Neither Melusine nor Kusanagi Godou expected Athena's response to come from such an angle.
Even Melusine, who had been feeling a bit prickly just a moment ago, found herself somewhat helpless in the face of the goddess's utter earnestness.
"I was merely teaching a lesson to a fool who didn't know her place, and decided to change my look while I was at it," Melusine said, intending to revert her dragon scales.
However, before she could even start, Athena moved to stop her.
"I have not yet had the chance to truly admire traditional Chinese attire," Athena remarked. "If you must change, it can surely wait until we return."
"Fair enough."
Melusine thought it over and didn't refuse. Although the slit in this cheongsam was daringly high, she was wearing safety shorts underneath, so she wasn't worried about any accidental exposure.
"Still... a 'fool,' you say? There aren't many characters capable of actually annoying you."
A look of regret flickered across Athena's face. "I have yet to see you truly enraged. To have missed such a spectacle... the disappointment I feel is quite beyond imagination."
Having taken on her teenage form, her expressions were far richer than those of her younger persona; her voice had lost its mechanical, monotone quality and was now brimming with emotion.
Melusine's eye twitched. She could clearly hear the genuine lament in the goddess's voice—Athena wasn't even acting.
Kusanagi Godou quickly snapped out of the bizarre atmosphere. While the scene looked relaxed, the pressure he felt standing in opposition to these two was anything but light.
But... how could he win?
No matter how desperately he wracked his brain, he couldn't find a path to victory.
On one side was Athena, stronger than him in every respect and not even fighting at full strength; on the other was Melusine, who had just effortlessly dispatched the Sect Leader who had beaten him earlier.
How was he supposed to win in a situation like this?
Melusine and Athena paid no mind to Godou's internal struggle.
However, to bring the conversation back on track, Melusine finally turned her gaze toward the boy, who stood nearby with his hands white-knuckled around his sword, his face taut with tension.
Sensing the fight was about to begin, Godou shook off his nerves and focused his spirit. He readied his Authority—the immortality he held 'until it was transferred to Prometheus.' If the Nemean Lion's fur was the ultimate defense, then this was the ultimate life-saving power.
It was a staggering form of immortality that could sustain life even against the venom of the Hydra.
Though activating it meant enduring the agony of that poison indefinitely, he had to use it when the time came.
Only then did Athena finally deign to look at Godou. Truthfully, her anger had cooled significantly since Melusine's return, and she hardly cared about this 'fool' anymore.
But considering this was a hard-won opportunity for battle, she intended to vent her frustrations before calling it a day.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the winds and clouds suddenly surged over a lonely island in the distant sea.
Heaven-shaking thunder began to roll, and spheres of light the size of fists shot into the sky. High above the clouds, in the vacuum of space, they bloomed with a dazzling brilliance like miniature suns.
The spheres of light began to expand.
In the blink of an eye, their diameter exceeded a hundred meters—matching the size of the 'floating island' in space where the Divine Sword had been buried for over a thousand years.
Furthermore, the massive orb of light crackled with electricity, firing sparks in every direction.
"So, that is the King of the End."
Athena narrowed her eyes.
Even though he hadn't fully manifested, and despite the fact that he was currently beyond the atmosphere, that scent of 'Steel' sweeping across the globe was enough for Athena to confirm his identity instantly.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderclaps and lightning strikes roared over a hundred times in succession. A scene of world-altering upheaval played out across the entire planet.
Melusine and Athena shared a look before taking to the sky in unison, leaving a bewildered Kusanagi Godou behind.
But his confusion couldn't last long. The tsunami whipped up by the massive storm was nothing short of a 'deluge of the apocalypse' for Japan.
Noticing this, Godou's scalp prickled with dread, and he immediately raced toward the distant coastline to try and hold back the waters.
Princess Alice watched the state of the sky and realized that Melusine's plan had reached its final stage.
Annie, meanwhile, stared at the heavens in disbelief.
Gritting her teeth, she sacrificed the entire villa she was staying in, transforming into a hundred-meter giant to soar directly into the sky.
Neither the lightning nor the storms were things Athena particularly liked, but they couldn't slow her down.
Melusine cared even less for the winds or the temperature.
The two figures quickly broke through the cloud cover and then the atmosphere, following the reaction of light and cursed energy until they reached the island floating in the void of space.
"Lady Melusine." Guinevere stood there alone, dressed in a white gown like a bride waiting for her wedding. The look of satisfied relief on her face showed she was in a state of absolute bliss.
Upon seeing the two land on the island, she immediately offered a greeting.
Melusine didn't ask where Lancelot or Sun Wukong were; one look at the situation nearby told her everything she needed to know.
There, the light shone even more fiercely than it appeared from the ground, yet its scale was much smaller.
This wasn't pure light, but energy concentrated to an extreme degree.
As time passed, all the flashes and energy began to shrink toward the center. To the eyes of the three present, it was clear that this energy was being entirely absorbed by the Divine Sword of Salvation.
Seeing that Melusine was ignoring her, Guinevere didn't mind.
The ritual was in its final moments, and she didn't want even the slightest distraction.
She continued her incantation:
"We pray for the rebirth of the sword, to cut through the darkness of the end and slay the demon kings who kill the gods. Oh, most noble Sword of Swords, Blade of Blades. You are the edge that annihilates the Devil King, the white light of salvation, born to slaughter the Rakshasas of this world!"
Yet, despite such a devout plea, the Divine Sword of Salvation remained unchanged. Guinevere's face paled. She dropped to her knees, her voice filling with even more desperate piety.
"O Holy King who manifests at the end of days, descend at once!"
This was no longer just a prayer; it was an unavoidable summons backed by the power of Word Soul.
The lightning and thunder finally ceased. The Divine Sword of Salvation regained its original splendor.
The three-foot blade, weathered for over a millennium, burst with platinum light, radiating a holy and magnificent brilliance. Beside the divine sword, the figure of a hero appeared out of thin air.
He had longish, pale hair and was a man of exquisite beauty.
However, his beauty was tempered by a hardened air of one used to the battlefield, underscored by an indelible sense of exhaustion.
Dressed in a blue coat and trousers with a pure white cloak, he slowly reached out and gripped the divine sword as if he were touching something he utterly loathed.
Guinevere didn't dare look up at the King she had forcibly summoned to fulfill his mission.
Her previous joy had vanished entirely.
Seeing this, Rama initially wanted to offer a word of comfort, but noticing the presence of others, he swallowed his words.
Just as he prepared to size up the two opponents before him, his gaze became firmly locked onto Melusine.
"...Just what are you...?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.