Chapter 94 – The Revived Myth
What I asked of Hercules through the Styx Oath was simple.
He had to fight me with the intent to kill, but without actually killing me.
In other words, I would come at him with the intent to kill, and he had to do the same.
“What?”
At that moment, I felt the oath etched into both our hearts slowly activating and enforcing its compulsion.
An intangible energy rose around Hercules like a mirage.
The oath, made by the Goddess of the Styx, who predated even the gods themselves, was never to be taken lightly.
“What on earth is happening?”
“There’s no time for half-measures. You’ve got to push through a few stages quickly, even if it’s tough.”
The only way to grow stronger quickly.
That was the only thing—a life-and-death struggle with a strong and dangerous opponent.
“Tsk... You’re going to regret this, you know?”
“You better make it so. If you don’t want to die before graduating.”
Even gods, if they break their oath to the River Styx, fall into a long death-like sleep due to the curse of the Goddess Styx, and mortal souls are said to fall into Tartarus.
In any case, Hercules had no choice.
However, the guy who seemed a bit flustered soon adjusted his expression, took the stance he had learned from me, and aimed his fist at me.
“So, you’re saying I can go all out?”
“If you hold back, you’ll die.”
“I can’t afford to die, right?”
“I’d be grateful if you could die in my place.”
“Rubbish!”
-Boom!
Like a massive missile, Hercules rushed at me in a tackle stance.
His crossed arms were as thick as beams, his face well-guarded beneath them.
The time spent pounding discipline into him had clearly paid off—his tackle guard was perfect.
“Zeeeeuuuussssssss!!”
“Hmm...!”
Normally, I would dodge and counter such a head-on clash.
But despite feeling a chill from the force, I held my stance and collided.
-Boom!
“Kraaaaah!!!”
“...!!”
It felt like being hit by a wild boar—no, an elephant.
An overwhelming force and massive body, combined with incredible speed and precision in the body slam.
Hercules and I were instantly flung off the cliff, soaring through the air.
-Whooooosh!
A tidal wave, as if it would swallow the very earth, charged forward, crackling with thunder and lightning.
In contrast, a pitch-black abyss reminiscent of Tartarus stood its ground.
Those who had managed to avoid the tidal wave in time now stopped in their tracks, awestruck by the overwhelming spectacle unfolding before them.
Until just a moment ago, not only Hercules but also Dianes, who had fallen together...
The young heroes, ignited with the will to capture them in one go, could only gape in awe at the suddenly unfolding mythological spectacle.
“This can’t be...”
“Hahahaha. Crazy.”
It was as if the wrath of the gods had descended.
The tidal wave loomed, as if it would engulf the entire Forest of Heroes, only to be matched by the abyssal rift, a force so terrible that even the gods themselves would fear it.
Mesmerized, all they could do was gaze in awe at the coming collision.
The winged twins born of the North wind.
The hunter who served Artemis.
The two women who ran worried about their lover.
The half-man, half-centaur, and the nymph, who came running due to the commotion outside the barrier.
The bard holding a lyre.
The commander of Thebes who encouraged the young heroes.
Even the brilliant strategist blinded by jealousy.
They all stood, helpless as mortals before a calamity, witnessing the immense forces crash together.
The two forces, charging at each other quickly yet slowly, gradually got closer.
And finally, they collided.
-!!
Someone later recalled it as if two monsters roared.
Someone recorded that when the primordial egg cracked, it was the labor pains of light and darkness.
Someone shuddered, saying that the war of Zeus and Kronos was reenacted through the reproduction of the Titanomachy.
No one dared to put into words what that sound was, believing they had seen an illusion even those who weakly avoided it could not be blamed by anyone.
The ones who reenacted a fragment of that magnificent myth.
How could anyone easily believe that they were two extraordinary young heroes who dined and shared wine with them?
However, the myth did not end with a single clash.
– Rumble!
A massive tidal wave that would normally shatter and scatter in all directions upon collision began to roar against the ruling abyss.
Accepting this, the abyss fiercely pushed back the tidal wave, crushing it.
In defiance, a colossal force raised the abyss like Atlas holding up the sky, sustaining the tidal wave.
-Kuwaaaaak!
-Uwooooooo!
While everyone else was mesmerized by the massive spectacle, unable to take their eyes off it.
A few skilled individuals focused all their attention on those fiercely battling below.
In the very center of the collision of the two immense forces.
Two divine figures, darting between land, sea, and sky, were already far beyond human limits.
“Zeusssss!!!”
Chanting the name of the Supreme God, the giant hero wielded the lightning of the Supreme God in his hand.
Each time he swung his brilliant, blazing lightning and thunder, the air shook, and waves surged.
“Kahahahaha!!”
Laughing loudly as if he didn’t believe in gods, the black demon wielded his dark power.
It was as if witnessing the return of Hecatoncheires, with his twelve swinging arms causing the abyss to tremble and the earth to wail.
“...Kronos, my goodness.”
The sage, half-human and half-centaur, who witnessed this, couldn’t close his mouth due to the shiver running down his spine.
The war of long ago, now forgotten and even faint in his memory.
The war with the Titans, the colossal beings who shook the earth and reached for the sky, seemed to be revived right in front of his sanctuary.