The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible. Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth and shot another column of flame straight at me.
This time, given the constraints of the room around me, I had no choice but to dive through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eyebrows. Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.
So…I'm not paying for that. I winced at the smell of burnt metal. That fire had shredded through the metal like it wasn't even there. RAGH!
I dodged another bite from the monster, and its fangs cut through the metal of the Arch like it was cardboard. A couple more fireballs exploded from my fingertips, but they splashed disappointingly softly against his hide, netting me a meager [300] or so [HP] for each successful hit.
This thing was like fighting a wall! I looked around, my mind hopelessly listing things that could help me. The floor, no, the ceiling, no, Echidna, no, the lights, no—wait! Yes! They could! Most light bulbs were fluorescent—that was the one thing I'd ever actually learned from Smelly Gabe.
Well, learned might be giving him too much credit. He was ranting about a countrywide bill that had passed, making it so that only certain kinds of lightbulbs could be sold, which in turn made it so that he had to shell out more money for his store—why am I telling you this?
The bottom line was that I could theoretically superheat one of the bulbs and blast it down the Chimera's throat. That was the only real choice I stood, really. Back to the fight. I dodged a few more of the lunges from the beast, and snapped my fist through the light fixture, wincing slightly as the shards of glass cut deep into my skin. Ugh, what a pain. I held the dimmed-out bulb in my hand, my fingers twisting around the copper filament.
"Come get some, you big bitch!"
The next time the Chimera came rushing towards me, I ran towards it as fast as I could. It opened its maw, ready to chomp down on me, and I threw the now molten lightbulb right down its gullet.
CHYAW!
The Chimera started heaving and choking on the filament. I blasted a column of red-hot fire into the mouth of the Chimera. It opened its mouth and tried to breathe its own fire, but it only succeeded in inhaling the light bulb further when it tried to garner enough energy for a jet of flame.
My fireball connected with its little spurt, and the combined flame dropped back down, sizzling as it churned and crashed in the Chimera's gut.
I could see its chest glowing an ominous red as the filament activated fully in its stomach, blasting noxious fumes into the Chimera.
— - —
[Critical Hit] [Poison Afflicted]
[-][20,000][HP]
— - —
The Chimera eventually stopped struggling, standing back up and fixing a murderous stare on me. I could see that it was hurt, but if anything, that seemed to make the beast look even scarier.
"Oh, come on, now, boy," Echidna chuckled incessantly. Her inhuman eyes glared at me balefully. "Pitiful. Just pitiful."
The Chimera blindly rushed forward, and I tensed my legs again, vaulting over its snout and onto its back. I readied Riptide. CRUNCH!
"Argh!" I screamed in pain. The second my legs landed on its back, the blasted serpent tail whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf. My whole leg was on fire. Sticking to my plan, I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River. I was slammed back onto the ground by the Chimera, hard enough to cause spiderweb cracks in the floor, crisscrossing from my point of impact.
— - —
[-][5000][HP]
[You have been severely poisoned] [-][10,000][HP/MIN]
— - —
Fuck me. A minute of this poison and I'd be sleeping with the fishes —not in a good way, either. I managed to get to my feet somehow, but I knew I had lost at this point. I was weaponless.
I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. Through my haze of pain, I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Perhaps it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out. I backed into the hole in the wall.
The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. Echidna cackled.
"They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"
The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten. I glanced at the elevator, on its way back up. Soon, there would be innocent people up here. Maybe it would be just the guard, coming to get me, or maybe it was Piper, forcing her way back up here. Fuck. She was stubborn enough to pull a stunt like that. I couldn't just…die. I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire.
The Game was dulling some of the sensations, but my head still felt way too dizzy for me to even move. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And you know what? I was scared. Yeah. Fucking scared.
I've been trying to hold it in this whole time, but I just can't anymore. I don't want to die! I have so much left to do! I'm sorry, Aphrodite. I'm not going to be able to hold up my end of the deal. There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered. Around the same time, the elevator door dinged open.
There was one option...but I didn't know if I had enough health and mana to use it. Damn it. I knew my body wouldn't be able to handle it, but at this point, I didn't care. Those people coming up here right now couldn't be put in danger. Saving my mother was important, but I doubted she'd be truly comfortable with being saved if it meant that innocent people had to die for her.
I couldn't put that sort of weight on her. Mind hazy, I made my decision. I ripped off the linen around my left eye and opened it. I felt a deep pool of mana well up in my eye. White-hot bolts of pain exploded in my eye, and I started to see spots dancing across my vision. If I couldn't defeat the Chimera...I was simply going to unplug it.
Echidna's eyes widened, and she started to scream. Before any sound left her mouth, her body stiffened and hardened. A gray color spread throughout her body and cracks began to form on her face. The Chimera tried to lunge at me, but I flipped it off and slipped backward. Without Echidna, he started transforming again, slowly turning back into his little dog form. Unluckily, before it could transform all the way, the Chimera got a lucky jab in with one of his claws, and I watched in fascination as my own blood splattered on the floor, covering the steel in a maroon shade.
couldn't even make out the health I'd lost—the numbers looked like squiggly lines to me. I had pushed my body too far. My eye felt like it was on fire. Poison was coursing through my crushed leg and body. My chest was torn open, my shirt in smithereens.
I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not, but motes of pink energy were starting to float around me. Something tugged me backward, and I lost all feeling in my limbs as I plummeted toward the river.
— - —
Quest Complete!
[STORY QUEST] {Prove Your Worth!}
[Quest Prompt]: Trapped at the edge of a monster's den, the only way forward is through danger itself. Will you seize this chance to show Olympus your mettle, or become just another meal for Echidna's brood?
[Hidden Objectives]: Kill the Chimera! [ ]
Kill Echidna! [X]
[Total Rewards Earned]:
[+][20,000][EXP]!
+][1000][REP] with [Piper, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite]!
[+][Echidna's Bane] title!
[+][Enhanced Water Healing] skill!
— - —
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I wanted this battle to feel like a breaking point: Percy had to choose to burn himself out, to push his powers (and his body) further than ever before. Winning against Echidna wasn't about glory—it was about survival, about protecting Piper and the innocents who would've walked straight into a slaughter. That's the kind of decision that shapes a hero.
If you've been enjoying the ride so far, please leave a review and drop a power stone. Your support keeps this story alive and makes sure Percy doesn't suffer completely in vain.
If you'd like to support me further, here's my Patreon: patreon.com/ AureliusDBlack (just erase the space before my name)