1637 A Warm Welcome! IV
The moment he said this,Hephaestus channeled the divine energy within the weapon, activating the Radiant Codex Divinity!
The hammer transformed before Felix's eyes, its metal glowing with an intense golden light, pulsating with a power that seemed to transcend the realm itself!
"EXPAND!"
With a bellowing shout, Hephaestus raised the now-golden hammer high and smashed it against the air!
The impact released an explosion of divinity, a radiant burst of energy that enveloped millions of kilometers around them in the blink of an eye!!
The force of the explosion was staggering, the light blinding, as it spread outwards, washing over everything in its path!
As the divine energy swept over them, Hephaestus turned to Felix with a cold smile and taunted, "Show me your true skills now."
Felix and his clones, momentarily taken aback by the surge of divine power, quickly regrouped.
With a solemn expression, Felix gazed around him at the floating golden motes, feeling extremely uncomfortable being inside the radiant codex divinity.
'It really cancels off manifestations of new laws and elements...How dreadful.'
When Felix attempted to utilize another symbol, he found himself unable to make the connection with the laws!
It was like the entire area of millions of kilometers had become a locked zone, where only preexisting laws and divine energy could remain!!
'Most unigins don't rely on radiant divinity in their battles since their battle experience is more or less equal.' Lilith commentated with a faint smile, 'But against you? It's worth getting rid of laws entirely as any unigin can beat the crap out of you without them.'
This was the reason why Hephaestus hadn't used his hammer against Lord Hades, knowing that canceling the laws while being in his spirit realm would benefit his rival more.
Hephaestus didn't put Lilith's face in the dirt as he had immediately reengaged on the seven clones, each swing was a masterful display of his godly strength and mastery!
While Felix and his clones still retained their strength from the Rampage symbol, they were still proved to be unmatched against Hephaestus!
Despite facing multiple adversaries, Hephaestus moved with a elegance and efficiency that was both awe-inspiring and daunting.
Boom!! Boom!! Thud!!..
In the vast expanse illuminated by his radiant, golden hammer, Hephaestus was the epitome of a warrior god.
His movements were a blend of smoothness and precision, each step and turn calculated to avoid the flurry of strikes from Felix's clones.
He anticipated their movements, his eons of combat experience allowing him to read their intentions and react with supernatural speed!
As one clone lunged towards him, Hephaestus twisted his body in a swift, elegant motion, evading the attack by mere inches, before parrying a strike from another clone, the clash of force sending a resonating hum through the air!
His counter-attacks were just as masterful...A swift thrust here, a powerful swing there, each aimed with lethal precision, causing Felix and his clones to get outmaneuvered at every turn!action
'Damn it! It's like he is in my mind!'Felix felt even more helpless than in his fight against Nimo's alter ego. At least, he was able to land something in that fight. But here? Nothing worked!
It was like an amateur layman battling an MMA fighter in the streets.
'I knew Felix would struggle against unigins, but I didn't think it would be this bad...' Thor commentated with a deep frown.
Even when he barely could see their movements, he figured out that Felix was getting an ass whopping after spotting many of his clones getting sent flying continuously.
'It's expected, Felix has just ascended and begun fighting on this high frequency while Hephaestus and the rest of the unigins spent their entire lives on it.' Lady Sphinx replied.
Since comparison was close to none existent between a unigin and a mortal, it was normal for Felix to fall flat on his face in his first fight even if his strength was slightly better.
During unigins battles, a couple of million bf difference meant nothing. In Felix's case, even if he was ten million ahead of a unigin, he would make it up with his experience and technique...Especially, if there were no laws involved.
Felix began to understand that unless he tripled his fortitude by reaching his peak anger, there was absolutely no way, he would be able to seriously injure Hephaestus.
Unfortunately, hitting the second form of Rampage meant agreeing to lose complete control of his rage, and Felix wasn't willing to go that far...At least, not in this battle.
'The rest of the unigins must be on their way, I need to get the f*ck away from this place before anything else!'
Felix thought to himself while receiving a direct smash in the chest by Hephaestus' hammer, causing him to get sent flying into the ground!
Before he could touch the ground, Hephaestus was already awaiting him down there. However, instead of preparing to hit him again with his hammer, he was seen holding a transparent sphere.
It had a swirling, milky white mist contained in it, creating an ethereal and mesmerizing spectacle that seemed to hold the mysteries of the cosmos.
It was The Celestial Cage...The only item in the universe with the possibility to pull a core out of a unigin and hold it in for a temporary period!
It was done by putting the purest form of celestial energy within it and in such a high quantity, not a single unigin core would be able to resist it!
The instant Felix spotted the cage, his expression turned for the worst and his longing to leave this place got even stronger.
Felix knew he had to take drastic action and not care anymore about choosing the best option, but the fastest one!lights
'It's time to bail! Enlarge!'
Channeling the full extent of his powers, Felix began to increase his size as the heavenly lockdown would do nothing against unigins' non-
law-based innate abilities.
"You ain't leaving!"
Hephaestus predicted Felix's next move and followed suit by also matching his explosive growth. The hammer also grew with him, which kept enlarging the heavenly lockdown zone!
In less than a few seconds, the void nation and the tenants were left watching with mouths agape as both beings crossed the millions mark, surpassing the sun's size!
'Damn it! He read into me!'
Felix wanted to get bigger than the lockdown zone and when he left it forcefully, he would be able to use his greed and laws and wish to get teleported away with his people, not caring anymore about the price.
Since he was deep in the enemy's land, he couldn't risk getting punished by the universe and put into slumber for any reason.So, he refrained from using his greed laws only in emergency cases.
Alas, Hephaestus was on to him from the very beginning and he always kept in mind Felix's greed sins laws.
Even without the radiant heavenly lockdown, he had many methods to stop Felix from using his greed laws as he had come fully prepared for this hunt!
"Once that metalhead made up his mind on something, he never let go of it." Lilith chuckled, "No matter how much you prepared, he will always be more prepared."
In other words, Felix's fate was sealed the instant he stepped forth into the eternal kingdom while Hephaestus was around the gate.
Even if the first thought that came to his mind was instant teleportation, he would have a way to stop him.
When it came to unigins, it was rare they would be sloppy.
Just like in this case...
The moment Felix decided to halt his growth after realizing he wouldn't be able to escape the radiant codex lockdown, he felt chills course down his spine after scanning around him.
Beyond the constraints of the Eternal Kingdom's atmosphere, he was greeted by an awe-inspiring celestial panorama.
The night sky, once a familiar tapestry of distant stars and galaxies, was now transformed into an extraordinary display of cosmic artistry.
More than a million stars of all sorts of colors and lights covered the sky, each one seemingly placed with meticulous care and intention!!!
The multitude of stars, ranging from deep blues to vibrant reds, greens, and purples, shimmered and twinkled in a breathtaking array.
They were unusually close, their radiant light painting the void with a kaleidoscope of colors.
Felix realized immediately that this was not a natural occurrence and these stars were prepared by Hephaestus!
Every star seemed to be strategically positioned for this exact moment, a celestial trap set by Hephaestus in anticipation of their battle reaching this scale!
Since they were already prepared beforehand, the radiant codex lockdown could do nothing against them!
That's because it didn't erase existing laws, but interrupted the creation of new ones akin to a signal jammer.
This was only against laws, in the case of elements? They got erased immediately, so they were even more useless against this type of divinity!
"Did you really think you could outmatch a true god, mortal? Your ambition is as boundless as it is foolish." Hephaestus sneered as he pointed his hammer at Felix, "Once a mortal, always a mortal."
Felix didn't like the sound of his taunt, but he also didn't love his current predicament. He realized that his options were pretty limited and the fact his people were so close to the battleground wasn't making it any easier...
***
Meanwhile, near the universe's heart, the three rulers watched intently from their celestial platforms, their forms covered completely in blinding light.
The third ruler, gazing down at the battle, broke the silence.
"Hephaestus seems to be holding his own against him. Perhaps he will be the one to recover Asna's core."
The second ruler nodded, her eyes never leaving the spectacle.
"Yes, Hephaestus's prowess is undeniable. Yet, I can't help but wonder. Does this battle align with the prophecy? It speaks nothing of Hephaestus being a major part of our future."
The first ruler, the most enigmatic of the trio, chimed in with a calm, measured tone.
"Prophecies are often cryptic and open to interpretation...The cosmos always has a way of surprising even us."
As the rulers engaged in this discussion, their eyes remained fixed on the battle below. Their faces were masks of serenity, but their eyes betrayed a glimmer of uncertainty, a rare admission that even they, the stewards of the Eternal Kingdom, could not foresee every twist in the tapestry of fate.
If it was within their powers, their freedom wouldn't have been a mere fantasy by now...