Chapter 992 - 44: Stealing a Man

Chapter 992: Chapter 44: Stealing a Man

The sound of light footsteps echoed.

In this pitch-black world where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, it felt unusually distinct, as if someone was walking purposefully toward them through the vast darkness.

The origin of the sound was clear, seemingly without any intention of hiding.

Unsure if it was due to a brazen self-confidence, or perhaps a belief that hiding was meaningless.

"...!!"

Amilia, who was worrying and anxious, felt a chill sweep through her heart the instant she heard the footsteps, turning her head to stare intently in that direction.

However, because the visibility was so poor and she didn’t have any magical effect or item that could "increase her vision," she could only hear the sound without seeing any specifics. This made the Heroic Maiden unable to resist clenching her fist, feeling a sense of helplessness in the dark space.

Of course, this was unavoidable.

After all, even Erica, who still retained normal combat power, felt a chill deep within her heart, finding no sense of security in this dark domain... As humans have always been inherently fearful of the night, it’s an instinctual fear of darkness.

But with the progress of times and the development of technology—

Human civilization has flourished, being able to create things that light up the surroundings even at night.

It’s through faith in civilization that the non-scientific world was gradually excluded as superstition. However, this does not mean the instincts embedded deeply in genes disappear. It’s merely that people became accustomed to a world with light, temporarily forgetting the fear of darkness...

Thus, when engulfed by extraordinary silence and surrounded by deep darkness, this profound instinct along with ancient memories returns.

"Stop... who are you!!"

Resolutely blocking in front, Erica forced herself to calm down, while thinking of a strategy to cope, she spoke sternly as if facing a formidable enemy. At the same time, she assumed a defensive posture, holding the steel sword symbolizing the Lionheart King in front, ready to engage flexibly at any moment.

Even though the young lady, strictly speaking, wasn’t a purely magician but considered herself a "knight," simultaneously studying martial arts and magic as a superpower user.

Yet in such circumstances, she actually had more advantage.

Since compared to magicians specialized in magic, knights also needed to study swordsmanship, honing physical capabilities, inherently making their physical fitness more superior, and the sensory perception more acute.

Sound, light, scent molecules, air vibrations...

To put it plainly, the essence of the five senses is to receive external information.

The sharper and stronger the senses, the more responsible they can be, acquiring more information. Ordinary people might not be able to, but she might easily and nonchalantly sense the flow of wind, using ground vibrations like a radar to explore the surroundings—

Listening to pinpoint positions, feeling the wind for guidance, these are feasible.

Thus, even in a completely dark environment where sight fails, one could still retain fighting strength, not entirely helpless.

Of course, while saying this, it couldn’t change the objective fact that humans are visual creatures; more than 80% of external information is perceived via vision... Hence the influence is undeniably present, especially considering the opponent wasn’t ordinary and utilizing divine power for an ambush.

In the next instant, it seemed Erica’s command took effect—

The footsteps abruptly halted.

The owner of the footsteps didn’t appear.

No, perhaps they had already appeared, yet amidst the dark domain, they were completely unseen. Clearly, the sound was close, just about ten meters away, yet they were invisible, not even a vague silhouette.

Erica bit her lip, suddenly feeling a bit flustered, realizing she’s lost track of the enemy, although the distance was clear when they approached. The slight vibration on the ground, minute changes in air movement, and the origin, size, and distance of the sound...

But after stopping, all these instantly vanished completely.

The entirely dark world became silent, as if her sense of directionality and perception of distance had disappeared in an instant—with no changes, no reference, even the real perception of time began to fade, hazily, only the oppression and fear of darkness subtly grew in heart.

"..."

"..."

Quietness, silence, lifelessness.

An oppressive atmosphere in the air silently spread, as if it transformed into an invisible giant hand, slowly clasping their hearts, and exerting force, squeezing tighter.

"Who am I? Hehe..."

Who knows how much time has passed, perhaps a moment, perhaps a whole century, as a slightly immature delightful laughter rang out. Breaking the silence, yet without answering, directly posing a suggestive counter-question.

"Zeus! You have nothing to say?"

"..."

"..."

Once again, a short silence filled the air.

—— Zeus...

—— Why is it that name again...

Erica was momentarily stunned, and then her expression turned odd once more. Amid the darkness, she was naturally aware of whom the female voice was addressing.

Though this wasn’t the first time, yet... facing such a situation again, she still felt terribly disoriented, and had a strong sense of surrealism. Instinctively, she wanted to turn her head towards someone to see how he would explain it.

The maiden couldn’t help but wonder if this person truly didn’t know——

Or was he deliberately or unintentionally hiding something?

There was no way that without any reason, the other party would just persistently target him, right? Such a basic mistake, like mistaking the wrong person, should never occur, especially for someone capable of wielding the trump card of "Divine Power", and never should it be a repeated mistake.

"I’m not! I didn’t! Stop spouting nonsense!"

Gu Mo quickly launched into a three-fold denial, shaking his head repeatedly while firmly expressing, "You truly have the wrong person, I’m definitely not Zeus... never was, my surname is Gu, I’m called Gu Mo, that’s been my name since birth."

He spoke swiftly and urgently, with extremely earnest words that made one subconsciously feel it was the truth.

Indeed, it was the truth, and didn’t need the power of the God of Lies to obscure or mislead, each word was genuine and sincere.

Just——

"Hmph... How could I possibly be mistaken!"

The somewhat childlike female voice let out a light hum, clearly not believing his explanation, and there was even a hidden hint of gritted teeth in her tone, almost as if she would say she could recognize the other party even if he turned to ashes.

Because Athena could directly perceive it, after all, the source of "Divine Format" was enough to prove everything—— a so-called Divine Format and a knight is the "ID" of gods, a clearly bordered yet untouchable concept, seemingly containing everything yet nothing, a mythical collection of sorts concerning the deity.

In Athena’s perception, within that collection, there was a part that should have belonged to her but was taken by Zeus...

This is more convincing than anything!

If this guy wasn’t Zeus, then how could all this be explained?!

So, how could she possibly believe she got the wrong person?! No matter how he argued, it was useless!

The current figure looked like a small silver-haired loli-esque Athena, standing in the dark night, her indifferent yet vigilant gaze penetrating the ink-black darkness without hindrance. The goddess fixed her eyes on the young man opposite but also harbored a certain amount of doubt and caution.

She truly wanted to reclaim everything that was hers, yet also didn’t believe she could directly defeat Zeus with her current strength.

However, fortunately, the other’s condition seemed not so good as well...

The proof of the Divine Format was correct, yet this person had no trace of power or authority on him, almost like an ordinary person—truth be told, if Athena hadn’t sensed this, she wouldn’t have chosen to strike this decisively. She had ample reason to believe Zeus’s current situation was equally bad.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and likely her only chance!

"You two can leave, just leave that man to me, and I won’t make things difficult for you."

Such thoughts flashed through her mind as the silver-haired loli calmly spoke.

Amilia’s heart jumped, she blurted out instinctively:

"Impossible!" ×2

The distinctly different female voices overlapped, as Erica on the other side resolutely refused at the same moment, then the two subconsciously exchanged glances. Despite the darkness, they couldn’t see each other’s expressions, but that didn’t matter anymore.

From their steadfast, unwavering tones, it was clear that their inner selves were undoubtedly very similar.

Whether it be the Saintess hailed as Miss Brave or the Knightess who adhered to the spirit of chivalry, neither could accept this.

How could they just surrender and hand over their companion willingly! They couldn’t do it!

"Truly ignorant!"

Lightly exhaling the words, Athena, as the Goddess of Wisdom, gave such an evaluation.

In the next moment, the pitch-black wind arose!

The temperature within the Dark Domain dropped sharply as if the north wind roared on permafrost lands that never thaw!

This also signaled that Athena was liberating her nature, which she had carefully hidden and refused to easily reveal. It was the Divine Format released from the Undying Domain, materializing on earth, manifesting as the essence of a Divine Spirit.

It was the Shadow of God cast from myth onto the earth!

And also a Defiant Gods, opposing the myth, wandering the world!