Chapter 211: Beat him
Chapter 211: Beat him
Promise now carried the divine powers and authorities of five Olympian gods. Therefore, at this moment, the world in front of him seemed impossibly clear.
His body felt like an active volcano that could erupt at any time, containing power so immense it could destroy worlds with the slightest movement.
And so, before his eyes, Ares, the god of war, who once felt untouchable, like a mountain of might among the twelve Olympians which could not be reached, at this moment, felt almost within reach.
With a single gesture... could I pluck the stars from the heavens?
Such a thought flashed through Promise's mind and so, as Ares charged at him, his spear descending in a thunderous strike, he didn't dodge.
Instead, he calmly raised the Aegis shield.
The Aegis-the hardest shield in Greek mythology, the only artifact that could withstand the thunder of the king of gods Zeus.
When Ares' spear clashed with the raised shield, the collision unleashed a terrifying wave of divine energy which swept through the Sacred Forest like a natural disaster, scattering everything in its path.
"Well, it seems all those golden apples weren't eaten in vain,"
Athena retreated from the center of the battlefield, looking at the young man whose eyes had turned golden with divine power gathering in his body, as her beautiful eyes gleamed, and she nodded with satisfaction.
"...So that's why you kept feeding him golden apples?" Hermes, dodging the blast while clutching the green-haired nymph, who was frightened silly by the scene in front of her, caught Athena's comment and asked with curiosity.
As one of the smartest Olympian gods, Hermes quickly pieced together Athena's intentions. And his remark drew Hera's attention, as well as that of the other gathered gods.
All eyes turned to Athena with a mix of curiosity and surprise.
Well...now that the things had come to this point, Athena, no matter how much of a riddler she was, had no need to hide the truth any longer.
"Well, I didn't expect it to come to this," she admitted with a smile, turning her gaze to Hecate, the lone great goddess still on the battlefield.
"Though the golden apples now serve another purpose, my initial reason for feeding them to Promise was simple: I wanted him to be able to withstand my authority."
Athena's voice was light and calm as she spoke,
"After all, everything that began for that boy was rooted in the promise between us. I vowed to give him a finale that would astonish even the gods, and as the Goddess of Wisdom, I will ensure that happens."
She glanced at the gathered gods, as they stared at her with expressions, a mix of surprise and realization, and continued:
"And it is obvious that to achieve such power and create such a grand finale, wisdom and strength are indispensable.
Therefore, from the very beginning, I had planned to give him my authority at the final moment, to help him reach the end of his journey. However..."
As she spoke, gaze shifted to Hecate, who stood fuming in the center of the battlefield. It was clear that Hecate's involvement was an unexpected but delightful surprise.
Originally, Athena had predicted that even if Promise were to eat the golden apple every day, it would be difficult for him to bear her power in the future, after all, his body was just too fragile.
But somehow, even in such a situation, Hecate still managed to bring it back to life!
So what Athena said was right,
Of course she was greedy, after all, the moment she realized that with Hecate's help, the ending of Promise would be even more perfect, an event to shock the world.
How could she not covet the Goddess of Magic?
"Promise, you'd better not mess this up!"
Hecate, the only deity still standing in the center of the battlefield, looked as though she was on the verge of exploding.
After all, did any one think that she didn't want to flee this chaotic mess and escape somewhere far away-she did, she absolutely did.
At this point, she would rather run to the abyss and strike up a friendship with Typhon than stay here.
She had even seriously considered teaming up with Typhon to destroy the world.
At least that would mean someone else would clean up the mess afterward.
But Hecate couldn't leave because if she did, Promise's overloaded divine power would detonate catastrophically.
For most people, being blessed by the gods was a dream come true. Yet for Promise, the weakest human around, so frail he couldn't even outmatch a little girl in the terms of strength, this dream was an overwhelming burden.
Especially when those blessings came from five major gods all at once.
Still, despite everything, Hecate had stabilized it all.
Behold, the greatest tool goddess in Greek mythology!
"Forget it. You know what? Don't hold back. You all want chaos, don't you? You love watching the spectacle, right?
Fine! I'll give you exactly what you want! It's the same whether you beat one or two. You and I have even beaten Athena, can't we beat Ares!"
Hecate's anger boiled over and so did her courage.
Originally, Hecate had always just wanted to be an unknown person, conducting her experiments quietly hiding in the Underworld and waiting for the Age of Gods to fade away so she could move somewhere peaceful.
As a result, Persephone' incident happened and she met Promise.
From then on, things had just spiraled out of control.
Her another careless act caused Promise and Medea to meet in the Underworld, and from that point on, the whole world seemed malicious against her, acting like an invisible force pulling her towards the center of the vortex.
No matter how hard she tried to escape, she was always pulled back in.
Actually, if Hecate had been a typical "Greek god," brazen and shameless, she could have easily left this mess behind.
But for..cough unfortunately her upbringing, thanks to Nyx, the Goddess of Night, and her mother Asteria, the Star Goddess, had instilled her with integrity and responsibility.
In addition, there were a very few people around her whom she cared about, which made her more protective of the two she did: her prized students, Medea and Circe.
So even though she disliked them verbally, Hecate actually valued Medea and Circe very muchn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
in her heart,
And since after many twists and turns, both had intertwined their lives with Promise, she had no choice but to intervene, leading to her current predicament.
So now, realizing that she couldn't escape today and things had turned out like this, Hecate
had no other thoughts in her mind and just wanted to vent her inner resentment.
If she didn't unleash this resentment today, she was afraid that she might actually kill Promise someday.
And conveniently, there was a perfect punching bag right in front of her: Ares.
Moreover this was a punching bag who wouldn't complain if he was beaten...actually he
would probably enjoy being beaten, and who was actually resistant and could withstand anything—a literal god of war, practically indestructible.
This was a perfect sandbag.
Fine. It's you. 'You want to make trouble, you want to have fun, you want to force me, right?'
'You heard that today is the final day of the adventure, so all are looking for a grand ending,
right?'
Okay, today I, the goddess Hecate, will satisfy you!
While speaking, Hecate suddenly stepped forward, and sent Ares flying with a single, well-
placed kick.
As Ares tumbled through the air, too stunned to retaliate, Hecate stood next to Promise, and
spoke with a fierce expression.
"What's the point of five? Let's make it six!"
Hecate said, placing her hand on Promise' shoulder, and spoke viciously to the boy, who was
looking at her in astonishment.
"You speak, and it will be truth. You imagine, and it will become reality."
For Hecate, the so-called magic was merely the act of turning imagination into reality within
the bounds of truth and the scope of her authority.
And as her authority and divine power flowed into Promise, he felt as though he glimpsed a place he was never meant to see-a realm unreachable in any mortal lifetime.
It was the root of all things, the ultimate goal of every magician: the root.
Just as the vision faded, Promise found himself clad in a jet-black ceremonial robe, his body brimming with a magic so potent it bordered on divine.
Hecate raised her hand, and glowing magical circles appeared on the ground one after the
other.
In an instant, the Sacred Forest transformed into a surreal battlefield.
Shadows and phantasms replaced the physical world, creating a liminal space that felt like a
bridge between reality and the Underworld.
"If you don't perform well this time..."
Then Hecate smiled sweetly, but her eyes were empty and frightening as she looked at
Promise and said,
"Then I'll make you my next punching bag."