The Seraphic System
Chapter: 115
(The Ticking Clock)
-{Artemis}-
Artemis tried to focus on something else as the sheer weight of what was meant to be Atlas' Burden pressed down on shoulders.
Artemis had always been curious as to how bearing a weight, however enormous, could be a punishment for the Titan of Endurance.
She'd realized within the first hour that the weight of the position she had been forced to take wasn't something that could even be measured, it was more dangerous than that.
It was conceptual.
The burden adjusted itself, seemingly finding the exact limit of what one could possibly bear, and settled there.
Not quite crushing but not quite manageable either. Just enough to keep you forced under a weight you could just about handle at the edge of your limit.
Then slowly, but surely, it increased. As one's muscles became familiar with strain, it introduced even more of it.
This was probably something that only a divine being could withstand. She'd been holding it for days now, if her divine mind had managed to keep up with the crawl that had become time.
It was safe to say she wasn't holding up well.
Her eyes erratically scanned her surroundings for the thousandth time. Desperate to notice anything different.
The summit of Mount Tamalpais stretched flat and barren.
Gray stone came to form a natural platform at its peak. What was once a mighty building had been destroyed. Broken columns lay scattered across the clearing. Some stood upright, others toppled and half-buried in dirt.
The pillars were carved from black marble streaked with bronze, geometric patterns etched into their surfaces. Ancient Greek letters ran vertically along some of them.
Shattered archways framed sections of the plateau.
Pieces of walls jutted from the ground at odd angles. Stone blocks, each one massive, sat where they'd fallen. The ruins formed a rough circle around a central point.
At the center, she was still alone, holding up the weight of the sky.
Around the clearing's edge, tiered stone seats carved into the mountainside created a natural amphitheater. Most were crumbled. Some remained intact. Steps led down between the rows.
Broken statues dotted the area. A hand here. A torso there. Faces weathered beyond recognition.
The fragments were enormous, carved for beings much larger than human.
Wind freely blew across the area and Artemis stared holes into the backs of the two Titans that stood at a large desk nearby, covered with a large—but slightly outdated—map.
A map that didn't focus on the human settlements or cities, but those hidden within them.
Her eyes closed once again.
The situation was still as bleak and could still be summarised in a single sentence.
Kronos had tricked her.
It was as simple as that.
She shouldn't have been hunting the Ophiotaurus. Following the trail on her own had been stupid. He'd successfully isolated her from the rest of the world when she was about to shoot her arrow.
She had tried to resist. She hadn't been slow to react when she realised she was being attacked, even managing to activate her Divine form to intercept the sudden attack. Even with that, Kronos had thoroughly beaten her and from there kept her a prisoner.
It had confused her. Why didn't he take the chance to kill her in her divine form? There had never been a better chance than that. It wouldn't even have been hard, especially with his… powers. It hasn't made sense right up until she had been forced to take Atlas' burden.
The formerly imprisoned Titan Of Endurance was now free. Predictably serving Kronos again.
And in an almost mocking manner, they had both made Mount Tamalpais theirs once more. Freely using it as a stronghold. Allowing Ladon to become a guard and technically taking control of the Divine Tree.
An admittedly good idea with the wards protecting the place. They had prepared well. None of this helped her.
With the capture of her mother, what could she even do?
She sent a slightly worried look towards Leto.
The Titaness was bound in powerful chains. She was unconscious, her gentle features contorted in a slight grimace that looked out of place on her otherwise regal face.
Her arms trembled and she adjusted her stance.
The weight shifted with her, maintaining that perfect terrible pressure, maybe increasing again. She didn't notice.
At that moment, Kronos turned to her.
He still wore a hood, covering the features of the avatar he had taken. The hood barely covered his armoured form, his arms both covered in thick plated gauntlets.
Two golden orbs regarded her with a hint of amusement.
"Having a hard time?" He asked, his tone amused.
Artemis didn't reward him with a response, looking away.
The taller form of Atlas behind him sent her a brief glance, full of apathy, before refocusing on the large map they were looking at.
Kronos chuckled at her defiance and turned to the map once more.
She had only caught snippets of their conversations, but even what she had heard didn't bode well.
They were locating Titans. Both allies and enemies.
Atlas was already immensely powerful. His release would cause serious problems.
With Her Father having mismanaged the Greek pantheon so badly, a sweeping Titan victory seemed inevitable.
It wouldn't be easy, but the Titans were Titans, beings of power greater than Olympians. Depending on how far they got without being noticed, especially with this mysterious group backing them up, this could be really bad.
Artemis sent an annoyed look at the large orb she held up, an orb that contained a boundless expanse of blue and white. The conceptual weight of the sky.
Why had Zeus allowed such a thing to even exist?!
The answer was obvious but also outrageous. Her father enjoyed grand displays and sweeping gestures.
Forcing the Titan of Endurance to hold up the sky for eternity was the only thing soothing his bruised ego from his defeat to him. He hadn't expected to lose to Atlas, and had appreciated the 'interference' of Hades even less.
Zeus must have been so proud for coming up with this. That darned old man probably never considered what might happen if someone clever found a way to weaponize it against one of his own.
As if mocking her thoughts, her shoulders burned even more.
Kronos was back. Weakened and stuck in an avatar body, but back nonetheless. It was something they had already suspected and discussed at the Council of the Olympians, but once again Zeus hadn't acted urgently enough.
Zeus was probably embroiled in some dispute with Poseidon and Hades. Her father had a talent for picking fights with his brothers when actual threats loomed just over the horizon, oh so worried that one of his more competent brothers might take over for good.
She grimaced even more.
Apollo didn't know yet. Her twin brother was off somewhere, likely charming mortals or writing terrible poetry that posed as much threat as his arrows if anyone actually heard it.
If he found out their mother had been captured, he'd lose his mind. That much, at least, she could trust about her twin.
As for saving her? She could only place her trust in a Goddess to solve this.
Athena would surely handle it.
… But would she be fast enough?
Atlas nodded to Kronos and left the room, out of sight and no doubt up to something that didn't bode well for anyone.
Kronos sighed. "You children."
He shook his head.
"You understand your chances of succeeding are little to none, correct?" Artemis couldn't help but bite out, not enjoying his patronising tone.
"I doubt even you believe that." Kronos replied, his demeanour a lot calmer than she had thought it would be. "And even then, the extent you know is limited by your lack of understanding."
Artemis' fiery emotions flared.
"You lost when you had an empire and an army. Lost to a group of Gods that didn't have anything. Now those same Gods have grown in number, and have formed their own empire, far more glorious than yours." Artemis snarled, unable to help herself. Her anger grew stronger with each word.
Her annoyance grew when Kronos remained unperturbed.
"Such a simplistic take on what was a path of fate and treachery." Kronos mused. "You kids are so short sighted, unable to see beyond the lies you have been told. Rest assured, I shall enlighten you and your kind soon enough. Ah, it's good to be alive again."
Artemis didn't deem him worthy of a response. Not when her own anger was burning so harshly.
"A Divine Curse cast by a dying Primordial is a powerful thing. You'll find even you can't run from fate." Kronos said, seemingly entertaining her out of boredom. "There are not many things that can make Fate act, that becomes more so when you become more powerful. But my Father's death was enough."
"You're blaming it on Fate?" Artemis replied with exasperation, mixed with baleful mockery. "And here you are, calling me a child. I thought you were the all-powerful Primordial born Titan King? You sound a lot more like a child than me."
Artemis selected her words carefully, making sure to be mocking enough to make Kronos talk.
"Fate is powerful, you foolish granddaughter of mine. Perhaps, it's one of the strongest forces out there. It doesn't always come with an overwhelming display of might." Kronos chided, still calm. "Sometimes it chips away at your foundation, giving a large advantage to your enemy when you least expect it. It forges betrayals, and then takes away your sight. In the end, Fate is a fickle mistress."
Kronos chuckled. "I suppose explaining it to a child would be a waste of… time. It's a good thing that isn't quite a problem for me."
His hand clenched and burning orange energy flared from his gauntlet, an immense amount of power making her skin shiver.
"I'm glad it happened the way it did." Kronos said with a hint of nostalgia. "While the curse came to pass and I did lose everything…"
The world moved and time flowed around them, the old building beginning to repair itself. The building that had looked so old and worn turned into a mighty fortress once more.
"There is no longer any curse of Primordial that'll come to your aid. Not even my mother is here to assist you." Kronos said, a hint of glee entering his tone. "We are on equal footing truly now, daughter of my pretentious son."
Artemis felt a profound shock at the display of… power. If this was his Avatar…
What would his actual body be able to do?
-{Kai}-
We were finally here.
A large domineering mountain in front us, one we all started at.
Mount Tamalpais.
The peak disappeared into mist that hung too still, too thick to be natural and even from the base I could feel the impressive protections layered around the mountain.
The air bit into my exposed skin with a cold that seemed to seep from the stone itself.
Percy squinted up the mountain. "Is this the right place?"
The exit of Labyrinth was just at the base of the mountain.
Zoe's jaw tightened.
Her dark eyes fixed on the ruins with an intensity that bordered on pain, though she smoothed her expression a moment later. "You believe our Lady is being kept within this forsaken place?"
"With all the information we hold, this is most likely where she is being held captive," Annabeth replied. "Unfortunately, none of the people we interrogated in the Labyrinth seemed aware of anything useful." Annabeth's gray eyes moved across the terrain in quick sweep.
"This is our best bet." I said, looking around and pushing my senses outward. "Otherwise I'm afraid your lady is probably not going to be saved any time soon."
Zoe grimaced and the three hunters with her outright scowled.
"So… can we just nuke the place and call it a day?" Percy suggested.
Zoe shot him a glare.
"I don't think that'd be very productive in saving lady Artemis Percy." Annabeth dryly replied.
"I doubt the Olympians would be amused." I commented idly. "It's a good plan to fall back on though."
The hunters' heads snapped towards me and I couldn't hide my small laugh.
Percy joined me, easing the slight amount of tension that had formed.
The quest lingered in the corner of my gaze.
[Quest]
The Huntress's Burden
Description: The goddess Artemis has vanished. Whispers speak of a terrible fate, a weight no mortal should bear, a curse older than Olympus itself.
The Oracle's words echo: "Where father once stood eternal, daughter now suffers. Where earth yearns for sky's embrace, a Titan's prison becomes another's cage.
Seek the Mountain of Despair, where fruit once grew, and Titan's held the heavens. There, beneath the weight of stars, the Huntress fades."
Objective: Locate and rescue Artemis
Bonus Objective: ???
Reward: ?,?
Bonus Reward: ?
This was definitely a mountain. And it would make sense why she had gone missing, this place was defended to a crazy degree.
The barriers hit me in waves.
Mental, defensive, Anti-teleportation and many others… it wasn't a surprise and Michael had told me that this was probably the case. This place held an imprisoned Titan, a tree that grew Divine Apples and an Insomaniac Dragon.
Michael shifted beside me, eyes moving across the sky for a brief moment, his eyes having taken on that distant quality.
"As expected it's heavily defended," he said curiously. "There are multiple layers of protection… teleporting here would have expectedly placed us a far distance away."
"It's to be expected with what it holds." Annabeth replied. "The Apples were a gift from Gaia herself."
"And they just left them on some random mountain?" Percy asked incredulously.
Hmm, how to go about this…
Before we could continue, I needed to do something. I turned to look at the Labyrinth entrance behind us. A dark crack in the mountainside, barely visible in the shadow of an overhanging boulder.
We couldn't leave it open.
Michael followed my gaze. "You wish to seal it?"
I smiled and nodded.
"It wouldn't do good for anyone to follow us out." I knelt and pressed my palm against the cold stone. "Or use it as an escape route. But I'm mostly concerned about someone following us with the ruckus we made. I imagine whoever is keeping Artemis is probably having trouble communicating with the wardens there."
Annabeth seemed to agree. "So if they are with the Khaos Brigade, reinforcements won't be able to come help them as quickly."
Instead of answering myself, I let Wood Release do the explanation.
A tree erupted from the rocky soil, roots cracking through stone as they spread deep into the mountain. The trunk thickened. Twenty feet. Then thirty.
Branches reached toward the entrance like grasping fingers.
A mimic of a tree from the Garden Of Eden.
Michael merely smiled at the sight, while the group of Hunters found themselves staring at its beauty.
I whispered the incantation Frieren had taught me. The spell linked my power to the tree's life force, creating a buffer that would absorb sound and suppress energy signatures.
It was a usual spell, one that would probably be useless to most. Since finding a nearby tree was probably inconvenient when you could create an actual barrier, then If there was a Tree nearby it wouldn't necessarily be strong enough.
The spell was perfect for me though.
With me able to create powerful chakra-infused trees and even mimics of some of the trees from Eden, which possessed all sorts of passive abilities, it had proven itself to be a powerful combination.
My Rinnegan activated and my hand closed.
Gravity magic answered my call and the structure around the small opening began to collapse, only for the purple haze of gravity magic to vanish as I paused.
Percy chuckled nervously. "I see you've got some new tricks, why'd you stop?"
"It's not worth the power and I have a better idea." I replied, taking out something Uriel and I had worked on.
It was a disk of Arcsteel spiralling into the centre of a small crystal, that crystal being Mithril.
It was a blank slate, but that was exactly why I had made it. If someone was going to come I'd rather not just let them find another entrance nearby.
With it already set up, I wrote one more word to direct the already set-up device. I channeled its focus on an explosion whenever someone passed by it.
Michael looked over my shoulder and seemed to understand.
When finished, I place it in the crevice.
Annabeth and Percy looked on curiously, while the Hunters pretended not to look.
"Just deciding to leave a little trap and warning for anyone trying to follow us." I smiled innocently.
Annabeth tilted her head. "What if we are followed by someone who isn't against us"
"Then we'll pray for their loss." Percy snickered.
I chuckled. "I highly doubt it, but I'll extend the barrier to cover it. So whoever is coming will have to be sufficiently powerful to break through."
Annabeth smiled, her worries placated.
For a moment, no one spoke.
"So, what is thy plan?" Zoe broke the silence first. "I presume you have something in mind."
Annabeth turned to me.
"Should we assume Lady Artemis is being held up there?" She asked.
"I'm not sure what to assume," I said, squinting my eyes. "But I have a vague plan."
Part of me wanted to move now. Michael, Mahoraga, Galadriel, and me. We had the firepower to punch through whatever defenses they'd set up and take the mountain by force.
Artemis was captured. Atlas was likely free.
But the incident with Pan still lingered on my mind. That moment of helplessness, as corruption clawed at my soul before I could even react.
I'd grown careless since arriving in Heaven. Too comfortable with so much undultured power at my fingertips.
I pulled my mask from my coat and settled it over my face. The enchantments activated immediately, smothering my magical presence. I layered my own concealment over it, suppressing what remained until I was little more than a blur.
It was funny.
Percy squinted his eyes and Annabeth looked at me curiously.
Even knowing I was here, they were struggling.
"It's best if I go ahead and scout, I'll have a better view with my eyes and ability to conceal myself." I said confidently, my voice anonymous and fading within the wind like vapour.
Michael's posture changed immediately. "No, there is too much risk involved. Allow me to scout the area. From what I could sense there are multiple life forms up there."
"I'm aware, I won't go far." I met his eyes through the mask. "I only want to see who we are up against, getting a sense of their numbers and positions before we commit."
His jaw became taunt. Michael's presence was already struggling to be contained. It was a natural phenomenon with the powerful gathering. If Azrael was here we'd probably be broadcasting our location.
The cost of being too powerful was ironically a higher tendency to end up in shitty situations.
"I still don't like it." Michael said firmly. "Regardless of what we know, we will be forced to fight whatever opposition has based themselves there if you desire to release the Goddess. It's an unnecessary risk."
I sighed internally. Even though he knew how he wasn't making sense, he probably didn't care.
"I wouldn't say that. Don't worry so much, my mask and concealment are higher than anyone else here. A quick scan will work." I replied, my tone light. "I could send Galadriel, but it would be quicker if I went and I'd be less noticed."
The Rinnegan would allow me to see through her eyes.
Michael frowned.
Galadriel poked her head up adorably.
"Surely we can go together?" Michael questioned. "We shall be sensed regardless when we approach, even with my masking that won't hold up."
"We will, but we will still get a while before we are sensed. That will allow us to get the drop on them and mess up whatever they're doing." I replied evenly. "We don't need to fight fairly to retrieve the Goddess and while I wouldn't mind fighting whoever is involved, we don't know if they're our enemies."
Zoe's eye twitched and she stared at me intensely, catching my meaning.
Michael obviously knew this, but still remained stubborn.
"If there is any sign of a significant threat, I will return immediately," I added with a wry smile. "I'll retreat instantly and I am sure you'll be by my side at any burst of power you sense."
I could tell the situation with Pan wasn't helping my case.
A pause stretched between us.
"Very well," Michael said finally. His voice carried an edge that made it clear this was a concession, not agreement. "But if you are not back within ten minutes, I am coming after you."
I smiled beneath the mask. "I'll be back soon."
Percy gritted his teeth. "Seriously?"
"While a plan is good to have, in this case I have to agree." Annabeth said with a displeased look.
"While that's nice, don't underestimate my ability to remain hidden." I replied with a roll of my eyes behind the mask.
Light wrapped around my form in thin layers and my body began to fade from view.
"I agree with the girl." Zoe protested. "This may prove more endangering than simply pushing forward in an overwhelming wave."
"If they are able to sense me instantly then that plan probably wouldn't work anyway." I said, not giving them a chance to reply.
I suppressed my power until it was barely a whisper and bent the light around my body, blurring my outline against the rocky terrain.
The mountain was steeper than it looked from below. I scaled it anyway, moving quickly from one place to another. The wards pressed against my senses. Layers of them. Even then, they couldn't sense my approach, as muted as it was.
The upper slopes were empty. No patrols on the ancient steps that wound toward the peak. Which soon entered my gaze in the form of a grand gateway before me, flanked by walls of black stone.
I waited, checking for a barrier that usually accompanied short walls in the supernatural world but it was clear. I floated over the wall and dropped silently to the other side.
The Garden of the Hesperides greeted my sight.
The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed. Stepping stones of polished black marble led round either side of a five-storey-tall apple tree.
Trees lined the space in careful rows, but one stood apart from the rest. Larger and older with golden light filtered through its branches, heavy with fruit that gleamed like captured sunlight.
I recognized those apples.
Divine power radiated from each one, thick enough to taste on my tongue.
The tree's bark was silver-white, its roots diving deep into soil that was thick with divine energy.
I eyed the Tree with a hint of greed.
Eden had many divine trees of its own, something I had studied in an attempt to recreate them with Mokuton, an experiment which had a lot of success. Some trees gave a passive healing auras, while others had bizarre effects such as generating random shocks of lightning every few minutes.
'Appraisal.'
[Tree of the Hesperides] (Divine Tree of Immortality)
The Tree of the Hesperides is a sacred gift from Gaia to Hera upon her marriage to Zeus.
Its golden apples grant immortality to any who consume them and its roots drink deep from the primordial essence of the earth itself. Guarded eternally by the hundred-headed dragon Ladon and the Hesperides nymphs.
{Divine Properties}
Divine Aura Of The Gift - The tree emanates a warm, golden light that suffuses its surroundings with divine energy. This light marks the garden as sacred ground, untouched by decay or corruption.
Primordial Roots - Drawing power directly from Gaia's essence, the tree's roots anchor it to the fundamental forces of creation. The soil around it is infused with a primordial divine energy, an energy that predates the Olympians.
{Fruit Effects}
Apples of Immortality - A golden fruit from the gardens beyond time. Each bite grants permanent enhancement to the consumer's lifeforce and ability to recover. Legend says that those who consume an entire apple may transcend their mortal limitations entirely.
Divine Essence - Each apple contains concentrated divine power. Even proximity to the fruit enhances the capabilities of nearby beings, though the full blessing requires consumption.
{Special Attributes}
Wedding Gift of Gaia - As a creation of the Earth Mother herself, the tree carries echoes of a primordial divine power that predates even the Titans. Its existence is tied to the fundamental laws governing life and death.
Eternal Bloom - The tree doesn't adhere to the flow of time. Its fruit ripens eternally, never rotting, never falling unless plucked by hand.
I wanted it…
Why anyone wouldn't have this protected was beyond me.
A thought passed my mind and my eyes lingered, but I continued, staying concealed and moving from shadow to shadow. It didn't take me long to find a massive dragon that lay coiled at the garden's heart.
That'd be Ladon.
The hundred-headed guardian, each serpentine neck thick as a tree trunk, scales gleaming black and gold in the filtered light. All of its heads were tucked against its body, eyes closed in sleep.
Around the creature, a formation had been carved into the earth.
Appraisal showed the Dragon was in the middle of the God-Realm. So it was as powerful as I had expected it would be.
I spent a few seconds looking at the formation with a hint of caution, only to relax as I found out what it was.
It was to keep the Dragon asleep.
That came with a lot of information.
So they couldn't control the Dragon, that made things easier. Beyond the dragon, a throne sat on a raised platform of black stone, with someone occupying it.
A woman. Her lower body coiled beneath in massive loops, scales the color of dried blood catching the golden light.
From the waist up she appeared human, though that word felt inadequate. Her skin was pale green, her hair a writhing mass of smaller serpents that moved with apparent independence.
Her features were sharp, predatory, with eyes that were an ominous shade of yellow. She was wearing armor across her chest and shoulders, bronze plates worked with images of monsters.
'Appraisal.'
{Name: Echidna}
{Title: Mother of Monsters, The She-Viper, Mate of Typhon}
{Race: Dracaena (Elder)}
{Power Level: 11,000}
Not weak, but not the real threat here either.
But why was she here? And was she here alone?
It took me a few minutes of scanning the area and I almost continued without seeing them.
Figures crouched among the branches. Humanoid shapes wrapped in dark cloth, weapons glinting when the light caught them. I counted twelve before I stopped. There could be more hidden deeper in the foliage.
Appraisal showed most of them to be in the Mid-class.
Not a real threat but with sufficient weaponry, they could change the tides of any confrontation. Against any normal group of Demigods that is.
I mapped their positions, then moved along.
Another footpath led even further above the garden, shorter as it provided a view of a massive fortress barely hidden by a lingering mist.
Massive walls of black marble climbed toward the sky, gleaming and whole. Towers jutted from the corners, their peaks lost in the unnatural mist. Banners hung from the battlements, fabric so dark it seemed to drink the light.
It was a fortress, one that dominated the area with an impressive architectural structure.
I circled wide, staying below the sight lines of the walls. I found an angle that let me see into the central courtyard. I finally found a figure. Through an open window giving way to a large grand room that had a massive space in the middle, circled with white stone.
A feminine figure gritted her teeth, eyes seething while she knelt at the center of a raised platform. Her silver clothes were torn and stained. Her black hair hung lank around a face drained of color, skin so pale it was almost translucent.
Above her shoulders, she held an orb.
It was massive. Ten feet across at least, swirling with blue and white that seemed to contain infinite depth. Clouds moved within it. Stars glittered at its edges.
Most of all, it didn't fit the image of a large bulky man that was in my mind for Atlas.
So either someone hadn't been eating enough or this was exactly who I hoped it was.
{Name: Artemis}
{Title: Goddess of the Hunt, Lady of the Moon, Protector of Maidens}
{Race: God}
{Power Level: 51,230}
So Atlas was free.
And someone stronger than a High God-class being had subdued her.
My hands clenched, eyes drifting towards the quest. You better be worth it, me-damn it!
After a while of not seeing anyone else, my thoughts began to wander dangerously.
The window was easily accessible, as if someone breaching it hadn't even been thought about when it was made. Probably due to some magical defences that were no longer present.
They had to be kept up in most cases after all.
I could get her right now… The temptation to move now, to grab her and run, tugged at me.
Ending a quest that quickly almost felt amusing.
But I held off.
Even if I did manage to get Artemis away with relative safety, I didn't know what would happen if that orb above her was unattended too. And coming up with a better plan wasn't too hard.
I didn't know where Atlas was and I didn't know where the person who had freed him was either, though I did have an idea of who would be interested in doing that.
Me and Michael could assault the main area and free Artemis, while Percy and Annabeth along with the hunters could easily deal with Echida. Allowing for a coordinated assault.
I sighed and nodded.
Michael would get needy if I tried to do it on my own and I'd look stupid if he needed to come save me again.
Having a Super-class Angel at my back wasn't the worst of situations.
I looked at my own status.
{Name: Kai}
{Power level: 25,595}
{STR: 437
{DEX: 425
{VIT: 308
{MAG: 493
{CHA: 50
My power has grown explosively over the past months.
Yet… It still wasn't enough.
Whatever was up there could kill me in seconds.
The gap between us wasn't small. It was a chasm and while I could confidently fight beings stronger than me that only went up to a certain degree.
My confidence rested entirely on my Semi-divine form. That transformation would push me into the higher reaches of the God Realm, strong enough to fight, maybe even win.
But it had limits.
The good news was that my progress with the Divine Shard had extended those limits. Every five percent of integration added another twenty seconds to the form's duration.
It wasn't much. But it was more than I'd had before and I couldn't blame the lack of power increase since the name said it itself.
Semi-divine form.
My thoughts progressed, thinking about it as I silently observed the area.
Then, with a last look, I dropped down the mountain silently.
I dismissed my mask as I rejoined the group.
Galadriel immediately came to slither up my arm and around my neck.
Michael was waiting exactly where I'd left him.
His posture was as stiff as a board until the moment I came into view, tension bleeding out of his shoulders.
"So?" Percy asked immediately. "Are we going to die a gruesome death?"
Annabeth sent him a look. "I'm sure if it's that bad we will make a retreat."
"I cannot allow that to happen." Zoe declared.
Percy sent her a flat stare. "Ok… stay here and make a distraction while we leave, I'm sure they have a couple more cages to accommodate you."
I watched the scene with amusement.
"It doesn't look too bad." I intervened. "The Garden itself has some sort of force hiding in the trees but you should be able to handle them. The only other one probably is Echidna."
"Echidna?!"
Annabeth's eyes widened, then narrowed into slits. "The Mother of Monsters? She's here?"
The words were said with a hint of anticipation.
"Sitting on a throne in the garden like she owns the place." I nodded. "She's got guards hidden in the trees. About a dozen that I could count, maybe more. Mid-class at best."
Zoe's expression darkened. "What of Lady Artemis?"
"She's in the fortress above the garden." I paused, choosing my next words carefully. "She's holding something. A massive orb of blue and white. Looks like she's struggling with it."
Zoe's jaw tightened. "The sky."
"The burden," Annabeth breathed. "So they forced her to take it and that means another Titan is out and roaming around."
Percy looked between us. "So the big bad Titan is free and frolicking here?"
"That would be the logical conclusion." Annabeth nodded.
Zoe's hands clenched at her sides. "Then we must act swiftly. Lady Artemis must be under a lot of weight if she hath been forced to hold such a burden."
"I'm aware." I met her gaze evenly. "Which is why we need to be smart about this."
"Dost thou have a plan?" Zoe asked impatiently.
What followed was a lengthy discussion.
Percy and Annabeth offered suggestions while Zoe interjected with knowledge of the mountain's layout from her time as a Hesperide. The three hunters remained silent but attentive.
Michael added tactical observations when relevant.
By the time we finished, everyone understood their role, even if many of them were a little discontent with the plan I had come up with.
Secretly, I was figuring out the largest problem.
How was I going to free Artemis?
Percy frowned with annoyance, as did Annabeth while the hunters gritted their teeth.
"It's for the best, realistically there's a chance we get attacked by a powerful being. The likes of which neither Michael or myself will be holding back against."
Percy cracked his knuckles. "And if things go sideways?"
"Then improvise." I smiled slightly. "Then retreat and we will gather a few miles away from here."
Annabeth rolled her eyes but didn't disagree.
Michael and I separated from the group, moving to a rocky outcropping that offered some privacy.
The others began their own preparations behind us.
I thought over the admittedly good plan. It would save us from combat, but a part of me also didn't want to shy away. This was part of attacking the Khaos Brigade after all.
I imagined interrupting the plans of a bunch of evil Gods was bound to piss them off.
Our little group walked away and the moment we were alone, Michael's demeanor shifted.
"Father, about that god back there."
I sighed. "I know."
I had been expecting this.
"Whatever happened to him reeked of demonic power and I should have been more careful." I frowned with a hint of annoyance, not at Michael but myself for still being so far down on the scale.
It wasn't a rational thought, especially considering I was probably one of the fastest growing beings in history, but it still burnt at me nevertheless. The weird demonic feeling that had been aimed at my very soul…
"It's not only that and it's hardly fair to compare such a thing." Michael's voice dropped lower. "But It's not something I haven't seen before."
I paused.
Then I slapped my forehead.
Of course Michael would have an idea. He'd been alive for millennia. He'd fought in wars I could barely imagine. If anyone would recognize what had infected Pan, it would be him.
"Then what is it?" I asked. "I know it's some sort of curse on Pan… since it didn't feel right. I have a feeling whatever woke up wasn't a God."
"Indeed. It's a remnant of the Demons. Or that's assuming the demon you saw was one of the last ones." His expression remained grave. "We never did find out how that conflict concluded."
I hadn't missed the sloth part in my appraisal, that along with the cursed status was something to be considered.
So it was linked to Sins? I guess Demons would be the obvious answer.
"It has something to do with sins, right?" I voiced my thoughts. "When he had briefly attacked I had felt my body slacken. And he had tried to do something with my soul…"
Michael's angry visage at my recounting of being attacked turned surprise, then shook his head with something approaching approval.
"Yes, you're correct, it's heavily tied to the infamous Seven Sins." Michael said. "There was more to the sins than just being outlawed for those under you. They were the domain of Demons. The true kind, not the devils that many younger beings seem to believe."
My eyes widened at the reveal.
Domains like Gods?
The implications of that were staggering. If demons had held dominion over concepts like the sins themselves, that put them on an entirely different level than anything I'd considered.
And most of all, didn't that mean they could use that to influence beings who partook in that?
Momentarily the threat of the Titan and the being that had released him slid to the back of my mind.
"This is probably something we should talk about after," I said slowly.
Michael nodded. "I just wanted to mention it since I even found myself slightly threatened when I attacked him. Demonic Domains were always more unnatural than normal domains and from what it seems like, Pan was one of the marked ones."
I wanted to ask more. The questions burned in my mind. What were the other sins? How many hosts existed? What happened to the original demons? And why was Michael assuming I knew anything about "the marked ones"?!
But the quest was the priority.
"Later," I said firmly.
"Yes, Father," Michael agreed, his eyes flickered up the mountain top. "I must say, this could be a hazardous plan if we don't perform it perfectly."
I shrugged. "At worst we have to fight. I'm only doing this in an attempt to avoid unnecessary violence and save ourselves some time."
"So basically, we are doing this to tell my sister that you tried?" Michael asked with a hint of amusement.
"Yeah, more like the whole of Heaven." I said with an equally amused smile. It was sweet that he thought I wasn't including him in my statement.
Sweet enough that I didn't burst his bubble and we continued moving.
The ascent was faster this time. We knew the route, knew where the wards were weakest.
Michael suppressed his presence as much as his power allowed.
We reached the garden's edge in time to see Percy and the others slip through the lower entrance. From our elevated position, I watched Echidna rise from her throne, yellow eyes narrowing at the disturbance below.
Her serpentine lower body uncoiled as she stood to her full height.
"Intruders," she hissed, loud enough to carry.
The hidden guards moved in the trees.
I watched on without a hint of care.
Perfect.
While chaos erupted in the garden below, Michael and I rose higher, entering the fortress.
We found an unguarded window on the eastern face. The same one I'd spotted during my scouting.
Michael went through first, his sword already in hand. I followed with Galadriel coiled around my neck and Mahoraga's presence hovering at the edge of my awareness.
The interior was grand and cold. Black stone floors polished to a mirror shine. Columns carved with scenes of Titans at war. Empty sconces that should have held torches.
We moved through the halls quickly, following the path I'd memorized.
The central chamber opened before us.
Artemis was exactly where I'd seen her.
Kneeling at the center of a raised platform, arms trembling as she held up that massive orb of swirling blue and white. Her silver hunting clothes were torn and stained.
Her hair hung lank around a face drained of nearly all color.
I instantly focused on her, the time limit I had given myself at the front of my mind.
Right up until another figure caught my attention.
Chained near the edge of the platform, unconscious.
A woman with golden hair splayed across the stone beneath her, features gentle even in whatever troubled sleep held her. She wore simple robes of pale blue, now dirty and torn.
Her skin held a faint luminescence that marked her as something more than mortal.
Instantly I could tell she wasn't human.
She had that look of perfection and she was beautiful. Impossibly so.
'Appraisal.'
{Name: Leto}
{Title: Titaness of Motherhood, The Hidden One, Mother of Apollo and Artemis}
{Race: Titan}
{Power Level: 57,600}
A Titan.
And Artemis's mother.
They had both of them. And more importantly, a powerful Titan had been beaten and captured.
Well, that certainly made things harder.
I looked at Leto and sighed.
My shard pulsed as I stared at the ethereal woman.
Ah well.
Chaos was always expected.
Artemis's head lifted weakly at our entrance. Her silver eyes struggled to focus, confusion flickered across her pale features as she took in the sight of us.
"Who..." Her voice came out hoarse, strained from days of holding the burden. "Who are you?"
I stepped forward while Michael positioned himself at the entrance, sword drawn, eyes almost casually looking around.
"Just some passbys," I said simply.
Her expression shifted. Confusion gave way to a flicker of hope, then suspicion. Even exhausted and trapped, she wasn't the type to trust easily.
"I know not your faces." Her arms trembled violently but she refused to let the orb drop. "You are no Demigods I recognize. And no Demigod would be able to hide from my direct attention."
"Yeah, that'll be because we are Angels" I admitted casually, moving around the formation she was bound in.
"Angels..?" She questioned, before focusing on me. "No, that's matters not. Abandon the folly of attempting to rescue me and save my mother. I doubt you'll be able to escape his gaze for long."
"How ominous." Was my bland reply.
The Goddess somehow gathered the energy to glare.
"You men and your pride." She sighed. "Please trust me on this matter, you will die."
"Yeah, that's why I didn't send Zoe up here even after she demanded it." I idly mused.
At Zoe's name, something softened in Artemis's expression. Just slightly.
"Zoe lives?"
"She's quite insistent on rescuing you." Michael frowned and snarled out the words, clearly not liking the outburst Zoe had made.
A ghost of a smile touched Artemis's lips before another wave of strain erased it. "That sounds... like her."
I moved closer, studying the orb above her shoulders. My Rinnegan activated, patterns swirling as I analyzed the structure of what she held.
"How did you find a companion in my Lieutenant?" She asked weakly, seemingly trying to forget the weight of the… well, world, on her shoulders.
"We found her in a cage." Michael replied tersely.
The rings of my purple eye contracted as I focused.
A tingle went up the back of my spine.
Michael sent me a glance.
But I had come to a large realisation about the formation Artemis found herself in.
It wasn't the actual sky.
The realization hit me as I examined the flows of power within the construct.
It was definitely a conceptualized part of something vast, but dropping it wouldn't make the heavens fall. The weight was real. The burden was real. But the catastrophic consequences were a lie.
The sky wouldn't somehow fall if it was dropped.
No, it was more of a poetic justice thing. And perhaps just Lord of the Skies, Zeus, being a child, wanting the Titan of Endurance to hold his divine balls in the form of this orb.
This was a sealing matrix.
Atlas had been sealed. Bound to this burden as punishment.
The only way for the matrix to break was for someone to willingly take it. That was why Artemis was trapped. She'd accepted the weight, probably to save the Titaness that was bound, and now she couldn't simply let go without another volunteer.
"I understand now," I murmured.
Artemis's eyes narrowed, but her voice still came out as weak. "Understand what?"
"How to free you," I turned to Michael. "Protect me. This is going to take some work."
Michael nodded, his presence flaring slightly as he took a defensive stance. "For long? We don't have a lot of time. I fear we will be noticed in the next few seconds. There is definitely a… presence within this fortress."
"A minute." I said.
The sealing matrix wouldn't be destroyed.
That'd take me a lot longer, but since this had a mechanism to give away the seal, I could transfer it…
To something that wasn't alive.
That was the best plan I had and there was a very real chance I wasn't quick enough.
The Rinnegan helped massively though.
What would have taken maybe a day or two to truly cement into my mind had been done in the span of a few seconds.
I pressed my palm to the floor and reached out with Wood Release.
A tree erupted from the black marble, roots cracking through stone as they spread in a perfect circle around the platform. The trunk thickened rapidly, branches reaching toward the ceiling and weaving together into a dome.
But this wasn't just any random tree.
This was a mimic of Telperion, one of the Two Trees of Valinor. Its silver-white bark gleamed with inner light as the branches finished forming a barrier around the room. Spiritual energy humming through the wood.
I felt something connect to it like an avatar, the feeling of the two Trees radiated coming to settle in its bark. A comforting presence coming to cover me like a cloak.
Inside the barrier, I knelt beside the edge of the sealing matrix and began to work. My Rinnegan mapped the flows of power. My hands traced the patterns carved into the platform.
The matrix was old.
Which meant there were flaws I could exploit.
I was barely twenty seconds into my analysis when I felt it.
A pressure descended on the area.
Vast and cold, it swept across the fortress like a wave, pressing against my barrier with calculating intent.
Michael's concealment had been seen through.
I looked up to find Michael's expression grim.
"We have company," he said quietly.
We probably had a few more seconds at best.
It was a good thing I was done.
I grinned.
This was going to be close.
-{Kronos}-
He stood in the rebuilt throne room of Mount Othrys, watching a map that showed the positions of his scattered kin.
His gaze briefly flickered to Echidna dealing with the minor intrusion in the garden. The demigods and hunters who had somehow found their way here would be handled easily enough.
But that wasn't what had drawn his attention.
He turned, golden eyes fixing in the direction of the central chamber. Where Artemis held Atlas' burden.
Where Leto lay chained.
Something had breached the fortress.
How curious.
He didn't feel in a hurry to confront them.
They weren't going anywhere. He'd felt the presence of concealment a few seconds ago and decided to remove the powerful cloak of concealment from his little intruders.
He was surprised he hadn't sensed it before, but it was masterful.
His eyes narrowed beneath his hood.
His gaze pierced space, getting a true view of these intruders. However, his attention was grabbed by something decidedly out of place.
A tree had sprouted in his fortress.
Silver-white bark.
He went to casually pierce the barrier only for something to gaze at him, giving him actual pause.
A Primordial?
A brief slither of shock entered him, but it settled equally as quickly as it came.
No.
It wasn't.
The power wasn't there.
Still, something ancient and something that was using the tree in his castle as some sort of avatar.
Something that shouldn't exist here, his will flared and the tree bent under the weight of time. Even magical trees couldn't stand the essence of time and as such he was sure it would wither away.
His mistake showed itself instantly.
The tree didn't age, no, instead it grew explosively and its power surged multiple stages.
He quickly stopped.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Kronos smiled beneath his hood.
Orange power flowed once more, but this time the tree was crushed into splinters with a mere flexing of his hand.
He began walking toward the central chamber at his own leisure.
It had been so long since anything had truly surprised him. And surprisingly the intruders didn't seem to be in the mood of running away, not that it would have helped them.
He was a Titan with the blood of Primordials running in his veins, a weakened one, but powerful all the same.
He arrived in the chamber, taking in the newcomers.
Three figures greeted him.
Some sort of large ashy-skinned being with golden tattoos stood behind two figures, one of them wore a mask that gave… nothing away. While the figure standing in front of him with a sword made him pause.
He was confident.
Either he was powerful or arrogant… considering Kronos couldn't sense much he assumed it was arrogance. Kronos wasn't hiding his power after all, but he wasn't pressing it down on them either.
Mentally, he called his right-hand Titan.
Atlas.
His eyes scanned the room.
Wasn't there a fourth presence he sensed?
He dismissed that for now.
"I don't believe I know you." Kronos said, breaking the brief and almost strange silence. "Which makes the efforts you must have gone through to get here quite curious."
"Don't mind us." The masked one said. "We are just here to retrieve a few things and some people. Nothing you need to worry about."
"Oh? I don't believe anything belonging to you resides in my castle." Kronos said, feeling the sense of Atlas arrive.
"Yeah, well, technically they don't belong to you either." The masked one said with a smile evident in his tone.
"Ah, the confidence of youth." Kronos shook his head slowly, as one might at a child who had said something unintentionally foolish. "You speak as though ownership is determined by anything other than power."
The masked one looked to the one wielding a sword and outright snickered, while the graceful man wielding the sword remained still and unphazed.
"I guess that's true…" He replied.
Something was wrong.
"What is your plan here?" Kronos asked curiously. "You don't seem intent on moving, surely you didn't come here without any sort of defence? Or are you unaware of who I am?"
The masked one scratched his head.
"Uh, yeah." He said unconvincingly. "You're Zeus right?"
Kronos said nothing.
Reality moved.
His hand piercing flesh and burst out of the other side of the masked one's chest.
"T-talk about anger issues." The figure coughed.
Then, suddenly the flesh and blood was gone in a burst of smoke. The flesh turned into wood, revealing a large block of wood that was infused with an energy he hadn't seen before.
Kronos blinked.
The figure beside the masked one collapsed into a block of wood. So did the Goddess. So did Leto.
His eyes widened.
Bafflement lasted only a fraction of a second before burning anger replaced it. Power flared around him, orange light crackling against the stone walls.
The wooden blocks weren't blank. Golden letters spiraled across their surfaces in layered circles. The strange energy contained within them pulsed once, twice, then went berserk.
It didn't take a genius to realise what happened in the next instant.
-END-
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