, slamming into the Titan.
Altas slapped her small body to the ground, causing a crater, but she rolled to the side as he attempted to stomp on her, and then she stabbed at his leg.
It was more or less a bug bite, but it was enough to cause him even some mild discomfort.
"What the hell did you give me!?" Ares finally blurted out.
"Ame-no-Nuboko replica!" Arachne said happily.
"Fucking what?!" Ares answered, but he had no time to think about it as he lept at the Titan as well.
Atlas shifted his attention, punching at Ares again. But even his eyes widened as Ares thrust the spear in his hand.
It was as if the world were pulled along with it. The land and sea wrapped around its blade, a distant act of creation dwelling within the spear's creation.
Ares found his strength draining. If he had the question of why Arachne hadn't used this spear before, this was the answer. Because for him, even as a god, it was draining to use.
The tip of the spear touched Atlas's hand, and the metaphysical barrier around the garden cracked.
The arm of the Titan trampled, and various parts of his flesh ruptured, spraying his divine ichor everywhere as Ares was blown too far back. Even his own hand felt numb after merely using the spear.
He stabbed it into the ground and let out a roar.
Atlas matched it, and the two started throwing punch after punch at each other.
Just as he said before, just ever so slightly, Ares was faster.
He stepped into it, the titan's large fist missing him by a hair's breath as Ares' fist landed on his flash.
The Titan felt the impact, but with a furious howl, he ignored it and kept throwing punches to match him.
A second dodged, another hit, but the third landed, nearly knocking Ares on his ass, but he forced himself to stay up. Each hit was enough to blow apart a skyscraper, yet they threw dozens at each other in quick succession.
For every two or three punches Ares landed on him, Atlas only managed to sneak one in, yet it was enough that Ares found himself losing the exchange.
He was Atlas, the Titan of Endurance, for a reason.
Despite this, every punch just made Ares laugh. His expression grew more unwieldy, becoming more and more maniacal.
"Is that all you got!?" He spat out a mouthful of blood, taking a hit that shook the Gardens before launching himself back in and throwing his elbow up, landing on the Titan's chin with a thunderous boom.
Atlas shouted; his fist swung down again, harder this time. As if he pulled from a hidden reserve of power. It smashed onto the God of War's cheek, smacking him to the ground. It was almost comical the way he bounced off the dirt.
It was fast and hard enough that the sound exploded after he had already hit the ground, as it followed with a shockwave that could flatten a mountain.
Atlas looked down at the small god who wobbled back to his feet, spitting out a glob of divine blood stuck in his throat. "My mom hits harder than that."
Atlas's brow furrowed. "What's wrong with you!?"
Ares grinned through blood-dripping lips. "It's called a distraction!"
"What!?"
Arachne slid between his legs.
Her hands were together, and a faint ominous wisp of demonic energy escaped. She pushed them upwards towards the Titan, releasing her struggling fingers, as if she were using all her might to keep them pressed together.
It was only brief, but they could see a small star sculpted out of a black energy carrying with it a nefarious and demonic feeling.
"Extinction Star!"
It erupted outwards as Ares pulled her back just in time.
Atlas howled again as everything was consumed by demonic destruction.
The Star of Destruction didn't dissipate. Arachne had compressed it down far enough that it continued to consume everything around it for several moments. Onwards, a concurrent torrent of destruction continued to spread outwards.
It also allowed Ares to take a much-needed breather, if even for a second.
But before Ares could relax his guard, his instinct flared up, and a familiar hand reached through the rampaging demonic power, grabbing Arachne just as it dissipated.
"You will annoy me no longer!" Atlas yelled, utterly furious. His body, something he took significant pride in, had looked repulsive now. His Divine Biology meant he began to mend himself almost automatically, but half his body looked like it had been burned away, peeled off, or otherwise shredded.
"No, you don't!" Ares shouted, grabbing Atlas's leg, lifting him up off the ground.
Atlas growled, realizing he had no time to worry about the mortal in comparison to the god he was fighting, and took that split second to instead throw her so he could get back to fighting Ares.
It wasn't a mere toss in the air.
With force enough to shatter mountains and rupture the earth, he sent Arachne hitting the ground hundreds of yards away, hitting the ground and continuing on. She skipped across the ground multiple times.
She let out a whine with each disorienting smack against whatever stood in her way.
Maybe it was chance, or maybe Atlas just had that good an aim. But Arachne crashed through the remains of the building that the others had been staying at after their fight with Medusa.
She hit the ground one more time and collided with one more object.
The Little Spider's head spun as she looked up after finally coming to a stop, realizing what just happened.
She had collided with the Helmet of Darkness and knocked it out of the way of the sky.
And now, the sky began to descend.
She quickly tried to get to her feet, but her body didn't listen to her, and she fell back down.
"Don't worry, I got it!"
Arachne's eyes widened, recognizing the voice, and she could see who was standing protectively over her.
Percy was pressing his arms against the sky, gritting his teeth. It slowed slightly, but his arms were shaking and it was pressing down further and further with every second.
"Percy!?"
"Heya –" The words died somewhat in his mouth as he let out a strangled gasp." - Holy Shi—molly, this is heavy!"
He said it jokingly, but his arms were struggling visibly.
Arachne's lips trembled, realizing that he was holding the sky up to protect her. Her breathing became quicker, and it wasn't because of the intense fight she had been involved in just a few moments prior.
The strange feelings in her chest didn't cause her to just watch mindlessly, though.
She looked around quickly to find an answer and discovered it. With a wince, she reached her hand out, casting one of her magical threads towards the helmet that had been knocked to the side and yanking it to her.
"Uncle Hades!" She shouted before climbing to her feet and placing the helmet on Percy's head. "Need your help!"
The sky pressed down again, almost causing Percy to fall to his knees. But before it could fall even further, the temperature around them chilled just ever so slightly.
The eyeholes of the helmet glowed, and a dark fog enveloped Percy.
Percy let out a grunt, and slowly his legs began to straighten themselves back out again. His trembling arms, while still struggling, are looking much better.
"Go, I can handle this!" Percy's voice sounded somewhat distorted through the effects of the Helmet.
Arachne looked at him, her eyes turning uncharacteristically soft. She found herself wanting to say something, but she knew she didn't have time to waste.
"Moooo~"
"Mr. Blueberry!" Arachne called out, seeing him flying towards her, her spear in its mouth.
In the excitement, she forgot that she had Mr. Blueberry stay back and guard the car.
Or, mostly, she didn't want him to get hurt, so she made that excuse before.
Her body was screaming at her, but it didn't stop her from giving him a quick hug before grabbing her spear. "Protect Percy, Mr. Blueberry!" She patted his head.
"Moooo~" It nodded its head.
Each step was wobbly, but with each step taken, she regained her momentum from before. She cast several spells on herself, accelerating forward at high speeds.
Expecting to see a fight, she couldn't find the giant Titan anywhere, but her eyes landed on Ares and something else.
Ares coughed, opening his mouth. Divine Ichor flowed out rather than words before he wiped it again. He was leaning up against a severed arm of Atlas, but he wasn't faring much better. "He's going to get the apples. If he eats them, it's enough to heal him and get him back to full strength."
There was an urgency in his tone.
He swallowed down his own pain and grit his teeth, holding his hand up and pointing at the Little Spider. "Take my blessing. Fight through your pain! If you're not dead, that means you can keep fighting!"
A red light enveloped Arachne.
The damage she had sustained so far didn't disappear, but the pain vanished.
A state where one could ignore pain and harm to keep fighting.
The blessing of the God of War.
"A will stop him!" She felt a renewed vigor inside of herself, despite knowing it was fake. Runes appeared under her feet, and with a shockwave, she sprinted forwards, running to where the Golden Apple Tree was.
She remembered where the other girl had pointed it out before.
The sounds were heard quickly.
Another fight, shockwaves, furious roars.
Arachne noticed the space was different.
She passed through an invisible barrier.
A Realm within a Realm.
The realm within the garden that the Golden Apple Tree was housed in. It was a secondary realm to 'protect' the Garden from something else.
The dragon that guarded it.
Within this smaller realm, it was more like a desolate landscape with only one thing growing.
"Hah, you're too late!" Atlas laughed, ripping the branches off the tree and tossing them into his mouth.
He wasn't alone; Ladon was there, trying to stop him. But Ladon was never meant to fight gods or Titans. Even with Atlas's weakened state, even if Ladon could 'beat him,' he couldn't stop the Titan from simply devouring the apples in front of him as they fought.
He punched towards the dragon, calling it a disgusting beast, causing several of his heads to snap back.
Its hundreds of heads all tried biting him, but his Divine Power had erupted, holding them off.
Arachne took that opportunity to launch her own attack. Silently but deadly, she thrust at his eye again.
"Do you think that trick will work after you've tried it so many times?!" Atlas didn't even turn fully before grabbing her leg and using her to hit a dragon head before tossing her away.
Arachne hit the ground, disoriented. She looked up to see the Titan and the Dragon continue their fight.
With a flurry of punches, dozens of Dragon heads were blown apart.
Ladon was said to have a hundred heads, but she didn't remember all the myths about it. Could it regenerate like a hydra?
The many heads bit down on him, but they barely even fazed him as he ripped them off or continued to rain down punches on the mighty dragon.
With every second, his divine power continued to rise. Once he reached a precipice, he grabbed another few apples off the tree, swallowing them.
The dragon roared angrily each time, but try as it could, it couldn't move the Immovable Titan.
Several of its heads released breath attacks. Each head carried with it a different one. One of fire, one of poison, and one of ice. A myriad of variations of elements released.
Atlas wasn't entirely unaffected, but with his growing Divine Power, his returning strength, and his body healing, he was able to ward it off.
The Dragon was losing in a prolonged fight against the Titan of Endurance.
He reached for the last handful of apples on the tree.
"Stab and Penetrate, Pierce and Drill!" Both Dragon and Titan looked towards the abrupt source of the magical energy flare-up. It wasn't just that; an intense bloodlust enveloped her spear so that it even became visible. "Gae Bolg Alternative!" She threw her spear.
Her mother's original spear was passed down to her father and then given to her.
If it didn't carry with it the blessings of the spear witch, it would be even stranger.
It was a pseudo-noble phantasm.
And it turned into a solid red light and jutted through the air.
It turned at sharp angles, avoiding the heads of the dragon before it found its target. It slammed into Atlas's hand, pinning it to the tree.
Ladon wasn't mindless.
It saw an opening and took it.
All the remaining heads opened their mouths at the same time and released a breath attack.
Atlas was forced to pull his hand free by letting the spear tear through his flesh and yank it off that way, remaining pierced into the tree.
His newly rejuvenated arm had shielded him as best as it could, but his divine flesh was eroded with each passing moment.
Atlas let out another shout, but this one carried with it unmatched power and divine intent.
Just the sound was enough to disrupt the many heads of the Dragon. "If you care about this tree so much, then you can mourn for it in pieces!" Atlas, rather than punching towards the dragon, wanted to destroy the tree in a fit of rage.
The dragon roared in panic and tried to stop him, but it couldn't stop him in time as the titan's mighty fist, with renewed vigor, released a blast enough to blast right through this smaller realm, like the metaphysical barriers were made of paper.
The 'sky' around them cracked and looked like glass that was barely being held together.
The dragon could see splinters of the once sacred tree fly past its many eyes.
The momentary lapse caused it to be taken off guard as the Titan grabbed its necks, wrapping them up under his arm, lifting the beast up, and slamming it into the ground.
Continuously, he slammed the Dragon into the ground over and over.
Several more of its heads were torn apart before the Titan finally eased his anger towards it.
Landon fell to the ground, unmoving, barely a sliver of energy left in its eyes.
The Titan scoffed, kicking it once as it went sliding across the dirt.
"Time to finish things with that god-brat." He grunted, turning to go back and find Ares.
Near its head, the ground trembled; a few rocks were pushed away, revealing a magical barrier, and Arachne poked her head out.
The dragon looked at her; she looked at the dragon.
After a moment, Arachne held her hand out, and a familiar tree fell onto the ground.
Landon's many eyes widened, staring at the Sacred Golden Apple Tree plop out right in front of it.
"A stole it while he was looking away." Arachne gave Ladon a thumbs up.
The tree itself was missing about two-thirds of its trunk. Arachne only had time to sever the top half of it under the eyes of Atlas, but that was still more than enough for it to regrow.
The ancient dragon stood up, staring at her.
It had many thoughts in this moment.
Its only job was to guard the apple tree; it didn't care about anything else. And even this mortal in front of it was an invader, an intruder.
Its job was to kill any who approached.
Its many mouths opened but stopped.
The ancient dragon's body shivered in a primordial way. Because as it looked at the little creature, it felt two eyes staring back at it.
A massive red dragon appeared before it, illusionary, only visible to its own eyes. And it glared at him, just daring it to try.
"Have ya ever drunk wine before?" Arachne was oblivious to all of this, but Ladon's eyes then jolted again, staring at the small jar of wine she had opened. "And do ya like peach?"
[Line Break]
Ares was gasping for breath, doing his best to recover.
Despite what many, many think, a god isn't immutable nor inviolable. They get tired, they can take damage, and they can be put down and winded.
Especially in this state.
He couldn't go full throttle.
Atlas wasn't wrong when he said that Ares was technically breaking the rules. He wasn't supposed to intervene like this when Atlas hadn't 'done anything' that warranted their intervention just yet.
It was still a quest; it was still a prophesied quest at that.
He never did tell Arachne that the little symbol of his, which turned into a pin that she stuck to her shirt, served more than one purpose.
Something something, in return for her giving the cabin back to him, it allowed him to come to her aid. Granted, she never technically agreed to that, but he didn't think she would get upset for the…interpretation of events.
So in reality, he half broke the rules, half abided by them.
It was up in the air if he was going to face retribution or not.
But frankly, that was the least of his concerns.
Just as Atlas couldn't assume his Divine Form, Ares was limited as well.
Beyond that, he swallowed the Ambrosia given to him. "Get out of here, kids." He looked at the demigods who had come to help him.
He couldn't say he had any particularly high opinions of any of these ones, but the fact that they came to help him in his time of need did raise their status in his eyes.
"He's coming." Ares let out a breath. "Seems the little spider couldn't stop him in time. He's back how he was before we started fighting. He took one last glance at Annabeth, Luke, and Zoe. "Go, I won't forget your help."
The mortals didn't argue.
For one, he was a god.
For two, they could feel the presence approaching.
Ares knew this was going to be a tough fight. Best case, he can grab the kids and get out. Worst case…he may need to regenerate in Tartarus after a few decades.
Dying was never pleasant, even for gods.
Thankfully, there were still plenty of spears scattered everywhere.
He picked up a random one, finding himself impressed with its quality once more. He didn't know where she got all of them, but he could respect a warrior who liked to collect good weapons.
"Little god, you're not looking so good." Atlas laughed; each step of his carried a tremor.
"Yeah?" He leaned against the severed arm. "I've seen worse."
Atlas's lips twitched in annoyance.
His severed arm was an insult to the highest degree. He took immense pride in his strength, durability, and endurance. And all of these had been tested today by these intruders.
Just as they were about to begin, the Garden shook again.
They both looked in the direction of where the Golden Apple Tree stood previously.
Cracks began to form in the sky, in the space between the two realms, and then they shattered completely, accompanied by dozens of roars.
Landon came charging over while Arachne stood on its front head.
She raised her hand up, and a white pillar of light shot upwards, tearing through the false sky of the Garden and reaching the real world. "Releasing Restraints!"
"This is not a battle for personal gain!"
"This battle is against someone stronger than me!"
"This is a battle with courageous allies!"
"This battle is an honorable one!"
"This is a battle against a foe unwilling to yield."
"This is a battle for survival!"
The restraints that her Aunt Artoria put on her replica spear. It was the only way that she would let Arachne have a copy of her Sacred Spear.
It was a trump card among trump cards. Not something she could take out on a whim.
But even so.
The last restraint clicked into place.
"This is a battle to protect those I cherish."
The white light erupted violently, taking on the form of a spear, as if it were made of intertwined ribbons, not of steel or iron.
Ares did the smartest thing in his long life.
He turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
"The Lance that Shines to the Ends of the World!" She pulled her arm back, and the pillar of light answered her. "Rhongomyniad Replica!"
[Line Break]
A/N
Atlas is learning the power of the pay-to-win player.
It should be noted that technically, there's no such thing as a Rhongomyniad Replica, because even a 'replica' is still just a Terminal, albeit weaker.
If you want to read 4 chapters ahead of this, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty fi you can't use the above under the same name.
A/N
Rating Game next, and then we move on to the new world.
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name