Chapter 11

Of Gods and Men part 1

A.N. Here comes the big one guys. The finale part 1 to the first arc of my story! I just want to say I'm absolutely thrilled at how many of you guys read my story. When I started this story It was going to be something I was going to write from start to finish no matter what. But with all the positivity I'm getting from you guys It really keeps me motivated to keep going. So as always. Keep on reading and leave a review. As always I read all of them, I take all your opinions seriously and base my story on what you guys enjoy. Don't forget If you want to join my discord server my link is in my profile!

Ares was preparing to kill off the God of the Forge for his treachery against the Gods of Olympus. He grabbed Hephaestus by his neck and lifted him off the ground.

"Do you take me for a fool? I know one of the crew shipped off to see you early. What are you plotting? Tell me if you value your life!" Ares said squeezing his grip on his brother.

"I told you I don't know what you're talking about! Please spare me. For I have been framed!" He pleaded for his life. While begging for the pain to stop he looked over Ares' shoulder to see someone standing in the doorway to his forge. He couldn't identify the person so he kept his mouth shut.

"I'm giving you one. LAST. chance brother. Tell me what they are plotting! Don't think I will not send you to the depths of the Underworld! I will make sure you will never return to the land of the living!" Ares said now suffocating Hephaestus. He struggled to breathe but found the strength to speak.

"F-fine… I-I'll speak," Hephaestus said almost losing consciousness. Ares dropped him to the ground and he took many deep breaths.

"Talk," Ares said intimidatingly. Hephaestus picked himself back up and started to talk.

"One man. There was one man who walked in here. He asked about the source of strength of a god. Ha had hoped to become a god himself. He wanted you dead before his feet," Hephaestus said rubbing his neck.

"What did this man look like?" Ares said trying to find any trickery from the God of the Forge.' Hephaestus then started to smile and grin.

"Well. Why don't you see for yourself?" Hephaestus said ducking behind an anvil. Ares confused looked behind him only to be met with a planet-shattering fist to the face. Gohan had punched the God of War square in the face and set him flying out of the forge into a nearby mountain. Gohan looked at Hephaestus and started to see if he was ok.

"Hephaestus! You ok?" Gohan asked as he jumped over to see if he had any injuries.

"Oh quit your naggin! Get over there and stall for time! I'll keep working on the sword you go! Keep him away from here as long as you can!" He said as he got up and started to shove Gohan out.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Gohan said as he flew away towards the mountain where Ares was planted in. He arrived at the side of the mountain where there was a giant crater almost as big as the mountain itself. At the center laid Ares all bruised and injured from Gohan's first fist alone.

"Well? Is that all you got? Jeez. You know I thought you gods were going to live up to your title and really give me some kind of challenge. But you're nothing compared to me. Just stay…" Gohan was about to finish his sentence until Ares flew towards him when he was off guard. He flew too fast for Gohan to react and he kneed him hard in the gut. Gohan was wide-eyed and struggled to breathe.

"What was that you were going to say? 'To stay down?' I think you need to learn your place!" Ares said preparing to sledgehammer Gohan down into the ground. Gohan tried to intercept his attack by attacking first but there was one problem. Gohan missed his target and Ares was already behind him grabbing both of his hands and pulling back with his legs in Gohan's back.

"You're fast! But I altered the speed of Hermes to be able to compete with my opponent no matter how fast he is! Now yield!" Ares yelled as he flew Gohan towards the mountain from earlier and slammed him into its surface. He began pulling on his arms. Gohan tried to break free but couldn't find the strength to break free.

"My you are strong! You're even stronger than anyone I've ever faced before. Unfortunately for you, I'm invincible!" Ares yelled increasing his strength and pulling his arms further behind his back. Gohan was in deep pain, squirming and yelling in pain. He wasn't expecting Ares to be this strong. Hades warned him he gained a new level of power never before seen but he ignored him. He kept screaming as he was unable to break free.

"Now. Yield before my power!" Ares said now trying to rip his arms off Gohan's body. He screamed in agony and now had no other choice.

"Kaioken times five!" Gohan yelled now quickly breaking free from Ares' grip and grabbed his foot and dragged him across the ground. He threw him into the ground hard making a small crater. He finished his assault by flying high and coming back to the ground at faster than light itself. He straightened himself out and kicked Ares with both feet straight in the stomach. The shockwave was strong enough to rip trees easily off the ground and into the air. Gohan looked down past the smoke to see that Ares blocked his attack before the strike landed. Gohan looking surprised flew to keep his distance to see what's going on.

"Now that was one powerful attack. It almost made me want to try." Ares said getting up with no obvious damage to him whatsoever. He put his arms out to his sides and fixed all the damage to his clothes. He now dawned a shining gold and silver armor. He wore it along with a red cape with the God of War symbol. Ares had the look in his face as if he was completely invincible.

"So. Are you ready for round 2 stranger?" Ares said mocking Gohan with his vastly superior speed already being behind Gohan's back. He didn't even see any indication that he was about to move and yet he was outclassing the Saiyan.

"How? How are you so strong!? It's impossible!" Gohan said keeping his guard up.

"Well you see, I simply took all the power of the other gods for myself. Only I know of their true strength and how to use them to their maximum potential. I feed all my other powers with all the war not only all over this planet but the entire galaxy! Not even in my wildest dreams did I think I could be THIS powerful! But that's enough chit-chat, how about you get serious? Otherwise, you might die before getting to go all out," Ares said waiting for Gohan to get serious.

"Alright then. I think I better pick up the pace then. Just don't blame me when I beat you to the ground." Gohan said as he prepared himself to go Super Saiyan. He wanted to stall so he took his time in transforming. He started to scream at the top of his lungs and transformed his hair to a golden blonde. His golden aura started to show and he kept on rising his power. His eyes became blue and his muscles bulked up slightly. His glow began to grow brighter and brighter until it overcame the island with its glow.

"What is this power? It isn't the power of a god that's for sure," Ares said unmoving from the spot from earlier.

"This Ares is what I call a Super Saiyan. And this power is what I'll defeat you with," Gohan said getting into his Turtle school fighting stance.

"I'll take it your ready? Good. it was about time," Ares said getting into a stance of his own.

"This is where the real battle starts Ares!" Gohan said as they rushed towards each other. Gohan was going all out this time maxing his powers to see how Super Saiyan would fare without going further. Ares tried to vanish behind Gohan like before but this time he saw through his attack. He grabbed Ares' fist and countered with an uppercut to his jaw. He sent Ares up into the atmosphere. Gohan appeared behind Ares and prepared to haymaker him into the ocean. Ares vanished and appeared behind Gohan. He was adapting to his speed because he saw through his attack again. He barely ducked under his kick and followed with a chop to Ares' leg. He continued with a roundhouse kick to his face making Ares plummet back to the Earth.

Gohan flew towards and stopped behind Ares and charged up an attack and brought his hands to his forehead.

"Masenko!" Gohan yelled as he blasted Ares covering him completely. He kept firing until he looked underneath to see Ares flying out and charging towards him. He grabbed Gohan by the belly and started to spin. He began to fly faster until he threw Gohan towards the ground spinning out of control. Gohan was on the ground coughing blood. Ares was floating slightly above the ground.

"Am I just too strong for you? Or should I dial it back a few notches?" Ares said mocking Gohan

"I think you should shut up! You ruined the lives of everyone! For that, you'll pay!" Gohan said as he charged him once again.

Back on the beaches The demigods and the Spartans were having a furious battle to the death. Many have already fallen and the survivors were giving it their all. The demigods had a distinct advantage of having been trained in advanced combat by Gohan but they were severely outnumbered at a rate of one man against four. To the untrained eye, it would seem they are even but it was clear that the Spartans were winning. They were the personal army of Ares and they were proficient at whatever task they do. At the center of the fight, Perseus was slaying any Spartan who came within ten meters of him. He was a devastating fighting machine not showing any weakness in his struggle against the overwhelming numbers. Although they knew this was a losing battle they knew they could not give up.

"Keep fighting men! We are this world's last hope! If we fall here today! It will be the end of humanity as we know it! So fight! FIGHT UNTIL YOUR LAST BREATH!" The captain said as he was pulling his sword out of a nearby Spartan. Unfortunately for him Two Spartans snuck up on both of his sides and decapitated him. His head rolled around to Perseus' position. He quickly took a glance at the head and rage was filling up his mind. He could only think about how Gohan had betrayed them. If only he never showed up, this would never have happened. He screamed out a mighty war cry and stabbed through two Spartans at the same time. He pulled out another sword from the ground and started to dual wield. He was parrying and blocking every hit that came his way perfectly. He countered swiftly and mercilessly. His eyes could only see red as he could only see the visage of Gohan. How he had mocked them, how he lied about who he was. He was so rage induced that he found the Spartan captain and foolishly challenged him to a fight. The captain turned to see his next victim and prepared his sword and shield.

"You should have never come here. Now you will suffer the consequences, whether you're a child or a man does not matter," The captain said as he charged the demigod. Perseus charged himself and prepared to try and cut his head off immediately. He blocked his shield and raised it above his head causing Perseus to lose his sense of balance. The captain prepared a side swipe to his chest. Perseus using his other sword barely had the momentum to counter his attack with a deflect. The captain then slammed his shield into Perseus' face dazzling him. During his confusion he remembered Gohan's words on his fighting style. He said there was one flaw when facing an equal. That he was not quick enough. He grit his teeth refusing to accept any words coming from his mouth. Perseus then changed tactics and charged head first once more but with a plan. He crossed his swords and used the captain's shield as a launch pad. He jumped over him catching the captain by surprise. He then charged towards the captain intending to finish him. His rage had reached its peak and he was about three feet from the kill. And then he stopped cold. He looked down and felt a hot liquid run down his body. There was a sword impaling his right side from the back. There was a Spartan guard who snuck up behind him to protect his captain. He coughed up blood and fell to his knees dropping his swords and held pressure on the wound. The captain then put away his shield and started to walk behind Perseus.

"It was a good battle. Perseus, I was given specific orders to execute you in the name of Ares. May your soul find solitude in the Underworld," The captain said as he prepared to execute Perseus. He gripped his blade and prepared to behead the demigod. Perseus tried to get away but his guards held him down preventing escape. He looked around to see all his friends and crewmates dying one by one. He looked down at the sand all covered in blood and knew this was his end.

"To a better world," The captain said as Perseus closed his eyes and accepted his demise. He expected it to hurt a lot but he never felt anything he waited and waited until he opened his eyes and saw he was still alive. He looked up to see the Cyclopes grabbing the Spartan captain and rip him in half. There were dozens of Cyclops coming out of the forest. To fight alongside the Perseus and the crew of The Hero. One by one he saw more come and aid them in their most dire time of need. One of them picked up Perseus in his arms and began to lead him towards a safer spot.

"You Perseus?" A Cyclops asked Perseus as he looked him in the eye.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He asked as he started to bandage his wounds.

"Gohan says hello. You can thank him later," he said leaving others to finish bandaging and patching Perseus up. He was wide-eyed and utterly shocked to hear him form Gohan's name. Was he the one who got the Cyclopes to help them? Was he the one responsible for them saving him? He tried to get up to ask him more questions but the adrenaline wore off and the pain was finally coming in. He had two other Cyclops telling him to stay down or the pain will get worse. He looked up to see that the Spartans were now on the losing side of this war and now the final nail in the coffin. The Elder Cyclops had arrived. They were much taller and more intimidating than the rest of the Cyclops. They made their way to the battlefield. Perseus lied back down knowing if nothing else changed this battle was a guaranteed win. He went back to thinking about Gohan.

'Why would he do this? He's a god, isn't he? So why would he help us? What does he gain out of helping us?' Perseus thought as he looked up at the sky and saw shockwaves rippling through the sky He tried to see what was going on but it was going to fast for him to see. A couple second later there was that feeling again, of a hot liquid, except it was running down his face.