THEOS

Luke drew a blade from its sheath, while Heracles tore the perforated tab off a protective talisman. A shimmering golden barrier took shape around them.

The bubble succeeded in repelling the vast majority of the flesh colored serpents, but its activation had been too slow. Three of the centipede winged serpents were close enough to Nel’s steed, that the talisman engulfed them as well.

It couldn’t be helped though. While the serpents had revealed themselves in a frenzy when the would-be Hero-killers had encroached on their territory, they had been invisible before then. Ambush predators that they were, they hung in the sky until something was unfortunate enough to wander in.

If it weren’t for the fact that nearly every Warrior-tier creature he had seen until now could fly, Luke would have thought the practice impractical. As it was, he was reasonably sure that while humans weren’t the intended prey, the tactic was incredibly potent.

In a matter of moments, it became pure chaos as one creature after another rammed into the barrier, while others tightly wound themselves around the bubble. Seeminging intent on crushing it. Heracles tossed something outside the area of the talisman, and white engulfed their vision. A violent explosion cleared away their immediate surroundings, and sent them careening in a random direction.

Leaving the world outside their little bubble for Heracles to deal with, Luke eyed the monsters that had managed to get into their guard.

Jaw clenched he locked eyes with the largest of the three creatures, and activating his Technique he sank dozens of points of mana into his blade slashed over both Heracles and Nel.

An arc of brilliant blue light traveled towards the head of the snake. He grinned slightly when a bloody cut split the soft pink fleshy scales of its snout in two, and left a shallow gash on its skull.

It stunned the monster, and it hissed in pain.

Rearing back, it flew out of the bubble, and collided in a tangled mess with one of its brethren that had already filled the space made by the explosive talisman.

The remaining two serpents instantly became invisible, and wound their long winged-bodies around Aura, and before any of them could react, squeezed. A loud crunching noise sickened Luke to the stomach as he tried to direct his skill towards them. It wasn’t to be though.

However the Sky Serpents made themselves invisible, it seemed that it was enough to prevent The First Truth from working on them.

Any other time, Luke would have been fascinated by the idea that his skill wasn’t as invincible as he thought it was, as it was, a jolt of dread shot through him. The Technique was perhaps his biggest advantage, and suddenly having it negated was not ideal, and it opened an entirely new can of worms.

If these things can block it, then what else can? Luke thought worriedly.

“SCREEEEEEE.” The griffin screeched, as one of them bit into its throat and another one into its legs. All within a second of them colliding into the cloud of the monsters.

Both Nel’s and Heracles’s rings shined, and their respective weapons appeared in their hands. A spear and a club. Before either of them could make a single move though, whatever skill or technique the griffin used to keep the wind at bay faltered, and then failed entirely. Aura was unable to keep it activated through the pain.

The wind crashed into them with tremendous force. Luke didn’t know how fast they were moving, but caught unprepared as he was, it succeeded in pulling the air from his lungs, and sent him tumbling back, and into the open air.

Shit. Shit. Shit. He cursed, for a moment fearing that he would be sent out of the bubble, before he tamped down on the panic.

Reacting in the nick of time, he latched onto Aura’s tail, and cursed under his breath, as he used her appendage like a rope and crawled his way back to the others. His eyes carefully trained in the area where he thought the snakes were.

Carefully, he kept his mana contained with him, so that he wouldn’t accidentally lock himself in space as he inched forward. He hadn’t been a warrior for long, but already the instinct to catch himself with his ability to hold onto space was strong.

He knew though, that if he did, that he would kill his own momentum, but not the griffins. Leaving him alone to fend off the skyful of monsters. Even slowed down and in agony, with her movement more of a freefall than carefully controlled flight, Aura flew incredibly fast. Fast enough that Luke knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up with her speed. Which would be incredibly bad.

Although the cloud of Warrior-tier creatures were ripe with points, they were both on a deadline, and he wasn’t confident that he would even be able to win. Making the prospect of battling them, not only unappealing, but scary and fraught with danger.

Warrior’s, even weak ones, weren’t fodder. At least not to him, and not yet. Even with all the tools he had at his disposal, he knew that he wasn’t a match for that many. Their number alone was overwhelming, and when factoring in their ability to turn invisible, which prevented him from the use of his own greatest asset.

I wouldn’t stand a chance.

Blood splattered on his face from a wound on Aura’s hind leg, and the griffin screeched once again as it completely lost control of its flight, and they began tumbling through the sky straight towards the ground.

This could be bad.

“Feed her a healing potion!” Luke yelled into the wind. Hoping beyond hope that Heracles heard him, his eyes locked onto a faint shimmer creeping under her belly.

If this is what’s in the sky, then I really don’t want to know what’s on the ground.

Frowning in determination, he hung onto the griffin's tail with one hand, clutched his blade with the other. Eyeing where the blood was spilling into the sky, he tried to activate his Technique.

He failed.

I have to make it let go and fast. Heracles probably has a healing potion that will have Aura fixed up in no time, but none of that will mean shit if there’s still a snake trying to eat her alive, and if she does die, then the whole quest is fucked.

Think. Think. Think.

Hitting its body won’t do much. These things are definitely durable enough that they’ll work through the pain. He thought, recalling how long Nel had to batter the one they encountered when they were journeying to Sophia’s forge. But if pain can make it lose concentration…

A plan began to take shape in his mind.

If pain can make Aura lose her ability to control her wind, then it should stop these things from staying invisible.

He filled the sword Cyzicus had given him with mana, and swiped so that the arc of sword light would hit the monster as far away from the griffin as was possible, lest he accidentally hurt Nel’s familiar, he let loose his attack.

A handful of the monster’s wings separated from its body, and fell through the air. It writhed in pain, and for a brief moment, its form became visible.

With it finally in sight, he activated the first layer of his Technique. It whispered its deadly song for the shortest of moments before the creature once again activated its own technique, but it was enough. Luke knew what he needed to do.

He let loose another arc of sword light, this one precisely aimed towards the winged serpent’s nose, at what he was fast suspecting was their weak spot. The monster hissed as it flickered into existence. This time for a few seconds. All the time Luke needed.

It reared its head, and almost faster than Luke could perceive, shot towards him. So long as he could see the creature though, its fate was sealed.

Another wave of energy escaped Luke’s swords, and wise to the danger, it ducked its head down in an attempt to get underneath him, and ended up taking attack to its back.

Rivers of blood splattered from the wound, but the level of damage was nothing more than a nuisance to the creature. It was stronger than the one they had fought before, and he remembered well the punishment that one had endured under Nel’s ministrations.

While the attacks would eventually drain its mana, and weaken it, they didn’t have that much time.

With his understanding of the First Truth however, Luke didn’t need time. The creatures every intention was bare before him, and it was with that knowledge that he struck again.

An arc of light escaped his sword, and this time, the creature dodged the attack entirely, untangling itself from the griffin in favor of killing Luke.

Its maw opened wide, it sprung forward like a spring. Just like Luke knew it would.

For an instant Luke tore his gaze away from the monster, and looked over the griffins back, and seeing that neither Nel nor Heracles had a clear line of sight towards him, he decided to take a small risk.

Wrapping Bellerophon’s Blade with his mana, he for an instant sent both it and the blade Cyzicus had given him into his inventory.

It wasn’t a requirement of the Technique itself, but in mere moments the sword in his hand would kill the monster.

Luke decided that it may as well do it in a way that benefited him the most.

With where they were going, he would need every ounce of strength he could muster, and he was unwilling to let even a single point go to waste. Not when he needed to kill a Hero. She was weakened, but by no means was she weak, and even the slightest increase in ability could mean life or death.

He didn’t want to die. Not again. Not ever.

Holding his now empty hand out in front of him, he felt the world slow down as it disappeared into the monster's gaping maw. Its warm breath tickled his skin.

He recalled Bellerophon’s Blade back into existence and simultaneously returned his other blade to the sheath on his hip, and with every ounce of strength he could muster, slashed upwards.

Like a hot knife through butter, the blade cut through the roof of the Sky Serpent's mouth, straight into its brain, and back out into the open air. He wrinkled his nose as splatters of blood arced through the air.

+ 8 Stat Points

Dead, the creature fell through the air, and he watched in grim satisfaction as another Sky Serpent took a bite out of its carcass moments later.

Grinning, Luke dashed back onto the griffins back.

Heracles was bent over the griffin's head, pouring a vial of yellow liquid down its throat, while Nel ineffectually but relentlessly stabbed the last remaining griffin with a handful of lightning-covered spears.

Luke once again embraced the First Truth of Death intending on helping her out, but before he could do anything, Heracles leapt towards it, and with his bare hands, grabbed it. His finger dug into its scaly hide, and Luke watched in awe as he made a bloody fist, and then in a feat of disgusting strength, sank his entire arm into the creature's body.

The light faded from its eyes, and with a loud cry, the Son of Zeus ripped his hand free and yanked out the Sky Serpents still beating heart.

Releasing the Technique, Luke reached into his pocket and quickly activated another protective talisman. Before he took a moment to process what he had just seen.

Heracles, seeing his stupefied expression, grinned mischievously and tossed it towards him.

Frowning in disgust, he swiped with his blade, and cut it into two. Sending each half of the twitching organ flying over the side of the griffin. It exploded in a curtain of blood, drenching his already soaked robes even more.

Man–

+ 2 Stat Points

Huh. Would you look at that? Nasty, but for two Stat Points… I’ll take it. But–

“That was gross.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest.

“I think it was funny.” The Son of Zeus grinned.

“No. No it wasn’t.” He turned to Nel. “Do you have any water… and maybe a change of clothes.”

She ignored him, and rushed towards Aura’s head. “Are you okay?” She asked her, rubbing her hand through the griffins feathers.

“I fed her a Hero-tier potion. She’ll be fine.”

“Do you have any extra robes?” Luke asked Heracles. “This is really gross.”