Zues' eyes widened with surprise and anger, his attention turning towards Frey. [What's the meaning of this!?]

As Merlin and Eugene were being freed from their chains by Frey's comrades, he spoke with a frown on his expression, drawing his sword as an act of defiance. "You didn't come here to give us strength! You're just frauds trying to leech off of us!"

[What has this serpent said to you!? You're being corrupted by his—]

"Corrupted?" Frey interrupted with an amused huff, disbelief clear in his tones. "You still have the audacity to lie? This snake you told us to kill is none other than one of humanity's greatest heroes! Without him, we would've fallen to the monsters 'you' gods sent to us in the first place!"

[...What?] Zeus turned towards Theodore, who was staring down at him coldly with his unwavering golden eyes. [Who are you…?]

[Theodore Varon.] The serpent replied, his voice low and chilling just like his gaze. [Once humanity's first line of defense, The Winter Frost Mage.]

Without letting Zeus say anything in return, Theodore conjured up a magic circle, it gleamed an emerald green as claws appeared from it and swatted the god away as if he was nothing but a rag doll, the motion sent him flying through the pillar and out into the open area below the temple.

[Leave. Now.] Theodore said to the humans before moving his body, a slight thrash managing to create a hole large enough for him to slither through, although this caused the structure of the building to become unstable, and soon the ceiling began to crumble down onto them.

"Theo! Kick his ass!" Merlin shouted one last time as he was picked up effortlessly by Eugene before disappearing into the darkness along with the rest of Frey's team.

Frey however, stayed behind, he didn't fret about the whole collapsing building at all. "Do you need help?"

[No, all you need to do for me is tell the world the real truth.]

Not leaving any room for protest, Theodore quickly slithered out through the large hole he'd made, landing on the coastal area where Zeus was just about to get up from a crater on the ground.

The lightning god had an angry look on his face as sparks flew from his figure. [You dare defy me, the King of Olympus!?]

[Oh shut up.] Theodore released his domain, immediately causing the entire area to freeze up and stretch towards the ocean, creating an area made of ice. [You got greedy, and now you'll fall.]

[Silence, serpent!] With a rumble of thunder, a lightning bolt struck down from the sky and landed directly onto Theodore, engulfing his entire form. Zeus let out a booming laugh as he watched, sure that his mighty attack would kill him in an instant. [You are nothing more but a lucky monster! Compared to us gods, you're only a tiny bug standing in our way!]

['Equality' has been activated!]

When the lightning disperse, Theodore was still standing with his head perked up high, staring down at the god with a prideful glint in his gazes. [That's what they all say before I kill them.]

With that snarky remark, Theodore cast another spell.

[Impale.]

Just as a snow storm began to brew around the two of them, icicle spikes rose from the floor and headed towards Zeus, each one looking to pierce him from underneath.

Even as he tried to weave around and dodge with his lightning-quick flight, the spears always seem to know where he's heading next and would cut him off, leaving him to choice but to let himself get surrounded before releasing a powerful aura of electricity and destroying the icicles, ending the spell's duration.

[How are you catching up with me?] Zeus knew that coming to the human realm means limiting his own powers, however, it didn't mean that he would be weak enough for a minor deity to match him in strength.

Zues didn't know anything about the Equality spell, which gave Theodore the opportunity to use this ignorance to his advantage.

He didn't reply to the lightning god and continued to cast more spells, controlling the Devouring Winter to put more pressure on his opponent, not even his mighty thunderbolts can completely keep Theodore's attacks away.

At first, it seemed like he was simply casting spells and praying that one would eventually hit their target, but it soon became clear that as Zeus dodged and destroyed his ice constructs, he was moving closer and closer to Theodore.

'I couldn't risk him dodging me and figuring out what I have planned…'

It was then that Theodore decided to make his move, a notification rang inside his head as he mustered up his mana, forming a magic circle in front of him that gleamed an emerald green, the intricate design on it spun around rapidly, like gears turning inside a machine.

In the mere blink of an eye, a large serpent made from light emerged from the circle and rushed towards Zeus at an unbelievable speed, it seemed to be mimicking Theodore's appearance although half of its body was cut off by the magic circle.

However, the spell didn't hit Zeus and instead phased right through him, at first the god thought that the attack had missed, but then he realized that something else was going on.

Looking down onto his body, he could see that multiple wounds had begun to appear on his limbs and painful stings soon spread all over them. Gritting his teeth, Zeus glared at Theodore. [What are you doing?]

The serpent didn't bother replying, he simply continued to control the spell, ordering it to start coiling its body, forming a large tower of scales that encased Zeus' entire figure.

[The Personal Attribute 'Deicide' is taking effect!]

[All of your skills' strength will increase when facing against gods.]

[The Unique Spell 'Punish' has been activated!]

<

Rank: S

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Origin: Serpent's Arcane

Type: Damage

Cost: 500 DE

Cast Time: 2 Seconds

Cooldown: 3 Minutes.

Description: A softer version of the gods' magic, it allows you to bring down punishment on anyone you see fit, it is a lot stronger than 'Silent Judgment' and will not pick between the side of good and evil. 'Punish' appears in the form of the Serpent, it'll lash out and encircle the target, trapping them in a vortex of invisible scales. The spell's effect lasts for 30 Seconds and can be used with other skills while it's active.>>

It was a new spell that Theodore had managed to create while they were traveling out of the Delphi Forest, it didn't take very long since he had an idea of what sort of spell he wanted to make.

With some help from the System…'Punish' was the result.

[The Bloodline Skill 'Corrupting Touch' is strengthening the Unique Spell 'Punish'!]

[Due to the target's high resistance, the chance of inflicting Status Conditions is low.]

Theodore had wanted to at least slow Zeus down some more with the Discord effect, but it seemed that Punish would be over way before that could happen, so he decided that it was best to start working with what he had now.

And right on queue, as soon as the Punish spell's effect had dispersed, Zeus lunged forward as sparks began to fly off of his body, lightning flashed and soon a weapon appeared in his hands; a bolt of pure electricity which he threw at Theodore the moment he was close enough. [Your attempts are futile!]

[...Really, you guys never stop talking.] Theo merely lifted a part of his gigantic body and met the lightning with his scales, activating 'Scales of the Serpent' in the process and ensuring that only a slight jab could be felt.

Theodore didn't let Zeus prepare another attack, with his domain still up, he began to control the snow storm around them, turning it into a violent blizzard that'd managed to cover the entire field of vision in nothing but whites and grays.

Even Zeus was surprised at the sudden change in the weather, he began to look around him, only to find that somehow he'd managed to lose sight of the large snake. He looked on and on…passed the intense snow storm only to find ice walls at the end of the domain.

No matter how hard he tried to search the area, it seemed as if his opponent had simply disappeared.

[Are you running away from me?] Zeus shouted blindly, voice filled with annoyance.

There was no reply for a moment, prompting the god to relax his unknowingly tensed shoulders. He called his lightning bolt back into his hands before beginning to hover slowly against the blizzard. 'I should inform this…unpleasant development to Ra…'

With the bitter thoughts came a shiver that suddenly ran down his spine. Zeus froze in his spots as he felt something looking at him from behind, pure malice oozing from the terrifying gaze.

But the god wouldn't even have the chance to question what that something was since he was abruptly sent flying by a large scaled tail smacking him across the back.

[...Who says I was running.] Theodore let out an amused hiss before slithering after his target.

.

.

.

"Frey? What are you talking about?"

"It's true! Zeus and Ra are lying to us!"

"How can we be sure that you're not the one being controlled by that evil snake?"

"Please!" Frey begged, glancing behind him to see his friends and Theo's shuffling their feet nervously, they hadn't really thought it through before gathering everyone there. They’d been very easy to place their trust in a monster, but what about the others? "You need to believe me! Right now Theo—"

'BOOM!'

Instinctively, Frey and everyone else standing by him moved out of the way just as the loud explosion rang out, they were standing in the middle of the streets where they'd managed to gather as many people in one area as possible.

At first, Frey thought that it was someone reckless who decided to show their disagreement in a more violent manner, but as he lifted his gaze to look at this person, he soon realized that it wasn't as he'd thought at all.

His friends and Theodore's all raised their weapon, even Eugene instantly shifted into his werewolf form, baring his fangs and clutching his battleaxe tightly.

[Do not listen to these fools.] Ra, still in Gabriel Griffin's body and clothes, spoke in an authoritative tone as he stepped out of a golden portal that'd appeared just a moment ago. [They're being mind controlled by the evil serpent, please come to your senses and get rid of them before they do more harm.]

"Wait!" Frey didn't get the chance to speak as someone stepped forward from the crowd of heroes, it was a blonde woman dressed in a fancy dress, she looked to be some sort of fortune teller. "My class is High Priestess, I can tell if they're being manipulated or not."

"Oh my god! It's Hina!"

"Hina? You mean the High Priestess Hina?"

"Yes! If it's her, she can certainly tell!"

The crowd began to mutter among themselves and soon their opinions began to lean towards trusting Frey's words, it was to be expected, after all, it was none other than Hina vouching for him.

The High Priestess was once a mythical class, an evolution from a regular Priestess that people view as an honorable and precious position, stronger ones even have the power to see into the future, although those usually have great restrictions on their abilities.

Hina however, managed to overcome her own limits and obtained her rightful title of High Priestess, she could see through spells and even cancel them out given some time.

She was practically a national treasure.

Ra of course noticed the sudden development, while he was getting frustrated, he kept his cool for the sake of trying to win back the crowd's favor. [Oh please…How can a mortal's words be more believing than a god's?]

The humans went quiet for a moment. Before one finally decided to speak up, it was none other than Frey, who stood proudly with a pair of furrowed brows. "You might've granted us powers…But that's all you gods have ever done."

[What—]

Before Ra could say anything more, something suddenly came flying towards him, he quickly dodged the surprise attack and turned to see what it was.

[Ra! You promised there would be no issues!] Zues' desperate voice caused Ra to panic, he was worried about what the humans would think if they saw a king of the gods in such a state.

Though once again, Ra didn't get the chance to correct their images since someone else appeared at the scene.

It was no less of a behemoth, standing almost as tall as the buildings around him, his golden gaze as cold as the aura that radiated off of his dark green scales and his dragon-like head look at them like a predator staring down its prey.

Ra instantly got into a defensive stance, eyes widened with surprise as his palms radiated a yellowish color, in only a second, portals appeared from the ground and mummified soldiers began to rise from all of them. [My worshippers! Kill the evil serpent!]

"AS THE KING COMMANDS!" The crooked, twisted tone of the undead army rang out as they all charged forward, raising their egyptian-style weapons with faithful bravery.

Frey quickly used this opportunity to apply the last nail onto the coffin, he turned towards the group of confused heroes behind him before shouting with all of his might, activating one of his skills.

[Commander's Voice.]

"Everyone! This is true proof! The gods are no more than frauds! Stand our ground and take back the world they'd stolen from us!"

[How dare you!] While Ra was occupied by the appearance of the Chaos' Apostle, Zeus rushed towards Frey, his once perfect appearance was tattered with dirt and injuries, some places had golden liquid oozing from the open wounds.

"I'm sure none of you have heard it yet…!" Frey turned to face Zeus and in an instant the sound of sparks rang out as the hero's sword met with the god's trusty lightning bolt. "But it's because of them that the monsters had appeared in the first place!"

"What…?"

"Is that true? So the portals and everything…?"

"My brother died because of an orc…"

Hearing the crowd's tones, Zeus instantly became angry, he pushed harder against Frey and eventually managed to knock him off of his feet and sent toppling backwards until his friends caught him. [You all have made a grave mistake…That serpent cannot protect you all…]

The sky began to growl as Zeus levitated off of the ground, his body became engulfed in an aura of electricity as he began to grow larger in size until he was towering over the humans beneath him, standing at around fifteen feet tall.

[For defying the gods…I will bring divine judgment!]

"Oh shut up!" Merlin shouted before firing an arrow from his black bow, Zeus didn't even try to move away from the sudden attack, thinking that there was no way it could—

'TUCK!'

It was like the sound of something hard being pierced by a blade, Zeus' widened eyes looked down onto his chest and saw gold oozing from the wound created by a mere arrow that'd somehow embedded itself into his flesh.

No one said anything for a moment, only the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance from a large snake and another god fighting each other, but then suddenly the humans became lively and began initiating their attack on Zeus.

It seemed like a war had just begun.