With another tier 4 monster taken care of, I was feeling utterly satisfied with my performance. The only dark dot was my inability to be on different places at the same time. I shook my head to clear that line of thought and turned to good things, but a roar of rage interrupted my muse.
I turned towards the rest of my allies and saw them getting steadily surrounded.
Their path of retreat was cut off by the Hellhound army, who somehow all decided to shadow travel towards the top of the half-blood hill in an organised manner.
I frantically observed everywhere for a tier 5 monster (monsters wouldn't listen to a tier 4 one would they?) but I couldn't see anyone who could still hold command over these creatures. How were these monsters planning their moves? Who was controlling them?
Surely Hades couldn't be controlling them from all the way to underworld? And if he was, wouldn't that give those useless gods enough incentive to finally interfere?
I didn't have more time to think as the Cyclops started bludgeoning my allies with huge clubs, who had to dance away from their attacks. Their strikes shattered the earth, unbalancing my allies and leaving them open to becoming hellhound chow.
Once again, I found myself preparing to fight another battle. But just as I was going to join them, I felt a wake of weakness strike me. Frowning, I quickly checked my status.
Mikael
Age: 9
Race: God/Angel/Devil Hybrid
Tier: 4
Level: ?
Divine Power: 91,000/?
Holy Power: 120,000/?
Demonic Power: 134,000/?
Stamina: 9,500/?
Health: 100,500/?
'What the fuck is happening to me. Something's blocking my system?...No, that's impossible. So my power? Someone's messing with my powers?'
Then my eyes went towards my stamina and I felt another jolt of bewilderment going through.
The hell...I've never went below 10,000 points in stamina. Never in any battle, practice spar, capture the flag,...never. And I've barely been fighting for less than an hour... something didn't make sense.
Then, my eyes went to the lowering stats and I realised the mess I've fallen under.
Another, more noticeable wave of exhaustion assulted me. I quickly glanced at my stamina and health again.
Stamina: 7500/?
Health: 90,000/?
'Oh for god's fucking sake! Something is sucking away my physical capabilities!'
I hated this kind of things. Some invisible foe stripping you of your power? That's the worst kind of situation
[Skill Created: Mystiokinesis Sense] Lvl 1
[Resistance Created: Mystiokinesis] Lvl 1
...So a magical opponent then.
With a burst of speed, I left the skies and approached my allies. I had to see if it's just happening to me or everyone else. But first I needed to take care of these Cyclops.
Cyclops weren't new opponents for me. Even though they were Tier 4 opponents with all their stats focused on Strength, they weren't usually a challenge for a flying opponent like me. I'd even say they were quite predictable by now. They were simply big brutes with a lot of strength, an incredible amount of strength. Probably more than even that manticore. But they were straightforward opponents. Of course, if one of them strikes you successfully, you'll go splat all the same.
There was only a single Cyclops left, the other one was struck dead on the ground by Thalia.
So without any planning, I simply coated my spear with lightning and came down swinging upon the things neck. My extreme flying speed gave me a huge amount of momentum to strike. So fast and true was my strike that no one knew what happened as I landed on the ground.
For a few seconds everyone stared...and then the Cyclop's head fell on the ground, cleanly cut.
"Well, that was easy." I stated with a smile as the demigods started banging their weapons on their shields.
Another bout of weakness went through me and I remembered what I was here for. I quickly glanced at one of the Ares fighter's status and saw his health was full. So not on everyone...who else could've been targeted? Thalia of course. I checked her status too, but with same result. Almost full health. So the power draining was only happening to me? There were actually people with full healths so the conclusion was clear.
"Right everyone, Start retreating!" I interrupted their cheering. "We'll clear any remaining Hellhounds and Skeletons tomorrow!"
There weren't any tier 4 opponents remaining on the field. We may have been caught in a trap, but we'd fought right fucking back! Our aim was to clear away the monster army, and we achieved it with complete success. Yes, the sacrifices and losses were great, I could easily count over a dozen bodies being carried by Apollo healers, but atleast the camp was now secure.
Now all we needed to do was safely return.
"Get into formation!" I hollored at the top of my lungs. "Mark, take your cabin and cover the front. Luke, lead the Hermes to cover our retreat, don't engage any skeletons, only fight if they get too close! Apollo cabin, support Hermes and shoot down the skeletons. Aphrodites, support Ares and keep a look out in the shadows for Hellhounds! Me, Anastasia, and Thalia will clear the way with the Ares'."
The demigods followed my orders without complaint. Not like anyone will question me after that kind of performance anyway.
Another wave of exhaustion seemed to hit me but I managed to avoid showing it to others.
Stamina: 6000/?
Health: 80,000/?
I approached Luke and Thalia, leaning close to whisper quietly. "Enemy magician. Some kind of draining spell on me. I'll probably drop consciousness in thirty minutes top if they continue."
I could feel Thalia's hand clutching mine worriedly. I didn't turn to look at her and simply whispered again. "Not now. First let's get to the camp. We don't want others to panic right now."
"Alright everyone, let's go!"
At my command all of us started climbing the hill where the hellhounds awaited us. It was a bad position to be in, getting pincered between hellhounds and skeletons. But there was nothing for us to do but preserve.
"Hey, leader. Fancy seeing you here." Anastasia greeted me as we kept a steady pace towards the top of the hill.
"Anna, are you injured?" I asked with a frown, ignoring her greeting.
By my observation, Anna had lost almost 40,000 health, which was a lot for someone who only had 70,000 health to begin with.
"Oh my! I didnt know you cared, my sweet leader!" She exclaimed exaggeratedly. "You've already healed my wounds better than any from Apollo cabin could ever hope to do!"
I sighed. "Forget I asked."
"Never! I shall never forget this sacred memory! I shall treasure it forever in the most secret part of my heart!"
I heard some snickering behind and sighed again before muttering, "Well, good for you then."
"Shut up and focus." My sister snapped at the girl. "You're just tiring him with your silliness. Leave him alone."
I ignored their further bickering in favour of keeping an eye on the surrounding. The forest that used to lay on this side of half-blood hill was completely obliterated from the Greekfire.
I wondered absently what we'll be doing about this. The forest was supposed to be one of things that kept curious mortals away. And I knew from experience that any type of clearing like this could become a prime picnic spot for dumb people.
Whatever. Chiron would probably figure out something.
We had almost reached the top of the hill, where the Hellhounds awaited us when I felt a familiar shift in the air. It was similar to how the air shifted to reveal the true monster army. And I knew what was happening at once.
[Skill Leveled Up: Mist Sense] Lvl 2
I instantly turned towards my right, launching a holy spear where I'd just left the air shift. My companions were quickly alerted, crouching down with weapons at ready.
"What is it?" Anna whispered.
"An enemy mist user. Do we have any mist user to counter them?" My question was met by grim silence as the four squad leaders glanced at each other.
"No, I'm afraid we don't have anyone such." The temporary Apollo head, Kevin pierce, responded.
Then I felt something again. Only this time it was a little different... different than mist.
[Skill Leveled Up: Mystiokinesis Sense] Lvl 2
The feeling was coming from directly under our feets.
"Prepare yourselves!" I screamed in warning.
The earth under us turned into ice the next moment, making all of us start slipping down the hill again as the gravity dragged us back.
"The Hellhounds are attacking!" An Aphrodite screamed from the side, and sure enough, the Hellhounds took that chance to charge us head on. There wasn't enough shadows for them to travel into.
Thank God for small mercies.
"We're sliding towards the skeletons!" An Apollo warned loudly. "They're too close to us!
Cursing to myself, I took to the air again.
"Hermes cabin! Slam your weapons inside the ice!" I bellowed with all my might, using wind to augment it's volume. "Apollo cabin! Lean against them from the front to oppose the gravity and keep launching arrows! Everyone else hold your grounds! The ice has spread too far for us to escape it by running!"
Then I reached inside myself to touch the well of power.
But instead of the divine energy, I approached a much more darker well, with a more sinister edge to it. I let the demonic energy fill my body and imagined what I wanted it to make as fast as possible, before using the power of creation to make it real.
A huge metallic chain came into being. It wasn't a single straight chain, instead it was shaped like a...a rib cage really. The spine of the chain was almost 15 meters long, while it's 5 rib-like hands stretched out over 5 meters on each side of the chain. The holes in the chain were also big enough to fit a whole foot in.
Then making full use of my powerful air Manipulation to hold onto the heavy thing, I slowly laid it down on the ice, shifting it to accurately lay beside the demigods.
"Everyone, place your foot inside the gap for balance!" I ordered the stunned crowd.
They've seen my Holy powers in action, but I never practiced using my demonic power in public.
So I totally understood their current shock, but we had a battle to win.
Thankfully, they seemed to understand that too, and without any further ado, they all stuck their feets inside the chain to stop from slipping down. The chain itself was too rough and heavy for the gravity to pull down, with small spikes on the underside to dig inside the smooth ice.
"Hold the formation! Get ready!" I bellowed out orders again as the Hellhounds finally reached us.
"Attack!"