Athena hurled Dark Star out with one hand. Terrifying suction erupted from the star. Wherever Roy looked, snow, rocks, peaks, trees, earth, air, rivers, glaciers—in short, everything existing on the planet's surface—was inevitably dragged into that celestial body and transformed into one of the underworld's inhabitants.
This was a storm of gravity!
"Wooooooo—"
The violent wind raged like a devil in fury. Roy's legs were planted in the earth like roots, but it was useless. Even after mobilizing his Magic Power, he could not stop that nearly absolute suction. The terrifying Dark Star was like the maw of a primordial beast, roaring as it devoured everything.
He opened his mouth to say something, only to discover that in this absolute space, even sound could not escape.
The Alps were collapsing with a thunderous roar. Anyone who witnessed this scene could only regard it as Divine Punishment!
"What terrifying Sword of Wisdom."
Roy sighed inwardly.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—"
Roy's body was like a tattered rag. Although his muscles and bones still stubbornly held him above the earth, the blood flowing through his body had already been drawn toward Black Sword. Countless capillaries around him burst, and blood sprayed from his pores, instantly dyeing his body red and turning him into a complete blood-soaked man.
Because there were too many wounds, Roy instead felt numb and no longer felt any pain.
"The downside of Divine Right is that I have to determine my opponent's 'maximum output.' Fortunately, Athena's attack isn't powerful enough to kill me instantly. Otherwise, this sword really would have taken my life."
"...But now I've determined it. Athena's strongest secret art, her greatest wisdom, lies here. My right hand has already adjusted its output. Even if you really are a black hole, I'll smash this universe to pieces! Let me defeat the wisdom you're so proud of!"
The blood-soaked Roy's thoughts stirred. Space around his right shoulder began to twist strangely, and a Golden Hand stirred restlessly, as if crossing the universe and traversing dimensions to arrive there.
In that pitch-black world without the slightest glimmer of light, a hand that reached the heavens suddenly appeared. It blotted out the sky, and its sacred radiance even caused Athena's Wisdom to freeze.
"What is that?!"
Athena had used Black Sword and then stood calmly to one side, waiting for the inevitable result. Her pupils contracted as she cried out in astonishment.
She understood the power of her Black Sword very well. At the edge of Dark Star, it was like a black hole's "event horizon," a separated boundary of spacetime. Only darkness existed there. Every other color vanished. Even Athena herself could not see what was happening within Black Sword's area of effect.
She only knew that once she unleashed this sword, no matter how powerful the enemy was, they would perish, torn apart by its tremendous gravitational pull and dragged into the underworld.
But now, golden color had appeared within that darkness. The hand that could "shatter the universe," containing every miracle, had appeared before her. It was something Athena's Wisdom could not comprehend at all, something so sublime that merely looking at it made her feel as though she were on the verge of madness.
Athena sensed danger. She quickly bent her body and summoned Medusa's Shield to block the attack before her.
Then, in the darkness that should have contained no sound, she heard a Word Spirit:
"I ask you, 'Who Resembles God the Most'!"
The darkness in Athena's eyes was completely overwhelmed by light. If her Black Sword was the black hole of the universe, then this light was the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of billions of supernovas!
The Goddess before me might have heatstroke!
The dazzling radiance flashed, covering all the darkness. The black hole that could flatten a planet's surface became a flash of a supernova explosion.
Seen from outside Earth, one would first see an incomparably brilliant light flash over the Alps in Switzerland, Europe. Then the radiance would shoot into space from every direction, spreading at low Earth orbit. In the blink of an eye, the light would become a circle reaching north to the Arctic Circle, west past the English Channel into the Atlantic, south across the Mediterranean, and east to the boundary between Europe and Asia, nearly encompassing the whole of Europe.
In that instant, everyone in Europe saw the entire sky turn golden, causing countless people to panic.
The magicians and government agencies throughout Europe naturally saw the radiance covering the entire continent as well. As for how they explained it to the public afterward, no one knew.
The radiance gradually dimmed at its most brilliant point before finally vanishing. One section of the Alps had almost been flattened. Every peak within sight had disappeared, and the snowy plains were gone. It was unknown whether the destruction of this mountain range would cause celestial changes in the future.
This destruction was not the divine miracle caused by Roy's Light of the Right. It was the damage Black Sword had inflicted on the surface.
Roy's Light of the Right had designated Athena as its target. Thus, although its radiance was exaggerated and covered the entire European Continent, it had caused almost no damage to the Material World.
Roy sometimes wondered how his right hand could designate a planet as an enemy, and how it would measure a planet's maximum output. If he could complete that measurement, then with one swing of his right hand, he should be able to tear a planet into pieces.
If he continued extrapolating upward—designating stars, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Local Group, the supercluster, and even the entire universe as enemies—then his right hand could become the true "Hand That Shatters the Universe."
Roy believed that such miraculous power was hidden within his right hand, because it was precisely the power a Demon God could reach. He simply had not yet reached that realm and could not fully wield the power of this right hand.
"How absurd..."
On the shattered surface of the planet in the Alps, Athena lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
"This is truly absurd. I, Athena, actually lost for no reason at all... I refuse to accept it. I won't acknowledge it. I... I cannot accept this outcome!"
Athena's body bore no new injuries. The bloodstains and bruises were still from when Roy had beaten her with his fists. The attack of Light of the Right was incomprehensible and indescribable. It had no process. It was neither a physical collision nor magical destruction. Anyone struck by Light of the Right would fall into the same bewilderment and disbelief as Athena. Marquis Voban had been the same.
They had no idea why they had lost, much less why they had lost so completely.
"Mm..."
Athena braced an arm against the ground and tried to sit up, but she discovered that even this simple movement was extraordinarily difficult.
Black Sword was Athena's killing move, but it was not an attack that left her incapable of fighting afterward. On the contrary, with Athena's power, she could unleash Black Sword two or three times in succession before becoming utterly exhausted.
After using Black Sword against Roy, she should still have had ample strength to continue fighting. But...
Her divine power was gone. Her stamina was gone. Even her mental energy had vanished, as if that mysterious right hand had stolen all of Athena's divine power, stamina, and spirit in a single flash.
"No, it didn't steal my divine power. That light isn't something so shallow..."
Athena drew upon her wisdom and sank into deep thought. At last, she suddenly understood. "...That light stole my 'victory.' Every factor that could have allowed me to obtain victory disappeared. Because 'victory' was absent, I was destined to 'lose'... Incomprehensible. Incomprehensible! This ability is far too incomprehensible!"
Her amber pupils gazed at Roy as he slowly walked toward her, then fixed on the mysterious hand atop his right shoulder.
"Hahahahaha! I'm dying of laughter! I'm dying of laughter! This hand is absolutely not Divine Authority. I swear, no god possesses such authority! This is your power, Roy Crowley. You already possessed the power to save and destroy the world. Michael's authority was merely the catalyst that drew out the power you already possessed!"
Athena laughed loudly. Her voice was like music played beneath the moon. Even in defeat, she lacked the misery and ugliness of a fallen loser.
"What's so funny, Athena?"
Roy slowly walked to Athena's side. He was drenched in blood, looking like a blood-soaked man. Judging solely by appearances, he looked more like the defeated one. But the truth was that Athena no longer had the power to resist. As a Campione, he could do whatever he wanted to the Goddess.
"How could this not be funny? A human possessed power even the gods combined could not match before becoming a Campione! I'm laughing at the vastness of the world, at how I was merely a frog in a well, and at the arrogance of the gods. Roy Crowley, I have finally seen infinite possibilities in you—the possibility that even fate cannot restrain. If it is you, I believe an entirely different ending will surely arrive!"
The Goddess laughed openly. Her graceful, enchanting body trembled with her laughter, and her chest heaved in alluring waves...
Only after a long while did she stop laughing. Her noble face turned serious. "...I, too, was blinded by my own wisdom. When you proposed the agreement, I guessed that you must have a hidden card. But I was arrogant as well, believing that no matter what trump card you possessed, it could never overcome my wisdom. Reality, however, struck me hard."
"...I possess wisdom from the heavens, but beyond the heavens lies a broader world—a place beyond the reach of my wisdom."
Roy used Magic Power to stop the bleeding. Fortunately, a Campione's physical constitution was excellent. An ordinary person would have already lost consciousness from blood loss. Enduring the slight dizziness in his head, he looked at his spoils of war, the famous goddess of Greek Mythology, and said, "...Athena, does our agreement still stand?"
He did not believe that the agreement could truly bind this Goddess completely. The Goddess of Wisdom was also synonymous with cunning. One could glimpse that much from mythology. She was not a god who followed rules. If something touched her bottom line, she would absolutely tear up the agreement and then rebuke him with arrogant words.
"I'm not someone who cannot accept defeat. Besides, do I have any room to resist now? Come, Demon King. You have already won the Goddess. Whether you intend to cut off my head and seize my power, or vent your bestial desire upon me—something that could only be called absurd—I, as the defeated party and your captive, can only endure it!"
"...But Athena will never become your possession so easily. The moment I find an opportunity, I will appear before you again and cut off that Rakshasa's head!"
Even though she could no longer move, Athena remained proud. It was not the pride of someone putting on a show, but the pride of one who calmly faced every outcome and was willing to bear it all, yet would inevitably rise again at the end and reclaim her glory.
There's a Goddess before me who cannot resist—not a metaphorical goddess, but an actual one. And she's also the world-famous virgin goddess. Should I sleep with her, becoming her enemy forever with no possibility of reconciliation, or seize her power while preserving the chance that we might reconcile in the future? This really is a difficult choice.
But Roy soon made his decision.
I want it all!
Only children made choices. Adults took everything!
At this moment, Roy had already decided. Whether it was Athena's Divine Authority or Athena herself, he did not want to give up either.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been impossible. But Roy's current situation was special. This was precisely the moment when the impossible could become possible.
The blood that had poured from his pores like a fountain had already been stopped. Roy pressed a hand against his head, forcibly suppressing the dizziness in his mind, then looked down at Athena, who lay on the ground completely helpless.
The Goddess's amber eyes were filled with stubbornness. Although she had lost and acknowledged the agreement, the proud Goddess would never simply become a prisoner beneath Roy, allowing him to do whatever he wished. He could forcibly possess Athena's body, but he could never obtain her heart that way.
Their agreement included one party becoming the other's possession, but that did not mean the defeated party could not harbor murderous intent after becoming someone's possession. The victor could dispose of the defeated however they wished, but the defeated could still develop a rebellious heart. Even the most loyal soldier might betray their leader, let alone a Campione and a Disobedient God.
Roy's agreement with Athena did not state that the defeated party could not resist the victor. In Roy's eyes, such a condition was laughable. There was no absolute loyalty in this world. No matter how heroic and honorable someone was, if you touched the other person's absolute bottom line, they would become rebellious—even insane.
"Then according to our agreement, Athena, you are now my possession!"
Roy wiped the blood from his face and spoke in a deep voice.
"That's right. According to the agreement, I am now your possession, Roy. You may do anything you wish to me, and I will cooperate. I am the virgin Goddess Athena. Although I have no sexual experience, my wisdom understands everything, and I will do my utmost to let you experience pleasure with my body. Afterward, I will also obey your commands."
"...However, I am the proud Athena. After this, you must be careful. I will use every opportunity available to kill you. Therefore, I advise you to kill me after possessing me. Until we meet again, we can continue our struggle to the death!"
Athena lay on the ground, her body rising and falling as she breathed lightly. Although she was the defeated party, her tone and eyes were filled with mockery. She seemed more like the victor, like a proud peacock.
But this was Athena. If Athena had become servile and flattering after one agreement and one defeat, then she would not have been Athena.
Even if she had to die, even if she lost the title of virgin Goddess, she would never abandon the pride in her heart. That was the true Goddess!
"Don't make me sound like some lustful demon, as though I defeated you just to obtain your body."
Roy smiled bitterly. Although he lived a relatively indulgent life, he was not someone who had to take a new bride every night. Otherwise, with his current status and seven billion people in the world, beautiful women were endless. He would have long since gathered hundreds of women every day for an unrestrained orgy.
"Isn't that so? Which Demon King demanded that I sleep with him? Which Demon King reacted to this young body of mine? Even my father, who cannot control the lower half of his body, would not feel desire for such a young child."
The corner of Athena's mouth lifted slightly, her mockery growing stronger.
"You actually compared me with Zeus. I don't know whether I should be happy or cry..."
Roy's mouth twitched as he retorted, "...Besides, you can't blame me for that. You're simply too charming, Goddess. I was only displaying a normal physiological reaction for a man."
"Enough. Don't discuss this. Let's talk about serious matters."
Roy spoke impatiently. Even the most easygoing person would feel displeased after being treated like a lecherous demon and looked down upon.
Athena closed her mouth, but the smile spreading across her face showed that her mood had improved considerably.
This Goddess always has to take the initiative in everything. She's truly strong-willed.
Roy shook his head slightly inwardly.
"I won't kill you, and I won't do anything to you. I want you to become my subordinate and fight alongside me!"
Roy stated his request.
Athena froze for a moment before laughing. "...That joke isn't funny. You want me to fight Disobedient Gods alongside you? You are a Campione, while I am a Disobedient God. Do you really believe we can do that? Even if gods belong to different mythologies, they are still my kind. Why would I help you kill my kind?"
"Let me answer your first question. An ordinary Campione and a Disobedient God indeed could not unite. Their instincts would make them hate one another. Forget fighting together—even avoiding stabbing each other in the back during battle would count as good fortune. But I am different. Athena, when you face me, do you truly feel an uncontrollable urge to kill me at all costs?"
Roy raised his head slightly and asked in return.
Athena fell silent for a moment. The Goddess disdained lying. She nodded and admitted directly, "...Indeed. The Rakshasa stench on you that Disobedient Gods hate is very faint—so faint that it is almost impossible to smell. Although I say I want to kill you, that is Athena's thought, not the fate of a Disobedient God."
"...That is also why I find you interesting and special. Even if you died, I would remember you. Hmm, I've suddenly become somewhat interested. Then tell me—why should I become your enemy's enemy and fight my own kind for you?"
Athena had always been capricious. She was merely too proud to yield or lower her head. When she encountered something that interested her, however, she was more willful than anyone.
"You are Athena, but if we trace your origins, you were once a winged serpent. Before taking on the names of the gods, you were the life-and-death goddess worshiped by the ancients. You ruled the earth and the underworld, governed the wisdom of the heavens, and were undoubtedly one of the highest-ranking divine beings. You were peerless, possessed the greatest Divine Authority, and were the Queen of the gods."
Roy suddenly began praising Athena's achievements and her former glory. But Athena did not look happy, because she knew the words that followed would be unpleasant.
"But with the appearance of 'Steel,' as men began to rebel, you were driven down from the highest divine throne. The supreme gods changed from the matriarchal Earth Mother Goddess to the strict father gods. With Zeus, the divine kings were born!"
"...The ancient Earth Mother Goddesses began to fall, becoming the wives, sisters, and daughters of male gods. They lost their former glory and even degenerated into monsters, becoming creatures slain by heroes!"
Every sentence Roy spoke was like a sword stabbing into Athena's heart, piercing the past she most wished to forget and digging open her wounds completely.
The Goddess clenched her silver teeth, anger appearing on her face.
"Shut up! Shut your mouth! Stop spouting these disgusting, filthy words!"
Athena's voice grew sharp, as piercing as a woman's scream.
Roy did not continue exposing her scars. Instead, he changed the subject. "...Disobedient Gods hate Campiones, but compared to Campiones, Athena hates the Steel Heroes even more! Rather than lose your life here, why not join forces with me? You have witnessed my power. If the two of us unite, we can surely take revenge on those Steel Heroes until we sever the Last Steel and ruin all their schemes!"
"...What do you think, Athena? Is this reason sufficient?"
Athena parted her cherry lips slightly, surprise flashing across her face. "...You know about the Last Steel, the Last King?"
But she quickly recovered and calmly said, "...Your eyes possess wisdom akin to mine. It is not surprising that you know this. Hmph, Roy, you have quite a way with words. You have moved me. Compared with you, Lord of Rakshasa, I indeed hate those 'Steel' beings who caused the Earth Mother Goddesses to lose their glory and fall. I hate them so much that I wish I could kill every last one of them!"
Her cool, proud eyes gazed into Roy's Double Pupils. Her stunning face suddenly blossomed like a hundred flowers, and she smiled brightly. "...My wisdom tells me that you have other motives, but compared with my hatred of 'Steel,' I can overlook those matters. Hold out your hand..."
Seeing Athena suddenly reveal such a beautiful smile, Roy froze for a moment. When he heard her words, he instinctively extended his hand.
Then the Goddess's jade-white palm seized his hand and brought it to her lips. She opened her teeth and bit down hard.
At that moment, Roy knew his plan had succeeded.
By making Athena his subordinate, he had effectively gained all of Athena's Divine Authority.
He had not obtained her body yet, but he had gained the opportunity to obtain her heart.
When pursuing a woman, the most difficult part was how to meet her and become involved in her life. Once he became acquainted with the "Goddess" in his heart and their lives began to intersect, feelings would naturally begin to develop.
Before you continue