Chapter 919: Ch 918: Why It Failed

The heavy black stone axe sank into Zeus's body, and every man watching felt his scalp crawl. His vulnerable groin parted without the slightest resistance, and the vertebrae of his spine gave way like tofu.

The axe was one swing from cleaving Zeus in two when it hit the third rib and some force locked it in place.

Seeing the attack land so easily, Ryo didn't get cocky. He didn't press the advantage either. Instead, he pulled back five kilometers right away, which was his estimate of a safe distance to counter from.

Zeus, who had looked furious a moment ago, suddenly wore a look of regret.

"What a shame."

He sighed and murmured, "In the name of the Father."

A thin, blood-red mist rose from his body. A breeze carried it out until it blanketed the sky for three kilometers around, swallowing Ares, Hermes, and Heracles. Only Dodekatos escaped by freezing the space around her.

Authority of War.

Damage Share!

Zeus's eyes flashed red. Heracles, still straining with every muscle to cut him in half, grunted, and blood began seeping from his skin. The mechanical forms of Hermes and Ares let out strange, unnatural hums at the same time.

Meanwhile, Zeus's wound, which should have split him almost in two, suddenly improved. The heavy stone axe was pushed back more than ten centimeters, and now it was only lodged down around his bladder.

"You just ignored the conditions and used Ares's Authority of War?" Ryo stared, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Zeus laughed, utterly unfazed by his injuries. "He's my son, so what's his is mine. Isn't that how it works?"

It sounded casual enough. But what he had just revealed sent a chill through everyone present.

Ryo understood now. Zeus had replaced most of the Twelve Olympians with his own children, and this was the vicious reason why.

No wonder Athena had been so reluctant to act. Pulling power from your own kids and using it as your own was nasty beyond belief.

So this was the truth behind Zeus's title of Great Father.

Zeus looked at Ryo and sighed. "Such a pity. Athena seems to have hidden your Fourth-Generation God King spirit rank. Otherwise, just now... heh. Consider yourself lucky you don't have it on you."

Ryo eyed him coldly and said nothing.

Zeus could only marvel at how slippery the kid was. If Ryo had responded at all, if he'd so much as acknowledged that Fourth-Generation God King rank, Zeus could have used the Great Father's power to pull Ryo's Authorities and abilities away.

But that brat hadn't taken the bait. He'd avoided talking to him from the start, so someone had obviously coached him on how to deal with Zeus.

Still, no matter. Now that Zeus had used the Great Father, the tables had turned. Ryo Yagami, who'd had him surrounded, would have to be careful, which meant he couldn't control his puppets at full strength.

Zeus smiled. "Saint George, would you mind taking care of the monster behind me?"

"Can't think of a reason to say no," George said with a shrug.

He was obligated to act against Ryo, but he didn't want to get dragged into their internal fight. Holding off Dodekatos was the best way to contribute without really picking a side. Besides, she was the softest target on the field.

Saint George stamped his foot and became a streak of light, sweeping toward the mermaid behind Zeus.

With the only one immune to the Great Father's hold now drawn away, Zeus relaxed even more. He even had the spare time to tease Heracles, who was right in front of him.

"My beloved son! I believe I told you once that when you bare your fangs at me, you'd better be able to bite me to death."

"And look at you now. What is this?" His tone dripped with scorn. "Going for my groin? You think I care if one avatar ends up a eunuch? You think I'd even bother defending against that? If I cared about my dignity, I'd never have climbed this high."

Heracles, tall as an iron tower, just glanced at him and said calmly, "Castrating Zeus, one time, a hundred thousand Thousand Eyes points. Avatar or not."

The smile froze on Zeus's face.

Heracles looked at him with open contempt. "Hatred? Don't make me laugh. I just wanted to make some money."

In a way, Heracles understood Zeus very well. Mockery, insults, humiliation, all kinds of targeted abuse, Zeus could laugh off any of it with that thick skin of his. But making money off it? That, he couldn't stand.

Like right now. Zeus's expression had gone from smiling to completely blank.

He gave Heracles a long look, then ignored the child he'd once loved most and turned toward Ryo in the distance.

"Shame you're only also an avatar," he said flatly.

If it had been the real Heracles, Zeus would have killed him on the spot. But no matter. The one who'd caused all of this, his fated nemesis, Ryo Yagami, was standing right over there.

"Heh!" Zeus chuckled, glanced at Ryo's hand tucked into his pocket, and sneered. "Waiting for the poison to take effect? Did you really think I'd come here without any preparation?"

As soon as he said it, ugly dark-green pustules sprouted across his face and arms, with boiling green slime bubbling on top of them.

Drip.

The green slime slid off Zeus's face and landed on the ground with a hissing sizzle. In an instant it ate a pit into the earth, and it kept melting downward.

"Hydra venom again? You haven't learned a thing," Zeus sneered, then said to Ryo, "Take a look at your own hand."

Ryo pulled his hand out of his sleeve and saw small red welts all over it, like mosquito bites.

"Poison?" Ryo said, surprised, and stared at Zeus.

At the same moment, the same red bumps appeared on Heracles, Ares, and Hermes. Unlike Ryo, who only had them on one arm, they were covered from head to toe.

"Heh heh, that's a virus, the concept of AIDS given form."

Zeus smiled and held out a finger.

A faint, noisy buzzing rose in the air. Countless nearly invisible mosquitoes drifted in and settled on his fingertip.

"Why do you think I came as Brontes? Just a fake name? No." He laughed softly, his voice dripping with mockery. "Brontes is my newest incarnation, created as the Lord of the Flies, King of Mosquitoes, Lord of Plague. And I filled it with all the AIDS I've accumulated so far..."

Ryo couldn't help but laugh. "So now it's a contest of who's more poisonous?"

Zeus smiled at Ryo and didn't deny it. He was a god-king who'd been poisoned by Ryo once already, and hitting back with poison was the way to win back his dignity as God-King. He was also confident he could give Ryo a truly brutal case of poisoning.

Until...

Three seconds later, Zeus doubled over, retching. Blood flowed from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eyes.

"How?" He stared in shock at the blood pooled in his hand, then looked up at Ryo. "That's not right. You should only have spread three poisons in the air, and I neutralized every one of them with my Authority and counter-viruses."

Ryo's lips curled up, and his eyes were cold. In a low voice, he spoke, "Zeus, did nobody ever tell you that even a mosquito shouldn't suck just any blood?"

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