Greece (15): Hero and Monster (2). (FTHD - 30)

"Fight with everything you have, Medusa, whatever the outcome, decide your own fate..." A whisper echoed in Medusa's ear before she felt som

"Fight with everything you have, Medusa, whatever the outcome, decide your own fate..." A whisper echoed in Medusa's ear before she felt something within her unlock.

The first to move wasn't Medusa or Perseus, but the Hunter, who disappeared from his spot and reappeared on the boat from which Perseus had come.

Before Perseus could realize that the Hunter had actually moved, everyone in the ship's crew collapsed unconscious on the deck, like puppets with their strings cut.

Perseus felt a cruel shiver down his spine and widened his eyes. If the Hunter had wanted him dead, he wouldn't have even realized he had died.

"I will not interfere, son of Zeus. Your fight is not with me." The Hunter's voice spread across the island. Even in a low tone, Perseus felt as if the Hunter himself was speaking right beside him.

The Hunter looked at the demigod for a moment. Perseus felt as if he were being stared at by death... No... Something whispered in his ear, a tiny mad voice: Thanatos' presence could never compare to that abomination.

Perseus' breath caught before his body moved on its own as the Mirror-Shield detected something rapidly approaching him. He raised his left arm, to which the shield was attached, to head height before his brain even processed all the information.

A shield created by Athena herself collided with a serrated, rusty, and dirty-looking sword.

"Clank!"

The sound of metal striking metal echoed across the beach. The result was a draw, at least in terms of tools, as Perseus felt his knees buckle and his muscles ache with the impact.

Medusa, normally with her powers sealed, wouldn't be stronger than the demigod, but without the seal...

Medusa struck with the wooden shield. Perseus reacted by shifting his body direction, making the shields collide. The stalemate lasted just over a second before he was sent flying to the other side of the beach.

... Medusa's strength was nothing short of monstrous.

The Mirror-Shield trembled, and Perseus heard a sound in his mind. She is extremely fast. Perseus' thoughts were frantic, and without hesitation, he spun his body in the air and struck with Harpe in the direction the shield had indicated Medusa's location.

The moment the scythe collided with the sword, Perseus thought the old rusty weapon would break or be cut in half. Neither happened; the Blood Echoes contained in the weapon fortified it enough to face a Divine Construct.

A whisper echoed from the serrated sword, echoes of those who had died by its blade. A hunt begins...

Perseus' eyes widened for a second before he spun his body unnaturally in the air, his Winged Sandals propelling him to the side, where he aimed a kick at Medusa's head, which she defended with the wooden shield, barely moving back.

Perseus used the sandals to stand upside down in the air and used the kick's momentum to spin his body and strike with Harpe towards Medusa's neck, who felt her body hairs stand on end.

Death. If the strike hit, she would die; Medusa was sure of this fact.

Without hesitation, Medusa threw her upper body back, bending nearly ninety degrees. Harpe passed within centimeters of her nose, the weapon's aura making her multicolored purple eyes narrow even more.

Before the strands of hair the scythe had cut began to fall, Medusa activated her eyes at maximum power and stared at Perseus. The man felt his body slow and start to paralyze, even with the runes in his armor that heightened his already high magical resistance.

The moment Perseus raised the shield, blocking Medusa's gaze, she had already closed her eyes to avoid the delay in deactivating her eye powers and kicked upwards, balancing her body on one leg.

The sand beneath her exploded in all directions with the impact's force. Simultaneously, Perseus spat blood as he was sent spinning hundreds of meters into the air before the Winged Sandals stabilized him.

Medusa's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of blood, her nostrils flared with the scent, and her bloodlust increased. Kill him, destroy him, he is an agent of that hateful goddess! Something cruel and mad whispered in her thoughts.

"Boom!"

The demigod had little time to think before Medusa leaped at him, creating a huge crater that began to fill with water as her body ascended.

Perseus managed to defend the first strike of the serrated sword with the shield. Medusa's kick was narrowly deflected as he tilted his body to the side, feeling the wind stir with the strike's force.

Before Medusa started to fall, Perseus pushed the serrated sword with the Mirror-Shield and struck with Harpe horizontally, aiming to attack the largest area possible to prevent Medusa from dodging this time.

Medusa extended her hand before the scythe's blade could cut her, grabbing Perseus' arm and pulling herself close to him. Perseus had a moment to admire the color of Medusa's eyes, feeling his body grow increasingly sluggish, before receiving a headbutt.

"Craak!"

The sound of the demigod's nose echoed through the sky before Perseus was forcefully thrown towards the beach. He had little time to react, his body spinning rapidly before he struck the ground with the shield to transfer the impact to the Divine Construct.

"Boom!"

Perseus felt the muscles in his arm and shoulder throb, as well as his bones, which ached in a way that he knew they were cracked in several places. Ignoring the pain, Perseus kicked the ground, throwing himself back towards the sea, narrowly dodging the serrated blade that almost severed the arm holding Harpe.

Before the demigod could fall into the water, the Winged Sandals pulled his feet to the ground. Perseus ignored the seawater that reached his knees and raised his shield, blocking another strike before delivering one of his own with Harpe.

Two shields met two weapons. Medusa was pushed back a few inches, Perseus a few meters.

She doesn’t even let me breathe. Perseus thought between blows. She’s stronger than I am. He twisted his body to the side, dodging a strike from above before leaning back, avoiding a kick. She’s faster than I am, too.

Perseus was at a complete disadvantage. Even with all the information he had gathered, Medusa was superior to him in almost every way. Even the techniques he was so proud of, having learned them from the goddess Athena herself, weren’t overwhelmingly superior to Medusa’s.

Perseus was more skilled, but just enough to compensate for his lesser strength, speed, and endurance. Maybe not for much longer... In a war of attrition, the winner was clear.

If I had the helmet, this fight would be much simpler. Perseus complained mentally as he had done many times during the journey to Shapeless Isle.

Hades had refused to lend his helmet to Athena, knowing better than anyone the horror lurking within Hunter's mind. The ruler of the underworld was many things, but foolish he was not, unlike most of his family.

As the fight dragged on, more and more damage was inflicted on Perseus, small cuts he hadn’t been able to defend against. His armor barely slowed the serrated sword before his flesh was cut and burned in an unnatural way.

It was as if his flesh was being corroded, rotted, and devoured from within all at once.

His internal organs were also not in the best condition. Each blocked blow, although much better than one received, made his whole body ache. Perseus had long since stopped feeling the muscles in the arm holding the Mirror-Shield.

Medusa, on the other hand, was unscathed, Harpe not touching her skin, which was beginning to be covered in scales, even once. With each blow, Medusa’s strength seemed to increase. With each cut on Perseus' flesh, her attacks became more ferocious, faster, and, in a way, more bestial.

Kill him, destroy his body, eat his flesh and drink his blood! The mad voice in Medusa's mind seemed to grow louder and more monstrous by the second. Tear him apart, shred him, hunt the prey!

This doesn’t even compare to the Hunter’s aura.

Medusa ignored the voice, the madness, and the insanity with relative ease. As much as her body and mind craved blood and carnage, her bloodlust was a mere grain compared to Hunter's.

“Showing your true face, Medusa?” Perseus asked as he stood up. His voice was part disgusted, part cautious. “A monster is still a monster, no matter how beautiful it is.”

After the Hunter removed the seal on Medusa’s powers, her curse had also returned. Hunter had not removed it, only suppressed it. There were things that needed to be done alone and, Medusa knew, this was a test for her.

Athena had removed the "faith from each and every person." Perseus, as strong as he was compared to an ordinary person, his divine blood suppressing the curse's influence, was still, in fact, a person. His change in behavior was not unexpected.

Medusa didn’t care about Perseus' opinion, but the words still bothered her somehow, irritated her.

“You have never seen a real monster, 'hero.'” The word was spat out like serpent’s venom. “Because, in front of one, not even the favor of the gods will save your life.”

Medusa had only seen one and, compared to him, she was nothing more than a small snake.

Medusa didn’t wait for a response from Perseus and kicked the ground, practically flying towards him. She had realized that the demigod wanted to buy time to recover from the start, something she wouldn’t let him do.

Perseus managed to react in time, raising the Mirror-Shield to collide with the serrated sword. Medusa twisted her wrist, dragging the sword along the shield and locking the serrated blade on the edge, before pulling Perseus down.

The scythe in Perseus' hand blurred, cutting quickly towards Medusa. At the same time, the demigod pushed his arm further down, pushing Medusa’s sword in a way that she couldn’t pull it to strike him a second time in succession.

Harpe's blade collided with the wooden shield with more force than ever, cracking part of the shield and making the rune on the shield glow a blood-red hue. The moment this happened, the blade stopped advancing, getting stuck in the wood of the shield.

With both effectively having their weapons stuck, Medusa didn’t hesitate to abandon her sword. With the angle her body was at, her kicks wouldn’t cause much damage, so Medusa opened her hand, dropping the sword that began to fall along with Perseus, without the support of her arm.

The demigod had no time to react before being hit directly in the stomach. Perseus felt his organs nearly collapse from the force of the blow and spat blood, just before being sent flying backward, towards a tree.

I dropped Harpe… Damn it. Perseus’ thoughts were slow and practically froze when he collided with the first tree, returning only when he collided with the second, stopping his momentum.

He didn’t even need to look in the mirror to know his current state was not good.

If I look like I feel, I must be about to die then… Perseus thought wryly. Damn… My head hurts… Probably from the concussion.

“Kibisis!” the demigod shouted instinctively when his dulled senses noticed something flying towards him.

The bag at his waist inflated, engulfing Perseus entirely as space was folded and inverted. The outside world was pulled inside, including Perseus, and the serrated sword Medusa had thrown missed its target that disappeared into the air just in time.

Moments later, space was inverted again, swapping the inside with the outside, pulling the serrated blade into the bag while Perseus reappeared outside, bleeding.

And there goes my trump card… I guess this is where it ends... Perseus lifted his head with the remaining strength he had and watched Medusa slowly walking towards him.

She had Harpe in hand. The air around her trembled and rippled with the presence emanating from Medusa. With each step, her hair writhed like snakes, and more scales grew on her skin.

Her eyes were slitted, monstrous and bloodthirsty.

A true hero… Would have managed to win… What nonsense… Someone like me, who only seeks glory and approval… No…

Perseus’ last sight, before his wounds finally caught up with him and his body shut down, was the blade of the scythe coming towards him.

[...]---[...]

It's been a while since I last wrote a fight scene in the third person. I'm not sure if it turned out well; I think it did, but I'd appreciate your feedback.

I don't write as well in the third person as I do in the first (I think...).

As for the next chapter, it will be released on the 6th. I'm giving a small gap between releases so I can write more comfortably.

As always, have a good night and enjoy the read!