Mountain of the Immortals

For the first few seconds, nothing came out of the darkness. But then the light of the sun glinted off of something that was moving with great speed. I’d already created perpetual streams of air right underneath the holes, with the aim of dividing the blades between the two large targets.

The first sword that emerged went flying toward the right golem. The longsword hit a human dressed in leather, piercing his shoulder and knocking him to the floor, where the edge of the blade lodged itself in the ground. Before the man's comrades were even able to get closer to him to offer any help, the sword exploded, sending pieces of the man's body flying dozens of feet away.

The explosion was much larger than I would have expected for a single blade, especially since there were going to be sixty-four million of them. There was no way the troops on the surface of the golems, or protected from possible cave-ins, would survive the onslaught of missiles.

The first blade was only the harbinger of the chaos that followed. Blades of all sizes and shapes rained down from above and, with the gentle direction of my gusts of wind, shot toward the two golems, creating a small crater around them from all the explosions.

A few hundred of those explosions weren’t enough to make the gigantic constructs budge. However, when the numbers increased to the hundreds of thousands, it was obvious that they had no choice but to move or die. By the time the blades that had already exploded numbered in the millions, smoke and dust clouds obstructed our view, both from the walls and in my siege view.

The eager and hastened movement of the dragon heads was the only initial indication that the golems had indeed been forced to move forward. Only a few seconds later, and while the swords were still pummeling the constructs' backs, the dragon necks on this side darted forward, in the same way a dancing snake attacks its prey.

The sounds created by the dragons striking at the golems were even louder than the cacophony of continuous explosions. Metal smashing on stone. Until finally the heads pulled back. Their sudden movement removed some of the dust clouds, which reminded me that I still had control of the weather while my divine skill was active. I extended the stream of air to an extent that would clear the fields and allow us to see what was happening.

Despite the fact that I still couldn’t see much from my vantage point on top of the walls, when I switched to the siege view I saw the gigantic golem now looked like nothing more than the remnants of a landslide or a controlled explosion of a mountainside gone critically wrong.

More importantly, however, I could no longer see the status window of the construct, which could only mean one thing. B, the general that had been controlling it, must have finally fallen. Killed in a war that was not for him to fight, on a battlefield that he would most certainly have avoided if he hadn’t been magically compelled to come.

With one of the four golems out of the equation, I redirected some of the exploding blades at the armies of Cronus further down the mountain. The downed golem was already rolling down the side of Olympus, destroying everything in its path but I wanted to make sure that no siege weaponry, catapults, or magical cannons would remain standing, at least as far as my winds could carry the blades.

The rest of Ares's missiles were directed at the second golem who had managed to bring one foot forward and steady itself. It hadn’t fallen forward but instead looked like it had fallen to one knee, still a safe distance from the city walls. Except for its head.

Fortunately, the dragons didn’t seem to have a preference in terms of the body parts they would attack, so around a dozen of them stretched their necks to their maximum and unleashed their obliterating breath all at once. The head of the walking mountain disappeared almost instantly, revealing a vast complex of caverns underneath it, stretching down into its neck.

I smiled, thinking about where I would want to be if I had control of such a large golem. My father’s general would likely have picked the same position where the brain should have been, on top of the head, or maybe between the eyes. Somewhere in its head at least.

And evidently that's where the second general was hiding, since the golem started falling apart. Its arm fell off, then its shoulders dropped, before the magic that was keeping it together disappeared all at once, and the construct finally obeyed the law of gravity and crumbled to the ground like the collection of earth, stone, and metal that it was.

"Two down, and I'm not out of swords yet!" Ares shouted in the guild chat.

"I'll take care of the ground troops," I said, redirecting the winds as much as I could to maximize the destruction of Ares's ability.

In spite of the questionable circumstances under which the god of war had joined our troup, he’d proved to be a valuable asset to the guild and our town. His unique perspective on war was not only useful during battles, and the times leading up to a war were when he really shined. Though he was shining pretty brightly now. A skill of utter destruction on such a massive scale was something I never thought I'd witness. He could literally wipe out entire armies with just this one skill of his.

Needless to say, I couldn't have been happier to have him in our guild and would be forever grateful to his sister, Aphrodite, for suggesting his inclusion.

"What are we going to do with the other two?" Artemis asked. "The dragons won’t stay active forever."

"Can you reactivate them once they're done?" Ares asked. "Perhaps we can lure them in and once they're fully invested in the attack, you can trigger it again. Might just be enough to take out their generals."

"I won't be able to summon the dragon ghost protector for another week," I said. "I fear there's not much more we can do to make use of their strength. But I do have one last trick up my sleeve."

I accessed the list of my divine skills and stopped at the one skill that had saved our asses the last time I used it. If one hundred lightning strikes were enough to bring down the king of monsters, they would certainly be enough for a magical construct, regardless of how large it was.

I ran to face one of the remaining golems, Aphrodite following right behind me. Ares's skill was just ending when I jumped up onto of the palisades, clouds gathering around me and the menacing rumble of a thunderstorm echoing in the wake of my most powerful skill.

I targeted the first lightning strike straight at the construct’s chest, where there were a series of caves filled with monsters and a small waterfall was still flowing. Rocks and water exploded outward as the lightning cut straight to the golem's core, making its whole body flash with the release of electricity.

Upon seeing this, the golem—or rather the general controlling it—reflexively tried to turn and protect its neck with the little stump of an arm that had survived the dragon heads' vicious attacks. That was all I needed to see to confirm his position. I unleashed the next few bolts at the golem's feet, making it lose its balance and start leaning heavily to the side. It fell fast, and finally revealed the neck as it brought its phantom limb up to break its fall.

Having spent more than half of the lightning strikes already, I directed the rest of them at the point I considered to be the general's position. One after the other, the lightning strikes carved into the walking mountain, until the magic keeping the golem together finally failed and it became apparent that the general had met his end inside his hiding place.

With the third of the golems now destroyed, all that was left of the once-proud armies of Cronus was one armless siege construct. That, and whatever troops it was carrying, along with the ground soldiers and the few flying battalions that had been wise enough to retreat once the dragon heads became sentient.

As if on cue, the dragon heads let out a terrifying roar and their necks retreated back inside the walls, bringing them back to their pedestals. Then, as if they had never moved at all, they froze in place, their golden surfaces pristine and shining. Once again, they looked just like the beautiful golden statues they had been before they came to life.

"What are we going to do with the last one?" Ares asked. "Any skills left that we could use to destroy it and call it a day?"

"My divine skills aren’t exactly focused on battles," Aphrodite said.

"Neither are mine," Hephaestus replied.

"Mine are, but not for large-scale battles," Artemis added. "If we can get close to the general, I can take them out from a distance. But I can't damage that big golem."

"How close do you need to be?" I asked, a plan forming in my mind.

"You can't let her go out there alone!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "Her Physical and Magical Defense aren’t as high as yours. She won't make it."

"See for yourself," Artemis said, and pushed a divine skill of her own through the guild chat.

* * *

Name: Arrow of Death

Level: 10 (Maximum)

Type: Active - Divine

HP Consumed: 0

MP Consumed: 400

DP Consumed: 10

Power: -

Range: 5,000ft.

Precondition: Line of sight of the target.

Description: Artemis's skills as a huntress are second to none, and her mastery of the bow means disaster for anyone she targets. By channeling her divine might into a single arrow, Artemis can kill any creature equal to or lower than her own level. Deities are not affected by this skill, but the arrow cannot be stopped by shields, armor, or magical protections employed by its target.

* * *

"So all we need to do is pull the general out…" I said. "And Aphrodite, you don't need to worry. She won't be going out there herself."

"Are we all going then?" Aphrodite replied. "Come back here, so I can rebuff you all."

"No, not all of us," I said, "but you can start casting the buffs on me."

"You're not seriously thinking of going out there yourself?" Hephaestus asked.

"This is our only hope. If we all go out there, we ‘ll be too much of a threat to him," I said. "He’ll never reveal himself."

The siege construct had already starting moving toward us since the dragons had retreated, each of its steps creating a small earthquake.

"Zeus, this isn’t the time to be cryptic about your plan," Artemis said. "I’ve got a skill to take the general down but I need to be able to see him. And there's no way I can get within five thousand feet of him from the moment he reveals himself to you. And that's if you manage to get close enough and challenge him."

"Oh, he’ll come out alright," I said with confidence, "but you're right, I can't just reach him as is right now. I need to wait for the golem to reach us and jump onto its shoulder before he reveals himself."

"I still don't know how you're planning to flush him out," Aphrodite said, having just finished renewing my buffs.

"Let me worry about that. What I need you to do, Artemis, is be ready to strike when he reveals himself." I pushed one of my upgraded divine skills for all of them to see. "I'll use this skill to swap our places and get you closer."

* * *

Name: Thunder Switch

Level: 3

Type: Active - Divine

HP Consumed: 0

MP Consumed: 500

DP Consumed: 3

Power: -

Range: 70,000 inches

Precondition: None

Description: Entangling Dark Energy particles by utilizing the tremendous energy discharge of thunderstrikes can make pairing two individuals possible, as well as switching their positions in space and time. By utilizing this skill, the god of thunder, Zeus, can switch places with any member of his party, even if that party member is unwilling or incapacitated.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Aphrodite asked.

"I don't see us having any other choice," I said as the golem crashed against our dome once more, this time using its one leg as a bridge for its troops to climb onto the dome.

“Be careful,” she said, then kissed me deeply.

"I'm ready!" Artemis shouted. She was standing proud on the palisades, her bow glowing red, eager to strike the final blow in this battle.

"Here goes," I said in the guild chat, and I jumped off the walls in the direction of the golem, where what remained of Cronus’s armies were waiting for me.