Chapter 215: All Muscle, No Brains

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: All Muscle, No Brains

California

Mount Tamalpais didn’t look much different from any other mountain from a distance. A few hiking trails here and there, trees covering most of the slopes, and roads used by mortals. Nothing particularly impressive at first glance.

Damon couldn’t remember ever being in California before, and after spending only a little time in the state, he wasn’t exactly sure he had been missing much. Even from the mountain, he could feel the pollution mixing with the air drifting in from the nearby urban areas.

"Complete shit," the redhead muttered.

Sometimes he liked blaming the gods for a good portion of the mortals’ problems. It was easy enough considering how many times some deity caused an issue that ended up affecting thousands of people. But even Damon couldn’t blame them for everything. Humans were perfectly capable of making their own lives complicated.

California was a good example. Massive cities, millions of people, money everywhere, and for some reason, a considerable part of the population seemed fascinated with famous people simply for being famous. Hollywood was especially curious to him. In ancient times, it was already rare for a mortal to reach that level of recognition unless they ruled some state, were a great warrior, or had accomplished some feat worthy of being remembered. Even then, many of those leaders flaunted their achievements while thanking whichever god had supposedly favored them.

Naturally, other mortals would end up building temples and offering sacrifices to the same god, convinced that maybe they would receive similar fortune. Damon had always found it amusing how much divine worship was born not from genuine devotion, but from people looking at someone else’s life and thinking they wanted exactly the same thing.

As the centuries passed and the gods continued distancing themselves from humanity, mortals gradually began leaving those beliefs behind. To much of modern humanity, the ancient pantheons were nothing more than mythology, while actors, musicians, and celebrities occupied a strangely similar position in society. They had no temples or sacrifices, but they did have millions of people following everything they did, buying whatever they recommended, and discussing their lives as though they were matters of national importance.

Damon had to admit there was a certain irony to that.

Every now and then, he also wondered what Elohim would have thought of modern humanity if he were still alive. Knowing the Biblical God, the chances of some city ending up destroyed, a plague appearing out of nowhere, or someone proposing another Biblical flood were probably fairly high.

Even more curious was what had happened after his death.

For thousands of years, humans had advanced at an almost ridiculously slow pace. The wheel, horses, ships, increasingly better weapons, and not much else. Yet after Elohim’s death, they hadn’t even needed a full millennium to go from relying on animals to cross great distances to building machines capable of leaving the planet.

It was almost as if humanity had grown a second brain the moment the gods stopped interfering so much in their affairs.

That also made Damon wonder how far the Elemental Nations could go if the Shinto gods decided not to interfere for around two hundred years. Considering how quickly they had progressed even within the limitations of their world, the answer would probably be interesting.

Maybe one day he would have to visit Los Angeles. For now, however, he hadn’t come to California for Hollywood.

The redhead’s attention returned to Mount Tamalpais. Damon let out a snort and his body dissolved into the air, ascending the massive mountain with ease. As he gained altitude, the presence of the Mist became stronger, placed there largely to confuse mortals and keep them away from what was truly hidden within the mountain.

The landscape began to change as he left the mortal paths behind. Among the trees appeared the remains of ancient structures covered in vegetation, broken columns, and stone blocks that were somehow still standing.

Mount Othrys... or at least what remained of it. It certainly brought the redhead a bit of nostalgia simply because the architecture reminded him of his old life.

Even so, he hadn’t come to inspect the ruins of Kronos’s ancient stronghold. It didn’t take long for him to make out a garden farther ahead, and between the branches of a tree standing at its center, the golden gleam of several fruits could be seen.

Damon recognized the place immediately: the Garden of the Hesperides.

Still transformed into air, he slowed down as he blended with the currents above the garden. Four female figures stood among the trees, occupied with their own tasks without showing any sign that they had noticed his presence. Near the tree of golden apples rested an enormous creature, several of its heads scattered among the roots and surrounding vegetation.

Damon let out a small laugh. Hera certainly knew how to be possessive of what belonged to her, the redhead thought, somewhat impressed by the dragon known as Ladon.

He could have continued toward the summit without any of them ever knowing he had passed through, but he decided to descend. The air began gathering near the edge of the garden until the redhead’s body regained its form.

"Nice place, no doubt about it."

Damon’s loud, clear voice carried across the garden.

"Ehhh!"

The four women cried out almost at the same time after hearing a voice appear out of nowhere. Ladon reacted as well; several of his heads rose as low growls spread throughout the garden and dozens of reptilian eyes fixed themselves on Damon.

The redhead turned his eyes toward the dragon. "I come in peace, but if you attack me, Hera is going to have to find a replacement for you, so calm down, would you?"

Damon allowed his divine nature to emerge as he finished speaking. The change was enough for fear to settle into the hearts of the four women. Ladon didn’t seem particularly eager to test the god’s warning either, although several of his heads continued following Damon closely.

"H-he’s a god..." one of the sisters stammered.

Damon placed his hands behind his back. "It’s good to see you all in good health. My name is Damon."

"Lord Damon!"

All four women dropped to their knees almost at the same time. The fear they already felt only grew once they fully recognized who stood before them and, more importantly, remembered the history between Damon and their father.

The redhead let out a small laugh when he realized what they were thinking. "I let you live your lives when your father turned against us. What makes you think that after all these years I came all the way here to hurt you?"

Damon took the opportunity to look at them more closely. The four resembled one another so much they could almost pass for quadruplets, and it didn’t take him long to notice familiar features. Zo? Nightshade, Artemis’s former lieutenant, had inherited quite a bit from her sisters.

"We apologize, Lord Damon. It’s simply habit," one of them replied with some nervousness.

Damon nodded. "You can stand."

Once the four were back on their feet, none of them seemed to relax completely. Damon hadn’t expected them to. After all, his history with Atlas was far from good, and they knew that better than most.

One of the sisters cleared her throat. "Have you come to see our father, Lord Damon?"

"Yes." Damon saw no reason to hide it. "I think it’s time I settled my business with him. I’ve been putting it off for far too long."

The four exchanged brief looks before another asked, "What do you intend to do with him?"

Damon tilted his head slightly. "I don’t know. That depends on Atlas."

The answer didn’t seem to reassure them much. One of the Hesperides clasped her hands in front of her body before speaking. "Our father hasn’t changed. He still speaks of Kronos and of what he’ll do when he is finally free."

Damon let out a small laugh. "Well, that’s not much of a surprise. I suppose you can imagine how this is going to end for him, then."

The four Hesperides shifted uncomfortably under the redhead’s gaze. Damon noticed their nervousness easily and spoke again before any of them could.

"I hope none of you are planning to stand in my way. As long as you don’t do anything that forces me to act against you, you can be certain your lives will continue exactly as they have until now." Damon looked over all four of them. "Can I expect that from you?"

"Yes, Lord Damon," all four answered almost at the same time.

None of them had any suicidal tendencies. Trying to challenge the King of Olympus to defend Atlas would be foolish, especially when they themselves didn’t fully support their father’s decisions or understand what he still hoped to accomplish by clinging to Kronos after so many years. They loved him because he was still their father, but that didn’t mean they were willing to follow him down the same path.

"Good." Damon nodded, satisfied with their answer. "Then we won’t have any problems."

With that settled, the redhead turned his attention back toward the summit. The Hesperides’ words had only confirmed what he already expected from Atlas. Thousands of years had passed and he was still clinging to Kronos as though the Titanomachy had ended yesterday. It didn’t seem like he was going to find many surprises when he spoke to him.

Damon began walking toward the other end of the garden, but before leaving, he extended one arm toward the tree of golden apples.

To the surprise of the four sisters, one of the branches began moving on its own. It stretched toward the redhead until it stopped in front of his hand, carrying one of the golden apples directly to him. Damon calmly took the fruit and the branch returned to its original position.

The Hesperides stared at the scene without quite knowing what to say. Even Ladon seemed confused; several of his heads followed the apple first and then the god, although none tried to stop him.

"Take care." Damon raised one arm in farewell while taking a bite from the apple.

He chewed for a moment before looking at the fruit with a little more interest. "Hmm... mama mia, now I understand why this thing is so popular. It’s really damn good."

That was the last thing they heard from him. His body dissolved back into the air currents and he continued on his way, leaving the four Hesperides and Ladon completely confused behind him.

It didn’t take long for him to sense the presence he was looking for. The enormous figure of Atlas came into view, hunched beneath the weight of the heavens. Even after all these years, the Titan continued carrying the same burden, the muscles in his arms and back tense as he kept heaven and earth apart. Damon regained his form in the air before him, and Atlas lifted his head when he sensed him, his dark eyes hardening the moment he recognized the redhead. "Look who finally decided to show up."

"Hello, Atlas. How have you been, man?" Damon replied, clearly amused.

The Titan narrowed his eyes. "Did you come to mock my sentence in this hell on earth?" His deep voice echoed across the mountain.

Damon took another bite from the golden apple still in his hand. "Not really. Can’t I visit an old friend from the battlefield? Hahahaha."

Atlas let out a laugh that made part of the mountain tremble. "I never understood why Kronos feared you so much. You talk as if one victory made you something special." Damon raised an eyebrow, but the Titan kept talking. "You can sit on the throne and call yourself King of Olympus all you want. It doesn’t matter, because when we return..."

Atlas paused briefly, expecting to find some trace of uncertainty in the god. He found none. Damon didn’t even stop eating the apple. "Go on," the redhead said before taking another bite.

The lack of concern only irritated the Titan further. "When Kronos returns and Tartarus rises, you won’t have enough power to stop us. Olympus isn’t ready for what’s coming. And when I’m finally free—"

The mention of the Primordial made Damon raise an eyebrow. "What makes you think you’re going to be there?"

Atlas frowned. "What?"

Damon finished chewing before tossing the apple core aside. "You’ve spent a good while talking about what you’re going to do once you’re free, about Kronos, Tartarus, and how they’re going to destroy Olympus. YADA YADA YADA..... That said, you just told me your plans yourself." An amused expression appeared on the redhead’s face. "I’d be pretty stupid to let you live after that."

Atlas grimaced as he watched Damon rise up until he was directly in front of the Titan’s enormous face. "I guess they were right about you. All muscle and no brains." The god extended one hand and gave him a couple of pats on the cheek. The Titan’s teeth ground together, more enraged by the humiliation than by the threat he had just received.

"Curse you!"

Damon’s blue eyes locked onto Atlas’s black ones. "Good luck."

Damon pulled his hand away and extended his authority over the sky around Mount Tamalpais. Atlas felt the change before he understood what was happening. The weight he had endured for thousands of years suddenly increased, forcing him to tense his arms as his legs began sinking into the rock. Atlas growled, initially believing Damon was merely testing his strength, but the pressure kept increasing.

"What... are you doing?"

Damon didn’t answer at first. The sky was his, and if he wanted, he could keep increasing its weight as much as he saw fit. "They say you’re infinitely durable and strong. Guess we’ll have to put that to the test, won’t we?"

A loud crack came from one of the Titan’s arms. "AHHHHH!" The bone snapped inside his flesh. Atlas clenched his teeth and still tried to keep the sky above him, but another crack came from his shoulder and then another from one of his knees. Blood began running down his body as the pressure continued to increase.

"Αν?θεμ? σε, Ντ?ιμον!"

The Titan’s screams and curses thrown at Damon echoed across the entire mountain as his right leg finally gave out. The bone tore through the flesh near his knee while a massive amount of blood poured onto the rocks. His left arm bent in an impossible direction as part of the bone broke through the shredded muscle. Atlas continued screaming, but he never begged. There was only pain and growing rage as he tried to withstand the pain that continued increasing over his body.

Damon stayed in front of him, watching as the Titan’s back gave way with a sound that echoed across the mountain. Several ribs tore through his torso from the inside, ripping through flesh as blood splattered across the rocks and even reached the redhead’s face and clothes.

Atlas tried to raise his head or move to the side, but the weight ultimately overwhelmed him, making it impossible for him to move from his position even with the strength he had been known for throughout his entire existence. A violent mass of air began wrapping around his body, crushing him and mutilating him until almost nothing recognizable remained of the Titan who had held up the sky for thousands of years.

Damon extended a hand toward the remains as Atlas’s divine essence began emerging from what was left of his body, trying to hold itself together through the same instinct that allowed divine beings to return even after losing their physical bodies.

Damon quickly tore the Titan’s essence and domains away from him, enveloping them with his power until his existence was completely undone, leaving no possibility of return.

>> Yo