The night deepened, and as the fire in the living room died out, Luo En quietly got out of bed, locked the door and windows.
Afterwards, he sneakily took out the twelve-sided die, and added the newly obtained silver badge to the altar. Then, shaking his cupped hands, he silently chanted his intended target in his mind.
Athena, Athena! Give me an Athena!
Those who have studied summoning know that it requires a catalyst. The item isn't fixed—it can be a scene, an offering, or something that makes a connection to the summoning target, commonly known as a sacred relic.
As Luo En knew, some obsessed gamers in the circle visited England, feverishly wanting to bring back some local soil specialities—from the red soil in front of King Arthur's tomb, no less—insisting on using it as a sacred relic to summon a big-eater beauty in a suit with tufty hair, to fight the Holy Grail War for them, and rid them of the 996 overtime work schedule.
As they repeatedly extracted several kilograms of soil from their travel bags and flaunted photos in their groups, Luo En suspected that they might have completely stripped bare the top of King Arthur's grave.
Of course, even with all these preparations, whether they did the card draws online or the actual manipulation offline, what had to go wrong still went wrong.
After all, one cannot change fate by geomancy or by spending money. Some summonings rely on luck, others on misfortune; such is the nature of this profession.
So, Luo En, who was almost numb to deviations, didn't have much hope. All he could do was see whether the so-called "Dice of Chance" would abide by the law of conservation of luck and give him a field advantage, considering he had gambled with a sacred relic personally related to Athena next door.
With hope in his heart, Luo En let go without hesitation. The twelve-sided die on the table rolled several times, finally showing a blood-red number composed of crimson spears.
Ares?
Great, skewed again...
Seeing the completely different emblem, Luo En grimly reached out, intending to retrieve the die when a silvery-white character, tinged with blood, flickered and hovered above the altar in his mind, radiating a brutal and ferocious Divinity.
Luo En's previously disdainful gaze froze instantly, and his pupils contracted sharply.
It's actually this one!
Meanwhile, in Olympus, at the Hall of Beauty.
The once violently shaking soft bed came to a sudden halt. Ares, the War God, who had been brandishing his sword in battle within the draped bed, shivered, and his complexion turned beet red in an instant.
"It's an accident, definitely an accident! It must be because Hephaestus has been pestering me too much lately, I..."
"Bang!"
Before Ares could finish his defense, Aphrodite's bewitchingly beautiful face had already frosted over with disdain, and with one kick, she sent the now ineffective man tumbling under the bed.
Having just returned from the outside and heard of her lover's embarrassing situation, she had intended to personally step in to comfort him.
But once again, he was all bark and no bite.
If she had known, she would have stayed a few more days in Atlantis.
Ares, scrambling up from the ground, tried to prove that his vigor was still intact, but as a familiar sense of exhaustion surged in his heart, his face darkened, and he felt like crying without tears.
Was just infusing a strand of war divinity enough to reach this realm?
Bear in mind, even Ares, the god of war, had not fully achieved the state of "Infinite Martial Refinement."
Otherwise, he wouldn't be treated as an experience bag by the other chief gods, casually farmed for experience.
"Hum!"
While Luo En was deep in thought, the silver divine oracle in his mind exploded into endless streams of bloodlight, and a series of gruesome and stern battle images madly flooded his mind.
Blood! War! Slaughter! Death!
The formidable figure with a bronze winged helmet and leather vambraces waved a war spear one moment and grasped the Sword of the War God the next, constantly piercing, sweeping, jabbing, and chopping at the enemies surging in from all sides.
That figure, radiating a violent urge to kill, became the beast on the battlefield that tore through and devoured everything.
He was divinely favored, dignified, agile, and tireless in battle.
He was the nemesis of wisdom, the scourge of life.
Blood flowed freely, lives were brutally reaped, and offered to terror and death.
Headless Titans, heartbroken Nymphs, wing-broken dragons, groaning heroes... one by one, these figures fell to his sword and to the front of his spear.
When the last standing figure also fell with a thunderous collapse, facing the war god Luo En, he suddenly felt a battle will and madness of such purity crashing into his heart, as a crimson tide of blood began to overwhelmingly spread out.
In an instant, he couldn't help but have bloodshot eyes, his heart pounded like a thunderous drum, and the blazing blood it furiously pumped out flowed into his limbs, burning like flames within his body.
An impulse to find an opponent and engage in a hearty battle overpowered him, making him lose control; he leaped and jumped into the dark courtyard.
Luo En clenched his teeth and, relying on his barely maintained sanity, broke off a tree branch and started chopping at the flowers and plants on the road.
In a flash, branches and leaves scattered, flowers were destroyed, and the entire nursery was a mess.
Finally, after a bout of venting, the uncontrollable surge of blood in his body showed signs of easing.
However, before Luo En could figure out how to tame this unruly battle will, a cold murmur came from behind him.
"Crude, too crude..."
In the moonlight, Athena, dressed in a plain white gown, looked at the mess on the ground with a look of disdain that even a dog would shake its head at. She casually picked up a twig from the side, tapped it against her palm, and walked gracefully towards Luo En in the courtyard, who was using the tree branch to mimic sword techniques.
"Well then, let me teach you how to use a sword!"
In an instant, the stubborn battle will within Luo En roared to life like oil poured on fire, and the "sword" in his hand involuntarily chopped towards the approaching Goddess of Wisdom.
The fierce battle was inevitable!