I don't want to be a heroic spirit

When Hercules shot all the arrows on the bowstring, these arrows turned into several strange birds shining with metallic luster, flapping their wings and flying towards Artoria.

Just as Artoria was about to resist these strange birds, her [intuition] suddenly warned her, allowing her to [shrink the earth] to avoid the attack of the strange birds. When she appeared again, her eyes were looking at the strange birds with a bit of solemnity.

"Can't you resist or defend?"

The sixth trial of Hercules was to expel the strange bird from Arcadia.

Legend has it that these strange birds are extremely huge and have iron wings, iron claws and iron beaks. The feathers they shake off are like flying arrows, and their iron beaks can even peck through bronze shields.

When Hercules was at his wit's end, Athena suddenly appeared and gave him two large cymbals made by the forging god Hephaestus. Hercules struck the cymbals and scared away all the strange birds.

While Artoria was thinking, the strange birds transformed from the arrows turned around and flew back, rushing towards Artoria again.

Unable to defend, unable to dodge.

"Then destroy them all!"

The black light surged, and the surging torrent of light submerged all the strange birds.

Relying on her abundant cursed power, Altria directly uses the Noble Phantasm as a normal attack.

Before becoming the God of Disobedience, she had never fought such a prosperous battle!

However, Artoria is not in a good mood now.

"You bastard, you won't fight if you don't let these scum out? Or do you think these scum can pose any threat to me? Are you looking down on me?!"

As she spoke, Artoria swung her arm, and the torrent of black light began to change direction, and was dodged by Hercules when it was about to hit him.

"Of course not. You are more powerful than I expected. Even though you and I are enemies, I still deeply respect you."

Hercules spoke calmly, then nodded. "However, you are right... these powers of mine pose no threat to you at all. Continuing like this will only be a waste of time."

Gradually, changes began to appear in Hercules.

Its divinity, as dazzling as the sun, gradually became distorted, and darkness, and the breath of death gushed out.

"Well then, let me show you! My final trial!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying and sticky black curse wrapped around Hercules' figure. The howling wind stirred the atmosphere, causing the sea to swirl back and the sky to change color.

The overflowing curse power was filled with the power of death, and the breath of death that terrified all living things was mixed in every wisp of wind.

The final trial... Hercules had indeed said so.

The twelve trials deemed impossible by the gods, the challenges set for Hercules by his brother Eurystheus, and Hercules' journey of atonement.

The first trial is to kill the Nemean Lion.

The second trial is to defeat the nine-headed Hydra.

The third trial is to capture the deer of Cerynea alive.

The fourth trial is to capture the Erymanthian Boar alive.

The fifth trial was to clean out King Augeas's stables.

The sixth trial is to expel the strange bird from Arcadia.

The seventh trial was to subdue the Cretan bull.

The eighth trial is to subdue Diomedes' herd of man-eating horses.

The ninth trial is to seize Hippolyta's belt.

The tenth trial is to bring back the mad bull of the giant Geryon.

The eleventh trial is to pick the golden apple guarded by a dragon.

And, the final twelfth trial...

In order to make things difficult for Hercules, Eurystheus, Hercules' brother, who sat on the throne, gave him twelve almost impossible tasks.

And this last one, in Eurystheus's opinion, was a task that Hercules could never accomplish - fighting the evil hounds of hell and bringing back the three-headed dog Cerberus.

The storm of death split open in the middle, revealing a monstrous figure inside.

His sturdy and perfect body, as if carved out of marble, was covered with ominous blood-red patterns. His originally sacred golden eyes were now replaced by a scarlet red of tyranny and madness. The whites of his eyes also turned black, and large bloodshot appeared in his left eye.

His nails grew long and sharp, a spiked collar was put around his neck, and his black hair grew even longer, dancing like poisonous snakes in the storm.

This is the twelfth power of Heracles the Unyielding, transforming the calm and composed Hero of Steel into a bloodthirsty and violent beast.

This is the only power that Hercules cannot use together with other powers.

With his blood-red eyes fixed on Artoria who was standing on high alert not far away, Hercules, who had turned into a monster, bent his waist slightly, opened his mouth, and exhaled hot white air.

"Sorry... for the long wait."

He greeted Artoria with the last bit of his sanity left.

"So... let's get started!"

Almost at the moment the words fell, a terrifying impact acted on Altria, causing her to fly through the sound barriers.

Steadying her body, Altria did a backflip in the air.

Hercules burst out at an astonishing speed and rushed over like a giant demon pig.

Artoria stepped forward with a sword in hand and slashed out.

However, Black Flame's slashing strike missed.

The shadow fell towards Artoria, and Artoria used the [Shrinking the Earth] technique to dodge sideways, leaving Hercules with an opportunity to catch it, and then hit Hercules' head with a heavy punch.

The strong wind that penetrated his body rolled up the clouds and mist, whistling and dancing wildly.

However, Artoria's punch only caused Hercules to turn his head.

In fact, the other person was slowly turning his head back at this moment, and the strength of his neck exceeded the strength of her arms.

"Have both endurance and strength been significantly improved?"

Seeing the opponent reaching out to grab her again, Artoria bent down to avoid it and punched out again in despair.

A punch to the abdomen made Hercules retreat a little.

Likewise, it made the ferocity in Hercules' eyes even more intense.

"Roar--!!"

The roar spread in all directions.

Altria looked at Hercules in front of her with a bit of helplessness.

"Really? Do you have the talent to be a Berserker in every world?"

After making a few insignificant jokes, Artoria raised the Sword of Promised Victory, and Hercules pounced on her at this time.

"Puch!"

The sound of swords scraping across flesh could be heard, accompanied by the whistling of flames.

The black flames, foreshadowing disaster and the burning remnants of absolute evil, once again left scars on Hercules' body.

At the same time, a fist as big as a sandbag fell on Altria.

The surrounding space made a sound of being overwhelmed, and the next moment Artoria was knocked out again.

389

Chapter 389: The Great Maze Where Heroes Are Buried.

When Artoria and Hercules were fighting fiercely, the noise caused by their fight also attracted other beings.

"Even from this distance, you can sense such a level of magical energy fluctuation? It's simply a monster... And such a monster is actually an enemy. It's really hard to laugh at."

The black windbreaker rustled in the strong wind, and Alexander, stepping on lightning, flew out in amazement.

Like a spectator, he watched the entire battle.

"The heroic god, praised by the world, fought with that attitude... Yet, even with such sacrifice, he still couldn't defeat King Arthur... What a despairing disparity in strength... No wonder old man Vauban was killed without even a chance to escape."

Alexander had already determined the identity of the male god who fought against Artoria. After all, Hercules was as famous as King Arthur.

"Since it's a monster... then as a human, it's okay for me to use some tricks, right?"

"Battles require the right time and place... This is something the people of the East taught me. It seems a bit foolish to discuss the right time in front of a god, so I'll just settle for 'the right place.'"

……

The battle between Artoria and Hercules continues.

The petite Altria was like a ball, being knocked away by Hercules again and again.

Seizing the opportunity, Artoria fired a light cannon that burned everything the moment Hercules caught up.

The torrent of light separated the sky and the earth, and the hot wind distorted the space.

However, these had little effect on the monster.

Hercules didn't even dodge, but rushed straight through the torrent of light and came in front of Artoria.

With her [intuition] to predict the action, Artoria used her own body size to avoid Heracles' whistling fist, and the sword blade wrapped in black flames slashed across Heracles' ribs.

Each of Hercules' punches could shatter the atmosphere, and Artoria was now unable to resist at all.

However, no matter how powerful the attack is, it is useless if it misses the target. It is not even as powerful as a baby's fist.

During the battle with Hercules, Artoria gradually strengthened her mastery of the skills she already possessed, and gradually integrated them in the process.

Useless and redundant little movements are becoming fewer and fewer, and various techniques are being used more and more skillfully.

At this moment, Artoria is like a piece of steel, and the battle with Hercules is the tempering of the steel.

Even without absorbing essence from the earth, Artoria is still getting stronger step by step... and this strength truly belongs to her.

Although each step is slow, it is firm.

Dodging Hercules' attack again, Artoria swung her sword, leaving another cut on Hercules' body.

"The victory has been decided."

Artoria said this as if explaining reality.

Hercules was already covered with scars at this moment.

At some point, Hercules could no longer hurt Artoria.

After integrating all the skills she possessed, Artoria's martial arts had completely surpassed Hercules and she was completely reborn.

Altria glanced at Hercules from a distance and spoke calmly.

"You see, I can easily touch your heart."

A white and tender hand suddenly fell on Hercules' chest.

Before Hercules could react to what was happening, Artoria appeared in his arms.

A strong hand swung across his chest, and the surging hurricane rolled the sea water into the sky.

However, Artoria had already dodged to dozens of meters away again, and Hercules' attack missed.

"The distance between you and me is meaningless to me, but it is like an insurmountable chasm to you."

Holding the hilt of the sword with the tip pointing diagonally downwards, Altria put on a nonchalant look.

"Roar--!!"

"Has he completely lost his mind? A noble hero ultimately degenerates into a monster. Perhaps this is the fate of all dragon-slayers of Steel."

As if expressing regret, Altria sighed slowly.

The atmosphere was shaking. Hercules, completely enraged, gave everything to his bloodthirsty instinct. He ignored the pain in his body and continued to attack Artoria.

In fact, the three-headed hellhound also has the attributes of dragons and snakes, because in mythology, Cerberus has a dog's head but a dragon's tail, and the hair all over his body is coiled with poisonous snakes.

The underworld is one of the most typical powers of the Earth Mother, and as the hellhound guarding the gate of the underworld, Cerberus also has extremely powerful immortality.

After turning into a monster, Hercules also inherited this immortality. The wounds inflicted by Artoria in the previous battle basically recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, which is super-speed self-healing.

But now, Hercules' self-healing speed is much slower than before, which means that Hercules' immortality has almost reached its limit.

and so……

"It's almost time to end this battle."