Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 14– The Battle of Half-Blood Hill

I made sure not to miss the chance to take advantage of my twitching victim and inflict some pain upon it.

A Holy blade formed in my hands while a Demonic magic barrier formed in another.

I truly wanted to fight with two weapons and start pummeling the Manticore but I knew how stupid that was. No matter how angry I may be, the thing was still strong enough to send me flying with a single smack of its tail while denting celestial bronze.

As I closed in on the monster, I launched multiple blades of light to keep it busy, aiming for its head and chest. The Holy blades made deep and nasty gashes on its furry face, it's screams of pain giving me immense satisfaction.

With my Holy spear in hand, I stabbed towards the monster's head, but it had recovered enough from the shock to block the spear with its claws while it's tail launched multiple spikes at me as it retreated.

I raised my demonic magic barrier quickly but was surprised to see the first three spikes getting deflected by the swirling sphere of wind and electricity around me.

The last two spikes managed to enter my storm though, slower and weakened, each smacking against my barrier. The first one was still strong enough to send cracks through the multilayered defensive barrier, and the next one outright shattered it.

I leapt away from the still moving spike before looking at the Manticore. It was maintaining its distance, staring at my sphere of storm warily.

I snorted at the thing derisively.

"Not enough balls to mock me now, you disgusting freak?" I sneered down at the monster. "What a spineless coward. No wonder no one remembers you in the history of famous monsters."

My goading didn't work as well as I'd hoped, and the thing just growled in return, simply shooting another round of spikes. I flapped my wings and took to the air, letting my personal sphere of lightning storm deflect the spikes enough to dodge them easily.

"Of course you don't have the balls, you disgusting dickless cuck." I mouthed off whatever bullshit I could spew.

There was a moment of silence before it responded.

"What does that mean, boy?" The monster growled out confused.

I tsked to myself. How do you insult a monster?

Doesn't matter.

I launched a bolt of electric discharge and flew towards the manticore but the monster agilely dodged the electricity while it retreated again, launching a steady stream of spikes at me to deny any chance of closing in. The spikes were threatening enough that there was nothing I could do save to dodge and deflect.

After a bit more of cat and mouse with the monster, I grew tired of the pathetic time wasting fight and just raised my hand to the sky, willing to summon a full-blown divine lightning bolt.

But I was interrupted and had to dodge away as the shadow around me melted to reveal a couple of stray hellhounds. The monsters were easily slayed by a couple of Holy spears but they'd done their job of distracting me.

'Where did they come from anyway?' We were quite a bit away from the main battlefield.

I shifted my attention to the Manticore who was suddenly blasted from the side by a bolt of electricity. I took the provided chance and dove towards the monster instantly as it faced where the bolt came from.

Out came Thalia running towards the Manticore with her spear extended and the horrible sight of medusa on the aegis fully displayed.

The Manticore actually flinched back from the side and didn't even react as I stood on top of it, my storm sphere once again electrocuting it, enabling me to swing a greatsword made of Holy light towards its neck.

At the very last moment, it's twitching tail managed to extend enough to block the attack but my holy blade cut off the thing cleanly before falling upon its neck. It didn't decapitate him but cut deep enough to be critical.

Roaring in pain and shock, the monster flailed around and tried to shake me off, but I kept my balance and once again plunged the Holy greatsword down into its injured neck, cutting through the other side cleanly. The being roared horribly, a cry of pain echoing throughout the area.

But the thing's fate was sealed the moment he took his attention off of me. Uncaring of its plight, I twisted the Holy sword to completely decapitate the monster.

And thus ended the mighty Manticore, turning into dust a second later and simply leaving behind its spiked tail.

Finished with the fight, I knelt down on the ground, taking deep breaths to catch my breath.

I absently picked up the monster's tail, a grim smile coming to my face with a feeling of satisfaction and victory. It was instantly doused when my eyes took in the headless body of my dead friend.

"Should we...umm.. do something about that, Kael?" Thalia asked in a small voice as she came to stand next to me, looking queasy enough to throw up.

Her eyes sneaked in uneasy glances at markus' head, and I remembered that for all her strength and bravery, she was still a 13 years old girl. I put a hand on her shoulder and turned her away, getting a grateful smile in return.

Just then Luke finally reached us, a sword in his hand, looking battle ready. He took in the scene quickly, before his eyes finally rested on the cut-off tail in my hand.

He turned back around, shoulders slumped.

"Right. I'll just fight with this stone down here then." The boy announced, depressed.

Then he actually started poking at a tiny rock.

Even with anger lurking in my mind, the silly act managed to get a chuckle out of me. I shook my head and focused on what was important.

"Our job isn't done yet. C'mon guys, we need to get back behind the border. Did everyone else go through?"

"Not all of them. Michelle was able to get most of the cabins to retreat, but Ares, Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite stuck around." Luke answered from ahead.

"Shit. Alright then, let's go."

With a flare of my wings I prepared to take fight again.

"Wait! Take me with you this time." Luke stated, as he came running towards me.

"I've had enough of running behind only for you to handle the monsters alone." And like a baby he raised his hands towards me.

Which was especially insulting considering he bent down to my level before raising his arms.

Bastard.

"What about you, Thals?"

She stilled for a moment before turning around and sweeping her spear towards a pouncing hellhound, killing the thing instantly.

"No. I think I'm good." She replied before starting towards the half-blood hill on foot.

"Alright, come on. Let's wrap this up."

I bound up Luke in a rough net of air before taking off into the sky. I took a single glance back towards the fallen demigods and promised to come back for the bodies. I could've used my inventory but just the thought made me as queasy as Thalia.

'God fucking damnit, I'm such a pathetic friend.'

As we flew towards the lower hill, I realised the demigods were in a desperate position.

The giant crab didn't seem to be injured at all whatsoever, while the Cyclops and the skeletons had already caught up to them, and the Apollo and Hermes were trying to stoll them while retreating.

What truly shocked me though, were the sheer number of Hellhounds still remaining– atleast 30-40 of them were shadow travelling around the battlefield, trying to catch the demigods off-guard.

Haven't we been slaying monsters all day? What the hell happened? Why were so many of them still alive?

I looked on in stunned silence as several of the Apollo demigods carried bodies.

Some injured, that the Apollos did their best to heal. But quite a few were dead, I was more than sure.

I felt like a dick when I prayed to the gods that it wasn't one of my friends. Ultimately I was selfish being, and I couldn't help hoping it were some random demigods that I've never interacted with.

I zoomed towards the huge crab, which looked incredibly beautiful from above. It's blue and black shell shone under the sun, looking like a pearl.

'Observe'

Karkinos

Race: Monster

Tier: 4

Level: 399 (Max)

Mana: 75,000/75,500

Stamina: 182,980/195,000

Health: 190,000/190,000

I waved away the status after confirming it was a Tier 4 creature.

Why was it still alive though? The demigods around me weren't some clueless kids, but experienced warriors. I expected better.

"Put me down beside the Ares counselor!" Luke yelled as his body zipped through the air like a plastic bag.

I did as he asked, landing just behind Mark. The first thing I did was search for Anastasia, and was relieved when I found her alive and kicking, keeping the hellhounds and skeletons in bay alongside the rest of Aphrodites and Apollos.

"That thing is invincible!" The Ares counselor screamed as soon as he saw us. "No matter what weapon you use, it's shell will defend it from everything! It's indestructible!"

"Leave! I'll handle it. Luke, take the Ares kids and distract the Cyclops. And some of you keep those hellhounds off of my back as I fight this thing! Everyone else, keep retreating! We're almost at the base of the hill!"

I didn't wait for their answer as the crab had just managed to grasp one of the Ares kids.

I launched holy spears on its claws before it can crunch the demigod. It's sprit was less than mine, and it wasn't dexterous enough to dodge my attacks, and yet, the Holy spears only managed to make it flinch back slightly, instead of completely shearing off the claws like I expected.

But atleast the Ares girl was released.

"I'll take this..." I quietly muttered, picking up the girl's dropped spear before once again forming the wild sphere of lightning storm around me.

[Skill Leveled Up: Lightning Storm] Lvl 2

This time, I took notice as the sphere actually cracked multiple piece of stones and gravel around me. Even the ground was vibrating slightly from the sheer pressure my personal lightning storm created.

I felt powerful. Almost like a god. Had I not seen my mother in action so such, I would've been arrogant enough to declare myself a god.

I approached the giant crab with a surety I usually wouldn't feel, even as the huge creature towered over me by atleast 3 times my own height.

It's furious crab-like hissing noises were ignored and as it snapped it's pincers towards me, I knew instinctively at what angle my sphere storm was deflecting the claws. It was simple enough to dodge the attack smoothly after that.

I entered inside it's guard and stabbed my lightning coated spear towards its mouth, resisting the urge to gag as the strong smell of shit and garbage assulted me.

What I wasn't expecting was for the spear to do nothing more than create a few sparks and sizzling noise before getting deflected.

Finding that its mouth and head were as armored as it's shell was shocking and I immediately tried to retreat, but the thing moved faster than I thought possible for a 10 feet big crab, and blocked my escape route with its huge pincers. As I tried to fly away, it's pincers snapped towards me, overpowering my storm through sheer strength while electricity and wind danced around them uselessly.

Even knowing where they were headed, I wasn't able to do much due to its rapid speed and one of my wings were clipped tightly.

In response I quickly shot an overpowered bolt of electricity directly towards one of its eyes.

The crab finally showed some reaction and flinched back.

Unfortunately it didn't let go, instead it started hissing angrily and shaking me by my wings like a toy before throwing me away.

But air was my domain, and just a few meters away I regained my balance with a flap of my wings and flew above to retreat it's attack zone.

I launched a couple of Holy spears towards it's shell experimentally, but they didn't do any real damage except giving it a scratch and making it even more irritated. But there was nothing it could do to me in the air either, so it just waved it's pincers above itself, chittering angrily.

My mind raced through possibilities to end the monster.

'I need a weak point to attack. There was no mention of a monster even more invincible than the Nemean lion, so this crab's definitely got a weak spot. I've already tried it's head and mouth, so the most obvious one remaining is it's stomach.'

Now how on earth was I supposed to reach its stomach?

Perhaps my air Manipulation can push it onto it's back? Or better yet...

A crazy idea started to take place in my mind. Normally I would never experiment on live battlefield where my allies might be dying at this instant, but some of my newfound confidence from my recently created OP skill made me think my plan will work.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, shutting off the revolving sphere of storm around me. My storm resembled a cyclone closely, what was to say I couldn't create a cyclone of my own? Hmm, too ambitious. Though maybe I could start with a small tornado? It was basically a revolving wind top wasn't it?

My plan decided, I willed the wind to do my bidding, concentrating on the air around me before imprinting the image of what I wanted inside it.

I wanted the air to gather in place, more and more concentrated. And then I wanted it to spin in place. Fast. Faster. More Faster!

[Skill Created: Wind Tornado] Lvl 1

The next moment I felt exhaustion take place in my body, feeling inexplicably tired. I opened my eyes, and the sight of a huge tornado greeted me. Particles of dust, grass, stones and gravels were mixed inside the spinning globe of wind and with a bit of control, I let the whole thing lose upon the giant crab.

With surprising agility the crab scuttled away from the oncoming tornado but with my will guiding it, there was no escape.

The tornado chased after the crab, it's intense swirling winds managing to pull the whole giant thing up in the air as soon as it came in contact.

I didn't miss the opportunity and launched a wave of Holy spears, peppering the soft flesh underneath.

In the next second, it's shell started to turn red and the crab burst into dust, leaving behind the glowing shell.

Instead of letting the tornado disperse, I willed it towards me and it carried the shell up in the air, directly in my hands.

With a smile, I picked the thing up and placed it in my inventory before letting the tornado die down.

With another tier 4 monster taken care of, I was feeling utterly satisfied with my performance. The only dark dot was my inability to be on different places at the same time. I shook my head to clear that line of thought and turned to good things, but a roar of rage interrupted my muse.

I turned towards the rest of my allies and saw them getting steadily surrounded.

Their path of retreat was cut off by the Hellhound army, who somehow all decided to shadow travel towards the top of the half-blood hill in an organised manner.

I frantically observed everywhere for a tier 5 monster (monsters wouldn't listen to a tier 4 one would they?) but I couldn't see anyone who could still hold command over these creatures. How were these monsters planning their moves? Who was controlling them?

Surely Hades couldn't be controlling them from all the way to underworld? And if he was, wouldn't that give those useless gods enough incentive to finally interfere?

I didn't have more time to think as the Cyclops started bludgeoning my allies with huge clubs, who had to dance away from their attacks. Their strikes shattered the earth, unbalancing my allies and leaving them open to becoming hellhound chow.

Once again, I found myself preparing to fight another battle. But just as I was going to join them, I felt a wake of weakness strike me. Frowning, I quickly checked my status.

Mikael

Age: 9

Race: God/Angel/Devil Hybrid

Tier: 4

Level: ???

Divine Power: 91,000/???

Holy Power: 120,000/???

Demonic Power: 134,000/???

Stamina: 9,500/???

Health: 100,500/???

'What the fuck is happening to me. Something's blocking my system?...No, that's impossible. So my power? Someone's messing with my powers?'

Then my eyes went towards my stamina and I felt another jolt of bewilderment going through.

The hell...I've never went below 10,000 points in stamina. Never in any battle, practice spar, capture the flag,...never. And I've barely been fighting for less than an hour... something didn't make sense.

Then, my eyes went to the lowering stats and I realised the mess I've fallen under.

Another, more noticeable wave of exhaustion assulted me. I quickly glanced at my stamina and health again.

Stamina: 7500/???

Health: 90,000/???

'Oh for god's fucking sake! Something is sucking away my physical capabilities!'

I hated this kind of things. Some invisible foe stripping you of your power? That's the worst kind of situation

[Skill Created: Mystiokinesis Sense] Lvl 1

[Resistance Created: Mystiokinesis] Lvl 1

...So a magical opponent then.

With a burst of speed, I left the skies and approached my allies. I had to see if it's just happening to me or everyone else. But first I needed to take care of these Cyclops.

Cyclops weren't new opponents for me. Even though they were Tier 4 opponents with all their stats focused on Strength, they weren't usually a challenge for a flying opponent like me. I'd even say they were quite predictable by now. They were simply big brutes with a lot of strength, an incredible amount of strength. Probably more than even that manticore. But they were straightforward opponents. Of course, if one of them strikes you successfully, you'll go splat all the same.

There was only a single Cyclops left, the other one was struck dead on the ground by Thalia.

So without any planning, I simply coated my spear with lightning and came down swinging upon the things neck. My extreme flying speed gave me a huge amount of momentum to strike. So fast and true was my strike that no one knew what happened as I landed on the ground.

For a few seconds everyone stared...and then the Cyclop's head fell on the ground, cleanly cut.

"Well, that was easy." I stated with a smile as the demigods started banging their weapons on their shields.

Another bout of weakness went through me and I remembered what I was here for. I quickly glanced at one of the Ares fighter's status and saw his health was full. So not on everyone...who else could've been targeted? Thalia of course. I checked her status too, but with same result. Almost full health. So the power draining was only happening to me? There were actually people with full healths so the conclusion was clear.

"Right everyone, Start retreating!" I interrupted their cheering. "We'll clear any remaining Hellhounds and Skeletons tomorrow!"

There weren't any tier 4 opponents remaining on the field. We may have been caught in a trap, but we'd fought right fucking back! Our aim was to clear away the monster army, and we achieved it with complete success. Yes, the sacrifices and losses were great, I could easily count over a dozen bodies being carried by Apollo healers, but atleast the camp was now secure.

Now all we needed to do was safely return.

"Get into formation!" I hollored at the top of my lungs. "Mark, take your cabin and cover the front. Luke, lead the Hermes to cover our retreat, don't engage any skeletons, only fight if they get too close! Apollo cabin, support Hermes and shoot down the skeletons. Aphrodites, support Ares and keep a look out in the shadows for Hellhounds! Me, Anastasia, and Thalia will clear the way with the Ares'."

The demigods followed my orders without complaint. Not like anyone will question me after that kind of performance anyway.

Another wave of exhaustion seemed to hit me but I managed to avoid showing it to others.

Stamina: 6000/???

Health: 80,000/???

I approached Luke and Thalia, leaning close to whisper quietly. "Enemy magician. Some kind of draining spell on me. I'll probably drop consciousness in thirty minutes top if they continue."

I could feel Thalia's hand clutching mine worriedly. I didn't turn to look at her and simply whispered again. "Not now. First let's get to the camp. We don't want others to panic right now."

"Alright everyone, let's go!"

At my command all of us started climbing the hill where the hellhounds awaited us. It was a bad position to be in, getting pincered between hellhounds and skeletons. But there was nothing for us to do but preserve.

"Hey, leader. Fancy seeing you here." Anastasia greeted me as we kept a steady pace towards the top of the hill.

"Anna, are you injured?" I asked with a frown, ignoring her greeting.

By my observation, Anna had lost almost 40,000 health, which was a lot for someone who only had 70,000 health to begin with.

"Oh my! I didnt know you cared, my sweet leader!" She exclaimed exaggeratedly. "You've already healed my wounds better than any from Apollo cabin could ever hope to do!"

I sighed. "Forget I asked."

"Never! I shall never forget this sacred memory! I shall treasure it forever in the most secret part of my heart!"

I heard some snickering behind and sighed again before muttering, "Well, good for you then."

"Shut up and focus." My sister snapped at the girl. "You're just tiring him with your silliness. Leave him alone."

I ignored their further bickering in favour of keeping an eye on the surrounding. The forest that used to lay on this side of half-blood hill was completely obliterated from the Greekfire.

I wondered absently what we'll be doing about this. The forest was supposed to be one of things that kept curious mortals away. And I knew from experience that any type of clearing like this could become a prime picnic spot for dumb people.

Whatever. Chiron would probably figure out something.

We had almost reached the top of the hill, where the Hellhounds awaited us when I felt a familiar shift in the air. It was similar to how the air shifted to reveal the true monster army. And I knew what was happening at once.

[Skill Leveled Up: Mist Sense] Lvl 2

I instantly turned towards my right, launching a holy spear where I'd just left the air shift. My companions were quickly alerted, crouching down with weapons at ready.

"What is it?" Anna whispered.

"An enemy mist user. Do we have any mist user to counter them?" My question was met by grim silence as the four squad leaders glanced at each other.

"No, I'm afraid we don't have anyone such." The temporary Apollo head, Kevin pierce, responded.

Then I felt something again. Only this time it was a little different... different than mist.

[Skill Leveled Up: Mystiokinesis Sense] Lvl 2

The feeling was coming from directly under our feets.

"Prepare yourselves!" I screamed in warning.

The earth under us turned into ice the next moment, making all of us start slipping down the hill again as the gravity dragged us back.

"The Hellhounds are attacking!" An Aphrodite screamed from the side, and sure enough, the Hellhounds took that chance to charge us head on. There wasn't enough shadows for them to travel into.

Thank God for small mercies.

"We're sliding towards the skeletons!" An Apollo warned loudly. "They're too close to us!

Cursing to myself, I took to the air again.

"Hermes cabin! Slam your weapons inside the ice!" I bellowed with all my might, using wind to augment it's volume. "Apollo cabin! Lean against them from the front to oppose the gravity and keep launching arrows! Everyone else hold your grounds! The ice has spread too far for us to escape it by running!"

Then I reached inside myself to touch the well of power.

But instead of the divine energy, I approached a much more darker well, with a more sinister edge to it. I let the demonic energy fill my body and imagined what I wanted it to make as fast as possible, before using the power of creation to make it real.

A huge metallic chain came into being. It wasn't a single straight chain, instead it was shaped like a...a rib cage really. The spine of the chain was almost 15 meters long, while it's 5 rib-like hands stretched out over 5 meters on each side of the chain. The holes in the chain were also big enough to fit a whole foot in.

Then making full use of my powerful air Manipulation to hold onto the heavy thing, I slowly laid it down on the ice, shifting it to accurately lay beside the demigods.

"Everyone, place your foot inside the gap for balance!" I ordered the stunned crowd.

They've seen my Holy powers in action, but I never practiced using my demonic power in public.

So I totally understood their current shock, but we had a battle to win.

Thankfully, they seemed to understand that too, and without any further ado, they all stuck their feets inside the chain to stop from slipping down. The chain itself was too rough and heavy for the gravity to pull down, with small spikes on the underside to dig inside the smooth ice.

"Hold the formation! Get ready!" I bellowed out orders again as the Hellhounds finally reached us.

"Attack!"

And with that, I flew forward into the rank of hellhound and activated my personal lightning storm. I didn't defend myself from their claws and bites, I didnt dodge their attacks, I didnt even pay them any mind. I simply launched droves of holy spears from one hand while swinging my lightning coated celestial bronze spear with another.

I reaped the hellhounds as if I was a DnD character, grinding against the low leveled mobs.

In the first few seconds, I'd already thinned their ranks by almost two dozen before some of them finally reached the demigods.

Normally, this would've been a disaster for any demigod. Fighting a hellhound while having extremely limited mobility was spelling for disaster. But these hellhounds were already injured by my onslaught, and the ares and Aphrodite demigods were fighting together like a competent team. More than that, they had Thalia.

An Aegis wielding Thalia.

There was no way the hellhounds would manage to kill any of them. I was actually more concerned about the tail squad who were fighting skeletons. But they had Luke with them, the greatest swordsman to ever live in 3 centuries. They'll be fine.

Suddenly, I felt the air shifting again, and the ice beneath our feets cracked into pieces. The magic must have run out.

"Move forward! The Hill's top is in sight!"

I leveled up once more but couldn't afford to be distracted. I knew I'd leveled up heavily in this battle, but I just didn't have any time to check right now.

We started climbing the hill again, battling beside the monsters while carrying our injured and dead.

"Almost there!"

Indeed, the hill top was just a big jump away. But for some reason I had a premonition that our mysterious enemy wasn't sitting idle.

Perhaps my paranoia was the thing that made me react so fast. The moment I felt the air shifting above us again, I knew some new bullshit was going to attack us.

"Get down! Get down now!" I yelled towards the ones furthest from us, just a moment before an inferno of fire came into existence, raging towards us.

I used every single bit of my control over the air to shift the path of those raging flames of fire over our heads, barely managing to keep the kids from getting roasted alive.

Fortunately, the demigods had taken my warning very seriously and everyone, except a few unfortunates at the very back, were leaning down on the ground as the flames of fire went past our heads.

"Everyone, run for the camp!"

Thankfully my allies were smart, and the Aphrodite cabin made a break for the magical border quickly. The Ares cabin looked like they wanted to fight our mysterious enemy but they didn't disobey my orders and reluctantly followed the Aphrodite.

"Anna, go!" I ordered the hesitating girl. Now wasn't the time for heroics and hesitation. "Thalia, you too!"

Then, I flew towards the back of our group, the ones who sustained the brunt of the inferno and didn't have time to follow my orders.

The Hermes cabin had been carrying some of our dead too, and now they had more bodies to add. The last attack had hurt them badly, but fortunately Luke was fine.

I did my best to help them, tying multiple bodies in thin threads of air. But I knew I was running on fumes when I felt the air waver and couldn't hold more than half a dozen.

Another pair of hands suddenly came back to help. I turned to see who, and scowled immediately.

"Thalia! Why are you still here?"

The girl scowled right back, but I could see a deep fear in her gaze. "I'm not leaving you behind! I-I can't."

Gods damn it all.

I didn't complain further and together we placed the bodies on the other side of the border before going back. There were only a few demigods left when I felt the ground shaking.

[Skill Leveled Up: Mystiokinesis Sense] Lvl 3

"Everyone hang on!"

I looked around furiously and tried to use my mist sense to get a single glimpse of our mysterious attacker. The bastard has made things unbelievably complicated for us. So many dead and injured, while the enemy attacked us from shadows.

The shaking ground suddenly formed cracks and multiple vines tried to bind my feets. My sword leapt to cut them off before they can even touch me. But then even more vines started to grow out, and I had to continuously keep cutting them down. I turned to glance at the others and saw they were in the same predicament.

But the border was right there. Just a couple of steps away!

A plan formed in my head, and without stopping to fight the vines, I launched multiple Holy spears towards my allies feets to free them, before blowing a wave of heavy wind that picked them up and pushed them over the hill before the vines could trouble them further.

Everyone except Thalia, who for some reason used her own paltry control of air to resist my winds.

"Thalia wha–!?"

"We'll go together!" She screamed desperately, looking quite panicked. "Come on!"

"You stubborn–!"

I bit off my frustrated retort, preferring to slash at the irritating vines that had almost managed to bind me. Then, I took a step towards her. Or tried to atleast, cause my feets suddenly decided to clamp down on the earth, not moving an inch.

And then my body started to freeze up, as if suddenly instead of air I was moving through thick concrete. I could sense the magic taking hold of my body but i could do anything to stop it.

[Resistance Leveled Up: Mystiokinesis] Lvl 2–20%

I felt my body resisting the magic a little bit, and used this chance to send a shock of electricity throughout my body. Whatever magic was trying to bind me instantly vanished just as I sensed the air moving in front of me.

My sword leapt up with such speed that my invisible opponent didn't even have time to do anything but be cut off by my spear.

[Skill Leveled Up: Mist Sense] Lvl 3

A pained high-pitch scream greeted my ears like sweet honey and I knew I successfully hit my opponent.

I took a glance at Thalia who had been stuck just like me, but even now she still couldn't move for some reason.

My eyes glanced towards the opponent at my feet and I was surprised to find her alive, even more suprised when I found a female lizard at my feet. She had dark green serpentine slits for eyes and lizardlike claws for hands.

'Observe'

Lamia (Gaea's Champion)

Race: Monster

Tuer: 5

Level: 50 (Max)

Mana: 284,000/400,000

Stamina: 55,000/57,000

Health: 37,899/48,000

Stats

Strength: 40

Speed: 52

Dexterity: 53

Endurance: 57

Constitution: 48

Mental: 40

Spirit: 400

This was the first opponent in a while to be stronger than me magically, plus the first tier 5 being weaker than me physically.

'Gaea's Champion' was another thing to worry about but most of my focus was on something else.

My spear had stabbed her directly in her chest.

What I found shocking however, was the speed with which she was healing. The cut on her chest closed off quickly as she tried to climb to her feets, only to be met by my shoes as I kicked her on the mouth.

"Release her." I snarled down at the Lamia, who had the nerves to smirk at me.

"Do your worst, halfbreed." She sneered up at me. "I will heal from anything."

"What a stupid thing to say."

And then, using all my strength, I ripped her arm out of the socket, not flinching even as blood and gore flew from her wound. The woman's screams were music to my ears. I never thought of myself as someone who enjoyed another's pain, even if they were enemies. But it seems I didn't know myself as well as I thought I did.

The screams quietened however when her ripped hand suddenly loosened from my grasp and connected back to her shoulder, healing at a rate I would usually consider impossible.

"As I said," The lamia hissed at me angrily. "Do your worst!"

"Release her, and I won't need to."

The slight smirk that formed on her face was all the answer I needed.

"You fool–"

So this time, I ripped her head out with a twist of my wrist and put it in my almost full inventory, before using a large amount of Holy power to cauterize her throat, wondering how she'll heal now.

I didn't have to wait at all as the cauterized part slowly healed before new skin and organs started to form.

This time, I levitated her body in the air, cutting off it's connection to earth. Her title as Gaea's Champion made me suspect where her regeneration might be coming from.

But all in failure as she still kept regenerating, growing herself a new skull.

Disgusted, I grasped the body and threw it away.

"Don't worry, Thals. We'll get out of this." I whispered tiredly, approaching the still girl.

I let a tiny spark of electricity fly towards her hand. It got me out of the spell, maybe it would help her too?

But it didn't. She stayed frozen still.

I tried picking her body up. As long as we can get past the border...

But no. Her body was stubbornly stuck on the floor.

"She will not move." The just healed Lamia hissed, smiling in schadenfreude. "I came prepared, you see? Used powerful catalyst to bind her. I'll admit, It isn't as impressive as my legendary feat of giving the monsters ability to smell half-bloods. But it's still a feat only the likes of Circe could replicate. I have no idea how you resisted it, but no matter. My job is done. Or, it will be. Now."

The widening smile on her face send chills down my spine.

This pathetic thing made the lives of demigods a hell? I couldn't believe it.

"You are joking." I scoffed uncertainly.

But then she vanished from my view and I felt the air moving, which I recognised as the use of Mystiokinesis. I turned to look, and noticed that all the green vines were now trasformed into chains of sharp metal with a disgusting violet hue to it.

The chains snapped at me, much more faster than before. I barely managed to jump sideways and form my lightning storm around me, along with a small demonic barrier when they struck.

I did my best to defend myself, swatting aside the sharp edges with both hands using my spear and barrier. They weren't strong enough to destroy my multilayered barrier but there were simply too many of them, even as most of them got deflected by my storm and some of them I outright cut off.

Slowly but surely small cuts started to form on my body. The whirlwind of blades only lasted for less than two minutes, but they managed to sap almost all of my remaining stamina and power.

I'd already been running on the fumes, having fought through multiple tier 4 beings and even a tier 5 monster, and this last defense was simply my limit.

[You have been Poisoned]

[Resistance Increased: Poison] Lvl 5

I staggered back a few steps, feeling drained and hurt.

"... Kael." The small weak voice broke through my fatigue and I instantly turned to Thalia.

I numbly stared at my sister as she fell on her knees, finally released, but with a blade stuck in her stomach. My feets carried me to her slowly, before losing power as I followed her to my knees.

".. Kael, I'm sorry." She whispered, blood dripping down her lips. My hands were already around her waist, holding her against me. "Please..."

I grasped the emergency stash of Ambrosia and hastily fed the cube to my sister with bleeding hands. But I knew, instinctively, that it wasn't enough.

"There is nothing you can do for her, son of Zeus." The solemn voice absently reached my ears. "No mortal can survive the poison for more than a few minutes. You yourself should be lying beside her, bleeding down your throat."

I glanced at her rapidly lowering health and felt lost. She was here, right here. Alive. And dying.

What do I do? My gamer's mind made me come to the most likely conclusion.

What does a person do when they know there is nothing they can do to save someone? I don't know.

But I cried. "You should've left when I told you to, you stupid girl."

Tears stung my eyes, hot and painful. My throat tightened as I held her with shaking hands.

And I begged.

"Just hold on, alright? Please, Hold on! I-I'll get you to camp and..."

But she simply shook her head tiredly, bloody tears spilling down, and closed her eyes.

And I mourned.

"Well my job is done. My lady only needed one of you dead. She would've liked it to be you, your sister is more easier to sway afterall. But that is fine, I've done my job." The Lamia's words reached me, presenting a target.

And I snapped.

The world turned dark around me, the wind bend to my command, the lightning bowed, my wings flared, pain and power entered my back. And amidst the shrieking terror of the Lamia, the booming sound of thunder, the shaking of the earth, and the sheer power in the air–

I collapsed.

AN: Battle arc finished! Next chapter will show the consequences and conclusion of the arc.

This is probably my biggest chapter yet, and I'm feeling quite drained. Plus the last chapter recieved the least amount of reviews since the day I started posting so I'm feeling awfully unmotivated. So Idk when the next chapter will be, though I'll try to finish this Arc before 10th of December.

Please let me know if you're enjoying the story or not.

See ya in the next chapter.