Night's current state of mind was exceptionally colorful.
Set!
He was both a god and a pharaoh, the ancient past life of a certain card game fanatic next door who possessed a severe addiction to dueling.
'So, am I literally Seto Kaiba himself now? I wonder if Athena possesses a white dragon form among her numerous manifestations.'
'Could there possibly be a single soul in this world who doesn't adore the mighty, invincible, and absolute best Blue-Eyes White Dragon?!'
Not a single dragon fanatic could hope to resist the charm of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
It was glaringly obvious that the Greek mythos lacked an entity that directly corresponded to the god Set from Egyptian myth.
Poseidon originally possessed that opportunity, yet his marriage proposal had been flatly rejected by Athena.
But now that Night had inherited the subordinate authorities of storms and strength from Athena's martial domain, alongside receiving the true name Set, a brand new reality had taken form.
Perhaps Athena herself did not fully realize just how exceptional and incredible her actions had been.
Entirely unaware of the profound weight behind that specific name, she had simply surrendered to the intense emotions in her heart and her overpowering desire to claim Griffith. In a sudden flash of pure, divine inspiration, she bestowed that true name upon him.
Under normal circumstances within legend, a high god granting a name to a dependent was a common and mundane occurrence, yet the instantaneous mutation within the very core of Night's power seemed to completely surpass her own expectations.
Athena's profound wisdom allowed her to catch a brief glimpse of something highly unusual, yet she remained entirely unable to explain the exact nature of the transformation occurring right before her eyes.
However, now was clearly not the time to look deeply into the matter.
A power resembling a god of devastation was surging violently. The divine power Athena had funneled into Night's body now seemed to carry a distinct trace of pure destruction after he was designated by the name Set.
This was a unique attribute that Athena herself had never granted him, yet it had materialized completely out of thin air, acting as a highly subtle, budding property.
Night attempted to channel this new energy directly into the Sun Spear.
At this exact moment, a grand arrangement of divine wrath should be playing as the background theme.
Devastation, annihilation! Releasing this immense power to its absolute zenith became the sole thought and driving desire within Night's mind.
With the activation of his hidden potential, the previous agony and tearing sensation throughout his muscles and bones vanished completely. His muscles bulged as his grip tightened around the spear shaft, causing his bones to emit a crisp, powerful cracking sound that vibrated with pure force.
Although he couldn't completely decipher the hidden connections and fated lineages bridging these different mythologies, Night knew one thing with absolute certainty: he was strong, remarkably strong, and completely capable of crushing any adversary! That realization alone was more than enough.
For now, he dismissed all other thoughts, calming his mind to face the formidable enemies before him.
"Sea God Poseidon, War God Ares! Since my adversaries are gods themselves, I shall show you the highest tier of respect by answering with a strike of absolute, maximum output!" Night declared.
A sudden, catastrophic premonition flared simultaneously within the minds of both Poseidon and Ares. Yet before they could manage a single response, the next instant arrived.
"Burn to absolute ash! Vasavi Shakti!"
Boom!
A second sun descended violently from the heavens.
The terrifying light cannon hurtled forward like a flash of violet-pink lightning, and this brand new explosion now carried a subtle, ominous trace of the god of devastation's raw power.
The lightning flashed with a brilliant intensity, and had it not been for the supreme radiance of the sun, the heavens would have been thoroughly plunged into darkness.
Poseidon and Ares mobilized every ounce of their remaining strength to meet the assault head-on, yet the very instant the colossal explosion erupted, Night hoisted the divine spear once more before countless pairs of horrified, incredulous eyes.
He unleashed a sweeping strike that tore the massed clouds along the horizon completely apart before hurling the weapon forward.
This time, he had seamlessly stacked his ultimate throwing technique into the release.
"Vasavi Shakti!"
A god-obliterating strike, executed in a consecutive volley!
"No!" the two gods shrieked in unison.
How could this be possible?
An ultimate move of that magnitude could actually be loosed in a consecutive volley?!
Boom!
As a third roaring dragon of pure light materialized over the battlefield, the assault left both the watching immortals and Athena thoroughly stunned, completely surpassing anything they had anticipated.
Even if he could surpass his physical limits and release a second strike after awakening his hidden potential, he absolutely shouldn't possess a single shred of remaining energy to loose a third one!
Before being completely swallowed by the blinding radiance, the two massive faces of the Sea God and the War God were stamped with an absolute look of pure horror, as if they had just been forced to swallow filth.
This was an output that could no longer be achieved by Athena's blessing alone; what on earth was transpiring within Griffith's body?!
What a terrifying transformation!
Boom!
It had to be said that the earth of mythic Greece was remarkably durable.
When Night's strike, which was fully capable of incinerating the landscape and obliterating whole nations and gods, slammed into the ground, it restricted the physical damage to the terrain despite producing the visual effect of a nuclear blast.
This was likely due to the active protection of Gaia, the primordial Earth Mother, who continuously shielded the land.
It was highly similar to the Sanctuary world next door, where the earth was heavily reinforced by the gods; otherwise, given the way the Saints traded strikes at the speed of sound, the planet would have been reduced to absolute dust long ago.
Although the momentum of the strike was immensely grand, acting as a force that could easily wipe out an entire civilization, it refrained from impacting neighboring regions.
Naturally, the moment the dust storm settled, the silhouettes of Poseidon and Ares had vanished completely from existence.
A colossal, bottomless crater was left behind at the absolute center of the battlefield.
Bang!
Witnessing his own masterpiece and verifying that both gods had been successfully slaughtered,
Night descended from the sky, his body collapsing heavily onto the ground.
The heavy price of releasing three consecutive god-obliterating strikes had finally arrived.
Forcing a mortal shell to channel an output on par with a fully unleashed high god caused him to feel as if his body had been completely burned to cinders, the entire left side of his chest turning thoroughly numb as he lost all physical sensation.
This was far from a favorable sign; even the sensation of pain had been entirely cut off.
Right at that moment, a spear suddenly streaked through the air, hurtling straight toward him as he lay helpless on the ground.
Night perceived the incoming attack, yet he lacked the physical strength to block it.
Still, he paid it absolutely no mind; even if his body was currently covered in gruesome wounds, the passive trait of his invulnerable steel body remained fully intact.
If an attack of this caliber could manage to scratch a single hair on his head, he would gladly accept the loss.
Furthermore, Athena was still right here.
However, bang!
An arrow flashed through the air, violently batting the thrown spear aside.
"Philoctetes, what is the meaning of this?" The individual who had just hurled the spear turned a cold, demanding gaze toward Philoctetes, who had emerged completely unscathed from the previous cataclysmic battle and now stood in open opposition against him.
The person who hurls the spear possessed the torso of a man and the tail of a fish, revealing himself as a high guardian of the Sea God.
He had originally received explicit commands from his sovereign master, Lord Poseidon, to remain hidden in the shadows and monitor the performance of Philoctetes and Idomeneus.
If the two heroes proved entirely unable to take down Griffith, he was supposed to step in personally.
Never in his wildest dreams did he anticipate that the hero Griffith would receive the personal assistance of the Goddess of Wisdom and War, growing so terrifyingly powerful that he thoroughly crushed the energy manifestation of Lord Poseidon.
As a high guardian fiercely loyal to Poseidon, witnessing the god of his heart being slaughtered caused his mind to break down completely, his entire foundation of faith shattering to pieces.
He refused to believe that the powerful, invincible Lord Poseidon could be cut down by a mere mortal.
Even though Lord Poseidon hadn't suffered a true, permanent death, he could not tolerate the fact that a hero who had committed the absolute sin of god-slaying and left a massive stain on Poseidon's reputation was allowed to remain alive.
.
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(End of the Chapter)