The God Who Bled, The Girl Who Stood
PREVIOUSLY-
Blood slithered down the shell of a nearby Stygian Crab — not dripping, but crawling, twisting away like a sentient thread trying to flee its owner.
"ROAR!"
From the shadows, Nyx struck — white fur streaked with red, eyes glowing with fury.
SPLURT!
The Oceanborne Colossus barely had time to turn before its chest split open in three precise arcs.
It collapsed backward into the tide, unmoving.
WHAM!
The Deep Leviathan, enraged, slammed its tail like a siege whip. The temple floor cracked. Water exploded outward in waves.
--x—
CLANG!
CLACK!
Steel howled against divine bronze as Sigmund's longsword deflected Poseidon's trident in a desperate diagonal parry. Sparks danced across the temple walls like fireflies fleeing a storm.
CLANG!
Another strike came down like a thunderbolt.
Sigmund's arm quaked under the force. The sword nearly flew from his grip. The pain in his severed limb, though bound by wire, surged again—blurring his vision, fraying the edge of his focus.
'He's accelerating… his strikes—heavier, sharper… I'm falling behind.'
Poseidon smirked, the blood from Nyx's earlier wound still glistening across his ribs.
"Let's speed up, shall we?"
He murmured.
STAB!
The trident lunged—its barbed tips aiming straight for Sigmund's heart.
But before the blow could land—
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave rocked the temple. Lira's mercury-forged hammer came crashing down like divine judgment, smashing into the skull of the Deep Leviathan.
"KRAAAAAA!"
The monster bellowed, voice shaking the submerged ruins as it reeled, skull half-caved, blood boiling up from its eyes.
SWISHK!
In retaliation, it fired a dozen high-pressure jets of seawater toward Lira—razor-thin and deadly.
SWIRL!
But she moved like ink through water — spinning, stepping, sliding. Her armor flowed with her, rippling with every motion. Mercury ribbons danced around her like guardian spirits, intercepting each blast with effortless precision.
Above—
"Roar!"
Nyx flashed into motion, his body blurring in a streak of white fury. He appeared behind one of the remaining Oceanborne Colossi — claws already buried deep into its nape.
WHAM!
The giant's body collapsed forward like a falling monument. Waves surged outward. Its corpse crushed a dozen Thralls beneath it, splattering their eel-like bodies across the stone.
Nyx crouched atop the ruin, eyes scanning the battlefield.
One Leviathan.
Six Colossi.
A few scattered Thralls, screeching beneath the weight of their dead.
His fur bristled. Muscles coiled. Veins bulged beneath the snow-white hide like serpents ready to strike.
"Grrr…"
ZOOM!
Nyx vanished.
He reappeared behind the final Colossus — a blur of precision.
TAP!
His paw barely touched the surface of the water.
SPLURT!
The colossus buckled, its core already torn open — entrails spilling like ropes of seaweed. The mercury in the water turned red.
The nearby Thralls didn't even have time to react. Their bodies erupted like vegetables finely diced mid-scream, falling apart before they could flee.
WHAM!
The silence that followed was not peace.
It was a breath drawn before a storm's second scream.
BOOM!
Sigmund turned back—his gaze falling on the space he'd stood in mere moments ago.
A jagged wound now marred the temple wall, the marble shattered, splintered outward.
Through it, the outside world bled in—sunlight streaming like a distant memory, a patch of sky visible as though glimpsed through a keyhole carved by wrath.
"Kid, don't try to block him head-on. Let the attacks—"
SWING!
The trident carved a brutal arc through the air before Skaleg could finish.
CLANG!
Sigmund angled his blade just in time, letting the shaft slide down the sword's edge instead of taking it full force.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the stone floor, pews shattered like brittle glass, shards flying in all directions. Cracks rippled across Sigmund's blade, webbing out like frost on frozen iron.
POP!
A sickening sound tore from his shoulder.
"AAARGH!"
The scream tore out of him, ragged and raw. The joint had dislocated. His arm hung limp, nerves ablaze with agony.
"Hahaha!"
Laughter thundered through the ruined chapel.
"You've got spirit, mortal! Come—kneel beneath me. You have potential."
Sigmund said nothing. Instead, he lunged—slamming his back against a column with a dull CRACK!
His shoulder snapped back into place.
He hissed through clenched teeth, sweat slicking his brow. And yet—he grinned.
"I've had worse mornings."
His breath hitched. His knees trembled. But his stance never faltered.
"Now then," he spat blood, "let's stop wasting time."
Poseidon chuckled, his voice like deep tides scraping the seabed.
"I am offering you something no mortal receives. Become mine. You will want for nothing."
Sigmund raised his battered longsword—splintered, smoking, but still alight with defiance.
"I'd rather die than serve a dog in heat."
Poseidon's smile froze.
A vein pulsed at his temple.
He turned his gaze to Medusa—still curled at Athena's statue, arms wrapped around the goddess's feet, trembling like a broken psalm whispered in stone.
"You want to protect her, don't you?" Poseidon murmured.
"Then watch closely. Today, I'll tame you—and take her."
He licked his lips. A gesture too human, too monstrous.
"Just wait for me."
ROOOAR!
The Leviathan surged behind them—jaws yawning open like a cathedral gate of fangs. It lunged for Lira.
SLIP!
Lira spun on slick mercury, sliding just beneath the creature's strike. The beast's fangs snapped shut—empty.
STAB!
A lead-forged spear burst from Lira's hand, glowing hot with compressed mana. It drove into the Leviathan's eye, sinking deep.
The serpent thrashed, screaming in frequencies too low for human hearing. Sea brine exploded in a mist.
But Lira stood firm, breath ragged, trembling—but alive.
And above all—angry.
'With a mana pool this dense... it has to be possible.'
CLANG!
CLACK!
Chains of mercury erupted from the water's surface, writhing like living tendrils. They coiled around the Leviathan's body with unrelenting precision—binding fin, spine, and throat in a lattice of gleaming metal.
The creature thrashed, tail smashing into marble, but the chains only pulled tighter—clinging like a second skin of silver.
"I can do this!"
Lira shouted, breath fogging in the rising mist.
FISSSS!
The mercury hissed, flash-evaporating into clouds of toxic vapor. A rolling curtain of leadened steam spread across the battlefield, curling into the Leviathan's gills like smoke poured into lungs.
"Time to smoke some lead!" she growled.
KRAAAAA!
The beast convulsed. Its body twisted unnaturally as the vapours forced their way into its innards. Veins pulsed, and fine cracks spidered across the mercury bindings like glass under stress.
Lira's lungs burned. Her fingers trembled—but her eyes never left the beast.
"Haa…"
She exhaled—once.
SPLURT!
Chunks of flesh erupted outward. Shredded muscle and scale flew from within as something ruptured deep in the Leviathan's chest cavity. The chains tore tighter, dragging its spine inward.
'Just a little higher...'
BOOM!
The skull detonated like a burst dam. Viscera and blood exploded into the air, raining crimson across the battlefield.
It fell in sheets—hot, steaming, and thick—as if the heavens themselves had opened their veins.
SWISH!
A shimmering silver umbrella unfurled above her—crafted from coalescing mercury in a blink. Nyx stood beneath it with unbothered grace, the tip of his tail flicking.
Lira blinked through the mist, stunned, soaked, victorious.
She turned to the great cat, smile breaking across her exhausted face.
"Nyx… we did it,"
She whispered, stepping forward.
"We actually—we defeated a Leviathan!"
She crouched beside him, her fingers sinking into his sodden fur, now streaked with blood and mist. The fur was warm, alive, grounding.
"Good boy,"
She murmured, her voice soft and trembling.
Nyx let out a long, satisfied purr.
The battlefield fell quiet.
And for a breathless moment, Lira felt invincible.
"Now,"
She stood up,
"Let's help Sigmund, shall we?"
CREAK!
Steel wires coiled around Poseidon's throat, catching the candlelight like a serpent of silver.
'When—?!'
His eyes widened.
Then—clarity.
The memory returned in a flash: the moment the trident shattered the marble, exposing his guard, leaving his nape within reach. That's when it happened.
From across the cracked floor, Sigmund stood—barely. Shoulders hunched, lips bloodied, every breath rattling in his chest like rusted bells.
Skaleg's voice hovered behind him like a sigh, "Why don't you use aura to heal yourself?"
Sigmund spared him a glance, one eye swollen shut.
"Oh? You're still here?" he rasped. "Didn't notice."
A tired grin tugged at his lips. "All the aura's tied up… keeping the wires in check."
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth like ink from a broken pen.
"I don't have much left."
Poseidon's fingers, calm and sure, reached up to the glinting cords around his neck. He chuckled—not with malice, but with admiration.
"Mortal... shrewd little vermin, aren't you?"
Then his grip tightened.
"But…"
With an effortless pull, the wires snapped taut. Poseidon pulled.
"You forget—"
CRACK!
His fist connected with Sigmund's jaw, launching him into the ceiling like a ragdoll.
WHAM!
Dust rained from above.
"—you're facing a GOD!"
Poseidon's voice was thunder.
Another yank of the wire. Sigmund was dragged back down.
BOOM!
A second punch, this time to the gut. The air left Sigmund's lungs in a guttural wheeze. His body flew to another column. Poseidon pulled the wire again.
"Tactics—"
WHACK!
"Mean nothing—"
THUD!
"In the face—"
CRACK!
"Of absolute power!"
Each strike sounded like stone colliding with stone.
"SIGMUND! RELEASE THE WIRE!"
Skaleg shrieked, spectral fingers twitching helplessly—but Sigmund's body was limp. Unmoving.
WHAM!
Another blow. Then another. And another.
Until Sigmund hung like a broken doll in Poseidon's grip, head lolling, blood dripping onto the cracked floor below.
Poseidon exhaled, lifting the boy by his throat with one hand.
"Hah… pitiful."
Skaleg trembled.
"Fuck."
His skull tilted downward. Astral hands clenched at nothing.
"If I had even a shred of my old strength… If Lord Vincent hadn't shackled me to this role…"
His glowing eyes dimmed.
"I've failed. I've failed you, Sigmund."
Whispers echoed in the hollow space of his mind.
"Mentorship? Just give advice when you feel like it."
He clutched his head. The memory stung. His hologram flickered, static searing the air.
"I-I don't know anything. I'm not… I'm not ready…"
The light of his projection began to fade.
Then—
Hands wrapped around Poseidon's ankle. Fragile. Trembling.
"Lord Poseidon…"
Medusa's voice cracked.
Tears streamed down her cheeks like rain down a cracked statue.
"Please… please have mercy."
Her forehead touched the floor. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I'm sorry…"
Poseidon looked down, eyes dark with hunger. His smile returned—slow and indulgent.
"Oh, dear…" he said, licking his lips.
"You should have done that from the start."
WHAM!
Lira burst through the cracked doorway, boots splashing through blood and seawater. Nyx padded silently at her side, ears pinned flat.
"Sigmund!"
Her voice rang sharp through the shattered chamber.
She dropped to her knees beside him. His body was twisted awkwardly on the temple floor, blood soaking his shirt, face swollen and pale. One eye half-open. The other—sealed shut with bruising.
"Sigmund! S–Sigmund!"
She shook him.
Tears streamed freely now, trailing down her face, splashing against the cracked marble beneath her.
"Prr…"
Nyx nosed Sigmund's shoulder, then licked his face. Still—nothing.
Lira's hands hovered over his chest, then gripped him tightly, desperately.
"Don't—don't do this," she whispered, her voice breaking.
"Don't leave me… I don't want to be alone again…"
Then—
WHACK!
A weak hand thudded against the side of her head.
"Ow—!"
She yelped, recoiling and rubbing her scalp.
Sigmund's mouth curled into the faintest smirk, though his eyes remained barely open.
"That was…" he rasped,
"The cringiest shit I've ever heard."
Lira froze.
Her ears turned bright red.
"I—I was just… I was worried, okay?! I'm a human, you know?! And what happened to your hand?"
Sigmund chuckled,
"Let's leave that for now…"
"Prrr…"
Nyx gave Sigmund another lick, as if to say -welcome back, idiot.
Sigmund groaned, dragging himself up with a wince, leaning against a broken pew.
"It's all good, partner,"
He muttered to Nyx, patting the leopard's flank.
Then his gaze sharpened.
He scanned the room—splintered pews, steam, blood, the scent of lead and salt hanging thick in the air.
"…Where's Medusa?"
Lira blinked. Her head turned. So did Nyx's.
The far end of the temple was empty.
Medusa—
Gone.
Not even a whisper of her presence remained.