Luck was with him as he found a series of footprints going through the grey landscape, the small indents almost hidden by falling ash and soot. With hope in his heart, he began to jog along side the barely visible footprints. Should his luck stay, he would hopefully find others soon.

~!~

His running soon came to a stop as he found himself surrounded by viridian fields, the soot and ash of the forest never reaching past a few feet. The luscious fields tenderly caressed his boots as he walked, the moon illuminating the fields until they almost glowed incandescently. The soft winds gently pushing the grass in such a way that it appeared to be alive, dancing and cascading to a invisible song.

Then a reverberation so powerful, so deep blasted through the open air. The force behind the sound blew Artemis off of his feet, tumbling through the grass. Soon he smashed into one of the many trees surrounding the forest, a harrowingly deep voice laughing at his misery. His vision blurred momentarily as he looked up, eyes catching a shaking figure in the distance.

“Initiating Phase one.” The voice thundered, Artemis stood uneasily. He wavered in place for a moment, his hands going to sword and shield. “Powering up the Sonorous Cannon.”

As his vision cleared up, he found a tall and foreboding figure holding his arms out at him. In the opponent’s right hand was a Zweihander that glowed with the power of flames and chaos. In his left an standard looking shield with a emblem of a two tone tree and roots. The figure himself was layered in an odd looking armor, shoulders and chest broad. The armor was gold plated with a white cloth centered down his abdomen. And the strangest of the adorned headpiece.

A brass mask that looked of a man grieving with a head of hair and full beard.

Artemis barely had time to prepare before he heard the voice speak again. “FIRE.” And the man charged forward, place the shield on his back and preparing to cleave Artemis in two. Artemis wasable to roll off to the left before the blade was swung, ripping and incinerating the trunk of the tree behind him. Readying his shield and sword, he stood defiantly, glaring towards the horrifyingly overpowered man.

The mask faced him as he pulled the blade from the ground. “Well, what is it!?” The man roared out before charging again, thrusting the blade forward to pierce Artemis. The blade dented Artemis’ sheild as he blocked, feeling himself get pushed back by the sheer force.

The ground was torn asunder as the Opponent swung and slashed at Artemis, throwing debris into the air with each devastating swing. Artemis couldn’t believe what he was seeing, this monster of a man was burning the earth around as they fought. On the next swing, Artemis took his chance and charged forward, swinging his own sword to cleave apart his enemy. The blade punctured the armor, squirting blood into the grass and forcing out a immense wail of the man.

Artemis felt weightless for a moment as he saw a hand grabbing his armor and lifting him into the air. He was roughly tossed like a rag doll, his sword barely kept in his grip, flying through the air and crashing into a large tree. Spitting and coughing up blood for a moment, he stood once more, ready to fight off this abomination of a man.

He didn’t even get a chance to speak as he was charged again, the Zweihander being lunged towards him again. Artemis found himself pinned to the tree, the blade buried deep into his chest and the fire within the blade searing him from the inside out. A wail of agony escaped Artemis as a hand clutched the Zweihander, trying to pulling the blade out.

The masked man pushed the blade deeper into Artemis and the tree, taking a step with each push. The blade stopped about halfway up the blade before the masked man walked over to Artemis, grabbing his helm and forcing him to glare at the bronze mask.

“The legend...” The masked man began as he pushed the blade even farther into Artemis. “Never... DIES!!” He bellowed out, slamming the blade into Artemis until the hilt dented his armor. Artemis’ felt his life slipping away as he glared at the bronze mask, hearing the deep chuckles of the sadistic monster. He let out a cry of anguish as he felt the entirety of the blade ripped straight out of him, nearly flinging him across the grass.

He fell to his knees as blood poured from his wounds, the giant standing next to him beginning to let out full laughs of victory. Artemis lifted his head, watching as the Zweihander was lifted into the air. Gritting his teeth, he let out a roar of his own, throwing his body into the man, sending them both to the viridian floor. As they landed, Artemis took his chance and pulled a dagger from his belt and began to manically stab the horror, blood flying through the air like rain during a storm.

Wails and screams of pain echoed through the empty air as Artemis stabbed and slashed. The sun had begun to rise in the distance when Artemis finished, panting and whimpering at his actions and wounds. The man beneath him was now a bloodied mess of mangled armor and maimed flesh.

Artemis slowly began to stand before a hand whipped forward, grabbing Artemis by the collar of his armor and yanked him down. Artemis let out a yelp as he found himself staring into the soulless eyeholes of the mask.

“THE LEGEND WILL NEVER DIE!!!” The demented and hollowing voice screeched before Artemis slammed the Dagger into his skull. The hand went limp and fell to the ground, the wind picking up fiercely. Artemis could only stare in relief and awe as the being beneath him faded from existence, the words last spoke forever burned into his memory.

‘The legend will never die.’

As the mist faded from sight, swirling around in the air, Artemis felt a shiver run down his spin. And in the moment of silence, Artemis heard the voice give one last whisper.

“...I’ll be back...”

Author's Notes:

NO the Legendary GiantDad will not be returning to this story and NO this is NOT cannon.
This was made to appease the continuous requests of GiantDad. Also, to have a bit of fun.
This chapter was heavily inspired by the insane amount of Comments for GiantDads and this little video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcy7RqxI1ho

Hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!