Now that Uriel's body was in perfect condition Uriel was ready to make the gods pay for what they had done to humanity, to his company, but more importantly to his friends. He would have loved to jump onto Tyche's throat for causing so much trouble with her failed rebellion attempt that caused everyone so much trouble, but Zeus power could not be ignored. After all, getting zapped by his lightning was not a fun experience for Uriel and was actually on the top of the causes of death he wished he never experienced.
However, dealing with Zeus was also difficult since dusa forbade him from killing the vessel who was her grandfather. If it wasn't for the ti and perspective he gained while in spiritual form, Uriel would have likely struggled to find an answer but now things were as clear as they could ever be.
"First things first," Uriel said as he casually walked over to the place where his fedora hat had fallen. He then dusted it and put it on with a grin. "now I'm ready."
Before the sound of Uriel's voice even reached his opponent, Uriel was already on close combat range and brandishing the sword against the god of lightning. Zeus blocked with a hand and attempted to counter with the other, but his fist hit empty air and Uriel was already slashing at his back.
Zeus adjusted his position several tis attempting to anticipate where the next strike would co from, but for all his power he was rendered helpless against a flurry of strikes and slashes that ca from anywhere at any ti. For a second he pondered whether it was actually the huntress with the power of shadows the one attacking him as he couldn't sense Uriel's presence anywhere and while it wasn't true, it also wasn't entirely wrong.
There was one ti when Uriel fought against Nika using not just his power, but also Water Warlock's. The difference in strength was so vast Uriel had actually to make a great effort not to kill her, but he noticed back then that power didn't matter if his opponent couldn't land a hit. In terms of combat effectiveness it was a lousy tactic as moving all over the place was very consuming in terms of ti and energy, but when getting hit was the sa as having his body destroyed once more Uriel had no choice but to walk the extra mile.
Contrary to Zeus' perception Uriel wasn't blinking into the shadows and he just used the shadows to blur his movents, sothing he was only able to do thanks to Nika possessing him. But the reason why Zeus was so confused was because Uriel moved impossibly fast for a human.
Even heroes of the old tis such as Achilles, a man whose movents reached the peak of humanity's potential, could only move as fast as their brains processed the information and while Zeus didn't know much about modern tis, technology and such, he knew all there was to know about traits.
"How is this possible? You're not supposed to be able to move this fast and they... what in the seven circles of hell are they!?" Zeus wiped blue blood trickling down his forehead, despite the wound that caused the bleeding had already healed.
"As much as I like to teach, this isn't the kind of lesson I'm willing to impart." Just as before, Uriel's voice ca as an echo after his punch landed on Zeus' face, but the god of lightning wasn't shocked anymore and just kept asking.
"I'm asking you, my enemy, a straightforward question. Whoever wins this fight, it should be in a way that boasts your honor and reputation. It is customary to answer so to level the fight and make it more epic."
"Customary?" Uriel pondered for a second, briefly cancelling his skills and standing still at a distance. He kept the sword up believing Zeus would take the chance to zap him with lightning, but when that didn't happen he finally focused on his answer. "didn't you just try to get my friends killed? You said it yourself, that you wanted to destroy my soul. Is there honor in that?"
"As long as they are killed in an honorable way, I don't see a problem with that. I could kill them right this second," Zeus pointed a hand bearing a lightning to dusa, but then crushed it causing the electricity to disappear. "but that would soil my victory or put my na to further sha should I be defeated."
"Guess I'll answer your questions, then," Uriel grabbed a few snacks and an energy drink and offered half to Zeus who only tried them after Uriel did it first. "I'm not exactly sure of how they surpassed the limit of their rank as it is not the sa for , but If my guesses are enough to sate your curiosity I can try to answer."
"Proceed." Zeus nodded and sat in front of Uriel, munching potato chips with the sa enthusiasm Luna usually showed.
"They must have consud ambrosia before this encounter. It is the only explanation that cos to mind as to why they have yet to run out of flux energy."
"Did you steal it from us?" Zeus caressed his chin, though he didn't seem angry. It was almost as if he would have admired them if the answer was positive, but Uriel shook his head.
"We found a strange plant inside a dungeon and it just happened to have a calorie count that could be compared to radioactive material."
"I don't know those words." Zeus admitted.
"Which leads to the next part of the answer, technology. dusa probably used so form of exoskeleton to improve her power and a flexible armor to protect herself."
"Armor is not supposed to be flexible, it should be rigid!" Zeus exclaid in outrage.
"That's correct for the most part, but did you see how that plate armor worked out for Ares? According to dusa, using a supermaterial such as orichalcum to make a plate armor is a waste. Since it's already impossible to destroy it, it is best to shape it in such a way that doesn't restrain movent."
"Supermaterial..." Zeus tilted his face in confusion, which looked odd on Walter Works face as he was one of the leaders in technology developnt in the world and the one responsible for the breakthroughs that led humanity to the next era before the arrival.
"And that leads to the final point, science in general. They're taking advantage of the properties of chemicals that affect anything of a physical nature. A god's vessel may be sturdier than any hunter could ever beco, they can move faster, withstand more damage, repair themselves and they can even hold their breath for longer, but all that doesn't matter. Anything that cos in contact with certain substances will be destroyed and since the substance sticks, the damage is constant which makes regeneration impossible." Uriel pointed his finger towards Aphrodite who now wiggled on the ground like a work after being struck on the face with a white phosphorus grenade making Zeus the last god of the Greek pantheon to remain on the battlefield.
The rest were either small divinities or forgotten gods whose power could not be compared to the ones who were revered even in the current tis. Their domains could be powerful, but without enough energy to bring their power into reality the outco of a battle would be determined mostly by raw physical strength.
"Then how did you make us weaker? That all makes sense, but how did you make us weaker? I should have been able to destroy you for a couple centuries without the need to rest, but my lightning... it disappeared."
"No clue." Uriel shrugged as he didn't know Mark had gotten involved into the fight, though he sowhat had guessed that humans had stopped believing in gods and that was the cause of the sudden weakness they experienced.
"That answers most of my questions then and this is the last one. You ntioned that your friends surpassed their limits by doing all that, how are you different from them?"
"My power doesn't co from anything I ntioned before," Uriel bobbed his head, arms crossed and eyes closed. "but this is sothing worth showing, rather than telling."
With that, Uriel took so distance and Zeus did the sa in an unspoken agreent that the battle would be decided in the next move. Win or lose, both parties were ready to give it their all in a last strike.
Zeus lifted both arms up to the sky and the clouds that had ford above gifted him with lightning that served not just to recharge his flux energy but also to empower his body and even cleanse the air around him of poison of which he only knew after Uriel told him. His skill mother of all storms was powerful, but the amount of flux energy Zeus now channeled hinted that the next skill would be even greater.
And that is when Uriel started bobbing up and down, almost as if he was skipping but without actually taking off the ground. He moved in the most extravagant way possible which for a second made all the people watching him cringe, but that all stopped when his low grumbles in an unintelligible language filled the air around him as if preparing the atmospheric flux energy to answer to his command.
And that is when the first shy drops of water fell from the sky in what would beco a second universal deluge.
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