There were already two people present inside when Annabeth and I boarded, leaving no room for Percy.
"Next car, sir." The Park ranger said.
I quickly left the elevator and pushed the boy in my place. "You two go down. I'll meet you later."
"No, I'll wait with you." Annabeth replied, glancing at the fat woman behind me.
"Its fine, Anna." I waved her off. "I have something to take care of, I'll meet you at the bottom."
They didn't look relieved but didn't complain more either. The door closed off just then, and down they went back to the ground.
I turned around to the people present; one Park ranger, one little boy with his parents, and one fat lady with her fat dog. I briefly checked out the young mother, more out of habit than any true lust; she looked...alright. Pretty face, cute little stature, not bad at all... unfortunately, she was quite flat where it truly mattered, so I soon dismissed her.
"You ruined everything boy!" Echidna suddenly growled, bearing down upon me. "I was supposed to test the boy on your father's orders!"
"Well that's unfortunate." I drolled out, my voice dripping with mock sympathy. "But I really need your son's blood. Also, completely unrelated but I'm curious; are those spiny anteaters your brood as well?"
The woman howled horribly. "I shall have your hide for that, boy! You are lucky your father ordered me not to or I'd have personally sliced you apart in two!"
I laughed in her face. "No need for such empty threats, your fatness. First go and try licking Heracles' dirty left toe without dying before thinking of challenging me."
Her flabby eyelids started twitching, lips twisting in a snarl.
"Sonny!" She bellowed. "Tear him apart for me!"
The Chimera had already grown to its full size by now, standing taller than an adult man, its head scraping along the Arch's ceiling.
The face of a lion covered in a blood-caked mane stared down at me, its massive teeth dripping with saliva as it bared itself in a snarl. Its body was that of an extra-large goat, the black hooves clacking upon the tiled deck while a 10 feet long serpentine rattlesnake tail shook through the air in silent fury.
Honestly, had it lacked that ridiculous goat head sticking through its back, it could've looked as terrifying as the Manticore.
It still did look quite terrifying…but it was more 'that's a weird ass animal' terrifying, rather than 'that thing could snap me in half' kinda terrifying.
The monster roared at me, making the people around us scream out in terror. I didn't know what they saw through the mist but it surely wasn't a tiny Chihuahua any longer.
Then without further preamble, the Chimera charged forward with its jaws spread wide, showing off its enormous canines. In a single smooth move, Stormbreaker came to wrap around my hands—glinting golden and white—before taking its twin blades form. I stepped aside the monster's powerful bite, jumped over its swinging tail, and launched a quick kick to the side of its stomach.
The monster was blasted back like a missile, crashing sideways against the wall hard enough to send deep cracks through the Arch.
Now armed with my divine blades, I leapt at the dazed monster. It had barely enough time to open its mouth and shoot flickers of flame at me in a last desperate defiance, before my sword cut through its head cleanly.
I paid no heed to the flames licking my body uselessly, my constitution too high for it to even give me a blister.
The beheaded monster's body turned into dust the next second, vaporizing in thin air. In but a few seconds, the only thing that validated its existence was the decapitated head, which I picked up like a trophy.
Turning to Echidna, I spun the head upon my knuckles, dark liquid drizzling down my arm. "You were saying?"
Froth was gathering around her mouth, her eyes glinting madly.
Contrary to what I'd been expecting—another cartoonish bout of loud yelling and raging—the Mother of Monsters whispered her fury in a quiet tongue. "You shall pay for that, godling. You will face the wrath of the terrible Echidna, and know fear unlike any. Not even Zeus can command me away from tearing you apart anymore."
"Blah blah blah, whatever." I yawned, stretching my limbs wide as I finally tucked away my prize in the inventory. "I don't have time for your bullshit. If you've got some itch to fight, feel free to try me. Otherwise, piss off."
For a second, the ancient monster actually looked about ready to engage. But then she turned away.
"I will remember this." The monster whispered one last time. "Know that you have gained an enemy, son of Zeus. I, mother of all monsters, mate of Typhon, swear upon you my eternal vengeance."
And then she was gone in smoke. For just a brief flicker I saw through the thick mist hiding her form. Just a single flicker, yet the horror of the sight was more terrible than Medusa. Black ooze and burnt skin, rotten eyes and bloody mouth...that was all I could make out before she turned to smock and dispersed.
For a moment I wondered if it was mistake...pushing her so much just to let her escape in the end. Perhaps I should've dealt with her as well, messenger of Zeus or not.
A slab of metal and concrete falling off from the side distracted me, and I turned to see a large hole now formed where I'd kicked off the Chimera.
The little boy and his family were still cowering in the corner. I briefly wondered if I should erase their minds, before noticing the camera.
'Well, now it doesn't matter I guess.'
With a sigh, I shot a small flicker of electricity towards the recording device, before casting concealment magic on myself.
Then, I simply approached the hole in the Arch, and jumped off into the open air.
My eyes scanned through the lands—searching for my two companions, only to find the drenched shape of Percy just coming out of the Mississippi's water. I flew towards the boy while muffling the sound of my sonic boom, Wind manipulation creating a tunnel through the air straight for the boy.
Plucking him out of the water, I glided over to Annabeth. Surprisingly, the boy was completely dry by the time I placed him down upon the ground.
'Must be one of the perks as a son of Poseidon.'
"Where were you!?" Annabeth asked, fretting, as we both landed beside her.
She was wearing her flying shoes and my gifted bracelet, her appearance disheveled—with dirt marring her dress—and looking like she'd just finished fighting a war.
"We need to get out of here, and quick."
A crowd was rapidly forming around the Arch, their attention on the giant hole that was now visible from far away. People were already calling for police and ambulance, and I had no doubt that the entire place would soon be teeming with officials.
I quickly manipulated the mist to cover all three of us, before forming a bubble of air to suppress any sounds. "Forget about me. Percy, why the hell were you swimming in the water?"
"We were chased off by monsters." Annabeth replied, with Percy still too busy gasping for breath. "Somehow a herd of hellhounds were waiting for us right outside. I led us away in the open to avoid any shadows, and Percy managed to…ahh...l-lure them in the river before we finished them."
Percy shot her a grateful smile and I just knew he did something far stupider than that. Still, I didn't press for more, considering they were in problem due to my aura.
My fight with the Chimera must've alerted every monster in the vicinity.
"Anyway, I got some important info in my underwater adventures." Percy cut in, blatantly trying to change the subject. "There was a lady in the water and she said we needed to go to Santa Monica's beach before we dive into the Underworld."
"And you trust this water lady because?" I asked, frowning.
"Well..." He stalled hesitantly. "She said it is my father's will."
"Anything else?" I pressed him.
"...She sounded a lot like mum." He admitted reluctantly. "I don't think she was lying though."
"Hmm."
"We have to go to Santa Monica then." Annabeth stressed. "Percy can't ignore a summons from his father."
"Agreed but let's reach Denver first, yeah? C'mon, we barely have a few minutes before the train leaves."
I cast upon us the concealment spell, and we trudged back to the train in a jog.
Of course, a jog for us was still faster than an average car, and we covered over a mile in under a minute.
On the way back, I wondered what reason Poseidon would have for this summons.
'Most likely some gift to ensure Percy's success.'
Hopefully it wasn't something useless.
We got into the train, and soon after, finally started our journey west. To the city of Denver.
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We reached Denver the next day, late in the afternoon of 14th June. Just seven days from the deadline.
But I wasn't worried.
We were well rested, fresh, and ready for anything. I'd wanted to use this quest in experimenting with my new skills, but I just couldn't be arsed right now. Travelling by land was making me cranky and I really didn't want to lose my cool with the kids.
"Should we tell Chiron about this?" Annabeth asked me, looking for a drachma to Iris call the camp.
"Nah, there's no need." I waved her off. "Chiron will be busy handling the camp, now that war must look eminent to all. Let's just find some actual food instead of magical for once."
In just a few minutes we found a nearby roadside diner, with quite a few people occupying the booths, eating their burgers and fries with not a care for any world-saving quest.
I approached the counter towards the very end, with my two teammates behind me.
"How may I help you?" The waitress asked me with a quick charming smile.
Young and pretty, my mind quickly assessed. Probably working as a summer job to get some college money. But most importantly, she was stacked. Not Gabriel level, but her top was stretched out tight, her breasts straining against the cloth…which must've been the intention from the start, but it still managed to rise my interest rapidly.
Today was a good day. And it will be even better, I just had a feeling.
"One double cheeseburger." I finally replied with a smile—taking pleasure in her small blush as she caught me checking her out—before turning to my two companions. "What do you guys want?"
"Same thing for me please." Percy replied, enthused. "This boy needs some burgers after all that Japanese food you made us eat."
I frowned down at him. "You talk like you hadn't been singing my praises for the last few days."
"Well, considering we had nothing else to eat, I thi–"
The boy was cut off from further response by a roaring rumble. We all turned to see, catching the arrival of a gigantic motorcycle outside. The bike was the size of a small hippo, flaring with red headlights that lit up the entire parking lot. Yellow flames were painted on its gas tank, and two shotguns were strapped into a pair of classy holsters, one on each side.
The guy that disembarked from the bike was even more eye-catching. He was more buffed up than my father, and could probably give Hephaestus a run for his money. My own physique—similar to Zeus—could be described as perfectly muscled.
But this guy...this guy looked like he'd pumped up some serious amounts of silicon into his biceps, in an ugly attempt to imitate the incredible Hulk. This guy could make the Rock look like a lean highschool swimmer.
With a stretchable red shirt worn solely to show off his ridiculous physique, the huge man bumbled his way towards us, a pair of red sunglasses sitting upon his nose.
Ares
Race: God
Tier: 8 (True God)
Current Tier: 7 (Minor God)
Level: 750 (Divine Form) [Max]
Current Level: 650 (Mortal Form)
Divine Power: 6,150,000/6,150,000
Stamina: 6,530,000/6,530,000
Health: 6,460,000/6,460,000
Stats
Strength: 665 (765)
Speed: 652 (752)
Dexterity: 655 (755)
Endurance: 653 (753)
Constitution: 645 (745)
Mental: 48
Spirit: 615 (715)
...And there goes my pleasurable plans for this afternoon.
What accursed luck.
Though I should've predicted it. First Medusa, then Nemean Lion, followed by the Chimera...it makes sense for Ares to make a cameo as well. All the ingredients needed for my new set of armor was right here.
Now if only I could embarrass the god somehow...
Then again, how hard could it be to embarrass someone like Ares?
'It seems like I'm about to find out.'
----------------------------
AN: And that's the end! I know, a relatively short chapter. I apologize, but hopefully you guys still enjoyed it. Also, for those who were annoyed by it last chapter, this is gonna be the last chapter where we're sticking closely to canon events. I've completed planning for the future arcs and where I want to take this story, and the next few chapters will reflect that.
The reason for this short chapter is due to some serious Irl issues, which are now solved. Another reason is cause I spent quite a bit of time planning for SOW's upcoming climax. I intend for it to be the most epic arc 1 ending out of all my fics. The scene involves dozens of characters gathered together when the shit hits the fan, and writing something like this is quite challenging cause you have to take everyone into account, and it could easily get hectic and messy.
Still, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will have Mikael vs a god you all know. And no, its not Ares. That will come soon as well, but not yet. Also, the chapter after the next one will finally unlock our mc's domains.
Well, that's about it for today. I also didn't have any beta this time so let me know if you spot any mistakes.
Till then, stay safe and have fun! Peace!
My discord: discord .gg/9wpfysDGsz to discuss fics and chill.
My Pat reon: www. Pat reon com/ Robs511 (No spaces and a dot before com) for anyone who wants to read upto the next three chaps of all my fics.
P.S: Three days late! I know, I know. It's not due to laziness or writer's block, just that I'm now focusing more on writing bigger (and better, lol )chapters. Also wrote the biggest chapter of my fanfic writing history yet (MS Ch.20 on pat reon) clocking over 16k words. So yeah, this took extra time, pushing all the other updates back. The next chapter, if I follow the schedule, should arrive on 3rd May.