46 Issue 44: X, Arrival.

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(2 days later)

(Kane's P.O.V)

Apparently, Spyra had a pocket space where she kept all her stolen clothes and material that she was using for whatever reason...

Said pocket space was more of a stomach than anything, but given that she was made of fire, she could control what she wanted to burn.

Meaning that she could store something that wouldn't normally survive in such heat within her body.

Given that Rhadamanthus had briefly tapped into his demigod side and created a few drops of water- and they had ended up not melting from the heat, I can thereby qualify her as...

Useful.

No longer shall she be known as a little shit.

Seriously though, the space inside was also big. Incredibly so.

In fact by the time we stopped at a small lava island near the exit of the Underworld, we still had no idea how big it was.(Despite surviving in the underworld-Steve was still human. His body needed rest.)

But how we came by that knowledge is a different matter altogether.

"When you said you went hunting, I wasn't expecting the prey to be a God, Spyra."

I chided my Spider Totem, doing my best to glare at her while hiding the fact I found this whole thing funny.

Steve however had no problems about cracking up and laughing for all his worth.

"Oh god! Oh god! Hahahahaha! you gotta be shitting me."

"I am pleased that you find this amusing mortal."

Hermes said dryly.

Steve cracked up even more,

"A god in the form of a bird was swallowed by fire in the form of a spider."

The Spy's laughter trailed off as his face twisted into horror.

"Oh god. What the hell am I doing here?"

"I think you broke him."

I sighed at Spyra, flicking her on butt. She didn't like that.

"Apologize to the nice God and Steve."

I firmly added, making her step forward and rub her fore limbs together.

'And if you're going to try and eat Gods, make sure you finish the job.'

I added privately through our link.

"She said she's sorry."

I informed Hermes, who was chill for a God as he waved off the apology.

That said, I couldn't help the feeling that I knew him. That he was familiar.

But before I could ask for more, Rhadamanthus stepped forward.

"Lord Hermes, I'm glad that the Fates led you to us."

He bowed, only not as low as he would for Hades.

"Ah, Rhadamanthus. You're here. Hades made the right choice in sending you."

Hermes smiled, though his expression grew urgent an instant later.

"Though I'm afraid more talk will only be detrimental to us. We must hurry."

I followed his stare as he turned to the large volcano mountain a few hundred miles from our position.

"I'll tell you more after we leave the Underworld. I have cast a speed boon and heat shields on you and the Pegasi, so we can leave right away."

"I see."

Rhadamanthus nodded understandingly,

"Then let's make haste."

He jumped onto his Pegasi.

Steve, sitting on a small outcrop of a rock fanning himself did the same wordlessly, and with Hermes flying next to us, we blasted toward the mountain.

The speed boon was insane. Far faster than I could have achieved on my own with my fire wings.

Which were not very spidery really. And I was less keen on using that sort of flashy ability. I was an assassin first.

Theatrics came with the battle maniacs.

Given that it took us two days to travel from the Underworld Palace to the first exit- which was a few thousand miles away according to Rhadamanthus, the fact we cleared a hundred miles in a couple of seconds was insane.

It made me grit my teeth in frustration.

Hades had raw power.

Rhadamanthus had unbreakable defense.

And Hermes had raw speed.

They all outclassed me in some way. I wasn't used to being number 2. I need to deal with this.

At a steady incline the Volcano was actually deceptive of its sheer size. This close to it and the heat basically made the air warp.

Thankfully Hermes' heat shields kept us safe, though I would have survived with Spyra's flames either way.

Keeping my abilities and capabilities as secret as possible is a basic lesson every assassin learns.

The less an enemy knows, the better your chances are for terminating them.

The sky above us became an endless shroud of dark clouds stretching horizon to horizon.

And the constant eruption of the Volcano, sent hot molten rocks in a beam of red Lava at the sky, blasting the dark clouds and strangely...disappearing from view.

A question that was answered when Rhadamanthus explained 'How' exactly we were leaving the Underworld.

"We're going to ride the flying lava?"

Steve repeated as if he hadn't heard the Judge.

"Yes."

Rhadamanthus replied uncaringly.

"The heat shields created by Lord Hermes will protect us fron the high temperatures as we ride the stream upwards."

Steve blinked at him, then turned to me.

"Kane, you hear that? We're apparently riding Lava."

I urged my Pegasus forward, passing by him with a small smirk.

"I thought you could ride anything."

His shouts of, "I said fly dammit! I said fly!" Were drowned out by another eruption.

Without a single hesitation, I shot forward, urging the Pegasus under me to fly even faster.

I wasn't keen on missing the window.

(General P.O.V)

"What's he doing?"

Steve asked just as Kane started flying towards the Volcano.

The spy snapped his fingers in realization.

"I see. He's calculated the interval time between each subsequent eruption."

And sure enough, just as Kane's Pegasus passed over the mouth of the volcano, it erupted.

The stream of Lava surged forth under them, making contact at just the right point and then-

Whoosh!

-the Pegasi was blasted to the sky at crazy velocity.

(Kane's P.O.V)

My surroundings become a blur of intricate tunnels and vents.

And then, I was shooting out into the open sky, the sun blazing down on me with such pure brightness, I had to close my eyes for a minute.

Spyra turned into a flicker, excitedly appearing and disappearing through the air in bursts of blue flame.

Wait. What the fuck?

How was she doing that? You normally needed to have a fire present on the other side. That's how flame displacement works.

What she was doing defied every conceivable explanation.

In any case, I was too elated to question her. We were finally out of the Underworld.

A quick glance behind me revealed the others had followed my lead, similarly entering the land of the living in a shower of magma and Lava.

The region itself, I came to learn was known as the Crimean mountain ranges in Southern Eastern Ukraine. and our exit point had been one of the mud Volcanos in the area.

They all caught up with me fairly easy, with Rhadamanthus and Hermes pulling up beside my Pegasus.

"I hear you're the one taking the shot!"

Hermes initiated the conversation as we left the mountain ranges behind.

"The point of hiring an Assassin is secrecy Rhadamanthus."

Instead of answering Hermes, I glared at the Judge.

"I am sorry."

Unexpectedly, the judge looked apologetic.

"However, I can personally vouch for Lord Hermes."

"You sure?"

I bit back dryly.

"God's haven't exactly instilled the best impression."

"Enough."

Hermes said, flying in between us. And in a flash of light he shapeshifted into Bulma.

But the wings on his, or rather her ankles remained, beating with a steady pump as she kept pace with us.

"If you're waiting for me to act surprised by this revelation, you'll wait a while. I already knew you were Bulma. It was in your scent. I just couldn't place it."

I chuckled at his reaction to my words.

She tried to keep the glare she threw my way going, but sighed and shape-shifted back to Hermes.

"Anyway, things worked out in the end, so it would be childish to hold a grudge. Just...keep the spider away from me, got it?"

Hermes requested.

'Tell him to watch where he's flying. The next time that feathered shit craps on one of my curtains...he's dead.'

Spyra sent through the link.

Okay. Clearly I needed context for whatever that was.

"She says as long as you stay away from her- you guys are good."

I translated.

"That fills me with more joy than you can fathom."

Hermes said sincerely, throwing a slightly scared glance at Spyra.

"Lord Hermes. You had information you wanted to share."

Rhadamanthus cut in, bringing is back on topic.

The terrain, consisting of mountains and highlands passed by us as Hermes revealed what we were getting into.

And at the end of his tale, the clusterfuck we were undoubtedly caught in the middle of- only became more apparent.

Millions were dead. All in the span of a few weeks. And those indirectly affected were in some cases better off dead.

The fate that awaited them was either slavery or death after immense torture.

Asking more about the slavery part and Hermes had this to say,

"Ares plans to sacrifice as many lives as he can to power a ritual."

He said grimly.

"By imbuing mount Etna with immense amounts of Life force, he can overwhelm the seals imprisoning Typhon and unleash him onto the world."

"Who's that?"

Steve was curious.

"Typhon is a monster of untold proportions. He is as powerful as Zeus and nothing can permanently kill him. On top of that, he can control a horde of monsters."

Hermes elaborated further.

That didn't bode well for the world. If indeed that was his plan, then we were royally fucked if I failed the contract.

But...one thing stood out to me regardless.

"What about the Gods? I can understand Hades staying out of this, so as to not risk Zeus' wrath. But are the other Olympians really going to stand on the sidelines and watch this go down?"

It didn't make sense.

Hermes and Rhadamanthus shared a look that didn't go unnoticed by Steve and I.

"Okay, spit it out. You fellas are hiding something."

Steve pounted out.

"We think...he doesn't care."

Hermes stated.

"He's no doubt confident in his power and the additional strength he'll receive by having Typhon as his underling. That could be the reason why he doesn't fear retaliation from the rest of the Gods."

Rhadamanthus took over.

"In fact I might even go as far as to say, he's preparing for a final showdown with them."

After that, we stayed silent. Each lost in his thoughts.

The ground behind us was slowly transitioning from green verdant hills to a battle afflicted region.

I couldn't tell you how many destroyed villages and towns we came across. Refugees too. Lines of impoverished people coming from the direction we were headed to.

"Over the next hill, is the agreed meeting point. Pillyphus should have a few scouts on the look out for us."

Hermes told us.

Apparently, they had always had a back up plan in case things went awry. From his explanation, it seemed Pillyphus was aware Hermes was a God.

Having him with us, made it convenient in the long run.

His shape shifting and ability to travel back and forth gave us a long range scout as well as an agent if infiltrating Ares' base became necessary.

I was already thinking of ways to create a strategy around him. The best asset an assassin has is information after all.

Information is everything.

"We're here."

Rhadamanthus pulled me out of my thoughts as we flew up the length of a massive dormant mountain and nestled behind it, along the sea cove, was a 'blink and you'll miss it' ruin.

Without a moment's hesitation, we dove down towards it.