31 A Spear Boy's Next Act

(Cao Cao POV)

Keeping your friends close but your enemies closer is an interesting idea, but I am using that phrase literally as I am currently training my concealment by walking throughout Camp Half-Blood and seeing the place that defined a part of my childhood. I loved the book series, and to see it was a bit inspiring.

It was a bit immature, but it was nice and good training. It was funny to see the faces of some of the nymphs, and Chiron seemed confused as while they were old, they were not even high-class beings, with Chiron being peak mid-class. Truly, the Greek Gods were carrying hard for their pantheon.

But he could see potential in them, not as weapons but as people, as in Athena's kids. He saw strategists and advisors, Hepheastus's children blacksmiths and innovators, and Apollo's were good doctors and counselors, etc. 

But the time was not right, at least not yet, as while his dimension had space, it lacked life, and he had to become stronger to provide for all these kids.

And as they all left to go to bed, I walked up to Chiron and said, "You have done good work, Lord Chiron." The centaur son of Kronos then looked at me and, with not even a hint of fear, said.

"I thank you for your praise but do know I will fight to the death for all of them. I will not allow you to kill children." His eyes stared daggers into my head as I shook my head at his statement.

"You don't have to fear for the demigods as they are not my targets, and in fact, I see the same potential in them that I assume you see in all of them as well. But I want more for them than to be trapped in this place. Do you not agree." Chiron's expression darkens as he sighs.

"Then, if you are not here to fight, then why are you here, God Slayer? Dionysus has returned to Olympus on orders from Zeus, so you have no targets here. Other than myself, but I can sense you are not here to end my life." I then walked in front of him and beckoned him to sit next to me, to which he used his wheelchair to be at eye level with me.

"I was here for a reason but not one you may expect." My answer left him irritated as I smiled at being the one who spoke in riddles this time. 

But as my humor does not seem to land, I continue, "One of your campers had been partially possessed by Kronos and was trying to turn him against you. I sensed his intrusion here and got rid of the threat."

"Who did my fool of a Father possess, God Slayer?" I turned to the fireplace in the eating area and saw a small girl staring at me as Chiron and I conversed, to which I waved at her, and she slowly back at me.

"I will not say as they should come to you themselves, but I assure you he will be dealt with as relics like him have no place in this world anymore." My abrasive tone causes the old teacher to ask.

"Speak of Titans as relics, so what of myself as I did witness a part of the golden age?" I stared at him as if he asked a stupid question as he sighed, to which I offered him a drink, to which he accepted.

"You have been a teacher of not only Gods but Mortals, and you have my respect in addition to the fact that you've seen many Heroes come and go and meet mostly gruesome ends and still continue to train them. many would have given up or become cynical or broken but you remained that alone speaks volumes of your will to help others even as you suffer from their short lives." My compliments cause him to slowly nod with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

"Then why reveal yourself to me other than to state your targets?" Looking back to the fire to see that same girl looking at me, I replied, "I wanted to see if there were things worth saving here, and I'm happy to see that I was correct. When I slayed Ares, I gained his ability to see possible conflict, and this Camp was full of it as you have teenagers with some even younger than ten years old, being trapped in this place for their entire lives without recognition, not even the smallest amount of knowledge."

Chiron's eyes become more serious as he says, "This is the only option as monsters would hunt demigods to extinction, and the monsters are immortal and nearly unkillable permanently. Not everyone can be a god slayer. So what do you propose?"

Tapping my fingers on the table, I began to speak, "Well, for starters, I wanted to get rid of all the monsters as, similarly to most of the Titans, they are relics of a bygone era and only exist to kill and are ultimately useless. I am working on a solution, but due to the untimely demise of the God Of War, my plans will be slowed down as I have to avoid most of the planet. Well, at least that's what they will think."

Reactivating my concealment, I disappear from view, and Chiron immediately stands and takes out his sword. As I appear at his side, he looks at me with wide eyes. "I have my ways to get around."

"So what are your plans, God Slayer?" The girl who stood near the fire asked, to which I looked at her. Well, I actually looked down at her due to her short stature as I summoned my spear, but she did not even flinch.

Smiling as I looked at the oldest Olympian, I sat down next to her and explained, "It's simple: any gods that come after me with malicious or violent intent will die as I don't believe they will be open to conversation or negotiation. While this may seem juvenile and outright stupid, there are a few other options that they leave me. Remember you all started this, and I am planning to end it as well as anyone else that continues it, whether or not you all gain the mental capacity to understand that it will not succeed for the better."

"That is a dangerous mindset, God Slayer; what makes you think I will not end you here and call the other gods?" Narrowing my eyes but smirking, I laughed, to which her hair began to turn into pure fire and light.

"Lower your power level, Hestia. You will wake the children. But regardless, it's sometimes the simplest mindsets that can cause the greatest change. It's something I picked up from Ares, as while he was a meathead and a deadbeat, he was loyal, and he knew what he was. Unlike him, you are not all affected by the domain as badly as he is. You can all stop this right now. Yet I assume Zeus would punish me as he did Prometheus for daring to stand against the gods that began the conflict in the first place. I refuse."

 Hestia and I stare at each other, our mere presence beginning to shake the surrounding area, but she pulls back and sighs.

"I simply want to preserve my family. I do not believe I am so blind as to not see my family's faults, but was Ares's death necessary? Could you not have spared him?" I simply looked at her in the eyes with utter and complete indifference.

"If you believed that he wanted to be spared, then you never truly knew him. As I stood there with my spear over him, he asked for an honorable death, and I gave him one. He went there with full confidence and suffered the consequences. I will not be so cruel as to not say that it was not entirely my fault, but I did what I had to do, and you gods would have me lay down and die and move on." I chuckle at the double standard as Hestia seems to be deep in thought.

I then stood up and began to walk away, but before I left, I spoke over my shoulder and said, "Also, don't try to rescue Artemis, as I will say that my conflict with her is personal." I then walked through a portal before they could say anything.

(Hestia POV)

"Artemis will die." I heard Chiron say as I glared at him for saying such a thing.

"He will kill us all. Do you not feel even the least bit threatened by that fact?!" I shout, to which he simply turns to look at me.

"Lady Hestia, do not believe me foolish enough to not know how this conflict began. There have been many users of that spear throughout history, and while some were guilty of beginning the fights, the ones dealing with this god slayer were the fault of Lady Artemis and Zeus. Yet what is unnerving is that I do not sense hatred from him but indifference, as if what he sees is what he can do and not threats. And you and I both know of Artemis's propensity for violence as well as the abrasiveness of her huntresses."

I was about to protest, but I stopped myself, knowing that he was right. "I don't know how to stop him."

Chiron then walked over and said, "That is the thing, Lady Hestia. He gave us a way out as he does not seem overly offensive but reactionary; he knows that Lord Zeus will not stop hunting him for what he did to his son, but it was Lord Ares's decision and we should respect that. Even his children respect his final decision as they sense their parents die. Try to convince the other Olympians to stand down. Or else Olympus will not fall to the tides of time but at the hands of man."

Chiron then walked away to rest before the next day as I teleported back to Olympus.

(Cao Cao POV)

As I watched the Huntresses of Artemis search the country for me, I saw Artemis in New York while Zoe and a group of her hunters were patrolling Pennsylvania. I then spawned a wood clone to go after Zoe and her group while I hunted the Goddess of The Hunt. 

The clone nods at me as he steps through a portal while I cover half of New York into my mirror dimension, trapping only Artemis and the Huntresses.

"Tonight Cao Cao Joins The Hunt."

(Artemis POV)

Every sense of mine was saying something was wrong, yet I could not tell what the source of it was as I could sense all my Huntresses, and there had been no word of the God Slayer. But again, I have always trusted my senses, and as my huntresses traveled the wilds, I noticed the source of my bad feelings.

I signaled for all of them to stop as I took my hunting knife and stabbed at a tree for it to crack instead of sink in. I looked at all of them and said, "He's here. Gather to me!" 

All of them nodded, and we gathered in a circle. The silence of the place finally stood out as I was sure I heard the sounds of the forest, and it had never been this quiet.

"Huntresses, I see you have forsaken the safety of Olympus." I hear a voice ring out from seemingly everywhere. I could see the fear building in my fellows, and when I tried to connect to Zoe, I found the connection blocked.

"I remember the words you told me, Artemis, that you shall need me in the future, so I made sure to honor that deal so as not to be what you called me, that of a dishonorable pig." His words were mixed with indifference and subtle satisfaction.

"How have you completed the deal by trapping me here?!" I shout out, to which I hear an ever-present chuckle as if he knew something that I did not.

"It does not matter now, Artemis, as well. I have made you avoid a rather humiliating fate; I am here to fulfill an old grudge. Does the name Celestine ring a bell?"

My hands began to sweat as my Huntresses looked at me questioningly as he continued, "I assume you have not told your Huntresses what you did. Of the lives you took and children you killed. No, of course, you did not. How else would you convince these Wayward girls to join your little cult?"

My anger rose as I shouted out, "Face me, you coward! Stop playing games with us." The laughter returned stronger as the silence grew suffocating.

"Oh, you misunderstand Artemis. I am not playing games. But before this starts, I would offer safe passage to anyone who wishes to leave. As I am not one to harm those that have no quarrel with me." As I stared down, they all looked ready to run, but I glared at them, and they stood firm.

"So not one huh? I would commend the loyalty if I could not sense their thoughts from states away. So now let us begin the hunt."

And then everything went dark as all that could be heard were the screams as they became a symphony of blood.