Their true objective was to kill the Divine Ancestor and shatter the entire order of the Roman Empire!
Midair, Samael suddenly looked back, shock and disbelief spilling from his eyes.
The divine level was the absolute limit the surface world could currently sustain. Any being who could ascend to that realm in such a declining age was already one of the very finest among humanity.
And as for figures like the Pharaoh King, the Persian King, the King of the Huns, and the Divine Ancestor of Rome, they had gone even further, reaching the point of "hearing the voice of heaven above and revealing divine will below," becoming one with their nation, its laws, and its native pantheon.
Because of that, killing a god of that level was the same as contending against the power of an entire nation. It was an almost impossible feat.
Even ordinary gods had plenty of means to preserve themselves.
On a surface world ruled by humans, if such a risky move failed and one ended up enraging a god, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Given enough patience, such a being could slaughter hundreds of thousands by their own hand. For the people of any nation under their rule, that was no different from provoking an unstoppable walking natural disaster.
So over time, one understanding had become almost universal: a god could be gravely wounded, but killing one was exceedingly difficult. Without absolute certainty, it was not something anyone should attempt.
By any reasonable estimate of strength, the Divine Ancestor, empowered by his homeland, might not have been able to defeat Cyrus and Ramesses II by himself, but he should at least have remained impossible to bring down.
Even if he lost, he should still have been able to break away at the cost of some injuries.
To keep one another in check, gods normally targeted only their intended enemies. They would not lightly slaughter a city or destroy a nation.
Romulus could not possibly have been ignorant of that. As long as he lived, Rome would still stand, even if it suffered heavy damage.
Even taking the most extreme case, even if he had chosen to hold his ground and die a brutal death defending his land, he still should have lasted longer...
"I'll ask one last time. For the sake of our friendship, are you really unwilling to stop here? If you agree, the Seventh Province will grant the Hun tribes a large stretch of pastureland of their own. And for the rest of your life, I'll cover all your meals!"
Suppressing his tangled thoughts, Samael took a deep breath, turned back to look seriously at Altera, and waited for a final answer.
With the Three Kings descending, even with the advantage of fighting on home ground, neither the Divine Ancestor nor the Ancient Serpent himself could claim certain victory.
And on top of that, Altera, the humanoid terminal of the Umbral Star, was here too.
Who knew whether he, as the Primordial Serpent, joining forces with Romulus, who represented the Greek gods, might throw the situation off balance and indirectly awaken Sefar's consciousness, bringing about another cataclysmic war of the gods?
That horrific disaster in Greece was practically a nightmare. In the depths of his heart, Samael had always been deeply wary of Altera, that living time bomb.
That was why he had drawn this King of the Huns away from Rome. It was not just because of personal ties, but because he wanted to eliminate the worst possible outcome before it could happen.
At the same time, this move was also meant to keep control of the battlefield in his own hands.
Greece certainly needed Rome as a fortress and as a powerful ally.
But while Samael and the old Greek gods had once enjoyed a honeymoon period of cooperation, there was also plenty of filth between them.
The Ancient Serpent and Romulus were not close enough that he would gladly fight to the death for him.
By Samael's calculations, once Altera was removed from the equation, the chaotic battle in the City of Seven Hills could end only one of three ways.
Either the Divine Ancestor of Rome would unleash his full might, use the advantage of his homeland, and narrowly turn the tables.
Or the Kings of Persia and Egypt would prove stronger and beat Romulus down mercilessly.
Or both sides would simply tear each other apart and end in mutual ruin.
And no matter which of those happened, none of it would be settled quickly.
In that case, the key factor deciding the course of the battle would no longer be inside the city, but outside it.
As long as Samael could persuade Altera to stop and withdraw from this vortex of strife, then in a two-against-two battle, he and Romulus could pin the two enemies who had rashly pushed deep into Rome's heartland to the ground and hammer them to death.
Even if he failed to talk Altera down, then at worst Romulus and the others would wound each other badly. He could just take the Divine Ancestor and retreat to recover. It was not as if the Three Kings could keep wandering around Rome forever.
Did they really think Greece was blind and would not strike at their rear?
At absolute worst, Samael could stay behind as a bodyguard for a while. Once the Divine Ancestor recovered, the two of them could slowly clean up the aftermath and stabilize the front.
No matter how he calculated it, he should not have been the one to lose out.
And yet, what no one had foreseen was that Romulus would actually fall in barely more than ten minutes.
Including last night, he had only been in the City of Seven Hills for two days. Since when had Great Rome and the Pantheon, which had endured centuries of pressure from both the Persian Empire and the Huns, become this pathetic?
Ten-odd minutes!
Damn it, this collapse was downright absurd!
Samael's entire plan had been thrown into chaos. The King of the Huns, whose expression had begun to soften slightly under his earnest persuasion, now turned cold and stern again.
With bitterness rising in his chest, the Ancient Serpent seriously suspected that Ares, who had once handed equipment to Sefar, and Romulus, who had now practically handed everything away for free, were exactly the same. Father and son, both of them were damn ironclad enemy agents planted in their own camp. Complete traitors!
At this point, all he could do was gamble on Altera's attitude.
Yet under the Ancient Serpent's intent gaze, the King of the Huns slowly shook her head once more.
Before beginning a new life, she was still the king of the Hun Empire, a warrior who scourged and trampled hostile civilizations.
"Then move!"
The instant he got his answer, Samael's brows knitted and he exploded into motion. Ether light burst from behind him to propel him forward as he turned and lunged toward smoke-shrouded Rome.
Brynhildr, Boudica, and the others were still inside. While Romulus had been alive, they had been able to watch the situation and fall back to Nero's private residence, where they could keep themselves safe. But now the City of Seven Hills was already on the verge of collapse.
Rather than waste time in a standoff with Altera here, it was better to make sure his friends and loved ones were safe first.
Boom!
Spear and sword collided, and red-black and rainbow hues spread through the air, sending a violent Ether surge rippling outward and scattering the surrounding clouds.
In midair, the figure who had flashed over to intercept him faced off against Samael, whose expression had darkened.
Rainbow wings fluttered behind Altera. She leveled the iridescent Sword of the War God, her gaze sharp, her tone flat and emotionless, like a killing machine executing a command.
"Once battle begins, there is no reason for it to stop. Since you chose me, then as your opponent, I will not easily allow an enemy to break through the blockade. If you want to pass, defeat me first..."
"Are you serious?!"
Samael was frantic with urgency. Through clenched teeth, he forced out a frost-cold voice as vicious red-black flames ignited along the cross-spear in his hand.
"I never lie..."
Altera answered calmly, her eyes clear to the bottom. She raised the Sword of the War God high, and the nested star rings above her head lit up one by one.
A fierce battle was about to erupt.
In the end, the worst possible situation had arrived.
"Heh. So you always do what you say?"
"That's right..."
Just as the momentum building on both sides reached its peak, Samael's gaze flickered at her answer. Suddenly, he lowered the cross-spear. His divine might collapsed in an instant, and with a dark, unreadable look in his eyes, he raised a hand toward Altera and met her gaze.
"Good. Now it's your turn to keep your promise..."