The Mortal God Of Olympus Ch.29 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 29— Farewell Alcides

AN: This chapter was beta'd by...me! Yep, give me your thnx! 

Seriously though, if anyone's willing to beta for this story, pls let me know.

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I looked at the sauntering god with a frown, irritation assaulting my mind.

‘What the hell is he doing here?’

And his stats….damn, I expected better. As he was, I could likely bully him to oblivion. He would still stronger than me physically in his Divine Form—though not for long, hopefully—but he may be the second weakest True god in the Greek pantheon. Which just did not make sense. Sure, he was usually sent away running in embarrassment in the stories of old, but I hadn’t thought it to mean he was actually just shit.

He was the firstborn of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of all Greek gods. Born from the coupling of a Supreme and Elder god, shouldn’t he be at least the strongest amongst the True gods?

Whatever. All the more easy to embarrass him, though that will have to wait for now. I may be stronger than him currently, but I didn’t wish to take any chances. Heracles’ example was still fresh in my mind, and even as strong as I’ve gotten, I was still no match for the Olympians in their divine form.

‘Hmm…whatever form he’s in though, my spirit will still be more than his when wielding Stormbreaker. Perhaps…?”

…No. There was also his Godly domain to consider. It would be foolish to fight an enemy for no reason when I wasn’t certain of my victory.

One thing was certain however; everything I needed for my armor was simply falling into my lap, as though Fates had deigned it so themselves. Which was impossible considering they wouldn’t even give me a freaking Prophecy; let alone a Divine rank Armor.

Still, I wasn’t one to look the gift horse in the mouth. Whatever the reason for my high luck, after four years of helpless searching, I knew my Armor was now finally within reach. And knowing how awesome my weapon turned out to be—thoroughly living up to its Divine Status—I was excited as all hells for Hephaestus to work his magic again and make me nigh invincible.

One of the reasons I didn’t even try to make some shabby armor for myself any longer—even having unlocked Magical-item Creation— was due to the passive anticipation brewing in my heart at directly upgrading to Divine ranked artifact.

“Everything's coming together…” I murmured, tracking my target.

With nary a care for the world, Ares came to a stop against the food counter beside us, his passive godly presence extending out to dominate the room—making it hard for the customers to breathe. I could see it affecting even Annabeth and—to a lesser degree—Percy.

The busty waitress—whose throat seemed to have dried up suddenly—gave a forceful ‘ahem’ and turned back to us, subdued. "...Ah, I'm sorry I forgot to take your order. What was it again?"

I sighed, giving her a half-lidded stare.

The girl flushed, eyes down to her feet. “I-I’m sorry…”

"Just bring over three cheeseburgers and whatever drinks you have." I waved her away, dragging my companions to find a seat.

Percy was glaring at Ares the whole time, while Annabeth was prodding him from behind to move on.

His glare wasn’t entirely unreasonable though. Anyone would be annoyed if Ares butted his enormous size into their cramped space.

"Hello there, little brother." The god greeted me with an ugly smirk, the chair groaning in pain under him as the oversized god plopped down.

He idly glanced at Percy, his red sunglasses flashing with fire. "Ah, and of course, you must be the old seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" Percy snapped back.

I shot the boy a look. He already had Dionysus after his life, entangling with another god would be begging for a painful death.

Percy wasn’t me after all. And even I had enough common sense to not show my hostilities stark upon my face to an Olympian.

"Ares." I finally replied with a nod. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much, kid." The god said with a lazy smirk. "Heard you were in the town and–"

"Ares...you are Clarisse's dad." Percy cut him off, looking surprised.

We both turned to the green-eyed boy in annoyance, though Ares wasn’t content with staring. He leaned down at the boy, lowering his sunglasses to pin him under his fiery gaze. Literally: for the god had no eyes to look at, only two empty holes that burnt with an unholy intensity, sporting twin red flames dancing in the sockets like chaos incarnate.

Percy involuntarily backed off from the flames, taking a short hitched breath in.

"That's right, punk." The war god grinned, enjoying the boy’s reaction no doubt. "Heard you broke her spear."

Harsh of breath and sweating though he was, he still managed to mouth off the war god, "She was asking for it."

Thankfully the god didn’t take offense, leaning back with a snort.

"Probably. That's cool. I don't care, my children fight their own battles. What I'm here for today,"

He turned to me. "Is to give you a proposition."

Now, this had ‘suspicious’ with a capital S written all over it. And I knew I should stop to consider all manners of plots within plots, and whatever traps Hera could’ve conjured—with my superhuman intelligence I would've likely landed upon the correct conclusion—but in reality there were only two thoughts running wildly in my mind. A request from a god means quest. And the meaning of a free quest?

More levels! Let's go!

Of course, I had enough presence of mind to not accept immediately.

"What kind of proposition?" I asked, a little proud at the perfectly ‘puzzled’ tone in my voice.

Before the god could do more than smirk at me, we were interrupted by the hasty arrival of my new favorite voluptuous waitress—whose jiggling cleavage was peeking at me even more now—with a tray full of cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes in her hand.

"Thank you." I smiled widely, knowing what effect it would have on her.

My eyes roamed across her figure as she bent down to place the tray, and my fingers lightly caressed the back of her palms when I tried to 'help' her with the tray.

"T-Thank you." She stuttered out, flushing crimson again. “I-I mean, you’re most welcome.”

“Oh?” I cocked back my head, shooting a teasing smirk. “Welcome to what exac—?”

My beautiful start at seduction came to a sudden and tragic end at the clinking of coins hitting the table, as Ares, the dumbass that he was, threw a couple of gold drachmas at her.

Her bashful smile now gained a shaky edge as she nervously glanced at the hulking man. "Sir, these aren't..."

The war god suddenly whipped out a long hunting knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem sweetheart?"

Annoyed—and now completely ready to beat the divine punk’s ass to kingdom come—I slapped his knife away, quickly creating a hundred dollar note.

There was a limit to my tenability. And cock-blocking me was akin to tearing apart that limit completely.

Hoping to salvage my day’s pleasure prospect, I gave the hundred bucks to the girl. "Please ignore my brother. He is a bit behind the times."

She took the note with clammy hands, though doing an instant doubt take as her eyes fell upon it. "Um...y-you don't have a twenty dollar note, sir?"

"It's a tip for you." I shot her a smirking wink. "As an apology for the earlier rudeness."

Her eyes widened, disbelieve washing away her fear. "B-but it's too much..."

I hummed, blatantly looking her up and down. "I guess you'll just have to compensate me somehow."

Her breath hitched, a sly little smile lighting her face up. "…I guess I can think of something."

When she turned to leave, her body moved with a far more pronounced grace; a noticeably seductive edge to it. My eyes roamed around her swaying behind, drinking in the sight of that tight ass straining against her jeans. She may not have the sheer beauty of the Aphrodite kids, but she was just as stacked as the best of them. She was even a touch bustier than Anastasia of four years ago.

‘….Though nowhere near Gabriel.’ A part of my mind whispered.

But then again, that was an unfair comparison.

I couldn't really help it though. Lately, I've found myself comparing every beautiful woman to Gabriel.

"I don't like to be disrespected like that brat." Ares suddenly growled at me, snatching back his knife and placing it inside his leg holster.

My attention turned to the table, only to find two out of my three table-mates giving me annoyed looks—one jealous, one miffed. Annabeth on the other hand, was glaring after the girl fiercely.

I sighed.

"So those rumors are true, huh?" Ares mused. "Going around impregnating mortal women are you now, little runt? You got to be more careful with that. Or you might find yourself whelping some unwanted litter."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you gods are one to talk. You do know I was the one to bring most of your kids to camp, yeah?"

The god seemed to hesitate, the fire in his eyes dying down a little as he turned away in visible discomfort.

Annabeth and I exchanged looks.

‘Now, that was a little weird.’

The weirdness didn’t last for long though, and soon his 24/7 sneer was back on his scarred face. "Anyway, back to my proposition. I need a favor from you. Two favors actually."

I nodded, opening my mouth to reply—

"Why would a god even need us?” Percy cut in from the side snarkily.

My right eye twitched. ‘This boy needs another harsh lesson soon.’

"Because his time is more precious than yours." Ares sneered. "It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little…date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted, and I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

I stayed silent, waiting for the quest to officially pop on my screen.

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?" Percy asked.

Ares stared the boy down, the fire in his eyes brightening to uncomfortable degrees.

"Why don't I turn you into a girl and have my way with you? Because I don't want to. A god is giving you a chance to prove yourself, Perseus Jackson. Will you back away like a coward?" The war god leaned forward, his sneer widening further. "Or maybe you'll once again hide behind your cousin here, letting him do everything in this quest while simply leeching off of his success."

Ares was just goading Percy now, and the poor boy didn't even realize.

"What's the other favor?" I interrupted their staring, realizing the boy was a second away from being incinerated for doing something hilariously stupid.

‘Can’t let that happen on my watch now, can I? Not without breaking the oath.’

The god stared at Percy for another long second before turning to me, his annoyance quickly getting replaced by something else.

For just a moment, the god seemed hesitant....almost ashamed, but that was stupid. Ares wasn't the type of god to be shamed by anything other than losing a battle or getting trapped by Hephaestus.

"... My friend wishes to meet you." He finally answered, pushing a small slip of paper. "You just got to go and check him out. Here's the address"

"So this is a quest?" I pressed.

"Sure, whatever. A quest it is."

[Quest Received: Ending What Was Started]

• Meet Ares’ Friend

Rewards: 5 Levels

I blinked. Then blinked again.

So surprised was I that I paid no attention to Percy’s words absently entering my ears ....”We're not interested. We already have a quest."

‘5 full Levels to meet someone?’ My mind started whirling.

The system was generous but it wasn't completely bonkers. Five levels were equivalent to rescuing 10 demigods for my ‘Heroes collector’ quest. It didn't take super intelligence to realize something was fishy here. And as I quickly calculated through all the possibilities, my mind settled onto the most obvious conclusion.

A trap.

My senses absently registered the growing aura of Ares. It was the same kind of aura that Zeus and Hestia were always shrouded with; similar in its origin but quite unique to every god. The aura my senses picked up on was a combination of blood and gore, smoke and fire, stench of rotting corpses, piss and sweat…and rage. Sheer, unadulterated, battle rage.

And yet I found myself completely unaffected, ignoring them in favor of continuing my troubling line of thought.

So a trap. But by whom? Most likely Hera. Ares was known to be her darling little boy—Zeus hated him, and Hera was the only reason he was still an Olympian—so it wouldn’t come as a surprise to know that the god was here to lead me to my death.

The quest that he delivered rewarded me with fifty percent of the big quest ‘Protect Percy’, and all that just to go to this location and meet his friend? Yeah, it didn't take a genius to come to a specific conclusion; Ares was sending me to a trap.

A meeting dangerous enough to grant me 5 levels can’t be anything else.

Will I still accept the quest? Fuck yes. Because I had another realization soon after. Ares called his friend ‘him’, while my quest’s name was ‘Ending What Was Started’. Once again, a genius was not needed to figure out who this mysterious friend was….and even if it did, my prodigious intellect sufficed quite well for the time being.

‘So Hercules wants another around, huh?’ I felt a smirk forming upon my face. ‘Well, the god might just be in for a nasty surprise this time.’

Plus I will know exactly how much I’ve improved since the last time. Sure I had the system to always reassure me of my progress, but nothing beats the sheer experience of a task becoming laughably easy after you’ve struggled with it in the past.

And unless the god of strength gained some stupid anime-type power up, I had no doubts in my mind that it’ll be laughably easy to put him down this time.

"I know all about your quest, punk.” Ares’ voice reached my absent ears. “When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful...well... if I couldn't find it, you guys got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you all the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

Just when I was about to let loose a mental laugh of superiority, Ares’ last few words managed to break through my web of thoughts, gaining my attention with a start.

"You told him about Hades stealing the Bolt?" I asked, eyebrows shooting up.

Was Ares somehow mixed in with Kronos' plot? Holy fuck…this will put a huge twist to my theories.

"Sure." The war god shrugged easily. "Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Yeah, right. Thanks." Percy bit back sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

I snorted, dismissing the god to focus on my cheeseburger that was dripping with sauce.

"We're doing fine on our own."

"Yeah, you sure are.” Ares barked out a mocking laugh, and I bit into my burger along with Annabeth. “Leeching off of your friend's abilities while standing around like the useless seaweed that you are. Sure you are doing fine. Some in Olympus are even starting to wonder, whose quest is this really?"

Percy's cheeks burnt red, and I decided to interrupt before the boy lost his cool again.

“Alright, enough. We’ve agreed to do your damned quests.”

The boy stared at me with a dismayed scowl, and I pushed his head down towards his burger to stop further quips; forcefully.

“Shut up and eat.”

Ares laughed. "Cute. Well, the water park is a mile west on Delancey. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"What interrupted your date?" Percy took a last dig at the war god from beneath my hand. "Something scared you off?"

I sighed, leaning back.

As expected, Ares bared his teeth in annoyance—his Authority starting to envelope the entire fast-food point. When it tried to settle over me, I used my own Authority—weaker though it was—to resist his power, my mind simply willing a loud ‘No!’

"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

With a flash of power, his divine authority put everyone to sleep.

The culprit turned to me then, not looking surprised at my exception. "A warning for you, little brother. Don't go expecting to make friends on your quest."

Then with no more last words, the Greek war god stood up and made for his Harley outside.

‘...Did Ares just warn me about the trap directly?’

"Why?" I called after him with a frown. "Why help me?"

The god glanced at me. "I'll be honest here brat— I don't like you. Pretty things like you tend to catch Aphrodite’s attention, and dad wouldn't take it kindly if I offed you for such a reason. The other gods wouldn't either, you are way too valuable a piece to discard easily. But I'm not an ungrateful god, Mikael Gabrielson. Never think I am. You saved dozens of my kids when I can't myself. Think of this as a favor in return."

The god mounted his Harley, kicking the bike to a roaring start. "Stay away from Aphrodite and we won't have any problems. For now."

And then the god was gone, leaving behind a curtain of dust and smoke.

“Well...” I muttered, chewing upon the last bit of my burger. “...That happened.”

The people around me were still in a trance so I willed my own authority to disperse Ares' already weakening one. It was certainly more difficult than I'd expected; I could feel an invisible wall of power resisting my will. But thankfully, without Ares actively governing his authority, I finally succeeded in rousing everyone faster than they would have otherwise.

"...Tell me that was a dream." Percy groaned out, squinting his eyes slightly.

"I'm afraid not." I chuckled. "It seems we've a quest to complete."

The boy was quiet for a moment, simply staring out of the window. Annabeth, on the other hand, was still massaging her head.

"Why did you agree to his quests?” The boy asked suddenly, turning to me. “They’re probably just some kind of trick. Let’s just forget Ares and go.

"We can't!" Annabeth piped in. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a girl, Percy."

I hummed. "And I can’t miss this quest. If you really want to continue, you'll have to go ahead without me, Perce."

The boy sighed, looking down at his cheeseburger.

"Why does he even need us?" he grumbled, but accepted the situation all the same.

I shrugged, having no intention of revealing my suspicions in an open space like this.

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains." Annabeth suggested. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"But this water park…he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"

Annabeth glanced at me, worried.

Again, I shrugged. "I guess you two will have to find out."

My favorite waitress soon came back again to take our empty tray and give me our receipt. On the back of the receipt was a simple phrase. 'Back of the restaurant'.

"Well, I have some preparations to make before I go." I said, standing up. "I'll see you guys later."

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I left the diner and searched for the back of the building, finding it just under a downward slope from the parking lot.

The girl was nervously peeking around as she stood at a shielded corner between two walls and the last parked car. Quietly, I crept up behind her before cupping her body in a tight hug from behind.

She gave a squeal as my hands roamed across her body.

"Did I make you wait?" I whispered, enjoying the pleasurable sensation of grinding against her behind.

"N-no." She stuttered out, before gasping as my hands kneaded into her breasts. "I-I mean yes! I’ve been waiting for so long! So make up for it now."

“Naughty girl…”

I wasted no time in tearing her clothes off after that.

I might be about to fight a bitter battle with Hercules very soon. But for now...

I had another war to wage.

A much more pleasurable kind of war.

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Sharp in the evening, I left for my quest relaxed and satisfied.

Without Percy's presence being an inconvenience, I could finally fly to my heart’s content, traveling at a speed simply impossible when babysitting two demigods.

As I followed the address on Ares’ slip, I realized one thing quite clearly very soon; I was going somewhere far away from the general populace.

‘Did Hercules feel bad about the unnecessary loss of lives in our last bout? Or was I giving him way too much credit?’

Perhaps the god just wanted a place where I’ll be helpless and easier to dispose of. But some part of me—a very tiny one—still wanted to give the former greatest hero the benefit of doubt. He might've lost control of his rage, but neither versions of him—Hercules or Heracles—were known to be callous about innocent lives. After all, he did hold the title of ‘The defender of the weak.’

Doesn’t mean I won’t wipe the floor off from underneath him, of course.

The address on the slip finally led me to an abandoned auditorium, quite below the ground level. And as I moved deeper inside, I realized that my biggest advantage in the last fight against Hercules—flying—will be severely limited in here.

Probably the main reason why the Minor god selected this place.

Was I going to back away? Of course not. Hercules believed that he was trapping me in this place with him—like a rat trapped in a cat’s house—when it was completely the other way around. A cat would be a fool to let a lion in its home, yet the god of strength was doing just that.

Well, it doesn’t actually matter much. Both of us could tear this place apart with a sneeze. So it was less like trapping, and more like…setting up some boundaries. Paper-thin boundaries.

In any case, I was looking forward to the fight.

This battle will firmly cement my position to god level in the eyes of every Greek, even without me having unlocked any divine domains yet.

I soon passed through the main auditorium doors, landing upon the ground with a soft thud. The chairs were arranged in a downward slope, and the open windows barely managed to supply enough light to make out the main stage at the opposite end.

Finally, my gaze came to rest upon the figure that has remained unmoved since my arrival, even though he already sensed my presence, no doubt.

He was facing away from me, slumped down upon the naked stage's floor with his back pressed against a table's leg. His legendary Nemean lion's pelt was draped over his shoulders, while his weapon—in its poisonous spear form—lay propped against the wall.

"….How do you like this place?" Heracles finally broke the silence. "I chose it just for our fight."

I didn’t reply, too stunned upon hearing the change in his voice. The god of heroes’ once rich and powerful voice now had a rasping tone to it, almost like he was gurgling on phlegm and mucus.

‘Did my throat stab permanently injure him to this degree?’

...No, that couldn't be it. It seemed fundamentally changed, almost like I was talking to a lizard or something.

"I've been preparing, you see?" He continued rasping, still staring at the wall away from me. "Looking where I went wrong. I shouldn't have lost myself to rage, that was unbecoming of me. Worse yet, innocent lives were reaped for my mistake. And for that, I have paid my price."

Finally, and frustratingly slowly, the minor god turned to face me. As I finally got a clear look at his face, I couldn't stop the sudden intake of breath, disgust and horror welling up in me.

"What the fuck." I whispered incredulously.

The god was covered fully in blackened serpentine scales. The new matte black shade of his skin seemingly absorbed any light that fell upon them, and black ooze trickled out from his newly gained pores covering his entire deformed face. 

While his eyes....were wide like a reptile, seemingly looking at a 360 angle.

The once handsome god was now an abomination. So ugly was he that even Hephaestus would pity him for his looks.

Heracles let out a laugh upon my words, bitter and ugly, eliciting a wince out of me at his screeched gurgling.

"Yes, that's how I feel when I look at myself now." He whispered. "But I don't have a choice, do I? Never had a choice."

...What the hell was he talking about?

"Who did this to you?" I asked, finally regaining my ability to speak.

"Oh you'll meet her soon, have no worries. You are a constant topic in our group, you know? You, son of a god and an angel, slowly gaining power to rise above them. Quite a subject you are, brother."

As my initial disgust left me—more slowly than I would’ve liked—I concluded one thing with full certainty…

This wasn’t the same god that I’d face just a few weeks prior. Something seemed to have broken inside the great legend. The pride and strength with which he once carried himself with...was now only a shadow of its former self.

His words on the other hand, were even more disturbing than his face—which was saying something now...

"What group?" I asked finally, growing uncomfortable with the subject. "And by 'her' you mean Hera, yes?"

The god gave another broken chuckle. "Oh no, not her. Do you think I'll let that bitch do this to me?"

I shook my head. This guy wasn't making any sense. "Why would you let anyone do this to you?"

"You think I had a choice!?" The god suddenly screeched out like an angry serpent, blasting away all the furniture from the stage.

Startled, he flinched back from his own voice and the anger drained out of him as suddenly as it had arrived.

Taking a deep rasping breath, he continued. "No. Don't you see? I had no choice. I couldn't go back to Olympus; father would've punished me severely for taking my divine form against you, and for leaving my duties in guarding that Hera-cursed island. I could only depend on my new allies, but they weren't too happy with my failure."

He spread his hands, making his scales ripple with shadows. “So they made me this.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “Oh right, poor you. Standing all alone against the world as if you had no choice. Don’t pretend like you didn’t bring this fate upon yourself, by your own damned actions.”

“You think I don’t know that!?” The god snarled, starting to glow golden. “But what else could I have done? What options did I have? My entire life has been one wrought with misery. My first family: dead. My life wasted on ridiculous quests. My second wife dead, after being tricked into poisoning me and leaving me to a painful demise. And my compensation? I got to become a minor god. Immortal, so I can never forget my pain. Stuck here as a gatekeeper, a doorman, a…a butler for the Olympians! What do you think I should’ve done!?”

“...Not attack me?” I suggested.

Divine energy permeated the air as Hercules took on his godly form with a roar. And yet, his abominable features did not lessen one bit. If anything, they seemed to be enhanced even more.

I held myself back from attacking through sheer revulsion, observing the god as I felt a new kind of power resting within him.

'Observe'

Heracles (Slave of ???)

Race: God/Dragon

Tier: 7 (Minor God)

Level: 694

Divine Power: 7,000,000/7,000,000

Draconic Power: 350,000/350,000 (Tier 4)

Stamina: 6,050,000/6,050,000

Health: 6,900,000/6,900,000

Stats

Strength: 1000+

Speed: 485

Dexterity: 590

Endurance: 605

Constitution: 690

Mental: 55

Spirit: 700

“The hell…?” I muttered—discarding his drastically increased stats and the addition of a new power—my attention solely upon the fact that I couldn't observe this ??? entity.

This has never happened to me before. Ever. No matter how strong the being, no matter how much higher he/she might be than me, one thing that I was always certain of, was the observe skill. This new '???' made me uncertain in a way that I’ve never been before.

‘Could there be an entity higher than my Gamer System?’ That would be most troubling. All this while I was working with the assumption that one day I will surpass even the strongest of beings upon this world; to sit upon the highest peak of the power ladder. And with the way I was progressing, I’d been completely sure in achieving that title in a couple of decades at most.

This was the first time I found myself doubting the validity of my ambition.

Annoyed at my moment of weakness, I tried clicking on the glowing question marks to see if I could find something.

Luckily my system didn’t fail me completely.

[Insufficient Spirit: Cannot view an Ascendant being currently]

“…Damn.” I whispered.

This derails all my plans to announce myself to the entire world with a bang. It was way too early to catch an Ascended being's attention. I wasn't even a true god yet!

Hell, I wasn’t even an actual Minor god yet! My Godly domains were still locked out after all.

'But...if this Ascendant being sent Hercules after me, doesn't that mean I've already gained their attention?'

Damn it.

"You fought like a warrior that day, brother." Heracles cut in, breaking my line of thought. "And you truly deserved your win. But this time? You might as well give up. The only reason you won that fight was due to my own ignorance of your skills. It is unfair to you, but that will not work today.”

“I said it earlier: I've been preparing for this fight."

And then, the god picked up his spear, but what I hadn't seen was the bow he was hiding behind him. "After all, you can afford to lose. I can't kill you anyway, what with my slaver commanding me otherwise. But me? This is my last chance. I have to defeat you. And I will."

“Good luck with that,” I held up a hand. “But just a moment.”

A simple digital watch materialized in my palm.

“What’s that?” Heracles asked, squinting. “Recording your last words? Did I not say I’m not here to kill you?”

“It’s a timer.” I snorted, meeting his reptilian eyes with complete confidence as I pushed a button. “To note how long it takes me to defeat you.”

Scowling, he burst into action with a growl.

My wings unfurled themselves—increasing my physical stats—just as the god cocked back his arm and launched his spear at me like a Javelin. His incredible raw strength—increased even more by the Ascendant’s blessings—powered his throw, and the spear zoomed at me in speeds no human-made object could ever hope to match, reaching my position in a split-microsecond.

Had my Tier 6 self been on the receiving end of the spear, he would’ve had to block it with his wings, crippling his flight for the rest of the fight.

Unfortunately for the god, he wasn't facing that Mikael.

A single step and I was on the other side of the Auditorium—completely bypassing the spear—while summoning the Stormbreaker around my hands.

Though I had to keep in mind that I wasn't facing the same Heracles either.

I had no doubts that this current Hercules might be the strongest minor god in existence right now. Or at least, at the very peak. Whatever unholy thing disfigured him, it had also given  a substantial boost to his powers. He was much better than he once was, not just physically, but spiritually as well. His raw power was at the level of a borderline true god. Hell, he can most likely defeat any True god in their mortal forms.

But then again…so can I.

The Stormbreaker instantly took its spear form and I blasted through the air to reach him.

Shock was clear in the god’s eyes as he backed away from my charge, rolling sideways to avoid my swing that would’ve most likely taken his head off, had he been an instance too slow.

"How on Hades...?!" The bewildered god managed to get out as I whirled to face him again.

A storming whirlpool of wind and electricity formed around me as I moved in to engage him once again, relentlessly chasing after him to make his bow useless.

Hercules backed away, actually letting go of the bow completely to summon back his spear.

But he was around the edge of my storm's sphere, and even with his increased spirit, it was managing to harm him enough that he couldn't enter it fully to use his higher strength against me. Combined with my faster speed, the god was thoroughly outmatched.

Heracles might have a spirit almost as powerful as mine, but the Stormbreaker's bonus instantly put me above him.

Enough for the god to realize that it wouldn’t be as easy to bully me in a melee this time.

And thus he did the only thing he could; scamper away desperately, sending cracks through the floor as he hostility put some space between us.

I didn't pursue. Instead, I willed my weapon to take its twin blades form. Just from this single exchange of moves, I realized that I didn't need to fear a physical confrontation and maintain my distance in this fight. I could get inside his guard and start doing some real damage already.

I was faster than him, more powerful, and had hax abilities. While his strength still outstripped mine, he couldn't use it due to my personal lightning storm—revolving around my body like an impenetrable armour.

Now, I was dominating in both melee and long ranged combat. Unless Hercules invented a new form of combat, there was simply no chance of him winning this fight, and I was going to make sure he knew it before truly finishing him off this time.

I formed my op combination of two Holy arrays on both of my shoulders, and started peppering the god with my Holy spears. The god ducked down his head behind the Lion’s pelt, but with a wave of my power I formed a live tornado right underneath him.

To his credit, Hercules reacted instantly, jumping ahead to avoid the swirling wind. But with a simple force of my will, I manipulated the tornado to chase after him.

When I finally joined the attack with my twin blades, he simply couldn't afford to fight me fully. The tornado made sure to keep him on the run, and my twin blades—combined with my holy spear launchers and lightning storm—delivered a fierce attack that was impossible to come out unscathed from.

"How, boy!?" He yelled, his hands numbly holding onto his spear—courtesy of a minor shock from my lightning storm—as he struggled to deflect the Stormbreaker, all the while trying to tank my Holy spears upon his pelt.

When he finally managed to jump away from his spot—escaping a fatal pincer attack—he was covered in cuts and bruises, a mixture of golden ichor and black ooze leaking from his wounds. I suspected he was more heavily injured than that, but his black scales managed to hide away most of his minor injuries.

And on top of this all, he still had a tornado on his trail. "How can you surpass me this quickly!?"

We were moving at speeds way above human perception—not even half a millisecond passed since the start of our fight, to an outsider we must've simply been motes of lights flickering around—and our words matched the speed of our action. 

"Surprising, isn’t it?” I chuckled, ducking down from a hasty spear thrust as I closed the distance again. "I spent our last fight running away from you. Now you spend this fight running away from me. Must feel quite ironic, huh?"

My words must have ticked him off something fierce because the god suddenly stopped running and bent down.

His inactivity was punished instantly as my Holy spears and electrical bolts rained havoc upon him, slamming into his pelt with such incredible force that he literally started being buried in the ground.

"Enough!" He yelled, and a force of pure golden energy—containing traces of his authority—blasted out from him.

The energy wave was too wide for me to dodge….so I took this chance to test my new skills.

[Defensive Barrier: Aegis] Lvl 1

Like its name, a sphere of Aegis suddenly blinked into existence around me, surrounding not only my entire body, but also the lightning storm. When the energy wave struck me, the Aegis started shining brighter and brighter—increasing in brightness with every bit of damage taken, almost to the point of popping—but managed to hold strongly till the last specs of energy passed. Though it did push me back a little—along with the entire sphere.

It didn't matter, cause the next moment I was upon the god—who was on his knees to catch a breather. With my lightning storm constantly shocking his movements, he barely managed to raise his spear when my two blades struck him. The first sword was halted in place—his strength simply too much, even with stunned and numb hands—but my second sword managed to cut through his right shoulder as I quickly slid the weapon forward and exited out just as quickly, not willing to be caught up in his Domain-supported energy waves.

My prediction held true when the god bellowed again, pain and fury intermixing with his raspy voice to create a truly hideous sound. But before he could prepare another wave, I finally managed to guide my tornado into him, entangling the god in its grasp and stopping his might from gathering any further.

Thrashing like a wild bull, Hercules struggled to escape as the tornado pulled him up into the air. Too disoriented, he could do nothing as my Holy spears finally managed to find a gap through his pelt covered back. They melted his blackened reptilian scales to reach deeper inside, forming massive golden burns on his immortal flesh.

"Noo-oo-oo!" The god of Strength screamed, desperately trying to disperse the tornado.

But Hercules wasn't known for his power over wind. Thus, even though I did nothing to resist his powerful authority, he still struggled to disperse the whirlpool of wind currents. And in this time, I'd once again managed to close in upon him, my swords cocked back.

The god was so thoroughly tied down by everything happening to him at the same time that he could do nothing as two sword strikes headed for his vitals. The first blade failed to detach his head as the flailing god luckily managed to tank the hit upon his pelt.

But there was no stopping my second blade from sliding into his chest, barely missing his heart as he thrashed around.

A massive cry resounded across the auditorium, filled with pain, rage, and desperation. The god’s sheer authority shook the entire structure as an insane amount of divine energy boomed out of him, halting my first blade from reverse-slashing his head off.

The Aegis covered me again in a fraction of millisecond, but this time the blast of force that it tanked managed to change its color to straining white in barely a second, and I had just enough time to create a normal barrier when the Aegis popped off, dispersing in motes of white light.

At level 10, the barrier was far stronger than Aegis, but it didn't cover my entire body. My lightning storm was quickly dispersed by the powerful force, forcing me to jump up and start flapping away through the air rapidly, the barrier held against my back. I completely ignored the falling debris as the entire auditorium threatened to fall down—letting large blocks of stones and concrete bounce off of me uselessly.

When the wave of energy died down, I turned back, just in time to see the god of Strength and heroes stand upon the broken stage, dramatically raising his arms to the sky before cupping them together at the front of his chest.

His next action shocked me so badly that I couldn’t help but be surprised by the attack.

"Divine Dragon Shot!" The god screamed like an anime hero, and out of his hands came a ray of black and gold energy, hurling towards me like a cannon shot.

The site was so comical that at any other time I would've been confused between laughing, crying, and gasping in hysterics.

As it was, I knew I might need to run away like an injured rat if this double-D shot landed upon me.

The attack itself was too wide and fast to dodge, forcing me to form the defensive barrier in front of me once again, blocking the thick beam of black and gold.

It struck with the force of a battering ram on wood. My first five layers of defensive barriers instantly cracked and dispersed, while the rest struggled to keep the attack at bay, being riddled with cracks.

The sheer force of the attack blasted me back, and even though I managed to form a wall of air to stop my uncontrollable flight, I still slammed straight through multiple walls of the Auditorium, tearing through concrete like paper.

I regained my balance soon—now no longer in the mood to drag this fight any further—but Heracles didn't wish to give me any time to decide. He jumped at me hulk style—both palms interlocked to form a combined fist above his head—and I had less than a microsecond to react.

At the exact time the god's fist punched down towards me, I transformed into lightning itself, burrowing inside the walls through the wires that connected the entire place. There wasn’t any live electricity present in them—being abandoned as it was—but when I traveled through the wires, all the electronics in the Auditorium must’ve come to life for a brief microsecond or two.

I guided my path to move from the wire to the conducting ground, before jumping out again—after having put some distance between me and Heracles.

I popped out of the ground just when the god’s fist fell down, demolishing the entire left side of the auditorium's walls, and letting fresh sun rays enter inside.

Before the confused—and still enraged—god could figure out what just happened, I flew up in the air—my weapon taking its bow form—and started shooting poison-tipped arrows down at him. So true was my aim that one of my arrows slipped through the Nemean lion's pelt and pierced his arm pit, making him jerk forwards with jolted pain.

A surprised roar of pain and agony forced its way out of the god, his bloodshot eyes staring down at the arrow sticking out of his armpit in chilling rage. Then, with another gut-wrenching howl, he ripped the arrow out, his already bloodied body getting even more drenched in ichor and ooze.

He fell to his knees, weakened and exhausted, the numerous injuries forcing him to recharge a little.

Now, I could’ve most likely reengaged the god and managed to overwhelm him in his moment of weakness—ending the fight under a second since we started, and be able to say I defeated Hercules in less than a second—but I didn’t wish to take any chances.

Plus, I was just bloody curious.

This presented me with a fabulous chance to use a skill I’ve been dying to utilize for a long time, so with no hesitation I raised Stormbreaker to the sky.

At level 3, the attack needed full 6 seconds of intense concentration and utmost focus to launch. In a practical fight, it was useless—6 seconds were enough to fight a war for beings of our speed. But the numerous injuries that I'd dealt to the god seemed to have taken a toll on him as seconds trickled by with him still groaning and moaning in pain.

But then he stopped moving, apprehension dawning on his face as he turned to me, panting. Surely he must've felt something because just as my power fully formed in the sky, the god pushed himself to his feet with a yell, a hand extending towards me in panic and desperation.

"Stop!" The god yelled out, his authority clashing into mine to wrest my control away.

But there was no point as the Celestial Lightning Bolt finally fell down on earth, bringing with it destruction and supernova.

The bolt of pure power and destruction blasted through the auditorium, and I could only squint to the sky as a pillar of white and gold of energy connected the mortal lands to high heavens, bringing down the divine sky's holy fury onto Heracles.

My Aegis quickly covered my body, but the power and might that my attack released as it struck the Greek god was so high that my shield popped open like a balloon, launching me through the air, while Stormbreaker slipped out of my palm.

When the sound finally caught up with the speed of my attack, an ear-splitting boom of thunderclap rattled my ears like a nuclear explosion. My two pairs of wings came to cover me protectively, and I ducked inside their cage as my body broke through concrete, stone, and wood.

For a brief moment, my world became a mixture of chaotic noises, heat…and more heat—especially when I felt myself slam back upon the ground, my wings grinding against the earth, no doubt forming abrasions as friction did what it does best; bring me to a messy halt, covered under rocks and debris.

For a full 10 seconds, I just laid there under the darkness of debris, taking deep breaths and simply marveling at the power that I’d just experienced.

‘Holy fuck…THAT WAS AWESOME!

With a yell of exhilaration, I burst out of the mounds of debris and mud gathered over me, pushing them away with a flap of my wings.

"...Timer." I muttered, urgently checking the watch.

7 seconds. It took 7 seconds for the entire fight, 6 of which were taken by the spell of ultimate power.

Grunting in satisfaction, I destroyed the watch and threw it away.

And for the first time,  eyes squinting, I observed my surroundings—incredulity quickly spreading through me.

It was a scene straight out of an apocalyptic world. Destruction was the only living thing upon the desolate lands—riddled with large cracks and crevices, hot steam rising out of the newly-formed chasms as if a fire had been lit underneath the ground.

“…Holy...” I let out a low whistle, stumbling up my feet. “…Wow.”

Wanting a better look, I flapped my wings and took to the air.

The entire area of the auditorium was now a lake-sized crater. Most of the auditorium's structure had straight up vaporized, not leaving even a single particle of dust. The remaining parts were simply melted metal and steaming pieces of bricks that littered the ground here and there.

The deeper end of the crater was still completely covered with mist and smoke, and I had to launch a small gust of wind to get a look inside.

There, lying completely unharmed upon a mostly obliterated piece of land, was Stormbreaker in its glove form, a bit of dirt and smoke hiding its glossy white skin.

I flexed my hand and the glove flew towards me, automatically separating in two to take place around my hands.

But my eyes were fixed somewhere else.

Further down from where my weapon was, towards the deepest hole of the massive crater, laid the piteously broken body of Hercules.

His entire left side was gone. Gone as in; vaporized, with only stumps in the place of hand and leg, and his bloody rib-cage free for my viewing displeasure—dripping with golden ichor and dark ooze. He looked like a golden lava cake that had been cut in half.

Even more disturbing an image—if that’s possible—was the black ooze trying to sew his body together one piece at a time. I had no idea what type of absurd ability was that, but even this monstrous regeneration wasn’t capable of working fast enough.

If anything, it seemed to only extend the suffering further.

Pity welled up in me as I took in the site of the mutilated god. In the end, he wasn't truly my enemy, but simply a pawn being commanded by Hera, or more likely, this mysterious Ascended whose interest I seem to have caught.

I stared at the broken god– his single remaining bloodshot eye, his torn-off jaw with a few black scales hanging off pathetically on his deformed face… and I hesitated.

The god was one of the few that I’ve always felt some pity for, cause his mortal life did its best to rip him a new one, and actually succeeded in fucking him over quite a few times. Then he becomes a god and everyone forgets about him, remembering only the mortal hero he once was.

The god had such shitty luck that even his death was forced upon him by someone else. It was quite unfair…but that was life.

"...ease..." The whisper was so low that without my enhanced hearing I would've totally ignored it.

He was lucky I did hear him.

Glancing down at the god, I found one of his eyes to be slightly open. Not enough to see, but enough to make me realize he was awake.

"Please." He said again, a little bit more clearly as the black ooze sewed his jaw back together in a messy patchwork of black scales and human skin.

With a sigh, I flew down.

The least I could do was hear him out.

"...me." He whispered again, and I had to get closer to him to hear properly.

"What?" I asked.

"...Kill me." He begged. "Please."

I stared down at the god, a little bewildered. "Why?"

I was going to kill him anyway—can’t miss on those juicy levels—but it was still surprising for a god to yearn for death.

"...I wish to be free." He said, eyes opening up a little—making me see the specs of black dots swimming in his pupils.

I hesitated.

What the hell should I do? Cut off his neck as he lies there like a half dead corpse!?

….Yeah, basically.

"You know you won't reform for at least a century, right?" I asked the god, preparing to deliver his last wish.

Gods took a much longer time to reform back to life than monsters…or even Titans. This was the reason why Greeks weren't ruling over the world by using instant spawn technique. If I killed Heracles now, he was sure to miss the next couple of centuries.

"..I don't wish to." The god rasped out. "I wish to be reborn...as a mortal."

Wait what.

I blinked, a little shocked. "You want to take Elysium or something? You actually want to die for real?”

I leaned down to stare at him closely, wondering if he’d gone delirious. And yet, the blue orbs that shone through from the specs of dried blood were the clearest I’ve ever seen them.

“But…Why!?”

The god turned to face me completely, showing his disfigured face in its entirety, which was—even with the recent regeneration—a horrible sight to see.

"She changed my soul, brother.” He whispered. “My divinity itself. As long as I'm a god, I cannot escape her. I wish to be free. I've had enough of the Olympians, and enough of Khaos Brigade."

He leaned back with a rattling sigh, showing me his neck. "Becoming a god was the worst thing that happened to me. Let me rest in peace, and be reborn anew. As the mortal hero I once was."

For a few seconds I just stood there, watching the slowly breathing god. He looked peaceful, truly ready to embrace death.

And thus, I decided.

"Very well."

The Stormbreaker changed into its Greatsword form, the one I used the least.

But the one most suitable for this.

"It is a shame we've come to this." I stated solemnly, preparing for that single true strike. "We didn't have to be enemies."

"We aren't." The god replied, his cracked lips tugging into the slightest of smiles. "Not anymore."

"Go on, brother." He urged me. "Know that you have my blessings, for the difficult path that lays in front of you."

I nodded a silent thanks, dismissing the sound of system notification.

"Farewell...Alcides." I settled upon his original name—instead of the name given simply to appease Hera. "Defender of the weak, guardian of Heroes. May your mortal life be…long and peaceful."

Then the Greatsword fell, and with it fell the god’s lifeless head—assaulting my ears with a multitude of rapid system notifications that I, once again, ignored.

‘And thus endeth' the life of great Hercules, God of Strength, Courage, and Heroes.’

I stayed still, standing guard over his body until it completely disintegrated into motes of golden light, dispersing in the sky as if to reach the heavens—the black ooze finally leaving its hold upon it, disappearing separately.

In a matter of seconds, only a golden pelt remained where Hercules’ body once laid.

The pelt of the Nemean lion.

Nemean Lion’s Pelt (Divine): Pelt of the original Nemean Lion.

I picked up the pelt, putting it in the inventory.

"Goodbye, brother." I said to the last motes of golden light.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but I could've sworn they twinkled just a bit before vanishing completely.

With a sigh, I leapt off of the lake sized crater, feeling uncharacteristically weary, the words ‘Khaos Brigade’ and ‘Ascendant’ swirling in my mind.

All such thoughts ran away however when I finally took in the system notifications.

“The Divine Domains.…” I whispered, my mouth curving up in a smirk.

Finally.

------------------------------------

AN: Aaaand done! Phew, what a massive chapter, going way above my predictions at 9k! 

Obviously, this means that I didn't have much time to edit (wrote over 4k today), and neither was my mind willing to, after writing this freakin much. So, as I said above, if anyone's willing to beta for this story, you have my thnx in advance.

I was thinking about delaying this chapter by a day, to properly edit it and stuff, but I don't like doing this without warning ahead of time. Though do know for any chapter this long in the future, I most likely will. Its just not healthy to write like this, and might affect negatively on the story if I force myself such.

Anyway, how was the chapter!? Ares and Mikael's finally meet...and Hercules is dead! How will that affect the Greek world? Or the whole world, for that matter? You'll find soon!.....Maybe.

Also, did it feel like the fight was moving in such ridiculous speeds? I just wrote a few lines describing the fight's pace, but yeah, they are meant to be moving over mach 1300. Oh, and I hope that the fact their words travel at similar speed doesn't seem ridiculous. I know the speed of sound is just a fraction of their speed, but it can change under different mediums, and godly voice is one of them. Atleast, I'm making it one of them, cause otherwise all the mid-fight talking will be freakin pointless.

In the next chapter, you'll get to see all the rewards Mikael has reaped from this fight. From Hercules' blessing, to his Godly domains. Hope you lot are as pumped about this as I am.

Well, that was all for today. Let me know what you thought of the chapter and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Till then, peace!