THEOS

Chapter 66: Onwards to Heracles

Thats a lot of giants. Lukeus said.

Bit of an understatement, Luke said. His heart beat in anticipation as he took measure of the giant army. There was, simply speaking, a near uncountable number of them. An entire sea full of them and in the air above it, a lone figure. So thats him then?

It is. Lukeus said casually, his voice at odds with the look of awe on his face.

Heracles was more than a mile away and floating in the sky a hallmark of the Warrior-tier. With every swing of his spiked metal club, gusts of wind cut through the air. With every roar that escaped his lips he felled dozens of the monsters. To say that the Son of Zeus fought well, was an understatement.

A long metal cable clamped onto his ankle kept him anchored to a giant hunk of metal, both of them glinting brightly in the morning light. His restraints kept him trapped, but granted him enough leeway to dodge the endless barrage of obsidian and rock that was being thrown at him. Not that he was. Every rock they threw, he batted back into the army with double the force. Cratering the ground, and flattening the giants.

His chest heaved, and he suddenly shot towards the ground. Shoving aside the creatures with nothing but his shoulders, he stretched his metal chain taught, and looped around the metal slab that kept him anchored. The body of every giant in his path split clean in half.

Damn.

Do you think you can fire an arrow with the ring attached to it, all the way to him? Luke asked. I dont think Id survive if I tried to walk over there. Actually never mind I can probably go high enough so that

Lukeus pulled back an arrow, and let it fly into the crowd of giants.

Luke watched in pain as it fell short, and landed in the middle of the army.

Dont tell me you

Relax. I was just seeing if I could make the shot. He flashed his finger. The metal band was still on it.

Phew. Luke sagged in a mixture of relief, and a small bit of sadness.

It would have been a pain in the ass to get the ring from the middle of an army, but the points wouldnt have been bad. Not at all.

I can make the shot though. Lukeus offered.

While I believe you, I dont think we should risk it. Ill climb high into the air, and drop it on his head.

I think we should fire it. See that. Lukeus pointed behind Heracles, to a vague outline of a giant, lazily sitting on the corpses of its mortal tier counterparts with all six of its hands holding the back of its head. One that was stories tall.

A Warrior-tier. Luke said, frowning in worry when he saw it. Things just got a lot more complicated.

Fun.

Mmm. If you think that thing wont be able to hit you, then go for it. You should know though, that not every Warrior-tier giant is the same. The one Nel fought outside the town, was a regenerator type. If this ones the same, youll probably be fine. If its a thrower type It wont really matter how high you climb. It will hit you. It could also be a flier type. If its one of those, forget dodging, it'll get up there and rip you limb from limb.

Yeah. Im not going to be able to outrun a warrior in the sky.

What do you suggest then?

Lukeus didnt respond. Pulling an arrow free from his quiver, he nocked it, and pointed it towards Heracles, before lowering it to the ground.

Do you have paper?

Uh. Yeah, Luke reached into his robes and withdrew the map he had drawn. Here.

Pencil?

No. Luke lied. Knowing full well that he had a bunch of them in his inventory. If it werent for the fact that they had all seen what was in their respective pockets earlier, he may have risked it, but as it stood, he wouldnt try. Lukeus may overlook it, but that was one of the few things that he couldnt plausibly deny. Especially not with Rex just a few feet behind him, and watching him like a hawk.

Tch. Lukeus frowned, before pulling his arrow loose from the bow, and dropping it onto the ground. He lifted his sword from its sheath, and made a small cut on his index finger. With surprising dexterity, he tore a small bit of the paper off and wrote over Luke's sketch with blood:

Its Lukeus. I got your ring. How do I get it to you?

Nodding in satisfaction, he set the arrow on his bow, and let it fly.

It made it halfway there, before it was knocked out of the sky by a stray boulder.

Any other ideas? And why isnt the big one doing anything?

Im thinking. He sighed. As for the Warrior-tier, could be any reason. Theyre smarter than the normal ones. Most likely, it tried fighting him, lost and is licking its wounds. Probably waiting for Heracles to get tired. If it is licking its wounds, its not a regenerator.

Welp.

Do you have a way to call Nel here?

I could He frowned. But lets not go there just yet. I dont want to distract her. He massaged his forehead, and sat down on the cliff. Dangling his feet over the edge. Alright. This is what well do. Ill distract the big one, you get the ring to Heracles.

That That seems like a terrible plan.

He scoffed. Most of those giants are pathetically weak, and I bet you can cut a path through without too much trouble. Rex told me what you can do, and Ive felt how much mana you have. It should be more than enough to power whatever Technique you use for long enough for you to make it. As for me, Ill need to break through to the Warrior-tier, but it should be fine.

Youre going to break through to the Warrior-tier? Do we have time for that? Luke asked incredulously.

Mhm. He closed his eyes. Im not likely to be a match for the giant either way, but if I ascend, then I should be able to hold its attention for a few minutes. Long enough to keep it off your back. Once you get inside Heracless range, hell keep you safe. His ring should also have enough goodies for us to get out of here too. That guy has enough money to buy Sylcra, and probably enough talismans to raze it to the ground.

Not that I doubt you, but isnt there a single warrior we can call.

Only one that I can think of that will make it here on time is Nel, and shes busy. Gramps cant send anyone unless he teleports them, and it wont be easy sending someone here. If we werent in the middle of a Tide, hed probably come himself, but there isnt anyone else who can power the teleportation platforms in his place. The only thing hed move for is a Hero-tier giant. As much as he loves us, I dont want to put him in a position where he has to choose between us and the rest of the island.

Alright, how long do you need to break through?

I just did. He said.

What?

Dusting off his pants, he turned to Rex. Me and Luke are going to head out for a bit. He chucked his bow, and shrugged off his quiver. We shouldnt need it, but I want you to stay here and give us cover. If you fire an arrow into me, I will stick that same arrow up your ass.

I only did that once, and why am I staying? He asked indignitaly.

Because you're the weakest one here, and I dont have anyone else to watch Nutbutter. Lukeus answered. Sliding the ring off his finger, he handed it to Luke. If you drop that, youre going to be the one to get it.

I will not.

Good. He slid his sword out of his sheath, and tossed it on the ground. Step on it.

Huh?

I can only carry you on stuff that has my mana infused in it, and the only thing I have thats infused with my mana is that. Step on. I want to get this over with.

Oh. Luke nodded, and did as Lukeus asked.

A second later, the pair was shooting through the air.

You broke through! When! Rex yelled after them. His jaw hanging open in surprise.

Dont worry about it. Lukeus yelled back, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Ill drop you off high, and go down first. Ill try to get the things attention, and once I do, Ill try and get it as far from Heracles as I can. Thatll be your chance to get him the ring. He explained.

Luke nodded numbly as he stared down at the army. There truly were a lot of them.

I guess he didnt kill the Prime.

No. no he didnt. He probably didnt even know that the Prime was a thing. He muttered. If I had to guess though, the Prime is the Warrior-tier one. Its not always the case, but when a Warrior-tier pops out, it's usually also the first one that comes.

We should also be prepared for something to happen when I give him the ring. If Arke really left him tied up like this, then she probably has some way to find out if he gets free.

You think the key to his manacle is in his storage ring?

You dont? Luke frowned.

No. I dont know whats in there, but I doubt the key is. Its fair to assume that Arke didnt know the Tide was going to start early, because we didnt know it would. She put it in a cave with a demon, miles away too. Theres no way for Heracles to know it would be there, unless he has some way to track it, but I doubt it. Im assuming she meant to keep him here, and away from the rest of the island while she searches for the thief. The time limit we got is probably when Heracles would have fallen to the giants.

Or it could be when Arke is going to come and check on him.

If Arke checked on him, everything would be fine, and no one would have sent us. No, she probably put him here and forgot about it entirely. As far as I know, she hasnt even been on Sylcra for weeks. Gramps said she found a clue on some other island.

A clue? Luke frowned.

Thats a little worrying. Whatever it is though, it cant be a good one, considering Im still alive. Shes also been chasing red herrings this entire time. The method people use to possess bodies, isnt the same one that the Seed used on me.

Its highly unlikely that Nefkha talked. Could it be one of the people from the inheritance that said something?

No.

I was definitely suspicious, but I wasnt a serious consideration. It was more that I just grew faster than they did. But even then Yjarn and Arya, or even Spiros. None of them were slower than me. Hell, Arya was faster the entire time, and Yjarn learned it literally hours after I did. Thats not even mentioning Len. That guy figured it out when everyone thought he was dead.

If there was a whole bunch of people suddenly appearing on a bunch of islands on the archipelago that would do it. There was a teleportation point on Carim, but not everyone would have stayed on it.

Luke isnt a rare name, and I look different. My sword has also changed a bit, and gold swords arent particularly rare either.

More than that, I have Cyzicuss vow that he wont tell anyone about me being from Carim.

Whatever. I just need to get Heracles the ring, and Im home free.

This is where we part ways. Lukeus suddenly said. Pulling Luke out of his thoughts. They were miles straight above the Son of Zeus.

Luke took a deep breath, and channeled mana to his boots. Stepping off of the warrior's sword, he said Good luck.

You too. Try not to get hit

I wont.

Lukeus grinned, and shot toward the ground. Pulling a small bunch of protective talismans free from his robe, he shot straight towards the Warrior-tier giant.

It didnt take long for it to notice the Emperors Grandson.

The pair clashed in the air, and like he promised, Lukeus tackled the giant away from the Heracles.

Gritting his teeth in determination, Luke pulled his mana from the boots, and hurtled towards the ground. It was time for him to keep to his end of the plan.