Chapter 16: Ice of Poseidon, Lightning of Zeus, Darkness of Hades (Patreon)

"Hey, big guy, next time I say to leave someone alive for questioning, maybe I need to be a little more specific?" Axis sighed.

Kratos glared at Axis, his eyes silently demanding if the boy was trying to teach him how to fight.

"Ah! You... you demons!" The single lackey Kratos had intentionally spared wailed in agony.

Eighty percent of his body was severely charred. He stared at Kratos and Axis in sheer terror, instinctively scrambling backward. His clothes had melted into carbonized fibers, clinging tightly to his flesh. He looked like a piece of burnt charcoal, emitting a nauseating, scorched stench.

Yet, he was alive. Despite the horrific surface burns, he could still speak and move like a normal person. This wasn't some miraculous magical ability. As someone from the modern world, Axis knew exactly how massive third-degree burns worked. In the immediate aftermath, the victim wouldn't lose consciousness or even feel the full extent of the agony because their nerve endings were completely destroyed. But once the shock wore off, the ensuing pain would be enough to drive a normal person completely insane.

Axis still remembered witnessing a severely burned man walk out of a blazing building back in his youth, moving as if nothing had happened. He needed to ask his questions quickly. If he waited any longer, the guy wouldn't be able to answer at all.

"I'm asking you a question," Axis demanded. "Who is your boss? Is it Capone Bege from the Worst Generation?"

"That's right! Our Godfather is Capone Bege! You killed his men, you're dead! Once you enter the New World, the entire Fire Tank Pirates and Big Mom's fleet will hunt you down!" the lackey shrieked. Clearly, he was still trying to use Bege's name to intimidate them.

Axis couldn't care less about Capone Bege or the Fire Tank Pirates. If they dared to cause trouble, Kratos would send them all to the grave in a matter of minutes. Big Mom's soul manipulation, however, might catch Athena and the Olympian gods' interest. He could report it to Athena when he returned, though it might be useless to them. After all, humanity in the Greek world was sculpted from clay by Prometheus and Athena themselves.

"How did you get to Sabaody? Did you pass through Fish-Man Island?" Axis asked.

Sailing their own galleon into the New World was officially off the table. They couldn't recruit a crew, and Axis had no intention of making Kratos tow the ship the whole way. He wanted to know how this pirate crew had navigated here, hoping to find an experienced navigator.

"We coated our ship in the New World and crossed through Fish-Man Island to get back to Paradise," the pirate gasped.

"So you have a navigator?" Axis pressed. Having someone familiar with the treacherous waters of the New World would be the perfect solution.

"We... we did, but he was just killed by you guys!"

The lackey's words left Axis incredibly disappointed.

"Is that so? Kratos, end it quickly. Give him a painless exit," Axis sighed. This grunt had outlived his usefulness.

"No, please, don't kill me!" the pirate begged.

Naturally, Kratos ignored the enemy's pleas for mercy. To a Spartan, begging was the ultimate display of cowardice.

"Ice of Poseidon," Kratos rumbled.

A piercing, freezing blue-white light flared along the Blades of Chaos. With a swift swing, Kratos instantly froze the lackey into a solid block of ice. A follow-up kick shattered the frozen pirate into a pile of icy dust.

Axis stared blankly. 'So his version of a painless death is freezing him into an ice sculpture,' he thought. But it made sense. Usually, the grunts Kratos killed were impaled, ripped in half barehanded, dismembered by the Blades of Chaos, or subjected to other horrific brutalities. Freezing to death was relatively merciful.

'Alright, Kratos, you do you. I'm done asking questions anyway.'

Still, Axis was genuinely curious about something. "Kratos, besides the Fire of Ares and the Ice of Poseidon, do you have any other elemental attacks?"

"The Blades of Chaos are enchanted to wield four elemental magics: the Ice of Poseidon, the Fire of Ares, the Lightning of Zeus, and the Darkness of Hades," Kratos explained. "They also possess their corresponding elemental magic attachments."

'Good heavens, that's incredible. All four elemental attacks!' Axis thought excitedly. He recalled playing God of War: Ascension. In the game, Kratos would pass through doorways carved with the visages of specific gods. He would plunge his blades into massive braziers to absorb their elemental magic. Axis had no idea how it worked in reality, but he desperately wanted an enchanted weapon of his own.

"If you desire this power, you can pray to Goddess Athena," Kratos advised, offering a rare explanation. "The enchantment itself is not difficult, but you must possess a superior weapon. The higher the weapon's quality, the stronger the divine power it can hold. For example, my blades can handle the flames of Ares, the ice of Poseidon, the lightning of Zeus, and the darkness of Hades."

Enchanting a weapon was child's play for the gods. They didn't even need to intervene personally; their high priests could perform divine enchantments through specific rituals. If a god bestowed the power directly, it became raw divine energy. The Titans were capable of it as well. This kind of empowerment far surpassed standard magic in sheer destructive force. Of course, the physical toll on the user was immense. At his current level, Axis couldn't possibly handle it.

"Athena can do that too? Perfect, I'll definitely bring it up with our goddess when we get back," Axis said. Convincing Athena to enchant a weapon for him shouldn't be too hard. Best case scenario, she might just hand him a divine weapon straight out of her armory.

"So, recruiting a crew and sailing to Dressrosa ourselves is officially a bust," Axis concluded. "Come on, let's head back to the Marine base. I need to have a chat with Commodore Allen."

Their only option now was to sell the pirate galleon and secure passage to Dressrosa on a Marine vessel. He was racing against the clock; speed was everything right now.