Athena had previously harbored some hesitation regarding how much power she should invest in Night.
To be perfectly honest, only Athena herself understood the absolute depth of her inner strength.
In fact, to prevent herself from revealing an overly dominant power, she consistently suppressed her output whenever she fought against others, ensuring she never exerted her full strength.
This caution stemmed entirely from her father, King Zeus, who maintained an immense level of paranoia toward his own children.
Regarding the ancient prophecy of the fourth-generation King of the Gods, even though the text specified that the new ruler would be a son, Athena consciously chose to conceal her true strength in front of her highly suspicious father to avoid projecting any sense of threat.
She understood the cold, ruthless nature of her father perfectly.
She could be strong, but she could never be strong enough to exceed the boundaries of Zeus's control.
Within the original myths, Diomedes was her loyal follower, a devoted warrior she had personally cultivated.
To ensure he didn't perish in battle, she had reinforced him with a highly potent blessing.
But Night shared absolutely no inherent connection with her.
Was it truly worth reaching a stage where she might expose her true strength just for a dependent belonging to another deity?
Yet, looking at Night's face filled with pure trust and perceiving that genuine emotional impact, Athena, who loved humanity and the boundless possibilities of their sparkling souls above all else, finally steeled her resolve.
'Griffith trusts me completely, and as a god, I must answer that faith with equal measure.'
With that thought, she suddenly manifested her true form, gliding down from above to wrap her arms around Night from behind, floating gently as she clasped her hands around his neck.
That single moment looked exactly like the conceptual release of a certain moon goddess's love artifact within a particular game world, where Artemis wrapped herself around Orion.
Emitting a soft, radiant divine glow, the beautiful goddess enveloped Night in a hazy, dreamlike light, draping herself over his shoulders like a garment woven from the distant stars as Athena slowly closed her eyes, murmuring softly beside his ear,
"In the name of the Goddess Athena,
I bestow my blessing upon you, my dear hero! This is my answer to your unreserved, absolute faith.
Receive the love of the Goddess of Wisdom, granting raw power to your flesh and absolute tranquility to your mind. Utilize this strength to thoroughly beat Ares without a single shred of mercy."
As the radiant constellation representing Athena's wisdom flashed across her phantom form, the corresponding stars hanging in the universe suddenly burst with a brilliant light.
A vast expanse of starry night abruptly manifested amidst the broad daylight.
That absolute wonder of a sight left the watching gods thoroughly stunned.
A blessing from Athena?
Wait a moment, a blessing was just a blessing, but what was the meaning behind that sequence of poetic, emotionally charged, and intensely dramatic lines?
That visual effect and those specific lines instantly gave the immortals a lingering sense of familiarity, mirroring the epic staging Night used right before he unleashed his own ultimate moves.
She had actually learned and applied his exact showmanship this quickly!
Excellent job, Athena!
But for you, a goddess of wisdom and war, to bestow a blessing filled with such passion upon a dependent belonging to another goddess seems highly questionable.
Furthermore, that phrase concerning the "love of the Goddess of Wisdom" was supposed to mean a platonic appreciation, right?
It was supposed to be the affection a deity held toward an exceptional human soul displaying limitless potential, right?
The vast majority of immortals who truly understood Athena recognized her deep love for humanity and her appreciation for outstanding individuals, meaning her words were likely born from that exact mindset.
Yet the phrasing left far too much room for alternate interpretations, easily plunging anyone into unnecessary speculation.
You had better mean a platonic appreciation!
Crunch!
Far away on the main battlefield, Artemis, who was still actively engaging Ares's true body and preparing to loose her next arrow, similarly possessed the presence of mind to keep a close eye on the secondary theater.
It had to be said that handling a weakling like Ares was a task she could easily manage with a single hand even in her diminished state.
Yet the moment she caught sight of what was transpiring over there, Artemis suddenly exerted a massive force through her fingers, snapping the conceptual arrow resting against her bowstring in half.
Her expression turned chillingly cold.
For some reason, especially seeing the distinct way Athena wrapped her arms around Night's neck, a posture that wouldn't normally seem overly intimate between most men and women,
Artemis inexplicably felt a powerful rush of having her territory stolen, a deeply shocking visual sequence hitting her mind.
It felt as though this exceptionally close manifestation style, which rightfully should have been the exclusive way she arrived to bless her own dependent, had been prematurely registered and hijacked by another goddess.
So now what?
Next time, if she wanted to bestow a blessing upon Griffith, would she be forced to adopt the exact same posture as the Goddess Athena?
Where would that leave the absolute dignity of Artemis?
Her favorite posture, her signature pose, had been thoroughly stolen, and any alternate arrival stance she could think of simply didn't strike the heart as perfectly as this one.
Yet, if she chose to manifest in the exact same manner in the future, it would make it look as though she were intentionally copying Athena.
Deep down, the inner thoughts of the miniature Artemis were in a state of absolute chaos, screaming,
'What rank does Athena even think she is, to deserve to use the exact same pose as me?'
Pure fury, absolute anger, extreme irritation!
She was thoroughly losing her mind.
A wave of negative, furious emotion resembling a mountain flash flood or a catastrophic tsunami completely consumed the mind of the Moon Goddess Artemis at this exact moment.
Even though she knew full well that Athena was merely helping Night overcome a desperate crisis, she still felt a sudden, uncontrollable urge to draw her bow, adjust her aim, and blow Athena's head off.
Oh?
Harboring that thought, Artemis's hands had already begun to move, her bow and arrow shifting unconsciously toward the secondary battlefield, though she firmly convinced herself that the weapon merely suffered a slight tracking error, causing the trajectory meant for Ares to veer off course by a tiny fraction.
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.
.
Meanwhile, on the other battlefield.
At this exact moment, a succession of multicolored radiances suddenly descended upon Night's body.
Wisdom, courage, strength, stamina, speed; every tangible or intangible element that possessed a conceptual existence and could be linked directly to raw power felt as though it had undergone a massive leap forward within Night's senses.
In a mysterious way, he even perceived a massive reinforcement to a property as vague and fleeting as luck itself in that single instant.
Considering that Athena was the highly favored daughter of the Greek mythos, a goddess who resembled the Goddess of Victory far more than Nike herself, she had lived her entire immortal life without ever suffering an absolute humiliation.
Could she have achieved that without a profound reserve of raw luck?
That mythic-level fortune was something even the Goddess of Luck herself couldn't hope to match.
Therefore, receiving an boost to his luck after being blessed by Athena felt perfectly logical.
What kind of all-powerful blessing was this?
Feeling that all-encompassing reinforcement that left absolutely zero blind spots in his strength,
Night's mind and body experienced an immense shock of pure excitement.
In fact, he seriously doubted whether a blessing from King Zeus himself could be as meticulously thorough and considerate as the one Athena had just delivered.
Damn.
The fake all-powerful god: King Zeus, a man who cannot even achieve total omniscience, requiring the three Fates to continuously provide prophecies to stabilize his reign.
A narrow-minded king who, out of sheer paranoia over prophecies that he would be overthrown, went so far as to swallow his own children and wives'
'The true all-powerful god: Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and War, whose single blessing grants a flawless reinforcement without a single dead zone.'
If brought over to the Chaldea world next door, she would be a grand support capable of putting every other buffer out of a job permanently!
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(End of the Chapter)