He gasped for breath, struggling to regain his composure after the lightning damage and the strain of using Iaijutsu consecutively.
Finally, after his breathing and pulse calmed down…
“……I'm sorry.”
Aster apologized. To someone he didn't even know.
The human possessed by Zeus. He had no choice but to cut him down.
The fact that Zeus still lived even after all this made him realize how unfair this fight truly was.
Whee─
And the body Zeus had possessed, its hand now empty as Astrape had vanished, plummeted to the ground.
Thud!
The human vessel, now free of Zeus's control, crashed onto the ground,
Stomp, crunch!
And was trampled upon.
Countless footsteps pounded across it,
“Don’t let him escape!!”
A sharp voice cut through the battlefield, carried by the wind.
“Seize Frondier!”
“Athena! Frondier is dead! What are these orders?!”
“I’ll explain later!!”
“We demand an explanation later!”
“Just go!!”
Athena's command and the gods who followed her. They charged towards the 72 devils with ferocious speed.
“Don’t let them through!!”
“Block them!!!”
The 72 devils, protecting Frondier's body, moved as one. Frondier's companions followed closely behind.
Selena, sprinting a certain distance behind, shouted with a strained voice.
“Gregory! Has it been 10 minutes yet?!”
[Almost there!]
“Countdown!”
Caw─!!
Caw, caw, caw!!
The gods and devils charged forward. Ravens cawed in response, their cries echoing through the air. Sand and dust swirled across the ground, mingling with the screams and shouts that resembled death throes.
“Mei! Over here!”
Selena glanced back.
Little Mei, despite running with all her might, was gradually falling behind.
“Mei! Change your form!”
“N… No…!”
Having finally settled on her current form, Mei adamantly refused to change it. Her small body strained as she pushed herself to run faster.
But her speed was simply not enough.
At that moment.
“Haven’t shown you this yet, have I?”
Mei’s body suddenly lifted into the air, closing the distance between her and Selena.
Elodie appeared beside her, having used her magic to levitate Mei.
“Mei, haven’t I shown you flight magic before?”
“… I can float. It’s not like I can do everything perfectly right away. And Elodie always does it differently, it’s confusing.”
Mei mumbled, sounding somewhat sulky.
Elodie chuckled and looked at Selena.
“Selena! You’re going to move with Mei, right?”
“Yes!”
“Great, I’ll leave her to you!”
With a gentle push of her hand, Elodie brought Mei and Selena closer together.
Selena shouted once more.
“Gregory!”
[!]
Gregory’s ravens gathered around Selena, around Lily, around Arald, and around the 72 devils protecting Frondier.
The ravens called out in unison.
[Three!]
Mei and Selena’s fingers weaving.
Shadow Transfer.
[Two!]
They reached Frondier’s side, making contact with his body.
[One!]
Immediately after.
“!!”
The 72 devils protecting Frondier spread their wings simultaneously and scattered in all directions.
The gods, who had been pursuing the devils, felt as if they were witnessing a flock of bats dispersing into the night.
“…What…?”
And in the space where the devils had been,
There was no one.
None of the devils had taken Frondier with them.
Frondier had vanished without a trace.
“Gasp…! Gasp…!”
Athena, arriving a little late, staggered to a halt, her breath ragged.
The other gods considered chasing after the fleeing devils but thought better of it.
Frondier was already dead. The only one in a desperate situation now was Athena. The others had merely followed her orders.
With the Devil King gone, the devils’ power would be significantly weakened. Their objective was not to annihilate the devils entirely.
“Athena, that’s enough. We’ve won.”
“…Won?”
Athena echoed the word incredulously.
To think their perceptions of this situation were so different!
“Have you forgotten our mission, no, our destiny? We haven’t even determined the owner of the Golden Apple, and you call this victory? Frondier has just twisted fate itself!”
“…Destiny will run its course in time. The Moirai do not reveal everything. We merely proceed by grasping the outline of a grand picture. You know this, Athena.”
His words rang true.
Even if the Golden Apple’s ownership remained undecided, it didn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t happen. Today might not have been the day. He had a feeling Aphrodite had pushed for this encounter rather forcefully.But Athena couldn't accept it.
“But Frondier is still alive…!”
“Athena.”
This time, it was Aphrodite who spoke up.
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Aphrodite…!”
Aphrodite’s gaze towards Athena was ice cold.
“I killed Frondier.”
“Aphrodite! Frondier is…!”
“From the beginning, you…”
Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed at Athena.
Her gaze was so full of suspicion, it bordered on conviction in its opposite.
“Why are you so certain that Frondier is still alive?”
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tyftc
ReplyDeleteNooooo why did I caught up😭😭
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter