Fate/Heroes - Chapter 42

“The next person to cross this line, will hand over their head”.

The battlefield grew eerily still as Gray’s figure eyed the approaching members of the Church of Areopagus. These were just the metahuman fodder that made up the majority of Ares’ army. The real enemies were the other demigods as well as Ares himself.

Seeing that Hippolyta was about to be killed by the sniper on one of the landing crafts, Gray had to intervene. The Queen of the Amazons was both a figure of power and respect amongst the other women on the island. If she fell here today, the repercussions would be huge in the long run.

Trying to get the Amazons to help with his “Akashic Academy” would fail, and he wouldn’t have a greater level of respect amongst all the Amazons.

Especially Wonder Woman.

His eyes darted to the beautiful woman standing just several feet away from him. She wasn’t wearing the armor that Gray wad familiar with, but rather just a swimsuit looking outfit which covered her ċhėst, torso and abdomen. Her divine vanbraces were on each wrist and her indestructible golden glowing lasso on her waist.

Even with her physique marred with sand, blood and dirt, her beauty couldn’t be hidden from anyone. Her piercing blue eyes, so much similar to Cassie’s met Gray’s golden-amber eyes, before the former nodded, standing side-by-side with the ancient Greek Hero.

“I take it that for now you are not my enemy?”.

Rider and Shielder all spoke less than honorable things about the most beautiful woman in the world. Archer was a little bit more honorable, as she was technically her half-sister. The most famous Greek Hero still eyed Diana’s body, and nodded inwardly at the red, gold, blue with white stars outfit.

Gray ignored their words but nodded, focusing on the hundreds of metahumans in front of them.

How Ares managed to create or even gather so many super-powered men and women was beyond even Diana who was much more familiar with the process of creating metahumans. The promise of beautiful women was enticing, but she knew that not all men were swayed by beauty alone.

She sent a side-wards glance to the tall handsome man standing next to her, and raised an eyebrow as a familiar looking pelt appeared in his hands, looking more than slightly surprised as he threw it towards her.

“This is the Pelt of the Nemean Lion. It may not be able to block attacks from those fake Noble Phantasms, but any other weapon will bounce straight off it. Including bullets”.

Diana was a little taken back at the pelt of the legendary beast that her half-brother slayed. Heracles was the most famous Greek Hero, even more so than her. His legend survived over two thousand years, even after the age of antiquity ended and his Twelve Labors were feats that were near impossible, yet he manged to complete them.

Wrapping the pelt around her upper body, her Divinity grew more controllable, and felt a rush of power course through her veins. Diana wanted to turn and say something to Rider, but saw that he had three more objects in his hands.

One ancient looking rattle; One bottle with ancient Greek lettering covering it; and a Divine Sash that caused her mother to shout out.

“How do you have that! That belonged to me thousands of years ago! It was taken from me when he came to- You can’t be!”.

She saw Rider throw the Divine Sash towards her mother and saw the Queen of the Amazons readily take the ancient looking Divine Sash, putting on and feeling her Divinity strengthen to levels that Diana had never even see her mother reach before.

Rider ignored Hippolyta’s words and shook the ancient looking rattle in his left hand and poured the contents of the bottle onto the sandy beaches in front of him. The contents sinking deep into the ground, leaving no trace of ever being present in the first place.

There was no outward change to the environment, nor to the demeanor of the mysterious figure in front of them, so one of the metahumans, a relatively good-looking man with a lascivious smirk on his face summoned a massive ice spear above his head, and aimed it at Gray’s body.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ll regret messing with us!”.

With a speed close to the sound barrier, the man threw the massive ice spear forward, shooting toward Gray’s body with a high-pitched whistle. His golden-amber eyes remained unmoved, before a massive black paw exploded out of the ground, blocking the ice spear with absolute ease.

Diana took several steps back as the earth beneath her shook with a violent force, leaping back to where her mother was currently standing as a massive bestial figure exploded out of the sand beneath them.

The Divinity within Hippolyta and Diana resonated with the massive beast in front of them as their eyes widened in shock and familiarity.

“T-thats Cerberus! The guard god of the Underworld!”.

The massive elephant sized beast reared its three huge heads, a thick poisonous drool dripping out of its teeth as it let out a roar that shook the very foundations of Themiscyra itself. The air around rippled with a primordial energy. The Blessing of Hades were not as strong as it normally was, considering it was summoned by Gray, but a thick deathly power gathered at its razor sharp claws.

Gray placed a hand on the Divine Beasts leg before gesturing to everyone in front of it.

“Let loose”.

The Divine Beast of the Underworld swiped its claws out at the escaping members beside it, cutting them up into evenly placed pieces of flesh, before disintegrating into a thick black paste turning the white sands of Themiscyra black with deathly power.

One of the other members of the Church of Areopagus, one with super speed that allowed them to run at the speed of a bullet without the Speed Force tried to run away from the three headed canine, but found the shadow of a large bird cast over him, and the sensation of a drill hitting the back of his head before slowly falling into an unbreakable sleep…..

The eyes of the Amazons widened as over a dozen large birds, big enough for them to ride came flying down through the clouds above the island. Their beaks shone in the bright sun, a shiny bronze that resembled metal as they flew down to where the Amazons were hiding.

Gray’s voice echoed throughout the battlefield. He was standing on the back of the Cerberus now with a large ancient looking bow instead of a spear. Every arrow that Rider released from his bow let out a loud sonic boom as the target he hit exploded into a bloody mist.

“Tell your Amazons to get on the the Stymphalian Birds. They won’t attack them. I give you my word”.

Hippolyta shared a look with her daughter, and the latter gave Rider a narrowed gaze but nodded. The Queen of the Amazons, now cloaked in the War God’s Sash, commanded her people with a newfound vigor.

“Mount the Stymphalian Birds! Use your arrows to snipe them from afar! Do not worry about taken evasive actions, the birds will do them for you!”.

The Amazons, despite their distrust for the man mounting the Cerberus followed their Queens orders and took to the skies, upon the backs of the legendary birds.

Diana knew that this Rider was most likely the reincarnation of Achilles but the appearance of these Noble Phantasms caused her brow to frown as he gazed at the enigma of a man fighting beside her.

“Rider…. Just what are you?”