Chapter 83 The amphitheater incident (4)

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Long chapter today, as compensation for me not releasing one on friday, please receive this as an apology.

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Heracles burst out the wall of the VIP room all the way out the stands as the large Chimera tackled him, the two mountains rolled down the seats, while they threw bombs at each other.

The two crashed at the east side of the amphitheatre, just below the VIP room. Heracles with one powerful clubbing blow, sent the chimera flying.

'I was caught off guard. For a mindless beast, that thing packs a punch.' He thought as he got up on his feet, his eyes glued to the chimera who was doing the same. 'But I feel insulted, Erebus is really underestimating me.'

*ROAR!* the chimera roared as it crouched low to the ground, preparing to pounce at Heracles. The god cracks his neck and smiles.

"Yeah yeah, you can roar. Let's just get this over with." Heracles said while he cracked his knuckles.

The chimera dashed towards the god, its claws poised to cleave right through him, its jaws wide open, as the sharp dagger sized teeth threatened to rip Heracles flesh by flesh.

The beast jumps mid air, beaming straight for Heracles neck. But the god just smirked at this. "Erebus really thinks that this thing can emulate my strength?" With speed that shouldn't be even possible with his size, Heracles took one step forward, cracking the ground with his first step, and as he loaded his entire body weight and physical strength forward, he delivered an overhand right. "60% will do." he mutters.

His fist connected at the dome of the chimera, a loud thunderous boom shook the very air. When his fist made contact, the head of the chimera exploded in a mushy pulp of flesh, blood, and bones. "What a joke." he sneered. 'this was supposed to be equal to my strength, how insulting.'

His fist traveled right through it, like it was nothing, and it wasn't even at full extension yet, his punch continued to travel forward, and as it reached full extension, it generated a shock wave that tore everything in front of him with how powerful the wind burst forth.

The wind generated by his punch created a hole at the amphitheater, breaking solid concrete like it was made of paper, and destroying everything in its path. 'that's a bit much. Should have only used 40%.'

The sound from his punch made every fight in the arena paused. Every eye traveled to the god of strength. Be it mortal, gods, or chimera.

August as well, his spear stopped mid way before delivering kill number 72 to lucius. His eyes were stuck at the image of Heracles, and he is mighty indeed.

Lucius who was at the receiving end also has his eyes glued to god. "T-That was the a-alpha... H-how?" his question flew on deaf ears. After all, everyone's attention was on Heracles.

"I got to get out of here!" Lucius almost yelled in panic, aside from Cain, the alpha chimera was supposed to be their strongest asset, but now it was gone, literally, the blow from Heracles shredded it to fine mush.

At the middle of the stage, Ottar and Cain also stopped their fight, the two level 7s understood, that with it, the tide of this fight had turned.

"Tsk." Cain clicked his tongue. "So much for the anti-Heracles plan." he groaned.

'Is that his full strength?' Ottar on the other hand is curious, he never saw a god that generates that much raw power without the aid of Arcanum, to be fair, he also has never seen a god use arcanum before.

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Erebus eyes widened, at the VIP room, his chimeras are putting up a fight, after all, aside from the few gods who can fight, the majority of them are, as Hermes said, useless when it comes to a confrontation.

Everything was going well for Erebus, but he made one major mistake, and that was underestimating Heracles' raw natural strength. And truth be told, he didn't really do that, as a matter of fact, he created that chimera stronger than what he imagined Heracles' strength is. Because he believed Heracles was stronger than what the gods thought he was.

But even with that, he was still wrong, Heracles was still much stronger than what he imagined his real strength is to be.

Heracles looked up and his eyes met Erebus, the two glared at each other.

Erebus snapped his finger and Ari appeared right behind him, he gave his assistant a nod, and the two of them vanished in the shadows.

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At Finn's side of the arena, all the fights also came to halt. With every adventurer and Evilus members having their jaws dropped on the floor.

But it didn't continue for long, Finn being experienced as he is, also has a cunning side. Taking advantage of the sudden show of strength, he charged with his spear at the ready, slashing it forward towards Jillian.

The evilus executive hurriedly raised his sword up to block the incoming slash, yet he was a tad bit late to do so. He was able to redirect it, but a huge gnarly slash is carved at the side of his face.

Jillian jumped back, gaining distance and space away from Finn, and the palum didn't give chase. Finn smiled, and with a loud shout, he screamed on the top of his lungs.

"PUSH THEM BACK!!! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF ORARIO'S ADVENTURERS!!! THEY ARE FALTERING!!! FOLLOW THE LEAD OF LORD HERACLES!!! FOR ORARIO!!!"

With a rallying cry, every adventurer in the arena pushed forward with renewed vigor, and the evilus men, who had witnessed one of their triumph cards destroyed, was now low on morale.

"Damn you Finn!" Jillian cursed, he charged towards the palum, his sword glowing an orange hue.

Finn blocked his slash, and aimed a kick at his left calf. Jillian jumped, dodging Finn's kick, with a mad roar, he pulled his sword back and slammed it down to the palum.

"Big mistake!" Finn moved to the side, and stabbed his spear forward, blood splashed on his face as his spear entered Jillian's shoulder. "This time, I'm making sure that you and Evilus are rid of the world!"

Finn pulled his spear out violently, and slashed it horizontally, aiming for Jillian's neck. "Die!"

Finn felt a tingle on the back of his neck, he quickly cancelled his slash, and rolled to the side, just in time to dodge a dagger from Ari.

Ari didn't continue her attack, she rushed at Jillian's side and grabbed him by his arm, with a quick burst of mana, the two of them vanished in the shadows.

"Fuck! They got away!" Finn slammed his fist to the ground in frustration.

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Jillian appeared just above the roof of the amphitheater, there, Erebus was starting at the fight below. His children and his chimera are getting slaughtered by the adventurers.

"Lord Erebus, why did you interfere, I could have beaten hi-"

"Shut it!" Erebus cut him off, he was angry, his flawless plan was going down the drain, all because of Heracles. "Ari, tell Cain and all the executives to retreat."

"But Lo-"

"I'm not talking to you Jillian. Know your place." Erebus looked at Jillian coldly. His eyes were warning him that if he ever speaks out again, he'll kill him on the spot. "As I said Ari, tell Cain and the executives to retreat."

"What about our other men?" Ari asked.

"What about them?" Erebus answered coldly.

"Understood my lord." Ari nodded, she was about to leave, but Erebus' voice stopped her.

"Oh and Ari, activate our contingency. No victory will be celebrated today." Erebus smiled crazily, his eyes staring at the west side of the amphitheater. Where August is currently killing Lucius once again.

Ari followed Erebus' eyes, when she saw that, she smiled sadistically as well. "Consider it done my lord." with it, Ari once again vanished from the shadows.

Now that Ari is gone, Erebus looks at Jillian coldly. "Speak child."

"My lord, I apologize for my outburst earlier, it was in the heat of the moment, and I didn't realize that you'll be activating that." Jillian spoke looking down on the ground as he kneeled in front of Erebus.

"Look at me, child." Erebus voice entered his ear. Jillian looked up, he then cringed, and shifted his face to the side, trying to hide the ugly open wound he had on his face. Courtesy of Finn. "Did you not hear what I said child... I said LOOK AT ME!!!"

Jillian flinched, he's eyes looked at Erebus, full of fear for his god. He winced when Erebus palmed his face, shifting it to have a better look at his wound on his face.

"Child, if you ever question my decision again..." Erebus pressed his thumb on the wound, his finger digging deeply into open flesh, blood squirt and trickled down Jillian's cheeks. "I'll personally see that you'll be one of those things down there. Do you understand me, child?" Erebus leaned in closer, his eyes piercing that of Jillian.

Jillian dodged Erebus eyes, as he did, a strong slap arrived on his cheeks, where the wound is placed. He fell to the ground, it did not hurt him physically, he was a level 6, and Erebus is weaker than a level 2 without his Arcanum. Yet it hurts his soul, his very core.

Jillian and the other members of Erebus familia were mentally tortured to submission starting from a young age, for them, the greatest pain is the disappointed look on Erebus' eyes. They only feel unparalleled love for their god, and disappointing him is worse than death.

"Get out of my sight! And have yourself healed up." Erebus wiped the blood on his hand as he walked away from Jillian. After he recalls all of his executives they would retreat from this place, the others are to act as a distraction, leaving them to die... Along with every adventurer here.

Erebus smiled just imagining it. Oh how glorious it would be... But alas, he wouldn't stay here, that thing after all, is too dangerous.

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On the stage, Ottar blocked a slash from Cain's greatsword. The blow pushed him back a little, his feet skidding on the ground.

He then ducked to dodge a slash coming for his neck. Cain clicked sneered as his sword passed by Ottar harmlessly. With the adventurer's position as he is now, he is open for a strike from below

Cain kneed Ottar to the face. The boaz moved his hand and caught the knee, he shifted his hold to Cain's ankle, and with a grunt he stood up turning and throwing Cain to the ground.

But Cain has other ideas. As his feet left the ground when Ottar lifted him up, he twisted his body, and in an awkward angle, he slashed down to the boaz's face.

Ottar has no choice but to let go of Cain's ankle, as he did, he lifted his sword up and blocked the blow. Ottar then pushed up, the ground beneath his feet cracked when he did, a testament of his strength.

Cain was sent flying upwards by the push, he balanced himself mid-air, and landed on his feet. But as soon as he touched the ground, Ottar was already in front of him, on the attack.

Cain was expecting it of course, at their level, everything can be exploited, even before he landed, he was already setting up his attack.

Both of their swords glowed as their mana rages, battling for dominance. Their two greatswords collide, generating a thundering boom that sent shockwaves all over the stadium.

The two men skid off the ground away from each other, their feet, uplifting the floor as they do.

"Your reputation precedes you, King. I'm actually enjoying this fight." Cain placed his sword on his shoulder as he smiled wildly towards Ottar.

"Likewise Cain Blutstahl, I've heard of you, and I must say, you live up to your alias as the Red death." Ottar answered coldly. "But last time I checked, you are with Helios familia, you are not a member of Evilus, nor one of Erebus' underlings. Why join them?"

"Let's just say my objectives are aligned with theirs. And as for Helios... Well Helios isn't with us in the lower world now. I personally made sure of that." he smiled crazily, trying hard to hold down his laughter.

"You killed your own god?" Ottar's eyes widened. "Are you mad?! Killing a god has consequences for us mortals."

"Yeah yeah, I heard of this before, killing a god would send them back to heaven, where they would wait for you to die and personally erase your soul in the reincarnation cycle. That was after all, what he threatened me with." Cain smiled deepen. "But you see Ottar, I don't care about that, I just want to kill people, and if a chance is given where I can kill a god, of course I'll take it... That's why I joined Evilus in the first place."

"Is that so? Then I'll be the one who'll personally send you to Helios then." Ottar's mana rose, his body bulged, patches of fur started to grow on his body, his canine became more pronounced. Ottar is unleashing his beastification.

"Are you finally fighting seriously. Then allow me to do the same!" Cain's mana also exploded, his skin turned red, as black veins started to crawl out his skin, like a tattoo. It was his ability, if Ottar has beastification, then Cain has, monsterfication.

But before Cain could complete his transformation, a shadow jumped to his side, his clicked his tongue and had a face like he had eaten something bitter.

"Well, regretfully, this is where our fight ends Ottar, such a shame, I really wanted to kill you." Cain's body returned to its normal size, his skin also returned to its original color. "Hopefully you'll be able to survive this." Cain's body sank in the shadow. As if he was never there in the first place.

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Cain reemerged from the shadow with Ari, on top of the roof, the other executives were there as well. With Cain here, Ari had completed her task of retrieving all executives, now she only needs to activate that thing.

She sank to her shadow yet again, to do her last task.

"You know, your timing is really bad Erebus. I was finally enjoying a good fight." Cain said playfully at the crazed god which earned him the glare of every executive of Erebus familia.

"Don't be like that Cain, you'll get another chance at Ottar, I swear." Erebus chuckled. As Ottar said, Cain was not originally his child, but he made a deal with the level 7, one that he accepted on the spot. That deal was for him to have a chance at killing gods, permanently.

Erebus was planning on having Cain wield a Theïkó óplo if they would have succeeded. But as it is now, Erebus had failed to gain even one. The prince had retreated to who knows where, and August is protected by his god Heracles, who was supposed to be occupied with dealing against the alpha chimera. But we all know how that ended.

Another failure was that he was only able to send a handful of gods back in heaven, and those gods are not really important, the major gods who they were planning on targeting all survived, thanks to Buddha, Thor, Ares, and Athena, who were there in the VIP room to deal with the chimera he brought.

He didn't calculate that Buddha would be here, if he did, he would have brought more.

"Remember our deal Erebus." Cain's voice snapped Erebus out of his thoughts on why his plan failed. "I join you, I get the god-killing weapon." his tone carried little to no respect to the god.

"YOU DARE TALK WITH LORD EREBUS THAT WAY?!!" It was Bronn, another executive of Erebus familia, and a level 5 adventurer.

Cain flicked his hand, and in the next moment, Bronn's head was gone from his body.

Every executive draws their weapons and glares at Cain, the level 7 only sneered at them. They were not a threat.

"Enough!" Erebus ordered. "Cain, I would appreciate it if you didn't kill my children." he said coldly, his eyes staring straight at Cain's.

"Sorry about that." He said with a smile as he raised his right hand up, it was bloody with chunks of flesh still sticking on it. "My hand slipped." he said with a sarcastic smile. "Anyway, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way now."

"Do what you want. We'll be leaving as soon as Ari returns."

"Good luck then... I'm off, I'll see you back at base." Cain vanished from here he stood as he made his exit. The executives were still glaring at where he once stood.

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On the west side of the amphitheater, August chased after Lucius, he already lost count on how many times he killed this son of a bitch. And frankly, he didn't care.

Lucius on the other hand was running for his life, he was after all, counting, and August had killed him a total of a hundred and six times. He forgot the total number of lifelines he has, all he knows is that it's over a hundred. And right now, any death he suffered might be his last.

As August gave chase, he felt a tingle on the back of his head, his senses picked up something coming at him at extreme speeds.

August slashed his spear behind him blindly, following his instinct in doing so. His spear was blocked by a dagger, it was Ari.

Ari then sank to the ground and appeared right behind August. She loaded her dagger with mana, and stabbed it down towards the adventurer.

'Fast!' August thought, barely able to block the dagger with the base of his spear, he pushed her back, and shifted the hold on his spear, holding it at the very edge of its body. With a flick of his wrist, he slashed his weapon downward, heading straight to Ari's head.

Ari just smirked, she didn't even attempt to dodge it, August spear hit nothing but air, it completely passed by Ari's body, only a black mist remained from where she once stood.

'It's the same magic as Loch!' August's eyes widened, he jumped back, just in time to dodge the dagger coming for his abdomen.

Ari then threw her dagger towards August as she also jumped back beside Lucius.

August, blocked the dagger, swinging his spear upwards, he then caught it mid air and threw it towards Ari with all his strength.

Ari didn't dodge again, the dagger going through her head, a puff of black mist spread as her body turned into a shadow. She then caught her dagger, and smiled at August.

'She's dangerous.' He thought, he didn't rush, he started intently at the two Evilus members, he knows that rushing here won't do him any good. He might be angry but he was not that dumb. 'She's a level 6.'

If it was only Ari, August was confident in taking her on, especially since his endless battle is still activated, but Lucius who is level 5 is also there. A two on one fight against a level 5, and 6, wouldn't be favorable for him, even with Endless battle activated.

"Shit! What took you so long!" Lucius cursed at Ari, his face, a mixture of relief and anger. "The plan was for you to help me deal with him!"

"The plan changed, Lord Erebus ordered for a retreat, he'll be activating his contingency." Ari said coldly, her eyes never leaving August.

"Contingency? I was the one who made this plan! Why weren't I informed of this?!"

"Of course you weren't, you were only a pawn after all, Lord Erebus made you believe that you are the one making the plans, and as for the contingency plan and why you weren't informed of it..." Ari turned towards Lucius quickly, she stabbed her dagger straight through his heart. "You are it of course. Be honored that Lord Erebus has chosen you to be one of his experiments."

August as well as Lucius eyes widened. August didn't expect Ari to stab Lucius, and Lucius of course didn't expect it as well.

Ari then shoved something inside Lucius' mouth, she then slammed the pommel of her dagger at his throat, making him swallow it.

"With the souls of those we sacrificed for your pseudo immortality, as well as your soul, Lord Erebus has made you, his most powerful creation to date. And with your death, another being will rise." Ari smiled sadistically as her eyes stared at Lucius' fearful eyes. "And as for the one I forcefully feed you, it'll make you even stronger, an artificial demi spirit."

Lucius fell to his knees, his body started to bubble, his hair fell off his head, his skin scalded and started to smoke, a disgusting smell was starting to exit his body. He started to shit and pee himself as he lost control of his bowel movement. He vomited, at first it was his food, then it was blood.

"Rejoice, Lord Erebus has chosen you... Goodbye Lucius... We thank you for your service for Erebus familia and Evilus." Ari said as she tilted her head and smiled politely. She then turned towards August.

August jumped back, he felt a sinister mana coming from Lucius, he gulped, the mana was rising and rising. It was now equal to what he felt from Cain.

"Good luck, Gáe Bulg... I do hope you like my god's present for Orario." Ari said with the sweetest voice she could muster, and then she sank her shadow in the ground.

August ignored her, he has more pressing matters in his hand. His grip on his spear became even tighter, he took another step back.

Lucius's skin was now starting to melt, a black mushy substance was starting to take its place, he's body grew larger and larger, pus started to squirt all over his body. His jaw opened wide, unhinged as he screams painfully.

"W-What the fuck is that thing?!" August muttered, his heart was beating fast, a sense he forgot started to crept into his heart. It was fear. The mana he was feeling was now stronger than Cain and Ottar combined.

Everyone in the amphitheater felt it as well, nay, everyone in the city could feel it, it was dreadful, the mana was disgusting, vile, it clings to the skin.

With a violent roar, the creature stood over everyone, dwarfing even the largest of the gods Heracles.

August felt it, the mana, it was... "L-Level n-nine!"

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Chapter 83 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.

good day, love y'all.