Chapter 34
Despite the fact that the god in front of me had just pulled out a literal 20 foot pillar as a weapon, I was feeling better then ever. I didn't know what had just happened, but all reason had flown out my head as I simply wanted to fight.
I guess the god had sensed that because he faltered for a second. But thankfully, he quickly recovered as a broad smile appeared on his face.
"A DIRECT CHALLENGE?! THAT IS WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!" The god said as he grabbed the pillar and reared it back like a baseball bat.
I simply stood my ground as the god swung it forward with a massive wind back. I waited until it was close enough before I lifted my hands in a "X" and braces for impact.
The massive structure hit me like a truck but I didn't give in. The pillar forced me back a good couple of feet, but I kept my feet planted as they dug through the dirt, making a little track into the dirt.
Once the attack let off, I removed my hands and opened my arms out wide. "IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!" I yelled out as my arms were bleeding heavily with parts of the stone impaled in my skin, making me probably look crazy.
The god simply smiled as he launched into the air and raised up his weapon that quite literally blotted out the sun.
A little sense of mine kicked in as I decided to not try and take the attack head on. I waited till the god started descending before rolling forward.
The god landed where I was just seconds before, creating a massive impact. The drawbacks of his weapon weighing a ton though was that he was completely left open, no matter how fast or strong he was.
Seeing this, I ran forward and attempted to decapitate the god in a single swipe, using all my force to get their in time.
Seeing this, the god raised his right arm and blocked the attack, letting my blade go halfway through his arm.
With my blade stuck in his arm, I had no way of getting it back, but thankfully the god only had one hand to use his "weapon".
I quickly realized though that that was all he needed as he lifted the pillar with his left arm alone and swung it forward, easily catching me as it went upwards, taking me with it.
With no other choice, I gripped onto the pillar as it flew upwards, attempting to not be hit completely out of the woods. I was forced to leave my scythe impaled in the god, but I had other things to worry about.
With no other choice, I let go of the pillar and fell to the ground, feeling like I broke my ankles in the process.
I looked up to see the god plant his weapon in the ground beside him as he inspected
his wound.
He had his eyes furrowed as he seemed to be indifferent about the wound.
After a second, he shrugged his shoulder and simply ripped his arm off before throwing it to the side.
He looked back at me with a smile. "That was an amazing hit, demigod! If only if you were faster, maybe you could have landed the final blow. I'm surprised you were even able to dodge my initial attack!" He said as he started laughing.
The god grabbed my scythe from the floor and threw it over to me.
I hesitantly walked forward and picked it up.
"I told you, this is a test of you strength. It wouldn't be very accurate if you didn't have your weapon now would it!" He said with a laugh.
I felt a little bad. What I was about to do made me a little disappointed. I took a deep breath and swallowed down my thoughts. Instead of replying, I simply ran forward with my scythe behind me.
The god seemed shocked for a second, but regained composure. He then did something that confused me a little bit. The gods pillar started to shrink until it was only about 6 feet in length (still pretty big).
I quickly realized that it was probably to sacrifice strength for speed, which was bad for me because he still had plenty of strength.
I mentally scowled but I didn't falter as I continued my charge. Once in striking distance I lunged forward and made direct contact with the top of the gods pillar.
I continued to berate the god as a plan formed in my head.
I attacked countlessly but was unable to land a hit on the god, instead hitting the the same exact spot every time on his weapon.
I realized that I was only able to to fight equally with the god because he was missing an arm (though I was too, but at least I had a replacement).
Nonetheless my plan was working as the gods pillar was slowly crumbling with each of my attacks. Once I thought I did enough damage, I backed away and remembered the words Eris had told me about the god.
"If you truly want to test me, it would be best for you to use your weapon to the full extent. I'm sure you don't want me beating you while your at half power?" I called out.
The god smirked. "If that's what you want, demigod. Don't say you didn't bring this upon yourself though!"
The god took a step back and raised the pillar above his head. The structure grew in size, returning back to its original form, and just like I had expected, it was still damaged by the hits I had delivered.
I simply smiled, as I had just won the battle.
With some of the last of my power, I changed Retribution into its spear form, and like it was a shock put, I twirled around and launched the spear directly at the point where the pillar was starting to crumble.
Thankfully, it had the expected effect, pushing the pillar to its limit, causing the top half to completely fall apart. The broken pieces fell down and broke the rest of the column, causing the entire thing to fall onto the god below it.
"Wha- what?!" He yelled out before the entire thing came crashing down, burying him in the ruble. I wasted no time I made my way over, picking up my spear.
Ponos's head protruded from the ruble, but he seemed unable to move.
"Ehhh?" He said hazily, as if he wasn't fully conscious. Using this to my advantage, I ran over and threw of one of the pieces covering the gods torso.
Just to be sure, I stabbed my spear forward and pierced the gods lower stomach, snapping him back to his senses. "GAH!"
I left my spear in his stomach but started to slowly take off some of the rubble around the god, giving him the ability to move, but he seemed to injured to do so.
He had a gash across his chest, one arm, and now a spear in his belly. The light in his eyes had seemed to disappear as he appeared to be done.
The god laid back in the remains of the pillar.
"It seems...it seems like I may have misjudged your power, demigod." He said with a forced chuckle. "You know, even with all this on top of me, I should have been fine." He said gesturing to the ruble.
"But something about even getting grazed by that weapon of yours..." The god went silent as he stared into the distance.
"Can I see it?" He said, and I guessed he was talking about retribution.
I slow took it out of his chest and handed it to the god.
"A weapon that changes forms. Much more common, nowadays. It's seems to be perfect for you, channeling your energy to a T."
The god started coughing up golden blood before he slumped even more among the rocks.
"I think this is the end for me, demigod, it appears that you have passed my test." He said with a slight smile. "As a reward, let me tell you something very important, young demigod." He said, reaching out his hand.
"The gods, who you believe are so out of your league, are not as powerful as you think."
"You mean the Androktasiai?" I asked.
"Yes, demigod. As you've proved three times, no matter if they have the label "god" or not, no one is out of your own league. It's funny to think that we are merely spirits gifted with immortality, nothing else."
I simply nodded. I understood what he was saying, to be honest. Though there were a lot of beings who were known as minor gods", some were only natural spirits with domains.
This is one of the reasons that I was still even alive.
The god coughed out blood one more time, and I could tell it wasn't looking to good for him.
"Hehe...it seems I have prolonged it for too long. It is finally time for me to rest. Please demigod, end my suffering and let me go meet my brothers who have fallen." He said with a bright smile.
I solemnly summoned my ring forth once more into its sword form. "No no, I wish to be killed by your scythe alone, for my honor." He said.
I obliged and switched to my scythe.
With care, I gently placed the tip of the blade on the gods chest.
"Goodbye, Perseus, you have been one of the few demigods since yo days of Heracles to face true labor." He said before I pressed my scythe forward, making the light in the gods eyes go out.
It didn't take long for him to turn into a gold dust that got lost in the rubble around him. The pillar itself didn't disappear, so I guessed it would become a relic until someone came across it.
I didn't think about it too much as a switch seemingly flipped in my head. The bloodlust I had previously been feeling was quickly replaced by exhaustion as I dropped to the floor.
Instead of getting up, I decided to let my mind wander.
I tried to guess what Remmy and Zoe must have been doing, but the fact that those two especially still hadn't found me confirmed that they were definitely busy with their own troubles.
I didn't like it really, dragging them to fight gods, or spirits or whatever you wanted to call them, because god or not they were still powerful and immortal.
I wondered what would happen when the Androktasiai eventually reformed. I doubted Riyu would pursue me or Ponos for that matter, and Orcus would probably be in-prisoned again.
But some of the others... I doubt they would let go of there grudge that easily.
I sighed and rolled over to my feet, putting on Retribution in its ring form.
I don't know what had game over while fighting the god, but it had definitely left me leaving completely drained. But sadly, I had no time to rest as Noire was still waiting for me somewhere in the vast city of Las Vegas
The clearing went silent as Remmy locked eyes with Zoe who had her bow halted raised, obviously conflicted. She didn't know if to point it at the wolf or the goddess.
She defiantly had no love for the wolf, but she didn't think he would betray her, at least not like this.
Before she was forced to do something though, the wolf made a move.
"What?" Was all he said in response to the god telling him to kill Zoe.
Before Neikea could repeat herself, Remmy made his move seemingly in slow motion.
The wolf grabbed the goddesses arm and placed it over his shoulder. He shifted his weight and made an attempt to throw her over himself, a judo flip or sorts.
The god was easily moved, but before she could make contact with the floor, she poofed into a red dust and quickly reformed to the side of the two beings.
"Hmm, what's this?"
Remleon didn't respond, instead he resorted to charging the god and delivering a sweeping kick to her face. The god simply weaved the attack, but Remmy continued his barrage.
"So you choose to stay loyal to the one who hated you?" She asked as she dodged the wolf's attacks with zero effort. She was surprisingly mobile for a lady in a dress.
However, she was forced to a corner when Remmy pressured her back to a tree. Seeing she had no where else to go, the god disappeared once more, making the wolf hit the tree behind the place she had just been, splitting it in half completely.
The god reappeared again with a confused look on her face.
"It seems like this place is a little too crowded to have a proper conversation." She said. The god raised her hands and a large tendril of red mist formed. She swung down and the mist crashed onto the ground, and the impact was monstrous.
The attack destroyed the terrain around the three for about a 50 feet diameter, destroying the trees and foliage, leaving behind only the bare dirt.
"Much better." She said simply as if she didn't just unleash an attack equal to a small bomb.
Remmy and Zoe, however were unfazed, still focused on the god.
Before Neikea could continue talking, Remmy charged once again.
"Wait!" Called out Zoe, but apparently Remleon was dead set on attacking.
The boy unleashed kick after kick, punch after punch, but each one was deflected by the gods mist.
"You don't wish to speak, my wolf, or do you simply wish to fight?" The goddess said with a laugh as she repelled the wolf back, sending him flying through the air.
The wolf landed with a slide, barely able to save himself from breaking bones upon contact with the earth.
The wolf let out a grunt as he realized the gods defense was near impenetrable.
"If you are done blindly rushing in, we can devise a plan." Said Zoe with her eyes focused on the goddess.
"I have a plan. Keep attacking until I get though, while I do that, you run and find Percy." He said before trying to run back to the god. He was stopped, however, by Zoe grabbing his shoulder.
"Use your brain!" She said. "This is a goddess, not another demigod or monster you can simply overpower. I agree that we should find Perseus, but I also know that right now we need to take care of her, and you cannot do that alone." She said.
Remmy was indifferent for a second before giving in.
"So what's the plan then, huntress?" He asked.
"Hmmmm, you see, I haven't yet figured that out." she said. "Watch out!"
The two jumped to the side as a clump of mist came crashing into the place they were standing seconds before.
"The plan is to stay alive until I think of something!" Called out the huntress as she dodged yet another tendril.
And the two did just that, dodging attacks and attempting to counter them, but the goddess didn't give in.
"Zoe! Gah" the wolf struggled to talk as he was constantly forced to move. "You thought of anything yet?!"
Zoe scowled.
"Just shut up and keep fighting!"
The goddess laughed. "It is funny to see you two struggle to work together. Even now, with your life on the line, the huntress still doesn't trust you!"
The goddess reared back and sent forward an attack larger then the rest, launching the wolf back into the dirt.
"Watch as I take care of your little huntress friend, wolf." She said.
Remleon tried to get up but found that he was more damaged then anticipated. The wound from Lethe bleeding once more, making it hard to move.
He glanced over to his side to see the log of the tree he had destroyed and an idea came to mind.
Neikea closed in on Zoe, and it seemed like the huntress was about to be overwhelmed. Before this could happen though, the god was interrupted by a large object hitting her directly in her face, completely throwing her off.
The object in question was the log that Remleon had thrown, and said wolf was already attempting to pounce on the god before she could recover.
However, before he could reach her the god flashed away, avoiding his attack.
"...Thank you." Muttered the huntress.
"No problem." He replied. He noticed that she had a couple of bruises across her body, but noted that he wasn't in good shape either.
"Your blade, it can cut through her mist, correct?" Asked the wolf.
Zoe nodded. Remmy had noted that when she couldn't dodge, Zoe had been able to dispel the mist with Artemis's blade, something his claws couldn't do.
"Well then I have a plan, but you'll have to trust me." He said, turning to the hunter.
She contemplated for a second, before eventually giving in.
"Then let's finish off this goddess." He said as he turned to said being, who was looking increasingly annoyed.
"How dare you hit me with such a crude object! I shall make you pay for that, wolf, but do not worry, it won't hurt to bad!"
As she spoke, more and more tendrils appeared until they all came forward in a flurry of red death.
Remleon mentally sighed as he realized how tiring this was about to be, but none the less he ran forward forwards the wave of attacks.
The wolf maneuvered gracefully, barely dodging each attack, every one an inch away from ending his life.
The ones that did almost hit the wolf were dispelled by the hunters normal arrows. Though they weren't divine, if anything hit the tendrils with enough force, they could break through the mist, but Artemis's weapons needed only to make contact.
Nonetheless, the way Remmy closed the distance without even attaining a single scratch could only be described as beautiful. Of course, it was only possible with the combined skill of both the wolf and the huntress.
It didn't take long until Remleon was in striking distance. Neikea realized this, and with the wave of her hand she gathered all of the mist in one place directly in front of the wolf, separating the two.
Remleon knew that one hit from this combined mist and it was over, but he was ready for it.
The wolf reached for his hip and pulled out the knife of Artemis given to him by Zoe, and swung it upwards, completely making the mist disappear, giving him and open lane to the god.
Neikea opened her eyes wide in surprise, but Remleon didn't hesitate to grab her, and using all of his strength, throw her in the direction he had came from, towards Zoe.
With a clear shot, Zoe fired two arrows towards the goddess midair, both of which that expanded into a long rope, wrapping around the goddess.
Neikea landed on the dirt directly in front Zoe who put a boot in her mouth.
"ilíthios Theós." Said the huntress as the god spat at her feet.
Remleon strolled over, happy they had dealt with the goddess before she could cause any serious damage.
"Maybe we do make a good team." Said the wolf with no conviction behind it. He knew the response he would get.
Zoe simply scoffed before sticking out her hand, asking for her dagger back.
Remleon gave it back, just to hear the god next to him start laughing.
"It is truly hilarious if you believe the huntress cares for you in any way wolf. Soon you will find out that she only cares for two things in this world, the hunt and her dear patron goddess, everything else is only a means to an end." She said.
Remmy glanced over to her. "That may be true, but I don't really care, to be honest." He said blandly.
"Oh really? You don't care that you yourself were once part of that hunt, but now she absolutely despised you? Perhaps not only does she hate you, bus so does Anais." She said, immediately getting a reaction.
The wolf took a step back as Zoe outwardly flinched. This was all the goddess needed as she bursted with power, breaking the bonds around her and launching the two beings away.
Remmy landed relatively safely, but Zoe couldn't say the same. The huntress was laid on her back, completely exposed.
With an opening, the goddess rushed at her and summoned one more tendril, this one pointed like a wicked blade.
"With your blood, I will usher in a new era, huntress! Using your precious wolf friend to accomplish me and my allies long awaited goal!-...She said, but the goddess trailed off at the end.
She slowly lowered her gaze to see that her stomach was leaking gold as she had a paw of sorts protruding through it.
"That's enough." Said Remleon darkly, as the goddess dropped to her knees.
She clutched her chest as she seemed to be processing what had just happened.
"What?" Was all she could get out as her body gave in, blowing up in a collection of red and gold dust.
Remleon let out a sigh as he too collapsed onto his back, completely exhausted, a feeling he rarely ever experienced.
The last thing the wolf saw was Zoe standing over him, with a look he couldn't quite read.
Quick A/N: Zoe and Remmy together is the only way Neikea specifically could be defeated. (IE, Percy could not have beaten her if they were to meet again, no matter who he was with.) Isn't that cute, lol. I wonder how either of the two would react to this fact :)