Accompanied by a dull, earth-shaking thud, Stheno slammed into the ground, leaving a clear human-shaped crater as if a mold had been pressed into dough.
"Cough cough, stop it! I command you! I'm a goddess, loved by everyone!"
The disheveled Stheno spat out the sand that choked her mouth, rage rising from her heart as she yelled indignantly.
A radiant smile appeared on Luo En's face, and then—
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
An arm, knotted with muscle, flung back and forth like a faulty electric fan, sending dirt and stones spraying in the arena and raising clouds of dust, creating one bizarre human-shaped crater after another.
With another loud noise, Stheno, after being repeatedly slammed and smashed dozens of times, went from clawing furiously to lying completely still at the bottom of the pit, staring blankly at the sky in an eerily peaceful posture.
"Tsk, such a weak god."
Seeing the nearly broken expression of this Medusa, Luo En dropped her like a worn-out sack to the side, his face showing contempt.
Immediately after, he turned his head and flashed a grin at the other Medusa in the audience seats who had just tricked him, his expression sardonically kind.
Instantly, a guilty Euryale gulped down saliva and instinctively hid behind her sister, Little Medusa, her eyes betraying a hint of fear.
Meanwhile, Luo En stretched his limbs contentedly, as the golden shadow of the Cretan Bull constructed of divine power bellowed a deep and sonorous roar to the heavens.
Golden ripples spread outward, causing the nearby ground to resonate with tremors.
The nearby Minosians, laboring away, felt an inexplicable sense of belonging, as if they had once again stepped onto their homeland, which brought them peace of mind.
The embodiment of the Minosians' faith in their civilization, the remnant of the divinity of that land.
Because they only worshipped the mother goddess, forsaking reverence for the Father God, the leftover power of faith and the divinity of the land concentrated on the Cretan Bull, emblem of their civilization, making its power ever more formidable.
Originally, this bull was supposed to be sacrificed to Athena, as history had it.
However, the Goddess of Wisdom, claiming it was incompatible with her own divinity, handed it over to Luo En as a reward for his wholehearted planning for Crete Island's future.
Thus, it naturally came to be absorbed by Luo En, turning into one of his divine incarnations.
And the boon it granted its host was [Might].
In battle, as long as he stood on solid ground, the host could draw on overwhelming strength beyond his own limits and greatly fortify his body.
If Minosians were present, or the bigger and heavier the object he exerted his strength on, the greater the degree of might he would attain.
Luo En glanced backward and, twisting his body fiercely, threw a heavy punch creating layers of sonic booms.
A muscular arm collided directly with a massive claw covered in pale golden scales, its fingers like hooks, causing a thunderous roar.
Luo En looked at Stheno, who now bore the fully revealed form of a Gorgon with a golden back and wings, her size grown a hundredfold, and immediately let out scornful ridicule.
"Playing dead? You've lost all face for serpentine monsters!"
"Mind your own business!"
The sneak attack having failed, Stheno gritted her teeth in frustration and, driven by old grudges and fresh resentment, unleashed her hands and feet. Her enormous claws exploded with a purplish-red eerie glow as they smashed heavily downwards, showcasing the overpowering force of the serpent's divinity.
At the same time, Luo En held his breath and focus, raising his arms as the golden shadow of the Bull came to life, pawing at the ground and lowering its head to bellow in challenge.
In an instant, the two sources of divine might clashed violently against each other, creating a large pit that sunk dozens of meters into the ground, stirring up waves of air, and the entire arena seemed to feel the violent tremors of the earth.
Suddenly, the towering Medusa was thrown out, like a cannonball shot from its barrel, crashing against the protective wall at the edge and getting buried in a pile of rubble.
Keep in mind, this was a place blessed by divinity, where ordinary demigods couldn't hope to leave a single mark of destruction.
Watching the Medusa, who also possessed a trait of immense strength, getting thrashed by him, Luo En looked at the golden shadow of the Bull on his body and felt even more pleased with himself.
Indeed, it was a reward from Sister Athena, always so generous, unlike that stingy old Poseidon, who would quibble over a drop of blood and was far from magnanimous.
As Luo En was internally mocking, the ruins of the collapsed protective wall blew apart, and several dozen rocks, each about ten times the size of a bowling ball, shot towards the arena like grenades with massive power.
Luo En casually swiped away the large rocks headed his way as if flicking away nuisances, sneering at the Medusa hidden in the dust.
"Still not giving up?"
"You forced this on me!"
At this moment, seeing the man who had fled before her might and attacks months ago on Formless Island now relentlessly beating her, humiliation and rage overtook Stheno's mind. Her pale golden claws swung forward violently.
Instantly, a cold gale swept across the arena, the sound of surging waves grew from a distance, and the air grew as thick as water.
Then, a crimson tide of ether emerged around Stheno, amplified by the blessing of the sea's divinity, turning into a furious torrent that drowned everything under it, crushing over its target with overwhelming force.