Chapter 365: Fatherly Love Like a Landslide

On a nameless deserted island.

Lorne unexpectedly drove Alcyoneus, king of the Giants, back.

He immediately pushed the power of the Labyrinth inside him to its limit and raised a temporary protective barrier. Only then did he have a chance to glance back at Hera and ask with concern, "How are you? Are you all right?"

"I can still hold on."

Hera worked hard to steady the chaotic power inside her body as her bright eyes gazed gently at the solid back in front of her, and an elegant smile appeared on her exquisite face.

"Hey, can you two talk later? I think I can still be saved..."

Just as the atmosphere was growing a little subtle, the silver dragon’s head in Hera’s arms lifted its eyelids. It looked resentfully at the man and woman in front of it and complained in a weak voice.

Lorne and Hera came back to themselves at once and focused their eyes on Ladon, who was left with only a head.

It had to be said that, as Typhon’s eldest daughter, this hundred-headed dragon truly had a tough life.

Even with only one part remaining, she could still keep her life and consciousness stable.

If her divine power and divinity had not been almost completely drained, she might even have been able to regenerate rapidly.

"Hang on for now. Once we get back to Athens, I’ll help you reshape your body!"

As he spoke, Lorne took out two new bottles of immortality elixir he had taken from the healer’s small wooden hut.

He crushed them directly and poured their contents into Ladon’s mouth, using the life force within them to keep the dragon girl alive.

The situation was critical, and he naturally had no time to spend large amounts of divinity and energy restoring Ladon to her original form.

He could only focus on gathering enough strength to break through the encirclement and escape the present danger.

The Giants who had inherited Titan Authorities, and Typhon the Demon Ancestor who had obtained a perfect vessel...

This time, the situation was truly dire!

Lorne watched the Labyrinth barrier in front of him crack apart piece by piece, and his heart tightened, as he quickly threw the last bottle of immortality elixir and two bottles of energy potions toward Hera behind him.

"Hurry!"

Hera took the potions and drank them without hesitation.

But as the spiritual liquid entered her mouth, a trace of surprise flashed through the eyes of the Queen of the Gods.

Golden apple flavor?

Remembering the strange yield of golden apples in the sacred garden, Hera lowered her bright eyes and looked quietly at the dragon head in her arms, then at the back of the man in front of her, her gaze gradually becoming a little complicated.

"Watch out!"

A sharp shout cut through the Queen’s thoughts.

An arm wrapped around her slender waist and pulled her into a rapid retreat.

"Boom!"

At the same time, a scarlet ethereal beam dozens of meters in diameter tore through the air, violently shredding the transparent barrier formed by Labyrinth power and nearly splitting the entire deserted island in two.

In the soaring flames and spreading smoke and dust, the pitch-black hundred-headed dragon narrowed its serpentine vertical pupils and stared coldly at the uninvited guests who had just appeared on the island.

"This scent... it’s you again!"

The memories of the collapsing Temple of Typhon, the shattered beast tide of Arcadia, and the failed contest at the Astrological Platform all surged up.

Typhon, returned in complete form, could not help but let out an excited, savage laugh.

"Good! Very good! Let’s see how you escape this time!"

The huge and ferocious dragon beat its wings and rose into the air.

Hundreds of large and small magic arrays formed in front of each dragon head, and streams of red-black magical power were compressed to the extreme.

The terrifying might made the surrounding space begin to twist slightly.

In the next moment, thousands of ethereal beams cut across the sky and fell toward the entire island like a dense meteor shower.

The scarlet bands of light illuminated the whole sky, filled every corner, and then descended upon every living being without distinction.

Whether Giant, god, or magical beast!

Under this indiscriminate area attack, the magical beasts and Giants that had climbed onto the island suffered badly.

One after another, they were melted into piles of flesh, which then turned into blood energy and flowed back into the body of Typhon, becoming nourishment for further attacks and evolution.

Sensing the continuously rising aura and divinity inside Typhon, Lorne’s eyelids twitched hard.

He immediately pushed the powers of the Goat and the Phoenix to their limits and carried Hera as he charged left and right through the dense ethereal beams.

Fortunately, Ladon herself leaned more toward the magical side, while Typhon preferred close combat.

So even though the Demon Ancestor had occupied and assimilated the remains of his daughter Ladon’s body, he still found it somewhat awkward to use.

The all-encompassing magical beams therefore lacked both flexibility and precision.

Soon, relying on extreme speed and superb mobility, Lorne broke through to the edge of the bombardment zone.

Yet just as he was about to take Hera and slip into the Sea of Chaos, a towering figure stood immovably in front of them.

The black heavy scythe made of volcanic rock in its hand howled as it swept horizontally.

The crescent-shaped edge flung out by the blade cut through space as easily as a hot knife through butter, as if it intended to split the mortal world itself.

Feeling that unstoppable sharpness, Lorne dared not meet it head-on.

He crossed his arms in front of his body and rapidly chanted divine words.

"Powerful and mighty light of fire, strongest among all origins, I offer poetry and wine in reverence!"

In an instant, a leaping golden flame appeared on his chest, like a bright lamp driving away cold and illuminating darkness, filling the heart with warmth.

Silver-white light then covered his entire body, condensed into solid form, and became the Altar Cloth.

At the same time, the constellations in the sky lit up one after another. Streams of starlight fell from the heavens and gathered in front of Lorne, forming a barrier of light.

"Bang!"

The crescent edge and the barrier of gathered starlight collided and shattered together like glass.

Flying fragments tore black cracks through the chaotic sky.

Although Lorne successfully neutralized the attack, he and Hera were forced back onto the broken deserted island.

On the coastline, Alcyoneus, king of the Giants, lowered the heavy scythe in his hand and stared coldly at the two people on the island.

One of his eyes still retained its original golden color; the other was pitch-black like ink.

"My dear daughter, why are you running?"

Hera’s body trembled at the words, as if some terrifying memory had been stirred.

Lorne also guessed the answer from the strange condition of Alcyoneus and Hera’s reaction.

Cronos had taken control.

It seemed the blessing this ancient being had given the Giant race had never been well-intentioned after all.

Lorne coldly snorted to himself, but the gloom in his heart only deepened.

A Demon Ancestor Typhon who already possessed a perfect vessel was bad enough.

Now God-King Cronos had come to join the fun as well.

Two God-King-level monsters teaming up against him alone.

Even Zeus had never enjoyed such treatment before.

"I’ll cover the rear! You find a way to open a path!"

With a low murmur, Hera repeatedly drew the Heart-Seeking Bow and shot several diving poison dragons out of the air, turning them into piles of flesh.

After the nourishment of the potions, her injuries had not fully healed, yet her divine power had recovered most of the way.

Although the trauma of facing Cronos, the father who had once swallowed her, still frightened her, she could nevertheless deal with the charging magical beasts and Giants and delay Typhon’s attack rhythm.

Sensing the delicate touch behind him, Lorne gave a slight nod, as he crooked a finger and gestured toward the spear.

The withered-branch-like long spear stuck in the rock wall hummed as it flew back into its master’s hand.

With the divine weapon returned, he immediately pushed the divinity inside him to its limit and charged straight at Cronos, who blocked the coastline.

The Nation-Forging Spear ignited with fierce blood-colored flames.

Like wildfire, it dyed the chaotic sea a deep scarlet.

Yet Cronos, possessing the body of Alcyoneus, king of the Giants, proved far harder to deal with than Lorne had imagined.

As an ancient Titan, one possessed the rank but lacked a suitable vessel, while the other possessed a body but lacked the corresponding rank.

Their combination produced an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

The heavy scythe in the opponent’s hand, forged by the Earth Mother Gaia, was extremely sharp.

It had once easily cut off the genitals of Heavenly Father Uranus.

The divine body Lorne had forged with his own hands naturally could not withstand the edge of that divine weapon either.

Even worse, Cronos was not alone.

He also led a large number of Giants.

Among those Giants were individuals who had likewise inherited the Authorities of the twelve Titans.

Lorne carefully counted.

There were fully nine Giants who controlled the Authorities of major gods, exactly the number of major Titan gods remaining after excluding the goddess of justice, Themis, and the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne!

Could it be that all those vanished Titan gods of old had gathered under Cronos’s command?

The longer Lorne fought, the more alarmed he became.

After more than a hundred exchanges, he was caught off guard by Cronos, who used his superior strength and size to send him crashing back onto the deserted island.

Amid the spreading smoke and dust, Lorne propped himself up from the deep pit with the Nation-Forging Spear.

The Altar Cloth on his body had already automatically disintegrated under an impact it could no longer withstand.

On the other side, Hera, responsible for delaying Typhon and the magical beast pack, had also reached her limit.

She clutched her abdomen, which had begun to seep blood, gasped heavily, and her body swayed as if about to fall.

The Demon Ancestor already possessed the proud record of defeating eleven major Olympian gods single-handedly.

Now that he had an extremely compatible vessel and had returned to the surface, he was like a tiger with wings.

He was simply not someone Hera could handle.

That she had lasted this long was already a miracle.

As if one misfortune were not enough, before the two who had reunited could even catch their breath, a water-mist-like golden light exploded on the distant surface of the Chaos Sea.

A golden water jar formed from gathered starlight, with three nymphs wrapped inside it, rose from the water while under siege by a large group of sea beasts.

Cracks appeared across it at a visible speed.

In front of the jar’s mouth, the young goddess Hebe, wearing the golden battle cloth, grew anxious at the sight.

"Why is she here too?"

Hera looked toward her daughter in danger on the sea surface, a look of astonishment on her face.

"I came too hurriedly. I needed her to lead the way for me..."

Lorne answered in a deep voice, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

"Although I gave her a Cloth for self-defense and told her to take the three nymphs she met on the way and leave as quickly as possible, it seems she still couldn’t escape."

For safety’s sake, he had sent out the Aquarius Cloth that matched Hebe on the way here.

This biological daughter of Queen Hera indeed possessed remarkable talent and divine power and could control the Cloth well.

Yet she usually only handled pouring wine and similar duties on Olympus. Her combat experience and techniques were pitifully few.

The moment she entered battle, she ran into the joint forces of Demon Ancestor Typhon and God-King Cronos.

No matter how outstanding the little princess was, she could not withstand the siege of a large group of magical beasts and Giants in the Chaos Sea.

Seeing that a clean retreat was already impossible, Hera steeled her heart, raised her hand, and sent out Ladon’s head, speaking in a resolute tone.

"You take them and go. I’ll cover the rear!"

"All right!"

Lorne nodded heavily and slapped her once on the shoulder.

He agreed? So quickly?

Hera was slightly stunned.

An inexplicable sense of loss welled up in her heart.

Yet in the next moment, her body flew into the air and shot toward Hebe on the sea like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Listening to the whistling wind by her ears, Hera looked from afar at the figure on the deserted island who was smiling and waving at her.

She suddenly understood.

This bastard had actually tricked her!

Having successfully sent his lover away, Lorne ignored the distant resentful and complicated gaze.

He turned to face Typhon and Cronos, who had only just realized what was happening and were about to pursue them.

Gripping the Nation-Forging Spear with both hands, he wore a brilliant smile. "You two, look this way!"

As he called out, spider-web-like cracks rapidly spread across his entire body. Violent, boiling divine power and divinity turned into fierce light and flame that sprayed out from the cracks.

Cronos and Typhon subconsciously turned their heads.

They suddenly saw the glowing figure on the deserted island, shining like a star undergoing fusion, a familiar feeling rose in their hearts.

This kid is going to... self-detonate?

"Punishment for sin, death for life, with this body of mine as the sacrifice..."

In the low chant, Lorne, whose body was already covered in glowing patterns, raised his hand and cheerfully flashed a V-sign toward Typhon and Cronos, who stood before him.

"Come on, say cheese!"

"Boom!"

In an instant, a huge mushroom cloud rose.

The massive bodies of Typhon and Cronos were the first to suffer.

Under the violent magical tides, their bodies kept tearing apart and regenerating.

Tearing again.

Regenerating again...

(End of Chapter)