Huff! Gasp! Fuck!
"Huff! Heave! Fuck!"
This wasn't a joke. The cannibal giant was chasing me at an insane speed. The only reason he hadn't caught me yet was because I was weaving through the densest thickets of trees. Crunch!Snap! The vivid sounds of massive trees toppling behind me like they were nothing sent chills down my spine.
I ditched my shield and hurled my helmet aside. No point in them anyway—one hit from that club, which looked like he'd ripped a whole pine tree out by the roots, and I'd be done.
-Peleus! Above!
The Secret Book shouted, and I flung myself sideways. BOOM! The massive club slammed down right where I'd been standing a second ago. The ground quaked, shaking loose swarms of bugs and leaves from the surrounding trees.
I sprawled awkwardly on the dirt, covered in the dust and debris that exploded upward, utterly dumbfounded. A shiver ran through me. That single swing from the giant's club felt like an earthquake.
"Rat! You little rat! Filthy rat!"
The five-meter-tall giant crashed through tall trees like they were mere brush. Crack! My heart lurched at the sound of another trunk snapping. I was like a mouse before a cat—paralyzed, helpless.
-Peleus! Peleus!
The Secret Book called out desperately, but it was like I was trapped in a nightmare; my legs wouldn't move. Or maybe they just didn't feel like my legs anymore? Against the moonlight, the giant's pitch-black silhouette didn't seem real. This was a nightmare made flesh.
"You're gonna get torn apart right here! Otherwise, you'll turn into another sly bastard like Odysseus!"
The cannibal giant loomed right in front of me now, pointing to a scar on his cheek—a clean sword slash, by the looks of it.
"See this? Odysseus gave me that wound."
I couldn't help but be shocked. Cutting this giant was impossible. How the hell had he managed a clean slice like that? As expected of the hero of wisdom—must've found some trick no one saw coming.
"I hate clever types who pull sneaky shit like that. You reek of the same crap! Gotta nip you in the bud!"
This was like getting slapped in Gangnam and then glaring at the Han River. Looked like Odysseus had gotten the drop on him once before. Now here I was, the convenient punching bag for his grudge. No wonder the guy's such a nasty piece of work. Probably 'cause he's got no hair to think with.
"Who the fuck are you to forgive or not forgive me, you bald bastard?!"
Apparently, my mouth was its own damn creature. Even as terror froze my body solid, that thing kept yapping away. Hey, mister, we're about to die here.
"Bald? Oh, now I get it! That's what your curse meant!"
Shit, my bad. Spilled a major secret there.
"You dare call me bald?! Anyone who mocks me like that doesn't get mercy, not even a god!"
Guess the mouth that roars gets shut by the mouth. Fine, if we're busted, might as well go out swinging.
"Mercy my ass! Come spring, you'll be shedding dandelion fluff from that scalp!"
"GRAAAAAH!"
The cannibal giant Thematos went berserk for real. Flames seemed to shoot from his eyes. He gave up on talk and lunged to grab me. I scrambled on the ground like a centipede, diving under a nearby dead tree. Pathetic, sure, but when your life's on the line, what won't you do? Hell, I respect Cao Cao for shaving his beard to survive. A centipede's nothing.
BOOM! The massive rotten tree above me exploded into splinters. I dodged just in time but got slammed flat anyway.
"Gah!"
He'd snagged the end of my cloak. My momentum yanked me airborne, then smashed me back-first into the dirt. The impact knocked the wind out of me.
"Urk…."
No time to groan, though—his other hand was coming for me. Click. I unfastened the metal clasp on my cloak and slipped free. Lungs burning from lack of air, my head spinning, I tumbled down a nearby slope.
Roll, roll, roll. Like a pillbug, tumbling end over end. Today I was going from centipede to pillbug—clinging to life like the vermin I was.
"You bastard! Where'd you crawl off to?!"
The sudden drop had taken me out of his sight for a moment. I slammed into the damp leaf litter at the bottom, gasping raggedly.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
Sweat poured off me. Drops fell from my chin and nose tip, but I had no strength to wipe them.
-Weren't you planning to shoot him with arrows, Peleus?
I shook my head at the Secret Book's question.
-That was a pipe dream. I didn't account for real combat. Didn't realize a five-meter giant chasing you leaves zero time to turn and nock an arrow.
-Only hope was his eyes—the weakest spot. Artemis's arrow could've pierced them. But no way in hell. I'm no divine archer. Back in the temple as a scribe, all I learned was casual bowyer stuff from the old warriors.
"There you are, you rat!"
Thematos spotted me, and I bolted again. No choice now. I pulled out Heracles' Jewel.
-What're you doing, Peleus?
-Open wide first!
As the giant bore down, I begged, and the floating Secret Book opened its inky maw. I chucked the jewel right in.
-If I'm going down, I'm surviving somehow! Take the jewel, Secret Book!
Gulp!
The Secret Book, swallowing Heracles' Jewel by accident, bellowed in its real voice, baffled.
"What kinda lunatic are you?!"
"It was shit traveling with you anyway—let's never meet again!"
As I ran, yelling that, the book stuck out its tongue and hacked up the jewel.
"Ptooey!"
It spat it back like loogie, flying straight to me—I had no choice but to catch it.
"Why give it back?! It's good stuff—keep it!"
I hurled it hard again. The book screeched back.
"You irresponsible prick! Kack! Ptooey!"
Rejecting such treasure? I tossed it again. The book spat it out once more.
"Kack! Ptooey!"
This ping-pong kept going until Thematos, watching from behind, lost it completely. He started chucking nearby boulders like grenades.
Thud! Boom! Thud! I dodged the cannonball rocks raining down. One slip, and I'd be rat stew.
"Mocking me with weird magic! Unbelievable!"
Then it hit me. To everyone but me, the Secret Book was invisible. So it looked like the jewel vanishing into thin air, flying back, vanishing again—like some clown's trick.
-Oh crap! Panicked and forgot!
-You idiot! That round thing on your shoulders is more useless than a watermelon!
-Big trouble! You pissed off the giant more!
-You're pissed too! Traitor!
The Secret Book's barbs didn't matter now. Cornered beyond cornering, I finally ate a club to the face.
Splat! A dull thud, vision blacking out briefly as my body launched airborne. The instant the club hit, I wove Zeus's divinity through my body like fibers for defense. With that toughness, I wouldn't die.
Crunch! Boom! I flew like a cannonball, smashing through a rotten tree before cratering into the ground.
"Cough! Bleeech!"
Blood gushed from my mouth. Acid-mixed gore burned up my nose and throat like shoving a whole wasabi root down there.
"Arrrgh…!"
Ow, I'm done for. Whatever happened now, I didn't care. Pain so bad, all I could do was writhe on the dirt. Centipede, pillbug—now a maggot.
Wriggle, wriggle. Zeus's divinity kept my body from shattering, but the damage was brutal. Not a single inch unscathed. Should've exploded into meat chunks, but the net-like divinity held me together by force. Loosen up even a bit, and it'd all collapse.
-Peleus! Snap out of it! He's right there!
No strength to move, even with the warning. Then Thematos snatched me up in one massive hand.
"Keh heh heh! Got you at last, you gutter rat."
What could I do now? Arms limp. Nothing left. Game over, for real.
"First, I'll rip off your limbs. When I yank that puny arm…."
Ptooey.
Well done, mouth. Even in utter helplessness, you pulled something off.
"……."
Thematos's face went rigid. I'd spat right in his triumphant rant, pure insult.
The Secret Book was dumbfounded.
-You're certifiably nuts.
-Better than crying to death, right?
-Fair. Sigh… this is it, huh. Didn't fulfill Lord Harpocrates's will. What a shame.
-…Sorry.
I apologized meekly, but the book didn't blame me.
-Nah. Bad matchup. Luck sucked. Starting with a Titan descendant boss fight? Way too hardcore.
"Know why I'm just holding still?"
Thematos growled through gritted teeth. Death so close, fear faded. Just numb lethargy now. His grip tightened; breathing grew labored, body spasming like hiccups.
"I'm thinking how to keep a dying worm like you alive… and torture you in hell. If you can, pray to a god."
I snorted a laugh.
"I never pray to gods… buncha unreliable pricks."
But the reply didn't come from the giant—from below instead.
"Right on! Gods ain't worth trusting! So I'll help ya!"
A clear, strong girl's voice. Looking down, a red-haired little girl stared up—Python, the snake I'd shot with Artemis's arrow.
"Good thing I followed on a hunch. Thought it was just humans scrapping… didn't expect this."
Worried enough to tail me? Eager to repay a debt, this one.
"Guess my luck's rotten…. Weren't you heading back to the mountain?"
"Your fortune looked grim, so…."
Python giggled as she approached. Thematos sensed something off and backed up a few steps. Cunning bastard—didn't dismiss her just for looks. A girl in the midnight woods? Instant red flag.
"Who the hell are you?"
Thematos demanded, but Python ignored him, talking to me.
"I'm in no shape to take that brute myself. But I can heal you… buy some time. You've got a special weapon, after all."
Artemis's arrow. She was giving me the opening to use it.
"Can you do it?"
I nodded at her question.
"Just give me the one shot. I'll kill this giant fucker for sure."
Whatever it takes. Fail, and I'm dead.