The ground cracked beneath the thunder of their charge.
Riptide lunged first, his large fist pulled back, and then shot forward. Heracles answered with a low grunt and swung his club with terrifying precision, meeting the shark general's strike head-on.
*BOOOOOOM*
The force of their collision sent a shockwave rippling across the battlefield, hurling nearby corpses, Nereid and Oceanid alike, through the surroundings. Riptide slashed his claws through the air, but they scraped against the Nemean lion's pelt; the indestructible skin deflected the blow and continued to protect the Greek Hero. Heracles remained unfazed and pressed forward.
He slammed his club down vertically, using his massive strength. Riptide darted to the side, using unnatural speed, which belied his size and lunged to bite into Heracles' side, but again, Heracles moved the pelt and the massive shark's teeth met the indestructible defence.
Heracles narrowed his eyes. He saw the change. Riptide wasn't done, not even close. Heracles had a lot of experience fighting dangerous creatures, and so he saw Riptide as nothing more than another beast. The shark-general's aura began to rise again, his muscles swelling from the power he had gained through the consumption of prey. The Nemean-clad demigod grunted in satisfaction and stepped forward.
"You want to brawl? Fine. Let's see what your fists can do."
Riptide didn't answer. He just lunged forward. Fists met fists.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
Their blows collided, sending out more ripples that cracked the ground beneath their feet. Heracles ducked a hook and drove his own punch into Riptide's gut, but the shark-man barely budged this time, biting through the pain and damage. His body had become tougher, denser than it was before arriving at this battlefield. He retaliated with an uppercut that connected and snapped Heracles' head back. The demigod stumbled a step, but only one. He grinned; the bloodlust he had inherited from his father showed right now, as he felt his fighting spirit soar.
"Now we're talking!" he shouted.
They went at it. Blow for blow—flesh against flesh. One was a legend in strength and combat, the other a monster forged in the deep ocean, growing stronger with every bite and meal.
Heracles' punches were like thunderstorms, shaking the air with each hit, and sending vibrations through flesh and organs. Riptide fought like the beast that he was, no refined style, just sheer power, aggression, and explosive savagery. And it seemed to work. For a time at least.
A left hook from Riptide smashed into Heracles' ribs. A straight punch from Heracles dislocated Riptide's jaw, the force shaking his brain. Riptide grabbed Heracles by the waist and slammed him into the ground, but Heracles punched through the ground and reversed their position, landing elbow strikes into the shark-man's head from above, further cracking his head.
Blood sprayed, but neither backed down. They roared and clashed again, two titans not physically, of course, but in the way of their actions and how they used their strength. But it was not as equal as it may seem initially. The demigod of pure strength was doing better than Riptide. And he improved.
"You're persistent," Heracles boomed.
Riptide said nothing. His glowing eyes narrowed as he felt the damage accumulating, while Heracles looked more or less the same as he did in the beginning. It was that damned Nemean lion. Its defence was impeccable, and there was nothing Riptide had against it. What's more, Heracles' strength seemed to be growing as the fight went on. It was as if he were digging deeper into his potential, now that someone had arrived who could give him a proper fight, the way he wanted.
Knowing he couldn't break through the pelt, Riptide signalled with a shrill whistle for his soldiers. From the pools around them, where they had retreated to and awaited their master's call, the sharks rose again, twenty, thirty, maybe more, circling Heracles. They attacked him together.
Their sharp shark teeth met hard resistance, however. They scraped across the unbreakable skin. Heracles spun in place, club swinging in wild, powerful arcs. Each swing hit multiple sharks, smashed bones, and killed beasts with swift ease. Blood and gore flew through the air and painted a violent picture. He moved like a force of nature, divine strength matched with brutal lack of mercy.
One shark finally managed to latch onto his leg. Another onto his arm. But he didn't care and still continued to fight. Riptide used this moment and attacked again. This time, from behind Heracles, using his momentary lack of attention, he managed to sink his teeth into Heracles' unprotected upper arm. Blood sprayed all around.
"RAAAAHHH!!!" Heracles roared.
With a mighty flex of his muscles, turning them harder than stone, Heracles turned himself and grabbed Riptide by the neck. He pulled back his right arm and sent out a brutal punch, shattering Riptide's teeth. Then another one, causing multiple ribs to be crushed. Then, before Riptide could get distance between them, with both hands, Heracles drove his arm through Riptide's chest.
*CRACK!*
Riptide gasped in pain and spat blood. Heracles' face twisted in disgust as he hurled the shark-man to the ground, like a sack of dirt.
"Disgusting creature," he muttered, stepping back.
Heracles looked at the big heart in his hand and crushed it, dropping it on Riptide and already focusing on something else. Riptide twitched, his body bleeding and broken. Heracles turned his back, scanning the battlefield and looking for his next fight.
.
.
Not far from where the two combatants clashed, Hera stood among the chaos, one hand clutching her neck where Riptide had lifted her earlier. The pain still throbbed, but it was the humiliation that stung sharper. Her body was healing, but the feeling remained. Beside her, Aphrodite's lips curved in a faint, satisfied smile.
"You look good in pain," Aphrodite purred.
Hera shot her a glare but said nothing. This was neither the time nor the place. She despised the most beautiful Goddess like all the other females on Olympus did. Aphrodite, on the other hand, also didn't like the others, and while she usually didn't bother with them, instead filling her time and... herself with male company, she did despise Hera.
The battle raged around them, and Hera's pride would not let her descend into a petty spat, not yet. They both turned as a loud impact drew their attention. Atlas, the Titan of strength and endurance, was in the thick of it, effortlessly swatting aside Norse warriors like they were little more than insects. Atlas had changed since he was alive. Each swing of his massive arms sent bodies flying and caused the ground to shake with every step.
Aphrodite tilted her head, eyes glinting. She turned to Hera, looking at her in arrogance.
"Watch and learn," she told the Queen of Olympus and walked forward.
With a sway of her hips and a voice dripping with allure, she approached the Titan. Her beauty radiated like a weapon in the battlefield haze, divine charm rolling off her in invisible waves. Together with her special belt, which made her look irresistible, she was confident that there was no one, especially males, who could ever resist her. Aphrodite saw herself as the peak of female beauty and the image of lust and desire. She addressed Atlas, her tone akin to a siren's call meant to bend even the strongest will.
"Mighty Atlas," she cooed, her voice low and intoxicating, "put down your rage and come to me. There are sweeter victories than the slaughter of meaningless mortals."
Atlas paused mid-swing, his gaze falling on her. He stood upright and stared at the Goddess of beauty and lust without saying anything in return. For the briefest instances, it seemed as though Aphrodite might have his attention. She smiled and moved forward, approaching the Titan. However, as she arrived in front of him...
Then his massive fist suddenly shot forward like a mountain, and in that heartbeat before impact, Aphrodite's eyes widened in surprise. The knuckles struck squarely into the centre of her face with a sickening crunch, driving the skin and muscle back against the bone. The force warped her usually impeccable features as her head snapped violently to the back, ichor bursting from her lips, nose and eyes in a golden spray.
The sound of splintering bone cut through the cacophony of battle as her jaw crushed inwards, her golden hair whipping around her like a flag in the shockwave. The blow forced her head back, and her body followed, legs leaving the ground as the Titan's power hurled her away.
*BOOOOM!*
Aphrodite's body was catapulted backwards, zooming through the air like a rocket, before leaving the battlefield entirely, not being seen by anyone again. Hera watched the exchange with wide eyes, her expression unreadable. For a moment, she felt no satisfaction, only a grim reminder that here, strength mattered far more than beauty. But then, a small smile did make its way onto her face, thinking about what she would be able to say should Aphrodite ever think herself to be irresistible again.
However, Atlas suddenly gains her attention as he takes a step forward. She doesn't get to think too much about it, though, as the ground begins to rumble.
A deep, roaring crack split a large part of the battlefield, scattering fighters from both sides as a fissure tore through the earth. From the dark chasm rose an immensely large shadow, a figure so colossal it dwarfed even the Titans. A large hand shot up and grabbed the edge, scaring the weaker members of the pantheons, and from it, the individual revealed itself.
The eyes of almost everyone widened as they saw what Gaia had birthed and released on the battlefield.
Giants.
The Eldest Giant, Alcyoneus, The Bane of Hades, emerged with a roar that shook the air.
"DOOOOOMMMMM!!"
His towering form blotted out the sun, throwing a monstrous shadow across the area. His massive foot lifted before slamming down toward Atlas, intent on crushing him into the ground. The power the Giant could unleash was unlike anything the Greek Pantheon had ever experienced. While it was Poseidon who had dealt with Atlas, Zeus and his demigod son, Heracles were some of the most physically powerful members of their Pantheon.
Atlas braced himself and caught the massive foot. The earth groaned under the weight of the descending foot, but the Titan of Strength held it with both arms, his muscles bulging as he pushed back, buckling to his knees as he did. Inch by inch, he stopped the crushing force, his muscles snapping with effort as he forced the entirety of Alcyoneus' limb upward.
More cracks split the earth as more Giants climbed forth from Gaia's cradle. Polybotes, the Bane of Poseidon, the main enemy of this war, climbed to the surface, wielding a massive trident and a net dripping with green venom that sizzled where it fell. His eyes locked on the distant figure of Poseidon.
Clytius followed, the Bane of Hecate, his body wreathed in dark flames, capable of burning magic, his hands weaving spells of lethal intent already. Then came Mimas, the Bane of Hephaestus, a walking fortress of molten rock and iron, his fists dripping with magma as he searched for the Hephaestus whom Gaia deemed as an equal threat as the others.
Behind them, more giants, unnamed but no less deadly, poured into the battlefield, each spreading raw, destructive power, the exact opposite of the gods they were meant to destroy. The ground shook with their arrival, and the war shifted again, proving that Gaia was not a bystander in this war but was participating actively in her own way. And the children she had created this time were impressive.