Prytaneum
Isolated Pattern
It seemed the Dungeon was no longer willing to give us time to chat as the monsters all attacked at once. There was a symphony of roars, but the sheer number of voices involved reduced it to nothing more than a wave of absurdly load sound. Silverbacks leapt and Hard Armoreds rolled, Orcs lumbered and Imps flew, Batpats screamed and Infant Dragons roared. All told, there were at least a hundred monsters and there wasn't a doubt in my mind that beyond my sight, in each of the three directions being blocked off, more were spawning in every moment. This was, without a doubt, the best the upper floors had to offer in all the worst ways; an army that could chew up and spit out Level 1 adventurers by the dozens.
But frankly, they were a secondary issue to me right now. No, not even that—a tertiary issue. I had more important things to worry about right now than yet another army of monsters trying to kill me. And as the monsters began closing in, time seemed to slow down, the same instincts that gave me ADHD in regular life kicking into high gear as they processed the situation.
My first and foremost concern was, of course, my team. I'd freely admit this situation was pretty bad even by my standards, which meant they were horrifically lethal by Welf's, to say nothing of the dangers to Lili. I had faith in Welf's ability to defend himself from anything this side of an Infant Dragon, but unfortunately, Infant Dragons were very much present and they'd brought friends with them. Welf vs. a Silverback? Maybe doable. Welf vs. Twenty? Probably not. And while I'd never seen Lili fight and don't know for sure, I'd rather not test the abilities of an eight year old in this situation.
Step One: Get them both the hell out of here.
The second issue was the Minotaurs, who I felt pretty sure were at the center of this whole mess. Bad as this situation was, I wasn't stupid—this was another trap. The weird lack of monsters and that first Infant Dragon were both leading up to this. I wasn't certain exactly how the Dungeon worked, but if I were to guess, I'd say that it had deliberately held back monsters so it could build its way up to this, spawn in an army, and delay me as much as possible, all to give the Minotaurs a chance. Why a bunch of minotaurs were four floors higher than they should have been, I no idea; maybe the Dungeon had finally had enough and decided to send something bigger my way, maybe the Minotaur just had a grudge, maybe something else.
It didn't matter. Whether they were here because of me or not, I couldn't let them roam the upper floors or people would die. Even someone like Welf wouldn't be able to take on even one of them given what Eina had said—normal adventurers would die in droves. Worse, if they were heading this way, then the staircase up was nearby. Someone had to do something to stop them from getting any further.
And it looks like I'm the only sheriff in town.
Step Two: Kill all these mangy varmints.
And that's all I really needed to know.
My decision made, I spat, raising my sword and eyes.
"Let's do this, you cowpokes!" I snapped with an admittedly poor attempt at a western accent. But I tried and that's what matters. "Welf, Lili, get down!"
I didn't have time to wait and see if they'd followed my commands—didn't have time to hold back or play it safe. Instead, I reached out mentally to the shells I knew were on the ground and brought the sea to the eleventh floor. There was no gently filling a bowl of water nor even a steady build; geysers thirty feet high exploded from the ground around the shells and stopped only when they hit the ceiling. Water rained over the room with startling force and the usually pull in my gut that accompanied the use of my powers felt more like I was being stabbed, but the monsters that had been unlucky enough to be in the way were slammed into the ceiling with bone-breaking force. Salt water fell over me in the same moment that the army faltered, shocked by the sudden torrents, and I had no chance of giving them time to recover.
Releasing a scream that was part battle cry and part honest agony, I whipped the air and sea into a hurricane, willing the winds to blow faster and harder. With salt water in the air, I strong and I aimed to make sure that their advance stayed broken. Using my storm as a battering ram, I smashed into the monster's ranks, literally blowing away everything in my path as I went straight for the centerpiece—the Infant Dragon already gathering flames in its mouth. This time, Welf wasn't there to interrupt it, but I didn't so much as slow; when it attacked, I charged right through the flames.
I barely felt them. It was nothing more than a slight warmth and a mild sting, like walking on the beach on a windy day. I charged through as my armor grew incandescent and leapt into the air, grasping Riptide in both hands as I swung straight down, cleaving the Infant Dragon's head in two, leaving them connected only by its neck. I flipped, landing in a crouch behind its corpse, and flicked my sword at a nearby Silverback, removing its arm as it swung my way. With my other hand, I grabbed it by the ankle and heaved, pulling it cleanly from its feet and hurling it into the monsters on the other side of me. The water raining down around me was caught in my storm and with a swing of my left hand I sent blasts of it flying like shards of glass.
Stabbing Riptide into the ground, I turned back towards my friends and towards the geysers on either side of the room. Reaching out with my hands, I shaped them into a pair of massive imitations and brought them down like hammers on the encroaching forces. Sending them far to either side, I picked up the two remaining dragons like they were toys, grasping one in each hand and bearing down. The steady flow of water from the geysers simply added to them, enlarging the hands with every passing moment until something gave way with the crushing of scale and bone. One released a ferocious cry while the other began spraying fire wildly, but I gave both another crushing squeeze and then tossed them aside.
Wielding the hands like weapons, I swept aside the ranks of monsters approaching my team and then released both hands with a gasp, dropping enough water with each to crush trucks with simple gravity. I wiped one hand across my face, not so much wiping anything away as sweeping more salt water over it. Looking behind me at the doorway I cleared in the center—the way we'd come—I took a deep breath and glanced back at my team.
"Welf, Lili!" I shouted. "Get up! You two need to get out of here!"
Welf and Lili, who'd both wisely hit the deck when I said so, looked up at me through the raining water and the storm, expressions uncomprehending.
Oh, right. I guess they hadn't been privy to any of my thought processes there. Somehow, it seemed fitting that the one weakness of my plan was the part where I had to explain it to anyone.
Thrusting out my hands, I bent the geysers until they were hitting the far wall instead of the ceiling, making a corridor down the center of the room. With the force of the geysers and the water on the ground, I held back the monsters on either side, sweeping those in the air away with stray blasts, holding the line.
"Come on!" I shouted as I waved them towards me, voice growing rough as the pain in my gut increased. "Hurry!"
I canceled my storm as I spoke, realizing that making them run against the winds of a hurricane was probably just going to complicate matters—and also, keeping it up along with everything else was getting to me.
Come on, Percy, I told myself sternly. You lifted a river when you were sick enough to die. Don't go wimping out now.
Luckily, something in my voice seemed to get the point across because Welf pushed himself to his feet and then reached down to lift Lili up by her backpack. He actually hand to brace himself for a moment as he did, but her got her too her feet and began pulling her along as he ran towards me.
Naturally, that's when the Minotaurs decided to show up. All…five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five—
Twenty-seven of them!? What the hell!?
The leader of the…pack? Herd? The guy in front released a loud, mooing cry as he saw me and then lowered his head, leading the stampede in a charge right for me—and right through my friends as a matter of course. My eyes widened and for a moment I thought the world had slowed even more, but I barely gave it any thought; all I cared about in that moment was saving my friends. Without thinking, I brought my hands together and the geysers curved in front of me, merging into a single, massive blast that flew across the room just over Welf's lowered head. It crashed into the Minotaur like a ton of bricks followed by a stream of its closest friends, but while the Minotaur slowed, it didn't stop.
Neither did I. I didn't take the chance to fully think through what I was doing—what else was new—instead jumping forward into the stream of salt water. The moment I was submerged and being pushed downstream, I felt a rush of energy, but I just used it to make myself go faster. I flew through the water with all the speed I could muster, moving fast enough to pop anyone who wasn't related to a sea god, and in an instant, I was between my friends and the Minotaur, arm outstretched to meet its charge.
And then, uh…well, I took the bull by the horns. One horn pierced straight through my right hand, but I aimed better with my left and grasped it by the base of its horn. Even so, the sheer force of the impact jerked my arm hard enough that I hoped it hadn't been dislocated and even as I pushed against it, I was dragged back. The Dungeon floor creaked underneath my feet as I landed, groaning and then breaking as I was pushed back foot after foot—but as I grit my teeth and struggled, pushing right back with the water behind me, I managed to grind it to a halt just in front of my team.
Then, releasing a growling cry, I wrapped my fingers around its horns and pulled it down roughly even as I brought up my left knee, slamming it into the beast's snout. There was a sudden, sharp crack and its horns gave way, breaking underneath my hands as I snapped the Minotaur's head back. It staggered as it went, groaning as blood flew from its mouth, but it didn't go down. Just like with the Infant Dragons before them, there was a big different between Level 1 and Level 2—and without a shadow of a doubt, the Minotaurs were the superior of the two.
Damn.
"This town ain't big enough for the both of us, cowboy!" I growled, turning the horn in my left hand into a makeshift dagger. The Minotaur let out another cry, swing at me with a massive arm, but I went low and let my water go high, punching him in the face with a fist the size of a car. As it went, I gripped the horn tightly, lowering my body as I ran, and jumped at the last second to drive the horn into the base of its throat. My feet landed on the upper part of its chest and immediately I sprang back, flipping into my stream and swing against the current to land before Welf and Lili.
A glance back confirmed what I'd already guessed—that without me standing there to hold the way, the monsters were already starting to recover. Though they seemed hesitant now, I doubted they'd just wait kindly as Welf and Lili walked right by them.
Damn again.
Good thing I had a backup plan, I thought, already whistling. Too bad there was a reason it was the backup plan instead of the main plan. The issue with shadow traveling was that it took a lot out of Mrs. O'Leary; I guess bending space into a knot to get where you want to go will do that. One jump was no problem—she could keep going and fighting just fine. Two jumps might be more of an issue, but hey, she'd done it and still had enough energy to use me as a chew toy when we had our reunion. But three jumps in quick succession, one of which with two passengers? That might be pushing it. If I made her come here, leave, and then come back, I wasn't sure she'd have enough energy to help me fight or, more importantly, escape if she found herself in danger.
The thing is, part of my genius plan involved Welf and Lili escaping on their own, because then Mrs. O'Leary and I could handle the army of monsters. But fighting the entire army alone was fine, too. I guess.
Regardless, I had my priorities straight
"Mrs. O'Leary, get them out of here!" I shouted as my giant of a dog rose from the shadows on the floor with a roar like artillery fire. She was halfway towards snatching something up in her jaws and biting it in half when she looked at me, red eyes meeting mine. I gestured towards my friends desperately, waving my hands. "Get both of them away from here! I'll call you if I need help!"
Mrs. O'Leary hesitated, teeth still bared. I could tell she didn't like this—not this situation and certainly not my orders. But she hadn't liked it when I told her not to attack the Furies when I was being hauled away to Hades' palace and she'd still done it then. Mrs. O'Leary was a good girl.
With another snarl, she leapt over the heads of about forty monsters and came down in front of Welf and Lili hard enough to crack the floor. Without wasting time asking for permission, she picked up Lili in her jaws like a toy, making the girl scream, and then turned towards Welf.
"Percy, wait!" Welf shouted, head snapping towards me, looking around with wide eyes. "I—"
I wasn't sure what he'd wanted to say, because Mrs. O'Leary wasn't the type to stop for protests that weren't mine. Maybe he was asking to stay and fight, maybe something else. I don't know, because Mrs. O'Leary grabbed him and they all faded into the shadows.
Leaving me alone, underground, far from help, and surrounded by things that wanted to kill me.
I love being a demigod. Every day's just so much fun.