The same went for Zeus. He wasn't simply the god of thunder, storms, and kingship.
He also held the authority of wisdom and governed countless domains—sky, judgment, fate, life, death, and more.
Even the supreme God of Hebrew myth may have originally been modeled after the sky father Zeus before taking shape as the highest being.
Heretic Gods, however, were born from myth and descended in many different forms.
Old, middle-aged, young, or adolescent—each state came with its own myths, personality, and powers.
The Zeus now standing before Damien and the others was clearly the god-king from the Olympian myth cycle.
He symbolized thunder and the heavens, son of Cronus, and leader of the twelve Olympian gods.
"Foolish child of man, who dares summon me?"
The moment Zeus appeared he looked down upon the city of Athens.
He recognized the place—it had once been protected by the fragment of the trinity goddess who later became his daughter Athena.
Soon his gaze fell on the three figures before him.
First was Damien.
Zeus barely paid him any attention.
A mere mortal wasn't worth the notice of a god-king.
What truly surprised Zeus were Diablo and Testarossa.
"Lucifer, great prince of the morning star, lord of Hell who contends with Jehovah."
"Lilith, primordial mother goddess, origin of bloodlines, the most ancient dragon-serpent of seven heads and ten horns who knows God's true name."
Almost the instant he saw them, Metis's wisdom revealed their origins and the true nature of their power.
"No!"
"That's wrong!!"
Zeus immediately rejected the knowledge he had received. He stared hard at the two Primordials and demanded, "Who are you? Why do you carry the divinities of Lucifer and Lilith?"
As god-king of his own divine domain, Zeus had encountered the real Lucifer and Lilith before.
No matter the version, he had dealt with them.
Therefore he knew perfectly well that these two could not possibly be them.
"It seems our disguise doesn't work at all in front of a true god-king," Diablo said without concern. He had never planned to rely on the borrowed identity for anything.
Successfully descending as a Heretic God and manifesting his power through Lucifer's Authorities was enough.
Even though this Heretic God body could only display around three-tenths of Diablo's true strength…
It was more than enough.
Even at three-tenths, it would be more than enough to kill a god-king.
Diablo gave Damien a small nod. After receiving permission he stepped forward. Defeating a god-king was well within his capabilities.
Boom!
Huge light wings spread from Diablo's back. His body swelled until he matched Zeus in size—and then grew even larger.
In the sky the pitch-black storm clouds parted to either side.
Above the empty vault a majestic, sacred gate to Heaven slowly opened.
The next moment countless angels poured down like a waterfall—the one-third of the heavenly host that had once followed Lucifer in rebellion against God.
"I almost forgot."
Diablo glanced at the city of Athens below and raised his hand. The entire space began to twist.
Athens vanished.
In its place stretched an endless dark abyss.
Crimson mist rolled across the land. The earth split into countless chasms.
Rivers of lava boiled and roared with terrifying fury. The blackened shores held withered trees like tortured souls stretching desperate hands toward the sky.
The air reeked of sulfur and blood, thick enough to choke.
Occasional gusts brought no relief—only scorching heat from the abyss that burned every inch of skin.
In this boundless darkness and suffering, living beings found no escape, only eternal torment and fear.
Amid the blazing flames countless demons and devils writhed and clashed.
Their shrill screams and the clang of metal wove together into an endless, horrifying symphony.
"What is this?!"
Inside the Netherworld, Athena wasn't the only one who saw the nightmarish vision of Hell.
Several other figures—including the old lord from the Far East and the Demon Queen Guinevere—were equally stunned by the scene.
Above them stood a radiant, majestic holy palace; below, the gates of Hell rose from churning lava.
Light and darkness, sacred and fallen, bliss and agony…
Two opposing landscapes had been perfectly unified and harmonized by some unknown power, making them feel utterly natural, as if they had always belonged together.
"Lucifer?"
"Is this the power of the lord of Hell?"
"Who on earth summoned something like this?"
Even without seeing Zeus in action, everyone already had a basic grasp of his strength.
In comparison, the one who had descended under the name Lucifer—Diablo—delivered far greater shock.
His power was in no way inferior to Zeus's.
If anything, it surpassed it!
The original plan had been for Little White and Little Black to attack together and take Zeus down quickly.
But they had clearly overestimated the god-king's strength.
As a god-king, Zeus was indeed powerful.
Among all Heretic Gods he ranked near the top.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Diablo.
Even with only three-tenths of his power, the Primordial Black's might was far beyond what this version of Zeus could match.
As for Testarossa…
She had actually been preparing to set up a barrier to isolate the fight between Diablo and Zeus.
Since they had already used the ordinary people of Athens, the least they could do was protect their lives.
"The battle will be over soon."
Diablo spread his black-and-white wings and turned into a streak of light, leading tens of thousands of angels and the hellish earth beneath him straight toward Zeus.
"Master?"
Seeing this, Testarossa immediately acted to block all external observation. "I'll watch for the right moment and bring you to Zeus."
"Mhm."
Damien didn't refuse the kindness of Little White and Little Black.
Besides, he saw nothing wrong with letting others weaken the boss before he delivered the finishing blow.
After all, Little Black and Little White were extensions of his own power.
Their actions were no different from him defeating Zeus personally.
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