Chapter 24: Enraged Gods.
When Constantine, Vritra, Medusa, and Solomon returned to the Ranch in Texas they did so in Constantine's workshop. It wasn't much of a home which reminded him he probably should get some of his Undead to build him a castle out in the Sea of Monsters when he made it out there.
Until then, this would be a good enough place. He looked down at Artemis who was trying to crawl away from him in a panic. He kneeled and pulled her arms behind her causing her to grunt in pain since she was technically as weak as a mortal.
"IT HURTS!"
"Relax, it will only hurt at first and I am not just talking about the sex."
Since the Abyssal Steel collar around her neck sealed her divinity, he didn't need anything made of Celestial Bronze or Abyssal Steel to tie her up. He waved his hand and he tied her up through solid darkness binds.
"There we are."
He picked her up onto his shoulder where she continued to wriggle like a worm.
"LET ME GO!"
"No."
He looked for a quiet corner where he set her down. Once he put her down, he saw her crying with snot coming out of her nose.
"Take away your divinity, and you look just like a crying girl."
He waved his hand covering her eyes and mouth with some shadows making sure she stayed quite.
"Ok, Artemis is taken care of. By the morning the Olympics are going to be in a rage."
Vritra flicked his tongue as he looked at the 20 Hunters of Artemis. With Artemis' Divinity, the empowerment coming from her was canceled. The human hunters became as weak as humans, while the Nymphs and Demigods returned to their base level.
"I got these."
Using the Shadows he too bound the Hunters of Artemis before he tossed them into a pile with Artemis. All of them were bound and disarmed and weakened so they couldn't do anything to escape.
Constantine smiled to himself as he beat his first god in single combat. If he could beat Artemis, it meant he was making good progress. Speaking of progress, he had been out for about an hour from his workshop.
That meant an entire day had passed thanks to the time dilation field. He began to walk around his workshop as he wanted to see what had changed. He checked up on the USS New Jersey, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri he could see that each of the ships was in further states of disassembly.
The New Jersey was even more disassembled since all its old parts had to be replaced. Everything needed to be measured, remade, and put together. However, he did see that his Undead Blacksmiths were working double time along side the mages who would then enchant the Dragon Steel pieces.
The 105,000 Undead army was making good progress and just needed to be allowed to do its thing.
"Alright, keep up the good work guys."
His Undead all raised their tools into the air invigorated by the praise. He smiled as Vritra shrunk down before slinking up his leg to reach his favorite spot around his neck.
"I think I did good for one day."
He stretched his body as his armor vanished back into his soul. Solomon copied him and sent his armor into his soul while reverting to his concealed form. He walked toward Medusa who from the look of things was smiling.
"What has got you smiling like that?"
"The power that you granted me. I never could have moved like that before I met you. Now, I move like the wind, and each of my kicks and blows is lethal to the weak. It is pride in myself, knowing that I will one day tear apart that bitch Athena for what she did to me, her and Poseidon."
"Leave him to me, as one of the Big Three he will be a bigger danger."
Medusa nodded.
"I understand."
"Good, come on, let's get out of here. Let's let the time formation do its thing."
He waved his hand and from the pile, Artemis and Zoe Nightshade came flying toward him. He caught them both by their shirts causing Artemis to panic. Zoe was knocked out so at the moment she didn't even know what was happening.
He dropped both into his shadow where no one would be able to find him. As long as he wore his necklace, very few gods would be able to divine where he was. With the two main bitches of the Hunt in his domain, he could take it easy.
He, Solomon, Medusa, and Vritra made their way out of his workshop to return to his home. Solomon returned to his stable where he was comfortable while he, Medusa, and Vritra returned to his room.
He set up a Space Expansion spell in his room to set up a copy of his room from his Mother's Mansion. With his room set up, he made sure all the wards, glyphs, and Anti Divination Enchatnemts were set up as he could be considered paranoid. Once his preparations were complete, he jumped into bed with a smile after using a cleaning spell on himself.
He offered to make Medusa her bed if she wanted, but she didn't. His bed was so large looking more like a bed in DxD that it was perfectly fine. As for Vritra, he returned to his favorite place, in Constantine's soul.
The way he described it was like being enveloped in a relaxing sea of soul energy especially when he got to hug all of Constantine's weapons. It was a cute thought and Constatine felt at ease when Vritra was protecting his soul and vice versa.
Happy, he slept with a smile on his face as he managed to defeat a god even while holding back.
---
In the morning, hours after Zeus had sent Artemis on the hunt to track down the thief of Hephestus' Junkyard, Apollo began to drive his chariot across the sky as Helios would have once done.
Every sunrise he and his twin would have their witty banter as siblings often did, but this time, she didn't show up. Not just that, when he tried to contact her, he just received a blank answer.
He didn't panic at first as she could be out hunting and was just ignoring him. Once he did his duty, he returned to Olympus. When Apollo entered the Throne Room, he saw his Father Zeus tapping impatiently on his throne.
When Zeus saw him he didn't even say hi.
"Where is your sister?"
Apollo seemed confused.
"That is why I was coming here, Father. She didn't show up for our morning exchange and she is ignoring me."
Zeus snarled.
"It's been hours since I sent her out, where the hell is she?"
Hephestus who had not left after informing his Father stood up from his throne.
"I can go check on the Junkyard, she might be there for all we know."
"Go, Apollo, you go too. Find her and bring me answers."
Apollo was already confused, but now he was also worried.
"You want us to go to the Junkyard?"
Zeus nodded.
"Yes, it was pillaged and I sent Artemis out to track who did it. Now GO!"
Since Zeus was in a mood, Hephestus and Apollo did not delay so they both teleported to the Junkyard. Apollo began hoping his sister was just busy on her hunt, but when he and Hephestus arrived at the Junkyard both gods gasped.
All around what remained was devastation as black fire continued to burn. Massive craters of devastation were everywhere, and parts of the sand seemed to be melted into black molten lava. Both gods retreated as the Cursed Flames surged toward them.
Hephestus held his hand out and released a blast of divine fire toward these flames. When both flames came into contact, things got volatile as the curse inside them seemed unwilling to be put out.
It fought against Hephestus' flames with renewed vigor, but without Constatine or Vritra to keep supplying it power, the flames were running on limited energy. Hephestus held both hands out and he began to smother the fires with lava and fire draining away the curse by burning it away.
As Hephestus dealt with the flames, Apollo began walking around the devastated battlefield. Everything for miles was just devastated, sparse black flames burned without fuel. No, they were burning the sand as fuel and he could tell they were cursed.
He turned around to look at Hephestus with a murderous look on his face.
"Where is my sister?"
"How should I know, Apollo? I just found out everything was gone yesterday. I told Zeus, and he sent Artemis out here. How was I supposed to know this would happen?"
Apollo took a deep breath as he recalled back to his dream, his prophecy.
'A King in Black leading Titans, Monsters, Demigods, Asuras, Undead and gods against Olympus. A Black Dragon at his side.'
He clenched his fists with a murderous look on his face. The more he raged, the worse the heat around him began increasing. The heat of the sun began radiating from him which made Hephestus call out to him.
"Apollo, keep your cool."
Apollo didn't keep his cool and if anything he just raged more.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
He pointed at Hephestus and it seemed he was about to attack the Smith God. Hephestus merely crossed his arms and remained Apollo of one simple fact.
"Don't forget who made your Bow and Knives, Boy. Don't make me break them."
Hephestus never said it out loud, but he put weaknesses in all the weapons he gave to other gods in case they turned them against him. Hearing what Hephestus said, Apollo grit his teeth as he knew the hidden rule.
Never turn a weapon against its creator and Hephestus was one of the best.
"FUCK!"
In a blast of sunlight, Apollo returned to Olympus to inform Zeus. When he was gone, Hephestus walked toward the pool of black lava bubbling away. He grabbed a clump of sand and through his Divinity turned it into a metal stick.
He then poked the lava which began bubbling and releasing a dark miasma that made him back away.
"Poisonous and Cursed. What kind of danger are we dealing with?"
---
The danger he was talking about was currently sitting at the breakfast table pouring maple syrup on pancakes. Vritra despite being an Evil Dragon was also a big foodie so here he was eating pancakes.
Amelia watched with a smile as a fork and knife floated in the air through magic. Maxamillion and Carmen were just watching as Vritra ate pancakes with extra syrup. As for Constantine and Medusa, they were both enjoying breakfast.
"Your name was Vritra, right? Do Dragons like sweets?"
Vritra nodded.
"It isn't a Dragon thing, just a me thing, but I haven't met a Dragon who didn't like sweets."
Amelia got up and ran around to grab Constatine's leg.
"I want a Dragon."
"Maybe if Vritra finds a lady Dragon."
Vritra scoffed.
"Like that will ever happen."
Everyone chuckled at that, but while he was here Constantine decided to bring something up.
"Oh while I am at it, I have decided to give all of you enchanted treasures of protection. I don't want some random monster or criminal getting to you while I am away. It will keep you guys safe and if you want I can train Amelia here in magic since she has the potential."
Max thought about it.
"What about me? Can't I learn?"
Vritra squinted his eyes which started glowing.
"You're lucky you're a Legacy of two gods, as it is kind of diluted. You are also getting old, but it is never too late to learn. If you think you have the patience, I can help you out while Constantine starts teaching his sister."
Max smiled as while he may be getting older, what guy would refuse the offer to learn magic?
"That is fair, I rather not turn all grey and weak if I can help it."
Carmen pointed at herself.
"What about me?"
Vritra shook his head.
"No talent. You're as mortal as they come and you don't have the body or soul to learn magic. Sorry."
Carmen stopped smiling.
"Oh, that is disappointing."
It was, but there was nothing that could be done about it. After breakfast, Constine left Vritra with his Dad and sister as Vritra wanted to see what they could learn. Medusa also wanted to stick around to see if she couldn't help Vritra in the teaching.
As for Constantine, he returned to his workshop to check up on the construction and the Satella's Tree. When he did arrive, he was not disapointed in the slightlest.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone