Chapter 82: Book Three: Chapter 18

Throughout the battle, Roger shot down the Giants as he flew around the grass fields. None of the Giants noticed him while their focus remained on the Gods. Indeed, snipers were very deadly when nobody could see them.

Roger landed Pegasus on a hill where the Gods and Goddesses gathered. Labda, Katina, and Cilla cheered behind the divine beings.

After Roger slid off the winged horse and removed his helmet, Zeus padded his shoulder with a big grin on his face. “You did it, mortal! You saved us all!”

“Your unique weapon and skills have vanquished the Giants flawlessly,” said Athena.

Poseidon stood next to Athena while water dripped down his bronze skin. It looked like he took a dive through a water slide. “Without your aid, we wouldn’t have triumphed over our fates.”

A hand touched Roger’s shoulder from behind. He spun around and saw Hades with a thin smile. “When you die, I will allow you to live in Elysium with the other mighty heroes.”

Roger smiled back. A peaceful afterlife in a beautiful paradise sounded better than eternal darkness. Or maybe he should ask for immortality so he wouldn’t worry about death. But he doubted he could change a god’s mind.

Katina, Labda, and Cilla pushed through the Gods and hugged Roger. Their warmth made him warmer.

“You are the best sweetie ever!” Cilla cried.

“Damn right!” Katina shouted.

“Absolutely!” Labda exclaimed next.

They nuzzled their heads on his hair. He blushed, enjoying their affection for him.

Suddenly, Hermes appeared in a flash. His eyes widened and sweat crept down his face. “We must return to Mount Olympus! Now!”

Zeus approached the speed god. “What’s wrong?”

Hermes pointed his finger at the mountain. “There is another Giant wrecking our home!”

Athena glared at him. “But Roger slew all the Giants.”

“Not this one!”

Another Giant? Roger was sure he shot all the Giants across the battlefield. The Gods would have seen another one if it tried to move around to reach the mountain top. Whoever it was, Roger and his friends still need to stop it.

*****

The moment Roger, his girlfriends, and the Gods landed on the mountain, the moment their faces turned pale. All the white Corinthian buildings lay in ruins among broken rocks and shattered granite floors cracked beneath the rubble. Behind the ruins, gray smoke drifted into the air like a fog. Dust and ashes polluted the air, almost teasing Roger’s nose to sneeze.

Around the ruins, Roger spotted strange statues, running with frightened faces. One of them was Hephaestus and Aphrodite, hugging each other in sorrow.

Zeus dropped to his knees near two piles of broken white rocks. He picked up a stone arm and a stone leg with a missing foot. Tears dripped down his cheeks. “Apollo… Demetra…”

How could he tell? Maybe he could feel their life force, fading away. Roger couldn’t be sure.

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Zeus then dropped the body parts as his eyes caught the sight of a familiar woman statue. “No…”

He raced toward Hera’s stone figure and hugged her. “No! No! No!”

Thunder clapped in the sky. It followed his tearful moans as if the thunder cried for him.

“Medusa is responsible for this,” Labda hissed under her breath. “She did this right under our noses.”

Katina growled. “Of course… She is the only bitch who can turn anyone into stone!”

After Zeus sobbed on Hera’s statue, he spun toward Hades. “Brother! You must bring her back!” He shook Hades’s shoulders. “Bring her back!”

Hades sighed and pushed Zeus’s hands off his shoulders. “Patience, brother. I will bring her and the others back after we deal with this situation.”

Zeus rubbed a tear off his cheek and nodded to his brother. If Hades wanted to bring the dead back, he would need to ride his chariot all the way back to the Underworld. But there wasn't enough time anyway.

When the ground quaked, Roger and the others pulled with their weapons out. They faced the direction where the rumbling originated.

Soon, a giant silhouette with a feminine form in the mist debris rose from the ruins. She marched over the ravage as the mist cleared around her. No doubt everyone recognized her instantly.

However, Medusa wore a bronze chest plate and a leather skirt without any boots. Instead of weapons, she wore a golden mask on her face to shield her stone-gazing power. And her snakes on her head slithered like giant hydras, thirsty for blood.

She looked twice as big as the Giants, maybe half the size of a skyscraper. Gaea must have changed Medusa so she could help the Giants win the battle. Although the Giants sacrificed their lives, she succeeded in destroying Mount Olympus.

Zeus snarled at her. “You wretched fiend!!!”

He held out his left hand as a lightning bolt appeared on his palm. He gripped the bolt and jumped into the air, roaring like a furious lion.

As he raised his bolt to smite Medusa, her mask’s eye holes opened and blasted white beams at the thunder god.

Roger covered his eyes. Medusa’s attack gleamed like bright sunlight.

After she stopped, Roger caught the time to see Zeus’s statue fall and shattered across the ground. He dropped his mouth wide open, sharing the same shock as the others.

Zeus! The mighty king of all gods in Greece was beaten by a monster woman! This was not how the ancient myth was told!

Medusa closed her eye holes and turned toward the other gods with Roger. “Hear me, Godsss! I am the new champion for Gaea! Prepare to face my judgment!”

Roger held up his sniper rifle and aimed it directly at Medusa. “Judge this!”

He pulled the trigger and watched the lightning beam shoot out. Just one shot! If his shot could kill all the Giants, then certainly Medusa won’t-

He gasped when the beam deflected off Medusa’s mask. His throat turned dry. “What!?

Medusa laughed. “Isss that all you got?”

Roger clenched his teeth. With her mask on, nothing could harm her.

“Wait!” Athena stepped forward from the group. “You want Poseidon and me!?” She pointed her spear at the new Giant. “Then fight us instead!”

Medusa chuckled. “Why ssshould I fight you in a duel when I could dessstroy you all now!?”

Athena pursed her lips. “Didn’t I teach you how to be an honorable priestess?”

Medusa growled behind her mask. “You betrayed me! I cried for your aid! But you turned me into a monssster! You don’t dessserve my honor!”

Athena’s breath escaped from her helmet. “I understand my wrongful choice on you. Indeed, Poseidon and I should face your punishment. But leave the rest of my family from your wrath! Nobody else needs to suffer like you!

Medusa clicked her tongue. “Sssparing a world that fearsss me? I whether live in a world of Giantsss who will ressspect me more than humansss!”

“What if you turn them all into stone? What else will you have left?”

Medusa crossed her arms. “Gaea will make more monsters to keep me company!”

“And what if she becomes a statue? Or the entire world becomes a statue except you!?”

Medusa breathed a snarling sound.

“Face it, Medusa! Your victory will only lead you to eternal loneliness and despair!” Athena held up her left hand toward the Giant. “Let go of your vengeance, and you will be forgiven. Don’t become like Gaea. Your hatred will only lead us all to destruction!”

Medusa clenched her fists. “Hatred isss all I have left now. If you didn’t ruin my life, the apocalypssse would never happen. Now die!!!”

She opened her mask’s eye holes and blasted her stone-gaze attack. There was no escape from it.