Strength, speed, reaction time... Aiden was not inferior to him in a single parameter. In terms of pure swordsmanship, Hyakinthos was even finding himself slightly overpowered. Combined with the sun-like flames encasing his opponent, Hyakinthos didn't dare engage in prolonged close-quarters combat. If he kept this up, he seriously suspected he would go down in history as the first Level 3 adventurer to die of dehydration in the middle of a fight.
"Is he seriously a Level 2? This is way too absurd!"
"Just how high did he push his stats before leveling up?! This level of latent potential is completely unfair!"
"And what is up with that enchantment magic? Even the Astrea Familia's Crimson Flower of Justice wasn't this ridiculous back in the day, right?"
"Four magic spells! What is his deal?! Is he another Nine Hell or Thousand Elf? Do kids these days just have no respect for the rules of combat?"
Up in Babel Tower, the gods marveled, questioned, and ultimately devolved into fits of extreme ecstasy. This was exactly what they craved. The unknown would always be their most delectable delicacy.
"I am a Level 3!!" Hyakinthos roared in sheer disbelief. He simply could not accept the reality of being comprehensively suppressed by a lower-level adventurer.
As Hyakinthos trembled, his movements growing increasingly erratic and uncoordinated from the shock, Aiden's silhouette abruptly blurred. Simultaneously, the incantation for the second phase of his enchantment echoed across the ruins.
"—By This Blade's Glow I Grasp!"
The raging inferno coating the Fire Spirit Sword instantly compressed inward. The ambient light around the blade warped drastically under the extreme temperature, looking as if the very fabric of space was melting. Infused with the power to sever all things, the crimson slash once again met Hyakinthos's wave-sword.
Crack—!
Accompanied by a sharp, brittle snap, the crimson wave-sword—a genuine Second-Class Weapon—was cleaved cleanly in half the moment they made contact.
"What are you doing, Hyakinthos?!" Seeing his pride and joy disarmed and dodging pitifully under Aiden's relentless assault, Apollo shrieked. It was a miserable, shrill sound, worse than if hundreds of his children had died at once.
While the city continued to roar in excitement, the Divine Mirror broadcasted Hyakinthos drawing a spare dagger and fiercely engaging Aiden once more.
"Judging by this, little Aiden must have had some incredibly high stats when he leveled up to Level 2, huh?" Hermes drifted over to Focalors. He hadn't heard any reports of Aiden leveling up to Level 3. Therefore, the combat prowess he was displaying had to be the cumulative result of his current parameters added to his previous ones. If that were true, his base stats must be absurdly high.
"Roughly speaking, what was his highest stat when he was Level 1? I swear I won't tell a soul. Can you let me in on the secret?" Hermes asked, his curiosity burning.
"SSS in all attributes." Focalors shot Hermes a sidelong glance, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Haha, you're pulling my leg, right?" Hermes forced a dry laugh, but his amusement vanished almost instantly, his cheek twitching. His divine instincts were screaming at him that she wasn't lying. Just as mortals couldn't easily deceive a deity, gods found it incredibly difficult to lie to one another. They had lived for so long that their vast experience had crystallized into instinct; they could pierce through falsehoods with a mere glance.
"Ahahaha, are you serious?! SSS? I've never even heard of such a thing!" Hermes began to severely question the meaning of his divine existence.
Down in the ruins, the flaming sword swept outward in a horizontal arc, a crimson beam of light generating a fierce shockwave and hurricane-force winds. The scorching currents enveloped Hyakinthos instantly, making him feel as though he'd been shoved into a roasting oven. Flailing miserably, he raised his spare weapon—a short blade he had pulled from the gods knew where—and barely managed to deflect the crimson slash.
However, this was only the beginning. Aiden's arm blurred into a flurry of motion, weaving a web of crimson light that crashed down upon Hyakinthos from above.
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!
The staccato of clashing metal rang out incessantly, as dense as a torrential downpour. Hyakinthos's face contorted under the extreme heat, fear and wrath warring in his eyes. He could acutely feel the pathetic short blade in his grip whining in protest under the immense strain. It wouldn't be long before it followed in the footsteps of his previous weapon and was completely melted by that terrifying flaming sword.
"Rraaaargh!" Hyakinthos bellowed, throwing his entire body weight into parrying another heavy strike. Seizing the momentary opening, he violently swung his dagger downward, slamming it brutally into the ground.
A tremendous blast of wind and concussive force erupted, violently carving a massive crater into the earth and throwing a dense cloud of dust and debris into the air. Aiden swiftly bounded backward to avoid the blinding smoke.
In that exact same instant, Hyakinthos leaped with everything he had, shooting backward like an arrow released from a bowstring, instantly putting dozens of meters between them.
"—[My name is love, the darling of light. This body is dedicated to my sun]!"
Hyakinthos made his final, desperate gamble. Having opened a massive gap between himself and the enemy, he began chanting his ultimate magic.
"—[My name is sin, the jealousy of the wind. Call a crystal wind to descend upon this body]!"
Magic—this was his absolute trump card to turn the tide! Unable to withstand the overwhelmingly disadvantageous melee combat, he chose to fall back, resolved to unleash a killing blow capable of flipping the entire battlefield.
"—[Cast the fire wheel]!"
Deep within the billowing dust storm, Aiden accurately perceived the interwoven chant echoing from his opponent. He raised a hand, pointing it flawlessly toward the source of the incantation, and spoke two words with absolute indifference.
"Demon Lord Valion."
Boom!
The invisible sonic waves intertwined with searing flames, transforming into a visible, blazing bullet of sound that instantly tore through the dust cloud and slammed flawlessly into Hyakinthos. The violent flaming projectile exploded on impact, sending a pillar of fire shooting into the sky. Hyakinthos's slender frame was violently thrown backward, his body instantly charred black, his once-magnificent combat uniform reduced to smoking rags.
Yet, he held on. Relying on a spirit forged of tempered steel, he ruthlessly commanded the surging magic power within him, refusing to let go of the reins. Gritting his teeth and bearing the agonizing pain, he forced his face forward and continued his interrupted incantation.
"—[Come, wind of the west]!"
Completing the chant, Hyakinthos violently twisted his upper body. He dropped his center of gravity, lowered his left arm, and raised his right arm high. It was the stance of a discus thrower. Channeling the entirety of his highly concentrated magic power into his right hand, Hyakinthos unleashed his spell all at once.
"[Aethon Zephyrus]!!"
A massive, brilliantly dazzling disk, shining like the sun itself, roared out from his swinging right arm. The solar disk spun at blinding speeds, tearing the very air apart as it hurtled forward with the momentum to incinerate everything in its path.
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