"Gnaaarrghhh!!!", the monster bellowed as it dragged its out-of-proportion body forward, the slow footsteps somehow covering large distances, as though the very earth was helping it move. It raised an abnormally large arm and aimed it toward Athos, the sandy blob of a limb emanating a strong sense of danger.
His eyes widened and he tried to move out of the way, but it was too late.
*BOOM*
The monster's arm blasted off its body, slamming into him with immense force. He had raised Leviathan at the very last second, so it had taken the brunt of the attack but he was still sent flying.
He somersaulted toward the bronze doors, now sealed by earth chains, unintentionally doing a couple of backflips before bashing into them quite hard.
His head had slammed onto metal and a drop of blood trickled down his temple. His healing factor went into overdrive and his blurry eyes cleared after a few seconds, finding the abomination now pointing all four of its arms toward him. It appeared as though it regrow its arms along with being able to dish out that insanely strong attack.
How nice. Gaea was taking no chances. She truly wanted him dead.
"Fuck!", he cursed and he bolted toward the stands, his legs slightly wobbly, but not enough to slow him down. He didn't know whether he could reach it in time, but he had no choice. That was the only cover near him.
With a large leap, he jumped onto the stands, hiding behind a large, robust seat.
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
All four of the monster's hands shot out, smashing into the large stone wall and making most of it crumble. The seat in front of him was blasted to bits but he was relatively unscathed due to him placing Leviathan in front of him yet again. But the problem now was that he was completely exposed to the monster's insanely fast projectiles that moved with enough speed to put Dr Thorn's spikes to utter shame.
He rapidly looked around him for some more cover, but he found nothing. He could not take on more of the monster's attacks unless he wanted to be blasted to bits. The attacks were too fast to dodge and he couldn't keep tanking the shots with Leviathan. He would tire eventually.
*BOOM*
"FUUCK!"
Yet another attack smashed into him even though he tried to dodge. He slammed into the cavern walls cracking a few skulls. He probably had a severe concussion and his movements were becoming sluggish.
*BOOM*
"DAMMIT!"
Leviathan barely negated the attack as he was slammed into the wall again. Hard.
*BOOM*
Both his arms were becoming sore. He could barely move and he could almost feel Thanatos' sword pressing up against his back, waiting to reap his life and drag him to the underworld.
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*BOOM*
A human skull plopped down from the ceiling, falling in front of a bruised and beaten Athos who was weakly holding onto Leviathan. Its grinning face seemed to be mocking him.
He grit his teeth and forced himself to get to his feet, leaning on his axe for support. His shirt had been reduced to rags with merely his pants remaining relatively intact. Cuts and bruises littered his sore body and his head was slightly bleeding. He felt dizzy and his vision was somewhat blurred. He was certainly not in his best shape.
His weary eyes looked up to find the monster's arms quickly regrowing by drawing materials from the earth beneath its feet. Seeing that, all he felt was a sense of helplessness, along with an unnatural sense of calm. He had no more strength to block the attacks. The next set of projectiles would end him, and he would be brutally blasted to bits by a high-speed blob of sand.
He would die before he accomplished his absurd goal of becoming a God.
He would die a painful death all because of his impetuous ambition.
His drive would be his doom. His downfall.
But did he regret it?
Perhaps a little. He told himself that he wouldn't, but he was still human. Well, demi-human, but far closer to mortal than God. Wisps of regret did pop up in his heart, but he truly didn't believe that he could defeat Achelous with his current strength. He needed the objects that Janus promised he would find. But there was no sign of them.
He had found death, but nothing else.
Gripping Leviathan hard, he lifted it in front of him, getting into a battle stance. His legs were trembling ever so slightly, but he held firm. He would not die cowering in fear nor filled with regret. If he ever was to die, he would die with his head held high.
He would die like a God.
The abomination growled and held up its four arms, preparing to unleash another deadly barrage, but Athos' concentration was interrupted by Bob buzzing in his pocket. It was where he had placed the automaton when he fought with the Laestrygonians as he hadn't had the time to stow it away in his backpack, which was probably strewn somewhere around the arena.
He frowned and quickly took it out without taking his eyes off the monster. He noticed it was becoming harder and harder for him to focus. His head injury was getting to him.
The buzzing noticeably grew louder when it was taken out and a couple of seconds later, it jumped out of Athos grip and started spinning in the air. It started to glow white-hot and seemed to be getting brighter with every spin as though it was slowly charging up.
*BOOM*
The monster didn't seem to care about Bob's antics and unleashed what it believed was its last attack. Athos' body tensed, bracing himself for the impact but was shocked when he wasn't immediately ripped apart. His eyes showed disbelief as the projectiles, instead of eviscerating his body, slammed into a transparent barrier that had materialized in front of him.
"Ghhnnaaarghhh!!!", the abomination bellowed as its arms started to regrow for the umpteenth time. It didn't seem too happy when finding the demigod un-pulverised.
Athos looked over at Bob who was now spinning so fast that it was a blur, giving out large amounts of blinding light. The air around it started to sizzle and it sounded akin to an aeroplane turbine.
He quickly stumbled backwards moving out of the way before Bob suddenly stopped and discharged a pure-white energy beam that blasted forward, engulfing the monster in its entirety. It didn't stop there, easily continuing through the monster, evaporating the stands behind it and forming a clean large open hole in the cavern wall.
Once the light died out, Athos opened his eyes, finding Gaea's creation nowhere to be seen. The beam of light had overridden the abomination's regeneration, atomizing it in its totality. Putting an end to the loathful creature that would've been nightmare fuel if not for its sand-based body.
He gaped at the now smoking hot disk on the ground that he believed to once be a mere automaton that acted as a guide. He dragged himself forward to get a better look at Bob now that it seemed to have calmed down. He still needed it to find Hephaestuses forges.
It looked the same as ever albeit a tad bit shinier, but when he strained his eyes, he could make out the difference in the writing.
The number 'Dio', meaning two, had been replaced with 'Enas', meaning one.
There was even a sentence below the Greek number.
'Mia zoí gia mia zoí'
'A life for a life.'
He had been saved by the God of Blacksmiths. The ruler of Fire, and the Master of the Forge.