Liliyana, hiding in the ruins next to the underground temple, stared blankly at the scene before her.
Although she was originally a top student in the magic world, the series of dazzling changes that had just occurred before her eyes were simply too fantastical, even for her.
At first, when she followed the spiritual energy left by Melqart and found this underground temple, Liliyana thought she was experiencing an adventure movie. And when she met Ares in the underground temple, she only thought she had coincidentally met a common teammate from an adventure movie.
But then, when Ares spoke to Melqart, wantonly mocking Melqart, Liliyana felt like she was experiencing a horror movie with a terrible teammate.
Then Melqart got angry, and just when Liliyana thought she was about to experience a disaster movie, Ares suddenly erupted with combat power comparable to Melqart's, forcefully turning this disaster movie into a mythological epic film.
In the end, just as Liliyana was respectfully watching the battle between Ares and Melqart with the feeling of a historical witness, Ares suddenly pulled out a submachine gun and, with poisoned bullets, bang, bang, bang, bang turned the movie into a comedy.
What a joke! The pinnacle of Canaanite mythology, the God King of the Phoenician, the absolute authority of Sardinia, Melqart, was ultimately defeated by a submachine gun that had been discontinued four or five years ago?
If she told that to someone, even she wouldn't believe it! That kind of firearm couldn't even hurt her!
This overly surreal sight made Liliyana stand frozen in place. She didn't even notice that Ares had finished absorbing Melqart's authorities and regained consciousness from the reincarnation ritual. Finally, Ares turned his head, saw the dusty-faced girl hiding in the nearby ruins, and asked in surprise:
"Huh? You haven't run away yet?"
"I saw you weren't under much pressure just now, so I hid behind the ruins to avoid distracting you," Liliyana replied instinctively, her mind still not fully processing things.
"Oh, I didn't realize you were so good at observing. You must have played a lot of team-based RPGs, right?" Ares said.
"Mmm, I did play for a while…" Liliyana instinctively conversed with Ares, and as she spoke, her mind slowly began to catch up.
This man in front of her killed a god with a submachine gun.
He killed a genuine God of Disobedience.
So, according to custom, he should become, become…
"Eh?" Ares, who was talking to Liliyana, suddenly looked surprised as the girl abruptly knelt down. He was startled and quickly asked, "What's wrong? Did the shockwave from my fight with Melqart cause internal injuries? Or are you calcium deficient? It couldn't be something as coincidental as dysmenorrhea, could it… Let me see if there's anything in Melqart's authorities that can cure illnesses…"
But Liliyana ignored his rambling and respectfully said to him, "I was rude before. Now you are a Demon King who reigns over the earth, uh… you should have successfully usurped Melqart's authorities, right?"
Ares didn't speak, but he extended a hand and opened his palm. In his palm, a pair of huge wooden staffs quickly appeared. Those were the two divine artifacts previously used by Melqart, the Canaanite God King, the "Pursuer" and the "Banisher," which had defeated the Dragon King Yam.
Seeing this, Liliyana no longer hesitated. She bowed deeply to Ares.
Regardless of how Ares killed the god, he had indeed become a true God Slayers.
Of course, Ares was different from ordinary God Slayers. When he defeated Melqart, he actually usurped all of the opponent's authorities. As for the remaining magical power of Melqart, it was all used by the black crystal to modify the physique of his clone to adapt to Melqart's authorities.
Because Melqart was already severely injured, and he was slowly weakening due to the Hydra's poison when Ares smashed him to death, he didn't have much magical power left. After modifying Ares's clone's physical body, there was no excess. However, Ares himself was also a god, and magical power could be diverted from his main body, so there was no need to worry about not being able to wield Melqart's authorities.
As the God King of Canaanite mythology, Melqart's divinity was also incredibly complex. His famous "Pursuer" and "Banisher" go without saying. Besides these, he also possessed divinity related to storms, the sea, the sky, thunder, locusts, the underworld, and more. He even possessed the authority of resurrection, just like Veleslana.
After usurping these authorities and divinities, Ares could be said to have profited immensely. These divinities were enough for him and Hecate to create at least three more main god-level Machine Gods.
But he was not satisfied with this and continued to target the Persian God of War, who was still wandering around Sardinia, recovering his avatars everywhere.
Just as he had thought before, since he was already here, he definitely had to get his fill before leaving. Moreover, after winning big at the Cagliari casino with Veleslana, Ares also felt the benefits of the victory divine office and began to covet Veleslana's divinity.
However, Veleslana was currently running around Sardinia, and he didn't know when he would truly reclaim his avatars and reappear as a God of Disobedience. Before that, Ares wanted to first find Kusanagi Godou, who held the Prometheus Scripture, and take the Scripture from him, to prevent someone with ulterior motives from stealing his kill.
This was also why Ares chose to kill Melqart first. With the identity of a God Slayers, his actions in Italy would be much more convenient. Even if he couldn't speak a word of Italian, plenty of magic societies would naturally come forward after receiving the news and willingly become his tools.
Thinking of this, Ares looked again at the single-ponytail girl kneeling on one knee in front of him, her expression complex.
Hmm, on second thought, Liliyana's family seemed to be one of the strongest magic societies in Italy, and she and the other female protagonist, Erica, were childhood friends, so they should still have each other's phone numbers.
At this moment, given that The Fates also meddled in this world, Erica should still be by Kusanagi Godou's side, acting with him as he held the Prometheus Scripture.
Therefore, having made up his mind, Ares lowered his head and gave Liliyana a gentle smile:
"Get up, I'm not used to you kneeling when you talk to me. By the way, Miss Liliyana, I heard your family has a lot of influence in Italy. Could you do me another favor?"