Gods are fickle.
Noah had known this from the very beginning.
So, seeing Hermes's attitude, he wasn't the least bit surprised.
He simply and silently equipped a pair of mechanical gauntlets.
"The hard way... is it?"
"Ha."
The boy split his mouth into a grin, crouched down and leaped, his body launching straight off the rooftop and into the air.
As an ordinary person, Noah naturally shouldn't have possessed such jumping power.
He was only able to do so because of the tactical boots on his feet.
He raised his gauntlets, locked onto Hermes hiding outside the house and revealed a cruel smile.
"Found you! Hermes! Watch me smash you to bits!"
The huge commotion gave Hermes a start.
Hearing the voice from above, he forced himself to look up at Noah in mid-air, his eyes widening.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't be serious!"
Sensing the threat emanating from Noah, Hermes's face turned grim and he turned tail to run.
And Noah, like a meteor, came crashing down.
BOOM!
The mechanical gauntlets slammed into the ground, their structure instantly transforming.
A powerful explosion was channeled into the earth, shattering it and creating a large crater big enough to bury three or four people.
"Waaaaah!" Hermes dodged the blast, but the shockwave still sent him flying.
After scrambling to his feet, he exclaimed in shock, "What kind of power is that?! Getting hit by something like that is no joke!"
Noah pulled with all his might, extracting his arms from the earth.
The surface of the mechanical gauntlets opened up, ejecting several large shell casings and venting a scorching heat.
Internal explosives.
By detonating internal charges and concentrating the explosive force in a specific direction, they could destroy objects or kill enemies.
The drawback was the limited amount of explosives that could be loaded, which capped the maximum power.
Furthermore, each use required a full minute to cool down.
Of course, besides these features, the gauntlets' main purpose was to compensate for his strength.
Wearing them, even his nine-year-old body could lift 270 kilograms with one hand.
In reality, they were a pair of auxiliary arms designed for labor.
"Tch, he dodged. As I thought, there are still some major issues with this thing's practical application."
Noah looked at the pathetic figure of Hermes, who had collapsed not far away and raised his other mechanical arm.
"But it doesn't matter. I've got a feel for it now. I won't miss this time."
Killing a god.
The greatest sin in this world.
Of course, that was only from the perspective of the mortals below.
In truth, it wasn't uncommon for gods, bored by their endless lives, to play around with suicide.
They would just revive after being dead for a while anyway.
Even in this situation, Hermes surely saw it as nothing more than a game.
"Well then, Lord Hermes, by the time you awaken again, I'll have certainly died of old age, no longer existing anywhere."
The revival of a god takes time—generally not too short, but not too long either.
Isn't there a saying? A dragon takes a nap, and several dynasties of human civilization pass by.
It should be about the same for a god, right?
"Therefore, I won't say 'see you again.'"
"Farewell forever!"
Just as Noah was about to make his move, Hermes suddenly threw a handful of sand at him.
Lacking any combat awareness, Noah noticed the trick too late.
His vision blurred, he tried to rub his eyes, only to find them blocked by the cold gauntlets.
"Crap."
Noah cursed, then simply forced out tears to wash the grit away.
Enduring the discomfort in his eyes, he chased Hermes into the forest.
With the mobility provided by his tactical boots, he quickly caught up to the sweat-drenched Hermes.
"Asfi! If you don't save me, I'm really going to be killed!"
Suddenly, Hermes tilted his head back and shouted.
Behind him, Noah's movements faltered upon hearing the cry.
'He has a partner?'
The moment that thought surfaced, Noah felt an oppressive force descend from the sky.
He forced himself to a halt and looked up.
A figure, wrapped in currents of air, was descending just as he had, but with far greater momentum.
The violent wind pressure snapped trees and tore apart everything in the vicinity, landing between him and Hermes.
Squinting, Noah struggled to make out the figure's true form.
It was a beautiful woman.
She had short light-blue hair, sea-blue eyes and a noble air about her.
It was this woman whose seemingly delicate, whose mere movement had created a scene akin to a natural disaster.
Looking at the woman who had made such a powerful entrance, Noah's heart sank to the depths.
Asfi Al Andromeda.
The strongest member of the Hermes Familia!
A so-called Familia was a god's retinue.
Joining a Familia meant following a god and receiving their divine grace.
Those who received this grace would possess things like Levels and ability scores, with Level being the most direct way to gauge a person's strength.
Every increase in Level brought a qualitative leap in power.
Among them, Lv. 1s were called lower-class adventurers, or rookies.
This group comprised more than half of all adventurers in the Labyrinth City, Orario.
But from Lv. 2 onwards, an adventurer's strength would undergo a world-altering change, and they would thenceforth be known as upper-class adventurers.
Next were Lv. 3 and Lv. 4, known as second-tier adventurers, second only to the first-tier adventurers of Lv. 5 and above.
This woman named Asfi, her level was...
Lv. 4!
"This is bad..."
Noah hurriedly raised his mechanical arms, intending to risk it all—not to repel the enemy, but to at least create an opening to escape.
Smack!
'Wha—what!'
Noah stared in astonishment at Asfi, who had appeared before him in an instant and restrained his arms.
"So fast."
A pair of wings had actually sprouted from Asfi's shoes!
She had crossed a dozen meters faster than he could even raise his arms!
"My apologies."
Asfi's cool voice was the last thing Noah remembered before he lost consciousness.
Before a Lv. 4 adventurer, he was utterly powerless to resist.
He was knocked out just like that.
When he awoke again, he did not see Hermes's infuriating face.
Instead, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.