"Appear, Chaser and Exile! Swiftly execute the Champion!"
Melqart's divine words echoed once more between heaven and earth.
This time, in an instant, he brought under his control all the raging Winds and thunder between the sky and the ocean.
"Rumble!!!"
Serpent-like lightning raced across the sky, thunder rumbled in all directions, and countless bolts of lightning descended from the heavens at that moment and struck Exile in Melqart's hand.
"Zzzzt~"
Lightning danced across Exile, wrapping around it and gradually spreading toward Melqart's powerfully muscular arm.
"Thunder! In the name of the Dragon-Slaying Hero, destroy the enemy of the God King!"
With a roar, Melqart swung Exile once again.
But this time was different from his first calm attack.
This attack from Melqart was filled with dazzling lightning with every movement of his arms and legs.
As lightning flashed, the entire world became incomparably darker beneath its blinding brilliance.
"Die!"
Melqart charged violently toward Yu.
His intent to kill was completely clear.
This strike was aimed directly at Yu's life.
However, the speed of Melqart's attack this time was incredibly slow.
Although the attack was powerful and heavy and wrapped in lightning, its speed was awkwardly sluggish.
In Yu's eyes, such an attack was no different from a slow-motion recording.
How could such an attack possibly hit him?
Even Yu in his normal state would not be struck by such an attack.
Let alone now, when he was under the blessing of Phoenix.
Thinking this, Yu immediately intended to move and evade Melqart's deadly strike.
But just as he was about to move, a sudden buzzing erupted in his head.
Then he felt intense dizziness, while the magical power within his body continuously disappeared.
"What's happening?!"
Holding his head, Yu's eyes glowed with emerald light.
He lowered his gaze toward himself, wanting to use Cut Through to see what exactly was happening to his current condition.
But the moment he looked down, he immediately understood everything.
All of this was Melqart's doing.
He saw a drop of black seawater firmly attached to the back of his hand.
The instant he saw that black seawater, Yu understood what it truly represented.
That black seawater originated from Melqart's Authority of the Sin of Gluttony from Christian mythology.
And that was precisely Yu's objective.
The Sin of Gluttony!
And the magical power continuously disappearing from his body was not going anywhere else.
It was being devoured by the Sin of Gluttony!
"When did this happen? I didn't notice it at all."
Looking at the seawater on his hand, Yu gritted his teeth.
Just as he intended to use his remaining magical power to sever the influence of the Sin of Gluttony, Melqart's muffled voice suddenly sounded above his head in the next moment:
"This old man doesn't like it when people lose focus during battle!"
Hearing this, Yu felt an enormous figure appear before him.
Turning his head, he saw that Melqart had already arrived in front of him.
Exile, wrapped in lightning in Melqart's hand, was already directly above his head.
Seeing this scene, Yu's eyes narrowed sharply.
His brain began working at full speed.
Two choices appeared in his mind.
The first was to use Cut Through to remove the Sin of Gluttony from his body and then activate his Phoenix form to evade Melqart's attack.
But the possibility of success for that plan was too low.
Yu did not even consider it.
He directly chose the second solution.
"Buzz! Buzz! Bang!!!"
Exile in Melqart's hand crashed down violently.
With every inch of descent, violent lightning tore through the air, producing sharp cracking sounds.
In the end, Exile struck Yu's body heavily.
Then the divine artifact used its brutal force to press the young man downward and violently nail him into the seabed.
In an instant, the sea fell silent.
The Wind in the air quieted.
Even the thunder within the dark clouds paused.
This calm lasted only one second.
After one second, the sea roared once more, and violent Winds began howling!
The ground trembled continuously.
Wave after wave rose up, revealing the seabed hidden a hundred meters beneath the surface.
"Bang!!"
With a muffled explosion, using Exile as the center of impact, the seabed within a radius of one hundred miles instantly collapsed, forming a gigantic crater.
Seawater rushed into the crater and then, after some time, flowed back into it once more.
This was the terrifying power possessed by Melqart, the God King of Phoenician mythology!
Looking at Yu, who had directly received his devastating strike, Melqart believed that his opponent absolutely could not escape this attack.
Especially because the Sin of Gluttony was still upon him.
It should be known that Gluttony was a bottomless pit.
Even the immense magical power within a Campione's body, like an endless ocean, would be completely devoured in an instant.
Melqart knew that without even a trace of magical power left in his body, no matter how powerful Yu's abilities were, he could not evade this attack.
Do not say that Melqart was despicable and cunning.
His nature was simply like this.
Yes.
Phoenician mythology worshipped power.
But Melqart was not a pure Phoenician God King.
He was also the Sin of Gluttony from Christian mythology.
The chief of the seventy-two demon gods.
Baal.
Cunningness and shamelessness hidden beneath a savage and brutal exterior.
That was the real Melqart!
"How boring."
Since there had been no movement beneath Exile for a long time, Melqart revealed a bored expression.
Just as he was about to lift Exile and leave, the young man's voice suddenly sounded.
"Heh, that was close. I almost died by your hand."
Hearing this, Melqart froze.
Just as he began to think, an exceptionally tenacious life force suddenly appeared.
The moment that life force appeared, Melqart felt that the Sin of Gluttony he had placed upon Yu had disappeared.
Turning his head, Melqart still could not see Yu's figure.
All he saw was a man of metal.
Completely made of Steel.
But upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the appearance of that metal man was completely identical to Yu.
At that moment, Yu climbed out from the seabed.
He brushed the dust from his body and looked at the mountain-like Melqart.
His eyes were full of mockery.
Rune symbols revolved around the young man.
His body was overflowing with life force.
There was not the slightest sign of the severe injuries Melqart had inflicted upon him.
And on the back of his hand, the Sin of Gluttony had already transformed into a lump of iron.
Without the influence of the Sin of Gluttony, Yu felt power once again flooding through his entire body.
His cursed energy continuously recovered and grew.
This was one of Yu's Authorities.
Blessing of Steel!
Blessing of Steel could provide Yu with incomparable defensive power.
Not even Melqart's powerful and destructive strike had inflicted serious damage upon him.
It could be said that the current Yu was terrifyingly powerful.
With a wave of his hand, Excalibur appeared in the young man's grasp.
Looking at the cunning mountain-like giant, killing intent began to rise within Yu's heart.
Now, the true god-slaying battle of this evening had truly begun!