Hercules, upon hearing this and thinking of Zeus's stance, initially felt disheartened, then gritted his teeth and said, "What if I insist on staying in Thessaly?"
"You are still as stubborn..." Perseus sighed deeply, his right hand slightly raised, suddenly tightened.
In an instant, several chains like silver dragons wrapped in fierce thunderbolts, strangled toward Hercules trapped in the center.
Hercules immediately invoked his divine power, beckoned with a crooked finger, and the nameless ax-sword stuck in the ground, under the pull of divine power, hummed as it flew into its master's hand.
As the weapon returned, his aura abruptly became sharp and fierce, like a sword drawn from its sheath.
Nine slashes formed of red-black divine power collided with the encircling silver chains, shattering the divine patterns and thunderbolts on them, and charged directly toward Perseus ahead.
Facing his former teacher, Hercules struck with full force from the outset.
As a noble of the Perseus Constellation, dearly beloved by Father God Zeus, he was acutely aware that his guide was no ordinary individual; to overcome him and maintain his stance, he must give it his all.
A sharp metallic blast echoed upfront, Hercules staggered back, a strand of golden-red divine blood seeping from his split knuckles.
Seeing the Golden Divine Shield raised in front of Perseus amidst the dust, Hercules's heart sank.
"The Aegis Shield? Father God has granted this to you!"
"It's merely a one-time consumable that channels power into it; I only have three of them," Perseus explained honestly, while manipulating the chains with his divine power to encircle Hercules again.
Without hesitation, Hercules stirred the divine power in his bloodline, tearing through the chains with his nameless ax-sword, and attacked Perseus once more.
Perseus, seeing this, calmly took out a rune-covered bullet and crushed it.
Suddenly, golden thunderbolts surged from his palm, condensing into a familiar Golden Shield, easily blocking the ax-sword Hercules swung down.
The intense recoil even caused a trickle of blood to seep from the corner of Hercules's mouth.
The last time they fought at Admetos's grave, although the battle was exhilarating, Hercules was also severely depleted, with most of his [Twelve Glories] talents in cooldown, his divine power not even at seventy percent of its peak.
Facing a teacher in his prime, decked with divine tools, Hercules inevitably felt somewhat powerless.
"If that's all you are capable of, then prepare to be taken back by me to confess your sins," Perseus frowned as he spoke, the chains with several sharp cone heads whistled toward Hercules's arms, ankles, and chest.
Sensing the winds from behind, Hercules immediately twisted his body, his nameless ax-sword swung out a dense net of blades, shattering each cone head.
Seeing Hercules's back turned, Perseus seized the opportunity, kicked off the ground, and leaped up, plunging down like a nimble eagle with a purplish-red scythe appearing in his hand, slashing toward Hercules's right arm.
The scythe, Hepal, although not particularly outstanding in hardness or sharpness as a weapon, possessed a power known as "Slash the Immortal," capable of nullifying the gifts of immortal beings and even posing a threat to deities and the Chief God when properly utilized.
At the tail end of the scythe, hundreds of silver strands emerged, connecting to the chains scattered in the dense forest, both clearly part of a consolidated entity.
This divine tool originally belonged to Hermes, the God of Speed, who imbued Hepal with the characteristics of "Wind" and "Snake" during its forging, making it ideal for use in the narrow and rugged dense forests.
For this reason, Perseus had deliberately led his student to this dense forest and chose to stop here, to speak openly and honestly.
After all, he was equally aware of how formidable his student could be once he got serious.
Seeing the scythe Hepal slashing toward him, Hercules felt an imminent threat, immediately pulled back, and transformed the nameless ax-sword in his hand into a pitch-black longbow under the influence of divine power, from which several bronze arrows shot forth.
With a fluctuation of light patterns, the released arrows turned into bronze birds, swooping toward Perseus in mid-air.
Perseus, with a thought, let the last golden bullet explode in front of him, the power from the Aegis Shield vibrated, disintegrating the diving bronze birds into scattered aether factors.
Meanwhile, under the protection of the light from the Divine Shield, Hepal's blade edge neared Hercules's arm.
However, Hercules, undaunted by the impending threat, decisively dropped the pitch-black longbow and punched towards Perseus's chest.
With Perseus's three one-time consumables exhausted, Hercules was confident that this strike would subdue his teacher.
But just as he powered up his leg to strike, Hercules's foot suddenly slipped, and his body toppled toward the ground.
"My divine tools are not that easy to use,"
Hearing the deep whisper at his ear, Hercules looked down to see the Winged Shoes originally belonging to his teacher Perseus faintly flickering with light patterns, forming some kind of restraint and resistance.
You still had a trick up your sleeve, Teacher...