Hero of Rome

Witness Caesar Commodus's desperate bid for my favor, your beloved System, as he stages a grand gladiator tournament that is sure to drain Rome’s treasury, featuring one of Rome’s deadliest rulers (or soon to be dead again ruler).

Never in my life did I think I would be hunted by giant crabs.

They seemed to know I was alone on Medusa’s island, with only her severed legs and the colossal stone corpse of Cetus for company. Over twenty of them emerged from the sands immediately after I accepted the System’s quest to save my bandit friends from the gladiator fights. They were the size of large dogs and moved just as fast. Their shells even had Latin words etched into them.

Are those children of Karkinos, whom Hercules faced? I thought, my eyes scanning the sea with anticipation. I don’t want to face a giant crab right now.

The Pilum of Mars hummed with power in my hand as I summoned it, the golden weapon glowing with a red aura. Given it dealt ninety-five damage, I quickly spent two skill points on my throwing skill, adding an additional seventy damage to the god’s spear.

I could easily deal with these as long as the king crab didn’t arrive.

The ocean seemed to sense my confidence and coughed out another thirty crabs, all clicking their massive claws in anger and completely ready to destroy me.

Stamina: 140/140

That will drain fast, I thought, tapping into my Historical Insight ability and looking into the web of potential futures for the next few ten seconds. I tried to ignore the futures where I slipped from throwing too hard, which resulted in my being mauled to death by dozens of crabs. Instead, I focused on the one future where my aim was precise with every throw, choosing to mimic that future to the best of my ability.

To the letter, I activated my Piercing Rain ability for my pilum as I threw it at the closest group of crabs, transforming my weapon into three that skewered the same amount.

Stamina: 120/140

In quick succession, I summoned, threw, and repeated the cycle for the next seven seconds. The Pilum of Mars burned with rage as it whistled through the air with godly power, even turning one of the crabs on fire. Its burning corpse was the only light on the now darkened sands as the sun disappeared. In total, I brought down another seven crabs, a testament to the awesome throwing weapon from Mars.

Stamina: 70/140

​​Strength (+100): lvl 8 (20/90)

Glory (+165): 2,830

Level (+1): 22 (110/240)

Skill Points (+1): 3

My victory was rapidly overturned by the other forty crabs that clacked their way across the sands towards me. Considering I had half of my stamina left and ten seconds until my prophetic gift was recharged, I did the only reasonable thing.

Oh my gosh run! I thought, bolting from the horde of angry crabs. “Did you send them?” I accused the System.

There was a deep chuckle in the sky.

System Message: “You truly are a prophet, Maximus.”

“I thought you wanted me to destroy the Cult of the Eternal Night? Why are you trying to have me killed?”

No response came as I sprinted across the sands. My stamina diminished every second I ran, giving me precious little to use the longer I moved. Making it worse, it didn’t recharge as I ran; I would have to stand still in order for it to replenish. Not only that, I needed to figure out how I was going to survive these crabs, and also how I was going to get off of this forsaken place to save my friends from Commodus’s gladiator tournament in time.

The looming shadow of Medusa’s cave appeared ahead as I put distance between myself and the crabs. I gave a quick look to see if they were still on my tail; sure enough, I had maybe given myself a few extra feet of space at best. These creatures were fast.

Given there might be other nightmares on this island, the wisest thing to do would be to wait till dawn in her cave.

“There better not be any other monsters in there,” I said to Medusa’s severed legs before turning myself invisible with the blessing of Pluto.

I was immediately grateful for the god of death’s blessing. As I raced up the mountainous path to the dark mouth of the cave, the crabs stormed past me without notice. They instead found the fallen bandits and legionnaires that had fought them while I battled Cetus. I had to look away from their bloody harvest as they tore leg and limb apart. It made me never want to eat crab again.

I waited for what felt like forever by the opening of the cave, letting my stamina recharge until the crabs finally left, descending back into the sea with a fury. I dropped my invisibility while summoning my pilum. It gave off a faint red glow, which allowed me some light in this abyss of a lair. Going into Medusa’s cave blindly seemed a terrifying thought, especially with all of those statues. If I was going to find anything useful here to help me leave the island and not be scared to death by running headfirst into a stone corpse, it was best to bring in some light.

I immediately regretted the red light’s effect. As I plunged into the darkness, the pilum’s glow reflected eerily off of the silent sea of statues.

My tracks came to a dead stop when I recognized one of the latest additions: Flavian. He was one of the bandits with Bulla’s crew, and one of the only ones with Pluto’s invisibility blessing. His young eyes were wide with terror, sword forever frozen in time as he failed to hit her. I didn’t remember him being killed, but I could visibly remember those terrifying moments when she first descended on us. And to think I wanted to gaze upon her flesh, and that I was so close to doing so. A familiar self-hatred arose despite my reclaimed masculinity. Lust was still a stumbling block that almost ended my life. I would be dead if not for Camilla’s betrayal and Cetus snapping Medusa up before it was too late.

Camilla…

No, I couldn’t think about her. Not now. It hurt too much and was a deadly distraction. But a part of me couldn’t help but wonder where she was and how she was doing. If only this Cult of Eternal Night had not gotten its claws around her. But then again, she would be fighting to the death for Commodus and Elagabalus’s amusement right now if that weren’t the case.

More statues stared at me as I weaved through them. I was aimless in what I was looking for. A fishing boat perhaps? Something that could float on the waves? Was there anything not made of stone here?

All I received in turn were more horrified looks from the scores of statues I passed by as I drew deeper into the cave. The occasional drip from the stalactites above was my only company.

Every so often I tapped into my prophetic gift to ensure I wasn’t about to fall on some spikes or a hidden trap. But there was nothing. I was all alone in this haunted crypt.

I almost slammed into the stone door when it emerged suddenly from the darkness. Wicked signs and symbols were carved over it, and one word was repeated roughly over and over again as if it were clawed onto it.

Neptune.

The story of Neptune and Medusa emerged in my mind, along with her taunting last words she mocked me with when I almost opened my eyes to look at her. I checked the futures to see what lay beyond the door. I couldn’t believe what I saw next.

Pushing the damp stone door open, I was met with an overwhelming display of affection for Neptune. There was an aquatic blue tint to the room as I walked in, shimmering across the walls as if it were an underwater temple. It was a trick of cleverly placed tinted mirrors on the floor and walls, but it still captured the essence of the ocean. There were hundreds of statues of Neptune in various sizes and heroic poses scattered throughout the room, all made of precious gems and marble. Tapestries adorned the upper echelons of the room with pearls and glass beads fixated onto them.

In the middle of the room was a larger than life sized emerald statue of Neptune, wielding a trident and rippling muscles. Around him was a sea of seashells and seaweed.

It was more than a shrine room: it was a fanatical ground for worship.

“Freaky,” I whispered. “I thought you hated him.”

It appeared that I was horribly wrong about her feelings towards Neptune. This appeared like a classic case of Stockholm Syndrome.

“Well, it looks like you won’t have your biggest supporter around to worship you anymore,” I said to the statue. “Sorry about that.”

A glowing red text appeared before me in response.

Message from Neptune: Greetings, Mortal. I, Neptune, Keeper of the Seas, inquire of your desires. What do you seek of me?

I was shocked to see it respond to me, completely forgetting for a moment how the world of Antiquitus worked.

That’s when the idea to escape from this island came to me.