Chapter 454: The Opponent Was Athena from Another World!
In the blink of an eye, the petrification reached Athena's feet, threatening to turn her petite form into a statue.
The next moment, her eyes flashed with light, and the partially petrified foot returned to normal.
Another blink later, the petrified sea surface reverted—no, it was as if it had been refreshed. The petrification now surged toward the girl with pale blue hair on the opposite side, attempting to counter-petrify her.
However, the eerie glow from the eyes of the Medusa carving on the girl's necklace grew increasingly intense, and the two petrification abilities clashed head-on.
Within a few breaths, the surrounding several kilometers had transformed into a world of stone.
At this point in the confrontation, Athena's vision suddenly vanished—her petrification power had failed to overpower her opponent.
"A counterfeit will always remain a counter—"
The girl wearing the Medusa pendant-like ornament abruptly cut off her words, for the petite, petrified girl before her suddenly cracked.
In the next second, the stone shell burst open, revealing a girl of about seventeen or eighteen, clad in an ancient white gown.
"Hmph, who's the fake now?"
Athena snorted coldly, and her opponent instantly turned to stone.
The reason she had been overpowered earlier was simply because her power was still sealed by the one behind her—but now, it had been unleashed.
So, the petrified figure behind also returned to normal.
Actually, she didn't need to undo it—with his capabilities, he could have freed himself anyway.
She hadn't originally planned to help release it, but after some thought, she decided to undo it. Otherwise, this petty man might treat her even more disrespectfully afterward.
"Oh?"
The petrification on the opposite side instantly shattered and vanished, restoring normality.
So, who exactly is this person? The petrification just used was clearly Medusa's ability.
Very bizarre.
"Who are you, really?"
"Haven't you already guessed?"
"There is only one Athena, and that is I myself!"
"My apologies, but that line should be mine—I am the true Athena."
The two stared coldly at each other.
The next second, the pendant on the light-blue-haired girl's neck instantly transformed into a Golden Serpent, shooting forth like an arrow.
So fast was it that Athena seemed caught off guard, her arm bitten, with dark spots rapidly spreading from the wound.
Almost simultaneously, the light-blue-haired girl frowned slightly, glancing at her ankle where a black snake had emerged from her shadow and bitten her, dark spots also spreading.
But the spreading dark spots suddenly receded and vanished as if rewinding a film.
This happened for both of them.
"Go, my fangs! Crush the enemy into pulp!"
"Appear, Aegis, the guardian artifact bestowed by Father Zeus!"
Thus, a twenty-meter-long stone serpent collided with the square shield covered in goatskin.
In the next instant, the shield released lightning, which sliced the giant serpent to pieces like a laser cutter.
"Heh heh heh, so you really are a fake impersonating me! How dare you borrow that man's power!!!"
Athena laughed, mocking her.
"Why do you say that?"
"The true Athena would never bow to Zeus—the real Athena and Zeus are enemies!"
"Athena is Zeus's daughter, the princess of Olympus—why would they be enemies? You're the fake."
"How ridiculous. Athena is not Zeus's daughter. Athena is an ancient Earth Mother Goddess of Greece, merely dragged down from her divine throne by Zeus's deceitful means and demoted to being his daughter. So, you must be the Athena born from the myths widely known among humans today."
Athena began to understand.
Among modern humans, the knowledge that Athena was an ancient Earth Mother Goddess has become increasingly obscure, with most believing Athena to be a true descendant of Zeus's bloodline.
And the Athena before her might be a new Athena born from this contemporary perception.
So, has her long absence from the mythological realm led to this situation?
"I have no idea what nonsense you're spouting. Arbitrarily altering the events of our Greek myths—it's simply that the world doesn't need two Athenas."
"I feel the same way!"
Their auras explosively surged in an instant.
"God of thunder resounding from the distant ends of the world, the most radiant supreme deity Zeus, inheritor of Kronos's lineage, Athena too can bring storms to the heavens!"
As these words fell, the heavens and earth underwent strange transformations. Violent winds spawned waterspouts around them, while dark clouds churned in the sky accompanied by roaring thunder.
"In the name of Poseidon, who bears blue-black hair, this humble one shall shake the vast oceans. Witness carefully the ship-destroyer, the Authority of the one who rules both sea and land!"
Following these words, the sea began to surge violently.
Illuminated by lightning flashes, a white band appeared on the distant horizon - unmistakably a tsunami sweeping toward them.
"The true Athena needs to borrow no one's Authority. The true Athena inherently possesses these Authorities. This humble one is the triple-formed goddess, ruling over sky, earth, and sea alike!!!"
As Athena's words of power fell, the turbulent sky began coming under her control.
The raging ocean was also being influenced by her intervention, while hundreds of tons of sea serpents emerged from the waters—her divine beast servants.
"Boom...!"
The sky's thunder roared and descended, some bolts charging toward Athena, but strangely veered to attack her opponent instead.
Just before striking the target, the lightning bolts uncontrollably shifted direction, striking the sea around the opponent instead.
Though the attack missed, Athena slightly curved her lips—the expression of a victor.
"Borrowed power that isn't your own cannot defeat the true Athena!"
In the domination of Authority, she surpassed her opponent.
It could be said that the area her opponent could control had been compressed to about a hundred meters around them, with everything beyond becoming Athena's domain.
Thus, a blade materialized in Athena's hand as she prepared to defeat her opponent in one strike.
But just as she was about to charge forward, her hand was suddenly grabbed.
"What are you doing?"
She glared discontentedly at the man who had seized her hand.
"Don't foolishly charge into your opponent's domain."
"Hmph, you think this humble one would lose?"
"Possibly. Or perhaps I should say—that isn't your opponent's domain."
Speaking this far, Renji meaningfully narrowed his eyes.
"Not the opponent's domain?"
"Haven't you noticed yet?"
"What do you mean?"
"The area you cannot control around your opponent doesn't actually belong to this world!"
This was the truth Renji had discerned.
The thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl before them who called herself Athena was probably indeed Athena.
Except she was an Athena from another world.