Kairos 46: Lion Hunt

The night had been long, but they were ready at last.

Thales should have felt happiness at a work well done, but fear ruled his heart as he oversaw the deep trench before him. Thousands of workers had labored day and night since he elaborated the plan weeks ago, pausing almost every other major construction project. Even then they had needed to commission Dispater’s Builder Corp to finish the trap in time.

Lord Kairos observed the work with a careful eye, walking along the trench with Thales hot on his trail. The automaton’s fingers kept twitching, as he expected his superior to complain or pick up errors he had overlooked.

Lord Kairos nodded to himself instead. “I think it should do,” he said with enthusiasm. “Good job. How long will it take for your trap to activate?”

“As soon as I give the signal.” Thales had set explosive fire traps at the choke points, to clean up the path when the lion was caught. If it was caught. “Lady Andromache helped me on that front.”

“She has progressed a great deal.” A smile appeared on Lord Kairos’ face. Thales found it quite sharklike under the moonlight. “There are kilometers from the river to the kill site.”

“About that, I would…” Thales looked down. “I would be reassured if she could join us.”

“She won’t intervene unless things go wrong, at which point it might be too late to make a difference,” the Travian pirate king replied, arms crossed. “I asked her to watch Aglaonice. I still don’t trust the sphinx, not entirely. No oath is entirely foolproof, and if she gave any hint of our plan to her mate...”

Then they would all die. Thales had researched the Nemean Lion’s subclasses based on Lord Kairos’ intel, and what he found worried him.

While bound to a restricted area, [Dungeon Guardians] received Skills granting them accelerated regeneration to the point of not aging, immunity to most status ailments, and even the ability to shrug off mental attacks. Even if some individuals like Lord Kairos could theoretically bypass the creature’s magical defenses, the creature’s sheer power made it unlikely anything short of an immediate killing blow could put it down. The lion would recover from poison, resist mental domination, and regenerate from the gravest of wounds.

Thales had considered half a hundred scenarios, and only one had a slim chance to work.

“Sir, may I speak?” the automaton asked.

“I pray that one day, you will understand that you are always free to speak your mind,” the pirate king replied with a hint of reproach. “Yes, Thales?”

“Sir, is it truly necessary for you to act as our bait? If you perish…” If he perished, Thales wouldn’t forgive himself. And it would upset Lady Julia.

“As an annoying sphinx said, my [Monster Lure] Legendary Skill makes me a near irresistible morsel to monsters. We need to lure the lion to the kill site, and I should have superior mobility on Rook’s back. According to your own calculations, the Nemean Lion can run faster than most horses, and fighting that thing in close combat is suicide.”

“It is true that our only hope is to stay at range, but… maybe someone else could ride your griffin?”

“We have no other [Griffin Rider],” Lord Kairos replied with a frown. “I appreciate your concern, Thales, but I have faith in myself… and most importantly, I have faith in you.”

“But what if I miscalculated?” Thales insisted. “What if I’m wrong?”

“You aren’t.”

“But—”

“You said it yourself,” the [Hero] interrupted him calmly. “I quote, ‘Nemean Lions might have invulnerable skin, but they still need to breathe. Heracles proved it.’ For all we know our feline can resist poisons or substances that would cause him to choke, but unless he can transform into a Cetus, he shouldn’t survive your trap.”

“But Heracles had near-limitless strength!” Thales pointed out, panicking at the thought he had overlooked some detail. “The chroniclers might have misunderstood what happened. He might have snapped the first Nemean Lion’s neck, instead of choking him.”

“I don’t think so,” Lord Kairos replied, skeptical. “Andromache admitted that your trick could work on her in human form, and she is indestructible everywhere, even in the eyes.”

“What if the chains break?”

“They worked well against Andromache when she agreed to test them, and she can smash through city walls when furious.”

“What if the delaying traps fail?”

“They won’t, since you made them.”

“What if—”

“Damn it, Thales!” Lord Kairos snapped in frustration, causing the cowed automaton to take a step back. The Travian [Hero] seemed to immediately regret his outburst, and sighed. “I trusted your plan since the very first day. Nessus trusts it, Agron trusts it, and Petra and Chloris and everyone involved in this hunt also trust it. So why can’t you feel the same?”

Why indeed?

“Because I…” Thales looked down at the dirty ground. “Because I was defective from the start.”

Though he avoided facing him, the automaton could already imagine Lord Kairos’ scowl. “Who told you that?”

“The Archons of Thessala.” The words came out like a flood, having weighed on him for decades. “I, uh… Lord Talos, the maker of our race, crafted me to be a warrior-model. A defender of our city. But when the class choice came, I… I couldn’t unlock [Fighter]. I didn’t have the prerequisites.”

“Why, because you had higher [Intelligence] than [Strength]?” Lord Kairos asked with a frown. “Is that why you tried to create automatons yourself?”

“I sought to surpass my maker,” Thales confessed. “I… if I was created flawed, then the process could be improved. I… I needed to figure it out.”

“To figure out why you were you?” Lord Kairos asked. “Does it even matter?”

“Of course it does!” Thales finally looked up, as something in his superior’s tone bothered him. “If you were born club-footed or blind, wouldn’t you want to understand why and correct it?”

“But that’s the thing, Thales. I don’t think there is anything to correct.” Lord Kairos smiled. “Suppose you succeed, that you gain greater strength or learn to wield a spear as well as I do. Would you leave your laboratory to take up a life of fighting?”

“I…” Now that he put it this way... Thales tried to imagine himself leading a pirate crew like his superior, or watching Histria’s city walls until the day he was scrapped. Somehow, such a life didn’t appeal to him.

“Don’t try to be someone you aren’t, Thales,” Lord Kairos said, though there was no scolding in his tone. “Maybe you would have become a different person under different circumstances, as I would have probably acted differently if I were born a noble rather than a dirt-poor raider. But I do not regret the path I took. This is my life, and I made it for myself. If you had limitless resources and no enemies, what would be your perfect life?”

The answer came quickly to Thales’ mind, though it took a few minutes before the automaton found the strength to confess. “I would spend all my time in my lab, creating automatons and doing research,” he admitted, finding himself ridiculous.

His captain chuckled. “See, you would do exactly what you’re already doing,” Lord Kairos said with a smile. “Thales, Histria has many [Fighters], and quite a few of them man its walls. The walls that you designed. They live in the city whose plan you created, they sail with compasses you imagined. Do you understand why I insisted that we follow your plan, rather than make my own?”

“I… because I was a [Trap Maker], sir?”

“Because I have thousands of brave warriors, but I have only one Thales the Promethean. And I want you to understand that.”

Thales didn’t know what to answer to that.

“Maybe you will never swing a sword, but you could equip a thousand swordsmen if you wished,” Lord Kairos continued. “Both the warrior and the blacksmith are important. Both have their strengths. And I know your skills will defeat that lion, where mine might fail. I can feel it deep in my gut.”

He… no, he was only trying to cheer Thales up. But as the automaton examined that strong-willed human’s face, he found no hint of deception, not even a white lie. The pirate lord believed every word he said.

“Thales, this is your plan. Though I validated it, I have chosen to follow your instructions, your strategy. In this particular case, I will not be your commander but your piece on the board. It is no different from the strategy games you love so much.”

“Sir, you would not die in a strategy game,” Thales pointed out. “And pieces always follow orders rather than having a will of their own.”

“No plan survives contact with the enemy, either in a game or in this cold world of ours.” Lord Kairos’ smile widened. “And like pieces on a board, we will only proceed if you give the go-ahead.”

What? Was he serious? “Sir, you are the king.”

“And you are the expert. We will proceed with the plan, only if you say we do.”

He was serious. “But… what if I say no?”

“Then we go home, and figure out something else.”

Only then did the truth dawned on Thales.

The responsibility was the [Crafter]’s own alone. Only he would decide if the plan went ahead or not.

And he was afraid. He was afraid of failure.

No, that wasn’t right. Failure was part of a learning process in the realm of science. Thales was afraid of being held responsible if it failed. Of having blood on his hands. He didn’t have Lord Kairos’ bravery, or what it took to lead troops to battle.

And yet… and yet Thales was no stranger to conflict. The weapons he created took the lives of others. The automaton couldn’t pretend he was innocent; it was his ballistae that Lord Kairos’ crew used to lay siege to the port of Boeotia, seasons ago.

And if nothing was done about the Nemean Lion, more lives would be lost. The creature’s pride had already exhausted the wildlife in the west, and would certainly turn to settlements on the eastern coast. Towns that Thales himself had helped raise, and home to thousands. The automaton felt a responsibility to the people living there, and the Foresight’s crew.

He couldn’t cower and hide.

The Nemean Lion was a monster with immense strength, greater than any [Fighter]. His claws were sharper than swords, his hide thicker than armor. He was the ideal that inspired Thales’ creation, and of which the [Crafter] fell short.

A thought crossed the automaton’s mind.

If Thales’ plan prevailed… if he proved that a [Crafter] could defeat a powerful warrior through nothing but simple tools…

Then it would be the proof that he was no failure, and never had been.

“Sir, if…” Thales reached a decision at last. “If I say yes, could I ask for a favor?”

The pirate chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “What kind of favor?”

“I will do it, sir,” the [Crafter] declared, hesitantly, then more firmly. “I will do it. Myself. I will kill that beast.”

Thales would pull the trigger.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The hunt began at dawn.

Kairos had hunted big cats in his youth on the monster-infested island of Travia, though never a Nemean Lion. Somehow he had the feeling his first time might also be his last, if he wasn’t careful.

The [Hero] rode Rook high in the skies under the cover of invisibility, observing his island’s hinterlands. After chasing away most pegasi herds and forcing local animals into hiding, the pride had started to move towards the east’s civilized settlements. A vanguard of female manticores and chimeras scouted ahead of the group, while the lazy Nemean Lion and his treacherous sphinx mate lagged behind.

From his vantage point, Kairos saw his allies moving into position. Nessus, Chloris, and amazon horse archers waited in an ambush on rugged hills, facing the wind to avoid being smelled. All of them carried Achlysian composite bows except for their satyr leader, who wielded the golden [Bow of Atalanta], a trophy from the previous expedition.

Another group of horsewomen remained in reserve, led by the mercenary general Petra. Unlike their comrades, these soldiers carried heavy lances. Petra herself led the group in armor made of blackened scales, her purple eyes and long green hair partly showing beneath her helmet. Flames swirled around her spear, ready to burn the enemy’s flesh.

Finally, Thales and Agron’s team waited at the designated kill site farther east.

Kairos’ men outnumbered the pride five to one, but numbers didn’t matter much against beasts capable of smashing through city walls. The manticores and chimerae at the front also advanced cautiously, as Agron’s group had successfully ambushed two of them a few days ago when they wandered away from the main group. The beasts knew they were entering dangerous territory and needed to stay on high alert.

Perhaps Aglaonice said something similar to the Nemean Lion, as she exchanged words with him. Kairos couldn’t hear from his location without risking discovery, but the sphinx ended up flying away from the pride towards the northeast. She discreetly blew a kiss in the invisible Travian’s direction, before vanishing herself.

‘That’s the signal, Rook,’ Kairos whispered to his mount through their [Animal Companion] telepathic link, before anchoring himself to his griffin as best as he could.

‘On it, Kairos!’ The griffon dived down towards the pride’s vanguard, moving as close as he could without risking detection. Two chimerae and a manticore smelled the grass below them, trying to find prey.

Kairos activated his [Warg] Skill as soon as the [Griffin Rider] came into range.

Andromache advised against attempting to possess chimerae, as they had multiple minds in one body, so Kairos’ mind slipped inside the manticore. His spirit escaped his human flesh, leaving it semi-comatose and in Rook’s care. He sensed the female manticore’s mind briefly struggling against the intrusion, but she lacked the [Charisma] and awareness to force Kairos out.

When the human awakened, he saw the world through another’s eyes. It was quite a strange experience. Kairos had already practiced [Warg] on other animals, and the manticore’s vision reminded him of a cat; the Travian struggled to see more than twenty meters away from himself, and the world looked blurry, its colors dimmer. His host body would probably see better at night.

The other senses were nothing to sneeze at. Kairos could smell the bones below the earth, the winter mud, the faint scent of horses. His ears picked up the rustling of the grass in the wind, the soft sound his paws made on the ground… and the short breaths behind the hills.

They had sensed the skirmishers.

“Enemies?” one of the two chimerae asked, her multiple heads all speaking at once. Kairos understood everything, as both the host and the vessel shared the [Beast Tongue] Skill. “They don’t sound like pegasi.”

“Could be a horse herd,” the other chimera said, humming the air with both her lion and goat heads. “I hear something else too… the flap of a bird’s wings, and I smell the beast too, but I don’t se-”

Without warning, Kairos tore the lion’s head’s throat out.

His manticore body’s sharp fangs gored through the chimera’s rugged flesh, violently separating the vocal cords and cartilage from the neck. The warm blood flowed on the ground as the surprised beast collapsed.

“What the—” The other chimera didn’t have time to finish her sentence, as Kairos the Manticore tackled her, claws first. He forced the rival beast to the ground before viciously stabbing the flank with his stinger-tail. The goat head responded by unleashing a stream of flames at the possessed manticore, causing Kairos to wince in pain as fire consumed his fur.

“Stop this madness!” Shouted another manticore, as the rest of the pride quickly caught up to the vanguard… with one exception. The Nemean Lion watched the scene from afar, his eyes squinting in suspicion.

As the pride approached, Kairos escaped his host’s body, leaving her to fend for herself. But as soon as he returned to his own flesh, the invisible Travian immediately possessed another manticore and struck a chimera from behind with his stinger.

“Quick, it’s now or never!” Kairos said through the manticore’s mouth, as confusion spread through the pride’s ranks. “More food for us!”

“Traitor!” A chimera snarled back before leaping at him. “Pride traitor!”

Kairos quickly escaped back to his body, and he didn’t have to [Warg] again. By now, the paranoid chimerae had started attacking the manticores on their own before they could do the same, pouncing their rivals with claws or burning them with fireballs.

The pride devolved into a brutal, chaotic melee as the two species fought each other. As Kairos had suspected, when danger knocked on the door, species loyalties asserted themselves. The manticores were slightly more numerous, but the chimerae had the benefit of long-range attacks. The grass turned red from the blood spilled, and the nauseous smell of death filled the air.

“Enough!”

The lion’s voice sounded like thundering lightning, and instantly ended the fight.

Kairos watched from the safety of Rook’s back as the pride’s lesser beasts cowered before their alpha. The Nemean Lion’s heavy steps caused the ground to shake as he approached the slaughter’s site, his enormous body casting a long shadow upon his feline harem. One swipe of his paw could easily send an elephant flying, and his powerful fangs could break a horse in two. He dwarfed his followers in size and could single-handedly massacre them, if he so wished.

The lion’s mere presence united the pride in their fear of him.

Five of the lesser beasts had perished, three manticores and two chimerae, and the rest were wounded; some so heavily that Kairos doubted they would survive the night. So far so good. The plan was to eliminate the Nemean Lion’s supporters before luring him to the kill site, as the pride’s interference might allow him to escape at the critical moment.

“The manticore started it,” said a chimera. “They—”

“Quiet,” the Nemean Lion replied, the chimera wisely remaining silent. The pride’s alpha squinted at the slaughter, and started humming the air. “I smell something vile...”

After a short search, and although Kairos discreetly used his wind spear to cover his smell, the Nemean Lion glanced in his direction.

Realizing the danger, the Travian reflexively attempted to [Warg] into the feline behemoth, but his mind bounced back to his body. The Travian awoke to see the world with human eyes, and Rook quickly carried him away.

“I can smell your magic,” the lion rasped softly, showing his fangs in a twisted parody of a smile. “Manling.”

‘Retreat!’ Kairos ordered telepathically, but the griffin had already started fleeing. The Nemean Lion let out a massive roar, so powerful it made his entire pride cower in fear.

[Terror] negated by [Leadership 3]!

The Nemean Lion leaped a dozen meters in the air, far higher than any beast of his size should be capable of. He attempted to swipe at Rook with his colossal paws, but Kairos negated air resistance around his mount with his [Anemoi Spear]. The duo soared across the skies and narrowly escaped the lion’s claws, the beast making the earth tremble when he landed.

“Now!” Kairos lifted the [Invisibility] and revealed himself, which gave his troops the signal to attack. Nessus’ archers emerged from behind a hill with a thunderous war cry and raised bows.

[Mounted Archer] were among the most powerful [Fighter] subclasses, and one of the hardest to unlock. It needed high [Perception], Skills in archery, horsemanship, balance… but when Kairos saw Nessus’ group in action, he couldn’t argue with the results. The amazons rode their horses as if they were the same being, like centaurs. By the time the pride realized what was happening, they had already unleashed a rain of arrows and retreated.

The arrows turned the lesser beasts into pincushions, piercing through their thick hide and manes. One chimera managed to avoid death outright by breathing flames at the projectiles, while a manticore powered through them in a futile attempt to reach the archers. Both chased after the cavaliers with murder on their mind, leaving the rest of the pride behind.

So far so good, but only one threat truly mattered.

Arrows bounced off or shattered upon the alpha’s invulnerable skin. “This is your pride, manling?” The Nemean Lion scoffed at Kairos, as he slowly stepped on his own wounded. Clearly, the alpha male considered his harem expendable. “I have eaten ten thousand of them!”

“But we’re better than all of them!” Rook boasted back, as he bravely ran away after the horse archers.

“Then why run away?” The Nemean Lion’s eyes shone with a golden glow. “I have your scent, manling, and that of your bird too. I will hunt you. I will hunt you day and night, twilight to dawn! I will hunt you in your dreams, until your legs crumble before you! And then I will eat you all, feet first! [Thunder Reign]!”

Instead of pursuing the group, the Nemean Lion took a deep breath, and roared to the skies.

As his voice spread, so did an ancient and powerful magic. Kairos sensed electricity in the air, as a foreign power clashed against his own [Anemoi Spear]’s mastery of the winds. In an instant, thunderclouds gathered above their heads turned black.

“Weather magic?” Kairos wondered out loud, as he attempted to disperse the clouds with a strong gale. However, whatever magic the lion wielded equaled his own. A torrential rain started pouring down the skies, and the thunder echoed across the island.

Weather changed to [Heavy Thunderstorm]!

Kairos now understood why the lion was called Thunderclaw.

That part was completely unexpected. The plan was to have the cavaliers use the open terrain and horses’ mobility to pick off the pride without suffering casualties, while Kairos lured the alpha away.

But worryingly, the Nemean Lion looked in no hurry to pursue anyone. Before Kairos lost sight of the beast due to the heavy rain, the Travian saw him casting buffing spells on himself. Though invincible, the lion had the cautiousness of age.

Praying the monster would still take the bait, Kairos caught up to the horse archers led by Nessus. The remaining chimera and manticore, the only members of the pack capable of fighting after the arrow barrage, chased them down relentlessly. Their bestial strength allowed them to close the gap with the horses.

Or so it seemed. When the two beasts threatened to catch up with the rearguard, Nessus ordered his troops to accelerate, and they quickly outpaced the surprised monsters. Before the chimera and manticore could understand what happened, general Petra and two dozen heavy lancers ambushed them from behind, trapping them in a pincer movement.

Though the beasts were more powerful than warhorses, the amazons were well-equipped and determined. Their mounts battered against the rain and trampled the grass, while their hooves echoed with the thunderstorm above. The chimera attempted to stop them with fireballs, but Petra’s fearsome warhorse charged fearlessly through the flames. Her spear gored the creature’s goat head, while the rest of her troop smashed against the monsters. The horses trampled them to death before moving.

“Hey, Kairos!” General Petra called the Travian from below, as Rook flew over them. He had trouble hearing her over the sound of the thunder and the rain. “Is the lion going after you or not?”

“I think so!” Kairos shouted as raindrops fell on his [Golden Fleece] and Rook’s feathers. The Travian turned his head as the group passed by small hills, approaching the crags and quarries of the east. He noticed the large shadow of the beast stalking them through the heavy rain, though the lion seemed in no hurry to catch up. “He’s taking his time!”

“He can afford to, the ground is harder for hooves than paws!” Petra pointed her spear at the ground, which the rain slowly turned into mud. The lancers lagged after the horse archers, and both slowed down. “Can’t you disperse the weather?”

“I tried, but his magic is stronger! I can only affect the air in my close vicinity!” Wait, did the lion change the weather to alter the terrain? Was he waiting until the terrain became too difficult for horses to keep their mobility advantage, while avoiding exhausting himself?

A mighty roar answered his thoughts, followed by a pressure in the air. A pressure he had already felt before in a previous battle, right before—

Kairos’ eyes widened in alarm as he looked up at the skies. “Disperse!” he shouted as loud as he could, as electricity built up in the clouds. “He controls the lightning!”

Both Nessus and Petra heard him, ordering their groups to disperse just as the lion’s magic struck. Mighty thunderbolts fell down from the heavens to strike the earth below, some briefly setting fire to the grass before the rain extinguished the flames. One amazon lancer wasn’t lucky and a bolt incinerated horse and rider both. Their charred remains were left behind to burn.

Damn it! Kairos knew it would be implausible to win without casualties, but how could they know a giant lion could alter the weather? If only Aglaonice could rat out the dungeon’s denizens...

“Kairos, buckle up!” Rook warned, as the electricity gathered above them. Kairos created a wind tunnel with his [Anemoi Spear], his vision turning into a tunnel. His griffin danced around the bolts with skill that made his rider proud.

Unfortunately, the Nemean Lion had chosen that moment to turn serious, and came rushing after the horsemen at full speed. His paws caused small quakes as they hit the ground, almost louder than the thunder above.

And he was fast. His skin’s invulnerability seemed to also apply to the rain and wind, as neither slowed down his advance. The half kilometer that separated the Nemean Lion from the rearguard swiftly turned into two hundred meters, as the golden blur caught up.

Kairos had Rook move to the side, trying to lure the lion away from the cavaliers… but to his horror, the beast ignored the griffin to chase after the horses.

“I will turn your pelt into a carpet!” The Travian [Hero] taunted the Nemean Lion before unleashed a burst of compressed wind at him, but neither words nor his magic had any effect.

By now, the predator and the prey had left the hinterlands for the eastern areas of the island, where Kairos’ men mined silver and minerals. The grasslands were slowly replaced with stone crags, rocky mounds, and pits. There, a booby-trapped ditch had been dug, separating the ground with only wooden bridges to join both halves. This first layer of traps should provide the cavaliers with key seconds, allowing them to outpace the Nemean Lion and escape to relative safety before the final battle.

But no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Nessus’ group crossed the wooden bridges without issues, while rainwater slowly started to fill the ditch below. But the muddy ground slowed Petra’s lancers too much, and the lion caught up to them. He smashed into the rearguard with a vicious swipe of his paw, sending two amazon horsewomen flying with their mounts.

Realizing they wouldn’t escape, the lancers had their horses turn around in a desperate last stand. Unfortunately, the mere sight of the enormous lion paralyzed the horses with fear, except Petra’s. The amazon commander tried to strike the beast in the left eye, figuring out that only his skin was indestructible.

But while she managed to avoid a deadly swipe of the creature’s paw, her spear missed and only grazed the mane. The Nemean Lion’s tail whipped her horse with the power of a flail, causing the warhorse to collapse into the mud and toss Petra off its back.

The lancers attempted to rescue their leader by throwing their spears at the lion, but they shattered against the behemoth’s skin. The Nemean Lion lost interest in Petra, and instead charged at the lancers.

“Run!” Kairos shouted, attempting to support his soldiers from above with blasts of wind. But while powerful enough to throw a man off his back, his attacks had no more impact than a breeze. Maybe the Travian [Hero] could inflict damage in direct combat, but that would open him up to a deadly counterattack.

The monster didn’t even acknowledge his presence, tearing the lancers apart with his claws. The sharp natural weapons cleanly cut both flesh and armor, while spears broke like tree branches.

There was no technique, no skill. Only strength.

Seeing their allies in danger, Nessus’ group turned around and sent arrows from the other side of the bridge. “Hey, ugly!” the satyr shouted before shooting a golden projectile. “I’m the tastiest meal in the world!”

It was a lost cause. Even the satyr’s golden arrow did no damage, and the Nemean Lion wasn’t stupid enough to abandon a winning fight. He quickly massacred the lancers in a savage frenzy, leaving only corpses and maimed riders behind.

Unable to bear this sight any longer, Kairos decided to make a desperate attempt at saving the survivors. He telepathically ordered Rook to divebomb the lion from behind as he was busy finishing off the wounded, and raised the [Anemoi Spear] for a lethal blow. Kairos prayed that his [Legend Slayer] Skill could bypass the invulnerability.

As expected, the lion ignored the duo, too confident in his invulnerability, and Kairos struck him between the shoulders.

The spear pierced through the invulnerable skin, spraying the lion’s fur with thick red blood.

The behemoth let out a roar of rage and pain, rising up on his hind legs. Rook quickly attempted to fly away, but when Kairos attempted to wrench his spear free, he faced resistance.

His spear was stuck between two ribs!

Realizing he had made a terrible mistake, Kairos was forced to leave his weapon behind before the lion could strike Rook, the griffin, and his rider flying out of range. The beast roared in fury, the [Anemoi Spear] sticking out of his back.

“Get back here, coward!” The Nemean Lion roared at the Travian [Hero], before noticing general Petra rising back to her feet next to her wounded warhorse. When the dungeon guardian noticed her fiery spear, Kairos saw a hint of fear in his golden eyes. The lion thought the danger came from the weapons, not the wielders.

And so, he attempted to finish Petra off with a trampling charge.

“Rook!” Kairos ordered.

“On it!” The griffin dived down, claws extended, while his riders used the winds to increase his speed. For a moment, Rook moved as fast as the Nemean Lion, both reached out for the same target.

Petra herself, realizing the danger, raised her fiery spear and threw it at the lion like a javelin. She aimed for the left eye and this time struck true, her weapon piercing the beast’s ocular organ. Though he didn’t stop his charge, the dungeon guardian shrieked and slowed down.

This moment made all the difference.

“Grab my hand!” Kairos shouted, as Rook reached Petra first. The amazon took his arm and the [Hero] managed to lift her to his back. A few seconds later, the trio narrowly escaped as the Nemean Lion’s fangs fell on the spot Petra previously occupied.

“You’re alright?” Kairos asked as Rook flew over the ditch, Nessus’ group taking this as a cue to run. Without his spear, he had no way to harm the Nemean Lion at range.

“I’m fine,” the amazon replied as she grabbed Kairos’ waist so as not to fall from Rook, clearly gritting his teeth through her helmet. It astonished the [Hero] that she didn’t have a broken leg after a severe horse fall. “You should have left me behind, stuck to the plan. Your griffin—”

“Could carry someone twice fatter than you,” Kairos mused, though inwardly he admitted the general had a point. Two riders slowed down Rook, and the Nemean Lion had recovered from the surprise attack. The feline quickly chased after them with a murderous expression, one of his eyes a fountain of blood with a fiery spear sticking out, the other a baleful golden star full of malice.

Abandoning the maimed lancers behind for later, the Nemean Lion leaped over the ditch to continue the chase. But by not taking the wooden bridge, the beast triggered the traps set by Thales. Smoke bombs exploded below the lion and clouds of colored dust swallowed him whole.

Kairos had helped Thales with designing some of the traps, using [Poison Brewer 3] to create powerful sleeping powders and venoms. While the Nemean Lion seemed immune to [Sleep] and [Poison], the smoke made him scoff and briefly stop. His eyes turned teary, his nose on the verge of sneezing. Still, his rage gave him the strength to continue.

Using their foe’s brief delay, Kairos and his troops reached the final step of their journey, a limestone quarry specifically modified to trap the lion. The mine was a colossal open hole sixty meters long and more than twenty meters deep. The place’s bottom had been emptied, its walls so steep no one could climb up if they fell down.

Thales waited near a reinforced fence of wood on the far away side of the rectangle, while Agron and ten brave men stood watch on the end nearest to Kairos’ position. The minotaur captain grinned upon noticing the cavalry’s approach, he and his team grabbing long barbed chains. The metal links had been bound to heavy stone boulders, placed near the quarry’s edge.

“I should have taken a bow,” Petra complained as Nessus’ riders separated to get around the open-pit, while Kairos had Rook fly above it. Lightning still cackled above them, the rain filling the quarry with a thin layer of water.

“I should have too,” Kairos thought. Though he had a short dagger-sword which Cassandra gave him, he mostly relied on his [Anemoi Spear] for long-range attacks. He would invest in additional side-weapons, if they survived the battle.

The Nemean Lion came roaring after them, but abruptly stopped when he noticed the steep void behind Agron’s team. To his horror, Kairos saw that his eye was already regenerating around Petra’s spear, threatening to toss it out.

“Is that your plan?!” the beast snarled as he faced Agron’s group, thunder echoing his roar. “Trapping me in a ravine?”

Agron’s team responded by fearlessly charging at the surprised lion, and throwing their chains at him. The beast responded by calling down the lightning, Kairos having Rook dodge a bolt while another struck one of Agron’s human followers dead. But the rest of the group surrounded the lion and struck.

Though they couldn’t pierce the lion’s skin, Thales had designed these chains well: the barbs locked into the links after wrapping up around the lion’s limbs. When the beast tried to move to swipe the men within his range, he undid the fragile equilibrium that kept boulders’ from falling into the quarry. They rolled down into the pit, and though the lion was strong enough not to let them drag him down into the quarry, the chains held and the added weight slowed the beast down.

Agron wrapped his chain around the lion’s neck and bound it tightly, attempting to choke the giant cat to death. The Nemean Lion responded by cutting the metal links with his claws as if they were butter, and tried to follow up with the binding attached to his limbs.

Thales, watching the scene from the other side of the quarry, responded by clapping his hands loudly.

A ‘click’ sound spread near Agron’s edge of the pit, and his group quickly dispersed. Before the lion realized what was happening, the underground traps had already activated.

Explosions shook the quarry’s edge, and stone crumbled beneath the lion’s feet. While Agron’s group managed to run away in time, the chained boulders restricted the Nemean Lion’s movement and his hind legs fell into the chasm.

The beast let out a furious roar as it made one last futile attempt at clawing Agron before he could fall down entirely. The minotaur grabbed a throwing axe around his belt and threw it into the monster’s right eye, fully blinding him.

The Nemean Lion fell down into the quarry, bound by all limbs, his eyes bleeding out. And yet not only did the thunderstorm raged on, but his eyes already started regenerating. Kairos noticed his own [Anemoi Spear] being pushed out of the monster’s body by the regrowing flesh.

“You were wrong,” Kairos taunted the trapped beast from above, as he struggled on the pit’s muddy ground. “It’s not a ravine.”

Thales clapped his hands again.

“It’s a cistern.”

An explosion blew a large hole into the wooden fence, and gallons of water poured through. A raging river filled the pit like a waterfall, the sheer pressure casting stones down and burying the Nemean Lion alive.

It had taken thousands of workers and a few dams to reroute the river towards the quarry, but their efforts had paid off. The monster’s stormy weather had only made the death trap more lethal, as the rainfall fueled the raging river. The waters rose meters by meters, burying the giant beast alive.

The Nemean Lion attempted to escape the trap and reach the surface of the rising artificial lake, but the water’s pressure and the boulders’ weight kept him near the bottom. Kairos saw him try to cut the chains binding his hindlegs, but the more the Nemean Lion struggled, the tighter the bindings restrained him.

Even the giant beast’s enormous [Vitality] could only do so much without air. Surprise hadn’t given the Nemean Lion time to hold his breath, and less and less bubbles rose to the surface as minutes passed. The cistern’s water level kept rising for minutes, at no point during which the lion managed to free himself.

By the time the quarry was filled, no more bubbles rose to the surface. The lion’s shadow remained at the bottom beneath the stormy waters, unmoving.

Kairos didn’t lower his guards though. Nessus, Chloris, Agron, and the other soldiers readied their bows and throwing axes, ready to strike the beast if it was playing dead. Thales’ fingers clicked nervously, while Rook held his breath.

But the rain stopped falling as minutes passed, the magical clouds clearing up to let the sky shine through.

Thunderclaw the Nemean Lion, protector of the Necromanteion dungeon, had drowned.

“I…” Thales seemed at a loss of words, before emotion won out. “I did it! I did it!”

Congratulations, you earned a level (total 49) and 3 Skill Points.

A small gain, but not unexpected. Kairos hadn’t contributed much except against the lesser beasts, and the lion’s share of the experience went to someone else.

A golden glow surrounded Thales, much to no one’s surprise but his own. Blinding mythical energies flared from his metal and wooden components, cackling with divine lightning. When the light receded, the automaton looked at his hands with surprise.

Kairos knew what had happened before he even used [Observer].

Thales the Promethean

Legend: Thundercatcher (Hero)

Race: Automaton (Talosborn)

Class: Crafter (Alchemist, Inventor, Engineer, Shipwright, Mathematician, Promethean, Trap Master, Physician, Architect, Astrologer, City-Builder)

Level: 46

Once, Kairos’ crew had slain a powerful Cetus with a stone avalanche, but none earned a [Legend]. A dozen people with fire rods had triggered the stone fall, each with a claim to the killing blow; and so the System didn’t reward any of them.

But it was Thales who had designed this trap, overseen its construction, built the trigger mechanism himself, and activated it when the time was right. As far as the System was concerned, the automaton had landed the killing blow, and thus wrestled the creature’s [Legend] and power.

The troops erupted into cheers, Nessus and the amazons dismounting to grab Thales and lift him above the ground. “Wait, wait!” The surprised automaton protested as his comrades lifted him above the ground and tossed him in the air, over and over again. “Stop!”

“Thales!” They chanted his name while ignoring his protests. “Thales!”

“Thales best [Crafter]!” Rook joined.

Only one person seemed unhappy with the hunt’s result. “You will get your [Legend] next time,” Kairos told Agron, who glanced down at the artificial lake with a frown.

“The automaton can get the [Legend] this time,” the minotaur snorted. “But I keep the lion’s pelt.”

“I would like to get back my spear,” Petra mused. “But first, we should help the wounded left behind. Some might yet live.”

Indeed. All in all, the hunt had gone almost without a hitch with minimal losses. Kairos had won costlier victories before, and this one left him satisfied.

And now that they had slain the dungeon keeper, the path to the Necromanteion laid open.

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A/N; chapter made possible by you, dear patrons.