"I intend to kill these worms who dare profane the gods. Athena, are you going to shield these blasphemers?" From his tone, it was clear Poseidon was already seething with rage. If Saori's answer had been "yes," he would have gone straight into battle.
"No." Saori parted her lips and gave a single, very simple answer. If you can, she added silently in her heart.
Others might not know how strong Meruem was, but as someone raised by him, Saori understood perfectly.
Even after fully awakening, she might not be stronger than he was. "Unfathomable" was no longer enough to describe Meruem's power.
More than once, power he had casually revealed had far exceeded that of ordinary gods. Even some top‑tier deities might not be able to match him.
And he bore no hostility toward humanity. That alone put him in no real conflict with Athena.
Nor was he the only one who was strong. Saori knew both Pitou and Leizi as well. Leizi's strength did not impress her much—but Pitou was different. Saori couldn't gauge Pitou's limits either. That strange, deep Cosmo was no weaker than her own as a great goddess. She had also seen Youpi and Pouf. Though she hadn't witnessed their full power, her instincts told her they were anything but simple.
With this kind of top‑tier lineup, even the Heavens would not lightly make an enemy of them.
Most importantly, after more than ten years together, Saori had come to truly enjoy being at Meruem's side.
Because being with Meruem felt safe. Ever since Zeus vanished, Athena had stood alone against a host of gods. The gods did not understand her, yet they coveted the earth. They fought ceaselessly against Athena, the one who defended it. It was exhausting—not only for the body, but for the heart.
Even the elder brother who once doted on her, Abel, had… walked away, long ago.
Athena was a woman first, a goddess second. After countless cycles and endless wars, she was worn out in body and soul. She too wanted someone to lean on—but besides gods, who in this world could support her? Humans? No matter how strong a human was, they were no match for a god. So it had always, always been her alone.
That was likely part of why, in the original story, she ended up so close to the Pegasus who stayed by her side.
Until Meruem appeared.
"Very good, Athena." Hearing Saori's answer, Poseidon nodded in satisfaction. At least from his perspective, Athena seemed to be standing on his side.
Meruem's presence made Poseidon feel a flicker of danger. He was sure this man was no god. Just as humans could easily tell white and black people apart, so too could gods distinguish humans from their own kind at a glance.
He was not a god, and he didn't look like some bizarre creature, so he could only be human.
A human of the Golden Age. In that era, the strongest among humans had possessed power to rival the gods. The heavens had spent enormous effort wiping them out, and many gods had perished in the process.
Now someone had appeared who resembled a peak Golden Age human. What would Poseidon do? Naturally, eradicate him at any cost.
"I'll give you one last chance, blasphemer. Who exactly are you, and where did you come from?" A golden trident appeared in Poseidon's hand, its tip leveled straight at Meruem.
Meruem frowned slightly at the weapon pointed at him. "I really hate it when people aim weapons at me."
He did not answer Poseidon's question, instead replying off topic.
"Hm?" Poseidon didn't quite follow.
"I said, I don't like people pointing weapons at me." Meruem's figure vanished from where he stood, as if he'd never been there at all.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Poseidon and reached for the trident in his hand. He moved so fast that only Athena and Poseidon could follow him.
Startled, Poseidon instantly swung the trident at Meruem. If Meruem grabbed hold, he might actually take it away. Though the Sea Emperor's Trident had its own will, Poseidon was still not fully awakened, and the trident was acting mostly on instinct.
Poseidon's reaction was quick, but Meruem's was no slower. What defied belief was that Meruem simply extended one finger to meet the descending trident.
"Courting death." Seeing Meruem use his bare finger against a divine weapon, Poseidon smirked coldly and poured even more divine power into the trident, intent on cutting him down with its razor‑sharp prongs.
"No!" Saori, finally reacting, cried out in alarm. With a flip of her right hand, Athena's own divine weapon, the Nike staff, appeared in her grasp.
But the distance between them was simply too great, and Poseidon and Meruem were anything but ordinary. Saori could not possibly reach them in time.
At such a moment, only a god specializing in space could ignore distance like that. No one else could.
Yet, unexpectedly, when Meruem's finger met the Sea Emperor's Trident, there was no gruesome scene of flesh and bone being sliced apart. Instead, the point of contact rang with a harsh metallic screech.
Sparks flew where they struck.
"What?" Poseidon was stunned. The other man had actually blocked his weapon with a finger. This was a divine artifact—no top‑tier god could take it head‑on with bare flesh unless they donned their God Cloth.
Had his lack of awakening weakened his power too much?
It was not unreasonable for him to think so. After all, the legendary Twelve Titans had been felled by himself and his brothers with their weapons.
Zeus's lightning, Hades's sword, and his own trident—each was a famed artifact.
"Again!" Poseidon swung the trident once more, and once again Meruem stopped it with a single finger.
Of course, it would be a mistake to underestimate what Meruem was doing with "just a finger." His casual demeanor belied the effort behind it.
At the moment, Meruem's index finger was wrapped in a thick layer of "Source," a hard‑type application that massively boosted its defensive power. On top of that, he had contracted a small‑radius Shinra Tensei‑style repulsion around the finger. Not only that, each time his finger met the trident, he struck not its sharpest edges but its structurally weakest points, thanks to combat instincts that utterly outclassed a not‑yet‑awakened Sea Emperor.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.