The Indomitable King, the Dazzling Hero [Please Give Flowers! Please Vote!]

"Guh—!!"

Moran was no different.

Every bone in his body cracked, to the point where it would not have been surprising if they broke at any moment.

"This pressure...!"

"...My loyalty belongs only to My Emperor... How could I, how could I... submit to a foreign god who seeks to subjugate us... Gah—!!"

"The pressure of a Great God... is actually this...!"

The Pellasgi soldiers across the battlefield fell to their knees.

Even though they possessed wills of iron.

Before the Great God's might, it was all futile. Absolute Divine Authority was the embodiment of omnipotence.

In the end, even Medea and Atalanta could no longer endure it.

The two of them could only kneel before Zeus.

Even more despairingly, Medusa was unable to interfere with Zeus's pressure-based authority.

Medusa could only support the oppressed people.

Moran was the only one still standing.

As though he had noticed that this was taking too long, a trace of displeasure appeared in Zeus's eyes.

"Kneel!"

Zeus shouted once more.

This was not some mere divine pressure.

It was the even cruder and more tyrannical authority of a machine god.

"Damn it... You Great God... I heard you were tolerant... but in these strange matters... you're especially petty...!"

Your body bent like a drawn bow.

Even at this point, you were still resisting.

As the king of Pellasgi.

Thousands upon thousands of subjects were watching behind you.

You understood that if even you knelt before Zeus, then your earlier declaration of defiance against the gods would become empty words.

You could kneel before anyone, but never Him.

Just as Moran's knees were about to touch the ground, light flickered within his dim purple eyes.

His motion of kneeling immediately stopped.

"...Heh, I see."

Zeus's dissatisfied expression faded.

As though He had seen some marvelous sight.

The crushing pressure immediately dispersed from everyone's bodies.

Looking at Moran again, he was still bent over.

"You old bastard! What, not continuing?"

Moran cursed without the slightest restraint.

Both his knees had already turned into hard stone.

Since he could not resist the Great God's pressure.

Then he would make it impossible for himself to kneel.

That was Moran's answer.

"Hmph, nothing more than a petty trick. If I truly wished to make you kneel, I would have hundreds, thousands of methods..."

Zeus was not lying.

This crushing pressure was the gravity authority of the divine artifact Cronus Crown. Its heavy-ion baptism was poison unbearable to humans.

There was no shame in kneeling before it.

"Still, should this be called fate? I can see the colors of my elders, the Titans, shrouding your wives. They are all comrades I once dealt with. How is this not fate?"

Zeus's gaze shifted toward the two women.

The Titan Fleet had once operated in Greece as well.

Even now, traces of them remained throughout Greece.

Medea's teacher was Hecate, while Atalanta's ancestor was Oceanus.

Both were Titans.

The Titan Fleet had long ago been destroyed by Olympus.

The Titan gods still living throughout Greece had lost their bodies and become Conceptual Gods even weaker than machine gods. As the elder generation, they endured humiliation and survived under Olympus's rule.

"However, the one who interests me most is you. King of Pellasgi, hero who defeated my Children of Olympus. Almighty God Zeus asks you: why are you unwilling to submit to us?"

"What else could it be! Just as I said before, my people will have no future under the rule of you Greek machine gods. We are not lambs raised in a greenhouse! Therefore, for the sake of obtaining happiness, we naturally choose to defy you and raise the banner of rebellion!"

Moran released the petrification on his knees.

He straightened up once more and stared directly into Zeus's eyes.

Just as he had when answering Hephaestus before, he conveyed the reason for his resistance to the Almighty God.

The others tried to rise from the ground.

"Heh—hahaha, hahahaha! So you launched your rebellion against us with that unyielding heart? It truly makes one want to praise you. Such conduct is very human. But how do you conclude that humanity has no future? Such words are nothing but fallacy."

Zeus's laughter stirred up shockwaves.

Once again forcing those who had tried to rise to kneel.

Even the aftershock of His laughter possessed such terrifying power, and He Himself had not even noticed it.

"I know of your conversation with Hephaestus. In the Age of Gods, where our Divine Authority reigns supreme, gods guide everything, gods decide everything.

Humanity has no need to pioneer light through the darkness of ignorance. After all, you will always live burdened by different wishes and troubles. Such bodies are so small, so frail—

Tell me, King of Pellasgi, Progenitor of All Demons, human hero named Moran! How are you to make me, Almighty God Zeus, accept your words!"

Zeus's shout was like descending thunder.

Bolts of lightning poured down from the heavens like torrential rain.

The Unyielding King, the Dazzling Hero

"I do not need you to accept them. From the very beginning, we never expected to gain your permission. Almighty God Zeus, from the very beginning, we never intended to believe in you."

Moran did not give Zeus even the slightest face.

His answer was entirely correct.

"Ha, haha, hahahaha! Indeed! You are not Children of Olympus who believe in me, so you do not need my recognition. But that does not prevent me from confirming it, does it? Let me see just how far a human called a hero can reach!"

Zeus could not help laughing aloud.

He was not angered by Moran's words. A feeling of eager anticipation remained concealed within Him.

"How should I describe this foolish straightforwardness, this dazzling radiance? Let me witness it here for myself!"

The lightning filling the sky seemed to be granted life.

Roaring, it blasted toward this stretch of sea.

"Medusa! Protect everyone!"

Moran immediately raised the Golden Sword to block the lightning.

On the other side, Medusa spread her golden wings and released her protection.

This was a trial sent down specifically for Moran.

Medusa blocked and bore the lightning's aftershocks. Her duty now was to protect Pellasgi.

Moran, as king.

At this moment, he faced the god alone.

"I may be magnanimous, but I am no merciful god! I am a god who wields lightning and conquers humanity!"

Zeus's voice echoed amid the torrent of lightning.

Every bolt struck the sea with savage force.

A single strike could easily reduce a warship to dust. Even Medusa, the Mother Goddess, struggled to resist them.

Everyone in Pellasgi witnessed the horrific scene.

Their king was enduring the Great God's lightning.

Every time the Golden Sword shattered a bolt of lightning, its blade broke apart in an instant. Moran had to offer blood to restore it.

But there was far more than one bolt of lightning.

The thunderbolts the blade could not block all struck his body.

The Golden Sword was the symbol of your kingship.

Your divinity and demonic nature were condensed within it. It possessed the ability to grant anything the traits of monsters.

If you had not relied on the traits granted to yourself by the Golden Sword, you would likely have already been blasted to death by the lightning.

Hydra, Cerberus, sirens, Dragon Kind... You continuously layered the immortality of monsters upon yourself, beyond the limits your body could bear.

Even if you could withstand the lightning's slaughter.

Excessively using the Golden Sword would also damage you. Killing a thousand enemies while suffering eight hundred losses was the only means of resistance available now.

That was God's Thunder.

Originally, you could only bear a single monster trait, yet amid the collision of life and death, you chose to embrace death in order to survive.

Because your beloved was here.

Because your people were here.

Even if you had to give everything, you could not be defeated. Even if you became something inhuman, you absolutely could not be defeated.

Such resilience made all who saw it sigh.

Even gods would be moved by it.

Your people were filled with grief and fury at the sight of this brutal scene, while your beloved wept as well.

No one did not want to rush in and share your burden.

Yet you commanded them to live.

Your people could only watch their king endure Divine Might alone. They watched as you were destroyed until you no longer retained human form.

Not a single person looked away.

This was the image of their king resisting a god.

Any pity or reluctance to watch would defile your will, and your people would never do such a thing.

The king's bearing would be engraved into the hearts of his people.

They were people who could make you hold your head high with pride.

Even if this Divine Might was powerful enough to command all creation, they would still never bow their heads to this Great God.

Nor would they submit to or fear this Great God.

"Why? Such lightning has already been enough to kill you here a thousand times over. Why can you still stand like this? If this continues, you will no longer be a king, nor a demon. You will only become the ugliest creature in the world!"

Zeus questioned him even as He sent down lightning.

Yet no words came in reply.