Thunderous blasts echoed deep within the Abyss.
Blades fired from the Gate of Babylon crashed among the Titans, stirring massive waves of magma and abruptly cutting off their furious roars—only to ignite their rage further.
An even louder chorus of roars followed.
"Why deliberately provoke them?" Athena asked, puzzled.
"Because it's necessary," Rovi said with a smile. With a wave of his hand, more swords and blades appeared behind him from the Gate, launching another volley.
The scene was spectacular, but it was mostly just show.
Unlike the Hydra, whose greatest threat came from its regenerative immortality and ability to split endlessly, these Titans had armor-like bodies as tough as starships, a trait inherited directly from their Titan progenitors.
Very few Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon could even scratch their shells. With their massive size, this bombardment barely peeled off a layer of skin, causing little more than minor pain.
And what would happen when they felt pain?
They'd get angry—enraged—driven into reckless fury.
That was exactly what Rovi wanted.
He wanted them to exhaust their strength, to unleash their absolute power.
To test their limits.
To see if they could shake him.
"Athena, cover me," Rovi said simply, then dashed upward.
A crimson storm wrapped around his body. Here in Tartarus, Rovi was right at home.
This Abyss was a primordial environment.
For Rovi, it was the perfect battlefield.
Athena took a deep breath, tightened her grip on spear and shield, then slightly bent her knees and closed her eyes.
"IN THE NAME OF ATHENA, GODDESS OF WISDOM AND WAR—I CALL UPON MY FRIEND, NIKE, GODDESS OF VICTORY."
"[GUIDE US TO TRIUMPH]!"
She closed her eyes and opened them. A radiant light blossomed above Athena's head, an invisible field expanding outward, enhancing their abilities in every direction.
This was the Authority of the Goddess of War.
So long as she stood upon a battlefield, even a major god would receive a significant boost in power.
With this blessing, Rovi instantly reached the nearest Titan.
Fangs bared, golden eyes blazing in anger, the Titan swung a massive fist shrouded in abyssal flames directly at Rovi.
Rovi clenched his fist, drew back slightly like a bow, then punched forward.
A crimson storm shredded everything. Space itself crumpled like paper. The Titan's shoulder exploded into fragments, drawing an agonized roar.
More Titans attacked from behind and both sides.
Rovi didn't even turn around. He merely opened his palm, swept backward, and invoked the spinning force of primordial stars, crushing all three attackers simultaneously.
Shattered fragments of Titan bodies scattered and melted back into magma.
Though small by comparison, Rovi easily inflicted devastating damage with casual moves.
Suspended in midair, Rovi saw even more Titans advancing, while the fragments of the Titans he'd just destroyed began slowly squirming, reassembling themselves.
"Tartarus is the prison of the Titans," Athena called out at the right moment. "The Titans' main processor is located here."
The Titans were also machine gods.
Even older than the machine gods of Olympus, they were starships originally born from Chaos.
Though trapped, their computational network extended throughout all of Tartarus, endlessly providing strength to these Titans.
They could never truly be killed.
Unless Tartarus itself was utterly destroyed—something even Rovi couldn't manage, no matter how much power he unleashed.
But from that brief exchange just now, Rovi realized something clearly...
Even the strongest of these Titans posed no real threat to his life.
Even if he stopped resisting entirely and let them strike him freely.
They simply weren't enough.
"In that case, I'll have to use the backup plan." Rovi smiled.
Backup plan?
Athena hesitated, confused, until she heard Rovi call out to her.
"Athena, expand your support to its maximum!"
Though she had no idea what Rovi was planning, Athena responded without hesitation.
Divine protection of the Goddess of War.
Blessing of the Goddess of Victory.
Endless power flowed into Rovi.
At that moment, the advancing Titans suddenly halted, snapping their heads up, looking around frantically, confusion and fear filling their golden eyes.
Athena froze as well. "This is...the ocean?"
An invisible aura spread outward from Rovi, filling the Abyss, swallowing it entirely as though drowning the world in seawater.
This was the "promise" Poseidon had given him.
The ocean would become akin to Rovi's own body.
In other words—Rovi could now manifest his power as though he were the sea itself, encompassing, submerging, and devouring everything.
And right now, using the power boosted by Athena's blessing, he intended to submerge all of Tartarus, and then—
Devour it.
"ROAR—!"
The Titans recoiled in terror.
They feared the primordial presence flooding around them, feared Rovi's madness.
Even Athena stood speechless.
"You...you'll die," she blurted instinctively.
Even for major gods, merely touching the essence of Tartarus was enough to drive them mad. To devour this primordial furnace-like hell was something even Zeus would never dare attempt.
But did Rovi fear death?
Death was precisely what he sought!
Amid raging winds, Rovi spread open his arms. Using Noble Phantasms from the Gate of Babylon as anchors, invisible chains tightly bound the edges of Tartarus, pulling it toward himself within the swelling tides.
Holding wisdom eternal and the courage born from embracing death—
Transcending common limits.
This too was a form of wisdom.
Athena's lips parted slightly; silver hair swayed, her ruby-red eyes glowed with divine brilliance.
Rovi was accustomed to this. Countless failures had taught him one thing clearly: relying on a single strategy was foolish.
This was his backup plan.
"If the world has crowned me a Sage, then naturally, a Sage must know how to exploit every ounce of power he possesses." Rovi raised his head and looked upward. "If you don't want to be devoured, then show yourself!"
"King of the Titans…"
"Cronus!"
"WOOOO—!"
The Titans roared desperately. Amid their echoing wails, Tartarus's magma began converging slowly toward a single point.
There, a pair of eyes slowly awakened.
A crisp, icy electronic voice resounded clearly:
[EXTERNAL STIMULUS DETECTED.]
[ACTIVATING SEQUENCE...]
[ACTIVATION SUCCESFUL.]
[LAUNCHING]:
[SECOND-GENERATION INTERSTELLAR COMBAT-TYPE ANNIHILATION MOBILE FORTRESS.]
[CRONUS]
Hidden in the shadows, the monster who manipulated the Titans—the second-generation King of Gods—had been forcibly awakened by Rovi!
The oppressive aura of the former King of Gods brought all of Tartarus to a halt for a brief moment.
Rovi revealed a heartfelt smile.
Now this was a worthy opponent!
Devouring Tartarus was his path to death; forcing the second-generation King of Gods, Cronus, into a battle to the death—
That was another.
Both feats were beyond the reach of ordinary beings.
Both were achievements mortals couldn't even dream of touching.
"Come—" Rovi reached out his hand.
Activated at last, Cronus's glowing eyes flashed with infinite streams of data.
---
T/N: 4 chaps meeting this weeks quota, i was toooo lazy and slept allllllllll week sorgee
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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