The night was as dark as ink, yet the Sun God summoned heavenly fire to burn the city, and the burning divine city heralded the decline of a powerful race.
Under the leadership of Kratos, the Olympus God Army stormed into the divine city as if entering an uninhabited land. Along the way, whether it was the Snake-Foot Giants fleeing in panic or other races forced to submit to the Snake-Foot Giants, Kratos treated them all equally, swinging his butcher's blade without any feeling.
The chained blades, bestowed by Athena, seemed to grow hotter with each kill. As he watched one life after another fade away, Kratos felt as if something within him was stirring, waiting to awaken.
Gradually, Kratos didn't even notice when he had already killed his way out of the divine city. There were no other followers around him, only a group of humans ahead, who knew not where they came from, running in terror towards the dark forest in the distance.
Kratos licked his lips, saying nothing, but the way he swung his chained blades and rapidly approached clearly indicated he had no intention of letting these humans go. However, no matter how desperately the humans in front ran, they were ultimately too far behind Kratos in terms of physical ability.
Kratos caught up to them in just a few steps, and his chained blades arced through the air, smashing towards the crowd. If his chained blades were to strike the crowd, the ground would surely explode, and the people would be pulverized.
However, at this very moment, an arrow suddenly shot from afar. This arrow not only deflected Kratos's chained blades but also continued its momentum, shooting straight towards Kratos's chest. But Kratos's title of "Olympus Champion" was not for nothing; upon sensing this threat, he immediately pulled back his thrown chained blades in less than a second, then joined the two blades together in front of his chest, using them as a shield to block the attack.
With a muffled clang, Kratos's twin blades vibrated continuously. The immense force from the arrow made Kratos's hands feel numb, but the arrow shot at him was also blocked, breaking and falling at his feet.
Kratos glanced around and saw that it was an arrow made of orichalcum. In front of him, behind the crowd, a tall figure emerged. He was a head taller than Kratos, wearing leather armor, carrying many weapons, and his black hair cascaded over his shoulders, appearing very heroic and much more mature than Kratos.
"These humans are our compatriots; they were only forced to submit to the violence of the Snake-Foot Giants."
The tall man walked up to Kratos, looked at him, and said,
"Can you let them go?"
"My orders are to kill all living beings within the Giant City. Orders are orders."
Kratos was silent for a moment, then couldn't help but ask,
"Who are you?"
"My name is Heracles."
The tall man introduced himself:
"I've heard my teacher speak of you, Kratos. He said you are the strongest warrior in the Sparta Kingdom in decades, the one who earned the title of Olympus Champion, and he instructed me not to fight you head-on."
"While I don't know who your teacher is, he certainly has a point."
Kratos showed a somewhat savage smile, looking at Heracles:
"But you came here, stood in front of me. Are you saying you intend to defy your teacher's warning?"
"Hmm, indeed."
Heracles nodded honestly:
"As his disciple, I should obey his teachings, and I know he means well for me. However, as a warrior, I am very curious about how strong a person who dares to hold the same title as me truly is."
Saying that, Heracles drew a huge and heavy bronze club from behind his back and slammed it onto the ground with a thud. Seeing this bronze club, Kratos's eyelids twitched, and he began to guess the identity of Heracles's "teacher" in his heart.
"This kind of club can currently only be made by our Sparta, and only warriors who have obtained the highest title are qualified and capable of using it. Could it be that your teacher is our High Priest of Sparta?"
Kratos asked tentatively.
"High Priest? Ah, yes and no."
Heracles thought for a moment and said,
"My teacher is the strongest deity in this world, Ares, who presides over War and destruction."
Whoosh!
As soon as Heracles finished speaking, the chained blades in Kratos's hands turned into a fiery light and smashed over, but they were blocked by the giant club in his hand in the next moment, and the chained blades and the giant club directly entwined.
"Although you are a Spartan, your reaction to Ares is truly too extreme, isn't it?"
Heracles held the giant club in his hand and frowned.
"Less talk! Tell me, where is that God of War?"
A beast-like growl escaped Kratos's throat. He gripped the iron chain of his chained blades and pulled hard. Heracles, caught off guard, almost lost his grip on the giant club.
However, the God of Strength was not to be underestimated. After reacting, he immediately stabilized his stance and tightened his grip on his weapon. Between the two of them, the iron chain connecting the chained blades was pulled taut, and the ground beneath their feet shattered into pieces, unable to withstand such a level of tug-of-war, revealing a large expanse of spiderweb-like cracks.
Their muscles bulged, tensed, and they remained in a stalemate for several seconds. After no clear victor emerged, Kratos was the first to give up the tug-of-war. Upon realizing that his strength still had a gap compared to the formidable enemy in front of him, he decisively abandoned the idea of pulling Heracles over. Instead, he directly pulled the iron chain, using Heracles's strength to propel himself towards him, and at the same time, the chained blades in his other hand arced with a strange and tricky curve, aiming for Heracles's temple.
However, Heracles also had many good weapons in his hands. Seeing the chained blades flying towards him, his free hand directly drew a holy sword from his waist. This holy sword was named "Mammyadoisa," forged by the God of Fire and then gifted to him by Ares. It is said that in later generations, the power of this holy sword even surpassed the King of Hair's Curry Stick.
Wielding this holy sword, Heracles directly split Kratos's blade, then swung horizontally towards Kratos in mid-air. Kratos, however, nimbly twisted away from the sword in mid-air. The two brushed past each other, and the chained blades that Kratos had entwined around the bronze club quietly unraveled at this moment.
Their movements did not stop. The moment they landed, Kratos turned and swung his twin chained blades again, while Heracles twisted his waist and threw his giant club.
The bronze giant club was wrapped by Kratos's chained blades and thrown towards the nearby mountains and wilderness, kicking up a soaring wave of dust in the forest. At this moment, another divine sword appeared in Heracles's empty hand.
This was the divine sword, "Strife of Saturn," the oldest sword and the King of all Swords, which, after being passed to Ireland, was reforged by the Celtic God of Love, Aengus, into the holy sword "Body-Ripper." Now, this divine sword, in the hands of Greece's strongest hero, radiated its supreme brilliance.
"This feeling of being evenly matched, I haven't had it in a long time."
Heracles gripped his twin swords, staring intently at the bald warrior in front of him, and couldn't help but lick his lips, grinning:
"Kratos, it was indeed right to come find you. Now, come and play with me."