Chapter 282: Chapter 70: The Road and Ra Siding

There were no complex variations, no dazzling light and shadow, just a very straightforward sword thrust. Yet everyone who saw it could feel that something about its wielder seemed to have changed from before.

The transformation was not drastic, more like a beginning, but oftentimes, the difference between having and not having was like night and day.

Swoosh—

A huge crater was stamped into the city wall as Cohen leaped up, aided by Solar Force.

At this moment, he felt his spirit and will more unified than ever before, even the incessant mental disturbances from the divine fragment seemed like a gentle breeze on his face. Scenes beneath the collapsing Mount of the Gods flickered in his heart; now, Cohen had only one thought in his mind.

To defeat this Sea God was also to shatter his own past mistakes.

Rip—

In nearly an instant, Cohen’s figure crossed a thousand meters to face Triton. With a sound like ripping silk, the blue light shield was split in two, only slightly slowing down the Human King’s advance.

If this were out at sea, where the Law’s suppression wasn’t as strong, Cohen would never be able to cut through a barrier infused with Divine Power with a common bronze sword, but reality offered no hypotheticals. At this moment, it was merely a shield of water, bolstered by authority and saturated with Elemental Power.

With that strike, there was no longer any obstacle between Triton and Cohen. The enemy was right before his eyes, and the Human King’s spirit tensed even more. He had realized that the so-called Son of the Sea Emperor did not seem particularly powerful himself, but the beautifully crafted Trident in his hands was by no means ordinary.

Holding his breath and focusing, he lightly stepped on the turbulent sea water and Cohen’s initially slowing speed surged once more. He raised his bronze sword, ready to—

Bang—

Splash…

A sudden explosion of water rang out just in front of Cohen as Triton burst apart into a cloud of water.

After a moment of stunned silence, Cohen quickly realized that the previously haughty Son of the Sea Emperor, had actually run away?

“Huff—Damned human, did you really think the noble Son of the Sea Emperor would engage in melee combat with you?

“That is something only the lowly would do, go, kill him for me.”

Behind the vast ocean, the water converged once again into Triton’s figure. Now, however, the Son of the Sea Emperor clearly seemed somewhat rattled.

Just as the Wind Gods could become wind, Triton, with the torso of a man and the tail of a fish, could also transform into fish or water. Most importantly, this instinctual transformation was extremely natural, almost imperceptible to other beings, and required no time to prepare. This was the key to his successful evasion of Cohen’s attack.

Having never been in combat before, the recently kindled rage in Triton’s heart was instantly extinguished. Having narrowly escaped fatal blows from Cohen twice in a row, he completely abandoned the notion of engaging directly.

Fortunately for him, he wasn’t alone.

“Monsters once bathed in Divine Blood, it is time to serve the Sea Emperor. Go, kill him for me!”

With the Divine Artifact raised high and his command issued, the Sea Beasts within the waves obeyed. Unlike deities, the power of these Sea Beasts, which possessed Divine Blood, came from their bodies or other forces, making them equally formidable in any environment.

“Roar—”

“Hiss—”

“…”

Neighing and bellowing rose and fell in succession as the Sea Beasts frantically charged toward the insignificant human. It wasn’t just the summon of the Divine Artifact that motivated them, but their instincts, telling them they could reap extraordinary benefits by consuming that human.

However, faced with all this, Cohen remained undaunted.

“This feeling…”

Grasping the hilt of his sword tightly, with the blood flowing through his veins covering the blade, he felt in better shape than ever before.

Something was accumulating, as if being refined from deep within his spirit and body, and even the world around him became more vivid. Yet, Cohen felt as if something was missing, preventing them from fully coming to life.

But whether the change was complete or not, in such a state, he felt fearless.

“Clang—”

The sword edge cut through the air; the tiny human against the hundred-meter-tall Sea Beasts was like an ant, yet as the sword pierced the body of the Sea Beast, it was followed by a thunderous roar.

The sword did almost no physical damage to the Sea Beast’s body, but for some reason, its strong presence instantly weakened.

“Hmpf, send more,” said Triton dismissively from the back, having witnessed the scene, then waved his hand.

Sea Beasts, he had as many as he wanted. Even the bodies of True Gods could feel exhaustion without Divine Power and authority; even if they could not be vanquished, they could be worn out to death.

…

In the city, the deserted streets.

Rain poured down like a torrent, pattering against the road with a crisp sound. The skirmish in the sky outside the city became more intense. One after another, Sea Beasts charged at Cohen, only to be either grievously wounded or killed, their blood dying the nearby waters red.

Of course, this was in part because the Sea Beasts were not particularly strong themselves. The primeval offsprings of the original Sea God and Father of Monsters, for example, were not amongst them. Those truly powerful Sea Beasts, whose names have been passed down through generations, often possess independent thought and are not so easily summoned or dismissed by a Divine Artifact.

Like the Gorgon sisters with their potent petrifying powers, they, similar to the Cyclops, may not be deities but possessed innate divine forces that even gods could not ignore.