As expected of the eldest brother in Greek myth—the one even Zeus feared.
Damien and Diablo watched the battle between the two gods.
Testarossa had clearly realized how strong Hades was. She stopped holding back and went all out, trading injuries without hesitation in order to bring him down.
As the progenitor of vampires, this projection of Testarossa possessed terrifying regenerative and self-healing abilities.
That was exactly why she could ignore defense and focus purely on the attack.
Hades, however, was no pushover.
His power countered Testarossa perfectly.
Death was a concept.
Whether human or god, once bound by the aura of the underworld there was only one path left—death.
When that ability landed on Testarossa it reduced her blood regeneration to its absolute minimum.
The fight lasted a full thirty minutes before it finally ended.
In the end Hades was sent back to myth by Testarossa.
She herself had taken heavy damage.
It had been a brutal battle.
You could say both sides had suffered a thousand wounds for every eight hundred they inflicted.
"Haa… haa…"
The white-haired girl, covered in blood, returned to Damien's side. "I have fulfilled my duty, Lord Damien."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Damien didn't say anything like "you didn't have to push yourself so hard."
The girl refused to fall behind, so she had fought desperately to show her worth in front of him.
That wouldn't change just because she had become his woman.
Testarossa was a proud woman.
She had no desire to stay by Damien's side as a worthless ornament.
"Did you get a good Authority?"
At the mention of Authorities, Testarossa smiled. She looked at Diablo and asked, "Little Black, what Authority did you get? Want to compare whose is stronger?"
In this world Heretic Gods could not usurp Authorities from other Heretic Gods.
But with Violet standing behind Little White and Little Black, the usual rules didn't apply.
After slaying Poseidon and Hades the two of them had not gained any extra ultimate power.
There was nothing they could do—Violet had squeezed the Greek pantheon dry the first time.
She had already taken nearly half a god-level Ultimate from Greek myth.
Killing Poseidon and Hades afterward could no longer provide any new laws.
Fortunately, their original goal had never been more ultimate power. It had been to obtain the brand-new Authorities that came from personally defeating Poseidon and Hades.
"Interesting."
Diablo ignored Testarossa's injuries.
Devils did not pity the weak.
On the contrary, only someone like Testarossa—who fought with her life on the line—could earn the respect of her peers.
"Then let Lord Damien serve as the witness for our little contest."
Diablo accepted Testarossa's challenge. "The Authority I usurped from Poseidon is called Lost Atlantis."
"Hm?"
Damien was surprised. "That can become an Authority?"
If he remembered correctly, Atlantis was supposed to be the continent—or kingdom—that sank into the sea.
But in Greek myth there was indeed a story that the sea god's realm was called Atlantis.
"Yes, Lord Damien."
"This Authority allows me to chant spells in the name of the lost kingdom Atlantis."
Diablo explained, "With it I can summon Poseidon's trident, raise towering waves, trigger storms and tsunamis, and sink continents or split the heavens and earth."
"Not only that—when I wield the trident every swing carries the weight of hundreds of millions of tons of seawater."
The terrifying force unleashed in a single strike was comparable to a major earthquake. Even a Heretic God would find it difficult to block head-on.
"Finally, I can summon tens of thousands of fish-man soldiers from Atlantis, along with all kinds of ancient sea beasts."
Those fish-men possessed the strength of great knights, while the ancient sea beasts were divine or sacred beasts whose power rivaled the strongest human experts at the Highest Rank.
"How about it?"
After finishing, Diablo looked at Testarossa, eager to hear what Authority she had gained.
"Hmph."
Testarossa smiled. Her injuries were healing rapidly.
Without the underworld's suppression her vampiric regeneration allowed her to recover even if she had been reduced to a single drop of blood.
"The Authority I usurped from Hades is called Path to the Underworld."
Unlike Lost Atlantis, this Authority leaned toward Lucifer's ability to summon Hell and Heaven.
But it was also different from a standard summoning-type Authority.
"The Path to the Underworld is divided into several stages."
"Each stage has its own ability. I can use them separately or summon the full path to the underworld at once."
Those stages were: Gate of Hell, Distant Weeping, River of Oaths, Boundless Underworld, and Fields of Truth.
The Gate of Hell summoned a massive portal to the underworld.
It possessed terrifying defensive power, enough to withstand a full-powered strike from a proper Authority.
Paired with the gate was a three-headed hellhound named Cerberus.
The hellhound's strength was on par with the strongest divine beasts.
At full power it could even fight a Campione who wasn't using any Authorities to a draw.
"After the Gate of Hell comes the Distant Weeping."
"I can summon the ferryman's River Styx," Testarossa said. "It isn't actual river water but a special weakening field."
"Anyone who opposes me must pay a price to cross the Styx and fight me."
In other words, the effect of Distant Weeping was to seal away part of the opponent's power.
That could be a specific Authority, a portion of their magical energy, their physical stats, or anything else.
The strength of the effect was directly proportional to the magical energy Testarossa spent.
The more energy she used, the stronger the seal.
"That effect feels pretty dirty."
Damien asked about the limit of Distant Weeping and learned that at maximum it could completely seal one Authority from either a Heretic God or a Campione.
In other words, Distant Weeping could trade for one of the opponent's Authorities.
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