?Upon their arrival in Metispolis, William and his companions couldn’t help but overhear the latest gossip about Odin and Uranus leading the Ultimate Force Alliance in an assault on the Divine Alliance headquarters, the Sanctuary of the Celestial Gods. Following Zeus’s unresisting defeat, the subsequent events had everyone talking.
Zeus seemed particularly interested, pondering the reasons behind Odin and Uranus’s attack on the Sanctuary of the Celestial Gods.
“It’s bizarre,” someone commented, “Zeus didn’t even put up a fight and just handed over the entire territory of the Divine Alliance. And after all that, Odin and Uranus didn’t even want it. What’s the deal with that?”
“In the end, it was Ares who took over Zeus’s position,” another added.
“You call that taking command in a crisis? So many deities dream of becoming the King of Gods, they just lack the power.”
William wasn’t fond of using his divine sense to spy on the affairs of the Divine Realm, but he found these bits of gossip quite intriguing, much like how some elders enjoy neighborhood chatter.
“So, Ares took over Zeus’s role,” William mused, well aware of Ares, Zeus’s son and the commander of the Divine Alliance’s armies.
With Zeus stepping down, it seemed only natural for the war god Ares to succeed him. However, William had thought Hades might intervene, given that he was the strongest among the remaining gods. But Hades wasn’t well-liked within the Divine Alliance, and his reputation was the worst.
Of course, it was also possible that Hades simply had no interest in Zeus’s position.
The law of survival in the Divine Realm was the survival of the fittest, but peace prevailed near cities guarded by powerful beings.
Under Athena’s protection, Metispolis was a city of peace.
After presenting their identity tokens, William and his group entered the city without issue, thanks to Zeus’s effortless creation of a common identity for them.
They strolled around the city when suddenly, a dazzling light burst in the sky.
A beam of light illuminated the city center, followed by a sword shadow descending from the heavens!
Everyone in Metispolis, except for William and his group, knelt on the ground.
“It’s someone from the Parthenon!”
“Someone dared to make a move at the Parthenon!”
“This divine technique is…”
“Could it be Lady Athena?”
The deities in Metispolis were completely subdued by the light column, unable to stand.
The Parthenon was where Athena resided, and the brilliant light was her secret technique, Heavenly Decree.
Heavenly Decree was a top-tier light magic, but it seemed futile against the sword shadow. 𝖋𝔯𝔴𝔟𝖔𝖛𝖑.𝔠𝔬𝔪
“Lucien!” William laughed, recognizing the chaos unfolding.
It seemed Elric was dead!
When William’s externalized obsession had caused trouble outside, William had seen through some things but had let them be, seeing no need to intervene.
Eventually, one of them—the externalized obsession or the original—would perish.
As for who would survive, that was up to fate.
The obsession was expelled from his body, and William was curious to know if the surviving Lucien was now dominated by that obsession, and whose consciousness was in control.
Lucien’s mental strength, in the face of his obsession, was likely negligible.
Today, as soon as he arrived in Metispolis, Lucien had gone to the Parthenon to confront Athena, which could be seen as a provocation.
Or perhaps, he felt he was now strong enough to defeat William!
Impressive!
“Stay here and don’t move!”
With those words, William vanished, reappearing at the Parthenon.
There, Athena was held at sword-point by Lucien, who wielded a wooden sword.
“Who are you?” Lucien stared at William, not recognizing him.
Oh?
William almost forgot he was wearing a mask. It seemed Lucien, despite being much stronger, still couldn’t recognize him!
But if he didn’t know William would come, what was he doing at Athena’s place?
William chuckled, “Don’t recognize me? That’s good!”
“Hmph!” Lucien swung his sword, sending a slash of energy towards William.
A defensive barrier rose beside William.
The energy from Lucien’s sword strike shattered William’s barrier.
Not bad!
William hadn’t been serious, but the fact that Lucien’s strike could break his barrier showed it was no ordinary attack.
“William?!” Lucien stared at William, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Just as William was impressed by Lucien’s strike, Lucien realized that in all the world, only William could survive his attack.
Although he hadn’t detected William’s presence immediately, a bit of analysis led him to the right conclusion.
William slowly removed his mask.
Lucien, looking at William, said, “Why would I kill her? I just came to challenge her.”
“William, you’re here. Who isthis person?” Athena, standing behind the ruins of the Parthenon, was battered and bruised, her home demolished.
Despite being an Absolute Deity, she had been beaten severely. If William hadn’t arrived, whether Lucien would have actually killed her remained uncertain.
“Are you now Lucien, or are you the obsession I expelled from my body?” William was curious to clarify this point.
Lucien’s brow furrowed, and he scoffed coldly, “You don’t think I’d assume the identity of William the Obliterator, do you? A slacker who doesn’t want to become stronger? Of course, I’m Lucien!”
“Hmm, if you say so, then you are the obsession I expelled,” William smiled, “Congratulations on being reborn!”
“No need for congratulations!” Lucien retorted sharply, “When you expelled me and tried to obliterate me with a punch, did you ever think I would come back?”
William’s smile remained, “And what if you have come back? What then?”
“To obliterate you again!”
Lucien’s eyes flashed with a bloody light, his aura wildly surging.
With a wave of his hand, William moved Athena to a safe distance.
He and Lucien then found themselves in a separate space.
Lucien, holding a wooden sword and his robe fluttering without wind, his eyes blood-red like a demon incarnate, declared, “I have absorbed the power of warriors from three thousand parallel worlds, reborn after countless tribulations. Today, I’ll show you how the stronger me will crush you.”
William stood there, asking, “Are you trying to make me laugh?”
“You have it, I have it,you don’t think you can obliterate me as easily as before, do you?”
William was unimpressed, “I never planned to kill you,you’re still too weak.”
“Only the weak need to become stronger!” William said calmly, “I just find the pursuit of power meaningless.”
“Gathering the power of warriors from three thousand parallel worlds, what of it?” William shook his head, it seemed his expelled obsession still held an outdated view of him.
He naively thought that by gathering the power of three thousand parallel worlds, he could stand a chance against William. The idea was far too simplistic.
Lucien was not weak by current standards, but that depended on who he was compared to. In front of William, he was still just a little brother.