Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Skirmish

Now with one permanent asset under her command, Athena returned to her journey. This time, they left the street Athena’s house was in and started heading toward the main road where there should be more prey, taking out mutants as they moved. 

Cara was wielding her runed knife, and Athena was carrying the AR15 with the Glock now strapped to her side. She never fired a single shot though, as she never had to. 

“These things are not good sacrifices for Karydus.” Cara commented as she pushed her blade into the body of a Class F mutant Athena had the hoplite crippled. There was a scarlet aura that radiated from the blade to the wound to the rest of the body, but the mutant didn't seem affected. 

“Do they not feel pain?” Athena asked.

“They can feel pain, but Karydus demands not just pain. She demands agony and suffering. These things don't really exist in that monster.” Cara explained, slightly disappointed as she severed the mutant’s spine and ended its life. “The best sacrifices are sentient beings. Beings that can feel things like fear and regret and anger. Bonus points for both physical and emotional agony, and extra bonus points for stronger beings.” 

Cara glanced at her new mistress, concerned that she might not be willing to go along with this due to moral issues. Many people would frown at the idea of torturing sentient beings, and Athena didn't look like all the sadists Cara had seen back in her cult. 

“Be patient, Cara. I promised you sacrifices, and I will give you sacrifices.” 

If Athena knew what Cara was afraid of, she would chuckle. The only reason Cara was having these concerns was because she didn't know Athena. Cara was right that Athena didn't take pleasure in torture, but she was no stranger to it either. As far as Athena could see, it was just another dirty method that could yield great results when used in appropriate situations. 

“There.” Athena suddenly pointed at one of the houses on the side of the street they were walking down. She could see a dead body at the door, its lower half hidden. That meant there was at least one mutant inside the house. 

Like so many times before, the pair entered the house. Athena walked first with her rifle raised, closely followed by Cara. 

As they pushed the door open, Cara frowned as the smell of blood filled her nose. The body at the door didn't have its lower body hidden. No…the entire lower body was gone, ripped off. Guts were all over the floor. Cara had seen many atrocities, but the sudden smell still took her back a little.

As she recovered, she looked to Athena and was surprised to see that the girl who summoned her here barely flinched at the atrocity. This surprised the cultist a little. She didn't know much about Athena, but she didn't look like a veteran warrior who was so familiar with gore she had become numb. It was normal for a follower of the God of War to act like this, but not for a seemingly normal civilian girl. 

Then again, this civilian girl just summoned her into this world, so…perhaps she wasn’t so normal after all. 

Athena didn't waste time examining the corpse. A dead body wasn’t a threat. The real threat was what produced the dead body. The answer to that question soon became apparent. 

As Athena turned around a corner, almost before she could react, a beast leaped toward her, moving at a speed much faster than any of the mutants she had fought before. It was almost on top of her and, within a single second, would land on her body and dig its teeth into her neck. There wasn’t nearly enough time for Athena to raise her rifle, draw her blade, or back off. The attacker was just too fast.

However, Athena was ready for this. There was a reason she decided to enter first despite knowing there was a threat here. She didn't have the time to use her rifle or draw her knife or Glock, but she did have the time to give a silent, summoning command. 

Within an instant, before the mutant beast could touch Athena, the familiar figure of the hoplite appeared in front of Athena, his shield raised and facing the leaping beast.  

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The next second, before Cara could even react, the beast smashed right into the hoplite’s round shield. Hard. After the collision, the beast fell on the ground and let out a blood-chilling growl before charging once again, this time at the hoplite.

Athena finally got the opportunity to see what almost killed her. It was a dog. A mutant dog. More specifically, a mutant husky. The formerly adorable and harmless pet was transformed into a deadly predator by the same interdimensional energy that doomed so many human beings. Its black and white fur was stained red by blood. Its still had pieces of flesh between its sharp teeth. 

“By Ares…what are these things?” The hoplite, unlike the husky, was a sentient being. He had fought mutant humans and squirrels before, but the husky was a first. Only Athena could understand his words, spoken in ancient Greek, and she had no desire to explain to him. 

Hmmm…perhaps he should’ve said ‘By Athena’ instead. Weren’t Athena and Ares enemies in Greek mythology? Athena tossed the random thought out of her head and focused on the pressing situation at hand.

“Kill it.” Athena ordered as she raised her assault rifle and took aim. Her attitude toward the hoplite was a lot ruder than with Cara. The hoplite would only fight for her for an hour. She couldn’t care less if he was maimed or killed as long as his sacrifice meant something. 

The hoplite had no choice but to do as commanded. Meeting the dog’s charge with his shield once again and knocking it to the ground, the warrior tried to use his spear to impale the bloodthirsty foe but quickly realized he couldn’t. The dog fought with a level of frenzy and bloodlust the hoplite had only witnessed before in the chosen warriors of Ares. Even after two unsuccessful strikes, the dog barely needed a moment of rest before striking again. The hoplite could only keep his shield up. If he tried to strike the dog down, there was no doubt that he risked being mauled himself. 

The hoplite was no match for the dog, and Athena quickly realized that. The hoplite was trained and skilled in facing human foes who also had shields and spears. Taking on a rabid, bloodthirsty beast wasn’t his expertise. Plus, the hoplite was fighting as a mercenary and intended on taking as little damage as possible. His enemy, on the other hand, would gladly charge into a wall of pikes just to get one bite of flesh. 

As the hoplite pinned the dog back with his shield, Athena raised her rifle and tried to take aim at the beast. The dog’s main evolution was in its speed. It was fast enough that most ordinary soldiers with handguns or even rifles would have their throats torn open before they could pull the trigger. But if Athena got a clear shot and emptied a magazine into the beast…even though it was tougher than normal dogs, the mutant would likely be gravely injured. 

Just before she could pull the trigger, Athena suddenly heard another growl coming from another room in the house. She snapped around and was taken back when she saw another mutant charging at her. The mutant, formerly a man who for some reason was wearing a formal business suit in his own home, was moving at an average speed. 

Athena first thought it was just another Class F mutant, but she was quickly proven wrong. She fired twelve shots at the mutant’s skull, keenly understanding that body shots from a rifle meant little to the mindless mutants. But even headshots failed to accomplish their job. The bullets were lodged inside the mutant’s skull and failed to do significant damage to its brain or spine.

This was another Class E mutant whose body reacted quickly to the interdimensional energy. Within hours of coming into contact with the energy, the mutant had already evolved its bones enough to even ignore assault rifle rounds. 

Athena had no time to wonder if she was just very unlucky or if the statistics calculated by Vigilance about mutant classes didn't apply to this new world. All she knew was that they were facing two Class E Mutants, and their only Class E asset had trouble taking out even one of them. 

“Stay back!” Athena warned Cara. As the two of them backed off and put more distance between themselves and the new mutant, the summoner quickly went through her options. They could try running, but they likely wouldn’t make it out too far. As for fighting…her rifle and handgun were almost useless. And the knives…forget it!

“Do something, woman!” The hoplite noticed the new threat as well, and he wasn’t happy. The sacrifice he received wasn’t nearly enough to get him to die for Athena. When he signed the pact, he expected to be cutting down weaker foes or maybe fighting equally strong human soldiers, not trying to survive against these monsters! “I will not die for you…”

Before he could finish, the hoplite suddenly froze for a brief second. He quickly recovered, but as he moved again, his movement felt a lot stiffer. His tactic changed as well. Instead of standing his ground and fighting as conservatively as possible, the hoplite suddenly tossed his spear, drew his sword, and brought his blade down on the mutant dog. 

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