With her greatest weapon gone, Hecate could only rely on defensive spells again and again before the furious assault of the gods.
Though she barely managed to hold on, she still looked disheveled.
This was never the situation she wanted.
She had just spoken so harshly before, and now she was being completely suppressed, how could she possibly keep her dignity?
Helpless, she cast a pleading look toward Alaric.
In their plan, Alaric had already warned her that this situation might occur, though she had been somewhat unconvinced at the time.
Now, she had to admit, her man truly saw further than she did.
Seeing the goddess's pitiful gaze, Alaric returned her a warm smile.
"Now, leave the battle to me."
His reliable words warmed Hecate's heart.
As expected, no matter the time, the one who stood by her side first was always this man.
She nodded slightly, then turned to face the host of gods before them.
At the very front was Zeus, the King of the Gods. The Thunder God stood bare-chested, wielding the divine weapon Thunderbolt, bombarding her magical shield with relentless fury.
At his side stood Poseidon with his trident, Hades with his sickle, Athena with spear and shield, Ares with sword and shield, while further back were Apollo and Artemis, their bows drawn.
Though Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite weren't fighting in earnest, the other gods struck with terrifying force.
Confronted with their relentless advance, Hecate summoned another wall of force, buying herself a moment to gather her magic.
The next instant, a violent storm of mana burst forth from her, pushing the gods back dozens of paces.
But instead of discouraging them, it only excited them further.
"Press the attack!"
Zeus was the first to charge again, shouting commands. "She needs time to gather mana! That last burst proves she's running out of strength and preparing to flee."
Yet Hecate did not run.
Landing gracefully on Colchis Island, she gave the gods a cold smile.
"To deal with the likes of you, I have no need to flee. I'm tired of these childish games. From here on, my chosen one will fight in my stead."
The Chosen One, also known as the elect, was the believer most favored by a god.
Usually, such chosen were the deity's representatives in the mortal realm, receiving a portion of divine power, becoming so mighty that few mortals could stand against them.
But Hecate's chosen was something else entirely.
As her words fell, the goddess slowly drifted behind Alaric and embraced him from behind, the man she loved most.
The next moment, a vast power flowed from her body into his, along with a sublime will, the will of a god.
In short: divine descent.
But this was no ordinary descent.
Normally, a god would channel a fragment of their will and power into a believer, temporarily taking over their body.
Yet Hecate did something far more drastic, she poured most of her power into Alaric. Their deep bond served as the bridge.
Most crucially, her consciousness did not take control of Alaric's body, nor did it descend into him at all.
In other words, she had entrusted the majority of her power to him.
Gods almost never did this.
After all, who could wield divine power better than the god themselves?
But Alaric was an exception.
Though Hecate was the Goddess of Magic, master of countless spells, Alaric was the truer mage.
With mastery over all schools of magic, an encyclopedic breadth of knowledge, and a mind that held an endless library of spells, he could draw out her power even more fully than she could.
As her divine strength flowed into him, Alaric instantly felt himself enter a whole new realm.
All the mana in heaven and earth bent to his will, all the leylines shifted at his command, every spell came forth at a single word. The sensation was,
Exhilarating!
Yes, only that word could capture it.
What could be more intoxicating for a mage than using magic freely, without limit?
"How does it feel?"
Within his mind, Helena, the spirit of the Crown, spoke to him.
"This computational power… Is this truly a god's strength? Terrifying."
"Yes," Alaric nodded, clenching his fist as a torrent of magic stirred in the void.
"This is divine power."
His gaze lifted toward the gods circling above.
"Now, let me show you what a mage is truly capable of."
As Hecate's power surged within him, the gods seized their chance and launched a coordinated attack.
The sky rained thunder, fire, spears, and arrows down upon Colchis Island.
But Alaric merely pointed his staff.
Instantly, before all eyes, the gods' attacks slowed, crawling forward like snails.
No, it wasn't time magic. A closer look showed the attacks were unchanged.
It was the space before them that had been stretched infinitely, preventing them from ever reaching Alaric.
"The power of space," Zeus quickly realized.
Yet in the next moment, Alaric twisted space further, sending the gods' own attacks hurtling back toward them.
"Damn thief! You dare play tricks like this in Olympus itself?"
Furious, Zeus unleashed the full authority of his godhood, as Skyfather and King of Olympus.
As ruler of Greece's divine realm, he could not bend space as Alaric did, but he could prevent others from doing so.
"All of Olympus, all of Greece, belongs to me!"
So declared the arrogant king.
With space denied, Zeus saw Alaric as nothing more than a dead man.
Even the Goddess of Magic herself couldn't stand against them, how could a mere mortal borrowing her power hope to prevail?
But Alaric, unperturbed, only smiled faintly.
"In that case… there's a spell I've long wanted to try. With the power of the Goddess of Magic, I'll use it now."
He looked straight at Zeus.
"You claim this is your domain?"
A cold laugh escaped his lips.
"It was, now it isn't!"
The moment his words fell, the world around them changed completely.
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