The Greece Antagonist

Hecate shook her head, the picture of helplessness.

Unable to get the answer he wanted, Luo En had no choice but to drop it and voice his second question.

"Immortal Typhon and Kronos are almost indestructible, is there any way to completely destroy that immortality?"

"To directly erase the immortality that's fused into their divine souls is almost impossible."

Hecate shook her head to reject Luo En's idea, then paused before changing tack.

"However, you could consider it from a different angle: how do you stop weeds from growing on a plot of land?"

Luo En pondered for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed, as he tentatively spoke.

"By planting the land full of crops?"

Hecate looked at her disciple with satisfaction, clapping her hands in genuine admiration.

"You have not disappointed me!"

"It is your good teaching."

Luo En replied modestly, his heart already understanding the real solution to the puzzle.

Indeed, it was very difficult to directly break the immortal nature of the two Divine Kings of the Old Gods.

But what if their immortal souls were divided, and they were 'planted' with "crops"?

In the past, the Old Sea God Pontos became nothing but fragments of divinity scattered throughout the sea, which then each gave birth and evolved into independent entities such as Keto the Mother of Sea Monsters, God of the Sea Phorcys, Old Man of the Sea Nereus, and so his own consciousness dissipated completely.

If there was a successful case like this, then the same method should work for the two Divine Kings of the Old Gods.

However, Kronos had already completed a major part of Divine Integration, and just coping on the battlefield required all his effort, let alone splitting his divine soul, which was even more difficult.

On the other hand, there was another...

Images of Typhon's offspring on War God Mountain and that Demon Ancestor who fled into the Sea of Chaos came to Luo En's mind, and a cold light gradually emerged in his eyes.

Filial piety was a tradition in the Age of Greek Gods, not to be missed indeed...

Looking at Luo En's mischievous grin, Hecate shook her head and interrupted her disciple's thoughts.

"So, what is your third matter?"

Luo En came back to his senses, smiling slightly.

"It's nothing big, just that I'm running low on funds, and I'd like to borrow a few chips from you to place a bet."

"I've lost everything, including myself; what chips could I possibly have?"

Hecate rolled her eyes at her disciple, asking irritably in return.

"There must be some, as many people still care about you." Luo En replied with a smile, then raised his right hand, showing the Mark of the Dead on the back of his hand with deep significance.

"So it's them you're talking about..." Hecate had a moment of realization then a bitter smile crossed her face, "You think too highly of me, don't you? I'm just a prisoner at your feet and have no authority to mobilize them."

"So, you're refusing?" Luo En asked seriously upon hearing this.

"I've told you, I can't control these things..." Hecate replied helplessly, "Better to plead with those two..."

"I see, then there's nothing I can do." Luo En shook his head in regret and then snapped his fingers to tighten the Magic Chains, crouching down slowly in front of Hecate.

Hiss~~

Suddenly, a tingling chill from her lower abdomen made Hecate draw in her breath, instinctively looking down.

She saw, in the flickering glow's elongated shadow, a hand holding a golden, gemstone-studded chalice, the other hand smearing the crimson liquid within, tracing intricate Holy Symbols on her bare abdomen.

Hecate trembled and looked on with alarm at the sight.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Don't worry, it's just a gift for you."

Luo En explained with a smile as his fingers, dipped in the crimson liquid, touched the smooth skin. Finishing the final stroke, he stepped back and admired his work with satisfaction.

Below his gaze, a crimson mark composed of opposing arches and a central vertical line stamped her flat and smooth belly.

Hecate crossed her arms, shivering.

"What is this?"

"A bit of a foundation for cooperation."

Luo En glanced at his Master, who was like a lamb in a wolf's den, replying somewhat irritably.

"I've got it!"

At this moment, Hecate, who heard the explanation, seemed to have an epiphany, looking at her unworthy disciple with a face of grief and shame.

"It's a Compulsory Divine Seal!"

"Bang!"

The aggrieved victim, with a face full of black lines, could no longer bear it and slapped Hecate on the head, furiously roaring,

"Compulsory Divine Seal! Compulsory Divine Seal! Being the Witchcraft Goddess, how could you not know this?"

"Compulsory... command... you still want to continue humiliating me..."

Hecate, mournfully pressing her chest, had a look of utter despondence.

"The misfortune of my sect, the misfortune of my sect..."

"Last night, when you were choking me with chains and vigorously tossing and turning atop me, why didn't you mention it? Now you're pretending to be pure in front of me?"

Luo En looked disdainfully at the acting Witchcraft Goddess and bluntly exposed her true nature, then pried away the hand that was quietly creeping toward his abdomen.

"Don't move your hands around! I'll have to redraw it if you dirty it!"

"Tch..."

Seeing that her scheme was revealed, Hecate helplessly rolled her eyes and resignedly raised her hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine, have I not agreed yet?"

However, Luo En was indifferent to Hecate's compromise, decisively pushing aside his scattered thoughts, pouring the crimson liquid from the Golden Holy Grail at Hecate's feet, and constructing a circular magic array with her at the center.

Then, he raised his hand and pressed it on his Master's smooth abdomen, chanting softly,

"Blood and bone, network, sac, and tube, and flesh; one of one, two of one, murky threads, transforming truth to reality, inversion to illusion, integration to contemplation—the powerful Divine Seal, the slavery of deathly pain, the covenant of life!"

With the chanting of the runes, a web of bloodstains spread rapidly throughout Hecate's body, centering around the blood mark.

Soon, the light patterns went out, and the bloodstains disappeared beneath Hecate's skin, fading into invisibility.

But between the spell recipient and the caster, a fateful connection had been established, as if breathing in unison, sharing a destiny.

After completing all this, Luo En took a few steps back, condensing a light-shaped needle with his divine power and gently pricked his fingertip.

"Hisss!"

Suddenly, Hecate, locked onto a cross-shaped column, gasped sharply and quickly covered her bleeding right index finger, complaining sullenly,

"Stop! There's no need to test it; haven't I agreed to everything?"

Luo En ignored Hecate's resentful gaze and reminded her cheerily,

"Master, you should know the effect of this Compulsory Divine Seal by now. If I live, you have a way out; if I meet my end, your fate will surely be worse than mine!"

"I know, I know, do you have anything else to say?"

"Since we are both on the same rope, you ought to place your bets now, shouldn't you?"

Hecate glared at her unworthy Disciple, bit her index finger, and using her divine blood as a medium, engraved a Divine Pattern on Luo En's left hand, then sullenly dropped her arm.

"There, I've given you all I could. Are you satisfied now?"

"Thank you, Master."

Luo En waved cheerfully at the Goddess sitting at the base of the cross-shaped column and turned to walk out of the cave.

Watching the retreating figure disappear into the darkness, Hecate withdrew her complex gaze, reached out to open the still-warm food box in front of her, and while tasting the food that replenished her blood and strength, she murmured softly,

"I hope you won't disappoint me…"

"I hope you can go further…"

~~

Meanwhile, outside the cave.

After a full day and night of activity, Luo En stretched languidly in the dawn light, then looked around and walked towards the residence of Justice Goddess Themis at the mountain summit.

Although he hadn't received all the desired results from his Master Hecate, the trip was still a fruitful one.

Before officially implementing his plan, however, there were things he needed to discuss with the Justice Goddess.

But he had only walked a few steps when Luo En saw a red-haired beauty in sheer robes standing on the edge of a cliff, gazing dreamily at the surging sea, engulfed in a solitary and sad aura.

"Venus? What are you doing here?"

Luo En approached the cliffside figure, an underling of the Mechanical God, and inquired.

The red-haired Mechanical God pursed her lips and sighed deeply,

"Remembering my homeland, mourning my people..."

She then tossed dozens of bronze-crafted metal flowers from her basket into the churning waves below the cliff, her lips silently mouthing ancient eulogies.

Luo En paused momentarily, then realized:

This seems to be the last of the Mechanical Gods of the Bronze Clan...