CHAPTER 410: CHAPTER 399: CHALLENGING ALL GODS

Just as Aphrodite was about to lower the Fangtian Halberd, he suddenly tightened his grip again. His godly instincts warned him that something terrible would happen if he let it go.

Ares became even more enraged at the sight.

"Kid, I’ll teach you what respect for gods truly means!"

"Let’s hope you’re someone worthy of my respect."

With those few words, the air was instantly charged with tension.

The gods moved en masse from the grand temple to the Olympus Arena. Ares held a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, clad in black armor and a crimson cape. He banged his shortsword against the shield, producing sharp clanking sounds, and roared furiously at Nezha.

The stands, packed with divine spectators, erupted with fervent cheers at this display.

"Show that guy the might of a god!"

"Go, Ares! Teach that arrogant punk an unforgettable lesson!"

With some concern on her face, Athena glanced at Hercules. After hesitating for a moment, she took off her armor and handed it to him. Artemis didn’t bother with formalities and outright snatched Apollo’s golden bow, intending to give it to Hercules as armament.

Hercules, however, declined both Athena and Artemis. Under Apollo’s resentful gaze, he donned a simple black robe, approached the platform bare-handed, and even ignored the spear Aphrodite was holding.

Ares, seeing Nezha’s demeanor, was practically spewing flames from his eyes. He took it as an affront—a warrior’s blatant disrespect toward him.

"Hercules, you’ll pay dearly for your arrogance!"

Still, Nezha wasn’t trying to show off. The so-called divine artifacts of this world were no match for the effectiveness of his own fists, and the unwieldy and ugly armor here only hindered his full potential.

As Zeus, serving as the referee, saw both sides take their positions, a deafening thunderclap marked the start of the duel!

Divine power in the form of blood-red lightning surged across Ares’ body, enhancing his attributes. With a roar, he charged forward, shield and sword at the ready.

Nezha’s blood energy flared around him, enveloping his form like a scarlet aura. He moved even faster, meeting Ares with a launch of his fist that crashed directly into Ares’ shield.

The horrifying impact rippled through the shield and into Ares himself. With a sickening crack, the entire platform spiderwebbed with fractures originating from Ares’ feet.

Ares barely steadied himself under the crushing force and prepared to strike with his sword, but another, even heavier blow slammed into his shield before he could react.

The residual shock from the previous hit nearly brought Ares to his knees.

Nezha paid no heed to Ares’ attempts to unleash his unruly divine power. He relentlessly pounded the shield with simple, unrefined, yet perfectly measured punches. Within just four strikes, the shield had caved in, looking more like a bent metal plate prepared for scrap.

Ares, gripping the treasure sword in one hand and the battered shield in the other, stabbed the sword into the floor to stabilize himself, or else Nezha’s unrelenting force might have sent him flying.

He couldn’t comprehend how, after just a single exchange, things had spiraled into such a disadvantage. But as the War God, he relied on his vast combat experience and knew that if the shield broke, his opponent’s punches landing on his body would be catastrophic.

Ares discarded the sword and double-handed shield. He summoned all his remaining divine power, now covering the near-shattered shield in fiery crimson energy, surging it upward to repel Nezha and fling him backward.

But Nezha’s fists carried a peculiar rhythm. Just as Ares pushed back, Nezha’s charged strike connected perfectly in sync. With a thunderous boom, the energies collided, and Nezha’s fist cleaved through the shield like paper, landing squarely on Ares’ chest.

The titanic blow sent Ares’ body careening backward. Yet Nezha’s fist seemed to exert a strange gravitational pull, drawing Ares forward as it retracted. This opposing force caused a turmoil within Ares’ body, making him cough up blood.

But Ares couldn’t stop to recover—Hercules’ fists were already descending once more, even fiercer and deadlier than before!

Ares hastily drew the Divine Sword embedded in the ground and swept it horizontally, aiming to sever Hercules’ peculiar combat domain with its extended reach.

Yet, as the blade swung toward Hercules’ waist, the sword’s edge inexplicably veered mid-arc and aimed itself at Hercules’ fist instead.

Nezha’s fist smashed into the sword, and with a resounding clang, the Divine Sword shattered. Ares was further forced backward by the unleashed energy, only to be pulled forward again by Nezha’s gathering momentum.

Ares realized one thing—if he took this next strike head-on, he would lose, decisively!

He mustered all his strength to break free from the invisible field constraining him. Divine power exploded from his body without regard for his limits, but no matter how much he fought, he couldn’t escape in the slightest.

Nezha watched Ares’ brutish and senseless outburst and couldn’t help but chuckle. Unless you could expand your power to three hundred times my own, you still wish to escape my domain?

At this moment, he felt a giddy satisfaction akin to that of the Three-Body People tormenting primitive humans.

Nezha’s domain slowly sapped and eroded Ares’ strength, until finally, Nezha’s fist reached its peak energy capacity. Just as Ares was helplessly drawn under its arc, Nezha unleashed it without hesitation.

The punch landed on Ares’ chest, sending him crumpling to the ground. His armor shattered into pieces, the devastating force penetrating his body and hammering into the platform beneath, causing it to collapse entirely. Fractures radiated outward like a spider’s web, shaking the entire arena.

As the dust settled, Nezha stood impassively, as if he had just completed a trivial chore. Yet lying at his feet was none other than War God Ares, one of the Twelve Main Gods of Olympus.