Drake

I started at Hades appearance. He was by far my favorite god and not only that, but most of our abilities were similar. I had the dao of life and death and he was the god of death. He was simply another obstacle in my way that I needed to defeat to gain greater understanding of my own personal power.

I would fight him.

Hades watched lazily as Layton finished off Aphrodite. It had been an interesting fight to say the least. Layton had gained the upper hand at the beginning only to lose her only weapon, shortly after she tried to open the hatch and accidentally freed Hades.

After that the battle had swung into Layton’s favor. Aphrodite had been able to do practically nothing when faced with the power of Layton and her bow. Sure, Aphrodite could try and dodge or hit the arrows out of air with her whip, but in the end it was all futile, the arrows were endless and Laytons aim was spot on.

As I stared off into space thinking to myself, a glint of metal caught my eye and I looked up to see a sword stuck in the marble ceiling a hundred or so feet above me.

I cocked my head in confusion. Why was that there? It was a black sword with a golden hilt and a ruby on the pommel.

I looked around for a way to get up there. I knew if I could get to that sword I could most definitely put up a good fight against Hades, possibly even win.

My eyes caught on the marble pillars. With my considerable leg strength and the ability to burn blood power into strength, I should be able to jump from pillar to pillar in a back and forth motion…

I stretched my legs real quick, I wasn’t 100% sure about this spur of the moment idea but I thought I would give it a try. As I did, Plikt challenged a god to a fight, I think it was Hephestus.

I stepped up to the pillar closest to me and lightly punched it, not very hard, just to see if it was actually strong or just there for looks. My fist hit solid stone. Good, I wouldn't come crashing down to the ground anytime soon.

I took a couple steps back to be able to get a running start. I changed into my rogue form to be able to get the most speed and leg strength possible. I would need everything that I could get.

Breathing deeply, I started to run, picking up speed until I was full out sprinting. When I got within a couple feet of the pillar I leaped as high as I could, activating my blood state for a split second.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I rushed up at the pillar in a diagonal line, reaching it in a split second. I stretched my leg out, pivoting and leaping over to the pillar behind me, some dozen feet away.

It felt like an eternity as I soared through the air, finally reaching the pillar and kicking off of it once again. I continued this until I got close to the ceiling. I tried to reach out and grab the sword but every time I fell a little bit short. I couldn’t reach it no matter how I stretched out my arms.

I grunted in annoyance and tried to make my arms longer, but no matter how I did it it made me lose my balance and almost fall. This entire time I was jumping back and forth between the pillars.

I tried to jump even higher but I almost slammed my head on the ceiling, and I decided that that may not be the right choice.

Changing tactics, I tried to hit it with Blood Slash. I hit it, but the sword didn’t budge. At this point I was considering giving up. I didn’t think that the sword was worth it and my legs were starting to get tired from the continuous jumping.

In a spur of the moment ridiculous act, I changed into my brute form before landing again, pivoting and shoving myself off of the pillar instead of just jumping like before.

I launched upwards going in a straight line towards the sword. I stretched out my hand, reaching out to try and grab it… and I felt cool metal enter my hand as it closed around the hilt of the sword.

In a roar of triumph I ripped the sword out of the ceiling and continued to fly to the other pillar. It was at that point I realized something VERY crucial and important.

I didn’t know how I was going to get back down.

I froze as my feet hit the pillar, and I latched onto it with the rest of my strength. It was hard to do though, especially with a sword in hand and my strength starting to give out.

I started to slip slowly down the pillar and I panicked, legs flailing as I tried anything to get me to stop going down. My hands were sweaty and I couldn’t get a good grip.

I started to slip faster and faster, my hands scrambling for any purchase at all. I set my legs against the pillar slowly and launched myself back to the other pillar, repeating the same travel method except for reversed. Instead of jumping up, I was jumping backwards into the other pillar.

As I got closer and closer to the ground, I started to lose momentum and was barely making the jumps between pillars. Plikt had finished his fight and the rest of the gods were now looking at me in surprise as I hit the ground in a roll, holding the sword out to my side so I didn’t impale myself on the blade.

I glanced at the sword for the first time, it was a short curved blade and had a sickle like protrusion at the end. I felt like I should know what it was called but I couldn’t remember for the life of me.

I looked up and met Hades' eyes. He was smirking softly at me and when our eyes met he stood up floating in the air. I walked over to the center of the arena and smiled at him.

“Hades! I challenge you to a duel!” I roared at him, smiling savagely.

Hades smiled down at me. “I accept.” Was all he said before he fell down from the sky like a meteor.