Titanomachy IV
" BOOOM! " " AHHHH! " " DIE! "
It was complete mayhem. Sparks flew, bolts of golden fury struck again and again. The Olympians tried everything, every strategy that they knew, all kinds of attacks, everything! But they just couldn't gain the upper hand. Even against the full might of the children of Kronos, Atlas never fell.
On their side, things were not looking good. Hestia and Demeter were exhausted, with Demeter having spent all her energy on her plant constructs and Hestia having spent the whole time empowering her siblings. Poseidon was wounded very badly, his ribcage had caved in from a full-powered punch from the Titan General. Right now, Hestia was tending to him while the others fought in his place.
Themis, Prometheus and the allied former prisoners of Tartarus were in another corner of the field fighting the trio of Titans. They were stuck in a stalemate, each side overpowering the other before being pushed back again. Hades was stuck in an elongated battle with the exhausted Oceanus and Koios, not letting them a second of rest. Zeus and Hera were the only combatants that were relatively unharmed. And by relatively unharmed, I meant a broken arm and several bruises.
Hera was only unharmed because of her smart use of teleportation and magic. Vain as she was, she was still a Goddess.
Atlas on the other hand, was in a much better condition. Other than a tired body and mind, and a couple nicks in his armor, he was in complete fighting condition. But while he was in a much better condition, that didn't mean he could easily win.
The Olympians were as competent and clever as they were arrogant and vain, their combined strategies had managed to save their lives again and again. Even if one of his punches can send them to the hands of Thanatos, it wouldn't matter if he couldn't get a solid hit in.
" I must say, I never expected you lot to last this long. " Atlas acknowledged.
" I do not need your recognition! " Zeus retorted, frustrated at the stalemate.
" Where have I heard that before, heh... " Atlas chuckled.
" What's so funny? Have you finally gone mad? " Zeus asked, hoping to stall time to catch his breath.
" Nothing... you just reminded me of an old... friend. " Atlas answered, knowing fully what Zeus was trying to do.
" Oh? YOU have friends? HA-- " Zeus tried to mock him, but was caught with a giant fist that eclipsed his figure right on the head. He flew for several hundred meters, impacting the giant wall of enchanted ice.
" Zeus! " His siblings shouted in worry. Demeter had already begun running towards him, trying to check his condition.
" Fool... looks like you have much to learn. Now then, with him gone the rest of you should be easy pickin-- ! " Atlas was about to finish him off, when a great explosion was heard.
Oh, the irony! The ground shook fiercely, as if signaling the arrival of another combatant, five of them to be exact. As the onlookers looked toward one of the walls sides. Right there for all to see, was a giant portion of it, gone. It seemed to have been vaporized, reduced to atoms. Around the border of the now gone segment, the ice was actively melting. The enchantments could do nothing as their essences were tampered with mercilessly.
" So! You've come! I've been waiting, should've known this wouldn't stop you. " Atlas announced to the burnt wall, as if expecting someone, something. Atlas was not worried though, he had already expected that they would break through. He had hoped however that it would drain their reserves as much as possible before their fight.
"... Indeed. It. Didn't... Titan. General. " Five words, five voices rang. It boomed throughout the area, the deep sonorous voices instantly implanting a seed of fear within the onlookers.
And from the rampant amounts of dust and smoke, the figure revealed itself. A deep glowing purple system of light streaked through the smokescreen, instantly giving an impression of the size of the monster.
The thing easily contended with the size of the wall it was that colossal! As Atlas watched with taut muscles and fists clenched and the Olympians looked on sprawled all around, one dreadful head broke through. It had vindictive, slit purple eyes. It's scales were ragged and had the hue of silver, giving the impression of forged armor. The teeth were fiendish, and one could be easily see it's razor-sharp teeth and from miles away.
And if that wasn't terrifying enough, from within the fog, another unveiled itself, and another... and another! Making five heads in total! Everyone that wasn't Atlas or Oceanus could only look on in absolute horror as the monstrosity lumbered it's way inside.
The body and tail were no better as well, looking like an impenetrable fortress of scale and claw.
--- The Other side of the Wall, before it's fall ---
They swam and swam, Gaea had recently informed them of the next skirmish's location. They had waited Ten. Long. Years for this! Each time, they would watch on as those half-baked children ran around like headless chickens, achieving nothing but mediocre results. If only they could've done it themselves.
Alas, the Hydra was always stopped each time by the Earth mother. Always using the same excuse, that their early interference could influence catastrophic outcomes. She said that the war was proceeding normally, and that they were not to interfere until something abnormal same up.
Until now, Gaea had been confused, why wasn't anything happening? She was apprehensive, knowing that the more silent the forest, the larger the predator in the bushes. And it seemed she was right, for last week, Atlas had stopped and went dark for the entire time.
Until now, that is. Gaea had said that this change was one of the worst outcomes. For Atlas to fell all of the Olympians, without even seeing Kronos once, spelled disaster for the future. Now, they had to go fix the problem, not that they had any problem with that.
After arriving at the aforementioned location, they instantly noticed the giant behemoth of a wall. It was made of ice that was reinforced by millions of enchantments it seemed, the Hydra surmised. Now, these last ten years weren't for nothing. They had advanced by leaps and bounds, not only in prowess, but in knowledge as well. Gaea herself had personally tutored them on the vast world they lived in.
' What a masterfully made fortress. Shame. ' They thought, Chaos welling in their body. Pulling from deep within the ' In-between ' as they had newly dubbed the space between reality and inexistence. Their perpetual energy system was in fact entirely based on it, the place seemed to host infinite energy.
" FWOOOOOH! " A giant breath of poison that housed hundreds of different hues impacted the wall, crawling and eating at the enchantments that kept them out. In these ten years, they had improved their chaos-infused poison breath greatly. Now, it had evolved from its previous purple to a purer and more accurate representation of Chaos. Hell! Just looking at it seemed to cause sensory overload.
" BOOM! " And so with a mighty blast, caused by the wall's implosion, they were finally able to enter leisurely. It was showtime...
--- Back to present ---
" We meet again, Hydra. " Atlas spat.
" As. Was. Agreed. Upon. " They replied calmly.
" And here you are, so what are we waiting for? " He stated, channeling his divinity to its full potential this time. Instantly, a powerful aura spread throughout once again. His stance was well guarded, and this time he wasn't as ignorant.
" What's. Wrong. General? Scared. Of. A Little. Poison? " The Hydra mocked and sneered. Their heads raised high, and their stance was wide, as if inviting.
--- To Be Continued ---
( Sorry for the cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting too long. Remember to support the novel in anyway you can, anything is appreciated! And I've seen your comments and I'm very happy to hear your nice words. If you guys have any questions about the world or some oversights I might have done, just leave a comment! )