Percy Jackson - The Record of The Journey of a Mortal Who Become a God

A huge tension spread throughout the forest, a battle that would mark the supernatural world was about to take place.

And it began in an unexpected way.

Ikki had to admit that he underestimated the mountain of muscle in human form in front of him. Hercules disappeared and reappeared before him in an instant! Bringing down his gigantic club toward Ikki's head. His speed was like lightning, and as his baseball bat descended vertically toward him, a strong gale swept through the area.

Despite the momentary surprise at the speed of his half-brother in front of him, Ikki did not panic or anything like that; Hercules was fast, but to his eyes, he was like a snail. He could easily dodge such an attack, but chose not to. Raising his arm, his hand took the form of a grip before holding the attack in an iron grip.

Boom!

A thunderous noise echoed in the area before a massive whirlwind swept in all directions. The winds were so strong that several trees and plants were uprooted and hurled away, but that wasn't all; the power of the attack created a gigantic crater with Ikki at the center.

If anyone could see the crater, they would say that a small meteorite had fallen onto it.

Hercules widened his eyes upon seeing an attack with all his strength being stopped with little effort. He looked at the small, snow-white, and silk-soft hand that gripped the end of his weapon, and his heart began to race.

This was impossible, right?

As the question arose at the back of his mind, the pain in his hand brought him out of his stupor.

"How...?" he murmured in shock as he saw his hand dripping with blood, or rather, ichor—the blood that made him immortal. It felt as if he had hit a mountain with infinite weight, where his effort would only bring injury to his hand.

"Is this so surprising?..." Ikki asked, gripping the club in an iron clasp.

"Stopping a full-on attack from me at your age is impressive, but do you want to compete with me in strength? That's just foolishness..." Hercules said, trying to hide the shock in his heart. He had no choice but to admit that his opponent was formidable, but he had confidence in his strength.

He proudly tried to pull his weapon away, only to discover that he couldn't move it even a millimeter. On the contrary, something he never thought possible happened right before his eyes.

Crack... Under the physical power that had been refined for twelve years without stopping, Ikki's hand was even heavier than a benevolent mountain. Essentially no kind of defense could block him, and under the pressure of his grip, the enormous club began to crack before the wide-eyed gaze of Zeus's eldest son.

Ikki applied a bit more force, and the club simply shattered into thousands of tiny pieces before the astonished eyes of the God of Strength. He smiled calmly and asked, "What were you even saying?"

His words brought Hercules out of his stupor, who instinctively jumped back, leaving the crater and putting dozens of meters between them.

Hercules looked at Ikki, shock rooted deep in his pupils. His shock was not without reason, as his baseball bat was made of Celestial Bronze and various other resilient materials crafted by Hephaestus himself, making it a weapon as powerful as that of the Olympian Gods. Breaking such a weapon had been impossible until now...

The strength of this kid..! What kind of monstrous strength was this?

"For you to back off like a scared kitten. Do I look that frightening?" Ikki said with a mocking smile on his lips.

The eldest son of Zeus didn't even have time to refute his words, as Ikki moved and appeared before him with his leg raised for a kick in the blink of an eye.

If it hadn't been for his instincts screaming at him to raise his arms to defend, Hercules wouldn't have been able to defend himself because he simply couldn't keep up with the teleportation-like speed of his opponent.

But his defense was practically useless! When the kick connected with his arms, Hercules felt as if thousands of mountains had struck him with force; his arm bones cracked under the pressure, causing him immense pain, but the blow didn't stop there. Its power struck his chest and traveled throughout his body, wreaking havoc on his internal organs and making him spit ichor as he shot backward like a bullet from a gun at the speed of light.

His enormous, muscular body slammed into several trees along the way, all of which were destroyed. After traveling several kilometers, he began to bounce and create several craters.

"Fuck, the strength of this brat is just overwhelming, and his speed is something even Hermes would have trouble keeping up with..." he assessed in his mind as his body collided with a mountain several hundred kilometers from where they had originally been and was destroyed, causing pain to assault his back, which was now covered in cuts with ichor oozing by this point. At least he had managed to stop.

Despite the numbing sensation that it had taken a while for the blow, his journey, and the destruction of the mountain for him to finally halt, it had taken only a second!

While coughing up ichor, Hercules rose from the rubble and got on all fours on the ground. His whole body was screaming in agony.

"What is this..."

He couldn't believe it; in this exchange of blows, the difference between the two was evident. It was simply like the sky and the earth!

Staring at the ground, he heard the sound of footsteps; looking back, his eyes filled with terror.

At that moment, Ikki was walking toward him with a sadistic smile on his lips. His eyes were consumed with a red hue, and a dark red aura surrounded his body, something that brought chills and fear just to behold.

What kind of aura was that?

It resembled very much the feeling of the [Helmet of Darkness] from his uncle, a weapon that had the power to induce the deepest fear in his opponent. Did this mean that this kid could do that, just with his presence, if he wanted to?

What kind of monster had he provoked!?

"Now we can begin...?" Ikki asked indifferently. He didn't even seem tired from covering the distance of hundreds of kilometers in an instant.

Despite the fear in his heart and the voice in the back of his mind screaming for him to pretend while there was still time, Hercules quickly got to his feet and assumed a fighting stance.

He looked seriously at the monster that was casually standing there. Seeing that the younger boy wasn't making any kind of movement, he himself took the offensive.

With insane speed, he moved towards Ikki. Along the way, his body shone in gold, and he began to grow until he was twice his size.

The Gods had the ability to assume any kind of form; since he was a lesser God, this applied to him as well. His current form was a product created by the ideal form of his power in his "mind," so it wasn't just his size that had been increased; all of his physical attributes had as well. This was the strongest form he could assume, aside from his [Divine Form], which was strictly forbidden to use against mortals.

Of course, it wasn't just him who used this form; the other Gods also had theirs, which practically revolved around the same concept, but that's beside the point.

When he reached Ikki, he threw his fist in a punch that was easily defended against with an open palm that was lightly pushed back. Thanks to his instincts and the attributes that had been augmented, he managed to dodge a spinning kick aimed at his neck.

"He made me think he was winning the strength competition so that I would enter his range and receive his decisive blow? This kid is more skilled than I thought..." Hercules thought as he retreated.

Ikki didn't give his enemy a moment to think and quickly attacked him with the prowess of an unparalleled martial master, to which his opponent responded as best as he could. Soon, the two exchanged blows everywhere as they moved faster than lightning.

While Ikki's fighting style was completely unpredictable and flawless, Hercules's was similar to wrestling techniques. He was using [Pankratos], a Greek-style martial art of fighting that he and Theseus had invented in the old times.

Each blow released a wave of energy, uprooting trees and breaking the ground, forming craters in many places.

Hercules threw a straight punch at high speed; Ikki dodged the punch by a hair's breadth, and as he successfully dodged, he delivered a knee strike to the chest of Zeus's son, who spat ichor.

The lesser God was lifted up by the force of the blow, and Ikki then followed up with a wide arcing kick to Hercules's head, sending his enormous body flying into a huge lake several dozen kilometers away.

The massive, muscular body bounced on the water before sinking into the middle.

Ikki appeared at the edge of the lake like a ghost, holding his faithful sword in hand, applying his emulated source energy to make it as sharp as an unparalleled sword, and blending it with Qi, he created the [Qi of the Sword] that covered his weapon. He swung down in a vertical slicing strike toward the lake.

During this movement, a dark red energy enveloped his weapon. At that moment, it was as if the beautiful blade in his hands had become a sword that surpassed the limit of the very sky, encompassing the sun, the moon, and all the celestial beings within. This single sword—with its energy—was completely overwhelming.

Without hesitation, this sword swung and cut through the world, annihilating all gods and demons into ashes beneath its power...

But in reality, all it did was split the enormous lake in front of him and several kilometers out to the horizon into a massive fissure. Water flowed into the crack, and the lake began to dry up until it had so little water that it was no more than a few meters deep.

Hercules appeared on the surface, gasping for air, looking in Ikki's direction with eyes filled with fear and horror. His fighting spirit had been crushed after even losing to him in fighting skills, and now this strike created by a sword… A fucking sword!

This kid was a God and no one told him!?

"Don't tell me our fight is already over, little Herc?..." Ikki said playfully as he transformed his sword back into a ring after sheath it.

Hercules's face darkened; he was feeling very humiliated, and as the fear grew in his heart, the hatred grew larger. The desire for revenge was beginning to take over his thoughts.

"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch—" Hercules was interrupted by a wave of cutting energy that grazed and sliced his cheek.

He looked at the younger boy and saw a cold, wicked look; he had two fingers pointed at him that glowed with a faint red reflection.

"You dare to insult my mother, your failed hero project?" Ikki looked at Hercules coldly and spoke in a voice entirely devoid of emotion, "I rarely torture my enemies to death. Usually, I grant them a quick end with a single blow. However, today, even if you beg to die, I won't let you go so easily..."

Although he had never tortured or killed anyone, he hated any injury or insult directed toward his beloved mother. For her, he was more than willing to dirty his hands.

Hercules gritted his teeth before shouting, "You forced my hand, kid!"

He knew very well that he couldn't assume his divine form, but he knew he would die if he didn't do it.

Faced with the fear of imminent death, he had no choice...

His body began to shine, and an explosion of light occurred at the location, completely evaporating the rest of the lake and turning it into a gigantic crater.

Any mortal who had seen this with their own eyes would have turned to dust, but Ikki merely looked at the God in front of him with bored eyes. Was this kind of light show deadly?...

When the explosion of light passed, Hercules's [Divine Form] was in front of him. He still had almost the same appearance, but the upper part of his body—exposed because his clothes had been torn during the confrontation—was covered with red tattoos that resembled a lion.

What was surprising was that all of Hercules's injuries had healed.

"Why am I not surprised you were able to witness my [Divine Form] without a hitch?..." Hercules said in a more sinister voice.

At that moment, the sky above the two became covered with clouds.

Ikki decided to stop holding back.

He moved faster than before and attacked Hercules with the intent of ending this boring fight.

Not even with all his power could Hercules glimpse Ikki's speed, but thanks to his instincts, he was lucky enough to raise his arms, following his instincts, and defended himself against a punch that fell like a hammer weighing more than billions of tons. The power of the blow cracked some of his bones and sent him flying back, but this time he was prepared; so, during his bullet-like journey backward, he spun his enormous body and used his legs to stop.

Unfortunately, he couldn't celebrate this small victory; Ikki appeared right in front of him, crouching down, and using his supporting hand, he delivered an upward kick aimed at the lower part of his abdomen. Zeus's eldest son raised his knee and managed to defend himself, but this time he was launched into the sky like a rocket.

Ikki quickly pushed off the ground, crouched down, and leapt toward Hercules; the ground that had supported his weight for a moment appeared as if it had been distorted and melted by a bullet for an instant before he shot into the sky faster than lightning; the forest below was destroyed, and a massive crater larger than an island remained in its place.

He appeared above Hercules, who couldn't react in time to defend himself, and kicked his enormous body in the back like a soccer ball toward the ground. The sound of a crack could be heard up close, followed by the scream of pain that echoed through the skies.

"Ughhhhh"

Using a small trick with [Law Kansas Baal] to manipulate and create a solid cloud beneath his feet, Ikki pushed off and disappeared again to appear behind Hercules and deliver a punch that sent him soaring into the sky once more.

And this continued several times, with Ikki making Hercules his personal punching bag.

After kicking Hercules toward the ground, Ikki brought his mind down to solid ground where Hercules was; in a chasm that had cracked like a spider web from the impact of being thrown forcefully against it.

Hercules's several-meter body returned to its original appearance, and his [Divine Form] dissipated.

He was destroyed.

Your body was covered in wounds that would kill a normal person, and your clothes were completely torn, with only the groin area remaining. If he weren't a God, in this state, he would already be dead.

"Herc..?" Ikki calmly called as he approached the body in a mere tenth of a second.

Hercules reacted quickly and tried to get up with difficulty.

"As expected from the greatest Greek demigod," Ikki calmly praised before saying, "But now that you've lost, your life is mine! I might even consider sparing it if you apologize for almost calling me a bastard..."

"In your dreams—"

In the current situation, Hercules struggled to stand up again. His legs had both been broken along with most of his bones; to be honest, it was a miracle that he had the strength to wake up and even speak, let alone move his body this way.

"Seriously?.."

Ikki took a step forward and stomped down hard with one foot! Hercules changed colors as he raised both hands, wanting to stop this kick from him. However, no matter how many methods someone tried, he still couldn't stop this kick that felt like a high mountain!

"Bang," Hercules's two hands met the stomp while he was kneeling on the ground. Crushing the ravine, he painted the rock golden with his blood. With a shocked expression and a pale look, his bones all over his body trembled as sweat droplets the size of beans began to drip! He had to use all his strength just to endure Ikki's monstrous stomp.

For a moment, the eldest son of Zeus thought he was holding back the sky from his golden age, where he completed missions that made him a famous hero.

While bearing the weight of that simple stomp, his life flashed before his eyes.

He really didn't want to have done this, coming to fight this "monster," but did he have any choice? He was ordered to do so by that bitch he couldn't go against.

"Thinking about it now, my life is pathetic. My first family: dead. My life wasted on ridiculous missions. My second wife died after being tricked into poisoning me, leaving me with a painful death. And what do I get in return? I have to become a lesser god. Immortal, so I can never forget my pain."

Hercules's sweat was pouring down like rain on his trembling body. He was already severely injured, and under Ikki's suppression, blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe it's better this way... Dying here must relieve my pain. Can I finally rest?..."

The thoughts of the God of Strength raced towards his life and the reason he was holding back the attack and not letting it end his life. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was his dominance of "bravery" speaking louder? Because in his view, he had no reason to hold back that attack...

"Apologize..."

Ikki declared slowly.

"Never..." Hercules said with great difficulty; despite his reflections on life, he was still too proud a guy to do such a thing.

"Seriously?"

Ikki's patience was already running thin; he slowly pressed down with his foot. "Crack crack," the sounds of breaking bones echoed as Hercules crazily vomited blood under the pressure!

"My patience is limited..." After saying that, Ikki took a deep breath and decided to deliver the final blow, something that left a strange feeling in his heart...

It would be the first time he killed someone...

Without further ado, he forced his foot down with more strength...

Under the pressure of millions of mountains, Hercules was like a baby being struck by a giant hammer, becoming a paste of flesh in place.

Small fragments of his bones flew among the droplets of golden blood.

Ikki looked at this and manipulated his presence to make himself invisible, specifically to make his "actions" unknown to all those who had been looking at him just now; he then extended his right palm and absorbed all the remains of the God he had just killed to form a golden drop of blood, which he quickly stored within himself in a compartment near his heart that he created through the manipulation of his body for this purpose.

His strange actions were just him standing still in the eyes of others...

At that moment, while looking at where Hercules had been, rain began to fall on his body.

He looked at the overcast sky, where various lightning strikes and sounds of thunder could be heard.

His figure seemed somewhat lonely at that moment.