I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

The boiling sea of ​​snakes suddenly froze, then dissipated.

The seven-headed dragon-serpent, torn apart and writhing in agony, met its demise.

Hades released his grip.

The dim sky was illuminated by light in an instant. The yellowish light pierced through the clouds and fell on Athena, who was frozen in place, illuminating her disintegrating body.

The disobedient god knelt on the ground, and immeasurable blood gushed from the hole in her chest. Hades' six consecutive shots had completely pierced through all the powers she maintained and shattered her divine core.

However, Hades quietly took a step back, his brows furrowing slightly beneath his mask.

This move again.

As expected, under the indifferent gaze of the god-slayer, Athena's hoarse voice rang out once again.

“O passersby, look closely and see if anyone suffers as I have.”

In an instant, Athena's fragmented body vanished like sand, and her divinity reappeared hundreds of kilometers away.

—Just like a snake, reborn from a state of hibernation and molting!

411 Actually, I've always wanted to keep snakes.

When the Queen of the Ants rises from the blood, she is clad in armor and wields weapons, but her seventh crown remains a secret.

Seven is a rather special number for the ant mother, and even for religions that worship the ant mother.

Of all the prophets, He is the only one who, in the form of an orthodox church, established His own worship organization in the waking world, with the anointed Messiah as His master. In the waking world, the image of the ant mother becomes terrifying due to her martyrdom and suffering.

In addition, the image of the ant mother is always inextricably linked to snakes.

The serpent is the sinner who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to eat the fruit of knowledge; the serpent is an unavoidable visitor; the serpent is an image of the primordial universe; the serpent is a symbol of immortality.

King Gilgamesh was filled with fear of death because of the death of his close friend Enkidu. He found the elixir of immortality but was eaten by a snake. Therefore, snakes can be reborn from their old selves by shedding their skin.

Athena also possessed this power, which is why she was able to return from death time and time again.

Hades' fist clenched tighter: How many more times would it take for this slippery viper to finally choose to die?

Hundreds of kilometers away, Athena's aura reappeared, though her presence was much weaker than before.

The face beneath the Hades mask was grim: "Athena, actors who are leaving the stage should leave properly, instead of staying on stage to embarrass themselves."

In the blink of an eye, the fierce winds swept across hundreds of kilometers.

Before Athena, who had narrowly escaped death, could even react, she saw Hades, cloaked and close at hand, thrusting his fist toward her chest.

Boom!

Athena's petite body folded in half in an instant, as if Hades had dented her entire body.

Then, Hades raised his hand expressionlessly, forming a blade, and swung it down without hesitation at Athena's head.

Fresh blood spurted out.

The severed head flew into the air, its eyes glazed over, its lips still parting in mid-air.

Then the hoarse chanting began again.

“O passersby, look closely and see if anyone suffers as I have.”

The anointed Messiah wore a crown of thorns and was crucified in a horrific martyrdom. Legend has it that he prayed desperately to his God on the instrument of torture and spoke to passersby. He was resurrected from the grave seven days after his death.

The headless body before Hades once again turned to ashes and dissipated, while Athena's divinity was reborn hundreds of kilometers away.

"How many more times can you do this?" Hades muttered to himself.

Only Athena herself knew the truth—this was her last resurrection.

They gave up their Medusa-like appearance in exchange for one last chance to molt and survive.

In the instant of rebirth, Athena raised her hand, and a swarm of ethereal snakes gathered, forming a deep purple scythe.

The blade of the long-handled scythe slashed downwards, blocking Hades' arm perfectly.

That was the "slaughtering blade" that Perseus, the god of steel, used to cut off Medusa's head. Perseus carefully sliced ​​each of Medusa's heads with this scythe, using the poison on the blade to kill all the snakes that were gestating on her body.

However, Hades stepped forward expressionlessly, pressing down with his arm as if he didn't care about himself at all, his eyes behind the mask fixed on Athena, who was gritting her teeth.

"Almost got it."

His voice was full of impatience, as if he were scolding a black kid loitering in front of a burger shop: "You should die too."

"...Why can't it be you who dies?!"

Athena's pale face twitched, revealing a fierce and crazed expression.

Her seemingly petite body suddenly lunged forward, and a chalky white color emerged from her body, transforming into fine, dense snake scales, as she tried to knock aside any obstacle in her path.

"Because your existence is a sin in this world."

Hades' voice came from before her eyes. He stretched out his left hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched Athena in the lower abdomen.

The Godslayer's indifferent voice still echoed: "Because disobedient gods are natural disasters, and natural disasters have no reason to exist."

This statement is so self-evident that it is impossible to refute, and absolutely cannot be refuted.

The descent of a disobedient god is nothing short of a natural disaster for the world. Faced with a natural disaster, one can naturally choose to flee, but if one has power, one's thoughts will not only be about fleeing, but also about defeating the natural disaster, and even controlling it.

Hades John Pluto learned this principle from the Eastern Emperor Li Lin.

Athena felt as if she had crashed into a mountain.

Staggering backward from the blow to her abdomen, Athena strode forward, black lightning and raging fire crackling around her fist, shattering Athena's barely holding on with a single punch!

"Alright, Athena," Hades said calmly as he strode forward, "it's time to leave."

Blood gushed from Athena's mouth and nose, her white hair clinging disheveled to her cheeks. She glared fiercely at Hades: "Wishful thinking!"

The answer to Athena was a bolt of lightning shot from Hades' fingertips, which instantly pierced through the struggling snakes and struck Athena's body.

Athena stretched out her hand and gripped the lightning that had materialized, allowing half of her body to be burned to a crisp, while simultaneously swinging her right scythe toward Hades' head.

John Prutto did not flinch, but simply swung his hand aside, deflecting the scythe that was falling toward his neck.

At the same time, Hades's hand fell vertically, severing Athena's arm.

boom--

Athena, having lost both arms, fell to the ground like a rag doll and was stepped on by Hades.

“How ugly, Athena.” John Pluto stared indifferently at the disobedient god at his feet. “This is no longer your time. Your power may be strange, but your obsession is not even as strong as that of the ancestral gods.”

The power of the disobedient gods is directly linked to their obsession.

Athena, trampled underfoot, chuckled hissingly, her lips twitching.

Seemingly disappointed by everything before him, he closed his eyes.

"So...you are the fools."

You have no idea that you are merely traces of a more primal existence, just clowns placed on a stage.

So all of this makes me angry and ridiculous.

Hades lowered his eyes, gazing at Athena who had fallen silent, raised his hand, and then brought it down.

Athena's shattered body turned to ashes in the flames of the calamity, and no other unusual phenomena occurred.

Beneath the mask, Hades' expression subtly shifted. This time, Athena hadn't activated her strange powers, so she shouldn't be able to resurrect him again.

However, even though he had defeated Athena in a one-on-one fight, the gates to the Astral Realm remained closed.

What went wrong?

......

On the streets of San Francisco, Kusanagi Godou, carrying a heavy backpack, shivered. He felt as if the stone slabs behind him had become even heavier.

Just as he was about to put down his backpack to take a look, a clear, cold voice rang in his ear without warning.

"Mortal, I am the goddess Athena. I am not dead. If you take me to the Tang Dynasty, I will make you a Gold Saint after the mission is accomplished."

412 Eternal calamity in the future·illuminating the void

"It is now the 21st century."

The male protagonist in the original work appears unexpectedly wary, putting on an act of not believing or spreading rumors.

It wasn't that Kusanagi Godou had the National Anti-Fraud Center's information on his phone, but rather that Athena's scam of rushing up and saying "I'll make you a Gold Saint after this is done" was just too outdated.

"I know."

Athena's voice relentlessly reached Kusanagi Godou's ears: "I never deceive mortals."

"I mean, this... um, Goddess." Kusanagi Godou probably realized that talking to thin air on the street was incredibly silly. Being a Japanese person who excels at avoiding causing trouble for others, he immediately grabbed his backpack and hid in an alley. "Hey? Is this goddess who calls herself Athena still here?"

"Mortal, I am here."

Athena's voice was devoid of emotion; she was currently resting on the Prometheus slab in her backpack.

As a goddess of wisdom, she wasn't so foolish as to reveal all her secrets to Kusanagi Godou. In short, while adopting such a high-handed attitude might make her seem like a fraud, it also helped maintain her mystery.

"Alright alright."