At that moment, Samael noticed the white colossus moving again. The outlines of Thermopylae and Tanbei Gorge were already beginning to appear in the distance.
He immediately gathered his scattered thoughts. While dealing with Michael's assault, his mind raced, and he reached a firm conclusion in an instant.
The path was too obvious. There had to be something in Greece that it absolutely had to obtain!
The Greater Source of the Planet?
It did not matter. Whatever this thing was trying to do, even if it was only going there to offer birthday greetings, it absolutely could not be allowed to set foot on land!
The Ancient Serpent drove his knee up and knocked aside Michael's right leg as it came sweeping in for a side kick. His right elbow then slammed into Michael's wide-open chest, shattering several ribs and blasting him away. At the same time, he shouted a warning.
"Attack!"
"Pandemonium Cetus!"
Ana was the first to understand. Her body swelled, and the purple hair behind her head writhed like snakes. Hundreds of purplish-red Magecraft arrays focused and rotated, then all fired at once with her cold command. Crisscrossing beams of purplish-red Mana swept through the air, instantly turning hundreds of struck angels into solid stone statues that plummeted from the sky.
"Perpetual Frost Blizzard!"
Immediately after, Skadi's wand traced dozens of Runes in midair, causing the surrounding temperature to plunge. Glittering icicles froze the stone statues solid, then shattered them into scattered dust, clearing the path ahead.
"My research! My ultimate technique! Pierce! Penetrate! Soaring Spear of Piercing Death!"
Scáthach swept the two barbed magic spears in her hands outward, and a crimson Ether storm tore apart the angels swarming around her. Then the Queen of the Land of Shadows leapt lightly into the air, rising with the momentum to the best vantage point. Her back arched into an exaggerated curve like a drawn bow, and she hurled one of the spears forward with all her strength.
The instant the crimson magic spear left her hand, it frantically drew in the surrounding Ether. Like living thorny branches, it expanded and spread at terrifying speed, forming a sky-covering forest of steel thorns that roared across the air toward the white colossus.
The angels that tried to fly into its path and block it were impaled on the spearpoint one after another, like birds caught in a forest of thorns.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the forest of barbed spears pierced straight through the white colossus's chest.
But that slight damage was repaired in the blink of an eye by the pulsing star patterns, and the white colossus continued marching toward Thermopylae as if nothing had happened.
"Let me!"
Irritated by Uriel's electric arcs, and deeply unsettled by the white colossus, Tamamo-no-Mae pulled back at once. She had no time for playful banter. Her expression turned solemn, and she began to chant with reverence.
"From the Tomb of Xuanyuan, flowing endlessly from the Underworld...
A god resides in Izumo.
Amaterasu's mountains, rivers, water, and sky.
This is the proof of free purification.
Known as Tamamo-no-Iwa.
The divine treasure, the Mirror of Uka!
Curses and evil spirits that run rampant in this world, be purified and erased by my stone and mirror. Water Heaven Sunlight, manifest here!"
Tamamo-no-Mae's ten fingers shifted rapidly, forming different hand seals. Her body shone with the radiance of the blazing sun, bright as the sun at its zenith, drawing forth countless phantom images of Japanese shrines that rose one after another around the white colossus. They formed a divine Barrier, an airtight fence of sacred might.
At the same time, the divine treasure, the Mirror of Uka, circling this Amaterasu Omikami stirred the starry river, drawing in heavenly light and the colors of water. That radiance spread across the white colossus, and lines of secret text flickered faintly within it.
Under one obstruction after another, the white colossus's movements finally slowed.
"Nine Lives!"
"The Pure Love of the Moon Goddess!"
"The Great Death Claw!"
"The Solar Calendar Stone!"
"The Winds of Niflheim! Breath of Ice and Flame!"
At the same time, Quetzalcoatl, the Jaguar Warrior, Holo, Ana, Heracles, Orion, and the others seized the chance to attack, each unleashing their strongest blow.
In an instant, the chaotic sea lit up as bright as day. Dazzling torrents of Ether detonated one after another, weaving together into layers of multicolored light.
The surrounding seawater was forcibly blasted away, exposing the dark, savage seabed. Undersea volcanoes erupted in succession, hurling scorching magma and volcanic ash into the air to form dust clouds that blotted out the sky.
Even Thermopylae, thousands of li away, shook violently under the intense movement of the earth's crust. Thick volcanic ash covered everyone's bodies and heads, while poisonous fumes spread from the cracks in the ground. Even many demigod heroes felt dizzy after breathing them in.
Yet when the smoke and dust scattered, the raised walls of seawater crashed heavily into the central vortex. At the core, the white colossus still stood, repairing the damage across its body at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"What an ugly struggle. Truly laughable! I told you long ago. Everything you do is meaningless!"
"Meaning my ass! All you do is yap and yap, day in and day out. Are you ever going to shut up? I've had enough!"
Just as Marduk was about to express his usual disdain and delight, Vritra, surrounded by countless angels, had veins bulging on his forehead. His serpent tail swept out, knocking away the enemies blocking him. His body rose into the air, and the spear in his hand cleaved forward as he chanted divine words in a high, ringing voice.
"I am the one who covers the heavens and earth of this world. Gather, Asura, great army of demons that are the incarnations of my flesh and blood..."
In an instant, eerie blue-black flames gathered around him, condensing into ferocious black serpents with horns.
"This is the principle of division and isolation, concealing all things! O Demons, Block All Heaven and Earth!"
At Vritra's command, countless giant serpents formed from blue-black flames raised a black tide that covered the sky and surged toward the white colossus.
"Blasphemy! Death penalty!"
Seeing that this demonic creature he had once treated as entertainment dared to rebel, the emotions suppressed by instinct within the white colossus surged again. It clenched both fists and instantly threw thousands of punches.
As space twisted in layered distortions, a terrifying Ether storm erupted around them. The fiery serpents were shredded at once, and the remaining force of the barrage continued toward Vritra without slowing.
The Asura King's serpent instinct for danger made his vertical pupils contract sharply, and every hair on his body stood on end.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, thousands of punches merged into a thunderous roar, and two figures were blasted backward out of the explosive shockwave.
"Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty!"
The gathered angels immediately roared and charged toward the two blasphemers.
"Brahmastra Kundala, Arrow of Certain Destruction. To endure it is honor, to yield to it is ruin. Even the Demon God Ravana lost his head to this blow. Pierce the Rakshasa's immortality!"
"Behold the mercy of the King of the Gods. Extinction lies in this one thrust. Surya, bear witness. There is no condemnation on the battlefield. O Sun Wheel, submit to death!"
"Creation of Heaven and Earth, forbidden divine movement. The hour of divine punishment has come. Obstacle removed. Elephant God, charge!"
At the same time, the three Indian gods, Rama, Karna, and Ganesha, struck one after another, intercepting the surging angels.
"The Demon Cup is full, and here lies the blessing. O Dark God, grant the gods their end. Dzus qara!"
Batras, the Son of the Sword, also broke through the encirclement. A blazing black pillar of sword energy blasted toward Uriel, who hovered in midair amid flashing lightning.