Chapter 266 Don't Be Ridiculous.



"Perseus! What in the world is happening right now!!?"

On top of being in a bad mood because of the nosey guests, Atropos was hit with another unpleasant surprise.

When the alarm rang she teleported outside, and the moment her eyes fell on the spatial rift she cursed her luck. The Ritual should've been halted when Artemis and the others arrived. They still had a few hours before its effect went back to its maximum output, however the Primordial was already attempting to invade their plain of existence, arriving much earlier than anticipated.

[Milady, there is nothing to worry about.] Said Perseus, his face appearing on a small floating screen. [I've already anticipated that this would happen. The second phase of the Ritual is ready. All that's left is to wait for the right moment.]

"You already anticipated this?" She asked, a little perplexed.

[Milady, do you remember my report from two days ago?]

"... I see. I now understand..."

Inter-dimensional portals to the world they were in couldn't be opened due to the barrier surrounding the entire planet, which meant Artemis couldn't have come of her own volition. Atropos concluded that someone from her own retinue must've opened the portal and invited them, and before she could wonder who did it Perseus came forward and admitted it was him.

After a well deserved beating she had him explain why he did it. It was then that she learned about the Primordial's first attempt to cross plains and how Lachesis and her allies managed to stop it.

The Primordial was after the few remaining human survivors who were under her sister's protection. After its apostles failed to finish them off, the ancient beings decided to show themselves and handle everything on their own, but that ended up backfiring when the so called Nephilim joined the battle and helped drive it away.

After licking its wounds, the Primordial was now trying to get its revenge, but not before restoring the power it lost by consuming the Aether gathered using the Ritual.

Humans and other sentient beings are special because their souls are made out of Aether. Once freed from their flesh prison, the Ritual would gather them in a single point creating what's basically a bait made out of the mysterious element.

Normally the Primordial would take decades to reach the planet that had its sentient race annihilated, but with the Aether from human souls concentrated in a single point it would rush over fearing that someone was trying to steal its prey.

"Lachesis sure did a number on that thing." Atropos commented as she watched the burnt tentacles creep into the world.

[Milady, from what we have gathered so far, Lady Lachesis seems to have retrieved the Artifact.] Said Perseus. [She is on her way here, but from the looks of it she won't arrive until after a few hours. Could it be that she failed to foresee the Path we are currently on?]

"Primordials aren't bound by the Tapestry so there is no way to tell." Said Atropos. "This works in hour favor. We need to finish creating the Key before my dear little sister arrives."

[Understood.]

Five gigantic eyes seeped from the spatial holes like drops of water and a devastating cry shook the entire continent. The weather took a dramatic change and natural disasters started one after the other. Massive chasms split mountains apart, hail rained down, each one the size of a human head. Debris from the ruined human cities took to the sky and soon after entire patches of earth began rising up as if the force holding them together was no longer there.

A single typhoon appeared around the glowing Red Tower. The Primordial continued its descent, unperturbed by the destruction its presence was causing. As she watched from a distance, Atropos couldn't help but grimace. The Whispers were becoming too loud for her to ignore. So far she was able to tune them out, but with the ancient being right in front of her she was powerless. Her only choice was to withstand the mental assault until the Key was created.

"Uh-oh! This one is pretty wild, huh?" Pheme appeared right beside Atropos and gazed at the spectacle in front of them. "I guess taking it down won't be easy!"

"Mind your own business." Atropos clicked her tongue, annoyed by the cheerfulness of her annoying guest.

"I guess you aren't too worried, huh? Is it because you're using those so called Nephilim? Hephaestus has told me about their abnormal resistance to telepathy..."

Atropos kept her silence, having no interest in taking part in the unnecessary conversation.

Controlling the Nephilim was no easy task. Their minds were an enigma, holding secrets that couldn't be uncovered without properly studying them first. That said, for some reason Hephaestus already had something that could put them in a state of hypnosis allowing them to be used in the ritual. He said it was just a slightly modified version of the masks they usually use to control awakened humans, but very few believed that excuse.

With each passing second, more of the Primordial's true form became visible as it crossed plains. The countless tentacles reached for the ground, forming Runes and creating giant humanoids out of a strange black material. Some of them towered over the rest and had horns on their head. Each one created a halo of its own, and in a matter of seconds they formed giant spikes holding them in one arm as they took a throwing position.

"Tche! They're targeting the Sacrifices!"

The newly created Black Stone Giants had only one job; to take down the Nephilim forming the runes surrounding the Red Tower. The second phase of the Ritual had yet to begin, however the Primordial already understood what was happening and was trying to sabotage everything by destroying the only thing holding it together.

Countless red lines carved their way to the sky as the giant shot laser beams at the Nephilim. Obviously such a weak attack couldn't hope to penetrate the defensive barriers set around them beforehand, but the same couldn't be said about the spikes held by the Demons, which were being covered with the white glow of the barrier breaking Rune.

"Perseus! Don't let them shoot the spikes!"

[Don't worry.] A different voice reached her ear at that moment. [I will handle this.]

Just then, a green light flashed above the chaos, shattering the next second as it rained over the army of Black Giants. A storm of arrows came down piercing everything in its wake, shattering the Stone Giants and turning them into lifeless rocks. Atropos recognized the attack as well as the voice she heard, but instead of feeling relieved her frustration reached a whole new level.

"I don't remember asking for your help, Artemis." She said, anger clear in her voice.

[You think I would sit still in this situation?] The voice said. [I'll hold back the Apostles. Just focus on the Ritual.]

Atropos clicked her tongue again. One of the reasons she didn't want to call for backup was the favors she would owe the ones who answered her call. Even if they were allies, the Olympians weren't on such good terms that they would help each other without expecting something in return. She guessed that Artemis was trying to take the Nephilim for herself as payment for her help. Atropos didn't mind using them as pawns in a bargain, but she hated the fact that she wasn't even given the chance to refuse.

A bolt of crimson lightning shot down shaking the entire region. When the dust settled and the smoke dissipated, only a sea of charred sand was left behind. Pheme summoned a small window to check what caused it and with an understanding nod she turned to her raven haired friend and spoke with a smile.

"This one is pretty strong." She said. "You think she could take down Heracles?"

Atropos looked at the screen or a moment before turning away with a scoff.

"Don't be ridiculous. That bastard might be strong, but he won't last a single minute against her."

"Whoa... the Fate herself is praising someone that much." Pheme backed away, covering her wide open mouth with both hands. "Did she give you that much trouble?"

"Killing her is one thing, but capturing her wasn't easy."

Atropos remembered her battle against the crimson haired Nephilim quite well. She had avoided using her Scissors back then, not wanting to sever the Threads of her opponent after deciding to use them in the Ritual. Thankfully her opponent was too focused on protecting the other Nephilim as they retreated resulting in an opening the Olympians were ready to take. If the two of them fought with everything they got, Atropos wasn't sure she would've been the one to come out on top.

[Milady, I think we might have a problem.]

When Perseus' confused voice reached her, Atropos got a very bad premonition. Before she could ask him to explain what he meant, she noticed Pheme lean forward and squint her eyes,

"Hey, what's that?"

The mountains in the distance, their shape seemed to be quite blurry. At first she thought it was the strange weather, but then she realized that the light was being distorted as it passed a number is small areas creating a strange haze like effect.

[Milady-]

Even without him explaining what was happening, Atropos realized that what she was looking at was in fact space distortions. Just then something clicked in her mind, but before she could form the thought a new distortion appeared right outside the area surrounded by the giant Runes.

'Lachesis...' As her eyes slowly widened, a maniacal smile appeared on Atropos' face. 'I should've known... shame on me!'

As the haze blurred everything it covered, a small opening appeared at its center parting the distortion like a thin curtain. Something massive emerged from beyond the opening and the Olympians recognized it at first sight. It was the ship that had managed to escape taken by the surviving Nephilim. Perseus had informed her that they had joined forces with her sister so Atropos was sure that she was there, and the screen that appeared in front of her the next moment confirmed that guess.

"Hold on..." Pheme said, her eyes going wide. "Isn't that-"

Before she could answer the raven haired Olympian disappeared from sight. The Ritual was far from finished but the battle had already started.