Any decently competent jockey would say that riding a horse without a saddle was not a good idea.

Turns out, riding a pegasus without a saddle was far worse. It is very different from riding lifeless skeleton horses.

Although it was easy to regard pegasus as 'horse with wings' in our point of view, that was not how pegasi thought of themselves.

Most of them had pride in their ability to fly, so trying to ride them on the ground was one of many ways to get them upset.

This specific pegasus I was riding(named Snowbread, because it was white and liked bread) now was already stressed by incountering whoever kidnapped Erytheia.

Snowbread snorted and whinned uncomfortably every few gallops, sending me resentful glances as if saying, "Is this what you make me do after everything I went through?"

Despite my throbbing thighs, I placed my hand on the pegasus's maine and gave a few pats.

"I know, but you want to save Erytheia too, right?"

Snowbread snorted again.

I couldn't understand what he meant by that, but I hoped he was agreeing with me.

As we rode through the forest, the sun was slowly setting over the mountain range. The message said to come before sunset, which didn't give me much time.

What's worse, and frankly, very confusing, was that the kidnapper didn't specify where exactly was I supposed to be heading.

If they wanted to lure someone, why didn't they make clear where should I be heading?

At least Snowbread seemed to know where he was going, which was my best bet at the moment—if this turned out to be incorrect, then I had to rely on Chaos Magic, which was a very unreliable option.

Eventually, Snowbread arrived at the entrance of a cave.

The mouth of the cave was much taller than where Hecuba took residence in.

What's more concerning was that at the front, there were several huge footprints scattered about.

Snowbread stopped in his tracks at the edge of the forest.

When I tried to goad him forward, the pegasus whinned and shook his snout.

"Yeah, that's fair. Go back and wait for me, okay?"

The pegasus whinned again and galloped back the way he came.

Thinking back, the fact that Snowbread ran back instead of flying back was a huge red flag, but I didn't pick up that crucial detail at the time.

I drew my sword and carefully took a step out into the clearing.

For five seconds, I waited something to happen.

Nothing did.

So I took another step, fully revealing myself into the open.

Again, nothing.

By now, there was a fair chance that the monster was absent.

After a brief consideration, I decided to take a bet and bolted straight toward the cave.

Yet again, nothing came at me until I reached the grotto.

"Oh god..."

As soon as I entered the cave, the first thing that hit me was the smell.

I thought I was used to living in body odor and stentch of sweat; Ares cabin is not the cleanest bunch in Camp Half-Blood, unfortunately.

However, the stinking air coming from within the cave was something on an entirely different level.

And there worst part was yet to come. As my nose begrudgingly adapted to this horrid stentch, I could decipher the source of the smell.

'Blood...and rotting flesh.'

The monster had been staying here for a while, and it was feral enough to not bother cleaning after it had a meal.

On one hand, the monster had enough intelligence to write a letter(as poorly structured as it was), which would mean it was not a wild beast.

But on the other hand, if it lived this unkempt, then it meant it was not smart enough to clean after itself, or...

...it liked the smell of its decaying prey.

Sincerely hoping it would be former rather than latter, I stepped over piles of tiny bones of rabbits and ventured deeper into the cave.

At least there weren't any humanoid cartilage that I could see.

If Erytheia hadn't suffocated from the aweful smell, there was a high chance she was still alive.

"Who knew Bone Study would actually come in handy?"

I guess Annabeth had a point over me: "If you learn something, you will find a use for it someday."

The voice seemed to be talking right next to me.

"David."

...right next to me...

"David!"

I whipped around on the spot.

There was nobdy there, but I could swear that I just heard Annabeth's voice inside the cave.

"Annabeth?" I called out to the darkness.

There was a pause, then, to my shock, her voice answered.

"Yes, you dolt. How does it take this long for you to realize that I'm here?"

"I-wha-how!?"

There was no possible way Annabeth was with me.

I had to ride the most violent taxi known to mankind to get here and she wasn't with me during the ride.

Even if she followed me, for some unknown reason, she couldn't have ran the whole way here in time when I rode on a pegasus.

But contrary to my beliefs, the voice of Annabeth kept talking.

"Look, it doesn't matter how I'm here. The hunter you're looking for is over here."

"Over where?"

I squinted at the direction from where the voice was comming from. From all I could tell, it was a plain wall.

Then, the wall slightly wriggled.

A long, tube shaped portion of the wall seemed to slither up to the ceiling.

"Over here! Right next to you. Come closer and I'll lead you the way."

"Wow, that's very kind of you."

I stepped closer to the sound of the voice, and I could here a low hiss coming from the above.

"...Almost uncharacteristically so."

I looked up.

"Too late!"

A pair of yellow eyes cackled and leaped at my face with fangs longer than my arm.

I quickly ducked to the side and rolled for cover as the face it the ground with a heavy Thud! followed by a pained shirk.

"My nose!"

The snake lady clawed at her bloody face, then glared at me between her long fingers.

"How...how did you know I was hiding in the ceiling?"

"Skill issue?"

I suggested.

The snake lady shirked in what I could only assume a curse words in snake-language and pounced again.

I ducked under her swiping arms and stabbed at her...chest?

It was hard to pin point which body part I maimed when most of her body was snake-based.

"Gah! Cold! It burns! Why does it burn when its cold!?"

The snake lady yanked her body away and slammed into the wall.

She fumbled over her...somewhere where my sword was nearly hilt-deep inside. From the wound, white frost were spreading over her green-gray skin.

The serpant lady tried to pull out the weapon, but her long talons got in the way from grabbing the handle.

To be honest, I'm surprised she was still alive. I was confident that I stabbed her somewhere near the heart...

Still, if she wasn't going to die, I suppose it would be the correct thing to not torture her.

Besides, I needed my sword back, anyway.

"Hey."

I snapped my finger to gain the snake lady's attention.

"I'm going to pull out the sword, but in return, you need to not attack me further. How does that sound?"

The snake lady hissed st me angrily.

"Lies! I don't trust you! You're a lier!"

"I haven't lied to you. Come to think of it, you're the one who lied to me by mimicking my friend's voice!"

The snake lady coughed and wiped the blood by the back of her hand.

She pushed her humanoid body off the ground with difficulty.

Her wound was barely leaking blood despite the sword being in elbow-deep in her midriff.

I faintly recalled a lecture about snake-based monsters from one of Athena cabin's Monster-ology lessons...something about snakes having low blood pressure, so they might live on for some time even after fatal blow.

"You heroes are all liers! One eye, or two!"

Her words made me frown.

"One eye? There was someone else before with one eye?"

The snake lady hissed and swung her tail.

It was quite fast for something so long. The tail made a whip noise as it swooshed over my ducking head.

The monster let out a triumphant screech and lunged after her tail with her talons outstretched to tear me to shread.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on view point, she wasn't that gifted in terms of strength.

I simply snatched her wrists before the talons could touch me, and I forced her arms apart.

"Gah! My arms! It hurts!"

"Yeah, that's kind of the point."

I quickly let go of my left hand and grabbed the sword. Before Ms. snake could realize one of her arm was free, I pulled out the sword from her.

"Aaah!"

The snake lady howled and fell back.

At first, she rolled on the ground, clawing at her wound, then she seemed to have realized that the sword was missing.

She stood bolt up right and saw the sword in my hand.

"You...you actually pulled the sword out."

"Yeah, I did."

I wiped off the dark-red blood off the blade.

"Now, are you going to attack me and become a liar? Or can we have a conversation?"

The snake lady paused with her yellow eyes narrowed.

She hissed in a low volume, almost as if having a conversation with herself in snake-tongue.

"...I will not attack you."

The snake lady eventually decided.

"I am not a lier, not like heroes like you."

"Again, I didn't lie to you."

To my surprise, the snake lady nodded.

"Yes. You're a good hero. Not like the bad hero before."

The snake lady gently prodded her wound. She whispered some incoherent words and green ooze began dripping from her talons.

The liquid sizzled ominously when it his the ground, but when the lady carefully dabbed it over her skin, the wound seemed to close up.

I stood there watching, fascinated, until she realized my gaze, blushed in a deep shade of poisonous green and hugged her wound.

"You stare to much."

The snake lady complained.

"Oh, uh, my bad."

I quickly averted my eyes, although not letting my guard down.

A few minutes of faint sizzling noises later, a thick tail tapped my shoulder.

"You can look now."

I turned my back and saw the wound was completely healed and frost-free.

"Why are you in my cave?"

The snake lady asked.

So this was her cave. Interesting.

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if she was the culprit and playing dumb at the moment.

But as plausible as the theory was, it just didn't feel like the right answer.

The snake lady tapped my cheek with the edge of her tail.

"Stop."

I pushed the tail aside, which seemed to offend her much more than I expected.

"Well excuse me, I'd like to get an answer to my question, please."

"Someone kidnapped my friend and told me to come here before nightfall. Do you know anything about it?"

"Oh."

The snake lady's expression hardened. She slithered around my ankles and coiled her body around my legs.

"H-hey, what are you—"

I had to close my mouth when her arms slid around my waist.

It sent an odd sensation through my body, similar to when Thalia would shock me with one of her lightning bolts...only this felt different...somehow.

"...if I tell you, can you promise me one thing?"

"That would normally depend on the promise, wouldn't it?"

"..."

I could almost physically feel the dissatisfaction emanating from the snake lady.

During the silence, I tried to wriggle free from this uncomfortable position I was in, but her snake body was much stronger than her human arms.

"Sometimes, snake-based monsters messurw the size of their prey by keeping close quarters with them."

Gee, thanks for that random trivia, Annabeth in my head!

Then, the snake lady wrapped around me once more, squeezing my thighs while she ran her possibly poisonous nails through my hair.

"Um..."

"I could hear your mind ever since you entered my cave.

You came here to save your friend. You pulled the sword out of my body.

You didn't lie to me. You are a good hero."

I would have thanked her if not for the fact that this was very uncomfortable for me.

But the snake lady's following words hooked my interest.

"There is another hero here.

A very, very bad hero. He has one eye and golden armor that shoots out spikes.

H-he...he came out of nowhere and took away my home...he is the one who kidnapped your friend."

The snake lady's while body shuddered. I could sense immense fear from her as she clutched her shoulders and hissed quietly.

"Why do you call him a hero? He doesn't sound like one."

"He has the same thing as you do."

The snake lady prodded at my left hand.

When I opened it, she poked at the sigil etched on my palm.

"He has the same thing. I can tell."

Before I could make heads or tails about that bombshell of an information, a huge footstep shook the entire earth.

No doubt, this was the monster who carved out those giant footsteps outside.

The snake lady hissed in alarm and quickly slithered up the side of the wall and blended in with camouflage.

"He is here! The one eyed monster! Kill it, please!"

"We'll see about that."

If this cave was her home, it wouldn't be wise to fight so deep inside it.

I gave the snake lady a thumbs up before running back the way I came.

When I reached the entrance, I thought the sun had set already. Then I realized that there was a humongous shadow blocking the entrance.

The giant was easily over 40 ft tall, dwarfing the the Calydonian boar in comparison.

And let me tell you, when a sacred beast creates by Artemis was dwarfed, your best chance at survival was to not fight it head-on.

That was my initial plan too, really.

But that was until I saw what the monster was holding on his hand.

"No luck. Perhaps silver ladies missed Kintos message."

Erytheia was dangling from the hand-clamp of the cyclops.

She seemed barely conscious if not knocked-out completely. Her hunter clothes were tattered and soaked with blood.

And most horrifically, several long golden spikes impaled her body. One of them nailed her hands together, while another was dangerously close to the heart or stabbing deep into her limbs.

"Let her down."

"...hmm?"

The cyclops slowly blinked its one eye. Its golden armor reflected the dim light of the sun.

It never really hit home how much Erytheia resembled Zoë until I saw her in such a dure state.

Keep calm.

Annabeth's voice rang in my head, once again, from one of the many lessons I was forced to take.

Keep calm. You need to fight smart. Getting riled up by your emotions will only make things worse for you.

Yeah, screw that.

"A human? A man human? Why are you here?"

"I told you to let her down, you oaf. Last chance."

I have a small credo that I try my best to live by:

Forgiveness and patience up to three times】

And this monster was already at the very edge of my nerves.

"You want Kintos to let down silver lady?

You got Kintos's letter?"

The cyclops asked while shaking Erytheia held in his grasp.

And that was when my tolerance bottomed out.

Tck-tck-tck-tck!

With a hearty yell, I leaped into the air.

This was the first time I cracked up the enhancing gear up to 4 dials, but this was a better time than any to try it out.

"Ugah!?"

The cyclops stumbled backward, waving his free hand as if trying to swat away a fly.

I stepped over his hand and swung my right arm straight into its right cheek.

WHAM!

The force of the punch was so strong that it rattled my brain. I barely heard the monster's yelp or saw its body toppling sideways.

All I cared was that Erytheia was free from the monster's grasp, and she began to fall from nearly four stories height.

My metal arm clanked and bellowed hot steam from the elbow. It seemed that gear 4 was pushing it a bit far for it as well.

Nonetheless, I managed to grab Erytheia before she crashed into the ground.

"Erytheia! Can you hear me?"

"Ugh..."

Erytheia groaned, but she made no signs that she recognized me. Blood oozed from her wounds.

This was not good.

I had next to no medical knowledge, but even I could tell that Erytheia needed help right now, or else she was heading to the Styx.

"Hey, snake lady!"

There was a slight pause, then the snake lady begrudgingly slithered down from the wall.

I shoved Erytheia into her arms.

"Can you heal her?"

"I..."

The snake lady examined Erytheia with an uncertain expression.

"I can try, but I can't guarantee any—"

I grabbed her hand and hooked my little finger with hers.

"Do your best. Save her.

I'll get you your home back. It's a promise."

I pressed my thumb with her thumb and let go of her hand.

The snake lady blinked at me a few times, then said, "...Cauila."

"What?"

"My name is Cauila, not snake lady."

The snake lady, erm, Cauila slithered up the wall. Right before she vanished out of sight, I heard a faint hiss of encouragement.

"Good luck."

I turned back to face the cyclops.

"Ow, owww..."

The cyclops Kintos, I'd assume, was just getting up from his fall.

Their was a bruise on the right side of his cheek, but aside from that, he looked barely scathed from my punch.

The monster fumbled over his body, probably searching for Erytheia.

When it finally realized she was gone, the cyclops pointed its finger at me with the one red eye scrunched in anger.

"You punched me and stole the silver lady. You bad!"

I flipped him off.

That seemed to have sent a clear message, as the cyclops roared in fury and raised its fists.

"You no silver lady, but you very mean! Kintos kill you anyway!"

[Line Break]

[3rd Person Pov]

Kintos made the first move.

With a tremendous yell that would put a group of elephants to shame, the giant cyclops clasped his hands together and slammed it on the ground.

THOOM!

The ground shook by the brute force from the monster.

A fissure slowly cracked open from where Kintos struck and quickly spread towards David, threatening to swallow him up.

David quickly threw himself to the right and tried to tuck and roll.

But when his metal arm scraped the ground, it suddenly jerked in an odd angle and grazed his own face.

"Whoa! What the hell!?"

"Rrraaagh!"

Unfortunately, David had no time to check what caused the malfunction.

Just as he landed on his two feet, Kintos came barreling towards him while waving his fists in the air.

David rolled forward to dodge the first punch from the cyclops.

The impact of the punch sent huge chunks of rocks flying in all directions, and he had to slide behind the giant's leg to avoid getting hit by a stray projectile.

"Alright, let's see how tough you really are!"

David grabbed onto the exposed ankle and heaved.

He had managed to uproot Atlas off his feet during their duel up at Mt Othrys, so he was confident he could toss aside this chump no matter how big he was.

"...!"

However, the cyclops didn't even budge.

'It's like his feet are connected to the ground!'

David strained to lift the monster even for an inch off the ground, but it was no use.

On the contrary, the cyclops easily shook the demigod off by simply shaking his foot backwards.

David went flying back and crashed into the wall of the cave.

"Uwwogh..."

David chewed back on the curse words and stood back up. He felt warm liquid trickling down the back of his neck, which was never a good sign.

Swoosh!

David raised his sword just in time.

The golden spike glanced off the blade and embedded itself on the wall, narrowly missing David's head.

"You weak! Kintos play with you before killing!"

Another spike flew through the air.

With his jaw clenched tightly, David swung his sword and sliced the projectile in half.

The severed spike whizzed pass his cheek, ever so slightly grazing his ear-flap.

'I can't let this go on, or I'll eventually get pinned to the wall!'

David stumbled as he ducked under a third shot. By now, he was sensing a pattern.

'If he can't fire that spike more than one at a time, I might have a chance!'

Right before the cyclops took aim, David suddenly sprinted forward.

"Too slow!"

Kintos raised one foot and stomped the ground like a sumo wrestler.

The ground shook, sending a shock wave that tripped up David.

Right before he hit the ground, David thrust his sword like a Frisbee at the large target placed at the middle of the cyclops's head.

However, Kintos took a deep breath and blew a strong gust of wind, knocking the sword out of its original trajectory.

"Now you die!"

Kintos raised his foot over David, ready to squash hin like an ant.

"Yeah, no."

David flicked two fingers to the right.

The sword spun around in mid-air and, once again, flew straight towards the cyclops.

Unfortunately for the monster, it wasn't fast enough to dodge such a swift attack.

The sword flew between it's outstretched fingers and plunged into its eye.

"YAAARRRGGGHHHAAA!"

The cyclops let out a horrific screech and scrambled at its face, desperately trying to pull out the sword, but his fingers were too large and thick to grab something so small in comparison.

David looked up at the giant monster struggling on the ground.

"You know, I usually don't do this..."

The son of Ares clenched his left hand.

"...but you never should have messed with my friend."

With a final gesture, David ordered the sword to go all the way through. The sword complied, digging in deeper and deeper into the head of the monster until breaking out by the back of the head.

David caught the sword spinning back to him and watched the body of the cyclops slowly fall to the ground.

And then he realized something wasn't right.

"What is this...?"

David wiped off the sticky substance covering his sword.

At first, he had assumed it was the innards of the cyclops's head, but his instincts as a son of Ares argued otherwise.

David pinched a small portion of the mysterious material. Indeed, although it was mimicking blood, the texture was slightly different.

He turned to the giant corpse of the cyclops.

"...you've got to be kidding me."

The giant body was slowly melting into the ground like an ice cream melting under a hot sun. A much smaller figure emurged in the middle of the melting corpse.

It too, was a cyclops with the same red eyes and much smaller body—maybe 9-10 feet?

And yet, David immediately regarded it as a much more challenging foe than the giant cyclops had been.

"Who are you?"

He demanded, pointing his sword at the cyclops.

The smaller cyclops brushed the red goo off his arm and met David's wary gaze.

"My name is Kintos. And to you...you are David."

"Care to explain how you know me?"

Kintos tilted his head in confusion, as if David had just asked a nonsensical question.

"The story of your quest to save Artemis is very well-known throughout monsters, David.

That was a grandiose plan led by the most powerful general of the Titans.

It was meant as a gravestone of Artemis, the foundation of the downfall of Olympus. However, that plan was thwarted by a mere demigod—Atlas was thwarted by a demigod.

My master is greatly interested in you, as are others."

David gripped his sword tightly.

He never thought the day would come, but this was the first time that acknowledgement about his duel at Mt Othrys didn't make him feel proud of himself.

He was also bothered by the rumors seemingly suggesting that he was the one who defeated Atlas, which wasn't true—at least, from his perspective.

"And who is your master? Kronos?"

The cave turned darker although it being already quite dark due to the sun tipping over the horizon.

The cyclops chuckled.

"You shouldn't be throwing such heavy names around willy-nilly, David.

To answer your question, no. I respect the Titan Lord, especially his persistence over eons...but our goals doesn't match precisely."

"What goal?"

Kintos raised his finger and tutted his tongue.

"Ah-ah. You had your question, it's my turn.

David, do you know what this is?"

The cyclops showed David his right palm.

David frowned, thinking Kintos was showing an empty hand.

But then, he saw it and gasped.

"That's...but how is that possible!?"

On the large hand of Kintos, there was a sigil. A sigil strikingly similar to the one on his left hand—the only different thing was the drawing where instead of spears and drakons, Kintos's sigil had a ring of fire surrounding an anvil in the center.

The cyclops chuckled as David stood speechless, but his red eye was icy cold as it stared at the bewildered demigod.

"You never thought a monster would receive such a thing, did you? To the children of gods, we must be no better than wild beasts, correct?"

"That's not the point! Where did you get that!?"

David demanded.

Kintos looked down at the demigod with a sneer.

"I got it from my god, just like you got it from one of yours."

"Your god?"

David frowned. Did monsters have their own gods? How could that be possible when they were fully aware of the Olympian gods?

Then, a possibility came to his mind. It was a minor detail in the entire Greek Mythology, but there was a story about a trio of ancient cyclopses forging powerful weapons for the three sons of Kronos and Rhea.

"The Elder Cylcops. They're your gods."

For the first time, Kintos was surprised. He hadn't expected a human to know about his pantheon.

However, he quickly shook off the amazement and glared at David.

"If you know that much, I wouldn't have to explain why I am against the hypocrites on Olympus."

Unfortunately, David didn't have to guess too far. The last hymen about the Elder Cylcops were how Apollo shot them down in rage after his son Asclepius was murdered by Zeus's Master Bolt.

The sun god's reasoning was that they were responsible since the trio of cyclopes created the weapon that struck his beloved child, but it's painfully obvious that he only took out his rage on them because he couldn't directly fault Zeus.

"...but why would you kidnap a hunter of Artemis?"

David asked.

Of course, he recalled Artemis also playing a part in this story.

She was the one who ordered Asclepius to revive one of her followers. When he complied to her demand, Asclepius broke the natural order of live and death, thereby provoking the punishment of Zeus.

Still, David felt the cyclops would be more angry at someone who actually killed his god, rather than his sister.

Kintos scowled instead of answering David's question.

"I don't need to tell you my entire backstory, do I? Or are you that curious?"

"If there is a reason why you're attacking the Hunters of Artemis, I want to know."

The cyclops's frown deepened.

Kintos lowered his hand and squinted at David with discomfort and confusion.

"Why do you care whether if I'm after those silver clothed freaks or not? You're not associated with them in any way."

"If you want to know my story, maybe start by telling yours."

The cyclops stared at the hero in bewilderment. It took him a long time to break free from the shock, in which time David could have attacked Kintos if he had chosen to.

However, the son of Ares waited patiently.

Not only was it utterly dishonorable action, but he also yearned to know more about the sigil and its owner.

If Kintos was once reputable enough to receive it, David suspected that their would be at least some reason behind as to his blind rage against the Hunters of Artemis.

Finally, Kintos let out a huge sigh.

"Never thought I'll see a human willing to have a conversation without a monster..."

"Well, there is a first time for everything."

David suggested.

"If there is a plausible reason behind your actions, I'd like to know about it."

Kintos sighed deeper at David's words.

"...that's why I can't let you know anything."

"What?"

Instead of explaining, the cyclops charged. He pounced like a lion hunting a prey and swung his open palm at David's head.

The demigod ducked at a nick of time, narrowly avoiding getting his head ripped off where he stood and rolled to safety.

"You can't be serious. You'd rather duke it out than tell me your problem?"

With a grunt, Kintos tore out a huge chunk of ground from the earth only using one hand. He threw the small island which hurtled toward David akin to a semi truck with no regards to the speed limit.

Again, David had no choice but to tuck and roll to avoid getting squashed into a human pancake.

There wasn't much defensive options he could take against a foe that was bigger and stronger than him. If he wanted to gain an upper hand in the combat, he'd have to switch to offence sooner than later.

"You don't have to do this!"

David implored as Kintos heaved another boulder over his shoulder.

The cyclops scowled.

"You're the own doing something unnecessary, demigod!"

He threw the second boulder which was smaller than the previous one, meaning that it flew at a significantly faster speed.

This time, there wasn't enough time to dodge.

With no other options available, David clicked up the dial on his mechanical arm.

Tck-Tck-tck...!

'Third time is the limit!'

CRASH!

The boulder shattered into hundreds of tiny pebbles, scattering all over David.

"RRAAAGGH!"

Kintos charged with his shoulder up front. David tried to raise his guard, but his mechanical arm went limp.

"What the—"

Before David could finish spouting his surprise, the cyclops slammed his massive weight into the demigod and tackled him into the wall.

THOOM!

The entrance of the cave shuddered as one side of the wall supporting it caved in, breaking under the massive force applied to it.

Kintos stepped back after a few seconds and brushed off the dust and blood on his shoulder.

The foolish demigod was slumpped right in the middle of the giant hole he had made in the wall. Needless to say, he was barely alive, much less conscious.

"Stay down, kid. With thay sigil on your hand, it'll be better for you in the long run."

The cyclops turned around. He glimpsed the snake monster taking away his prisoner deeper into the cave right before the demigod challenged him.

"I knew I should have killed that monster when I had the chance."

He grumbled to himself, kicking aside a cluster of small pebbles.

"..."

With another sigh that would cave the earth, Kintos began shuffling his feet into the cave.

But after just three steps, he stopped.

Even as he turned around, he had already felt him.

"That's impossible."

Even when he saw him, Kintos refused to believe it.

"There is no way you could stand up right now."

David, tattered and bloody, held out his left hand balled into a fist.

"Don't tell me what I can, or can't do."


A/N:

Hey, guys! I'm back.

This has to have been one of my longest break yet, sorry about that.

Not only was military services the problem, but kept messing with my files and basically made it a pain in the butt to write for the past few months.

Truth be told, my original plan was to get this chapter be the end of this mini story with it being 10k+, but I decided to cut it in half because I don't know why the site keeps ruining my work.

A huge thanks to everyone that had patiently waited, or remembered my existence and came back! Each and every one of you is how I manage to not give up despite every other aspect of my life saying otherwise.

Hopefully I'll be back with another chapter much, much faster than this one.

Until then! Ta ta~