Chapter 401: Little Girl Evolves into Maiden, Starless Night Descends!
The night appeared frozen.
Pedestrians walking by stood rigid like statues.
But this rigidity lasted only a moment, though everyone froze simultaneously at the same time.
Frozen in that one second, it became a still frame, a motionless world.
"What happened?"
"Just now, for no reason..."
"A sudden feeling of dread"
The pedestrians who came to their senses murmured in confusion, looking around somewhat bewildered before continuing with their business.
Something strange also occurred—pedestrians all began avoiding a particular street, gradually making that area sparse of people.
"You say you want me to become your subordinate?"
An intriguing tone emerged from Athena's small, cute lips.
He actually wanted her to become his subordinate? To submit to him?
This was even more difficult than directly killing her!
So, what gave him the audacity to make such a demand of her?
The next moment, suddenly sensing something, Athena's petite body leaped backward, covering hundreds of meters in an instant.
Simultaneously, her pupils contracted violently as she watched an abnormally expanding barrier space swallowing toward her from ahead.
Though she didn't know what it was, an instinctive sense of crisis warned her she absolutely must not be pulled into that barrier space.
And in this moment, Athena realized exactly who stood before her.
The opponent was neither a magician among humans nor a Campione. Like her, this being was a Heretic God.
Thus, Athena's gaze grew increasingly frigid.
As an Earth Mother Goddess, she held the deepest contempt for these male deities who sought to conquer the Earth Mother Goddesses one after another.
Admittedly, some of this was orchestrated by that woman's script, yet these men's inherent desire for conquest often drove them to target the Earth Mother Goddesses.
They dragged the Earth Mother Goddesses down from their lofty thrones, seated themselves upon them, and then demeaned the Earth Mother Goddesses' status, forcing them to submit and revere the conquerors.
And the one before her clearly harbored the same intentions—wanting her, Athena, to become a subordinate deity. How audacious!
Still, Athena also felt a sliver of respect for this opponent. He had actually given her the [Snake] first before making his move.
Had it been anyone else, they would never have done such a thing, instead seizing the opportunity to strike while she was weakened.
"This one chants, chants the hymn of the triple-form goddess. Connecting heaven, earth, and darkness, it is the cycle and wisdom. This one chants..."
As the primordial words of power flowed from her lips, she continuously leaped backward, attempting to escape the encroaching barrier.
"...In the past, I was the Earth Mother who nurtured all things!"
When she reached this part of the chant, her body began to glow, and her form started to transform—her physique maturing.
"...This one swears, Athena shall return to her primordial self!"
With the final line of the chant, her childlike form had fully developed into that of a graceful young maiden.
Outwardly, she appeared to be a girl of about seventeen, her beauty surpassing that of any mortal—a visage befitting a goddess.
Her previously somewhat adorable attire had now transformed into a pure white, ancient-style robe.
At this moment, an entirely different divine aura radiated from Athena, unlike anything before.
This divine presence required no active release to intimidate; the entire street—no, the entire city's humans—no, all living beings faintly sensed it and grew momentarily apprehensive.
"This one commands in Athena's true name—descend, true night!"
As these new words of power fell, an abnormality instantly descended upon the city.
The light around Athena—the artificial suns created by humans for the night [various illuminations]—suddenly extinguished as if their energy sources had vanished.
Thus, darkness rapidly corroded everything in the vicinity.
"Huh?"
"What's going on?"
"Why did it stop? Engine failure?"
Vehicles on the streets gradually slowed to an abnormal crawl before coming to a complete halt.
One by one, people stepped out of their cars in confusion, peering bewildered at their surroundings, watching as the artificial lights faded away.
Before the light was completely consumed by darkness, they vaguely saw others also exiting their vehicles and pedestrians on the streets stopping in puzzlement.
Then, as car headlights, street lamps, and decorative lights from surrounding buildings went out, darkness fully enveloped the area, and panic began to spread through the people's hearts.
They tried various methods to dispel the darkness—pulling out phones, flashlights, lighters—yet none could produce any illumination.
This abnormality only deepened the people's terror and unease.
Thus, this city that was also an eternal city of night, still bustling with noise, fell into a brief silence after being plunged into darkness, only to be followed by the panicked voices of humans.
Children were crying, women were screaming, and men were shouting in confusion. However, these situations were actually short-lived and soon quieted down.
It wasn't because people had suddenly fallen unconscious due to some abnormality, but because the darkness was too terrifying—so terrifying that they immediately realized it was irrational to make noise under such circumstances.
So, not knowing when the darkness would disappear, people tried to find something around them to rely on, pressing their bodies against it, seeking a bit of comfort to dispel their unease.
Meanwhile, in an upscale residential area of this city, there stood a mansion with a vast garden.
A golden-haired girl was nearby, preparing to sneak in and deliberately cause a disturbance to create an opportunity for another Witch, when she suddenly noticed something unusual.
"This is—!"
She saw a black curtain darker than the night sky rapidly enveloping the distance, extinguishing all light in the areas it covered.
"A Heretic God? Arriving so soon?"
The girl abandoned her plan to sneak in and instead prepared to offer support.
Inside the mansion, in the first-floor hall, the Witch Lucretia was also staring outside in surprise.
"A Heretic God at a time like this?"
The owner of this voice was the low, deep tone of Annie, the assistant of the Campione who held the title of [Pluto].
Lucretia found this assistant to be no ordinary person; she felt that facing her would lead to defeat.
And to think, even now, when she herself possessed Divine Authority, she would have such a reaction?
Thus, she also had a guess about the other's identity.
It was precisely because the other was here that she found it difficult to take action.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom on the fourth floor, a golden-haired woman lying down suddenly opened her eyes as if jolted awake.
"A Heretic God—Athena!"