Chapter 72: Ancient Night
However, the goddess who was just encircling Shirou's neck suddenly felt her body being embraced. The man, who should have been affected by her [Words of Death], suddenly ignored the curse at this moment. With his arms wrapped around her, Athena even felt herself becoming slightly breathless.
"Mmm, mmm..."
Athena, only able to make such whimpering sounds, pressed against the man's shoulders, trying to push him away. If she had done that just now to pour the [Words of Death] into Shirou's body, the current situation was entirely a case of her being taken advantage of by the other party.
Athena, the Goddess of Battle and Wisdom, was being treated this way by a youth who had only recently become a "Campione." She felt rage—not only at this person's cunning and his power to completely disregard her curse, but also at the fact that she was being so utterly humiliated by him.
This was a trap! This man had deliberately refrained from stopping her, allowing her to come right in front of him! This feeling of being outcalculated caused Athena to widen her eyes in surprise.
Suddenly, she noticed something else. The youth's pale gold eyes, meeting hers, were now stained with a golden radiance, and even his body seemed to begin overflowing with a sun-like brilliance.
That was... divine power!
Athena widened her eyes, looking in disbelief at the divine radiance overflowing from Shirou's body.
"Mmm... Mmm!"
The goddess with the petite body finally reacted. Using all her strength, she began to struggle, finally managing to break free from Shirou's prison-like embrace.
"Ha... ha..."
Retreating several meters, Athena cast a wary gaze at the man who had just "freeloaded" a kiss from her without showing even a trace of being cursed.
"You... did that on purpose!"
"What? Since you were the one trying to kill me, are you going to blame me for talking back?"
Athena was instantly incensed. She quickly backed away, her black eyes full of fury as she stared at Shirou.
"I will kill you!"
In that instant, she raised her slender right arm and chanted her Words of Power aloud.
"By the true name of Athena, let the dark night manifest here! Dispel the blessings of the sun and extinguish the fire of Prometheus! O starry sky and pitch-black winds, recreate here the Ancient Night!"
What was activated at this moment was Athena's second Authority—[Ancient Night]!
This Authority could form a domain of darkness, nullifying light and fire. Anything related to the two would cease to function—be it electric lights, flames, or even car engines. Following the activation of Athena's Authority, the sky, which had just been a beautiful orange-yellow near sunset, was suddenly covered by darkness.
In an extremely short amount of time, the sky was veiled by a curtain of darkness, punctuated by the moon and stars. This was the "Night" loved by the goddess Athena.
But the modern night was too bright. Within the city, various lights and the headlights of moving vehicles immediately flickered to life, once again illuminating Athena's favorite night. Even looking up at the sky, one could only see faint starlight that could not reach the ground.
Humans hating the darkness was not a recent development. At the coast where Athena stood, the bright streetlights on the roads on both sides illuminated her favorite darkness with immense clarity.
Humans watch the gods. Humans worship the gods and convert to them. Humans rely on the gods and pray for their protection. When humans encounter a "Heretic God" on earth, they become terrified, lose their reason, fall into madness, become mentally deranged, and lose their minds—this used to be a matter of course in her eyes.
However, the Campiones appeared. These fellows overcame the impossible; they were able to kill gods before surpassing them. These anomalies among humans are called Campiones!
They were fellows who annoyed Athena. Thousands of years ago—she could no longer remember the exact time—she had fought a Campione. The Authorities these fellows usurped from the gods were very troublesome for Athena.
The entire city plunged into the dead of night. People began to panic; just as Athena had expected, they felt terror at this sudden darkness.
Homes, companies, apartments, shops, bars, neon signs, cars—finally down to flashlights and tiny lightbulbs—Athena let none of them escape, causing every man-made light source to vanish. When this human-forged sunlight disappeared, it was replaced by a street filled with true darkness. It even turned places just a few meters ahead into a bottomless abyss of night.
Not far from the coast, the two maids with black and green hair waiting in the black sedan felt something was wrong as the sky suddenly turned pitch-black.
"Eh... what happened?" "It's so dark... why did it suddenly become night?"
Princess Alice spoke to explain: "That is an anomaly caused by the Authority of the Heretic Goddess Athena."
As the darkness began to sweep through, the engines of vehicles traveling on the streets within the city stalled due to this sudden change.
Boom!
Various car collisions and accidental explosions at gas stations began to turn into bright flames, flickering in the night. The screams and wails of people rose continuously throughout the city.
The [History Compilation Committee] attempted to use magic to obtain light sources, but even though Athena currently possessed only a third of her prime strength, a god is still a god. Even if weakened, she remained a high and mighty deity, an existence beyond the reach of ordinary mages.
"Finally, we have entered my favorite night. The annoying sun has vanished. A world shrouded in night is my home field."
As if she could see the chaotic scenes within the city, a triumphant smile appeared on Athena's cold little face.
"What I seek is the 'Gorgoneion.' Tonight, I shall reclaim my ancient serpent from the hands of you, this shameless scoundrel!"
As if chanting, yet also as if swearing an oath, Athena looked at Shirou. However, the goddess's resolve was met with a cold reply.
"How boring. Do you think a version of you like this can oppose me?"
The moment those words fell, Athena immediately sensed the air around her becoming unusual, as if danger would descend in the next second.
"I cannot let this continue... I must take the initiative!" Murmuring this, the goddess immediately intended to launch an attack.
However, in the next second, the clanking of chains reached her ears. Blue ripples lit up in the surrounding air, and chains flew out from them. Golden wedges mercilessly pierced through Athena's arms and ankles.
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