The night was quiet.
Too quiet.
Kuoh Town slept under a pale crescent moon as streetlights hummed faintly, casting long shadows through the trees. A normal night for normal people.
But I was no longer normal.
Not since Greece.
Not since the rise of golden flames and the fall of gods.
And tonight… something was coming.
I felt it before I heard it.
A tremor—thin as spider-silk—vibrated through my heel and up my spine.
Achilles' instincts sharpened instantly.
A threat.
Divine.
Fast.
I stepped outside the Hyoudou residence as the world slowed around me, my senses stretching through the night like invisible tendrils.
Isami was asleep inside.
Satellizer sat near the door polishing her sword.
At least she had been.
She stiffened, eyes snapping up.
"You felt it too?"
I nodded.
"Divine presence. Two of them. No… three."
She clenched her fists.
"Enemies?"
I didn't have to answer.
Because the sky split open.
A roar tore through the night, loud enough to rattle windows for several blocks.
Not thunder.
A battle-cry.
Three streaks of bronze light fell from the heavens like comets. The moment they hit the ground, the pavement cracked—
—and three divine warriors rose from the smoke.
Tall.
Bronze-skinned.
Eyes glowing faint golden-white.
Armor crafted in ancient Hellenic style.
Each held a long spear inscribed with Olympian runes.
Satellizer stepped in front of me, sword drawn.
"Who are they!?"
I frowned.
"Gegenees."
She froze.
"THE Gegenees!? The bronze giants who challenged Heracles!?"
"Exactly."
Six-armed giants—half-god monsters of war.
Except these were lesser avatars created from divine will.
One of them pointed its spear at me.
"CAMPIONE OF PROMETHEUS."
Its voice was metallic, echoing unnaturally through the air.
"YOU HAVE SLAIN FOUR CHILDREN OF OLYMPUS."
Another giant slammed a spear into the ground, forming cracks like spiderwebs.
"BY DECREE OF ZEUS—
YOUR EXECUTION IS MANDATED."
The third one roared:
"DIE, GOD-SLAYER!"
All three charged, the street shaking under their immense weight.
Satellizer gasped.
"Issei—!"
I raised my hand.
A single finger.
"Stand down."
She froze, swallowing her fear.
The giants came closer—
Ten meters.
Five.
Three.
Their spears glowed molten gold.
And I smiled.
"Radiance—activate."
The world exploded into gold.
My skin shimmered like sunlight on steel. Heat rippled off me in waves. The ground beneath my feet cracked under the pressure.
Time slowed to a crawl.
The giants' movements became sluggish, predictable, pathetic.
The first spear thrust for my chest—
I stepped to the side casually.
The second came for my throat—
I ducked.
The third aimed at my heart—
I stopped it with two fingers.
Satellizer's breath caught.
"You… you stopped a divine spear with two fingers—?!"
I didn't answer.
Instead, I lightly flicked the spear.
Boom.
The Gegenees flew backwards, smashing through a convenience store wall.
"Next."
I blurred forward.
The second giant raised all six arms to block—
I tapped its chest.
A shockwave detonated outward.
Crack—BOOM!
The giant—massive, divine, armored—was launched skyward like a ragdoll, vanishing into the distant clouds.
The third giant hesitated.
A mistake.
I appeared in front of him instantly.
Six spears thrust toward me from every angle.
My hand moved once.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
I deflected all six with a single casual sweep of my arm, sparks scattering like fireflies.
His eyes widened.
"IMPOSSIBLE—"
I smiled.
"Thanks for the warm-up."
I drove a punch into his abdomen.
The sound was like a meteor striking earth.
KRA-THOOOOOM!
The shockwave shattered windows for blocks.
The giant skidded across the street, carving a trench in the asphalt before slamming into a streetlight.
Satellizer shielded her face from debris, eyes wide.
"A-Are they dead?"
I cracked my neck.
"Unfortunately not."
And indeed—
Three massive forms slowly rose from the rubble.
Bruised.
Bleeding divine ichor.
But alive.
That was the strength of divine avatars.
The first giant hissed.
"GOD-SLAYER…
YOU ARE… STRONGER… THAN EXPECTED…"
The second bellowed:
"WE MUST USE… THAT."
The third roared to the sky.
The air shimmered.
Something massive stirred above the clouds.
Satellizer paled.
"What are they calling!?"
I already knew.
My instincts flared.
Achilles' radiance warned me.
Theseus' insight confirmed it.
This was something far bigger than avatars.
A sky tremor cracked the clouds open—
—and a colossal serpentine shape slithered through the gap.
Lightning danced around its scales.
Divine aura burned like fire.
Eyes gleamed with Olympian fury.
The sky rumbled at its presence.
Satellizer gasped.
"THAT'S—
THE GOD-SLAYING THUNDER SERPENT OF ZEUS!"
The Gegenees pointed at me.
"KILL HIM!"
The serpent lunged—
—and I grinned.
Wind exploded around me.
A swirling cyclone of divine force.
"Come," I commanded softly.
A blast of white light erupted behind me—
—and my Pegasus materialized, screaming a thunderous cry of war.
Satellizer's fear dissolved into awe.
"You're going to fight that in the sky!?"
I mounted the Pegasus.
Cracked my knuckles.
"Of course."
The Pegasus flared its wings and shot into the sky—breaking the sound barrier instantly.
Wind roared across my face.
The serpent writhed toward me, jaws snapping.
Lightning arced across the sky.
I reached out—
And grabbed one of its fangs bare-handed.
Satellizer screamed from the ground.
The serpent hissed, whipping its body to coil and crush me—
Authority: Prometheus' Flame
My hand ignited with golden fire.
Concept-burning fire.
Myth-breaking fire.
The flame ate through the serpent's divine flesh instantly, the burn spreading in glowing cracks across its scales.
The serpent shrieked.
I twisted my arm—
And tore half its jaw off.
Golden blood rained from the sky like shooting stars.
The serpent convulsed—
—and began dissolving.
Its divine form broke apart into motes of dying light.
Within seconds…
…it was gone.
Silence fell over Kuoh.
I descended slowly on the Pegasus.
Landing lightly on the destroyed street.
The three Gegenees staggered back, trembling.
"IMPOSSIBLE…"
"HOW CAN A MORTAL—"
"A HUMAN—"
I stepped forward.
"You called me mortal."
My eyes glowed golden.
"You were wrong."
They tried to flee.
Too slow.
I appeared behind them, my hand blazing with mythic flame.
"Prometheus' Fire—"
I touched the ground.
"—Judgment."
A ring of golden fire erupted outward.
The giants screamed as the flame consumed them—not their bodies, but their concepts.
Their very existence.
Their screams pierced the night…
…and then faded into nothing as the fire erased them completely.
Silence returned.
The fire dimmed.
The wind calmed.
The night resumed.
Satellizer approached me slowly, trembling.
"Issei… you… you just fought a divine serpent with your bare hands…"
I looked at her.
"Yeah."
"And tore it apart."
"Yeah."
"And erased three divine avatars from existence."
"Yeah."
She stared.
"Are you going to… do that again?"
I stretched.
"I hope so."
She nearly fainted.
Behind us, Isami sleepily opened the window.
"Onii… what was that noise? Sounds like you were beating up a kaiju…"
She glanced outside.
"Oh.
You were."
She yawned.
"Keep it down, I'm trying to sleep."
And with that, she closed the window.
Satellizer blinked, speechless.
I sighed.
"…welcome to my life."