— — — — — —
Ares's head slammed into the ground. With a deafening boom, the earth split apart and magma erupted skyward.
Yet even in that sudden ambush, the divine shield on Ares's left arm was already gleaming with a cold light.
"Now this is interesting!"
Amid the crimson magma, Ares grinned wide. Blood seeped from the finger holes torn into his forehead, running down his face and past the corner of his mouth.
"Hah! That brute force of yours reminds me of Heracles."
Ryo's eyes flickered. In that instant, his entire arm turned into pure light.
Boundless radiance exploded outward like a supernova, surging straight toward Ares. But just before the attack landed, Ares reacted on instinct and snapped his left hand up, grabbing Ryo's arm.
The next moment—
Light swallowed Ares whole.
The ground of the Seireitei collapsed and dissolved, and once again, the worldline was replaced.
Peaceful streets returned. Ryo calmly looked at Ares not far away, his entire body wrapped in scorched red light.
Ryo tilted his head slightly, "You dodged?"
Ares stared at the missing half of his hand, at the charred stump, then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Damn, that hits hard. Really hard!"
He lifted his head, bloodshot blue eyes locking onto Ryo. Grinning wide, he bared his teeth.
"What was that power that shattered my surface defenses?"
"Does it matter?" Ryo replied with faint sarcasm. "If it kills you, that's enough."
"Kill me?"
Ares froze for a beat, then laughed uproariously, "Don't underestimate the God of War!"
He suddenly raised his right hand and grabbed the spear on his back in a reverse grip.
The Red War flooded over his arm, then spread to engulf the entire stone spear.
In that instant, the weapon seemed to awaken from slumber. Countless red lights flared within the etched patterns along its shaft. Terrifying energy boiled and compressed inside, warping the surrounding space.
Then, like lightning, Ares hurled the spear.
The moment it left his hand, Ryo appeared out of nowhere in midair and caught the shaft. But at the same time, the crimson glow coating the spear flared outward as if provoked, releasing a massive shockwave.
"Annoying."
Ryo closed his grip. Golden light surged, forcing the erupting energy back into the spear.
Ares clearly saw it. His beloved spear, covered in intricate patterns, bore deep fingerprints.
"Huh?" Ryo paused, a flicker of surprise crossing his face when the spear didn't shatter.
"You bastard!"
Ignoring the damage to his precious divine weapon, Ares's expression twisted. His entire body was flooded with vivid, blood-red light.
The instant that color appeared, Ryo felt his blood ignite. His skin visibly flushed, and blood even began to seep from his body.
In contrast, Ares showed the opposite change. His complexion grew healthy and vibrant, and the left arm Ryo had pulverized down to the atomic level regenerated at terrifying speed, restoring itself completely in moments.
The essence of Ares's authority over war was collective plunder, the seizure of benefit and gain.
Once he fully unleashed war, he could link himself to subordinate gods, drawing their combined strength into himself. Through the very act of war, he could also steal power from his enemies.
Right now, he was using that nature of war to rip away Ryo's vitality and convert it into his own recovery.
"Come on! Fight me! If you're a man, come and try to kill me!"
"Let's have a fair battle!"
Ares roared as two more thick, muscular arms burst from his back and under his armpits.
Knowing his raw power still fell short of Ryo's, he activated his Authority of Battle at that very moment.
Instantly, Ryo felt an unseen force lock onto him.
He sensed his strength being suppressed. Even his yet-unburned cosmos seemed to grow sluggish and lethargic, as if drained of motivation, like a lion staring at a mangy hyena, bored and unwilling to move.
And before he could react, Ares's two arms were already upon him, gripping his shoulders.
The next moment, four more arms seized Ryo's arms and legs. A massive, grinning face moved in close.
It was Ares's face.
"Not feeling so great now, are you?"
In the next instant, all six arms tightened at once, ready to tear Ryo apart.
Pfff—
The sound was like air leaking from a punctured tire.
Ares stared at the puff of white mist in his hands, then turned his head and looked at Ryo standing atop the wall to his right.
"Oh? Quick reflexes."
Ryo sighed, lifting a hand to rub his brow, "I'll admit it. I overestimated the morals of the Greek pantheon."
Who would have thought the Greek God of War would be this disgusting.
War that stole the strength of others. Battle that forcibly dragged the enemy down to a lower level.
Add in the rumored War Legion made up of Ares's divine offspring, and his fighting style became painfully clear.
Drag your enemy down to the same level, then crush them with numbers.
Disgusting tactics.
With a title like God of War, Ryo never would have imagined Ares fought like this.
He'd once thought himself shameless enough. Now he realized he still had room to grow.
If Ryo knew how Ares compared to the Eastern God of War, he'd probably be even more speechless. After all, those disgusting tactics were inspired by him.
"Morals?" Ares snorted. "Are they more useful than a loincloth?"
He grinned, flashing his teeth. "Thinking of running? Go on, try to escape my battle domain. Run away like some busted-ass bitch."
"Don't worry, I won't look down on you. Zeus likes busted asses anyway."
A low voice suddenly whispered behind him, "Your mouth is a lot stronger than your actual power."
Eyes sprouted from the back of Ares's head, followed by a bloody mouth and nostrils.
"Hah, mad already? Figures. At your age, reaching this level without some pride would be impossible."
"Your physique is impressive. At least on par with Heracles. But so what? Strength alone doesn't win battles."
"Using authority, killing technique, combat experience. In those areas, you're miles behind me."
"To beat me and break my domain, you'd need to unleash at least ten times my power. And is that even possible? Use that walnut-sized brain of yours. Is it possible?"
"Give up. You can't win. Just surrender. At worst, I humiliate you a bit. Staying alive isn't such a bad deal, right?"
As he spoke, Ares's authority pressed in like a swamp, wrapping tighter and tighter around Ryo until escape seemed impossible.
The so-called brainless God of War was, in battle, viciously good at provocation.
Realizing this, Ryo sighed, then smiled smoothly.
Ares immediately sensed something was wrong, though he couldn't tell what. But at that moment, he clearly felt that something about Ryo had changed.
Danger.
Ares's divine intuition screamed warnings at him.
"That's it? Just ten times the output?" Ryo said lightly, as if a weight had finally lifted from his chest. "I thought I'd need at least a hundred times to tear through this."
A relaxed smile spread across his face.
He looked at the uneasy Ares and whispered gently,
"Burn."
In that instant, the cold, lonely cosmos was set ablaze by Ryo.
.
.
.