027: Fingers

  Present

  Jason immaculate face finally felt the weariness and fatigue from fighting his opponent, he had a few bruises and his sword seemed to be slightly chipped, however it didn't compare to the damage his opponent received, his body was full of small but deep cuts, his hands were bruised from hitting them so often against the hard stone of the labyrinth and one of his eyelids was bleeding covering one of his eyes, yet he still seemed to be full of energy.

  -What's wrong Jason? You look tired, looks like age has finally caught you up.

  -You barely have any pieces left and still you try to provoke me Silaus, it's a shame that i have to kill you.

  -For Helena’s sake, right? She would spit in your face if she saw what you have become Archon. Did the Argonauts really die of old age or did you kill them like you are going to kill me?

  For the first time Jason seemed to show another emotion, a deep rage came over him and the legendary fleece glowed once more.

  -You have no idea what I have done for Helena Silaus and I would do it all over again.

  But before he asked the favor of his god, the archon of light watched out of the corner of his eye as Asterion was about to be decapitated by the club of a minotaur controlled by Silaus, the death of his companion was assured until a huge figure fell on the beast.

  Asterion with his eyes open watched as finally his plans had come to an end, until he was saved once again, as if it were a play of the gods again the life of the polemarch was saved by a minotaur, the huge body of Theseus cut the slave in half with his axe before the enemy destroyed the heleny. After falling, dozens of minotaurs charged against the controlled slaves, this time they did not plan to immobilize them and charged with all their strength.

  -I did not expect to meet you again so soon, Asterion.

  Theseus conversed quietly with the polemarch was completely absorbed in his thoughts, he and Jason were so focused on their plan to kill Silaus that they completely forgot that the minotaurs had recently besieged Helena looking for something, just like when Asterion lost his friend.

  -[Why did you save me?]

  -[I don't want to see you dead heleny, you told me there was no choice but to face us because it was your duty wasn't it, what is your duty now?]

  -[... Assassinate an archon.]

  -[Then there's no reason to fight again thanks to the gods. Don't you think?]

  Asterion phalanx watched in frightened silence as their polemarch conversed with Theseus while the minotaurs passed by them, they did not seem to be at enmity which seemed strange to everyone, especially to Lita who was trying to grab her bow in vain as her arm was too injured still.

  -[What are you looking for Theseus?]

  -[Silly questions Asterion, you should already know that].

  -[Yes... You're right.]

  Theseus elite troop was slowly advancing against the Silaus horde mercilessly slaughtering their former companions.

  -[Without any archon to defend Helena because of us your companion has a clear path to the Parthenon, you're welcome for doing your job of distraction].

  -[Anyway now I can take more than just another part of that thing. What do you say I pay you with my own hand?]

  -[Do you want to help me?]

  The hand of the imposing minotaur was placed in front of the polemarch.

  -[Whom do you want dead, Asterion?]

  -...

  Laconia was slowly approaching the group with her sword ready to fight the minotaur once more, behind her Niko and Lita were walking slowly to face whatever was coming.

  -Asterion What's going on here?

  The polemarch walked towards Laconia as Theseus headed off to face the archons.

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  -I'm always being saved by minotaurs, time and time again, maybe this is my true blessing... Laconia heal our sagitarius arm, I need you to prepare a special arrow. Lita, let's go for our revenge.

  -Captain, what about me?

  Niko could barely stand on his own but his gaze was completely focused.

  -I don't want you to die Niko, I need you to rest my friend.

  -But you're going to fight, aren't you?

  -Yes...

  -I'm not going to let you die captain, come on.

  -All right, follow my instructions.

  On the other side of the labyrinth Jason and Silaus were walking towards Theseus, they completely stopped their fight when they saw how the army of the Minoan was walking towards Helena.

  -Weren't you the smartest man in Helena? You're falling behind, old man.

  Jason did not expect Theseus to attack so soon, a combination of bad luck and lack of vision resulted in the city that he was so focused on protecting now suffering extreme danger.

  -Look on the bright side, now we have a golden opportunity to eliminate the bastard that besieged Helena so long ago.

  Electricity covered Silaus entire body and his cuts began to slowly close, a unique and nameless blessing granted only to those most beloved by their god.

  -I will wipe out his army, this time I leave you the bull.

  Light invaded Jason sword edge.

  -As you wish.

  As if it were a living catapult the dioskuroi launched himself against the minotaurs of Theseus and immediately smashed the head of one with a colossal force, the army that was fighting orderly against the slaves was now involved in a panic when facing such a beast, dozens of them covered themselves in bronze or stones but there was no way to stop the force of the blows of the archon.

  Theseus and Jason stood face to face.

  -[I have been waiting for this day for a long time, Archon.]

  -[How many descendants of King Minos do you think I have already killed Theseus?]

  The axe and fire of the minotaur struck angrily in the direction of the archon but with a divine grace and agility Jason dodged the blow and at the same time a thrust impacted against the armor of Theseus aiming for the liver.

  -[How many more minotaurs do we have to enslave and kill before you surrender?]

  Theseus furious hit the ground with his leg generating waves of pink fire that expanded in all directions hoping that his attack could not be dodged, but the archon moved far enough away until the impact dispersed and then accelerated against his enemy once again striking with a lunge at the same point as before, this time breaking the armor and shattering the minotaur organ.

  -[It has been more than a hundred years at war descendant of Minos. How much more can you resist?]

  Theseus healed his wound and lit the fire inside his body.

  -[As many times as it takes, pig.]

  There were so many corpses of minotaurs and cinocephali on the ground that they almost covered all the remains of the ruins, Theseus mycenaeans fell one after another before the strength of the archon, with just one blow the heads of the bulls flew off their bodies and electricity evaporated the blood from their bodies, but they were trained warriors and for a moment they managed to corner Silaus, but a cornered beast was even more dangerous.

  - Ν?φο? -

  As soon as Silaus ring glowed to its fullest his body was surrounded by electric clouds that continued to expand until they covered almost all the warriors, from inside the archon conjured hundreds and hundreds of lightning bolts in all directions, The minotaurs threw their weapons against the blessed one in desperate attempts to assassinate their target but none connected a single blow, when the cloud dissipated there were barely twenty minotaurs left and only five had their eyes on the archon, the rest continued fighting against the controlled slaves, Silaus strength was monstrous.

  -LACONIA!

  A new cloud appeared this time of dust and ash covering the archon and immediately an arrow scattered the air in the direction of Silaus, however dodging it was easy for the warrior and he immediately looked for the archer, Asterion bestiary had in his hands a bow which she immediately released to wield her greatsword.

  -I had planned to assassinate them later, but your time is up Asterion.

  The archon shot himself at Laconia aiming at her head but when he jumped a sea of flames covered them both, the bestiary was kneeling with one of her hands on the marble of the ruins which tried to recover its original form using the fire of the blessed, but the crude trap did not stop Silaus and even though Laconia reached to protect her head with her sword the blow was such that the warrior flew until she crashed against a wall.

  -One less.

  Silao carried in his hand an electric sphere with which he would finish off the bestiary but he had to use that hand to avoid a stone that was on its way to his face losing the lightning, Niko supported by Asterion spun his slingshot in the air throwing debris towards the archon.

  -HAHAHAHA! What happened Asterion? I didn't think you had such a death wish.

  The stones were considerably slower than the arrows and dodging them for the archon were as easy as breathing, confident he decided to walk to the two men, on the way the few minotaurs that were not fighting the puppets threw themselves against Silaus without getting anything, he dodged every blow and cut as he eliminated each minotaur with one strike, he was covered from head to toe in blood and visors, his red teeth showed a horrifying smile as he decapitated the last mycenaean that faced him and with the severed head in his hand he began to electrocute it until he burst its eyes and evaporated all its blood, the skull was finally destroyed while stones flew desperately hoping to connect maybe for a miracle.

  -It's a pity Asterion, I always thought you were as smart as the old man despite considering you a miserable wretch who only became important because of him, I admired your resilience a little. It's time to say goodbye, defect.

  This time Asterion took Niko sling and threw the last stone straight towards Silaus face as he raised his arm to throw himself against the remains of the phalanx, meanwhile he raised his other hand to grab the stone, but before it reached its target Niko pointed his ring against the stone shooting a tiny lightning bolt, the piece of marble lit up as it was blessed by Niko lightning which blinded the archon for just a few moments, enough time because when Asterion launched this stone Lita arrow was already in the air and this time the projectile was of normal size so it was undetectable and with superior speed, so much that the archon reflexes were almost surpassed, he managed to stop his body enough so that the arrow did not impact against his torso, but still hit against his arm and the arrow had several tips like a harpoon to prevent it from being removed easily plus a string of which Lita began to pull immediately to break the balance of his enemy.

  -You wretch, you were never a heleny, without any blessing you are only a disgrace to us and our gods!

  Silaus kept walking as if he didn't have a single wound towards Asterion, Lita couldn't hold him back and although the arrow kept tearing the archon arm he just kept moving forward, Laconia with his body full of debris buried in his scales and blood all over his mouth launched a horizontal slash against the archon who stopped it with both hands, his strength impressed even Laconia and that small distraction was enough so that with a blow in the stomach the bestiary and her weapon fell to the ground.

  -Enough with the games.

  Lita also ran to face the archon with her hands turned into claws but only with his raised hand Silaus unleashed a rain of lightning that prevented the cinerephalus from advancing.

  -Your last words polemarch, it’s over.

  Niko tried to raise his sword but he fell against the stones under the weight of his wounds and Asterion found himself face to face with his enemy.

  -You forgot the most important piece, archon.

  Through the farthest edge of his eye the archon saw death approaching, Jason sword was going for him at a speed impossible to dodge and as he saw his end approaching Silaus narrowed his eyes while looking at his old companion, but the edge of his sword did not cut his head, the figure of his old friend pierced him realizing that it was an illusion of Apollo light and yet two cuts received the archon body in that small distraction, he moved his body away by reflex which saved his life but when he tried to throw a lightning bolt against Asterion to eliminate him absolutely nothing came out of his hands, at the same time he realized that the thracian who was lying on the ground was now up with his sword covered with a little blood just like Asterion who was now carrying a dagger.

  -Rich and poor, fools and enlightened, men and women, each and every one of the heleny are able to use their blessings from birth Silaus, it is a pity that you are can no longer.

  The little finger of his left hand and the thumb of his right hand were now on the ground and Lita together with Laconia crushed them immediately leaving only stains on the ruins, the ring of Silaus lost all its shine until it disappeared transforming into a lightning, the archon felt that disappearance like an electric current, a sensation that he had never felt in the entirety of his life.