Damn it, he got to show off

The infinitely distant future.

The resplendent Heroic Spirit Throne hung high above the world, as though all the world's radiance had gathered there.

Within the Heroic Spirit Throne, in the enormous, technologically styled hall at its very center, a huge screen was projected overhead.

There was only one number on it: 0!

Through the corridors inside the Heroic Spirit Throne lay a luxurious office.

An exquisitely beautiful woman with long purple hair sat in an office chair with her legs crossed.

Before her stood a hooded woman whose face could not be seen.

"Space-Time has detected a sliver of possibility. I need you to see it through. If things go smoothly, the number above the hall might change a little."

"At least it won't be 0 anymore! Besides, completing this mission will bring you nothing but benefits."

The hooded woman's voice was slightly hoarse, as though she had slept for countless years.

"What mission?"

"Last time, when one of our squads went to the mythical Golden Age to receive Gilgamesh's Heroic Spirit, they discovered someone who did not exist in ancient history."

The purple-haired woman spoke unhurriedly.

"In that era, he was very powerful. By all rights, he should have survived into later ages and helped us fight the great catastrophe."

"But in later ages, there was no trace of him at all. Even the Heroic Spirit Throne cannot detect his soul, which means that at some point in history, he was destroyed in both body and soul!"

At this point, the purple-haired woman took a sip of tea, then continued.

"So we searched countless ancient histories and finally found a faint thread of a clue."

"According to legend, one day during the Silver Age, a gigantic meteor came from beyond the heavens. The world was about to be destroyed, but then a great deity transformed into a divine Golden Crow and crashed into the meteor..."

"And so the deity fell. This deity was very likely the person who fought Gilgamesh and defeated him. We need to have him remain active in history again, all the way to the present."

"But we people of the future cannot directly help people in history. People in history, however, can help him."

"So what is the mission?"

"Go to the Fifth Epoch and send him into the Silver Age!"

The purple-haired woman slapped down a photograph. It showed an honest-looking young man wearing glasses.

"Will this work?"

"This is the Heroic Spirit Throne's choice!"

"Understood. I'll get it done!"

"Mm."

The age of myth.

Jiang Yang emerged from the deep sea carrying Gungnir.

At that moment, the gods were treating the wounded and gathering the dead, while also selecting and harvesting materials from the endless sea beast corpses.

After all, exotic beasts had many excellent materials on their bodies that could help the Divine Clan develop in various ways.

Much of the Divine Clan's armor and weaponry was made from materials taken from exotic beasts.

By now, the countless marine exotic beasts had retreated into the ocean following Typhon's death.

Seeing Jiang Yang emerge with the spear, Zeus and Ra approached him with the gods.

Before Zeus could speak, Artemis drew close to Jiang Yang and asked worriedly.

"Captain, are you hurt?"

She paid no attention whatsoever to her old father Zeus beside her, whose face instantly turned pitch-black as he looked at his own still-bleeding arm.

"Hahahaha, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Artemis."

Jiang Yang smiled warmly and nodded.

"Oh? Jiang Yang, is that spear in your hand Gungnir?"

Although Zeus phrased it as a question, his tone was utterly certain.

"Yes, it is Gungnir, but the energy inside has been used up. Fortunately, though, I've already slain Typhon."

With that, Jiang Yang took out a blue-purple crystal half a person's height.

"This is what I obtained from killing Typhon, but I don't know what it does yet."

"Typhon's Heart?!"

Ra sounded puzzled. It was also his first time seeing an emperor-rank second step exotic beast drop a treasure.

The other gods present instantly cheered when they saw Typhon's Heart held high in Jiang Yang's hand.

The gods shouted one after another:

"King Jiang is invincible!"

"King Jiang is invincible!"

Their faces shone with fervor. The super exotic beast they had been unable to do anything about for a thousand years, the creature that had killed so many of their kin, had finally been slain by Jiang Yang today!

It was just as exhilarating as when Jiang Yang had pressed forward without hesitation and slain the last King of Monsters, Nidhogg, all those years ago!

Watching the scene before him, Zeus's lips also curved upward slightly.

Suddenly, he instinctively turned toward Artemis, only to see the moon goddess gazing spellbound at the heroic-looking man standing among the gods.

As though a knife had stabbed him in the heart, Zeus felt utterly displeased.

Now, looking again at Jiang Yang, radiant beneath the setting sun and surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars, he muttered, "Damn it, he got to show off again."

Beside him, Ra, who looked like a tall old man, burst out laughing.

"Zeus, a grown daughter won't be ruled by her father. You daughter-obsessed fool, you're out of options this time, aren't you?"

"Heh, Ra, I might not be able to beat Jiang Yang, but can't I still beat you, who haven't broken through yet?"

"Shit..."

After the cheers subsided and everything had been put in order, the gods prepared to leave and return to their respective Divine Courts.

After this battle, Ra also had to return to make his breakthrough. He had gained many insights from the battle and was only one step away from the emperor-rank second step.

Just as the gods were about to return, Ares spoke up as though something had suddenly occurred to him.

"What should we do with these mortals who turned their backs on the gods?"

Killing intent flashed in his eyes. Clearly, he was considering a wholesale slaughter.

At these words, Jiang Yang glanced at the once-prosperous tribe, now reduced to a sea of blood, then recalled what he had seen and heard on the seabed, and lost interest.

"Let's go. Leave these defiant mortals to live or die on their own."

"True. They betrayed their faith and lost much of their population in the God War. They're as good as dead anyway."

Zeus nodded as he spoke.

And so the gods of the two Divine Courts bid one another farewell and flew away.

What they did not know was that several days later, some few hundred intelligent beings with human heads and serpent tails emerged from the tribe. After weeping in grief, they fled into the deep sea.

Later, the Naga Clan rose in the deep sea and established a civilization of their own.

After returning to Mount Olympus, Jiang Yang stayed there for a while longer, asking Zeus some questions about the emperor-rank first step and second step.

Zeus had lived for a thousand years and was far more familiar with this realm than Jiang Yang, who had slept within solid ice.

Several months later, Jiang Yang took his leave.

He was going to the Norse Divine Court to take Gungnir there for recharging.

Of the seven refuges, only the Norse Refuge could still recharge Gungnir.

Before he left, Artemis was extremely reluctant to part with him.

A thousand years ago, she and Ania had both liked Jiang Yang, but her close friend Ania had made the first move, so she had suppressed the stirring in her heart.

Thus, over those thousand years, she had sworn to be a virgin goddess and never marry, rejecting countless suitors as a result.

But now that Jiang Yang had returned, she could no longer control her feelings.

Yet though the falling blossom yearned, the flowing water was indifferent.

In Jiang Yang's eyes, Ania's voice, face, and smile remained vivid, never forgotten.

Perhaps only after he had lived in this world for a thousand or ten thousand years would he slowly change.

Early one morning, several days later.

Jiang Yang bid farewell to the gods of Olympus and, taking Filiya with him, rode Sphinx toward the Norse Divine Court.

The instant he leaped above the clouds, a clear, melodious voice rang out from behind him.

"Jiang Yang, I'll always wait for you!"

Jiang Yang looked back and saw a white-robed goddess standing atop Olympus.

Her grace was unrivaled, her figure like an immortal's!