The sudden swell of Somnia climbing on Umbra hit me with a crushing wall of fatigue and drowsiness. Many of them latched onto Umbra, draining his stamina in seconds. Such was their sapping of his strength that they sent Umbra, and us, into a freefall.
In a way, it was a blessing, for the sudden fall dropped us narrowly below the massive fists and snake feet of Typhon who was relentless in his quest to kill us.
I would have only seconds to pivot from this. With so many Somnia on his back, Umbra and I would pass out in just a few more seconds.
There was one future, however, that could save us: a Jupiter storm of lightning bolts.
It was the only future where we would pull out of this. I would thunderclap the Somnia off of Umbra’s back and then summon fifty lightning bolts to finish them off, allowing us to resume our attack on Typhon, though there were still hundreds more chasing us. And blessedly, somehow the Somnia would stop coming in droves, much to some mystery I was too tired to deduce. I would have to peel them off in groups, but it could work. There was still a chance.
Calling upon Jupiter, I unleashed total devastation upon the Somnia. Before I could pass out, I thunder clapped the shadow demons off his back, sending them all into the storm soaked sky. Then, as they departed, I peppered fifty of them with lightning, instantly incinerating them.
Joy swelled within me as they exploded from the electric fire, and instantly, the oppressive fatigue vanished. Umbra shook his head, flapping his wings to regain a steady flight. And as I cast my eyes to Typhon’s, his fiery sight was replaced by hundreds of Somnia.
All of them were back on Umbra.
A Chrono Loop.
A sinking, depressing feeling gnawed on my stomach as I repeated the same actions, only for everything to repeat endlessly.
No, I thought, shaking my head in denial as I mindlessly repeated the pointless actions. This can’t be happening. Not now. We’re so close!
It seemed no matter what I did we would fail. Everything I could think to do was logical, fending off the Somnia to keep Umbra and I awake. The Chrono Loop didn’t like that, reverting everytime.
After dozens of repeated cycles, it became terribly clear what the chaotic, unthinkable action would be to break free. The revelation was so horrific and I was so dreadfully tired that tears started to leak from my eyes.
No, no no no! That can’t be the only way.
Without Umbra, it would be impossible to round up Rome to get them away from Mount Vesuvius. I could still pull of a tsunami if I beat Typhon, but that meant everyone would die, leaving me with an empty Rome.
There was no way through.
I’ll figure it out after, I thought, shaking my mind free of the gripping depression.
For dozens of more times, I tried every other combination I could think of to save Umbra, all with the same results. Nothing would save him, and I let the horrible truth sink into my soul which felt weighed down with lead: I would be alone now to finish this civil war.
Not only alone, but with my friends, including Umbra, fighting against me now.
My eyes were blurry with tears as I stood to my feet, the Somnia unable to grab my Shadowmail. I took the Titan Hooks as I prepared myself.
“Forgive me, friend,” I whispered to Umbra, before Jupiter-jumping off of his back, letting myself free fall through the dark storm.
The Chrono Loop shattered seconds later, confirming what I suspected was the right, chaotic choice.
A split second later, Umbra passed out from the Somnias’ sapping grip.
“Until the end, Umbra,” I said, summoning a lightning bolt to launch me back into the sky.
As soon as it struck into my hand, Umbra was revived under Caesar’s spell. The Somnia leaped off of his back, their mission accomplished, as Umbra roared back to life. The red dragon unleashed a spew of fire through the rain soaked clouds, illuminating his huge and terrifying presence.
Maximus! Umbra/Caesar shouted. Submit!
“You know I can’t!” I shouted through the storm, zapping back up above the clouds to face Typhon. The Father of all monsters awaited me, smiling with fiery teeth now that I was extremely outnumbered. Behind me, Umbra and a thousand Somnia rose through the clouds to chase me.
I took a deep, panicky breath as the new direction of futures played out in my mind. Making a mistake now would be fatal. As if it couldn’t be worse, now that Umbra was no longer with me but against me, I would not be able to finish the civil war before my Historical Insight ran out. I would see for the next nine hours before the limits of my powers exceeded, making me wait for another week before I could use it.
I could not wait that long.
Just one problem at a time, I thought, weaving past lightning bolts from Typhon and escaping from the chasing Somnia and Umbra.
At the very least, the Somnia would no longer be a threat if I eliminated them now. Somehow, somewhere, someone had stopped their portal into this world, saving me from having to deal with them forever. Whoever it was, I silently thanked them as I turned around to finish them off.
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My mind burned with thousands of different strategies. The Somnia were a problem, yes, but I was fast enough to avoid them. I could turn around and wipe them all out with my lightning storm, but that would leave me waiting another ten minutes to use it against Typhon, whose chances of crushing or electrocuting me drastically increased if I focused first on the Somnia.
And that wasn’t including Umbra, who would be pestering me now with his fire and terrible teeth. If I simply tried to out Shadowmail him, he would wait me out until my health dwindled too low, forcing me to become vulnerable again to his constant attacks. I had a chance at escaping and letting my health recharge somewhere else, but then Umbra would dive down to Medusa’s Island to grab my friends as bait, or the island would be demolished by Typhon. Either way, not a good plan.
And there was no way I was going to harm Umbra. I don’t think I could live with myself if I had to kill him. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t use him for what I needed to do.
“Come here Caesar!” I yelled, throwing myself with lightning far above and over the storm god. I made sure that I was supremely high in the atmosphere to avoid his long arms. If I didn’t, Typhon would snatch me with his long arms and snake hands, poisoning me a hundred times before launching me into his rotting, reeking mouth where I would fester forever inside of him. It didn’t help that his eyes were like little lighthouses that destroyed the shadows around him, making my Shadowmail null and void.
Once I was high enough, I activated my lightning dash, shooting down straight like a rocket, narrowly missing his snake fingers that shot out after me. As I soared down, I threw one of the Titan Hooks into his thick, oily hair, puncturing the skin and electrocuting him. A terrible, cosmic scream erupted from Typhon.
Umbra and the horde of Somnia followed through, chasing after me behind Typhon who did nothing to stop them as he tried to turn around.
“I’ll patch you up later, Umbra,” I promised to myself as I turned around in my fall to face the oncoming dragon and Somnia. This time, I summoned a lightning bolt to fly back up, directly parallel to Typhon’s spine. Shooting up like a torpedo, I threw the other into Umbra’s side. Before I could continue any further in my upward trajectory, I summoned my Pilum of Mars through Typhon’s spine, tearing through bone and flesh like a knife through a sail to stop my momentum.
Umbra roared and blasted fire in my direction. It was perfect timing. The fire scorched Typhon’s back and gaping wound as I embraced the shadows, causing the god to spin around in anger to try and destroy Umbra. The sudden yank of Typhon's head to turn around whipped Umbra around completely, smacking into a hundred Somnia in the process, though some of them latched on to chase me up his very disgusting and smelly back.
“Come and get me!” I screamed, using my Boots of Mercury to assist in my bloody scaling of repeatedly summoning my pilum into the gods back, which was further aided by my electrical aura that shocked him.
Typhon screamed as his snake heads tore at his back in pointless efforts to destroy me. The Somnia, however, were very fast. They moved weightlessly up his back that shook with rage as he tried to untangle Umbra. Plus, each touch of the Somnia further drained the god’s stamina, much to my benefit.
It was everything I could do to hold on as I hastily climbed his spine. Once I got to the god’s shoulders, I would need to be quick, for his fiery gaze would turn on me in an instant, leaving me vulnerable in the light to seize with his hands.
Time to light it up, I thought, activating my Minotaur’s Horn to double my damage. Before I followed up with my attack, I summoned Umbra with my golden Friendship Key so that he would not receive the god-level of lightning I was about to unleash. Umbra appeared in the air, the Titan Hook severed from the teleportation. Umbra slammed into the Somnia on Typhon’s back, again knocking him out from their natural, fatiguing aura.
With Umbra safe and out of the way, I unleashed my Jupiter storm. I directed all fifty lightning bolts at his face for an enhanced critical strike.
An explosion of light and thunder cracked above me, blinding me temporarily as Typhon was peppered by lightning of fifty thousand damage. Having grabbed hold of Umbra in the struggle to detangle from the Titan Hooks, he now let go of the dragon from the sudden onslaught of electric force. I took advantage of the giant firework show to leap with my Jupiter strength the rest of the way, thunder clapping once I reached his neck. Typhon doubled over from the shock, giving me the perfect opening to finish him off.
With all of my might, I summoned my Pilum of Mars, activated my Piercing Rain to triple my pilum, along with my Chain Lightning ability to ensure no health was left. To top it off, I added in an extra lightning bolt attack from the dark clouds to compound it.
And just like Jupiter’s victory, I finished off Typhon the storm god with an overwhelming amount of lightning. Nothing, not even a god, could withstand such devastation.
Typhon had no final words or shouts to give. He was like an overburnt fish, completely seared on the inside from over fifteen billion volts flooding his heart and veins. He smelled like one too. Even his snake feet gave way, wriggling from the electricity and sending him collapsing to the sea.
The horde of Somnia that had tracked onto his flesh to chase me fried with him because of how wet his flesh was from the storm.
Though, there were still hundreds more descending from the clouds, falling down to me like paratroopers.
A giant explosion of water ballooned into the dark stormy sky as his corpse and theirs clashed into the inky waters. As he fell, the putrid smell of burned flesh poured up from the sea and through the thick rain beating down around me.
Umbra tore from the sea, spewing flames as he woke up again from Caesar’s control.
MAXIMUS! Umbra/Caesar shouted, closing the gap between us with incredible speed.
With hundreds of Somnia falling down to smother me in sleep, I had only one option.
Lightning teleported me to the other side of the world in seconds. I stopped somewhere in Antarctica, summoning Umbra in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Umbra appeared, still screaming, only to stop as he investigated his new surroundings. His eyes settled on mine, turning into a menacing glare.
You will not be able to use the storm with everyone against you, Caesar growled through Umbra as he prowled around me. I am most impressed with your prowess, Maximus. You are more powerful than even the gods, a feat I commend you for. But you will never be strong enough for me, for you don’t contain what it takes to rule.
All of Rome and many more await at Mount Vesuvius. Should you draw me out with your storm, you will slaughter everyone in the process. If you dare attack me, I will turn them all against each other, and you will not be able to stop it.
You will lose, Maximus, either way. Rome shall be mine, as it always was.
I turned away from him, doing my failing best to hold my head high, despite the exhaustion. I had no words to say to him.
It’s probably because he was right.
Lightning brought me back to Medusa’s Island, where almost a thousand Somnia awaited me. Though I could not rebuke Caesar’s words, which were painfully true, and which I had no idea how I would accomplish, there was something I could do.
Activating Jupiter’s final gift, I became one with the storm, harnessing its full, unlimited power as I let the frustration, the rage flow through me. I didn’t know how I was going to stop Caesar, but I could fight the Somnia in this moment. As Jupiter’s Champion, with full dominion over the skies, I let loose a plenary thunderstorm upon the remaining nine hundred Somnia, incinerating them all with god-like power.