Chapter 368: [Vol.3] Quest 289- Westward Cloud, 4th Chapter, Part 2- The Crying Cinders & The Roaring Sparks

3 minutes later.

Thud!!! Thud!!! Thud!!!

Thud!!! Thud!!!

Thud!!! Thud!!!

Their exchange of fists was like that between a master and a student.

"Is this all you have!!!" Epimetheus shouted, disappointed at Cirrus's martial prowess.

"Suck my dick, you 3000-year-old fuck!!" Cirrus shouted. "Haaa!!!"

Cirrus threw a quick, straight jab.

Thud!!!

Splat~!!

Cirrus's punch tore the right side of Epimetheus’s face off, but Epimetheus just smiled as he threw three quick jabs into Cirrus’s ribs.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Immortality has its perks!!!" Epimetheus shouted as a fire healed his wounds. "And so does this farce!!" Epimetheus quickly jumps back and spins, grabbing his divine sword and leaping towards Cirrus.

"So does this!!!" Cirrus shouted, thrusting his arm, and from his sleeve, his spear shot out.

Ting~!!!

Clang!!!

"At least your spearmanship is better than your martial arts!"

"I bet you're so fucking proud after polishing your swordsmanship for 3000+ years, all to get dogged on by a guy barely in his early 20s!!"

"What can I say? A hero loves his women!!"

 

23 minutes later.

Clang!! Crack!!! Clang!! Bwoosh!! Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! Crack!!! Bwoosh!!

Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! Crack!! Bwoosh!! Crack!! Bwoosh!! Crack!! Bwoosh!!

In that time, Olympia had three hundred forty-two tremors of magnitude 5.4.

Rumble!!! Rumble!!!

Rumble!!! Rumble!!! Rumble!!!

 Several of the buildings are in ruins from their clash. The city is in shambles as Aphrodite’s Familia continues to fight and gain more and more followers.

 

Watching from afar, a deity watches the first city of humanity get destroyed.

"… To think one man could do so much devastation." Said Zeus in disguise. "Haa… That kid sure is scary, just like his mom. To think he could face Epimetheus armed with Prometheus’ Divine Weapon. Real scary… and very impressive." He grinned from ear to ear.

They then looked toward the island Hera was on.

"… I really hope she doesn’t find me." Zeus rubbed himself with some strong and light lotions. "I had to practice abstinence for two weeks to see how this went down."

Whoosh~

A light breeze blows past him.

"… Oh shit!!" Zeus quickly ran to be downwind from Hera’s direction.

 

On the island, Hera darts her eyes and takes a few sniffs.

"Hmm… I smell a fuckboy around."

 

Deep under the Great Temple.

"This is the door to it," said Rhea.

"Good." Malion drops Rhea on the floor. "Now open it."

"I can't. You need two priestesses."

Malion could see the smirk behind Rhea's stern expression.

Flash!

Rhea looks behind her to see Nox in her human form.

"Hmm..." Nox walks past Rhea and up to the door, tapping on it.

"Y-you... you're a Spirit!?" Rhea said as her once stern expression fell flat on the ground.

"Grand Spirit, for your information, you old hag. You didn't think I wouldn't recognize that old garb? Git. You served your purpose."

"Should we not break her legs or kill her?" Malion asked. "She could cause trouble?"

"Hm. What could a pathetic priestess who let the flame get corrupted even do? She couldn't even do her single job."

"Guh!!" Rhea bit her lips. She didn't wish to wait to see if Malion would convince Nox to kill her.

Rhea turned and ran as fast as she could.

"Aw look. She could run pretty fast."

"But how do we even get past the door?" Malion said, examining the area.

"Through the front, of course. The material used was of rather high quality, but it has wear and tear." Nox put her hand on the door. "Fuu~," she let out a deep breath, and her hair glowed. "(Flash and gaze. Tear through the cosmos.) [White Night]!!!"

Flash!! Boom!!!

Rubble!!!

Rubble!!

Rubble!

Nox's magic brute-forced its way through the door and blasted it wide open.

"You certainly live up to Grand."

"Thank you. Unfortunately, it's only that strong because of Cirrus. I have a horrible magic consumption rate."

The Spirit and High Dark Elf walk into the Sacred Chamber, the home of the Primordial Flame since time immemorial.

Nox and Malion’s eyes widen as they look to see the Primordial Fire.

Bwoosh~!!

Bwoosh~!!

Bwoosh~!!

They walk up to it and see its current state.

"This… this couldn’t be it… can it?" asked Malion, not sure what she was looking at was even divine.

Nox held out her hand to feel it.

"… It is; I can feel it. Cirrus, we made it to the fire, or more likely, a giant pot of swirling, corrupting darkness of entropy."

The flame barely even resembled a flame but looked more like an amorphous blob of corruption. Just being near it felt wrong.

"He can’t hear you—"

"I can talk with him through a special connection as we made our way through the maze. I am his spirit, so how else could he talk to me when I’m in my owl form?"

"Ah."

"… He’s still fighting the High Chancellor."

"Tsk… Then keep me safe. I’m going to help him."

"How?"

Nox sits down and crosses her legs.

"Fuuu. By giving him as much magic as I can."

Her body glowed as holy white, blue lights appeared from the earth and air. They came together in a stream around Nox’s body. They go toward her color but are quickly absorbed.

"M-magic power… You're absorbing it right from the air!" Malion said, surprised. "What do you plan on doing to require this much magic!?"

"I am giving it to Cirrus. He burned through a lot of his magic to fight Epimetheus."

 

Up top in the Maroon Room a minute back.

Crackle!!!!!

Bwoosh!!!!

Crackle!!!!

Bwoosh!!!!

Fire and electricity fill the Maroon Room.

"Cirrus Zephyr," Epimetheus says while his injuries are healing. "Why are you doing this? The flame doesn’t need purification yet; it can go for six more months before needing Vesta. So why? Why are you so desperate to make a name for yourself? You came here with no way to use or purify the flame?"

Cirrus looks at him, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Seems after 3000 years your eyes and memory are utter dogshit; did you not see my owl on Malion’s head? She is a pretty grand owl." Cirrus smirks.

"…" Epimetheus thinks about it, and seeing Cirrus’s smirk aggravates him even more. "That familiar… It can purify the flame? Preposterous! Only fire gods can purify it!! And even then, they must have a high affinity for purification! So only Vesta can do it!!"

"Heh… It seems you came down with Alzheimer’s. Don’t worry about it too much—"

‘Cirrus, we made it to the fire, or more likely, a giant pot of swirling, corrupting darkness of entropy."

"Oh? It seems they made it to the Primordial Fire."

"Telepathy… A Spirit—No." His words now made sense. "A Grand fucking Spirit. Tch! Another weapon like ourselves I should have killed that Dark Elf when I first met her." Epimetheus swings his weapon, leaving a trail of flame behind.

"Now, now, grandpa, she’s a High Dark Elf. What you need to worry about is—!!"

Cirrus’s body could feel an influx of magic, and a glow of white appeared around his body.

"Another one of your tricks, huh?" Epimetheus narrows his eyes on Cirrus, tensing his body.

"Seems I didn’t respond fast enough… Tell me, is the bottom of that fire pit connected to the Primordial Flame?"

"Sure thing, jump on it," he said with a smug expression.

"It was a long shot, but oh well. N—!!"

Epimetheus jumps at him with anger.

"Die!! (Incinerate and die, wrathful ashes.) [Guf Deukalion]!!!!!"

A blazing, brilliant storm of fire covered his weapon. The output was enough to quickly come down, smashing the ground.

"!!!"

Followed by a—

BWOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!

—Shooting out from the temple was a massive tidal wave of flame that engulfed Cirrus as they baptized him in this gleaming fire. The attack was far larger than what he expected, even the flame was more intense.

Bam!!!!

Cirrus lands ablaze on the ground at the base of the stairs leading up to the Grand Temple.

"!!!!!!!!" he clenches his hand in pain. It was comparable to the 3rd level of Gram’s test—no, it was even more. He felt his veins boil as they filled with embers, and his lungs filled with ash. His mind ran the fastest it ever went.

‘One chance!!’ Cirrus thought for what felt like minutes. ‘Disengage!!!!!’

In a split second since the armor faded, Cirrus shouted with all of his energy and last breath.

"(Exousía, Adorn) [Dia Chrysomallos]!!!!!"

The armor quickly covered Cirrus, and it moved the fire through the armor off to the side before cutting it off.

The injuries healed. Over 85% of his body was burnt—his veins, lungs, eyes, hair—his whole body experienced a fire. Had he not experienced great pain, he would have met his end, but with his tolerance for the pain, he held on.

"Haaa, haa… haa…" His lungs and veins healed. "That old fuck still has tricks up his sleeve. Guess 3000+ years weren’t for nothing. I need to avoid his fire with even more caution now. Hecton gets rid of the ash in my lungs."

"Yes sir," Hecton responded.

Cirrus could feel Hecton’s fingers inside him, but he ignored this intrusive feeling.

"Fafnir it’s showtime!!!"

His shadow sprouted three pairs of wings. Fafnir got under Cirrus in the right position and flapped her wings.

Flap!!! Flap!!! Flap!!!

Flap!!! Flap!!! Flap!!!

With a single flap of her wings, her full form came out, a massive dark-scaled dragon flying across Olympia like a comet. Riding on her was Cirrus. His wounds had healed up enough for him to disengage the armor.

Many were awe-struck to see a black dragon high over Olympia.

"Fafnir, fly me in and then go help Aphrodite, her presence is too valuable to have in danger, and if she asks, tell her you're with me."

"Got it!!"

With another flap of her wings, she cut through the air, reaching the Great Temple quickly. She turned sharply as she approached it, launching Cirrus through the air.

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He dons his chimera armor again, along with Gram in his hands.

"GRAM!!! WHAT DO YOU SAY TO ONE MORE ROUND!!!!"

The sword glowed once more, and his eyes spiraled a bit. Cirrus was getting more enthusiastic about this fight.

 

Thundering through the sky, Cirrus re-enters the Temple and sees Epimetheus with his back turned.

"!!" He shuddered for a bit, hearing Cirrus behind him, still alive. "Falna is such a pain in the ass!!!" He shouted.

"You forgot about me already!!! You really do have Alzheimer’s!!!!"

"Fuck you!!!"

It was the same attack Epimetheus had used on him.

"(Sing your Vespers, Swords of Damocles) [Dia Dikastí̱s: Logia]!!!!!"

Swinging down on him, Epimetheus tried to escape, but he didn’t notice several chains blocking his back and binding his legs.

"What the hell!?"

"No escape!!!"

CRACK!!!!!!!!!!

BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

The three great swords of thunder strike Epimetheus, shattering the ground and temple structure.

Rumble!!! Rumble!!! Rumble!!!

Rumble!!! Rumble!!!

Rumble!!!

With the smoke from the collapse of the temple still up, Epimetheus is holding on to Ethon. The injuries were far more severe than he had expected, with him losing his left arm, a chunk of his torso, his left leg up to just above the knee, and a good chunk of his face.

"Huff! huff! RAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!" Epimetheus roared to life again.

A bloody fire lit from the weapon and spread to him, having so much to heal, Epimetheus felt more pain than he had in centuries, which will take a while to heal completely.

‘Such speed. I’m envious. If I had that level of strength, I wouldn’t be labeled a fool and mocked... I’m sure his fable will be greater than mine and be praised… Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY IS HE PRAISED WHILE I’M THE FOOL!!!! I WILL DEVOUR HIS LEGEND AND BECOME THE TRUE HERO!! I WILL SHOW THE WORLD I AM NO FOOL!!!! I AM GREATER THAN WHAT THEY PRAISE!!!!—'

"—FIRE!!! THE PRIMORDIAL FIRE!!!! I’LL USE YOU TO BURN THE WORLD AND SLAY THE BLACK DRAGON!!!!"

Epimetheus' proclamation echoed through what remains of the temple.

"Guess even when you live long enough to become a villain, you are always a hero at heart," Cirrus said, cracking his neck before using his speed to disappear.

"You little fuck!!" Epimetheus turned his head to the left and swung his great sword to block Cirrus’s strike.

Clang~!!!

"And here I thought you were losing it." Cirrus then jumped back to get some space.

"You… You!!!" Epimetheus shouts again. "You have been by far the most pain in my ass in thousands of years!!" He swings his sword straight in front of him with two hands firmly holding the handle.

"And you have been the most fun I have had in years. Not every day a guy can fight his hero."

"…" Epimetheus stares daggers at Cirrus. "I will be sure to cut that look out of your face. Bwoosh!!" His sword ignites into a purple flame. "You should be honored. You get to face me when I'm serious."

Cirrus only had to look at the purple flame for a single millisecond to know that it was the corrupted flame of heaven. Epimetheus has had enough of him.

"(Swords of Damocles). Crackle!! Crackle!!" Cirrus spear is covered in electricity.

The two men stare at one another, breathing calmly in silence with only their weapons making a sound.

 

A minute passed, and the sound of a pillar falling over signaled the start.

Crack!

Crack!

They both kick off toward one another.

"CIRRUS!!!!" Epimetheus cried out.

"EPIMETHEUS!!!!" Cirrus roared out in response.

Epimetheus jumped into the air and flipped. He did so to come down at Cirrus with an overhead swing that is further bolstered by the flame propelling him.

BWOOOOOSH!!!

"DIIIIIE!!!"

Cirrus planted his feet on the ground and drew strength from the ground. The strength flowed through his legs to his hip, then to his torso, to his shoulders and arms, and finally to his wrists.

He thrust Spekð with his dominant hand, his right, and Gram in his left with all of his might.

CRACKLE!!!

"AHHHH!!!"

Then the two weapons met.

CLANG!!!

TING!!!

"RAAAAAAA!!!"

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

Kirk~

Swish~

There was only so much a weapon can handle when up against a Divine Weapon.

Cirrus gritted his teeth as he watched Ethon cut through Spekð and through the shaft.

Cirrus let go of Spekð while moving Gram to block.

Epimetheus was smiling ear to ear as his victory was close at hand.

Grin!!

A wolfish grin grew as the flame that propelled him grew in even more intensity, swallowing its master to give him a hellish visage.

Gram was long enough to intercept in time, but Cirrus had to hold Gram in an awkward position with his right arm under his left.

Next, it was Gram’s turn to confront Ethon.

Clang!!!

Clang!!!

Not a second later, the cracks in Gram grew even more, and the glow stopped.

Time seemed to have slowed for Cirrus.

He could see the divine weapon slowly beginning to cut through Gram. Cirrus’s mind was racing a thousand miles a second.

He had only one option left. Concede this fight.

Cirrus wished he would have been able to continue this duel of his with Epimetheus and grow stronger from it on his own by achieving victory. But he has lost to him. Thus, if he wishes to fight him again, he must live.

 "Hecton!!!" Cirrus shouted.

Immediately, Hecton pulled him back.

Epimetheus didn’t know what he did to seemingly be pulled back by gravity, for all he knows. All he knows is that Cirrus is not getting away without something.

"Rrrr!!!" Epimetheus swung down with even more force.

With the length of his sword, Hecton would not be able to fully get Cirrus out of its range.

Cirrus watched as the tip of the divine weapon, wreathed in malicious purple flame, filled his right eye.

Bwoosh!

Swish!

It was a hot, searing line across the top of his right eyebrow, through his eyelid, then to his iris, then pupil, then down his cheek, just missing his jawline.    

Tsss!!

"Rrr!!" Cirrus gritted through the pain.

Clang!!

Epimetheus’s swing caused him to swing his weapon into the ground.

Rubble!!!!

Cirrus did not let this opening go to waste.

"Push!!!" He shouted.

Epimetheus looked up at Cirrus as his face slowly regenerated to see Gram already at his throat.

"Well, play—Swish!! Spurt!!!"

His head is sliced clean off.

"Hecton!!! Rip him to shreds!!!"

His arms sprang out from his shadow and tore Epimetheus's body apart before his head even hit the ground. It caused him to drop his divine weapon, which was no longer covered in the corrupted flame.

Clang! Clang!

"Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!" Cirrus did not hesitate and quickly grabbed the divine weapon and threw it far away without knowing where he was throwing it. "God. Fucking. Dammit!!!" He shouted.

"Sir here!!!" Hecton said, his head popping up, potions at the ready. "I have the potions right—"

"Don’t bother." He slowly touches his eye, the pain still fresh. He then looks at the hand he used to throw the divine weapon and finds it hot. "I guess the weapon doesn’t want anyone but its master to hold it."

"Then your eye, sir? It’s…"

"Yeah… It’s gone. He seared it with the divine flame."

Hecton then pours a High Potion onto Cirrus’s right eye without his permission.

Pssss~

The potion did nothing. The cut he left is forever seared into the body. A throbbing pain that will not cease.

"I think this is the first time you did something that wasn’t my command. Hecton."

"I am sorry, I was not attentive enough."

"At least I am still alive." Cirrus slowly opens his right eye to see darkness. "So? How is it?"

Hecton looks and notices a scorch mark over his eye.

"… I am sorry, sir."

"Don’t be. This pain is my badge of honor, even if it’s a literal pain that I have to ignore. He may have won the battle, but I will win the war." Cirrus closes his eye and gets a piece of cloth from his shadow to cover his now-seared eye. "Now throw his body around Olympia."

"Yes, sir."

Hecton grabbed the body parts he tore off and threw his body in different directions.

Cirrus examines his weapons.

Gram is broken and slightly melted.

Spekð was cut in two.

"Fuck." He clenched his fists tightly. "… Hecton."

Hecton takes the remains of his sword and spear into his shadow and pulls out some spare weapons.

 "Haaa…. Nox, I’m on my way." His armor has faded, and his Ceryneian armor adorns him.

He turns to see Rhea coming up, drenched in sweat. Truthfully, he should have just cut her down, but he was too tired to end her life.

"W-where is L-lord Epimetheus!?" Rhea said, looking around to see a pool of blood.

"I suggest you better start looking." Cirrus walks past her. "I chopped him up and threw him far and wide."

"!!" Rhea shook a bit, turning to stare at his back "You... you really are—"

"He told me what he planned on doing. We both are not good people, except I am not the one risking the world."

"… The world is already doomed if the Black Dragon is not slain," Rhea said with venom in her voice.

"Then I will do it. It’s my fate to one day kill that fucking lizard." Cirrus leaves and goes down where Rhea came up from.

"… Lord Epimetheus." Rhea quickly ran off.

 

With each step he took running, the more he got used to having no depth perception and the small embers of his resolve for what was to come.

‘This was my choice… I didn’t fight back against this fate when Ouranos gave me my punishment. I didn't think there would be more world threating shit then the Black Dragon. I could have let Hestia do it, but then… Bell would be left behind. Ah…. was it for family? No. If it was that, I would be with Ai and Artemis right now. I am… I'm doing this because I need to bring peace to the—’ He stopped his train of thought. ‘No more of this thinking.’

His heart feels heavy.

‘It was him or me. The fire would eventually reach a point where it couldn’t be ignored. Ahh… Ai… Artemis… I want to see your faces once more… Ai… I wonder how our child would look—no. Do not think such thoughts. I will see my child’s birth. I will. I wilL! I wiLL!!. I Will!!!. I WILL!!!!. I WILL!!!!!’

Cirrus marches forward with an eye of determination and will, not knowing the strings of fate tighten around his neck ever so unbeknownst to him as Epimetheus had warned him as he draws closer to being a Hero.

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