Ch. 010: My Fight With Zeus

Ch. 010: My Fight with Zeus

For someone who'd sworn to stay out of trouble, this was a nightmare come alive. I thought Olympus was a land of power and splendor, not where someone like me— a self-declared bookworm— would be dragged into battle against Zeus, the most overpowered god to ever exist.

I did not belong here. My life had been built on avoiding conflict, not charging headfirst into it. But here I stood, in the center of the colossal colosseum, its stone arches looming like silent witnesses to my impending doom. Zeus stood across from me, golden lightning already crackling at his fingertips. Poseidon, standing as the so-called referee, towered nearby, his trident resting against his shoulder like this was just another Tuesday.

"Summon your weapon," Poseidon commanded, his voice rolling like a tidal wave.

Zeus wasted no time, thrusting his hand to the sky. "THUNDERBOLT!"

The heavens roared, splitting apart as golden lightning descended with an earth-shattering crash. The energy molded into his hand, solidifying into his legendary weapon— the Bolt of Zeus. It pulsed with lethal power, a swirling vortex of light and destruction.

I swallowed hard. Cool. I was about to die by the most famous weapon in history. If nothing else, I'd go down as a footnote.

"Now summon your bident, Hades," Poseidon said, narrowing his gaze at me.

Oh, if only. The bident— legendary tool of the underworld, wielded by none other than Hades himself. It was a likened to a long rod like spear with trow forked spikes, it was said to command the forces of death, a counterbalance to Zeus's bolt and Poseidon's trident. Too bad I had no clue how to summon it.

"BEGIN!" Poseidon's voice thundered.

But I haven't even summoned my weapon yet, I screamed in my head.

Zeus didn't wait. The air grew heavy with static as his aura ignited. Electricity crackled and swirled around him, lifting his hair and robes. His eyes burned with golden fire. The ground beneath his feet cracked as raw power surged through him.

I froze. This wasn't just a fight— it was an execution. And I was given the simple task to survive.

Zeus lunged.

The ground shattered beneath him as he blurred forward, faster than my eyes could follow. My chest tightened. My mind screamed at me to move, but my body locked up as if ancchored down by my fear. This was it.

Death was coming.

But it didn't.

A metallic clang rang out, jolting me from my daze. I blinked and stared in disbelief. Before me, stopping Zeus's thunderous blow mid-swing, was a weapon— a long steel spear with two gleaming prongs. Dark smoke curled from its surface, etched with ancient, glowing runes.

The bident.

"When did you—" Zeus's voice was cut short by his own shock as he leaped back, putting space between us. His gaze narrowed. "You summoned the bident. Impressive."

I stared at the weapon in my hand, too stunned to respond. I hadn't summoned it— at least, not intentionally. But before I could process what had happened, Zeus moved again.

Lightning flashed.

The bident moved on its own, meeting the attack with another sharp clang. Sparks flew as Zeus's bolt clashed against it.

Another flash. Zeus struck from my side. Again, the bident intercepted, blocking the attack with inhuman precision.

He vanished, only to reappear in the blink of an eye. A hundred strikes. A thousand. Each one met with unerring accuracy as the bident moved faster than thought, deflecting the thunderous blows.

The colosseum echoed with the symphony of battle— crackling lightning, clashing steel, and the roar of wind stirred by Zeus's furious strikes.

I stood frozen, watching in awe as I held my own. It was after a while of this king that I had actually realized what was going on, my body was moving on its own instinctively as if put on auto defense.

This must be the instincts of the real Hades here. I said to myself.

Zeus was relentless, a storm given form, yet I remained unscathed.

"You call this fighting, Hades?" Zeus barked, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Do you think cowering behind your weapon makes you my equal?"

His words hit harder than the lightning. I gritted my teeth. He was right. I could not just rely on my instincts to defend me for long. If I wanted to survive, I had to act.

Whether I liked it or not, I had to fight.

I tightened my grip on the weapon. My pulse steadied. Fear faded, replaced by something stronger. Determination.

Zeus grinned. "Finally."

He launched himself forward, faster and more ferocious than before. The air around him exploded as his power surged, the colosseum trembling under the weight of his might.

I lunged to meet him trusting on the battle instinct already ingrained into this body. I tried to make it my own and become one with it.

The bident and bolt clashed with a deafening roar, shockwaves rippling outward. Zeus's strikes were like lightning storms given form, each one faster and stronger than the last. My body burned with effort, but I refused to falter.

For the first time, I wasn't just surviving— I was fighting.

Zeus's grin faltered. His attacks became wilder, more desperate as if trying to push ke to the edge of something .

"I'll end this now!" he roared, raising his bolt high. The sky darkened as he called forth a massive surge of power, the bolt glowing so brightly it blinded me.

This was it. His final attack.

A thought came at me, given and run or take it head on and die, to be clear I chose the former but before I knew it my body had already reacted on its own.

I planted my feet, gripping the bident with both hands. The runes along its surface blazed to life, responding to my resolve. It was like every cell in my body was begging for this and I was made to compel.

Zeus brought the bolt down with a thunderous roar.

I thrust the bident forward, meeting his attack head-on.

The impact shook the heavens. Light and darkness collided in a blinding explosion, the force tearing through the colosseum. For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze.

When the dust settled, I stood gasping for breath, the bident still clutched in my hands. Across from me, Zeus knelt, his bolt lowered.

He stared at me, his expression unreadable.

"Well," he said, his voice calm but tinged with something I couldn't quite place. "It seems Hades isn't as weak as I thought."

For the first time, I realized something. I wasn't just surviving.

I was winning.

Or so I thought till he smiled and said this.

"Now I can fight for real now... And not hold back." That was when I knew I would not like the next outcome.