Grand Olympia: Further Horizon - Chapter 11: Momentary Stop

  The thick opy of the ruined forest cast long, distorted shadows over the battlefield, the air still heavy with the lingering st of gunpowder and blood. Yet, amidst the chaos, one er of the battlefield had fallen into an eerie silence.

  Lying on his back, Gee Washingto out a slow breath, his body te trolled. His modified rifle y discarded beside him, its once-solid form flickering as it began to disappear, dissolving into nothingness like dust caught in the wind. A sharp cold edge pressed against his throat.

  Gee, despite the situation, inwardly chuckled. He had been caught.

  Despite his impeccable strategid, he had been ambushed—and worse, he hadn’t sehem at all.

  A man crouched beside him, his hood drawn low, obsg his features. His clothing sisted of yered fabric, each piece carefully draped to hide his movements, to blend into the surroundings like a phantom. In his left hand, he held a steel sickle, its curved bde gleaming as it hovered dangerously close to Gee’s neck.

  Standing behind them was a womaance rigid, a bow clutched tightly in her grasp. Her cloak bore intricate indigenous patterns, and though her hood cealed much of her face, the hatred in her gaze burhrough the darkness. The three of them remaiill, a frozen tableau of hunter and prey.

  A bead of sweat rolled down Gee’s cheek.

  “So, this is what it feels like to have my life pletely in another’s hands, huh?”

  It wasn’t the first time. And, knowing the nature of this trial that he sciously accepted, it probably wouldn’t be the st. Still, he forced his breathing to remain steady. He o assess the situation—to figure out who these two were, what they wanted, and what their endgame was.

  “ I ask what it is you want?” His voice was calm, trolled, carrying the practiced tone of a mao iation and diplomacy.

  His only response ain.

  The woman kicked him hard towards the shin, sending a sharp jolt through his leg. A grimace crossed his face, but he did not cry out.

  “trol yer,” the man muttered, his to.

  The woman ignored him, gring down at Gee. “You speak only when spoken to!” she spat, her voice ced with venom.

  Gee inwardly sighed, but his mind was already w.

  “She’s quick to anger. But is that anger directed toward me personally? Or at me directly?”

  His eyes flicked to the man. Uhe woman, he was collected, methodical. His calm demeangested experien these situations. A scout? An assassin? A leader?

  The ma out a slow sigh. “You heard her. Answer my questions. Speak no unnecessary words. And know this—I will know if you lie.”

  Gee’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  “A lie detector?”

  It ossible but not.

  Back whecher had allowed them to make requests, Gee himself had asked for something tactical—the ability to summon and dismiss his ons at will. It had given him an advantage, allowing him to stay mobile and effit without carrying anything.

  He had also asked the Watcher for a device that could detect lies, but the request had been denied. Knowing this, Gee narrowed his eyes at the man holding the sickle.

  “So… does he actually have a way of deteg lies? Or is he bluffing?”

  It ossible that the man had simply trained himself to read people. After all, deception wasn’t just about the words spoken—it was about body nguage, hesitation, and subtle tells.

  Or…

  Could he have gained an ability through some other means?

  After all, they were in a pce where the extraordinary was now reality.

  Regardless of the truth, Gee knew ohing: He had to be careful. fully uanding his predit, chose his words carefully only telling half truths.

  The man’s grip tightened on the sickle, his bde pressing just a bit closer to Gee’s neck.

  “How many medallions do you have?”

  A straightforward question. Gee took a slow breath.

  “I don’t know about the others, but I don’t have o.”

  Half the truth. He deliberately left out the fact that Lapupu had one.

  Even from beh the hood, Gee could see the man’s eyes narrowing. The bde did not move away.

  “Sed question. How many of you are there?”

  The sickle nearly pressed against his skin, the refle of the bde able to refle the man cat like eye.

  Gee’s mind raced.

  “If I lie too obviously, he’ll know. But if I tell the full truth, Fu Hao and Jeanne’s positions will be promised. And Billy’s too…”

  “Only me. The others are fighting that big guy over there. And one more.”

  Another half-truth. He had left out Fu Hao, Jeanne, and Billy's position. The man studied him carefully.

  A tense pause.

  Then—a third question.

  “Why did your team e here?”

  This time, the sickle bit into his skin just slightly, the cold steel warming as a thin trail of blood ran down his neck.

  Gee kept his face impassive.

  “Like everyone else in this forest—we’re here to observe, to fight, and to take the medallions.”

  He felt the man’s eyes bore into him, searg for any sign of deceit. But before the man could tinue—

  The woman’s body tensed. Her head soward the cliffside.

  Her posture stiffened.

  “Something’s ing,” she murmured.

  The man turned, his brows furrowih his hood. “What do you mean?”

  She pointed.

  And Gee felt his stomach drop. That is the location of where Fu Hao and Jeanne are!

  A Tremor in the Earth. Far away, atop a t cliffside, something massive stirred. The air itself seemed to grow thick with tension.

  Birds, onesting peacefully, erupted into the sky in a flurry of panic. The trees shuddered, as if recoiling from the presence of something immense and a.

  The woman, still gring at Gee, whispered, “I don’t know what it is… but its presence is suffog. It feels… like a ragi is ing straight toward us.”

  A single bead of sweat slid down the side of the hooded woman’s faotig this the man in the hood inhaled sharply, his grip on the sickle loosening slightly.

  “We’re leaving. Now.”

  Without hesitation, he pulled back his sickle, spun it on his hand and modified the sickle like that of a long curved dagger, and tucked it into his yered clothing.

  Theurned around silent with his footwork vanishing into the dense foliage, his form disappearing like a ghost into the trees.

  Gee exhaled, relieved—

  Until he noticed the woman still standing there.

  Her eyes remained fixed on him, burning with something far deeper than anger.

  “Why?” Gee muttered. “Why do you hate me?”

  The woman gritted her teeth, her fists g.

  “Because of what your people did to me.”

  Without another word, she turned—leaping into the treetops, vanishing like her panion.

  Gee touched his own neck, feeling the sting of the bde’s cut. His expression was bnk. But deep within his mind, his thoughts swirled.

  “That man trusted her instincts. He didn’t hesitate. He fled instantly. If that presence is real, Jeanne and Fu Hao could be in danger.”

  His jaw tightened.

  “But if I go to them, I ’t cover Musashi and Lapupu!”

  His fist ched. Summoning his modified rifle bato his hands, Gee took o deep breath.

  And then—he ran. Toward the forest. Toward Jeanne and Fu Hao. Because whatever was ing… It's ing, knowing this info is more important than not getting nothing.

  …

  Across the battlefield, the csh of ons seized.

  Three warriors—Musashi, Lapu-Lapu, and Yasuke—stood locked in bat, battered but unbroken. Their movements had bee slower, more deliberate, their bodies weighed down by exhaustion and wounds.

  Yasuke, despite his t frame and monstrous endurance, was the most injured. His thick skin bore deep cuts, his arms trembled slightly from repeated blocks and ters. Yet, his stance remained solid, unwavering.

  Musashi, breathing sharply through his nose, shifted his grip on his twin wooden bdes. Lapu-Lapu steadied his shield, adjusting his footing.

  The fight was far from over.

  But somethi wrong.

  Musashi noticed it first. The gunfire had stopped. The supp fire that had kept their enemies on edge, that had given them spaaneuver—Gone.

  A flicker of crossed Lapupu’s face as he exged a gh Musashi. The same thought ran through both of their minds.

  “Did something happen to them?”

  A hoarse, mog ugh cut through the air.

  “Hahaha! Looks like your little shot preoccupied! Wonder what happeo ’em? Better hope they’re still alive and kig!”

  The pirate grinned wickedly, twirling the thick of his anchor in slow, zy circles. Despite his own bored breathing, sweat dripping from his brow, his arroganever wavered.

  Musashi frowned. Something wasn’t right. Their support had vaheir team scattered. But there was no time to worry. Not yet.

  He looked to Lapupu, their thoughts wordless but aligned. For now, they had to focus on Yasuke. Despite all three warriors standing on the edge of exhaustion, none had yet unleashed their full strength.

  They had fought in measured blows, testing each other’s limits.

  But now—it was time to go beyond. All three tighteheir grips on their ons. And just as they were about to resume—

  A sudden, unnatural sound filled the air.

  Birds erupted from the treetops, fleeing in a frantic swarm. The trees shook violently, as if something immense had begun to stir. The warriors’ bodies tensed instinctively.

  Edward’s grin faltered slightly. “The hell was that?”

  Zheng Yi Sao, standing some distance away, flicked a golden into the air before catg it again, her expression unreadable.

  For the first time, no one had an answer.

  The ground rumbled.

  A deep, guttural vibration, like something massive shiftih the earth.

  Far from the ter of the battlefield, Billy the Kid stood frozen, his revolver half-raised.

  Across from him croug in branches of the tree, the mysterious spear-wielding woman was equally still, her sharp eyes locked onto the distant cliffside.

  The two of them were the closest to what was ing. A strange, hollow silence filled the space between them, her willing to speak, her daring to move.

  Then—

  The snap of wood, the crash of splintering trees. The distant roar of fleeis, their frenzied cries filling the air.

  Billy’s outw instincts screamed at him. To Run. His entire life had bee dodgih, esg the jaws of the w, the hangman’s he bullets of bounty hunters. A—he couldn’t move.

  Something in the depths of his gut told him this was something far beyond running. The woman with the spear tightened her grip, her knuckles going white.

  Then—

  The cliffside above them split open.

  A massive size, serpentine form burst from the cliff, its scaly bck body shooting upward into the sky. It was colossal, an unfathomable creature of the old world, its dark, gleaming scales abs the light.

  Its head rose higher, twisting toward the heavens, its jaw unhinging to reveal rows of jagged teeth—eae the size of a grown man.

  It opes mouth the sizes of a three storied house, its throat glowing with a deep, unnatural darkness.

  And then—

  It roared.

  The sound ripped through the battlefield, a deafening shockwave that shook the very air. The trees bent from the force. The ground cracked beh the sheer pressure.

  Every warrior, every fighter—Musashi, Lapupu, Yasuke, Edward, Zheng Yi Sao, Billy, the spear-wielding woman—all of them felt it.

  It was not just sound.

  It was a warning to all who stood before it. Terrrips the whole battlefield

  Edward’s usual arrogance was o be seeaggered back, gripping the of his anchhtly, his face twisting in somethiween awe and disbelief.

  Zheng Yi Sao, for the first time, didn’t have a witty remark.

  Musashi, sweat rolling down his forehead, forced himself to remain steady. But his grip on his swords had tightened.

  Lapupu’s shield was raised, but his heart pounded against his ribs.

  Even Yasuke, who had stood against the mightiest warriors, who had faced death tless times. For a brief moment—He hesitated.

  Billy let out a sharp breath through his teeth.

  “Sh*t…”

  The woman with the spear said nothing.

  But her firembled.

  This was not a normal mohis was something far worse. Something not meant to be disturbed. Something angry. And it had just woken up.

  …

  Above it all, unseen by mortal eyes, the Watcher hovered.

  It watched as the battlefield ged. It watched as fear spread. It watched as the warriors, once ready to kill each other, now stood frozen in an unknown familiar terror.

  The great bei out a whisper.

  “Show me how you will face this.”

  And it tio watch.