'Where are they?' he thought as a cold sweat began to coat his forehead, the grip of his battle axe tightening to almost bone white as he saw his men try and fail against the damn guardian protecting their target.
It was meant to be simple, pick off the lone target as quickly as possible, overwhelm them and leave before any of the council could appear. With their engagement against the Olympian forces, it should have been simple but Pallas just had to go off on his own. Then to his further annoyance, some of his forces broke off to help because apparently the lured goddess was putting up a better fight than expected.
Even if the forces gone where barely a poultry dozen, they had still been minor gods that could assist here. Instead he'd lost the added power and there had been no communications with Pallas or his forces since. If only Pallas would at least contact them because they wouldn't be able to hold out much longer before one of the council came and—
Scrrreeeeech!
He winced as he jumped and rolled, hearing the ground being torn apart with a crackle of static. He was on his feet again and moving, narrowly ducking around trees and moving up hill as that thing made another pass before turning on a small cluster of mortal mercenaries.
Koios managed to find cover behind a large boulder, breathing heavily as he looked around just in time to see it fly through the mortals, their screams being cut short as they were promptly sliced down or cooked alive by the voltage. A large white blur soon shot out and over before remaining hovering over a hundred meters off the ground, uncaring of the bullets, lances, and bolts sent at it while Koios sent a seething glare at it.
The static dissipated enough to reveal the creature. Barely bigger than a pedestrian truck, it had what resembled a torso and head seemingly made of thunderous clouds. White lightning surged through it and formed a larger body and wings beyond. Overall it looked much like a griffon though the screeching voice was altered with the background of high voltage as its blitzing eyes scanned around the valley that had turned into its battlefield.
'More like a hunting ground' he thought morbidly as he slowly made his way higher up the hill leading to larger cliffs. That thing had not been expected, in fact, he had not considered more than a barrier to be their only obstacle in attacking the Zhangs. Koios now cursed his oversight in regards to the plans of attack. He assumed, a dangerous thing for any tactician, and it was costing him dearly.
He stopped and looked back again, watching as the griffon gave another screech as it dive-bombed a group of cyclops that had approached the targeted house a ways further into the valley. Koios watched as it landed with an explosion of static frying the monsters and rending apart the few that survived with its claws before it took off again.
Just behind it lay the damn home they had been attacking, the walls crackling white as the lightning coursed through it, making it next to unpassable as one unfortunate minor sea god had learned. Their initial attack had been swift and successful, attacking just as one of the Zhangs returned but it had been too close to the home and the other, the wife if he remembered correctly, had managed to haul her unconscious husband into the home before it lit up with its defense.
Barely a minute later that thing appeared from a lightning strike and proceeded to attack with extreme prejudice. Before Koios had boast some 300 or so troops, over 50 being minor sea gods and the rest well equipped mortals and cyclops from Poseidon's own forces which soon bolstered with the additions of Phobos and Deimos once they were sure the Olympians and new protogenoi were well and truly focused on their battles.
It seemed that the numbers had been pointless as the griffon tore through them, moving at such speed that mostly simply could not adjust to. The mortals and cyclops were both too slow to even try and attack when it got close while it obviously avoided being close to any of the gods for longer than necessary with the use of hit-and-run which had seen to over a third of Koios' forces already turned to minced and charred meat.
Even then the gods mostly at his command were quite literally fighting like fish out of water, their movement comparatively sloppy and unused to fighting aerial opponents putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Koios once again cursed both Tyche and that damn council that started it all.
The council that that his own wife joined and now fought for, a thought that never failed to infuriate him. Just how and why she had joined them he wasn't sure but then again, most divine deities have proved themselves to be opportunistic. Lacking in fidelity was another common trait but he tried not to think along such lines, even if they almost whispered within his mind, wondering how Phoebe gained such sudden high standing with the new council.
Regardless he shook his head to clear his thoughts as he watched that creature circle overhead, the now blackened, almost invisible moon catching his eyes for but a moment. He'd noticed it darkening some 10 or so minutes ago and couldn't help but feel a sense of dread watching it. He knew very well what such a thing could mean, felt the sheer power of the demon that had fought there, something that easily surpassed the most he's felt from Pontus or Thalassa as of yet. Just the thought of fighting Jackson chilled him to the core but luckily he was not considered a frontline fighter and was too valuable for Pontus to risk.
Still, he knew time was running out and they needed to get to the Zhangs or else…
And as if prophetic in nature, his worries literally materialized with a thunderous boom as a bolt of white lightning suddenly struck dead center of the valley and only a hundred or so meters away from the targeted house. Koios was forced to cover his eyes at the blinding intensity as the ground shook beneath him before a pressure all but slammed down on him.
His hair stood on end as a near numbing level of static saturated the atmosphere with a thick scent of ozone and undertones of heated copper. It took a few seconds until the white spots in his sight cleared enough for him to see from his vantage point upon the cliff he managed to ascend.
There, standing at the full hundred feet of a primordial was one Jason Grace, his frame wreathed in white static as his eyes glowed like high beams. His sword in hand, the primordial god looked down on the scattered forces before him, then glancing over his shoulder to look at the house still flaring with electricity similar to his own.
Once his gaze returned to Koios' forces the rage on his face was easily recognized, his arm holding his sword rising up. However the action seemed to startle the men out of their shock at his arrival.
"A-Attack!" one of the water deities shouted out as he and his men began to rear back their spears, the mortals around them taking aim and the remains of the cyclopes charging with mangled roars.
They never got the chance.
The massive sword came down without any sort of restraint, searing white as it struck right at the center of the charging monsters. The initial explosion on impact seemed to almost vaporize the closest monsters as the shockwave blasted towards the mortals and gods further back, crushing many and knocking over others.
Grace remained quiet even as he raised the sword again before swinging it across his front as some of the gods managed to throw their spears. It mattered little as a blade of pressure either cut or knocked off the spears and continued on, turning more of Koios' men into mincemeat. Soon cries of horror and agony filled the air as Jason attacked ruthlessly.
A god crushed under foot, another three pierced through the center, the blade cooking them on contact. A force of several hundred mortals and gods meant nothing to the likes of Grace. The bullets didn't even seem to register, none of the gods could seem to strike past Jason's jacket of light, and that lightning creature was still picking off anyone trying to get away, instead corralling them for its master to butcher.
Then, when less than a hundred remained Jason suddenly raised his left, empty hand and balled it into a fist as white lightning crackled off it. Koios could only watch in abject horror as that fist glowed with holy power before Jason slammed the hand into the earth in the direction of men.
An explosion of power in a pulse was released, rushing towards and through the scrapes of Koios' forces and beyond them. Koios could hear them scream, see their silhouettes as they were disintegrated before the light was simply too much forcing Koios to look away.
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
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