Chapter 1006: A True God’s Strength

Down came the gavel of law, crashing through the ceiling of gold onto the bodies of the invaders. Raven and Helga flinched for a moment, for Hamleth was still standing before them with his hand trying to crush Athenia. Recomposing themselves in a matter of a second, however, they leapt out of the gavel’s trajectory, though the weapon never crashed against the ground.

From the shadows of the gavel, a shadow dragon appeared. Biting the gavel’s flat end, the creature slowly crawled out of the shadows and shook the gavel like a dog does with a squeaky toy. It thrashed it against the walls, screeching and destroying the inside of the castle with its wide, spanning wings.

"Good boy, Shadow! But you gotta stop playing with it now!" Mono ordered, snapping her fingers at her pet shadow dragon.

In response, the dragon crushed the gavel within its teeth before leaping at Hamelth. Forced to pull away from Athenia, the god swung his fist in an arc–sacrificing one arm into the dragon’s teeth. Once his teeth were buried in his flesh, the god of law grabbed the monster by its face and slammed it where the rest of the invaders were standing.

Only a cloud of dark fog ever hit the god’s enemies, as the dragon could control what part of it was solid and what wasn’t. Frustration clouded Hamleth’s judgment, and as he attempted to pull apart the dragon’s jaws, Elenaria and Athenia both stepped forward with their hands outstretched.

"We’re still here, in case you’ve forgotten!" An astral arm of a giant punched through a portal right next to Hamleth’s ear, sending him stumbling against the cracked walls of the castle. Crashing right through the bricks of gold, he groaned in pain but didn’t let go of the dragon.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Casting a snare of gold around Hamelth’s neck with her magic, Athenia yanked him back towards the throne. Losing his balance, he stumbled and tore right through his seat, but as he tried to undo the snare, his hand was burned by an immense flow of necrotic spells.

"HAAAA!!" And yet, grabbing the rope, he pulled it apart, tearing it in two, though his hands were now burnt with a necrotic glow. Setting his eyes on the dragon next, he glared at the beast, and a moment later a blast of golden light began pulsing inside the beast’s shadow body. For once, the dragon groaned in pain like a wounded dog, but before Hamleth could injure him, Mono whistled loudly to turn her pet back into an elastic band on her wrist.

Wearing his anger red on his face,

"KNEEL, YOU MAGGOTS!!" His words carried an authority so strong that the bodies of mortals took it as law. Raven, Mono, even Helga and Moeria were instantly forced to kneel with their hands pinned to the ground.

"The fuck?!" The valkyrie grunted, trying to lift herself up again.

Raven and Mono were more silent in their struggles; as for Moeria, she only looked at the back of Athenia’s head as the words came.

’Use my mind as a conduit and free everyone from the tyrant’s control.’ With a brief nod, she closed her eyes and focused herself on the link of steel and sorrow that led her to the heart of Athenia’s soul. A cold shiver ran up her spine the moment she connected, and although Hamleth swept the entire group of mortals with his hands, making them slam into the walls, Moeria kept herself focused.

"THERE!" As her eyes opened again, she saw and thought through the shared consciousness of the divine. Her eyes were set on Hamleth of the now, but what she saw was from a few moments in the future. "THE GROUND!!"

Sharing her vision with everyone all at once, she warned the group just as the god of law slammed his fists into the floor. The entire foundation of the castle erupted into the air, crashing and crumbling under one’s feet, all the while both Athenia and Elenaria were already off their feet and containing Hamleth’s rage with snares, enhanced gravity, while also casting strength-dampening spells.

As the ground itself was crumbling underneath them, the palace of god was suddenly in freefall. The entire thing was crashing down, with chunks of the plateau breaking in uneven portions. In the matter of pure strength, Hamleth easily outmatched the goddess, so much so that a single strike from his fists was enough to shatter the plateau that was as tall as the city of Athenia’s.

With trickery, surprise, and their command of magic, both Athenia and Elenaria were keeping him from unleashing his full strength, but the moment the mortals began to fall, their minds swayed, and that connection was finally broken. Arms of gold slipped out of the cracks in the falling ground and grabbed Raven, Helga, and Mono by their feet. The trio gasped and looked down as their bodies were suspended in freefall through thick and thin of the dusty rubble.

At the same time, with Hamleth free of his binds, countless giant hands of gold as large as the castle itself appeared all over the crumbling plateau. Some balled into fists, others already mid-sway to swat at the hero and his companions. Not even the goddesses were free of consequence as the god’s true hands were swung at them. Athenia tried to grab his right arm like before, but this time at his full strength, Hamleth’s fist connected with her chest–sending her thrashing through the rubble and destroying what little integrity the plateau had left at the base.

Elenaria, having noticed the fist a lick before, Athenia managed to gather enough strength to conjure a shield of silver dragon scales. The gods’ blow was instantly reflected back to him, but what little strength that made through managed to make Elana’s head spin for just a moment.

"Enough playing around then." Gritting her teeth, the goddess looked to the sky through the shattered ceiling that was still falling as slowly as a snail for her divine eyes. Reaching to the expanse of Stellaris, she closed her eyes and declared at once. "RAIN HELL ON THIS ARROGANT GOD! THE SPIRITS OF CHAMPIONS, SHATTER THROUGH!"

And so night fell in a matter of seconds, but not because the sun was gone, but because the ocean of stars was raining down enough souls to obscure it completely. All the while, not even a minute had passed since the start of the battle.