"I come from the light, my body like a gemstone, my power like thunder, and my wrath like fire!"
Marduk held the Tablet of Destinies high, chanting in pride. At his solemn divine words, radiance like thunder, like the blazing sun, like roaring flames, burst forth behind him.
Pff! Pff! Pff! Pff!
The purple-red mana that could melt all things seemed to meet its nemesis, collapsing and scattering. From behind Ana, the massive purple serpents born of her long hair wailed in agony before dissolving away.
The Goddess of Demonic Beasts, now in her Avenger form, was consumed by extremes of emotion. Coiling her serpentine tail beneath her, she raised her arms to shield herself, enduring the searing bite of the flames. Her purple-red slit pupils flared wide with rage.
"Die!"
Buzz—
Ether thrummed in the air as the petrifying power of her Mystic Eyes surged to its peak. The gray-white corrosion rushed forth in an instant, devouring the space before Marduk.
"Hmph! Obstinate fool!"
"All life upon the earth shall hold my name sacred! Should harm be done, I mete out retribution in full—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!"
Marduk tilted his head slightly, lips curling into a cold smile as he intoned the words. The Tablet of Destinies floated before him, and at the urging of his divine speech, countless golden cuneiform runes wove themselves into a barrier of living scripture.
The moment the Mystic Eyes' power struck that wall of divine text, the gray-white traces instantly reversed course—snapping back faster than lightning to strike Ana instead.
"Ah—!"
Ana grit her teeth through the groan, her body convulsing as she crashed to the ground. Her natural resistance to her own Mystic Eyes kept her from being turned fully to stone, but the backlash of mana was like a storm of needles piercing her flesh. Every muscle and nerve screamed in agony.
Marduk looked down at Ana, her claws digging into the ground as she struggled to rise, and snorted in contempt.
"Persecuted by men, you fell from god to beast. And now, in your delusion, you would lay down your life for these sinners? Pathetic."
Above, clouds churned black, and a lightning bolt like a gleaming sword speared downward toward Ana's abdomen.
"You're the one who's pathetic!"
Leonidas—having missed his earlier strike—roared in fury. He sprinted forward, feet cracking the ground beneath him, his body arching into a wide pull before hurling forward with all his might.
His muscles swelled to the point of bursting, capillaries tearing as the spear—steeped in the blood of Zeus—shot forth, the sound of wind and thunder bound to its shaft.
Buzz—
The falling lightning was seized by the divine power of Zeus surging from the spear, redirecting its fury back toward Marduk.
"Mandate of Heaven—Restrain."
Marduk spoke the words without haste, lifting one hand. The thunder-wreathed spear slowed instantly, its momentum crushed, until it hung motionless before the fingertips of Mesopotamia's God-King.
"She is more like a god than you.
And you—are more of a beast than she'll ever be."
Leonidas planted his spear and braced his shield, stepping forward as his voice cracked like a whip.
"Hahahaha! Absurd! A descendant of Zeus, taking the side of a fallen beast?"
"How hypocritical. How laughable.
The very reason the blood in your veins is so sacred and mighty is because of your persecution of the old gods!
Power is justice. The will of the gods is the Mandate of Heaven!"
Marduk's laughter rolled out wild and scornful, his gaze dripping with mockery.
Leonidas struck his shield, each beat lifting his voice higher, his momentum surging like a rising storm.
"The rights and wrongs of the forebears are not for their descendants to argue.
The fall of Uruk's northern wall, the ghosts of Thermopylae—none have the right to be stolen away.
But until the last Spartan falls, you mongrel—how dare you insult our Greek goddess?!
And remember this—she has a name. Ana!"
The Spartan King's roar thundered through the air, his bearing ablaze with passion and defiance.
"Go… you can't win."
The purple-haired girl, sheltered at the rear, struggled to rise. Her lips trembled as she forced out a muffled command.
"Friends… tell this arrogant false god!
Are the shields of Greece still as unyielding as ever?
Are the spears of Greece still as sharp as ever?"
Sparks flared where spear tips scraped against shields. And behind Leonidas, the figures of those who had once held Thermopylae stood in solemn formation. Heads held high, they met the god's gaze with scorn, their unified roar burning with battle spirit.
"Come and take it if you dare!"
"Come and take it if you dare!"
"Come and take it if you dare!"
"Begging for death!"
Humiliated, Marduk burned with fury. The desire to kill swelled within him as the patterned haft of his massive axe called down thunder. He swung it in a great arc, lightning splitting the sky.
That minor disturbance with the wedge in the distance was troublesome, yes, but nothing worth his concern. Let it squirm—what harm could it do?
Everything was under control.
Hmph. How dare they provoke fate!
This king will use the wretched end of these rebels to show the wavering ants what the Mandate of Heaven truly means.
Thunderbolts fell in succession. Before the axe could even reach, the three hundred Spartans shielding Ana collapsed one after another, hurling their spears to draw away the lightning and meeting death without hesitation.
In moments, only Leonidas remained, straining to hold the line.
Clang!
But just as Marduk was about to crush this "ant" and make an example of him, a sharp sound cut the air. A blow intercepted the path, knocking the battle axe aside.
"Mandate of Heaven? Let me try it!"
Kukulkan caught the black obsidian weapon mid-flight and charged straight toward the Temple of Ea, a cold smile on her lips.
"Hmph! Seeking death!"
"Flames of Destiny!"
Marduk raised his hand in arrogance. From the Tablet of Destinies, wedge-shaped divine runes gathered into golden flames, burning as they drifted toward the Mayan deity.
The moment her Aztec weapon touched them, Kukulkan's eyes narrowed sharply. She flung the weapon away and rolled to the side.
"Ahhh! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, meow!"
Taking advantage of Kukulkan distracting Marduk, the Jaguar Warrior yanked their teammates out of danger. But even as she moved, every hair on her body stood on end, sensing the threat.
This fire could burn away divinity itself—erase existence entirely.
"Kuku, this guy's stronger than our Father God… maybe we should run?"
The Jaguar Warrior hunched her shoulders, eyes wide with fear.
"Why don't you ask him if he agrees?"
Kukulkan rolled her eyes with a sharp snort. Hemmed in by the circling Flames of Destiny, she appeared to be in a desperate position.
But the moment the tracking flames were about to close in, she suddenly burst forward, accelerating hard.
Bathed in the power of the Sun God, she slipped through a narrow gap, closing the distance to Marduk in a blink. Her fist howled through the air, aiming straight at the golden figure.
Marduk's expression shifted, and he immediately stepped back.
Activating the divine words of the Mandate took time—so she would simply strike faster than he could speak.
Kukulkan thought the tactic was foolproof. But the instant she drew close, the King of Kings grinned and curled his right hand into a fist.
"Fate's Thread!"
A crushing, unnatural weight seized her midair. Kukulkan froze, locked in place like a statue caught in time.
With great effort, she turned her head—only to see golden threads wound tight around her body. Her heart sank.
This was how Marduk had bound the Mother Goddess Tiamat.
Compared to the slow, predictable Fate's Flames, the silent and unseen Fate's Threads were far deadlier.
"Kuku!"
"Don't come any closer!"
Seeing his old rival caught, the Jaguar Warrior's face twisted, and she sprang forward.
But the moment he crossed into Marduk's reach, the feline too was caught—ensnared like prey stuck fast in a spider's web.