With a massive roar, Night unleashed a strike that resembled a localized version of Ryujin Jakka's fiery fortress.
He funneled a vast portion of his inner life density into the Sun Spear, drawing out a frightening solar fire that swept across the landscape, abruptly shrinking and closing off the entire perimeter of the field.
A tall wall of fire rose up like fortress ramparts, trapping the battlefield inside.
Had he not been distracted by the need to protect Briseis, a mere mortal, Night would have shrunk the fiery perimeter even further to completely restrict Philoctetes's movement.
Immediately after, he swung the Arrow of Artemis with his other hand.
From the open air, countless icy, moonlit blades materialized, transforming into crystalline spears that rained down upon the area like a violent thunderstorm.
Although these two ultimate moves thoroughly drained the vast majority of his inner mana, utilizing a wide-range map-clearing attack of this caliber brought an absolute surge of satisfaction.
It truly felt like an apocalyptic, country-destroying force capable of obliterating all creation.
The sun fire and pure moonlight, enhanced by the raw divine power of the artifacts, were completely incomparable to ordinary flames or light arrows.
The very instant those terrifying attacks rained down upon the earth, Idomeneus and Philoctetes were forced to scramble and dodge wildly in every direction.
They harbored a distinct premonition that even under the reinforcement of Poseidon's divine power, if they took a direct hit from either attribute, they would be brought to their knees instantly.
They absolutely could not allow themselves to be struck!
What kind of agonizing challenge was this turning into?
Right as Idomeneus barely managed to evade a descending strike, a sudden crash echoed, and he realized Night had already spurred his horse into close quarters, delivering a brutal, sweeping strike.
Bang!
Idomeneus took a direct, massive hit, his entire body flying backward like a broken kite as a large spray of blood erupted from his lips.
Every single organ inside his chest screamed with agonizing pain, forcing a gut-wrenching shriek from his throat.
His torso suffered severe burns from the sun fire, and even Poseidon's divine reinforcement seemed to malfunction at this exact moment, driven into a desperate corner by the overbearing solar flame.
How was this possible?
A single strike had reduced him to this!
What he didn't know was that Night's weapons carried the added benefit of the absolute piercing attribute, effectively stacking the properties of two separate divine artifacts simultaneously.
The absolute piercing quality didn't apply solely to direct thrusts; any attack executed by swinging the spears would successfully land true damage.
Sun fire dealing true damage?
This wasn't that Amaterasu from the ninja world next door that failed to burn anyone to death and could be easily shed by swapping bodies with a lump of chakra.
This was a conceptual sun ignited directly from within the target's body; how could anyone possibly defend against it?
Meanwhile, Philoctetes was completely restricted by the fiery walls and forced to dodge the continuous rain of moonlit spears falling from the heavens, leaving him with absolutely no opportunity to step in and assist Idomeneus.
This entire sequence of events was witnessed clearly by the gods watching from the heavens.
"What an incredible display of raw power! Not only the Sun Spear, but did Artemis actually bestow an artifact of that caliber as well?"
Hermes, utilizing his unique capabilities as the messenger of Olympus to grant himself the perfect far-seeing eyes and long-reaching ears, enjoyed the absolute best viewing experience.
The epic grandeur of the battlefield left him continuously uttering exclamations of awe, while simultaneously leaving him unable to resist mocking Poseidon and Ares for thoroughly losing face this time.
Two gods had intervened, and although they hadn't formed a joint alliance, it still amounted to both of them exerting their influence to stop Griffith, yet they were both facing an absolute failure.
Was it a case of their poor taste in warriors, selecting individuals who were simply too weak to intercept Griffith?
No. It was simply a case of that hero being far too powerful.
Even back when Heracles was undergoing his mortal trials on earth, he had never handled so many terrifyingly powerful divine artifacts simultaneously.
Strictly in terms of raw destructive output, Griffith reinforced by those two weapons had very likely already surpassed Heracles back when he was still a mortal.
Idomeneus took a catastrophic blow, rendered entirely unable to rise again.
Even if Night chose to completely ignore him, the warrior was currently drawing shallow breaths, hovering precariously between life and death.
And the next target was Philoctetes.
Sensing that the remaining power within his body was more than enough to crush his opponent before escaping, Night was just about to continue his offensive when a sudden, heart-stopping premonition flared in his mind.
Relying on his intense heroic instincts, he swerved backward, grabbing Briseis as the two rolled violently off the back of the horse.
Boom!
A pillar of pure energy descended from above, instantly vaporizing the horse into absolute dust.
Had Night taken that strike full-on with his invulnerable body, he would have survived the blast despite suffering a severe injury, but a normal mortal like Briseis would have been blown to absolute fragments.
In the next instant, the familiar, chaotic sounds of a bloody conflict descended from the sky.
A massive titan composed of molten energy warped into the distinct features of Ares, materializing directly over the battlefield.
His eyes flashed with a burning radiance as he bellowed across the clearing, "Griffith!"
Perched atop his head, the owl Athena quickly spoke out. "It isn't his true body. It is merely a spiritual manifestation containing a fraction of Ares's soul.
That persistent nuisance! He is actually willing to fracture his own soul just to hunt you down?"
Athena knit her brows in deep irritation. "I cannot strike him directly, Griffith. If I engage in open combat against Ares here, I will violate the explicit command of the high god Zeus.
That is precisely why Poseidon refrained from descending in person to seize you by force.
However, I can still bestow upon you the blessing of wisdom and courage! Griffith, do not harbor a single shred of fear! As long as you believe in me, you can crush the War God Ares even if he stands right before you!"
A blessing from Athena?
Night's heart gave a sudden thump.
Could it be the exact same legendary blessing featured in Diomedes's most famous battle within the myths?
Excellent! It semed Ares was utterly destined to relive that embarrassing fate of being thoroughly thrashed by a mortal reinforced by a simple blessing from Athena.
As a grand god of war, failing to win matches against several goddesses was one thing, but to possess the loudest reputation while delivering the most incompetent combat track record, to the point where a normal mortal reinforced by a goddess could beat him into the dirt, was truly the ultimate stain on his character.
Originally, Night had considered finding a way to eliminate Diomedes early on to spare Ares from that future humiliation, yet he never anticipated that the ultimate threat to Ares's reputation would turn out to be himself.
"I understand. Come then, Goddess Athena!" He declared, his face displaying a mask of absolute, unreserved trust.
You could always place your trust in Athena!
Judging by the descriptions lingering in the myths, Night actually possessed more faith in Athena's capabilities than the goddess did herself.
He gently placed the trembling Briseis off to a safe perimeter.
Having overheard their dialogue, the girl still harbored an immense worry in her heart.
The adversary was one of the twelve Olympians, after all; how could a normal human reinforced by a simple blessing from a god of equal rank hope to crush him?
Was such a development truly logical?
Possessing the unique trait of a god to pierce straight through a mortal's heart, Athena easily read the hidden thoughts and anxieties lingering inside the weak Briseis.
Yet when she turned her gaze toward Griffith, who stood entirely unguarded, projecting a wave of pure, absolute trust toward her, perceiving the genuine emotions radiating from his heart...
The stark contrast brought a strange, indescribable wave of emotion to the heart of the Goddess of Wisdom.
'Griffith... actually trusts me to this incredible extent?' She knew that an expression like Briseis's was far more aligned with typical human nature.
Under normal circumstances, no matter how incompetent Ares appeared, he shouldn't be handled by a single hero reinforced by her blessing, right?
True, under normal circumstances, that logic held perfect weight, but...
.
.
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(End of the Chapter)