Chapter 407: The Steel Exterior Shatters, Revealing the Golden Blade!
Clang——!!!
The sound of metal clashing.
Beneath this resonance, however, an ominous cracking sound emerged—clear fissures had once again appeared on one of the weapons.
In the next instant, the black scythe struck once more, causing even more cracks to spread across the sword.
One more blow would likely shatter the opponent's sword, yet Athena's expression showed no trace of relief. Instead, it grew increasingly grave.
Shattering the opponent's sword meant nothing—Ra could simply draw another from the sword-laden earth and continue the fight.
To truly defeat him, Athena had to strike during the brief moment when his sword broke and he reached for a new one. But each time, she had failed—he either evaded her attack or successfully picked up a fresh blade to parry.
If not for the inferior quality of the countless swords scattered across the ground compared to her own weapon, she would have been utterly outmatched in a contest of pure martial skill.
Ra was, after all, a God of Steel—a belligerent deity, and a natural enemy of the Earth Mother Goddess.
It was this kind of god who always dragged the Earth Mother Goddess down from her lofty throne.
Were it not for the fact that two of her avatars were currently suppressing him, a single form would never have been enough to stand against him.
This is truly a headache. The opponent before me is vastly different from the previous Gods of Steel.
The previous Gods of Steel were generally radiant beings, deities opposite to dark attributes.
Yet this fellow before me is also a god of darkness, a deity who commands death. It is precisely because our natures overlap like this that Athena's dark powers are nearly ineffective against him, leaving only pure physical attacks as an option.
No, there's also petrification.
However, the effect of petrification is now evident everywhere—countless petrified statues of him litter the ground.
So, what exactly is happening?
Every time petrification lands on him, he sheds his skin like a snake. The inner part transforms into black mist and dissipates, while the outer layer is petrified into a hollow statue.
Therefore, to truly defeat him, the only way is to firmly thrust the blade in hand deep into his body.
As long as it strikes, Athena refuses to believe she cannot truly kill him.
Even though they are both dark gods possessing the Authority of death, there are differences in their ranks.
She believes she is the highest-ranking existence, while he is undoubtedly inferior. Thus, he can only be suppressed by her. The moment her blade strikes him, she will surely drain his power for her own use.
"The name Athena was first recorded on clay tablets unearthed in Mycenae, written in Linear B script. It inherited the goddess worship of Crete, and the goddess here was the Snake Goddess. Thus, Athena is also connected to snakes, which is why Medusa exists."
Under the opponent's words of power, her identity as Medusa suddenly became somewhat uncontrollable, forcibly dragged into the stage of mythology.
"...Medusa is a snake demon who only brings calamity. With Athena's assistance, the hero Perseus beheaded Medusa and presented her head to Athena."
At this point, Athena's face turned particularly ashen, and she resisted the reenactment of this myth.
In the next moment, the incarnation of Medusa was beheaded.
"However, this is merely a tampered myth, designed to divide the power of the Earth Mother Goddess Athena and forcibly sever a part of her power as Medusa."
These words made Athena's expression even more unpleasant, for the more accurate the opponent's words were, the harder it became for her to break free from this detestable stage.
"Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα, English: Medusa) in Greek means goddess, mistress, queen, guardian goddess—all alluding to the former Earth Mother Goddess. In Greek mythology, the one who was once the Earth Mother Goddess was Athena."
After these words of power, the figures of Athena and Medusa on the stage seemed about to merge into one, though they still struggled desperately against it.
At the same time, another incarnation, Metis, launched even fiercer attacks.
"And Athena's prototype is related to the goddess of Crete. The Minoan statue of the Snake Goddess here holds two snakes high, her right hand raised in a similar manner, while her left hand is lowered after the same motion. This posture is identical to that of Medusa's statue. Thus, it can be concluded that Medusa is Athena."
After the words of power reached this point, Athena and Medusa on the stage had merged into one.
In other words, Renji's words had almost all aligned with the truth.
Although it could be inferred from Athena's initial behavior that she was the same person as Medusa, without understanding the specific connection between them, reenacting the myth couldn't directly inflict heavy damage on her.
Thus, when the two merged into one Athena, she momentarily seemed unable to breathe, her face slightly contorted.
This was because the decapitation wound of Medusa had also manifested on Athena's body.
"Heh~ I can feel it, I sense the inadequacy of your power. You cannot maintain this false past for much longer."
Metis suddenly let out a sinister laugh.
Even though the opponent had kept that false past frozen in place, causing damage to her and weakening her by two-thirds, making it seem as though she was at a disadvantage, victory was actually tilting in her favor.
At the moment of freezing, when her two identities overlapped and she was severely wounded, the opponent in front of her lost a significant portion of their power in an instant.
This was because the consumption of Authority had become too intense.
So now, as long as she held out until the opponent's power was exhausted and they could no longer maintain that false stage, the trinity would be achieved, and victory would be hers.
Clang—!
A fierce strike against the opponent's sword caused more cracks to appear, and she could feel the opponent's reactions slowing down.
Thus, the best scenario at the moment would be for the opponent to immediately abandon maintaining the frozen mythological stage. By reclaiming some of her power, Athena would only be able to stalemate with her for a while.
Crack!
The opponent's sword was almost shattered, and this time, she wouldn't give them a chance to switch swords.
With another heavy blow, the opponent's sword truly shattered—but—
"What—!!!"
This time, it was only the outer layer of the sword that shattered, revealing a golden blade beneath!
The entire sword hadn't actually been destroyed.
At the same time, the swords embedded in the ground around them also shattered their steel exteriors, one by one, revealing golden blades!
At that moment, Athena tensed up.
At that moment, she felt an intense sense of crisis.