I smirk from behind my visor and stretch my arm to the side, calling on my weapon. Lightning cracks through the air above us, splitting open the sky. Thunder roars, and crackling, dazzling energy hits my gauntlet, and I close my hand around the brilliant bolt of lightning, so powerful that if I weren’t wearing these gauntlets, it would have incinerated me, too.
The crowd gasps as all eyes are fixed on the bolt of lightning I now wield. The weapon of Zeus himself.
Helios’ eyes widen with shock before he masks it swiftly, placing an unreadable one on.“Zeus has truly favoured you, but can a mortal wield it in the same way as Zeus himself?”
“How about we find out?” I growl.
Let’s do this,I say through the mind-link.
Theo’s already moving. His body fades, mist surrounds us as it cloaks him, until he’s no longer visible. He appears behind Helios, his scythe raised. The blade gleams, his aura wrapping around it as it slices ruthlessly through the air, aiming for Helios’chest. But before it can connect, Helios lifts a single hand.
All I see is a flash of gold before a shockwave tears through the air.
Theo’s thrown back with immense force. He flips, breaking his fall, anchoring his scythe into the ground, both the blade and his boots dragging trenches through the marble as he is slung across the arena. He lands hard, panting.
Helios doesn’t even look at him.
“Mortals,” Helios murmurs, but even then, his voice booms through the air. His body shimmers, and golden armour wraps around him. Fuck, now his chest will be even harder to hit.“Never learn, but today you will learn not to flirt with death.”
The ground beneath us glows. Circles of light spiral outward from his feet, divine seals burning through the floor. I raise my arm just as a burst of sunfire slams into me, hurling me backwards. I feel power emanate from my shoulder plate, creating a barrier against it, but I hit the ground hard, sliding, feeling the heat sear through me.
Avoid that attack no matter what! It’s deadly!I growl through the link.
Understood!Renji answers.
I get to my feet just as Ares lifts both hands. The air shifts before a tidal wave of water appears out of nowhere, shimmering with a deep aqua aura. He roars, sending it crashing down over Helios, the arena turning into a storm of mist and light.
I see my opening, launching forward, lightning buzzingthrough my veins. I focus on mixing it with Ares’ water as it falls. Electricity surges through the wave, crackling, alive. The sound is deafening. The water turns white-hot, steam bursting from every direction.
Helios disappears into the mist.
“Now!” Ares shouts.
Renji and Carter shift. The sound of bones cracking lasts for a second before both drop to all fours, Renji’s black-and-white fur faintly emanating with his aura, and Carter’s wolf is a pale grey. Their snarls shake the air.
They charge together, claws scraping across the ground just as Helios reappears. Lightning crackles in tiny flickers from his skin; he’s drenched but radiating power. His expression finally cracks, rage flickering in those molten eyes.
His nostrils flare as he flexes his hand and a huge golden sword manifests, light bending around it, made of sunfire…
Watch the sword,I warn the others.
Bloody hell, he’s more sunburn than god if you ask me.Theo snickers as if he hadn’t just been thrown across the arena.
Renji leaps first, aiming for his arm. Helios spins, his blade swinging through the air, and the impact sends Renji flying sideways, blood spraying across the marble.
Carter doesn’t stop, leaping from Renji’s shadow, and he twists at the last moment. From all of us, Carter’s wolf is the smallest, making him leaner and more agile, and it comes in use now. His fangs sink into Helios’ leg, right above his shin guards.
“And that’s why, ladies and gentlemen, you shouldn’t wear skirts in battle,” Theo remarks.
Helios snarls, grabbing Carter by the scruff and flinging him across the arena. He crashes into one of the pillars, and I hear the crunch of bone. Fury ignites in my chest as Helios smirks, his wound healing instantly.
“Bastard!” I snarl as I race forward, raising my bolt of lightning. Helios ducks, raising his shield, and my attack only dents the golden face of it. He raises his own sword, but I back up as Ares sends another storm of water at him. I take the moment to slam my gauntlets together. The sky splits again, lightning flashing in the sky, and then I’m pulling it to me, each one hitting me like a hammer, but I channel it into my fists. My entire body hums with power, my ears ringing from the pressure. I push off the ground, making the ground beneath my feet crack. I’m a blur as I aim straight for him.
Helios’ eyes glimmer as he raises his sword to block, but I don’t avoid it; instead, I punch straight through it. A deafening crack erupts in the air as the blade shatters into molten fragments, and then my fist connects with his jaw. The sound is like a mountain breaking.
He’s thrown backwards, his body tearing a line through the arena floor. The crowd gasps, the light around us flickering as someone whistles, most likely Theo. Sure enough, he’s by my side, a smirk on his face, his eyes a milky white.
“That looked like it hurt. Sunshine’s getting toasted.”
