Chapter 37
I dropped to a knee as I was finally ready to give out. Me and Phonoi were fighting for what seemed to be like forever with our bare hands, all weapon skill thrown out the window.
I had damaged the god to the best of my ability, and I had no doubt that if he was a mortal then at this point all the bones in his body would have been beyond broken by now.
That isn't to say I was in good shape, however.
Dry blood caked my body as my muscles screemed out in pain. I was pretty sure I knew where my scythe was, but I still didn't have the strength to retrieve it.
No matter what I did, break his arms, legs, elbows, anything, the god continued to beat me up and hit me with what he had, and if everything was broken he would wail on my with a snapped wrist.
"Have you had enough." He said in a voice that showed no signs of fatigue.
"Shut up!" I called out, forcing myself to my feet. I got into a fighting stance, and the god did the same.
I wobbled over to the god, and we got back to grappling, throwing punches when we could in an attempt to wear the other down. At this point, the casino was destroyed, and by the noises I heard from outside, it seemed like the entire city of Vegas was in ruin.
But that didn't matter to me, I wasn't some hero. My goal right now wasn't to save the world from some evil gods, no, it was to save myself alone. It was selfish, for sure, but that simply wasn't my problem.
As soon as I was done (assuming I survived), I would leave the city and go back to Eris, or maybe Deimos depending on how things went, without a care about what happened to the people here.
And maybe it was this selfish thought that pushed me to continue fighting. Many would find it disgusting that the idea of letting others die for your own need pushed me to keep going, but it was the reality, and I chose to accept it and use it to survive.
And that's what I did, or tried to at least.
I picked the god up, and slammed him downwards, his body easily crushing the floor below us. I pushed my knee onto his chest and swung my first wildly, connecting with his face several times.
The goddess struggled to get me off, but eventually managed and kicked me back into a slot machine.
I felt a crackle in my back, and a small part of me felt like giving up. However, I forced myself once more to my feet, but this time I didn't go unchallenged.
I felt a large hand grip my neck and I was soon lifted from the ground. I looked up and locked eyes with the god Phonoi who met me with a imposing look.
"I told you, Perseus. You die here." He said before gripping my throat so tightly that it felt like he had cut off my air passage. I soon realized that he had in fact done so.
I struggled to breath as I reached my hand out one more time. "Timoria...come to me." I squeaked out before I lost strength in my arms and let them fall to my side.
It was quiet as the god grunted. "Your cries go unheard, demigod, even in your drying breaths."
It was as the god spoke that I felt a tingling in my hand. I opened my eyes to see a black mist hanging around my hand, making it hard to see.
"...?" I opened my hand up and the mist started to take form.
"Hmmm?"
The god raised me so we were eye to eye.
"What's this?"
Before he could say anything else, Retribution became solid, taking the form of a scythe. The god tried to throw me away, but I had already swiped up and slashed him right in his chest.
He threw me back roughly, but I had already delivered my attack.
He grunted and clutched his chest, but he didn't seem over with yet.
The god jumped back and scanned the battlefield, probably looking for his weapon.
I felt like we spotted it at the same time, because as soon as I saw it in the corner of the room, the god tensed up.
Sensing what was coming, I ran forward towards his blade just as he lunged towards it.
I intercepted the god mid air and repelled him back a couple of meters before taking stance in front of his blade.
I kicked my foot back, sliding the weapon all the way to the wall.
Phonoi looked at his blade, then back at me before taking a deep breathe in.
"So you still wish to stand tall, even now? Then so be it, you shall gain my attention."
The god started to advance, slowly walking towards me with his guard dropped.
You'd think I would capitalize and make a move, but I found my body completely unable to move, frozen in fear. As the god got closer, he seemed to double in size with each step, towering over me.
I shook my head before I got over the initial shock. I slowly swiped my my blade up and cut a gash across the gods chest, an attack that should have been easy to dodge, but the fact that I had been able to deliver it was beyond the gods comprehension.
He didn't move as he looked down to see the curve of my blade still in his chest. I drew my scythe back and locked eyes with the god.
"How did you do that?" He asked.
"Your scare tactics don't work. It's simple. I don't fear you."
The god cocked his head slightly to the right. He took a step and instantly flashed away, and I felt the god behind me, where his sword was.
Letting my instincts kick in, I swung my scythe behind me just in time to clash blades with the god though I couldn't see him.
"You should fear me, demigod..." he pushed off and I turned around and raised my weapon.
"but you don't have to." The god rushed forward and I met him, locking blades with the being, making us face to face.
"Because wether or not you do doesn't change my previous words. You die here."
I found myself getting tired of hearing those words.
The god pushed off once more and unleashed a flurry of attacks that seemed to come at me at once. I felt myself go into "overdrive" just like with Eris, dodging the blade by millimeters each second.
I took a step back and caught my breath, admiring what I had just done. "I liked it better when you didn't talk." I told the god.
"You wanted my attention, and now you have it. Disappointed?"
"To be honest, I don't give a damn about your attention, or you. The faster I get out of here, the better, so shut up and just die." I said gruffly.
My body was crying out to me, despite the impressive dodges I had just displayed. I planned on fishing this quick, before my body gave out.
I squinted my eyes and raised my blade.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Said the god, raising his weapon as well.
Here we were, back to square one. I had fought the god and his 2 brothers, then we had gone into a fist fight, but here we were, a clear 1on1.
"Do you think you have the abilities to end this battle, Perseus?" He asked while swinging his blade.
I reflected the god and delegated a blow of my own, one that was easily parried.
"Just shut up already!" I yelled out before rushing forward once more. I swung my scythe wildly, making contact with the curve of my blade.
The attack was filled more with blunt power then precision as anger slowly started to take over.
The god tried to counter attack but I parried with the hilt of my blade before sending my own attack at the gods ankles.
The god jumped up, higher then I expected and cocked his weapon back. My sight was filled only with his long broadsword as he descended.
I barely had time to lift my scythe at the right moment.
As soon as our blades touched, I felt my ears explode as a wave of force rolled of the area our weapons had connected.
The shockwave threw the surrounding gambling devices through the air, forming a clearing around us.
The god landed a couple feet away and locked eyes with me once again.
I glanced upwards to see that there was a large chandelier that seemed to be on its last legs as it threatened to fall.
I ignored this however and looked down again, staring back at the god.
Without a word, we ran forward again and clashed blades.
I tried to hook my blade around the gods weapon to disarm him, but the god saw through the tactic and twisted his blade to avoid losing his grip.
He backed up before delivering strikes of his own that were all countered swiftly, but each one wore me down more and more, wether or not they hit.
I noticed that with each hit, a miniature shockwave was formed, but not as strong as the first one. Nonetheless, they were adding up, and when I was starting to feel like it was time for me to give up.
I looked into the gods eyes mid swing, and that's when I noticed something. Though his body was severely damaged, his eye showed no sign of slowing down.
If his godly body was able to support him for long enough, I had no doubt that he would not hesitate to finish me off.
With this in mind, I tried one more unsuccessful attack before I felt my mind give in.
Just as it did so, I heard a ringing *snap!* and I looked above.
From the roof, the large glass chandelier had just gave out and was currently falling down directly on top of me and the god.
You see, I could take blows from gods and monsters all day, but a 15 foot long stack of glass shards falling directly on top of me is not something I could really take, especially not how.
"PERSEUS!" I heard a familiar female voice call out from behind me towards the room entrance, but I couldn't register it as I felt myself get tackled hard from the back, though it effectively got me out of the way.
The god couldn't say the same, however, as I watched the chandelier crash down onto Phonoi, burying him in glass.
I landed on my back with a thud and immediately brought my hand to my head. It felt like I had just been banged against a steel wall, and I might as well have been based of the pain, but I guess I was alive so I couldn't complain.
It took me a couple seconds to stop seeing double, and then a few more to actually raise my head.
When I did, I was met with the sight of the majority of the casino on fire because of the multiple candles that had fallen, but the sight in front of me was much more interesting.
In front of me was a single being, standing over the pile of rubble that held Phonoi in the middle of it, who was currently on fire, but that didn't seem to be his biggest problem.
The being standing over him was none other then Remleon, and I found myself happier then expected to see him.
At the entrance of the room was none other the the huntress Zoe who was currently running towards our direction. My eyes shifted back to Remmy who was currently looming over the god with his back to me.
I don't know if he said something or not because of the state I was in, but he soon turned around and walked over to me.
The wolf bent down and met my eyes.
"Remmy?" I asked groggily as I struggled to stay conscious.
"Wassup" was all he said as he grabbed my by my shoulders and slowly helped me to my feet. Though I wanted nothing more then to fall asleep right here, I knew my business here wasn't done.
I slowly got up to my feet and wobbled over to the god under the rubble, just as Zoe reached us two.
She said nothing as she looked at me, and then the god before handing me my scythe that I just now realized I had dropped.
I simply nodded before stepping over to the god.
I met eyes with him once more and quickly saw that he was severely wounded. There were multiple deep gashes across his body caused by the glass with pieces stuck in him. He had gold blood spilling out from multiple spots and he looked much worse then he had 1 minute ago.
Though this was to be expected, his eyes were different then I had guessed them to be. Though he had lost, I thought that the gods would still have some defiance left in him, but his eyes were completely different, as if he was wishing for death to come.
I also noted that he seemed to be way more beat up then he should have been, even if he just had a chandelier drop into him. The way he was breathing...it was like he had taken a major blow that had put him out.
I didn't know why this was, but I subconsciously glanced over to the wolf, though Remmy himself was focused on the dying god.
Whatever it was, I ignored it and simply capitalized off it.
I brought my scythe up, and stared dead at the god.
"Retribution." I said. I had to stop myself from breaking out in a coughing fit as I wiped blood that dripped from my mouth.
"Justice, punishment, whatever you see it as, one thing remains the same." I pointed the curve of my blade at the god.
"You will face it today."
~Bookmark~
The two to my side went quiet as all three of us stared at the dying god. After it seemed like he would have no final words, he coughed a bit, and a little bit of light returned to his eyes.
He coughed a bit as blood spurt out, joining the small pool that had formed across his body that rolled down to the floor.
"Retribution, you say?" Pitiful." He said hoarsely, nearly spotting at the end. "You speak so highly for such a weak being...it's comical."
I scowled.
The god raised his hand, stopping me from speaking. "However, I have seemingly met my defeat, but this is not the last you will see of me, demigod. That is for certain."
I lost my train of though as I thought about his words before I gripped my scythe tightly. Without another word, I didn't hesitate to swing forward, effectively ending the life of the god in front of me. Atleast for now.
I heard Remleon grunt to my right and Zoe shift a little to my side. I looked between the two, wondering what to say before I felt a distinct sensation.
Before I had the chance to speak, I felt my vision give out as my legs crumbled, immediately sending me into the darkness.
~3rd POV~
Zoe's eyes went wide as she watched Perseus's body drop, seemingly in slow motion. Before the demigod hit the floor, Remleon took a single step forwards, catching him in one swift movement and slinging him over his back.
He secured the boy, making sure he wasn't going to fall, before turning to Zoe. "I guess he was just that happy to see us." He mumbled out.
"But what exactly do we do now?" He asked. "Now that Percy's safe and all."
Zoe shook her head. "There is nothing left for us here. We need to leave, or else I'm afraid we will find ourself with much unwanted company." She said, slightly yelling over the loudness of the area.
Remmy nodded before dashing off towards the exit of the building,Zoe only a step behind. Remmy almost chuckled to himself as he realized this was the second time he had carried the demigod in this way, something he would probably hate.
He kept Percy tucked in safely as he burst through the front door. He spent a second scanning the surroundings before he made a decision.
"Follow." Was all he said after he dashed off through the rain, nearly losing his footing for a second before steadying himself, running with no mistake afterwards.
Zoe struggled to keep up at a first, but quickly adjusted, running deep into the dark Las Vegas streets. She understood that wether or not she was a hunter didn't matter if she was caught dead center in the middle of this chaos, specially while with the wolf.
She scowled. She couldn't believe as the lieutenant of the hunt that she was risking her life to save a boy. She mentally cursed Apollo for giving out the prophecy, but decided that was a problem for another time.
"Where are we going!" She yelled out to Remleon ahead of her.
"Somewhere away from her." He replied gruffly. "Where we won't be bothered!"
He didn't say anything else, leaving Zoe with unanswered questions. She decided to screw it all, and simply follow the wolf, hoping that he didn't lead her to her demise.
Wow, here we are. For those who don't know, which is everyone, this is the final chapter I wrote during my hiatus (actually only the first half, everything after Phonoi's death was written yesterday). It may feel a bit weird writing chapters, and not just revising them, but I still plan on uploading as frequently as possible.
But anyways, thanks for reading up to this point, it really only gets better (though Remmy vs Makhai was a godly fight ;)). I hope you enjoy.
also little ps: the part where I put "~Bookmark~" is the point where I stopped writing :D