I made quick work of Alexander/Caesar the Great.

As soon as I leaped into the air, I activated my Piercing Rain and Lightning Pilum ability, throwing three fully charged pilums into Alexander’s bronze shield. Though his shield negated the lightning damage and stamina drain, he could not resist the disarming effect. Both sword and shield fell to the ground, leaving him wide open for attack as I fell down on him.

I slammed my Obsidian-Fortified Barnacle Shield repeatedly into his helmed face, spraying him seawater and obsidian shards and giving him the worst headache in his life. Alexander screamed in agony as Minerva’s headache enchantment crippled him. Plus, my electrified armor and aura zapped him continuously as I pounded him into the ground.

Before his health got too dangerously low, I withdrew from the bloody pulp that was Alexander the Great. The legendary king bent over the sand, blood oozing from his face as his trembling arms tried to hold him up.

Caesar must have withdrawn his influence from Alexander, for the Macedonian king spoke differently as he raised his eyes to me, one dark brown, the other bright blue.

“Truly, Augustus Maximus, you are an army of one, led by a lion,” Alexander the Great said, bowing his head in reverence. The sand storm around us fizzled out, leaving Alexander and I alone in a quiet desert of death.

As awesome as it was to be congratulated and capitulated to by such a man of legend, I was too drained in every conceivable way to think straight or savor the moment. All I wanted was to lay with Cleopatra and enjoy the remaining days of her life.

And as I stood before him, I had the option of stripping him of his insanely powerful loot, or letting him volunteer some of it freely.

I chose the latter.

“Take my cloak, Maximus, for you are favored by Jupiter.”

Alexander unclasped his purple cloak, shimmering with enchanted power, and handed it to me. I accepted without complaint and clasped it onto myself.

Item: Cape of the Eternal Sun (Legendary)

* Description: This magnificent purple cape, worn by Alexander the Great, radiates a soft golden glow under sunlight. The fabric is woven from fine silks and adorned with intricate sun motifs along the hem, symbolizing the favor of Helios. When exposed to sunlight, the cape imbues the user with resilience, making you seem as tireless as the sun itself.

* Armor Rating: 30

* Durability: 150

* Effect: While under direct sunlight, the cape gradually heals minor wounds and restores 5% health every 30 seconds. At night or in darkness, the healing effect diminishes to 1% health per minute, as Alexander’s strength wanes without the sun's blessing.

* Weight: 1.8 kg

* Worth: 35,000 Denarii

“Go in peace,” I said, turning my back on him and walking over to Umbra and Sporus. As I leaped onto Umbra’s back, the Cape of the Eternal Sun began to heal the minor wounds I received from attacking Alexander the Great, whose enchanted armor had reflected some damage onto me. It felt as if the sun itself had warmed my entire being, healing me with its radiant warmth.

Sporus only stared at me in awe as I mounted Umbra. After thinking about it for a second, I unclasped the robe and wrapped it around him.

Sporus nodded in thanks. It was the least I could do.

“Let’s go back to the island,” I said, gripping onto Umbra’s spikes with tired hands.

Sure thing, Umbra said, whose voice sounded mystified by what he had witnessed of me.

As soon as we were airborne, I turned my attention to the completed quest notification and rewards. If I wasn’t so exhausted and didn’t have a pounding headache that made me want to vomit, I would have felt like a kid on Christmas morning with how much glory and power I had achieved in such a short amount of time. Even my stamina had increased due to my incredibly fast victory and how hard I pushed myself in such an insanely quick burst of speed.

Quest Completed: Wrath of the Conqueror

“Error: Unable to report System feedback.”

Rewards:

* Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 9/10: Increases stamina regeneration by 300% and provides 50% resistance to physical and enchanted attacks.

* Strength (+4,770): lvl 41 (160/420)

* Stamina (+10): lvl 16 (10/170)

* Stamina now 200/200

* Intelligence (+10): lvl 9 (50/100)

* Glory (+4,940): 5,030

* Level (+7): 68 (690/700)

* Skill Points (+7): 8

* Title: Imperator Augustus Maximus, Pluto’s Phoenix, Maximus the Great, Gladiator Champion, Cyclops Slayer, Mercator, Dungeon Diver, Conqueror of Cetus, Minotaur Menace, Tyrannicida, Giant Bane

Immediately, my stamina shot up in rapid regeneration. Instead of three points of stamina every three seconds, it was twelve. As for my radically increased strength skill, my body felt like I was on steroids, roiding with tremendous power. I felt like I could wrestle a bull. Even my armor began to feel tight, bucking at the added growth of my muscles all over my body.

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“Did you just grow?” Sporus said, staring at me in shock. “I swear you just got bigger.”

“It’s from the quest,” I said, smiling despite the constant sleep deprived headache that hung over me regardless of victory. “I went up quite a bit.”

Sporus widened his bloodshot eyes in surprise, looking me over one last time with awe before looking away.

With your power, we will finish Caesar without a doubt, Umbra said. When do we fight next?

“Unfortunately, it won’t start until midnight again,” I said, receiving a couple of groans in response. “We’ll have to power through the rest of the evening and stay awake. Sporus, you can rest as soon as we get back. You won’t survive the final quest with us if you came along. It’s too deadly.”

It was too severe even for Umbra and I. There would be no way Sporus could handle what was coming next. I debated even bringing Umbra along, but I would need him for the final confrontation with Caesar at Mount Vesuvius.

Sporus was not mad, though he looked like he was about to go crazy from lack of sleep. He leaned his tired head against my back. “Thank you, Maximus.”

I patted his leg for encouragement. “Just a little longer.”

Medusa’s Island came into view a short while later as the early afternoon sun traveled across the sky. It felt like it went by a lot faster thanks to a temporary blackout I suffered. But in reality, Umbra’s flying was getting slower with each passing hour, his breathing becoming more labored as he flapped his powerful wings through seven days of no rest. When he set us down, he slightly stumbled in his landing, cursing to himself.

I need wine, he grumbled.

“That will only make you more sleepy,” I said, not trying to hide the irritation in my voice.

Then I need a mate! Anything to stop this pounding headache. And to think, I will never have another mate, ever, because I took on this dragon form thanks to you. Unless you know where any female dragons are?

His sudden snap was because he was supremely exhausted, but it still annoyed me.

“We’re trying to save the world, and you’re depressed you can’t sleep with another horse?” I said, my voice catching a nasty edge.

Umbra growled in response. Off. Unless you want to come with me to find a drakaina.

“Just be back by midnight,” I said, hastily turning to Sporus, shaking him to keep him from falling asleep. I did not want to be around for that.

Sporus mumbled something incoherent as he leaned on me for support as I helped him scale down the very irritable Umbra, who flew away to look for entertainment once we touched the ground of the temple ruins. His boyish face had healed for the most part from the Telchines’ acidic fire. Still, he would be forever scarred. As I carried him, I couldn’t help thinking of my younger brother, Anthony, who was hopefully not sucked into this crazy world of Antiquitus.

The thought of him and the knowledge that I would never see him again filled my heart with grief. I hadn’t thought much about my family or life before Antiquitus, even though it had been important to me for two decades. The moment I woke up to Elagabalus and he emasculated me, I stopped thinking about what came before in the perpetual pursuit of revenge and restoration. Even after becoming co emperor, I became so consumed with Cleopatra’s life and running an empire that the life before Antiquitus ceased to exist in my mind.

But looking at Sporus, who looked so innocent and defenseless in my arms as I carried him to a separate area of Medusa’s cave to chain up, I couldn’t help but think of Anthony. Both of them equally did not deserve to have to endure Antiquitus. It would be a mercy to let Sporus sleep now, especially after his unimaginable abuse in both lives.

With my freehand, I kept the shadows at bay with my glowing Pilum of Mars, though the shadows of the cave would not resist taking the form of Somnia to attack me much longer. Not with the horde that was on its way soon. I quickened our pace so we wouldn’t dwell in here much longer.

We made it into Cleoaptra’s private cave, who lay asleep against the rock she was chained to. It pained me to see her there, bound like a criminal. Yet, she also looked peaceful, free from the torture of staying up for so long. Everything in me wanted to join her.

Just gotta keep going, I thought to myself, though I knew the battle ahead would be the toughest of all.

Laying Sporus down at a nearby boulder, his baggy eyes fluttered open, struggling to stay awake.

“Maximus,” he whispered, handing me my Cape of the Eternal Sun, which I clasped to my shoulders.

“Yes?” I said, though I already knew the answer. I began tying him down with the metal chains he had used to stay on top of Umbra.

“Do not become like him,” he sighed. “Do not become Caesar. That’s not… that’s not what she would want… or who you are.”

Grief found my heart again at the reminder of Camilla, whom I left behind in the Underworld. The memory of the dark future also returned to my mind, the one of Cleopatra and I remaining in the world, alive together, while the rest of Antiquitus perished thanks to my selfish need to keep Cleopatra alive.

I knew Camilla believed in me, that I would not make the selfish choice. Like Sporus said, that wasn’t who I was. But I also remembered the alternate future where I saw our sons, Romulus and Remus, sparring together, vying for my approval and affection, and how I denied them. Was that my destiny, to save the world, only for my wife to die and I become a bitter shell? Would I cope like Nero and find a spouse that reminded me of her, like what had happened with Sporus? Could I move on and guide Rome to glory, to peace?

Or could the inevitable isolation leave me without a moral anchor, left adrift to become a tyrant, only more so because of my god-tier power?

There was no way to know.

I could only run off of the hope and belief that others like Sporus, Cleopatra, and Camilla had in me.

Wisdom (+10): lvl 4 (0/50)

Glory (+60): 5,090

Level: 69 (50/710)

Skill Points (+1): 9

“Rest, friend,” I said, finishing the metal binds. The moment I stood up, Sporus passed out, only for his eyes to open again, this time under Caesar.

“So few remain,” Caesar chided, glaring at me through Sporus’s eyes. “Give in now, and I shall not execute your wife, nor your friends. Only you and your children will be removed from this world, I promise.”

I shook my head, turning away and leaving behind Caesar. I would not relent. My children were far more important than me, as was the freedom of this world.

I strode with a new sense of power and urgency past Medusa’s victims and to the cave’s exit, leaping quickly to the top of the mountain. The shrine of Jupiter stood before me, waiting for me to ask for the final quest.

Father of All Monsters: Ascend into the storm-wracked heavens where Typhon, ancient rival of Jupiter, awaits amidst roaring thunderheads and lightning-torn skies upon midnight. Face him alone in a duel of might and stormcraft, harnessing every blessing Jupiter has bestowed. Endure Typhon’s relentless tempests and crushing blows to prove yourself as Jupiter's true champion. Fail, and you will be cursed to boil within Typhon's entrails, forever denied both Elysium and Tartarus.

Jupiter’s Blessing Rank 10/10: Grants absolute dominion over the skies, allowing planetary-scale thunderstorms and the ability to fly while in a storm. User can alter wind speeds, summon tornados, tsunamis, and direct chain lightning strikes with a maximum of five targets within a 100-meter radius per strike, each dealing 1,000 damage. Stamina cost is 10 for each lightning strike or for every second controlling the weather. Cooldown: 1 hour for full storm summoning. Storms last 15 minutes.

Accept this quest?

Bring it on, I thought, delving one last time in the hopes of becoming Jupiter’s champion.