"Abel, show some real skill. Your aura means nothing to me." With a sweep of Meruem's hand, the divine pressure Abel had unleashed vanished in an instant.
The Gold Saints all exhaled in relief. Except for Shaka, who had conversed with gods and buddhas since childhood, even Saga felt his face burn with shame over how he had just behaved.
Utterly disgraceful.
"Mortal… you're impressive. Submit to me, and I may spare your life—and grant you everything you desire." Seeing Meruem's display, Abel once again could not help throwing out an olive branch.
His enemies were not just Athena and the Sanctuary; all the Olympian gods in heaven were his foes as well. Gaining a powerful subordinate would greatly aid his plans.
"Oh? Is that so?" Meruem looked Abel over with amused interest. "Everything I desire?"
"Indeed. I am a god, the Sun God Abel. Whatever you wish, I can give you." Abel, hearing a hint of success, hurried to press his advantage. "Mortal, submit to me and speak your wish."
He had been sealed for so long that his reactions were sluggish. He completely failed to hear the mockery in Meruem's words and actually believed Meruem was tempted.
"Then… hand over your divinity." Like an arrow loosed from a bow, Meruem shot toward him.
A white ki blast flew straight at Abel's face; Meruem had long since found that face irritating.
Caught off guard, Abel took the ki blast full on. His head snapped to the side, half his face swelling instantly, and a thin line of red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Fortunately for him, Meruem had only meant to teach him a lesson and hadn't gone all‑out; otherwise it would have been far worse than a few drops of blood.
"You… you actually dared… to harm my noble body!" Touching the blood at his lips and staring dazedly at the crimson on his fingertips, Abel suddenly snapped.
His blue hair rose wildly in a windless hall, and an azure Cosmo spewed from his body. In the supposedly enclosed Goddess Temple, violent cyclones surged outward from Abel's position.
"Oh my, he's mad now." Meruem ignored Abel's fury and just laughed carelessly.
"Oh, right—this guy in front of me isn't someone you can handle yet. Take Shion and fall back, and get ready to welcome Saori—she'll be back soon. Before she arrives, I'll finish with him." Meruem turned to the exhausted Gold Saints, the "him" at the end clearly referring to the enraged Abel.
At his words, the Gold Saints immediately supported Shion and headed for the exit; Meruem was right—Abel was beyond their current ability to resist.
"Insects—you think you can disturb a god and walk away alive?" Abel had no intention of letting them go. From a distance, he swung a fist and sent a massive wave of Cosmo roaring toward the retreating Saints, determined to kill them.
But he did not succeed. A large hand rose in front of the Gold Saints, blocking Abel's killing blow.
"Sorry, former Sun God, but your opponent is me." Meruem deliberately stressed the word "former," making Abel howl with rage.
Abel had indeed been the Sun God before his divinity was stripped away and he was sealed, but now the Sun God was Apollo. Meruem's blunt mockery was more than enough to make Abel lose his temper.
"I'll kill you, mortal! You will taste a god's wrath!" The temperature in the Goddess Temple rose sharply. Within seconds, it became terrifyingly hot, and even the air seemed to distort.
Moisture evaporated at once, leaving the air parched and painful to breathe. The floor and pillars grew scorching hot; toss a piece of meat down and you'd have teppanyaki in no time.
Behind Abel, a miniature sun appeared, dazzling and radiating staggering heat. Even the divine stone throne behind him began to show signs of melting. That throne was no ordinary rock; in hardness it surpassed even Gold Cloths. It was hard to imagine how high the temperature of that miniature sun really was.
The small sun floated slowly from behind Abel to hover before him. Waves of scorching heat battered Meruem, and the white robe on his body actually began to smolder. Moments later, it burned to ash, revealing the Chimera Cloth beneath. Any ordinary human standing where Meruem stood would have dried to a husk and then turned to ash like that robe.
A satisfied smile crossed Abel's face. You're locked on now, damned mortal. At last, I'll kill you. With a shove of both hands, he sent the miniature sun hurtling at Meruem.
"Corona!" The tiny sun shot forward like a cannonball.
"And you think you can kill me without even putting on your God Cloth?" Meruem showed not the slightest sign of fear. Abel felt a sudden, ominous chill.
"Don't you think you're underestimating me a bit?" Meruem drove his fist into the onrushing sun. Instead of Meruem being incinerated as Abel had imagined, something astonishing happened: the miniature sun rebounded like a baseball struck by a bat.
It flew back even faster than it had come, streaking past Abel's face before he could react and slamming through the stone wall behind him, then soaring into the sky until it became a star on the horizon and finally vanished from sight.
"Oh, my bad, former Sun God—missed a little. Next time, I'll aim for your head." Tilting his head, Meruem grinned at Abel, cheerfully mocking him—though the killing intent radiating from him was nearly tangible. If not for his dislike of streaking, he wouldn't even have bothered to wear his Cloth.
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