Issue #38: X, Weak.

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(General P.O.V)

Rhadamanthus was a king once.

And for a king to rule, he would need power.

Not just military or political but also personal power.

Especially personal power.

The ability to stand before an army and charge at the frontlines with your soldiers.

To withstand droves of enemies, each with the intent to kill and mow them down.

The Crete of his time- during his reign- was feared.

That was why he never backed down from a fight. He didn't need to, confident as he was in his skills.

So for someone to insinuate they could break him...was insulting.

The boy in question was similarly seething at him in anger. He could see the intent to do violence in his eyes.

As infuriating as it was to admit, it was like looking at a young him. The two of them were very alike in temperament. That same intent for violence was after all apparent in his own eyes.

And for the first time in a few decades, Rhadamanthus was enjoying himself.

He was having fun, yes, but more than anything, he wanted to beat the brat's ass all the way to Sunday.

And Win.

However due to the boy's superior physical parameters, The Judge was going to have to use...'that'.

"You complained that this fight wasn't going anywhere. Allow me to correct that."

Rhadamanthus stated in a heavy tone.

He raised his hands, bringing them to chest level. Then he placed one palm on top of the other.

Kane's eyes went wide as a godly amount of pressure was exuded by the opponent. The sudden burst of power was almost too much to bear.

The Assassin found himself crouching low, staring up at a DEITY.

The air around Rhadamanthus started crackling with blue lightning. The wind picked up, ruffling in from the outside.

An aura of blue and white divine energy created a layer above Rhadamanthus' body, and his eyes turned completelu electric.

"I might not be an Olympian, but do not underestimate Rhadamanthus, son of Europa. Demigod son of Zeus."

The Judge declared, his feet leaving the ground as he begun levitating in the air. No, carried up BY the air.

Kane clenched his jaw so hard it felt like his teeth would shatter. There were no more openings to exploit. Even his keen analytical skills failed.

This...was like the time with Hades.

He didn't need his senses to tell him that he was outmatched in every sense of the word.

"I see you now know of your situation. There is little a Mortal can do against a God, Boy."

The Judge arrogantly told him.

The Judge was like a completely different person.

"Before divine might, all a human like you can do, is beg for mercy."

The Judge went on, spreading out his hands.

Kane grunted as slash marks appeared all over his body, all due to the sharp and cutting winds surrounding Rhadamanthus.

The intense way his danger sense was screaming reached such an extremity that it became white noise. The static confusing his mind and overwhelming his reaction speed.

Thus, he was rendered immobile.

In the Judge's open palm, the lightning and wind converged, combining into an elemental ball of purple divine destruction.

Something that left Spider Sense blaring so loudly, Kane was having a headache.

Even his anger at being called 'Boy' lessened. Oh, it was still there. But he was now more concerned with trying to survive whatever this was.

'Crap. I might need Spyra for this.'

He admitted, reaching out through the link that bound the two of them and promptly summoning her.

The Fiery Spider combusted into place on his shoulder, already prepared to defend her master.

Then all of a sudden, the pressure faded.

The wind stopped howling, the lightning stopped crackling and the aura around the Judge dimmed.

Rhadamanthus drifted to the ground, his expression shifting from rage to confusion and then grim resolve.

"Something urgent has come up."

The Judge spoke evenly, staring put at the outside world through the opening beyond the obstacle course.

The earlier intimidating growl was gone from his tone.

Kane remained guarded, only shifting his stance to show that he wasn't about to attack. But he was confused nonetheless.

"How proficient are you at Flame Displacement?"

The Judge questioned out of nowhere, telekinetically pulling the robes on the side of the sparring mat, to his body.

Kane and Spyra stared at one another before rounding up at the Judge.

"Depends on where it is you want to go."

Kane answered carefully, shooting a web at his shirt which lay a distance away, and similarly pulling it to him.

It seemed the spar was over. Or at least paused until further notice.

"To Cerberus."

Rhadamanthus replied, holding out his hand towards Kane. The intention was clear, 'take me there.'

The latter crossed his hands on his chest, his face blank.

"I never said anything about helping you. You still owe me answers."

"And you'll get them."

The Judge promised him, before adding grimly,

"This takes precedence. It concerns the safety of the Underworld."

Kane carefully listened to the Judge's heartbeat, determining whether he was telling the truth. And he was.

"I'll hold you to that."

Kane told him before giving Spyra a sharp nod. The spider exploded into a ball of flames that consumed the two men.

(Cerberus' Island)

A sphere of blue flames manifested into being next to Cerberus.

The Hellhound was spewing out his own variant of the blue fire, waves of super hot temperatures at the banks of the River Styx.

The flame displacement sphere unravelled into Spyra, who jumped onto Kane's head, standing next to Rhadamanthus.

Before them, was a scene that was straight out of a nightmare.

(Kane's P.O.V)

The first thing apparent was the heat.

A world of blue fire blanketed our front.

The flames encompassed a large portion of the terrain from Cerberus' gray Island (I remember flashes of it getting destroyed before our fight but now it was apparently back) to about a mile out.

Behind us was the tall cliff, blocking off escape.

And why would escape matter in this context?

Well,

The air was filled with mournful wails and a stench that was worse than rotting flesh, as the souls of the dead rushed out of the River Styx in droves.

They were in a word, innumerable.

Revolting masses of disembodied shades dripping water from their half rotten/half spiritual forms.

"Rhadamanthus! Good of you to finally join us! As you can see...we have a little uprising in our hands!!"

Cerberus' Central Head spoke up, noticing our arrival.

"GRWWOOOOOLLLLL!!""

"Burn! Burn into ash!!!"

His left and right head vocalized the same sentiment, gouts of a deep blue fire I knew all too intimately, surging forth from wide jaws.

"How'd this happen?"

Rhadamanthus asked in an authoritative tone.

Instead of answering,

"You brought the Pup with you."

Cerberus observed, creating a tornado of flames around the entire Island, disintegrating everything on the shore.

As we were in the middle of the island, that placed us in the eye of the storm.

The swirling mass of heat exploded apart into a disk of fire that cleared everything within a dozen mile radius.

"Good. His flames will be useful."

The Three Headed Hellhound said as he turned to face them.

"Answer me. How did this happen?"

The Judge repeated in an annoyed voice.

Fortunately, there was a brief reprieve afforded to them after Cerberus' fiery attack, giving them a chance to talk.

"Things have gotten worse in the world of the living."

The Hellhound grimly explained.

"More people are dying due to Ares, which means more souls are arriving every second, which means..."

The Guardian of the Underworld trailed off.

"The Underworld's capacity has reached its maximum."

Rhadamanthus finished, pinching his nose at the implication.

"Great Hades."

"That's not all. Charon estimates that the souls we're getting are half of what we should. Half of the number is missing from his records."

The Judge narrowed his eyes.

"You mean..."

"Ares must be harvesting them for his own nefarious plans."

Cerberus finished.

The mood soured.

"Still, not everything is bad."

The Hellhound sniffed fixing it's attention onto Kane.

"The Pup seems stronger at least."

"You."

Kane glared at the Guardian of the Underworld, while Spyra hissed from her perch on his head.

The Left and Right head begun growling.

"Shut up. This is not time."

The Central head nipped it in the bud.

"Hello Pup."

It went on to say.

"You've gotten better at handling the flames."

Cerberus eye's briefly flickered to Spyra before a snort escaped it.

"But you still have a lot to learn."

"Enough postering, Cerberus. Where are Aeacus and Minos?"

Rhadamanthus asked, stepping to the front as more waves of undead rushed at their location.

"Manning the skies and the boundary along with Charon. Respectively."

The Hellhound answered.

It wasn't hard for Kane to notice the clear hierarchy between the two. Rhadamanthus held authority over the Hellhound.

And Kane wasn't surprised either. When he was fighting Cerberus, it felt like he could win, despite the Hellhound's unmatched control over the Blue Flames.

But after Rhadamanthus' brief show of power, it was clear he'd underestimated the Judge.

All his senses then had informed him he would lose.

And this led to a startling discovery.

Despite his new powers, despite his attempt to merge his own skills with his abilities and create a synergy effect,

Kane...was weak.

At least for this world.

He hadn't won a single fight alone since he faced the Amazons. He had help.

Either Diana was there, or Thanatos, or Spyra...

He'd needed someone to save his ass. That had to change. It had to change fast. Before his next big fight.

"Let them stay in position. You hold the perimeter and ensure none of the souls manage to reach the cliff."

Rhadamanthus instructed Cerberus, his body lighting up with a blue and white aura.

Kane was immediately gripped with warinness. He couldn't forget the pressure the Judge had exuded back in the training room.

Spyra's fire sent gentle warmth across his body, slightly lessening his agitation.

"Meanwhile Kane and I will thin out the herd."

The Judge finished, feet leaving the ground as he levitated forward.

"You ready?"

He asked, the question meant for Kane.

(Kane's P.O.V)

What a needless question.

I'm always ready.

Spyra unravelled into a shroud of flames covering my body in a bright blue.

In addition, the fire coalesced much more thickly on my feet, wrapping around my shins and ankle as I stepped up next to Rhadamanthus.

My vision was cast out into the hordes of souls trampling over each other to get to us.

"Don't forget, after this, you owe me answers."

I reminded him.

He hummed in acceptance.

"Hope you can keep up."

Then with the air around him obeying his every command, he shot up towards the sky.

The fog hanging in the air swirled into a large mass of nimbus clouds, flashes of lighting streaking through them.

Krakooom!!

Light bloomed as the skies tore apart.

An instant later, lightning started raining onto the ground, decimating a large portion of the souls and scarring the ground.

With one move, he had destroyed more than a thousand souls. Anything hit by the lightning immediately turned into ash.

The power output was hundreds or even thousands that of my venom blasts.

This is what a Demigod of Zeus could do. I briefly wondered if Diana would ever reach that level of power.

Stupid question. Of course she will. And not just her either.

I rubbed my chest, feeling my heightened heart rate. I was...excited. What I was witnessing was a hill that I had to climb and surpass.

And if there was anything I was all about, it was succeeding. Whether that meant completing a mission or becoming stronger than anyone, I know I could bet on myself.

"You ready?"

I sent through the link I had with my Spider Totem.

The shroud of flames around me flared up in confirmation.

Slightly bending down, the fire around my shins and feet begun swirling, melting the ground.

Bang!

Leaving a crater behind, a jet propulsion pushed me to the sky after Rhadamanthus.

And not to be outdone, I opened my mouth and breathed out a storm of flames at the souls of the dead.