Chapter 576 Discipline under the Scales
He suffered a sudden attack, and it was likely unrelated to his encounter in the starry Sky.
After all, from Ares's reaction to Heracles's strength, it was clear he didn't know who he had met.
For a moment, if he hadn't already made his move, the Great Hero even thought he had already rescued the Centaur Chiron, which was why Ares had been chasing him all the way.
But the reality was he hadn't even entered the city gates… but that no longer mattered.
Heracles met the bronze short sword, enveloped in a bronze-colored airflow, head-on.
Pulling back the Sky Horse, his fists, wrapped in the impenetrable lion skin, clenched the incoming long sword.
The veins on his three arms instantly bulged, and on this land near Olympus, the War God and he engaged in the most primitive contest, mediated by the bronze sword forged by Hephaestus.
There was no flashy energy surge; the power of the physical body was fully displayed here.
But what made Ares's eyes widen and his face contort in a ferocious grimace was that the bronze short sword, which he had gripped with both hands and pressed down with all his might, only stalled in the air for a moment.
Then, it was visibly lifted by a large hand and moved steadily in the opposite direction.
A moment of astonishment surged into his heart, and then shame and fury filled Ares's chest in the next instant.
Violent killing intent and rage burned in his heart, even transforming into an invisible flame that enveloped him.
An endless stream of power was born out of thin air, and with the synergy of Divinity and spirit, the War God's strength, which had already reached its limit, surged again.
If this were on Mount Mount Olympus, his divine power's destructive force would probably have temporarily risen by one level out of nowhere.
Ares roared towards the Sky, his eyes splitting as he looked at the enemy before him.
"Ah—enough, enough!!"
"Mortal! Do you really think you can defeat me?!!!!"
"Impossible! You will never defeat me!"
"I am the undefeated War God, Ares!!!"
Boom—!
The Sky cleared, and the earth rumbled.
Despite being a confrontation of pure physical strength, it now displayed the power to shake mountains.
At this moment, there was no blessing of divine laws, no divine artifacts that mortals could wield to their full potential.
Even the giant lion's impenetrable fur only blocked the sharp edge of the bronze short sword.
Facing such an opponent, Ares could no longer find any reason to console himself for his failure.
And in this desperate situation, his Divinity was finally stimulated twofold.
The stronger the fighting intent, the stronger the power… Is this the upper limit of the 'War God'? Ares didn't know.
He only knew that his physical strength had more than doubled at this moment, and even if Zeus stood here now, he would dare to step forward and arm wrestle with him.
The raging inferno of fury propelled the flow of his blood, and the cracking earth around him attested to his current power.
With immense confidence, at this moment, Ares pressed down with both hands, exerting all his strength.
Achilles or anyone else.
No one, absolutely no one, could resist his power at this moment!
"Die—!"
Step—!
He took a step forward, and the ground collapsed.
Under Ares's furious roar, the short sword, already pushed to its limit, finally stopped its upward movement and began to press down again towards the Great Hero.
With a look of wild ecstasy, in the War God's eyes, Heracles's figure seemed to merge with his past enemies.
Athena, Achilles… Yes, just like that!
Your previous victories never proved anything; as long as Heaven gives me a chance for a fair duel, how could you possibly be my match—
"Impressive."
Looking directly into Ares's eyes, at his fierce face with bulging veins, Heracles genuinely praised him at this moment.
"Over the years, I have encountered many opponents."
"They all had different abilities, and each one was difficult for me to handle."
"But among all those beings, you are the first who can achieve this level of pure physical strength."
"Even another Main God I've seen is far less than one-tenth of your power in this regard."
There was no exaggeration; although considering all divine power and Authority, a normal Ares was at most at the level of two Zephyrus.
Even with his fighting spirit overflowing, the difference between them would not be tenfold.
But Heracles's judgment was not wrong, because divine power and the body itself are not absolutely equivalent things.
Among the Gods, the ancient original Titan Gods generally had extraordinary divine bodies, while the newly born Gods were relatively weaker, and it was common for their divine bodies to be inferior to powerful demigods.
Only Gods like Ares, whose Divinity perfectly aligned, could rival the Titans in the strength of their divine bodies.
In comparison, the God of the West Wind and mortal demigods were simply not on the same level as him in this aspect.
Therefore, along his journey, Heracles had encountered either 'mechanic' monsters or 'size' monsters; no one had ever been able to achieve this level of pure physical strength.
Even when he first started, the great demon, despite its extraordinary divine body, was still choked by him.
It wasn't until today that this famous War God finally made him feel a trace of fighting spirit.
Wrestling with a God… His left hand, holding the reins of the horses, finally moved.
The Great Hero shook his wrist, sending the four Sky Horses tumbling to the ground.
Meeting Ares's gaze, which shifted from wild ecstasy to confusion, and then to astonishment and disbelief, Heracles gripped the middle of the short sword with his left hand, sinking his weight into his hips.
Although the opponent's character didn't earn his respect, as an opponent, the Great Hero acknowledged the War God's strength.
"Come—no need to hold back anymore."
"Now I'm also using my full strength… Prince Ares, please let me witness your true power as the War God!"
His eyes were sharp, having rarely encountered such an opponent.
He pushed off with his legs, the force transferring from the ground to his core, and finally exploding in his forearms and wrists.
Aside from the Sky-supporting giant Gods who wielded Authority of [Strength], and the Hecatoncheires who gained infinite strength by stepping on the earth, there had never been such powerful and pure strength in the human world.
Even at this moment, Heracles felt as if he had touched something again, but it was still like viewing the moon in water or flowers in a fog.
By the time he reacted, everything had vanished in an instant, as if it had never happened.
Only Ares, the one facing this supreme power, had bloodshot eyes and felt only powerlessness and horror.
What a joke! He just realized that he had only been dealing with one of this human's hands before?
And the Great Hero thought he didn't want to take advantage of him, so he didn't use his full strength… now he was going to experience his 'true power'?
The fighting spirit that had just ignited immediately began to tremble.
Looking at Heracles before him, the War God wanted to say something, but the Great Hero showed no intention of listening.
One force can overcome ten skills; this was demonstrated vividly at this moment.
Although Ares, in his desperation, tried to mobilize the holy power within his body to resist, Olympia, though close to the Divine Mountain, still belonged to the human world.
With a loud bang, the earth cracked open, forming a fissure several miles long.
A bronze stream of light flew backward, plummeting towards Olympia.
However, to everyone's surprise, the stream of light suddenly paused just as it was about to reach the city, then changed direction.
Instead of slowing down, it accelerated and continued to fly towards the Sky.
And the direction it flew was vaguely where Mount Mount Olympusstood.
"Hmm?"
"This… what's going on?"
His blood surged; the long-awaited full-power strike left the Great Herofeeling refreshed.
He merely exhaled a long breath, looking at the traces of divine blood on the ground and the receding divine light, momentarily puzzled.
The divine blood was understandable; during the arm-wrestling match just now, the bronze short sword ultimately couldn't withstand their power and broke into several pieces.
One of the pieces happened to pierce Ares, leaving a wound where he tied his belt, but the divine light's change of direction… he didn't know the reason. (Note 1)
"What else could it be."
"The War God's Divinity is highly linked to confidence and fighting spirit.
A War God who loses confidence and fighting spirit is like a Sea God who loses the ocean; they will be affected in all aspects."
"Your strike just now probably shattered his mentality, so much so that he fled without even looking back… Heh, actually, a single victory or defeat wouldn't usually cause such a reaction.
Ares's reaction probably means he's lost quite a bit before, and you were just the catalyst."
"It's just that he still has a bit of sanity, knowing not to lose face in front of mortals.
So, even in his haste, he remembered to stay away from Olympia City."
The puppet chuckled softly, crawling out of the Great Hero's pocket.
To be fair, the power Heracles unleashed just now shocked even him.
Disregarding those special influences, in terms of pure physical strength, the Great Hero might truly be the strongest in the world.
"That's good too; now, you should be able to 'discreetly' take the Centaur Chiron away."
"After all, Ares will absolutely not publicize this matter, and because of your fight, this city is already in chaos."
"…Alright."
The Great Hero nodded slightly, agreeing with this.
However, thinking about what just happened, he was still a bit bothered.
"…As you said, I was mistaken just now.
This level of power was the War God's full strength… But he still hasn't said why he came to bother me."
"Hmph… It's truly incomprehensible."
Shaking his head slightly, Heracles no longer pondered.
Next, he just needed to find the person.
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Clang—
…
Swish—
…
Thump-thump—
…
The journey was smooth; without Ares's presence, Olympia was like an unguarded territory before the Great Hero.
In the past, the God King might have left a trace of his will on his massive statue.
Even if he wouldn't do anything drastic, he might have chosen to prevent the Centaur from leaving.
But the God King had been living in seclusion recently, so this last bit of trouble was also eliminated invisibly.
Deep within the city, Heracles found Chiron, who was under house arrest in an underground palace.
Contrary to his expectations, the Centaur seemed to have suffered no harm there; instead, he appeared leisurely and at ease.
Without asking further questions in the palace, after explaining his purpose and Silvermoon City's commission, Chiron immediately agreed to leave with the Great Hero.
The chaotic city did not detect their presence, and in less than half a day, the two left Olympia.
"…Olympia is a city loyal to faith, even far exceeding Silvermoon City in the degree of fanaticism."
"After all, not everyone in Silvermoon City is a devout believer, but here, only devout believers are qualified to live."
The tall Centaur thanked Heracles for rescuing him and explained why he hadn't been harmed.
Until Ares arrived, the people of this city ultimately hadn't dared to do anything to him, and the War God who arrived hadn't had time to do anything either.
Chiron felt a slight sense of emotion about this, but he also had a few worries.
Although he seemed safe now, he didn't believe it himself.
Because a long time ago, he had divined his own future.
In the river of fate, he vaguely saw a venomous arrow striking a blurry horse's body.
On that arrow, he felt the aura of Death.
Undoubtedly, if he were the one struck by the arrow, he would surely die.
And if he wasn't the one struck… then why would he see this scene?
"Regardless, I thank you for your help, brave Hero."
He had prepared for Death long before coming, so despite still being worried, the Centaur didn't pay too much attention to it.
He just looked at the Great Hero before him, deciding to do his part for his journey.
Silvermoon City had given him a Star Shuttle as compensation, but that didn't mean Chiron himself didn't need to do anything.
From Heracles's words, he learned that the other party was going to the ruins of Mount Othrys.
He knew a little about this place.
"…The ancient Divine Mountain broke in the last epoch, leaving only ruins there now."
"Everything belonging to the Titans is buried there… And besides the ruins of the Gods, there is also a terrifying great demon there."
"I know, the Sphinx, the lion-headed human-faced monster."
Nodding, the Great Hero already knew quite a bit about this.
However, what the Centaur said next surprised him a little.
"…So… you're saying it's not willingly staying there, but is suppressed there by a divine artifact?"
"You can't put it that way; it's also somewhat willing."
"Or rather, it made an agreement with the owner of that divine artifact."
"They made a wager, and the stake was the Sphinx's freedom and the divine artifact that resonated with its unique power."
"I think you should know this…" The Centaur spoke slowly, his tone solemn: "That is the [golden balance], the manifestation of righteous order in the world."
"And it is precisely because of its existence that the Sphinx has never set foot in human kingdoms."
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Note 1
In the Trojan War, Ares was stabbed in the same spot by a mortal hero and then ran to Zeus to complain—so where exactly is this 'belt-tying' spot, the waist or below the waist? I don't know either, shrug.jpg