Mountain of the Immortals

Once more, I didn’t like the MP cost associated with their construction but there was nothing I could do. These buildings in particular might just prove to be the deciding factor in the upcoming battle. For that reason, I bought both of them, instantly spending almost three million MP.

The units of iron that materialized on the two sides of the settlement where I had decided to construct them, started flying, bending, and forming themselves into tall structures. In the meantime, the units of copper, which we hadn’t used at all before this, began wrapping themselves around the iron, creating beautifully complex patterns with great preciseness and swiftness.

A few seconds later, the new structures both stood high above the tallest building and tree at the top of Mount Olympus, essentially raising its highest peak by quite a few feet. The coil defenses actually looked awfully out of place, and I would have preferred if we could somehow remove them and only bring them out in times of need, but I had no idea how that would work—and besides, this was very definitely a time of need.

Regardless of the aesthetics involved, I focused on a new tab that had appeared on my overview, which gave me information about the town’s defenses. From there, I could see that all my citizens had been taken out of harm’s way and that the only available individuals for entering the battle were Aphrodite, Artemis, and myself. On the same tab, I could also see the two thunder defense systems along with a few other interesting choices.

First, there was the option of activating them. When I mentally chose that option, the copper coils on the structures sparked and a continuous buzzing sound could be heard all around them. There was also an option that was supposed to hide them, so naturally I selected it. The coils retreated inside the earth, which opened up to receive them, leaving no sign on the surface that there had ever been anything on that spot. The continuous buzzing sound was also now barely audible and I had no doubt it would be completely undetectable by the flying dragon until it was too late.

Finally, there were two modes of attacking that I could see. The first one was based on proximity, and it meant that the coil defense would only strike when an enemy moved close to it. This would be useful when we were occupied with the fight, since they would strike the dragon without us having to do anything.

The second attacking mode was fully manual, which—upon closer inspection—only required indicating a target and stating the attack command. The first attacks on the dragon would probably be done exactly like this in order to catch it by surprise, while a bit later into the fight, I would be able to switch to automatic targeting and striking.

With everything built and ready, and the thunder coils still hidden in the ground, I sat on top of a cut tree stump. The citizens of Dion had stopped flowing through the gate now, which probably meant they’d all been able to heed Artemis’s call and been taken down to the mineshafts.

“How goes it, Artemis?” I asked, anxious to hear her status update.

“They’re all here,” she said between shouts and orders she was giving. “In the caverns, I mean. I kept finding rocks I hadn’t seen before, but I told people they shouldn’t touch anything yet.”

“When are you coming back?” I asked.

“I’m climbing the side of the mountain now,” she said, sounding as though she was genuinely trying to make haste. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Aphrodite, what about you?” I asked on the guild chat again.

“I’m here, darling.”

Her voice didn’t come from the guild chat, but seemed to come from just behind me, and I turned around to see her standing there.

“I thought you wouldn’t be able to stay calm if I wasn’t close to you, so I cut my bath short.”

“I appreciate that, Aphrodite,” I said, and pursed my lips in acknowledgment.

“You don’t need to be so formal with me,” she said, starting to put on her equipment on top of her simple garments. “It’s not like we haven’t done some very informal things together.”

“You’re right Aphro,” I said, and she immediately changed her tone.

“I told you my name is beautiful and I don’t appreciate you butchering it!”

“I won’t,” I said, chuckling. “Regardless, thank you for coming early to help put my mind at ease.”

“Should I go looking for her at the hot springs?” Artemis asked me in the guild chat, since she hadn’t seen or heard any reply from her.

“That’s fine, Artemis,” I told her. “Aphrodite’s right next to me now and we’re waiting for you.”

“I pushed the people deeper into the caverns where they’ll be safer and now I’m on my way,” she said.

I was about to tell her that she’d said she was on her way earlier, but was stunned into silence when a new voice entered my head in the most violent and vile way imaginable.

“Zeus, son of Cronus,” said a malevolent voice right into my head. “I was sent by your father to bring you home, dead or alive.”

“I’d much be rather remain alive and stay here,” I replied, after I’d taken a moment to steady myself. “There’s not much left for me on Mount Orthys. Not after father devoured my three siblings.”

“This is not up for negotiation,” the dragon said in my head again. “You will come with me without weapons, and you will do so now, lest you want to invite my wrath upon the little village you’re building here.”

“I know, and you know very well too,” I replied, “that Cronus takes no prisoners. I will not sit by and be carried back to that murderous swine of a father.”

“Then you leave me no choice,” the voice said with finality. “A god will die today.”

“Dragon, can you see me already?” I asked.

“As clear as day,” the beast replied.

“Then this one’s for you,” I said, and raised my middle finger to the sky.

“What in the crows are you doing?” Aphrodite asked.

“It’s coming,” I said on the guild chat, then switched to talking to Aphrodite beside me, “and I felt that words were not enough to express my hatred toward it.”

“I’m here,” Artemis said out loud, breathing heavily as she jogged over to join us.

The three of us stared around us to see which direction the beast would appear from.

Aphrodite started buffing us while I accessed the two defense coils and set them up to come out of hiding once the dragon was close enough for them to strike it. Once I had received all of my buffs, I cast Roar of War, instantly raising my maximum HP by fifteen percent. Aphrodite continued casting her buffs on Artemis and then herself before hiding under a small hatch in the now thick, stone walls around the settlement.

Finally then I was able to see the beast my father had sent to bring me back. It was the worst one we could possibly face.

* * *

Name: Typhon

Type: Dragon (Raid Boss)

Level: 61

Disposition: Aggressive

HP: 226768/226768

Physical Attack: 1223

Magic Attack: 222

Speed: 279

Attack Range: Melee

XP: 352601295

Description: The one hundred-headed serpent and king of dragons in all the Greek realms. Typhon, along with his mate Echidna, have spawned hundreds of monsters that will forever plague the Apocosmos, though very little is known about his origins. The dragon has always been part of the Apocosmos and even the oldest of the gods have heard stories about him in one shape or form.

* * *

I knew that my father had somehow managed to bind Typhon to an unbreakable contract that forced him to fight for him, but I had never actually seen him. His form was as captivating as it was shocking. The beast had many long necks extending from his torso, each of them leading up to their own terrifying dragon head with enormous, charred teeth and eyes that promised carnage.