THEOS

Why did I think that lots of eyes means lots and lots of small monsters, and not a shadowy abomination with a bajillion of them. I just killed a snake with a thousand fucking wings. I should have known. I really should have.

The creature that emerged from the cavern was best described as an eldritch horror. Countless black hair like tentacles spilled out from a thin spine-like membrane. Luminescent eyes covered nearly every surface of its shapeless body and human-like teeth blinked around them at random and made unnerving clicking noises when the bottom jaw-lid met the upper. Merely looking at it was painful, and Luke wasn’t sure if it was because the thing was doing something, or if it was a natural consequence of witnessing something truly disgusting.

He didn’t have time to find out either. It was looking right at him, and despite the fact that it was so alien, Luke could tell exactly what it was feeling– hunger and anger. Both of which were feelings that filled him with levels of fear he had scarcely felt before. Nor did he want them to be directed towards him.

It pulsed in agitation, and then its eyes began to ooze fluid. Tears of pain or mouth watering drool, Luke didn’t know, but he took it as a sign to get the hell away.

Fuck Aeolus. Fuck Arke. Fuck Heracles. Fuck the Seed. Fuck everyone. How did my life come to this? He cursed as he took one giant leap after another, shooting himself higher and higher into the sky. Carefully keeping the monster within his sights.

Hoping beyond hope, that if he ran fast enough and far enough, the thing would leave him alone. For the moment at least, it seemed content watching him from a distance. Its expression changed. Going from hungry to regretful as Luke crept away from it. Ever so slowly, it began to inch back towards its cave.

The ring. Fuck. I can’t let it go back in. Not without trying. Luke’s jaw set in determination.

Pulling one explosive talisman out of his inventory after another, he tossed them at it with unerring accuracy.

Its form shifted, and the talismans whizzed past its body and sank into the sand. Golden crystals sprayed into the air, and Luke grinned as they sprinkled into the creature's eyes.

It writhed in pain, its eyes immediately gained a bloodshot hue and lost some of their light.

Okay. It’s creepy as fuck, but not too durable. If sand in its eyes can still hurt it, then this… nightmare is likely still in the Mortal-tier. Hopefully. I can work with that.

Yeah.

Maybe.

He risked a glance towards the chariot flying in the sky. It was still a mere speck. He knew though, that if Lukeus wanted to, he could come to his aid in moments. Whether he would or not though, Luke couldn’t be sure about. The Emperor’s grandsons had both proven to be unreliable and strange. He hoped that they did though.

Alright. I can work with this. He affirmed to himself, a vague semblance of a plan began to take shape in his mind.

“Hey!” He shouted at the creature, and flung another explosive talisman at it. This time waiting long enough, so that it would burst in the air between its flesh.

The creature had learned from his actions and become wise to his plan, and instead of contorting itself to let the stone pass it by– attempting to bat the talisman away.

It didn’t work.

Luke too had learned.

Bloody bits of its tentacles and eyes splattered against the sand when they exploded the moment it touched them.

“RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE.”

He winced. His ears throbbed in pain from the noise, and his control over his mana slipped, causing him to miss a step in the air. It took every ounce of his concentration to regain control over his fall. Just barely avoiding what was sure to have been a gruesome end. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he redoubled his effort to put as much space between him and it as he could.

What the fuck was that?I’ve never heard of anything being able to mess with someone else’s mana before.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that Lukeus had come closer. No doubt realizing that the creature wasn’t what they had thought it was.

A determined frown set itself on Luke’s face, as he pulled out even more of his Warrior-tier explosives. He knew what he had to do, and he desperately hoped that either Rex or Lukeus were fast enough on the uptake to realize the opportunity he was going to give them.

He aimed just behind the writhing mass of eyes and flesh, and let the talisman loose. Curtains of sand rose into the air and fell on the creature.

Another enraged shriek tore through the air. Luke grit his teeth, as his mana once again fell out of focus. This time though, he was expecting it and he managed to recover control in moments. Only falling a dozen feet, before regaining the lost distance.

Why isn’t it following me? He cursed under his breath, before tossing even more talismans at it. Once more it let loose its cry. This time Luke didn’t even twitch. Repeated exposure to the noise, seemed to have made the attack lose efficacy.

“Hey you…Thing!” He yelled. “What are you, too stupid to come and get me? HUH! I should have expected that from such a cowardly creature.”

“REAHAHAHAHA” Its tentacles coalesced into crude approximations of wings. All of them arrayed haphazardly and in a way that should not have supported flight. It rose into the air anyway.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It flies too? What is this thing?

Luke turned around, and spirited away. Calling a handful of talismans into his hands, he ripped the tabs off, and let the wind carry them away towards the monster, and activated a protective talisman moments before they were set to blow. The resulting explosion felt hot against his back, even through the forcefield.

The monster flew right into them. Either not recognizing the attack, or not caring. Luke grinned as the explosion tore its wings to shreds. Hampering its already unsteady flight, and sending it tumbling to the ground.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Luke drew the sword Cyzicus had given him. Filling it with mana, he slashed forward repeatedly. Each swing severing strands of its eyeball covered tendrils.

Embolden, Luke spammed the sword's abilities. Sending once ark of light after another into the creature.

“Keep it there!” Lukeus yelled, as flew by in his chariot.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Luke saw Rex jump out of it. Rolling onto the sand to break his fall, he dived into the monster's cave.

Yes! Luke grinned as Lukeus came back around. Standing heroically in his chariot, with a bow drawn, he loosed one arrow after another into the monster. Each one exploded the second it hit it.

The monster writhed pathetically on the ground as both Lukes attacked it relentlessly. Eventually its thrashing slowed, and the monster began to lose its form. Its wings unraveled back into tendrils that were quickly separated from its body by the duo..

That's right! This is what high ground looks like! Luke grinned.

“REEEEEEEEEEE.”

“Wha–” Lukeus yelled. His face became pale. Nutbutter neighed in fright, and Luke watched with dread as the two crashed into the ground.

The nightmare seized the opportunity, and instantly burrowed into the sand. For the moment, leaving them alone.

Shit.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine, check on Rex!” He yelled back, crawling out of the chariot with his sword drawn.

Nodding, Luke dropped from the sky, and sprinted full speed towards the monster's cave. Keeping an eye out for the creature in case it reemerged.

Rex came stumbling out of the cave seconds later.

Heracles’s Storage Ring

The sign floated in Luke’s vision above him. He grinned.

Now all we need to do is get out of here. Take the ring to him, and I’m Arke free.

“Alright. Get on.” Luke said, crouching on the ground in front of Rex, indicating for him to climb onto his back. He half expected him to protest, but to his surprise, he didn’t argue at all. “You have the ring?”

“I do.” He chuckled. “It’s not the only thing I got either.” He shuffled around, and held his arm in front of Luke.

“Is that–”

“Yes.”

“You took its egg!”

“I did.” Rex said gleefully. “You know how I can’t bond with creatures. Well I can, but only when they're inside an egg.”

“You want that thing as a pet?”

“Isn’t it awesome.”

“You’re fucking insane.”

“Maybe.”

“RHEHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.”

Luke winced as the monster let out its loudest scream yet.

“Ahh. What is that”

The sand parted in front of them, and its eyes, all nine thousand of them, locked onto the egg In Rex’s hand. The jaw-lids frothed in anger around its eyes, and its spittle flew in every direction.

“Throw the egg. Throw it now!” Luke yelled.

“What! NO! Do you have any idea how powerful a dreadglare is?”

“Yes!”

“I’m not tossing it. I thought Gramps had killed every last one of them. I’ll never find another one.”

“Dude. If it’s an egg you want, I have you covered. I have a great egg, from a crazy powerful beast. It's better than a pegasus and a griffin combined. Please just throw that away, so that thing leaves us alone.”

“I won’t, and I'm not stupid Luke. I’m keeping it.”

“You tried to drink milk from a sheep directly! You are very stupid! Trust me, drop it.”

He frowned. “That's uncalled for.”

No. No, it is not. I promise you. It is not.

An arrow shot out from the distance, and blew up inside the creature. A lone eyeball, sailed through the air, and splattered on Luke.

“What happened to Nutbutter?” Rex whispered.

“Wha– SHIT!” Luke cursed, and ran towards Lukeus.

The pegasus had survived the fall, but its wings were mangled. Any other time, it likely wouldn’t be a big deal. Even a Warrior-tier healing potion would see the familiar restored to prime health.

Right now, its injury likely meant death.

Luke’s mind raced as he attempted to think of a solution.

We have to kill it before it kills us. But how?

“Lukeus!” Rex yelled. “It’s hero time!”

Huh?

“What’s hero time?” Luke asked.

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Rex ripped the tab off a talisman behind him, and a shimmering golden barrier engulfed them.

Through it, Luke saw a similar barrier appear around Lukeus and Nutbutter.

Oh… Luke grinned. His eyes widening in delight, as he saw Lukeus remove a slip of paper from his robe, and affix it to an arrow.

Time seemed to slow as he pulled back the drawstring. The arrow cut through the air like a bolt of lightning. Shining so brightly, that even with his enhanced constitution, Luke was forced to look away.

When it struck the dreadglare, the world turned white. A shockwave sent the bubble they were in careening into the sky.

When his vision returned to normal, it was to the sight of raining sand. The dunes that had moments ago covered the horizon were gone. In their place was a scorched wasteland. Lukeus had glassed the desert. The beast was simply gone. Every last bit of it turned to ash.

The only proof of its existence that was left was the small splatters of blood and eyeball matter staining his robes, and the egg that Rex was clutching in his hands.

“Were those Hero-tier talismans?”

“They were.” Rex said. Even without seeing his expression, Luke could feel the grin on his face.

“They are pretty strong.”

“They are.”

“I can’t believe you’re keeping that egg.”

“I can. With this thing, the Olympics are as good as mine for the taking.”

“Maybe.” Luke landed gently on the ground, and walked over to Lukeus. “What tier do you think that one we just killed was?

“Definitely a mortal. If it was at the Warrior-tier we would all be dead.”

“Why is it so strong?”

“I don’t know. Demons usually are though.”

“Demons?”

“Demons.”

The fuck is a demon?