Atalanta, the Sea God Temple.
Burning incense sent thin blue smoke curling upward. Priests with solemn expressions knelt devoutly before the altar, hands crossed over their chests, chanting sacred prayers in the Atalanta tongue. On either side stood the Sea God's personal guards, clad in water-patterned armor and gripping tridents, striking the ends of their weapons against the stone slabs in fervent rhythm.
Thud! Thud-thud!
Thud! Thud-thud!
Thud! Thud-thud!
Amid the surging roar like a rising tsunami, a towering aqua-blue pillar of light shot skyward. From within it stepped a middle-aged Main God, broad-shouldered and imposing, clad in fish-scale armor. His long hair hung loose, his beard thick and unkempt, a trident firmly grasped in his hand.
Poseidon casually unfolded his psychic resonance, sensing the current state of the Titan Ocean. Through the feedback flowing from the priests' consciousnesses, he quickly pieced together the situation.
The sacrificial offering lost.
The Sea God Festival delayed.
Two True Machine Gods scrapped.
In just a few days of absence, Atalanta had fallen into this much chaos.
For now, it was only damage to muscle and bone, still barely within acceptable limits.
What truly infuriated him was that the very existence of Atalanta, along with some of its secrets, had been uncovered by those Greek heroes aboard the Argo.
They had set out on the Argo expedition under Zeus's divine decree. From the start, they had already been on his dear brother's radar.
If those Greek heroes returned to their city-states and spread word of Atalanta, his centuries of painstaking preparation would be ruined in an instant.
Useless. All of them were useless.
Rage surged through Poseidon. His eyes, sharp as a falcon's and deep as the sea, swept the temple with chilling menace. The cold pressure radiating from him pressed down like billions of tons of deep-sea water. Guards and priests alike went pale in an instant, stone slabs beneath their feet cracking inch by inch as suffocation, crushing force, and raw terror flooded their senses.
"Hmph. Redeem yourselves with results."
With the situation dire, the Sea King snorted coldly and issued his command. Tightening his grip on the trident, he bent his knees slightly. His narrowed gaze locked onto the streak of light plunging toward the Sea God Temple like a golden comet trailing a long tail of flame. Divine power erupted as wave-like patterns of light carried him skyward.
The Sea God's personal guards and priests, teeth clenched and eyes bloodshot, howled as they charged out of the temple. Whether driven by shame or fear, they threw themselves into the sea with near-hysterical fervor, seeking battle.
"Hng!"
You dare come knocking at my door? Courting death!
Poseidon swept his trident across the sea's surface, tearing up hundreds of spiraling water columns. Laden with the crushing weight of the deep ocean, they surged forward in a horizontal sweep, everything in their path drenched in deep blue divine power.
At that moment, a pitch-black cross spear thrust diagonally forward. There was no flare, no excess force, as though it were merely a casual motion, while the trident seemed to deliver itself.
In a flash, the cross spear's side blades locked precisely onto the trident's weakest stress points. The two divine armaments collided head-on.
The instant they met, Poseidon felt as though his trident had plunged into a mass of soft, unresisting cotton, a stifling sensation that made him want to spit blood in frustration.
As his momentum drained away, first faltering, then weakening, then spent, the figure opposite him drew into an exaggerated arc, like a bow pulled to its absolute limit. His serpentine pupils flared into brilliant crimson cross-shaped marks, and a terrifying counterforce erupted from within him, crashing forth like collapsing mountains and surging seas.
Boom!
Two heavily compressed halos, one black and one blue, slammed together and detonated. Nearby space twisted and buckled under the impact.
Authority of the Beast — Monstrous Strength!
Samael pushed his authority to the limit, twisting at the waist, lashing out with his arms like whips, his spear like a tail, and sent the unguarded Poseidon flying.
Pfft!
The overwhelming force slammed into Poseidon's internal organs. Even he, a Titan sea god renowned for his resilience, spat out a mouthful of dark blood to disperse the shock before barely stabilizing himself.
But the Sea King had anticipated this. As he was hurled backward, divine intent condensed instantly. His free left hand shot toward his unexpected opponent, fingers clenching tightly as he roared aloud.
Authority of the Sea — Subjugation!
In an instant, the water columns scattered by the trident's earlier shock were infused with divine will. They surged back together as if alive, transforming into countless deep-blue water serpents that lunged toward Samael, frozen in midair.
The Ancient Serpent sensed the danger and tried to withdraw, but it was as though he had sunk into mud. Those hundreds of water serpents carried the crushing pressure of the deep sea itself, turning the surrounding space into a sealed abyssal environment.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
One water serpent after another smashed into the golden silhouette. Deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession. Gradually, the golden barrier enveloping his body dimmed and fractured, and within it, the figure was swallowed by the boundless might of the ocean.
"Hmph."
The ocean is my domain. What kind of waves could your petty tricks possibly stir up?
Poseidon sensed that the area where the sea mist had risen no longer showed any Ether response at all. He casually wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and let out a savage, cold laugh, his expression brimming with arrogant confidence.
"Hmph!"
Yet the instant the Sea King relaxed, a sharp sense of danger flared. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as an icy chill shot from his tailbone straight to his scalp. His eyes stiffly shifted, and out of the corner of his vision he caught a glimpse of a dim, deadly glint stabbing toward him from behind.
Water's Protection!
At the critical moment, Poseidon's heart lurched. He snapped his trident upward, deep-blue authority surging outward in waves.
In an instant, spiraling columns of water rose into the air. Ten silver-white bands of light descended from above the Ten Kingdom Islands, enveloping Poseidon completely.
"Shhk!"
The spear blade shredded the water columns and punched through seven layers of light in succession before finally running out of force.
But in the same breath, Samael slid his hand several inches forward along the spear shaft, tucked his small tail under his arm, and swept his golden wings sideways. His body flipped upward, spinning like a top as he descended, the spear blade slashing horizontally toward the final three bands of light still standing before Poseidon.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Piercing, tearing sounds rang out one after another. In just a few breaths, Poseidon's hastily erected defenses were completely sliced apart, the blade's edge aimed straight at the Sea King's grim face.
Boom!
As the ten light bands shattered, the seas around the Ten Kingdom Islands shook violently. A powerful earthquake roared beneath the waves, the tremors so intense it seemed the islands themselves were on the verge of collapse.
The dozens of ocean-aligned gods who had been surrounding the intruder immediately pulled back. Each of them activated their authority to suppress the undersea quake and stabilize the shaking islands. When they looked back toward the golden silhouette in the sky, their eyes were filled with shock.
Just what was this monster? It had forced His Majesty Poseidon to withdraw the divine protection over the Ten Kingdom Islands, and even then it still held the upper hand.
Still, the brief delay bought Poseidon precious time. He swung his trident and knocked aside Samael's cross spear.
As the Ancient Serpent's momentum waned and he shifted back, Poseidon finally had a moment to catch his breath. He narrowed his eyes and locked onto his opponent.
Only now did the Sea King clearly see it. Lines of deep-blue divine markings surfaced across the monster's body. As they flickered with flowing light, they radiated an aura that was profound, obscure, and unfathomable, as ancient and mysterious as the primordial wilderness itself.
Oceanic Blessing. He has it too. And it's powerful.
No wonder my sea serpent constriction did nothing to him.
Fortunately, this creature is only under the blessing, not in direct control of oceanic authority.
Otherwise, with oceanic authority of the same rank, combined with his unpredictable methods and that bone-deep, vicious combat cunning, Poseidon had no idea how he would fight him head-on.
Praise Tiamom.
As a son of Tiamat, Samael silently drew a cross in his heart and launched another fierce thrust.
Sorry about that, but thanks to Oceanic Blessing, he could practically hard-counter Poseidon.
...
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