209 Gods And Monsters (7): Bird Cage, Eternal Sun

(A/N: Gonna make an announcement either tomorrow or the day after. I want to hear you guys' opinions on some concerns I have pertaining to this work.)

The four horses with flaming manes galloped incessantly chasing the escaping winged man. Asterios did not know why Ikaros had decided to interrupt their fight at this precise moment, but he did not want to think about it—he could NOT think about it.

As a Servant, he had to prioritize his Master over everything else, even his personal feelings. Sure, he would like to apologize to Ikaros for the suffering he went through because of him, regardless of the level of blame he could have when he was just a clueless beast and had no say in the decisions King Minos made.

Regrettably, that was not an option now. Every second they lose here, it was one more second where his Master would be fighting alone against his fellow God. He had complete trust in Seth, but it was undeniable that he seemed to be struggling with something as of late. There was no way of knowing how that could affect the match between those two, which was why he had to be there to at least support him. It did not matter if it was only to block one hit; as long as it worked to keep him safe then, as a Servant, it would be everything he could ask for.

Berserker chose to actively participate instead of just waiting for his horses to catch up with that in mind. He might not have been personally there to see it happen since he was trapped in the Labyrinth, but he was still aware of the ultimate end Ikaros had.

In normal circumstances, he would be at a disadvantage since, aside from his death, he was famous for escaping the seemingly inescapable maze. However, now that he represented the Sun; his 'weakness', things were different. Not to mention that this was his Reality Marble, so he had an insurmountable edge when it came to their confrontation.

'We better do this quick.' Asterios frowned as he coated one of his axes on fire and swung at Ikaruos, which caused a blazing air slash to release from the weapon at incredible speeds. The Minotaur repeated the same action several times, careful not to hurt his steeds or his fellow passenger.

The son of Daedalus, ever so sensitive to heat since that incident quickly noticed the incoming attacks. A muttered curse or two later, he flapped his wings and began to take evasion maneuvers, always remembering to keep himself close to the ocean's surface in case of an emergency. While he was at it, he shot several knife-like feathers in retaliation. The target was not only them but also the horses. Without them, he doubted they would be able to keep up with him.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his strategy had been seen through as the white-haired man rose to help by shooting multiple lasers at the projectiles he fired.

Things were definitely not easy, but the situation was far from hopeless. Just as he thought so, though, numerous sun rays resembling arrows of light fell upon his position. Knowing that it would be practically impossible to evade them all, he unsheathed his sword.

Waiting for the perfect timing, he did a preemptive strike with his feathers, slashed the ones he could, and dodged the ones he couldn't block. Sadly, things were not that easy. He was being enhanced by the Magic of his Master and yet he still felt his sword vibrate, numbing his arm slightly.

'All right. Time to become a little serious myself. Otherwise, I might really die from this crazy plan.' Ikaros did a forward push with his wings, allowing him to gain some beneficial distance from his pursuers. However, much to their surprise, just as they were to accelerate in response to his actions, the Greek man suddenly opened his wings, stopping his momentum awkwardly to remain stationary.

The four horses weren't that flexible, though. They continued their travel even if their objective had already stopped.

Meanwhile, Khronos and Asterios looked slightly above in slow motion as a smirking Ikaros dropped some kind of golden dust upon them, causing the two Servants to widen their eyes. What followed after was the particles suddenly lighting up and exploding next.

Neighs of pain were heard as the horses cried from the winged man's doings. Obviously, he had gained a bit of a distance to avoid getting caught up in his own attack. As for his methods? That was a simple answer. He might only be recognized by others for his death, but he still was the son of the Daedalus, the most outstanding craftsman of Greece, so it was natural that he had picked something up while in the care of his father. That translated into his Craftmanship C+ Skill. Although not the best in terms of rank since he died quite young, it still allowed him to create many things.

He didn't have great things going for himself in terms of raw power, so if he wanted to succeed in this mission, he had to make preparations; and preparations he made. 'Now I just need a good window of an opportunity and that deranged bastard's plan will succeed. But who would have thought that the Minotaur would help me in my plan? Truly ridiculous.'

Ikaros' thoughts returned to the present as the dust created by his machinations dispersed with the wind. Both Gods were soon revealed to be standing on water and looking at him with less-than-friendly expressions. As for the steeds? They were seemingly recalled back, something that worked in his favor... or so he thought.

He suddenly felt space itself tremble, prompting him to turn his head back. He noticed sudden pillars of fire shooting up from the ocean into the sky as he did so. He was ironically trapped inside something akin to a birdcage.

Their intentions couldn't be more obvious. If he got closer to the Sun, his wings would melt, and he would fall into the ocean and die. It looked ridiculous since he was now a Servant and technically he could stand on the water with relative ease. The problem was, that the chain of events would trigger his conceptual death. Even if he were to have the Core of a Grand, that fact would not change. This Age of the Gods-like place only reinforced that.

'What these punks don't know is that I have prepared for events like these.' He rapidly put a hand inside the small pouch hanging on his waist and took out a rock with a Rune engraved in it soon after. Without hesitation, and before the astonished gaze of the other two combatants, he crushed it.

"Isaz." As soon as he uttered those words, the pulverized remains of the stone became blue crystals that settled down on his wings, giving them a sort of ethereal feeling to them with their hue.

"Isn't that the Rune for Ice? Why do you have something like that? No, it's pointless to ask. It is rather clear after all that you have a Norse Servant in your ranks. It would explain why those two, in particular, came down." Khronos voiced out his conjecture with narrowed eyes. Ikaros never had any contact with other cultures, so there was no way he could have something like a runestone; no matter how talented his father was or the Rank of his Skill.

Another hypothesis he came up with was that the Servant was either the mastermind or someone closely related to them. The feat of calling a God was praiseworthy as it was fearsome. Someone like that would be either too powerful or a bastard with annoying tricks. He preferred not to think about the possibility of another Servant controlling that madman or madwoman, though. They would be in a league of their own and would require tricky things to overcome.

More importantly, what he just did would prevent him from dying a pathetic death from his wings getting burned—at least for a while. Though, the white-haired man wouldn't put it past Ikaros to have more of those stones just in case the effect of the first one wore off.

"Ah, quite perceptive. By the way, sorry for my late greetings. We technically come from the same land, so we should get along with each other nicely. Unfortunately, even if I do not particularly hate you guys as much as my father does, I still see you as some meddlesome old fossils whose life is so sad and pitiful that I can't even muster the strength to get angry at you." From the very beginning, he was not someone to care if they found out about the circumstances involving his side. While that didn't mean he would suddenly reveal information, he wouldn't precisely hide it either.

"You? Talking about sad and pitiful lives? Don't make me laugh, brat." Archer mockingly adjusted his glazes as he sent a disdainful look at the brown-haired man. His comment naturally annoyed Ikaros, evidenced by his twitching brows. With that said, it was not enough for him to charge at them like a maddened beast that had lost all reason.

That didn't mean the others would just wait for him, though.

Khronos manifested a considerable-sized clock behind his back. The two needles that were stuck in the letter "XXII" started moving backward at the same time a sort of invisible field expanded with the white-haired God as the center.

Ikaros clearly felt the shift in the wind, and soon he was made aware of the impacts it had on reality.

"Timeless: Regression." As soon as those cold words echoed all around him, the winged man sensed his feathers losing the newly acquired coldness only to be replaced by the same heat that the fire prison was exerting on the rest of his body.

Fighting against someone that could reverse time was going to be problematic. No, by the look of things, it went beyond merely reversing time. He might have lost in terms of scale with his fusion, but he gained a lot of diversity.

It certainly put more pressure on him. So, left with no choice, Ikaros took another Runestone from his bag and prepared to crush it. "Spaceless: Infinity."

Yet Khronos didn't seem to be done, and his pain seemed to be just beginning.

"Khh...Gahhh!" The response was only delayed for a fraction of a second, but it eventually came. A scream that wasn't blood-curdling thanks to his status as a Servant, but one that still conveyed his pain. To begin with, he was never a warrior, so it was not surprising that he didn't possess enough pain tolerance.

Ikaros observed the place where his arm used to be—only to notice a small piece of cloth stained red that still remained despite the severed limb, but as for the rest? The chilly wind was his sole answer.

Looking ahead, he saw the Minotaur with his body in a throwing position and one of his axes missing. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. 'I already knew he was going to be a pain in the ass, but for it to be to this extent...'

This was what he feared the most. Now he not only possessed Time powers but also Space ones as well. The only warning he got was the name of the technique, but aside from that, it pretty much looked as if in one instant, things were in a certain way, and in the next, they were in another, completely different one.

It seemed they didn't intend to play around at all. Even if his phantom pain was cursing him for admitting it, he had to say that he got lucky. If he had moved the stone a few centimeters more to the center of his body, the thing that would have been chopped off would have been his head and not his arm. 'But I can infer some things with this. If I am wrong, I die, and if I do nothing, I die too. Thinking about it, whatever I do, I am fucked. It's better to try at least.'

First things first, he moved the pouch from his left side to his right while hiding it from view by doing it through the back of his body. If he was correct, then Archer couldn't displace things he couldn't see. The option of him swapping part of his armor for another ax of the Minotaur was there, but he theorized that he couldn't do so. No, more than couldn't it was that what he would transport his whole being instead of just the armor. The rune from before was a special case since it was separated from the rest of his body. That could easily be proven by the fact that his head was still intact instead of being replaced by a random fish passing by.

Taking advantage of that same concept, Ikaros descended to the ocean's surface warily amidst the focused gazes of his two opponents—the thrown ax back into Berserker's hand. In a flash, the winged man stomped on the dark waters, creating a small wall that obscured him from view.

As if that were his cue, Asterios launched himself forward, slashing the pitiful interruption with no remorse. His burning weapon left a trace in the form of a flying slash that headed straight for the retreating Ikaros. One look was enough to let him know that had taken advantage of that small window in time to once again coat his wings in that crystalline substance.

What caught his attention, though, were the small mechanical birds that were approaching him at fast speeds while leaving a trail of light. He snorted as he blew a breath of fire than engulfed everything in its path. Berserker was aware this was a distraction, but he only had to corner him as this was a team battle, to begin with.

"Leave it to me." Khronos summoned numerous floating clocks that went like hungry hounds to the possible location of their fellow Greek; firing several beams made of Magical Energy soon after. He was trapped in a prison, so, in essence, there was no place for him to run.

Water flew everywhere under the continuous assault, and Asterios had to admit that his power was enough to shake the air surrounding them. 'He struck me as someone that didn't want to get his hand dirty but... is it possible he is just fundamentally lazy?'

He always felt that Archer could have done more when they were still in the Labyrinth. It turns out his feelings were right on the mark. His Master refused to fight at his strongest against Thor, Archer simply didn't like taking an active part in confrontations... Could there be a pattern? 'Gods sure do have their quirks, although I can't say much since I am on the path of becoming one myself.'

Returning back to reality, Asterios quietly observed the steam rising in front of him from both of their attacks. Even through that visual impediment, he was confident in detecting anything that could still be there. The problem came when he didn't.

It didn't take long to figure out why. He quickly turned around with furrowed brows in Khronos' direction. "Archer! Be care—"

*Puchi*

"Not acting...so smart now...aren't we?" A gasping Ikarus sarcastically asked the white-haired man while twisting the sword stuck in his chest. His figure drenched in water looked pitiful, but even that couldn't hide the victorious smirk on his face.

"Hm... It is not that I act smart; I AM smart, you see?"

"...!"

Khronos turned around to offer the man a harmless eye smile. And before the slowly widening eyes of Ikarus, he effortlessly turned around, not minding the weapon piercing him, and proportioned a deep cut to the winged man's torso with just his bare hands in the form of a knife.

The brown-haired man was propelled back thanks to the attack's momentum, leaving behind a trail of blood that colored momentarily the ocean with a red color.

After stabilizing himself, he looked with slight shock at the smiling man before him, yet his now opened eyes held feelings of utter ridicule within them.

"I am pretty much immortal, kid." To emphasize this, his wound started healing. No, it started reversing. "With that in mind, I let you get close to me, and in turn, wounded you gravely. Wouldn't you say it was a smart move on my part?"

'Damn it... This guy is way more cunning than he looks. He is probably a two-faced bastard on the inside.' Ikaros clutched his chest fruitlessly. With one less arm and a deep gash that covered most of his torso, he was truly at his wits' end.

"Now, would you like to experience the same death you had in life, or are you feeling adventurous and want to try something new—Huh?" Khronos paused mid-speech to look at the sky. It was only by instinct, but he knew something was approaching, and when he saw what it was, he just bewilderingly uttered one word.

"Scheiße."