Southern Europe, Apennine Peninsula.
Boom—!!
A burning iron bird plummeted from the sky, transforming into a massive fireball. The deafening explosion was like a nuclear blast, unleashing a terrifying shockwave.
The blast's scorching airflow shot thousands of meters high, and a towering black cloud rose, blotting out the sky. Then, black rain poured down.
The sheer force disrupted clouds for thousands of kilometers, hurling the light air aside. It was as if the atmosphere itself cried in pain, like the doomsday trumpet sounding again.
Why "again"? Because this was Rome!
Watching the crimson streak tearing through the sky, accompanied by ear-splitting sonic booms faster than any known missile terminal phase, residents around the Apennine Peninsula wore looks of pure disbelief.
Damn it! What cursed fate had brought that disaster-bringer here again? The ruins of Vatican City and Rome hadn't even been cleared yet!
Selene: "Don't exaggerate—just passing through."
After the globally guided broadcast, if anywhere in the world held the worst opinion of Selene, Italy easily took first place.
In this world rich with magic and religious power, Italy had long reaped benefits from following the Roman Catholic Church.
While not as powerful as Catholic France—the "Eldest Son of the Church" and hegemon over Africa—Italy was still a small tyrant among the Church's secular allies.
But now? All gone. Even their backer, the Roman Catholic Church, had fallen. The postwar days would not be kind.
Given this national and personal grudge, it was no surprise the people of the Apennine region looked on Selene with nothing but hostility.
"Such resentment."
A streak of rainbow light descended from the cloudless sky, leaving a golden-red streamer as beautiful as it was deadly.
Floating above the shattered land, Selene smirked at the Italians' complaints. Unlike her time in the Eastern Mediterranean, she made no move to calm the people's unrest.
From her perspective, "Italy" should be nothing more than a geographic term—Sardinia, Tuscany, the Two Sicilies, San Marino, those were its real names.
And that day would come soon enough…
In less than a microsecond, Selene finished her plans for the Apennine Peninsula. Swallowing two Magic Gods had made her a bit overconfident.
Steady now—don't get cocky.
Clang-clang!
Selene twisted her wrist, the sound like metal striking metal. In the crater below stood a noble undead lady in black mourning dress, speckled with stone dust, bound in burning chains.
"Blasphemer, are you the human the 'High Priest' spoke of, one who could become a Magic God of science?"
Her trembling voice was impossibly seductive for one wearing the garb of the dead. The veiled elder noblewoman slowly opened her eyes.
Her feather-light, teasing tone swayed in the air, her voice carrying an unnatural allure.
"To destroy the 'Hidden World' would surely make us split into the present reality, just as he predicted. So… you are his trump card. A thousand years of slumber—and to think the real world has birthed a science apart from magic…"
The black-veiled arms of Proserpina were bound tight by chains glowing faintly with violet light. She narrowed her long, alluring eyes in discomfort—the sunlike radiance emanating from Selene's entire body was unpleasant for the Queen of the Underworld.
They were utterly incompatible.
Worse, the chains' violet-red corrosion energy seemed intimately familiar with every aspect of a Magic God's body and power. It invaded inch by inch without a single gap, to the point Proserpina suspected her opponent might actually be the rightful owner of this Magic God vessel.
Proserpina: "Why are you so skilled at this?"
Selene: "No reason. Just experienced."
"Chimera, Othinus… My senses were correct—these chains specifically target Magic God traits. You truly possess part of a Magic God's qualities."
"Catching the scent of those two losers, are you…?"
Selene studied her closely. Mmmmm~ as expected of the Roman myth's Queen of the Underworld, wife of Pluto. The curves shaped by the chains were like a ripe peach.
Her aura especially…
Behind the veil, her glowing eyes were slightly narrow. Combined with the black mourning dress and black hair, this enchantingly beautiful woman exuded the air of a secluded noblewoman—like a young widow mourning her husband… ahem.
But Selene was merciless. Once she decided on something, nothing short of a sound reason would make her waver.
"Well then, Proserpina, if you were to travel—where would you go?"
Selene opened her right hand.
Vmmm—!
Behind her, high above in the torn clouds, a massive band of light stretched across the entire sky like a river. Yet in Proserpina's eyes, within that band, she saw hazy nebulae… a one-eyed girl… a vicious beast with a human head, lion's body, goat hooves, and serpent tail. She fell silent.
Violent surges of Honkai energy churned back and forth in this space that should have been dominated by the four elemental forces. In the heavy, resonant hum of bells, the sky split apart.
Crack crack crack!
Sensing something, the thorned chains biting into her lush figure trembled without wind. The invisible chains gathered, linking to the rift tearing open the sky. Clatter! As the chains drew taut, Proserpina was yanked aloft.
In that instant, the passage above the heavens opened. Dazzling stars scattered beyond the mottled spiral sea of stars, and Proserpina seemed a sacrificial offering to the gods.
The sky closed. Somewhere, a dreadful chewing sound seemed to echo through heaven and earth.
"Uh… why does this feel like some tragic romance from myth?"
Noticing the onlookers' strange emotions, Selene pursed her lips.
A goddess descending to the mortal realm, violating divine law, only to be dragged back in chains by an unfeeling enforcer…
Why does this feel so familiar?
Unlike the monstrous Chimera, Proserpina at least looked normal, her demeanor evoking sympathy. But alas—Selene saw no brave hero rushing forth to pen a tearful love story with his life.
Oh well—mission comes first. Next target.
Rip—
...
Northern Europe, Ireland.
"Hahahahaha! Want to kill me?! Come, fight! Fight! That's more like it!!"
Boisterous laughter echoed from the scorched, shattered valley below, accompanied by the earth-shaking might of silver prosthetic limbs tearing through mountains.
Boom—!
Mountains and hills along the way were blasted apart as a bare-chested young man, his body covered in war-paint tattoos, charged straight through them, carving a massive tunnel all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
"So this time it's a martial type?"
High above the sea, facing such a violent charge, Selene naturally refused to back down.
Becoming a dazzling meteor, she dove straight in!
Boom—!
When the two collided, a semi-transparent shockwave burst forth with their combined power.
The earth beneath shattered like glass, exploding into countless fragments. Even the atmosphere bore a gaping hole from the blow, allowing the starlight above to shine coldly upon the land.
In a single second, they clashed hundreds—thousands—of times, surging westward, leaping into the sky, diving into the sea. They battled in the deep, carving tunnels hundreds of meters under the ocean floor—kilometers long, tens of kilometers long—in moments. If anyone could make use of it, an undersea Atlantic tunnel would be halfway done.
It was fitting, for this was Nuada Airgetlám, silver-armed king of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Celtic myth—a god who lost his arm in battle against rival deities, yielding his throne until it was replaced with one of silver, whereupon he reclaimed his kingship.
He was the second mythic god-king Selene had faced among the Magic Gods. His intuition, combat skill, and understanding of battle far surpassed the earlier opponents, earning her respect.
Among the Magic Gods, countless cultures and mythologies intertwined. Many of their origins defied sense.
In theory, any who transcended their pantheon to reach Magic Godhood should have been the strongest of their system—the god-king. Reality was different: goddesses, mourners, even mythical beasts barely related to their main pantheon.
It was chaotic.
And once they became Magic Gods, whatever strength gap their myths suggested barely mattered. Beyond their shared abilities, each wielded unique powers from their mythos, but comparing infinite to infinite was meaningless.
Among Magic Gods, there was no hierarchy—no higher, no lower.
Even the mere monk "High Priest" had instantly risen to stand equal to the god-king Nuada.
This was why no internal Magic God war had erupted. All were infinite, and even when using the Infinite Division Technique to manifest in the real world as "finite," they were still equal.
Yet Selene had found differences within that finite state.
The world might limit their energy output, but in terms of difficulty, Nuada ranked first. His skill and fighting technique were leagues beyond Proserpina's.
This was a battle god—one born for war.
As for the one-eyed disgrace with Odin's name—well, look. This was what a true mythic god-king should look like.
Rumble—!
Finally, after hundreds of exchanges that tore through Iceland, with the "nutrients" from Proserpina flowing back to her, Selene's unique abilities worked at full force. She caught and analyzed the most secret details of Nuada's being.
Already in control of the fight, Selene now completely dominated. Familiar with his attack patterns, she seized on a momentary lag—and snapped his silver arm.
On the severed limb, she recognized an all-too-familiar frost-burn mark.
"This is… Proserpina's Judgment."
Magic God Proserpina's unique ability—Judgment.
When Proserpina was taken to the underworld, her mother, the goddess of flowers, cursed the world: spring would never return until her daughter was recovered. It was a spell that plunged the entire world into an artificial ice age.
"Correct answer."
Vmmm!
An extreme-cold brilliance flared.
Freeze. Bind. Open the gate. Send away—all in one smooth motion.
No need to keep her frozen long. One second was enough to send her away.
Selene was getting better and better at this. Truly, a Magic God's unique magic was far faster than anything she could hack together from raw parameters. Plunder really was more efficient.
Next!
...
Central America, Mexico, Chihuahuan Desert.
"Airgetlám!"
Vmmm—!
"Nuada's arm… Chimera, Proserpina… Damn it! I am the Sun God, the one who brings death and the world's end! Mortals, crawl before me—!"
A solar flare erupted like the death of a star.
"Sun God? End of the world?" Selene's mocking voice cut in.
"I am the Sun! I am the End—!!"
Rumble—!
The flickering star reached the end of its life and gave its final cry.
...
United States.
Squirming. Darkness.
An indescribable Magic God like a stick figure scribbled in black crayon.
"You… what, even the fictional creations of an ordinary human author like Howard Phillips Lovecraft became a Magic God through reader belief? And you're connected to Aleister? What bizarre experiment did he run this time?"
"Well, whatever… be good now. Big sister won't hurt you. I'll send you somewhere fun."
...
Southeast Asia.
Rumble—!
"Hey, Nephthys, looks like the Chimera girl and the others have all hidden their traces. Honestly, the moment they descended they all ran back to their origins to spectate. So boring."
Amid constant explosions, striding without a care, Niang-Niang toyed with the obvious talisman stuck to her forehead like a mischievous child, chatting idly with the dark-skinned beauty at her side.
Until—the tear-streaked beauty's expression changed in an instant.
"Something's wrong!"
—
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