"Let's finish this."
Divine Sun is one of the most well-known abilities throughout the supernatural world, primarily because it is the divine aura unique to the Sun God Ra. For thousands of years, that remained true, with a portion of it inherited by his daughter, Sekhmet. That was the case, until Aten appeared.
Jay stared at the golden-red sun sphere resting above his palm, slowly rotating as it floated in the air. Divine Sun possesses a unique ability to slow the regeneration of divine aura, even through healing. However, from what Jay observed through Avesta, its capability is not limited to divine aura alone.
As it affects divine body, souls, spirits, and practically everything. Making everything it touched regenerate very slowly.
Although it does not possess the pure destructive power of Sirzechs' Power of Destruction, nor the absolute physical erasure of his own Spirit of the Six Paths, the Mahayana, the Divine Sun is arguably superior to both. It contains more than enough destructive force, but combined with absolutely devastating effects, especially against gods or beings capable of regeneration. Making them incapable of doing it effectively.
Among all the powers he has encountered so far, it is the only one that comes close to his Absolute Nonexistence.
And that raises a question.
'How strong is Aten?' Jay thought.
But Jay decided to shake that off for a moment.
Meanwhile, Ares stared at the young human with furrowed brows. His lean body, simple human clothes, and somehow still indifferent expression gave no sign of someone preparing for battle.
But out of all the enemies he had faced over the eons of his existence, Ares had never found himself in a state where he was not even sure how to approach a fight.
'Too many goddamn abilities...' Ares thought.
'My titan form is easily countered, and even approaching him in close-range combat will only make it easier for him to hit me with that Divine Sun he just copied from that crazy woman... And not only that, he has various ranged options, including that black thing that pierced my Divine Armor and body earlier...'
Jay's numerous unpredictable variables in every aspect of battle, from his offense to his defense, left Ares stunned.
After thinking for a moment, Ares clenched his grip on his spear, his eyes narrowing.
'What is his true power?' Ares thought.
But then, Jay's figure suddenly disappeared.
Ares' eyes widened, but he reacted instantly as he sensed a presence behind him. With a violent swing, he spun toward Jay, who had already appeared there.
CLA-
A sharp clank rang out, but it was instantly cut off as Ares' Divine Spear was completely shattered by the black staff made of the Truth Seeker Orb in Jay's hand. Ares widened his eyes as he met Jay's dark hazel gaze, fixed intently on him.
'That black thing...'
But losing a weapon was not something a God of War should fear.
And before the Divine Sun in Jay's hand could reach his body, Ares roared.
"Phobos."
SHUUUNG
Then, from his chest, a massive spear made of crimson divine aura burst forth, piercing through the air as it aimed to completely pierced through Jay's body.
Jay reacted instantly, and the Mahayana in his hand transformed into a black shield with a viscous, liquid-like motion, covering him in an instant from the spear attack.
But-
BOOM
As the spear collided with the Truth-Seeking Orb that had taken the form of a shield, the divine construct began to shatter. The sheer force of the impact blasted Jay hundreds of meters back before he finally skidded to a stop against the ground.
Jay quickly got up-
But,
"Aethon!"
Ares' scream echoed across the battlefield and then three Divine Horses manifested from the sky and shot toward Jay like three falling stars.
Jay's eyes widened with the sudden appearance of those horses.
'A summon!?' he thought. Avesta ignited as he scanned each of them.
The horses charged at him with Ares standing on their backs with a wide grin behind his helmet.
But, just a few meters before impact, suddenly Mahayana appeared in his right hand, and-
BOOM
It exploded outward like a thorn explosion full of impaling force, instantly piercing through the three Divine Horses. They were impaled midair by the black thing, their forms collapsing as the attack tore through them.
But then, suddenly, a notification appeared before him, catching Jay off guard.
___________________________
You got 100 Player Points!You got 100 Player Points!You got 100 Player Points!
___________________________
'What?' Jay thought, widened his eyes in confusion.
But before Jay could even finish his thought-
CLANK
Ares was already at his side, swinging his divine sword. But Jay reacted in time, parrying the God of War's strike with the Mahayana shield. His eyes narrowed as he realized Ares had closed the distance instantly from above the impaled horses.
But Ares did not stop there, he grinned and then scream through the air.
"Enyo!"
BOOM
A surge of crimson Divine Aura erupted, blasting away hundreds of meters of sand dunes beneath them. Ares grinned behind his helmet, certain that his attack had struck true, and blast Jay's body completely.
As the dust and sand swallowed the whole battlefield, obscuring everything from view.
Suddenly-
KRIIING
Ares' eyes widened as he heard the familiar clanking sound of chains. But before he could react or dodge the attack-
SPLURTTT
Blood splattered
Dozens of chains, wrapped in the golden radiance of the Divine Sun, pierced through Ares' body. He gritted his teeth as he felt his Divine Aura being slowly burned away, his blood splattering in all directions through the gaping wounds.
But before Jay could land a finishing blow with another burst of Divine Sun, Ares, completely unfazed by the searing pain coursing through his divine body, moved violently and seized the chains with both of his hands.
His palms burned the moment they touched Calcabrina, now enveloped in the Divine Sun, but the man simply did not care.
And then-
he roared.
"RAGHHHHHH!"
CRACKK
Jay's eyes widened at the sheer will of the God as all of the chains shattered to pieces in his grip. Almost immediately after, Ares lunged forward and unleashed a devastating strike toward Jay, but-
CLANK
BOOOM
The Mahayana shield blocked Ares' punch and instantly shattered his divine aura gauntlet, but his crimson Divine Aura restored it just as quickly. And before the Mahayana could reshape itself to cover Jay's other side, Ares drove another punch from his left straight toward Jay's stomach.
"RAGHHHH!"
And-
BOOM
Jay's right hand were suddenly enveloped in obsidian claws, wrapped in green energy, as he blocked Ares' strike. It was a weapon he had not used in any of his battles until now.
One of the twelve Malebranche.
Cagnazzo, The Nasty Dog.
But-
CRACK
Jay's eyes widened as he saw Cagnazzo fracture under the force of Ares' Divine Aura.
"RAGHHHH!" Ares roared again, his divine aura surging like a flame.
Jay felt the strain travel through his own mortal bones, gritted his teeth as his figure then flickered.
BOOM
The impact blasted out to the side, creating a tsunami of sand dunes stretching hundreds of meters from a single punch.
Pant. Pant.
Ares breathed heavily as he stared at Jay, who now stood hundreds of meters away after retreating from an attack powerful enough to easily blast apart a small mountain just by it's impact even though it is concentrated.
Blood splattered across his body and the sands around him, with dozens of holes piercing through his divine form. The wounds slowly began to heal as Ares fed them with his Divine Aura, but the regeneration was sluggish, as if it would take him days to fully recover, even though it would usually take him only seconds to heal such wounds.
Parts of his crimson Divine Armor were shattered as well, leaving him visibly damaged.
If not for his status as a God, these wounds would have definitely killed him.
'That fucking sun...' Ares cursed in his thought as he stared at Jay. But suddenly, a faint smile then crept across his face.
'Though... now I know that forcing him into bare-handed combat is the best option...' Ares thought, his gaze fixed on Jay's right hand.
Meanwhile, even though Jay was in a much better condition, he was still affected by attempting to block Ares' earlier attack. Although his physical body was of a very high tier, comparable even to gods, it was still far weaker than someone like Ares, who could continue fighting despite being heavily wounded by the Divine Sun.
He also could not use Alichino at this moment, as he still needed to restrain Sekhmet in order to draw upon her power.
Jay then glanced at his right hand.
'So Cagnazzo's chaos energy doesn't work on Divine Aura, huh...'
The Chaos Gauntlet, Cagnazzo, had cracked from just a single clash with Ares' Divine Aura. Blood dripped from his hand onto the ground. And then, without hesitation, Jay dismissed Cagnazzo into his pocket dimension, and a blazing black grail appeared beside him.
With a single thought, a black light enveloped his right hand as it healed instantly.
Jay lifted his gaze and stared at Ares once more.
"So there is no other choice..." Jay muttered.
If he excludes both the Black Flame and Absolute Nonexistence, the only powers effective against the God of War right now are Mahayana and the Divine Sun.
Trying to fight with a sword against Ares had already proven ineffective, as he would simply close the distance in an instant.
And for a brief moment, the battlefield fell into silence as the clash turning into a tense staring contest.
Then, the Mahayana, which had been floating before Jay as a pure black shield, flowed downward and shapeshifted in a viscous, liquid-like manner, enveloping both of his lower arm from the elbow and turning them completely black.
Jay did not even bother covering the rest of his body. He already understood that even with the protection of the Truth-Seeking Orbs, a direct hit from Ares would still shatter him from the sheer impact alone. It was far better to rely on speed and evade his attacks rather than restrict his own movement and risk taking a blow head-on.
"Hm?" Ares raised a brow.
Then, Jay's blackened arms were suddenly coated in a golden radiance, the Divine Sun he borrowed from Sekhmet flaring like a layer of superheated blazing light. His clothes began to burn away under the intensity, revealing his upper body as his shoulders and arms marked with intricate black runes.
Realizing his intent, Ares burst into laughter.
"HAHAHA! Are you trying to box me!?" Ares laughed.
Jay said nothing.
But Ares' Divine Aura suddenly flared intensely as he felt a thrill he had not experienced in ages. The palm of his gauntlet had yet to fully recover from the burns of the Divine Sun, and the wounds across his body screamed at him to retreat.
But he would rather die on this battlefield against a worthy opponent than turn his back and run.
A smile spread across Ares' face.
A genuine smile of joy.
"Then let's fucking box to the death, shall we!" Ares roared.
Jay said nothing once again as his figure flickered and vanished, before reappearing instantly in front of Ares as he swung a strike toward the God of War's stomach.
But Ares had already read his movement.
His grin widened as he reacted in an instant, and instead of trying to dodge, he threw a punch from the opposite side, not caring in the slightest that Jay's Divine Sun strike could completely blast his body apart, as if inviting Jay to trade blows and see who would fall first.
BOOM
The strike slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater stretching hundreds of meters and sending shockwaves through the battlefield.
And Jay had already slipped past it, dodging the attack completely which also makes his punch failed to connect. He could not risk killing himself by trying to tank such a devastating punch from the God of War.
But he did not stop there as Jay had already blinked behind Ares.
And then-
"Mahayana."
In a split second, from Jay's palm, a mass of black ball formed, shifting as it became fully enveloped by the Divine Sun, creating a blazing black sphere. But before it could be launched toward Ares' heart and pierced his body whole, the God of War's body moved as the Divine Armor on his back shifted.
"Phobos!"
BOOM
BOOM
Both attacks missed as Jay dodged the blast that tore through the dunes behind him for hundreds of meters, while the black sphere slammed into the ground ahead.
And neither of them stopped their movement.
Jay shifted his stance instantly, trying to regain his footing, but Ares was already in front of him again, throwing another punch toward his side.
"RAGHHHHH!"
BOOM
Jay reacted quickly.
CRACK
The crimson Divine Aura of Ares collided with Jay's Mahayana-clad hand, coated in the Divine Sun.
The red divine aura of Ares' gauntlet began to crack and burn under the heat of the Divine Sun. Yet instead of retreating before his gauntlet shattered, Ares held his ground.
Jay furrowed his brows, unable to understand what Ares was doing.
Ares grinned maniacally as he moved his right hand.
And with that same hand, he seized Jay's left arm, completely ignoring the Divine Sun as it burned through his divine flesh, locking Jay in place by grabbing his left hand.
'It doesn't matter if I lose this hand!'
Ares grinned wildly as he screamed.
"Eat this!"
Ares' crimson Divine Aura flared violently as he drove his other fist forward, aiming to finish Jay in a single strike. Jay's dark hazel eyes reflected the blazing red light, its intensity threatening to kill him in an instant. The sheer force behind it was enough to tear apart an ocean with a single blow, a punch that would undoubtedly finish him.
But suddenly Jay whispered-
"Mahayana."
The black substance covering his arm shifted, and then instantly erupted outward in dozens of impaling spears, all cloaked in the Divine Sun, blasting straight into Ares' body.
SPLURTTTTT
Blood splattered everywhere as Ares' movement was abruptly halted, but-
BOOOM
Jay's body was blasted hundreds of meters to the back as the sheer force from Ares' halted punch still generating an explosive shockwave that sent sand erupting in all directions.
And then, as everything settled-
Cough.
Ares coughed up blood to the sand dunes.
He was pinned in place, impaled by dozens of black, spear-like thorns that had erupted from the floating gauntlet formed from the Truth-Seeking Orb of Mahayana. Even Jay's severed left hand still hovered there, left behind as his body had been blown away by the sheer impact of his punch.
Ares' condition was horrifying as dozens of massive holes pierced through his entire body, his shoulders, arms, chest, stomach, even his thighs. He could not move at all, completely immobilized by the mysterious black constructs that he could not destroy even with his Divine Aura.
But he simply did not care.
Ares kept his gaze fixed on the horizon where his punch had blasted Jay away.
'Did that kill him...' he thought.
But against all expectations, a silhouette began to emerge from the settling dust.
And Ares' eyes widened in utter shock.
"Impossible..." he muttered faintly in disbelief.
And there, Jay emerged from the dust, his body battered.
Half of his stomach was heavily wounded, grazed by the sheer force of the punch. His left hand was completely severed as the severed part still trapped within the floating Mahayana gauntlet he had sacrificed to pin Ares in place.
'That almost killed me... If that punch had connected, nothing of my body would have remained,' Jay thought.
Yet for the first time facing a being of this caliber without the Black Flame, he considered this a success. His dark hazel eyes remained fixed on Ares' expression of disbelief.
"How... are you even still able to survive with your human body?" Ares asked, genuinely baffled.
"I don't know... But I was lucky that your punch didn't hit me directly," Jay replied as he slowly approached the impaled God of War.
And then, suddenly, a black grail appeared at Jay's side.
Before Ares could even process it, Jay's body and severed hand were enveloped in a dark light, magically restoring themselves completely as if the wounds had never existed.
Ares' eyes widened even further.
'You've got to be kidding me... he can even heal himself...' he thought. A creeping fear began to take hold as the certainty of death settled in.
A silence fell between the God of War and the young human.
He finally realized then that the man before him was his inevitable end.
"HAHAHAHA! So this is my end!" Ares burst into laughter.
Jay watched him silently, his expression indifferent as his black hair fluttered in the desert wind.
But Ares kept laughing.
And instead of trying to escape his fate or begging Jay to spare him, he simply laughed, almost joyfully.
Because he, Ares, had never run from anything.
And as the God of War embraced his end, a smile formed on his face.
"This is a fine battle... I shall know your name before you kill me," Ares said.
Jay was silent for a moment before answering the question.
"Zayyn Illya Kovalenko."
"Then, Zayyn Illya Kovalenko... give me the finishing blow!" Ares roared with every last bit of strength he had left.
And then, as a sphere of sun formed in Jay's palm, ready to engulf Ares' entire body in the Divine Sun and kill him completely, leaving no chance for regeneration.
Suddenly-
SHUUUNG
Jay's eyes widened as his figure flickered-
BOOM
An explosion tore through the very spot where he had been standing just a moment ago.
Jay steadied himself as he reappeared dozens of meters away, his eyes narrowing at the familiar Divine Aura behind that attack.
'A Divine Sun?' he thought.
He then quickly turned his gaze toward the sky, the direction the attack had come from.
Even Ares looked surprised by the sudden interference.
As Jay looked up-
There, floating high above, was a man with a pair of dark wings. He appeared to be in his twenties, his long black hair flowing like silk around his shoulders, each strand illuminated by the radiant golden aura behind him. His sharp features were adorned with intricate gold ornaments, black silk garments, and a regal golden feathered crown.
His piercing golden eyes narrowed as they met Jay's dark hazel gaze.
As Jay attempted to use the grail to identify him-
The man opened his mouth.
"There should be no blood spilled in this Holy Land... Stop this pointless battle, Zayyn Illya Kovalenko," the man said with authority as his voice echoed through the desert air.
Jay was slightly taken aback that the stranger knew his name instantly.
And a moment later, as the grail completed its analysis and feed him the identity of the man, a realization set in. Confusion flickered across Jay's expression, unable to understand why this man would interfere just as he was about to finish off the God of War.
"You..."
He paused, then spoke again as he raised his eyebrows.
"Amun-Ra?"