As Aglaea gazed at the suddenly appearing golden-haired girl, especially at her radiant, rainbow-colored eyes that seemed to glow with divine light, she could clearly sense a profound aura of divine power emanating from her.
Naturally, the golden-haired girl could also perceive the undisguised divine power radiating from Aglaea. "Hello," she said. "I'm Helena. It's a pleasure to meet you, unknown goddess~"
Hearing this introduction, Aglaea wasn't surprised. The only other goddess who would appear here at this time could only be the Goddess of Love. It was highly likely that the Priests of Love had sensed something amiss, offered a prayer, and the goddess had responded with a Divine Descent.
However, without a Priest Divine Artifact, this was a standard Divine Descent, meaning it consumed all of the Goddess of Love's own power—essentially a paid divine intervention.
Staring at Helena, Aglaea initially adopted a wary expression. Her Priesthood of Romance overlapped significantly with the Goddess of Love's domain, meaning the two deities should, by all rights, have an irreconcilable conflict.
Just like the God of War and the God of Strife, if these two were to meet, they would likely engage in battle.
Then, to Aglaea's surprise, Helena blinked her large, adorable eyes and asked with eager anticipation, "Can you tell me your name? Can we be friends?"
Aglaea: "?"
Helena's current actions were akin to two heirs vying for the throne in a dynasty, with one turning to the other and saying, "Can we be friends?" It seemed that in her eyes, the so-called throne paled in comparison to the importance of "getting along well" with her sibling.
And for Helena, this was indeed the case. Aglaea posed a significant threat to her position as the Goddess of Love, but... so what? The other woman was an incredibly beautiful beauty, after all. Was the title of Goddess of Love really more important than cuddling with a pretty girl?
Helena's followers were all top-tier simps for beauty, so it was only natural that the Goddess of Love herself would share the same preference.
After a moment of silence, Aglaea replied, "You can just call me Aglaea."
Aglaea neither accepted nor rejected the Goddess of Love's offer of friendship. She felt there was little point in discussing it now, as she doubted she'd ever see the goddess again. Her gaze shifted to the massive crater Helena had just blasted into the ground. Vic slowly rose from the wreckage. "We should deal with the immediate threat first," Aglaea said.
Vic opened his mouth and emitted a sound eerily reminiscent of the high-frequency vibration of insect wings. Aglaea frowned slightly. Though she couldn't understand his words, she had a strong feeling he was cursing her.
In the next instant, Vic launched himself forward with explosive speed, appearing before Aglaea in the blink of an eye. He raised his right hand, the palm suddenly splitting open to reveal a gaping maw lined with razor-sharp teeth, which snapped viciously toward her.
To the onlookers—Councilor Perseus, the Gold-tier Warriors, and Rangers—Vic's movements were utterly imperceptible. To them, he seemed to teleport, vanishing from the distance one moment and attacking Aglaea the next.
In Aglaea's eyes, Vic's speed was merely slightly above average, far from extraordinary—nowhere near Cipher's level, and even inferior to Aglaea herself.
Indeed, Aglaea herself was remarkably swift, her high heels posing no hindrance to her movements. With a graceful step back and a slight lean, she evaded Vic's strike effortlessly. During this maneuver, she even managed to pull Grey, who was standing beside her, behind her for protection.
Vic pressed his pursuit, but Aglaea consistently maintained a hair's-breadth advantage in speed, flawlessly evading every strike. Beyond her speed, her extraordinary Perception played a crucial role. The moment Vic moved, Aglaea instantly discerned his actions, granting her ample time to assess the situation and decide how to react, how to dodge.
After five relentless steps of pursuit, Vic's movements began to slow noticeably. Golden threads had ensnared every joint in his body. His relentless pursuit had unwittingly led him deeper and deeper into the trap woven by Aglaea.
The moment her prey was ensnared, the Spiderweb tightened its grip. However, Aglaea quickly realized that the creature's physical resilience was astonishing. Her Golden Threads could only leave bloody streaks across Vic's flesh, unable to sever his limbs or cut him apart.
Could it be because the entire sea of flesh and blood has been compressed into this single form? Aglaea wondered inwardly.
As she pondered this, Helena's voice rang out: "Watch this! Piercing Holy Light!"
Aglaea watched as Helena clenched her right fist, a golden radiance erupting from it. With a swift lunge, she closed the distance to the restrained Vic and delivered a thunderous straight punch to his cheek!
Aglaea: "?"
She could clearly see ripples, like water expanding outward in concentric circles, spreading across Vic's cheek as the punch landed. Then, as if shot from a cannon, Vic was blasted through the air, becoming a meteor-like streak across the sky as he hurtled beyond the city walls.
"Come on!" Helena called out. "Let's take this fight outside! Stop wrecking the city!"
She crouched slightly, then leaped with explosive force, her entire body whooshing outward. Witnessing this spectacle, Aglaea couldn't help but mutter inwardly:
The name "Piercing Holy Light" sounded like a ranged attack, a light beam, right? But it turned out to be a direct punch—a physical attack? Was that right?
Is this guy really the Goddess of Love and not the God of War?
While Aglaea marveled at this, a Century Gate materialized before her. Taking a step forward, she became the first to reach the city's outskirts, ahead of both Vic and Helena.
Golden threads began to materialize in Aglaea's palm, continuously intertwining, spinning, and coalescing. Just as thin strands of thread can twist into a thick, sturdy rope, she was performing a similar transformation.
In moments, a golden, single-handed, needle-like sword materialized in Aglaea's hand. She glanced at the weapon, then looked up to see Vic hurtling toward her from the sky.
Leaning forward slightly, Aglaea transformed into a golden blur, brushing past Vic before he could land. With a swift swing of her sword, she slashed across his abdomen. The flesh that had previously resisted even a single golden thread was now severed clean through at the waist!