But after his surprise, Verethragna broke into a joyous smile.
The Undefeated God of War sought defeat. He pursued it because he would not be defeated by any enemy!
It was for this reason that he had rushed forward in excitement to fight Melkart immediately after sensing the God King's presence on Sardinia. And after gathering all his Incarnations, he had impatiently initiated a second fight with the newly recovered Melkart.
"Hahaha! You are excellent! Your power is fierce, and your technique is quite remarkable, but your mistake is challenging me, the God of War, with a sword! Even if you are a Demon King of the earth, I must commend your boldness born of ignorance!"
Verethragna smiled, a mix of mockery, disdain, and a hint of admiration and awe. But it was the condescension a high and mighty god bestowed upon a mortal. It was like people viewing a tiny creature valiantly breaking out of its shell, finding it charming and resilient. The attitude of the gods was always thus.
However, the reality was as Verethragna claimed. Luo Guang's swordsmanship surpassed that of any mortal—even the contemporary martial artist Luo Hao might be slightly inferior to him in raw technique. But as the God of War, Verethragna's martial arts, setting aside his Authorities, absolutely surpassed those of most Steel Incarnations (Gods of Steel).
After enduring the sudden strike, Verethragna reacted, using specialized techniques to parry the Demon-Slaying Holy Sword with his Golden Sword, and immediately launching a fierce counter-attack. Though he scorned Luo Guang, he recognized him as a qualified opponent. Therefore, Verethragna held nothing back, directly unleashing Divine-Domain-level martial arts.
Furthermore, to counter Luo Guang's amplified strength, Verethragna activated the Divinity of his Second Incarnation, the Bull, granting himself overwhelming might. The current strength of Verethragna's arms was enough to effortlessly lift a small mountain.
Yet, to Verethragna's astonishment, even with the Bull Incarnation, which granted him unmatched power, he was only barely able to match Luo Guang's strength.
Omm—!
The Demon-Slaying Holy Sword tore through the air, and the resulting pressure wave instantly split the atmosphere. The air currents on both sides fiercely squeezed the center, forming an intense whirlwind. This single strike carved through the clouds for dozens of kilometers, briefly revealing the calm night sky before the clouds rapidly covered it up again.
Clang!
A crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out. Verethragna managed to parry the blow, but not completely dodge it. A large number of dragon hands suddenly extended from the various jewels on Luo Guang's armor. They seemed to possess a life of their own, swinging their claws to rip through the air.
A gash appeared near Verethragna's eye, and crimson blood beads seeped out. His inner surprise was immense. Even though he had used the Bull Incarnation and Divine-Domain-level martial arts, he was gradually unable to keep up with Luo Guang's speed. Not to mention the strange ability—even when he quickly cut down the dragon hands with his sword, no blood splattered; they were clearly energy constructs made of Cursed Power.
Frustrated and exasperated, Verethragna was provoked into seriousness and activated the Divinity of the Phoenix Incarnation. Cursed Power condensed, and the power of the Word of Power granted him phenomenal agility and jumping power.
Verethragna finally managed to keep pace with Luo Guang. Just as he prepared to smile, believing he had regained the initiative, and condescendingly lecture Luo Guang—
In the next second, he watched his strike miss again.
No, not just one strike, but dozens of slashes he launched in the following second were all successfully evaded. Even Verethragna briefly entertained the thought, What in the world is going on? Hadn't he used the Phoenix Incarnation? He should have been able to match Luo Guang's speed.
Through his glowing divine eyes, he seemed to glimpse Luo Guang's current state. At some point, the ochre-red body was covered by a layer of dark matter. From a distance, it looked as if dark dragon tails were trailing from his body, turning the ochre-red color into deep crimson.
Verethragna immediately realized that Luo Guang's sudden speed increase must be due to the power of this strange shadow.
And he was correct. This was the Authority Luo Guang had used, usurped from Rahu, which granted him the power of the celestial body that disrupts the sky. The immense Cursed Power was basically the same as in his Aura Dragon state, and it did not require the incantation of any Word of Power to activate. Luo Guang merely willed it, and it was so.
Perhaps this was related to different individuals. In Luo Guang's view, being distracted by incanting a Word of Power during battle was not necessarily stupid, but overly lengthy incantations were definitely foolish. He did use an incantation when activating his Authority, but only by quickly reciting it in his mind. And as for the Authority itself—it had already successfully activated the moment he thought of the first word. The spoken Word of Power was merely a formality.
The shadow transformed by this Authority could form into the shape of dragon tails for dispersed attacks. However, when covering the entire body, it significantly increased Luo Guang's speed. This was why Verethragna, even using the Phoenix Authority, still could not catch up to Luo Guang.
Unable to keep pace, wounds began to appear all over Verethragna's body. The increasingly difficult situation finally replaced the initial casualness on Verethragna's face with mounting frustration.
It was then that thousands of bolts of lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky. The strikes, carrying massive amounts of Cursed Power, were launched from above. In an instant, a range of several kilometers turned into a rain of electricity.
Luo Guang noticed the unusual nature of the lightning, clicked his tongue lightly, and transformed into a red flash, weaving through the lightning bolts and quickly moving out of the electrified zone. Although he was completely unaffected, the attack allowed Verethragna to slip away from his grasp.
Luo Guang narrowed his eyes and looked at the attacker.
It was the mountain-like giant, Melkart. He stood with his arms crossed, watching Luo Guang with an excited expression.
"Excellent human! Though a novice Demon King, I see endless heroism in you! To force the God of War to such a state truly proves your exceptional nature. And because of that, you are all the more worthy to be shattered by me along with this island!"
His voice was like a storm, like a tsunami. Cursed Power, like a fiery aura, erupted from Melkart's body.
"Demon King of the earth, it is your supreme honor to die by my hand, Melkart."
Luo Guang remained unmoved. His face beneath the mask was calm as he responded flatly.
"I am not a King."