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Monster? No, I'm a Cultivator! (Percy Jackson): Chapter 44
🕑 Added 2025-07-31 05:02:31 +0000 UTCOcean Song was thankful that he was far away from civilization. Doubly so, he was very happy that he was far enough away from the Bus that it didn’t get swept up in the initial clash.
For about a mile in every direction, a large dust cloud had consumed all around them.
Ocean Song could fee it more than every from just that first clash.
His opponent was strong.
He knew it logically, of course. But it was one matter to know that a Monster was created by a Primordial Goddess to fight gods, but it was another to cross blades with it.
“Again, Fellow Daoist!” Ocean Song let out a shout and quickly his blade found steel again.
The large Scorpion Man can barreling through the sand and dust like it wasn’t hampering it in the slightest.
Its schimitar-like sword clashed with Ocean Song’s favored blade, another cataclysmic blow erupted around them, pushing away the immediate visual obscurities.
A Pincer stabbed at his head, and he dodged, swinging his sword once more. The Monster swung its own sword, deflecting it, with its stinger shooting out at speeds that caused the sound to explode around it.
Ocean Song twisted his body to avoid it, the ground beside him had been torn apart on impact.
He raised his leg to step on it, pushing himself up off the ground and ascending several meters before swinging down on the creature.
The Scorpion man brought up both its princes and blocked the swing with its physical body before swinging its own sword in response.
Ocean Song jerked his head to the side, a fresh line of blood opened along his cheek, but he just felt exhilaration.
Ocean Song ran two fingers along the length of his weapon, his Qi circuluated around it, and like a tidal wave, he thrust his sword forward at the heart of the monster.
To his surprise, it wasn’t the sword of the monster’s, nor his physical body that moved to block or retaliation.
The Scorpion Man instead pulled back the string of his bow, an arrow loosened at frightening speeds met his sword light head on.
The two forces erupted in an explosion of force between them, forcing the two monsters to separate.
Ocean Song slid across the ground, dozens of meters away, regaining his footing. He looked up to see the Scorpion Man hop across the desert sands like it were actually water for him. He dove into them like a fish diving beneath the waves, disappearing completely.
Ocean Song swept his Divine Sense out, but still couldn’t find the monster within he sands of the desert.
However, when that familiar stinger shot out of the ground, he was prepared.
The resounding clang of sword meeting impossibly hard carapace continued to echo across these desolate sand dunes.
Ocean Song knew that he was at a disadvantage. His foe was strange in that his ‘power’ was only at the equivalent of the Core Formation Stage, yet his Physical Body was atleast at Nascent Soul, no less than his own. It made breaking his defenses very difficult. Combined with the Scorpion Man having the absolute advantage of terrain, it was not a simple fight.
He briefly wondered if the sands could conceptually count as a ‘sea’ in this instance.
In which case, he was maybe sorta regretting throwing away the Trident his Father had gifted him all that time ago.
Of course he would never say that out loud.
As a proper Cultivator, one must not have regrets!
Or, more importantly, as a proper cultivator, he didn’t want his father to beat him up after hearing something like that after what happened.
He didn’t have time to dwell on these thoughts, however.
Almost like a laser, Ocean Song deflected another blow of the Stinger. It came from all angles, at such speeds that a person would probably only see a flash of light, dozens of times over, all around Ocean Song as he moved rhythmically.
However, Ocean Song wasn’t going to allow him to keep this advantage forever.
He gathered his Qi, enveloping him and his sword, finding the perfect opportunity, he raised it up as the next attack came at him.
“Ocean Sword, First Form – Crashing Waves!” He swung his sword down as the Desert was split downwards hundred of feet, forming an abyss.
He found the Scorpion Man seemingly having trouble reorientating himself as heaven and earth had turned upside down.
Ocean Song shot right towards him, sword lights flashing out.
The Scorpion man did his best to block, but it was awkward at best.
Ocean Song let out a roar as the two sides collided again.
The Desert returned to normal, the quaking and rolling sands filled in all chasms, but Ocean Song stood there triumphantly as the Scorpion Man hit the ground and went sliding across the sands for a bit before stoping.
One of his Pincers soared through the air, landing not far away from the two of them.
Ocean Song let out a breath, shifting his sword stance, his robes billowed amidst the turbulent winds.
It put a lot of Qi into that blow to get past his defenses.
The Scorpion Man pushed himself up off the ground, swaying slightly as purple blood seeped from where its pincer originally was.
It forced itself up straight and readied itself for another round.
Ocean Song furrowed his brow. “Fellow Daoist, why must you go through such efforts? You are a strong and honorable warrior, why are you acting as a lowly Assassin?”
He could see the mental and physical shock the Scorpion Man went through after losing his Pincer. The Pain must have been excruciating and debilitating, yet he still persisted rather than trying to run away.
In response, however, the Scorpion Man opened his mouth and let out an insect-like roar, not giving any words of compromise.
The Aqrabuamelu charged at him head on. Its speed in this desert was bordering godly in simple characteristics.
Ocean Song’s sword flashed out with deadly blade lights raining down on it, but it raised its remaining pincer and used its own tail as a shield to block his blows. They hit the monster’s carapace with barely a scratch as he rammed into Ocean Song.
The Cyclops, losing his footing, grunted impaled his sword into the ground before slamming his back foot into the sands and grabbed the Scorpion’s leg, lifting him and tossing him over his head as he went soaring through the air.
He quickly grabbed his sword from the ground and channeled a noticeable about of Qi into it and swung at what appeared to be empty air to the mundane eye. However, a deafening boom erupted at the focal point again, causing Ocean Song to skit backwards across the sands.
The Scorpion Man was upside down in the air, his hands pulled back on his bow, having just fired an arrow.
Just as quickly, two more arrows soared through the air.
Ocean Song’s eyes widened and he was forced to open his Third Eyes.
A baleful aura enveloped him and exploded outwards, meeting the two arrows head on in another explosion. The Sands around them shot upwards into the sky, a massive dust cloud that could be seen for miles.
The Aqrabuamelu chittered across the ground, swaying back and forth with its hands gripping its weapons tightly, staring forward.
“I see….” Ocean Song’s voice broke the silence, the baleful aura of his piercing through the sand and dust. With a flick of his hand, it dispersed, revealing him to the Scorpion Man once more. “You’re burning your soul and blood to increase your power. No, that isn’t right. You’re doing it to regain your true strength, or to approach your true strength, isn’t that right?”
The top of Ocean Song’s robes were gone, and there was blood painted across his chest.
The power behind those two arrows was a league above what he had experienced beforehand, and it caught him off guard.
He now understood his opponent.
He found it strange that the Aqrabuamelu’s body and power were mismatched, but now it made sense.
It was because its power had dropped over time.
How could a monster created to fight gods merely be at the Core Formation in power?
He was always, at a minimum, at the Nascent Soul Tier, he was simply weakened for some inexplicable reason.
Not only that, but Ocean Song realized, his swordsmanship was secondary. His true power laid in his ability with a bow.
The Aqrabuamelu pulled back its bow slowly a new arrow pressed against the string. It carried with it a sinister aura that didn’t lose out to Ocean Song’s Baleful aura after opening his Third Eye.
It was as if the world went silent.
Ocean Song could hear his heart beat, he could feel the blood and sweat drip down his brow.
The faintest movements from his opponent caused him to move at the same time.
“Ocean Sword, Third Form – Calm Waters!” He shouted at the same time as the arrow was shot.
Waves emerged, surrounding Ocean Song as the Desert heart bared down on him, the arrow carrying deathing collided with his strongest defense.
Ocean Song let out another deep breath, stumbling slightly as he caught himself from falling by stabbing his sword into the ground.
Behind him, a mountain range had collapsed.
The Aqrabuamelu didn’t immediately follow up. Despite it being an opportunity, it stared at Ocean Song with an indiscernible expression on its face.
Only after several moments did it finally speak.
Ÿ̷̛͔̖͈̳͕͍͖̣̫͈̘͎́̊̂̌̔̍̎͗̉̚͠͝ȯ̴̧̟̜̩̮̬̯͓̰̘̲͙̊̍́̇͝ũ̷͍̞̙̻̜͓̼̭̻̊̍̑ń̷̢̺̪̰̂̂́̃̐̆̔̂̏̍̋͘͘͘g̶̪̗͓̞͙̈́̀̿̇̽̓̄̈́̈́̈́̄͂̚̚͠
Once more, it didn’t speak in a normal voice, but something more primal. Its thoughts and feelings conveyed without using mortal means.
The Aqrabuamelu realized, that Ocean Song was still but a young man infront of it. Young, very very young in comparison.
Recognition, perhaps guilt?
Its feelings were not conveyed on its face.
“Senior, why do you act as a puppet for someone else?” Ocean Song, catching his breath, stood up straighter. He was far from done, even as he noticed the Aqrabuamelu’s Cultivation was continuing to increase.
At this point, he felt like the Aqrabuamelu was reaching the equivalent of the Mid-Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm – or rather – returning to such a stage.
For the first time, something flashed across the monster’s face.
Was it shame?
Normally, it wouldn’t have said anything, merely performing the task it had been given. But right now, it held a certain respect for Ocean Song, this young monster – barely a babe out of its diapers – keeping up with it even after it was pushing itself back to its prime state.
It, who had fought Gods to win the support of the world, was fighting a junior now to the death and there was yet no clear victor.
In respect, it responded.
S̵͓̹̼͙̔̏̇̉͐̓͒̾̈́̽̕̚͝͠͝u̶̢̝̪͇̹͈̻͚̫̖̰̟͌͒̅̄͜ͅṛ̴̨͉͓͖̟̋̈́͑̌͊̌̐̓̉v̴̘͚̝̦͖̱̜̈̐ỉ̸̢̫̼̙̠̙͔͠v̴͈̍̏̈́̾͌̓̏͆̐͘͘͠á̸̢̠̙͚̽̃͂͌ĺ̴̤̀͆͠͠
The information flooded Ocean Song’s mind, but he didn’t have the chance to contemplate it. The Aqrabuamelu charges him again, pushing aside all conflicting emotions.
The two monsters continued to clash, steel meeting steel in this lonely desert plane.
The losers.
Neither of them seemed to care for their wounds as their blades met.
Abandoned by their mother.
Ocean Song’s blade pushed into the Aqrabuamelu’s side, cutting off a piece of its chitin armor as he narrowly avoided the stringer that aimed for his heart.
From a cosmology that no longer held relevance.
The Aqrabuamelu threw a devastating punch, hitting Ocean Song across the cheek. Ocean Song followed up with his own punch, sending it at the human-like stomach of the Scorpion Man, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood.
What was the difference between the gods their mother birthed, and them who were called monsters? The difference was who had won the war of fate and survival.
Ocean Song could see its history in the words it previous conveyed.
Survival wasn’t meant to mean ‘living’ and ‘dying’.
Ocean Song with his Third Eye open, he was keeping up with the Scorpion Man, despite the difference in ‘Cultivation’.
For every blow, he was trading equally, if not coming out on top. The Aqrabuamelu’s method of ‘regaining’ its true strength, it wasn’t sustainable nor ‘proper’, it was eating away at him physically with each passing moment.
Another of the Scorpion Man’s limbs flew through the air, one of its many legs. Yet, it barely bat an eye as its pincer thrust out, tearing the flash from Ocean Song’s stomach, leaving a large wound on his abdomen.
The Aqrabuamelu didn’t falter int he slightest, it rammed its bleeding and broken body into Ocean Song.
The two of them went tumbling to the ground before Ocean Song kicked him off, swinging his sword and slashing at him with another sword light. Despite another piece of his flesh being cut away, the Scorpion Man didn’t even show the faintest reaction.
“What were you promised!?” Ocean Song shouted, his sword colliding with the Aqrabuamelu’s sword again. “What were your promised that made you forsake your honor?”
Fated to be forgotten.
For the first time, it opened its human mouth and spoke in human words as it slid across the sands, losing another of its legs. “A place in the world for myself and my siblings!”
The sinister power around the Aqrabuamelu reached its precipice. It was enough that the sheer pressure of it nearly caused Ocean Song to falter.
The ancient Monster was burning away everything it had.
Ocean Song could now see its true heights, how strong it was at its prime.
It had breached the realm of Dao Seeking.
And with all that momentary power available to it, it pulled its bow back, one last arrow aimed at Ocean Song.
Ocean Song stilled
From his Divine Sense, he could see. Directly behind him, right at this angle, the bus carrying Lyra.
If he moved, if he dodged, the arrow would destroy everything in its path behind him.
The Aqrabuamelu knew this too of course. It had meticulously plotted this exact position, to secure victory.
To force Ocean Song to take its strongest attack.
There was a brief moment, like the chaos around them no longer existed. The torrent of sinister energy didn’t sweep around the Ancient Monster, nor did Ocean Song’s own Baleful Aura clash against it in a cataclysmic collision for supremacy.
Just a single moment where their eyes met.
Just as Ocean Song was about to release his Domain, something he didn’t want to reveal to the world knowing he was being schemed against, he noticed.
Aqrabuamelu hesitated.
And in that brief moment, a Dragon roared around Ocean Song, followed by a slash that could split heaven and earth.
Aqrabuamelu slumped to the ground, a deep cut erupted with blood across its large body.
“Discarded…….forgotten.” The Ancient Monster muttered, dropping its weapons.
Ocean Song’s arms heavily slumped to his side as he stared up at the dark sky. “....no.” He forced out.
He could see the desperation in the Ancient Monster’s eyes when he had the opportunity to ‘win’.
A strike at Dao Seeking, Ocean Song wasn’t even sure with his Domain Expansion if he could survive that kind of blow head on, especially when the Monster was putting literally everything it had behind it.
Yet, despite this, the Ancient Monster did not shoot that arrow.
“A victory like this is empty.” Ocean Song whispered. “Thus, I refuse. Forgotten? No, this Ocean Song will remember you! Rejected by the world? If an honorable warrior like you is rejected by the world, then I will reject the world!”
The Aqrabuamelu barely had the strength to lift its head up.
He hadn’t used it during the fight because he knew he was being ‘trapped’ even ‘hunted’. To keep a few cards up one’s sleeve, it was the basics to being a cultivator.
However, at this moment, he didn’t care.
His pride wouldn’t allow him to not do this.
A black and white fish slowly swam out and then it began to form under them
A large Taiji Symbol manifested, sealing off Heaven and Earth.
Ocean Song’s Cultivation began to climb up to the Middle Stages of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Blood rolled down his eyes, all three of them, as he pushed himself.
“Destiny, Karma….Fate.” Ocean Song spat out. “If those are what causes you to fall, to lose your warrior’s heart, then they no longer need to exist!”
Ocean Song threw up a mouthful of blood, but continued to push himself as his eyes strained, veins, bulged, and blood continued to pour down his face.
“I see it!” Ocean Song declared as they finally came into view. Like strings that tied around him, that bound his heart.
He could see it more clearly now.
The Monsters birthed by Tiamat. Their clash with the Gods to determine who would rule the Cosmology of the Ancient Sumerians.
They lost, they were cast aside, forgotten, discarded.
This was their ‘Fate’, to lose their ‘place in the world’.
He could barely see them, the strings. Ocean Song knew that his cultivation base was still insufficient.
But even so.
So what?
He held his sword up, and the strings that bound it began to snap one by one.
Ocean Song gripped his sword handle with one hand, and with his thumb, pushed the blade out ever so slightly.
Not even an inch, barely a fraction of the actual blade met the world for the first time in years, and yet, the world shuddered.
An aurora of color burst out, blowing away even the dark skies above.
“Fate Severing!” Ocean Song roared with everything he had and swung his sword
It was invisible to the naked eye, but the ripples erupted. Ocean Song couldn’t see it for himself, his eyes snapped shut and his body gave out as consciousness was lost.
But vaguely, perhaps it was a trick of his ears, he felt like he heard the screams of three old women.
@***@
A/N
Ocean Song’s first ‘close fight’.
The Scorpion Man is more or less equivalent to the Giants in what they mean to the Sumerian Mythology. Tiamat’s godly children want to kill Tiamat, Tiamat creates Monster Children to fight the gods. They of course, lose, and the monster children are pushed to the side, forgotten essentially.
As an update, I’m doing alright. Had a rough past couple days, but I’m getting better.
Comments
Kz3838
Thank you for the great chapter, love how you wrote the fight here. Stay safe out there and keep up the good work!
savitar
Ah, the cries of indignation from those three old women would be like the best whiskey in the world. I wonder how amused Odin is; Zeus, on the other hand, will become several times more paranoid. Oh, this story is simply magnificent. And I'm glad you're better.
