Heracles did not respond. Instead, he growled in my direction while pushing the white-haired magus behind him protectively.
I tilted my head slightly, genuine confusion coloring my words.
"Why do you protect her? Is she your... Hope?"
An axe-sword materialized in the demigod's hand at my question. He hurled it toward me without hesitation.
BOOOM!
The massive weapon tore through the air with a thunderous boom. Yet my body had already begun moving before he even released it. The trajectory was calculated. The force behind the throw was identified. The precise moment of impact became clear.
25 seconds.
[Ultimate Precognition] guided my movements without conscious thought.
I shifted my body sideways, the blade whistling past me by mere inches before burying itself into the trees behind with a resounding impact.
I continued speaking as if uninterrupted.
"If she is your Hope, then isn't your Hope... too fragile?" I asked with honest curiosity. Heracles was a demigod, possessing strength countless times greater than my own. Yet his Hope could be crushed by a single finger from me.
"Why weaken yourself so?"
ROOOOOOAR!
A roar was the only response he gave me.
20 seconds.
My [Ultimate Despair] was enough to crush his fragile Hope... However, he still fought to protect it.
It was illogical.
It was incomprehensible.
It was an error.
My mind resonated with a single question at that conclusion.
Why?
I didn't know.
And that was something I had been searching all along... Something unknown.
Heracles was boring for having such an obvious weakness, yet paradoxically, he was also an illogical unknown for this same weakness.
.
Medea... How much longer? I questioned through our connection while walking towards the pair.
It's done, Master. she replied two seconds later.
Then... at my signal. I replied flatly, my hands still being healed by [Avalon], yet I continued onward nonetheless.
BOOM!
The sound barrier tore apart as I reached Heracles once again. The demigod's fist was already heading for me.
His speed was faster than mine.
His strength was greater than mine.
His instincts were sharper than mine.
I should not have lasted this long in front of a behemoth like him.
Yet...
My mind was faster than his.
My talent was greater than his.
My reflexes were sharper than his.
Heracles punched towards me, and I responded in kind. Our fists collided viciously.
BOOOM!
My barely healed arm bones shattered once again, though I transferred the force of his punch through my hand, into my torso and down my legs, dispersing it into the ground.
Medea. Now. I spoke inwardly at that moment, our fists locked briefly in that motion.
A massive, complex magic circle engraved with ancient language screamed to life beneath us.
10 seconds.
Both of us reacted instantly.
Heracles grabbed his Master with his free hand.
I jumped backwards out of the circle, disengaging from him. The giant too felt his instincts scream and leapt upward in response, the crimson-eyed child wrapped safely in his arms.
Countless magic circles rotated to life above him, bombarding him mid air with abandon. He was drowned under hundreds upon hundreds of magic circles firing beams simultaneously.
As a result... he was pushed back down towards the magic circle which continued to flare to life with each passing moment.
5 seconds.
The demigod was still a demigod. He protected his Master from the bombardment by letting his back take all of the damage.
He was nonetheless pushed back down, however... The berserker caught himself just before falling back into the magic circle, landing mere inches before it.
Medea continued to bombard him with countless magic circles, yet the giant refused to budge from his position...his feet buried in the soil, his hands wrapped protectively around his Master, his back towards us.
4 seconds.
The teleportation magic circle just ahead of him blazed to life fully, ready to activate at any moment.
I took in Medea's desperate bombardment, along with Heracles' unmoved back, mere inches away from the magic circle.
3 seconds.
My hand came up in a fluid motion, my finger wrapping around nothing, aimed at Heracles' back.
Click.
Mana from all 120 of my magic circuits surged. My mind flashed with the schematics of a firearm.
[Gradation Air] activated.
An anti-material rifle materialized in my hand.
I pulled the trigger without aiming.
BOOM!
The fired bullet reached Mach 3 in an instant.
It collided with Heracles' back a moment later, just as the magic circle illuminated fully.
ROOOOOOAR!
Heracles let out an unwilling roar as he was pushed inside the magic circle with his Master.
Light swallowed the Servant and Master pair, making them vanish before my eyes.
1 second.
The anti-material rifle disintegrated from my hand.
[Square Accel] was deactivated simultaneously as the thin boundary field surrounding my body dissolved into particles.
The world's corrective force swept through me, forcefully adjusting my time to align with the world's time, aggravating my injuries even further.
"Master! Why do you fight without a care for yourself?" Medea materialized ahead of me, her voice sorrowful while taking in my current state.
She had tears at the corners of her eyes as she hugged my chest and buried her face there. Her embrace put pressure on my broken ribs.
I ignored the pain and looked down at the crown of her head while she held me tightly.
Her actions reminded me of Heracles and his... Hope.
"Medea. Tell me... Why?" I asked after she pulled her face back and looked up at me.
"Master, do I need a reason?" Her voice was firm.
Silence fell between us.
I looked into her eyes. They flashed with something whenever they gazed at me.
What was it?
I did not know.
And for the first time...
I did not want to know.
...
..
.
Fuyuki.
I walked back home, my hand on Medea's shoulder for support.
Midway back... I asked a question which had been on my mind for some time.
"So... Where did you teleport Heracles and his Master to, Medea?" My voice carried a tinge of curiosity as I let her lead me forward.
"Oh! Nothing important, Master. I teleported them straight to the bottom of the Mion River nearby." Medea answered casually.
I looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow.
Bottom of a river?
Even a demigod like Heracles would have a tough time swimming back from there, especially while protecting his Master.
I could kind of understand why Medea was referred to as a Witch by other people.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
So... I was thinking about putting more focus on this story instead of the Danmachi one to get it started and have more exposure.
What do you guys think?
I'd really like your individual perspectives on where I should go from here.