Chapter 606: Forcing a Retreat

On the central surface of the Pacific Ocean, the primordial force named 'War' lingered and swirled, clamorous and surging.

The 'War' domains belonging to Li Mochen and Ares entangled and contended across a vast area of 300,000 square kilometers. The latter clearly excelled in the mastery of rules, but the Greek war god's true body was not present. Thus, their clashes over the divine authorities of 'War,' 'Battle,' 'Flame,' 'Destruction,' and 'Ruin' remained evenly matched.

Their collision of power was also evenly balanced. Ares indeed held the ultimate divine authority of 'Strength,' but Li Mochen also possessed the powerful 'Gladiatorial Combat' authority. Both had the ability to grow stronger through battle: Li Mochen's 'Fitness,' 'Vitality,' and 'Battle Wind,' and Ares's 'Plunder,' 'Sports,' 'Courage,' and 'Glory' continuously supplied them with power, increasing their destructive capabilities moment by moment.

Ares's 'Flame War Spear' had unparalleled destructive force with every thrust and sweep. His combat skills were also at their peak, having clearly reached the pinnacle of this world.

Li Mochen's 'Destiny Sword' also exhausted all variations, pushing the 'Zhou Tian Yin Yang Star Divine Sword' favored by Wen Jian Taoran and the many 'Binary Forbidden Forms' he had mastered after soul fusion to their extremes. It divided into myriad forms, weaving a dense net-like shadow of sword light.

The surging divine power and vast qi barriers of the two caused the sea surface to tremble violently. The ocean was split, the seabed collapsed, and towering waves over a thousand meters high arose.

It must be said that Li Mochen was still inferior to Ares in combat skills and was comprehensively suppressed by the opponent. But he was not merely the 'War God'; the powers of 'Fate' and 'Time Sequence' helped him overcome the enemy, as he was weaving the fate of Ares's defeat.

'This newborn Fate Master is truly astonishingly powerful—I think even if Ares's true body were here, he would not be able to defeat him.'

In the boundless void, a female figure clad in a black robe, with wisdom gleaming in her eyes, watched the battle over the ocean with great interest.

Beside her stood the Magic Goddess Diana, stepping on another pentagram array and performing a magical ritual.

The latter could still spare attention, also focusing on the battle at sea. Her eyes clearly shared the same sentiment.

'I confirmed his combat power more than ten days ago; it is indeed comparable to a chief god. But I didn't expect that while restraining this incarnation of Ares, he still had so much spare energy to guard against those few.'

Diana's words carried obvious delight.

No one would want their companions and comrades to be weak teammates, and Li Mochen's displayed formidable combat power could increase her chances of victory by at least ten percent.

The black-robed goddess smiled ambiguously: 'His appearance is indeed your blessing, Hecate. But are you truly willing to give up the authorities of Death, the Underworld, and the Netherworld?'

Diana pondered for a moment before answering cautiously: 'I have already negotiated with him. After the underworld expands to a certain extent, Angela will allocate a region to me. I will send a tripartite avatar to help her manage underworld affairs, which is no different from the era of Hades. Moreover, the territory and faith power of America far exceed those of Greece and Rome. Besides—'

Her voice was extremely solemn: 'Mother, I do not believe that after the Magic Net is completed, I will no longer need allies. On the contrary, I will crave friends who can lend me a hand. Whether it is Zeus, Odin, the Lord of Light, Ahura Mazda, or the several god-kings beneath them, including you, you all have the power to tear apart my Magic Net.'

'I understand.'

The black-robed goddess said no more and continued to watch the battlefield in the ocean.

The battle between Li Mochen and Ares grew increasingly intense. The source force slashes and qi barriers they unleashed reached over two thousand kilometers away. Huge waves continuously surged outward in all directions, but they were calmed after leaving the core battlefield.

The major countries along the Pacific coast had long been prepared, gathering numerous powerful forces solely to prevent the disaster caused by this divine war from affecting the nations.

But at this moment, Li Mochen gradually gained the upper hand in the clash of power.

'Your faith is insufficient, Ares!'

Li Mochen manipulated the 'Destiny Sword,' nearly shattering Ares's Flame War Shield.

—This was a mythical armament forged for him by his brother, the 'God of Fire, Forging, Smelting, and Crafts,' Hephaestus.

But this was not the true body of the 'Flame War Shield'; it was a projection of Ares's divine power, which further increased Ares's divine power consumption.

The Olympian war god's eyes burned with unwilling flames. He had long recognized the opponent's tactic: his enemy was 'using strength to harm,' employing powerful forbidden spells and divine authority to increase his consumption.

Yet Ares, even knowing the opponent's intention, was helpless because in this world, Li Mochen's number of believers far exceeded his.

Especially since Andre Li Wieldonstein became a god, at least seven million believers of the 'Ares Church' had converted to this Fate Master.

These were mostly active or retired military personnel from America. Their reason for conversion was simple.

Those who believed in him, Ares, could receive protection in war and destruction. But those who believed in the Fate Master also gained vitality, youth, and good luck.

Additionally, there was the call of America's former war god, 'Garcia Ferren.'

Moreover, with the promotion of the Wieldonstein family and Light Magic Industries, the faith in the Fate Master continued to spread in other countries and hunter organizations. Using 'arms sales' as a weapon, they coerced the armies of various nations and large hunter organizations to promote conversion within the military.

Ares was a powerful ancient god, with his ancient divine rank reaching the 'chief god' level, divine rank seventeen, three levels above Li Mochen! His faith divine rank also reached eighteen.

But in this world, Li Mochen's source of divine power surpassed his by at least ten times!

So when Ares again blocked Li Mochen's 'Destiny Sword,' he no longer used strength to knock it away but employed entangling techniques, desperately binding the flying sword.

'Don't be too proud, Andre! You scum hiding in the magic tower, you cannot seize a war god's glory!'

At that moment, a platinum giant hammer smashed toward the 'Destiny Home' magic tower from another direction.

Li Mochen, at the top of the tower, narrowed his eyes, recognizing it as another war god, 'Tyr'! That was the latter's war hammer 'Tyr's Hand,' rumored that whoever could lift it could conquer the world.

At the same time, a vast and magnificent divine power, at least twenty times stronger than his, penetrated the multiple defenses of the 'Destiny Home' magic tower and struck directly into the depths of Li Mochen's soul.

Li Mochen immediately bled from his mouth and nose, his divine power trembling, almost shattered by the soul impact.

This was probably how Tai Ru felt when facing him, Li Mochen, in the Primordial Dome Realm. But his soul was tough enough, and he had experience resisting the Lord of Light, so he quickly adapted to the hammer-like forging.

That was the Lord of the Aesir, Odin!

Boom!

At that moment, fifty 'Magic Energy Annihilation Cannons' fired simultaneously, striking Tyr as he smashed down like a meteor.

As a mage who used 'positive and negative' energy as his foundation, the annihilation cannons of the Destiny Home magic tower were exceptionally powerful. Both war gods were greatly surprised; Tyr's source power armor and mythical-grade gear were nearly shattered by these 'Magic Energy Annihilation Cannons'!

The intense white-hot flames and energy storm also prevented Tyr from breaking into the magic tower.

What relieved Li Mochen was that the more powerful king of gods, Odin, could not enter the material plane. He was blocked upon appearing.

And the one who intercepted him was a goddess who concealed her body in darkness and void.

Li Mochen gained a bit more confidence; he no longer had to worry about being betrayed by that ally.

His eyes also turned cold with murderous intent.

'What era is this, Ares? It's the age of firearms now. Your wars are outdated in this world, both of you!'

Boom!

At that moment, Li Mochen's 'War' domain underwent drastic changes, nearly completing the suppression of Ares and Tyr.

Simultaneously, Li Mochen's 'Equality' divine authority erupted, forcibly pulling both powerful war gods down to the same rank as him.

But his opponents sensed it first; both narrowed their eyes. Their divine bodies exploded and vanished from Li Mochen's sight, their divinity returning to the astral plane.

Li Mochen frowned deeply, filled with displeasure and regret. His original plan was to eliminate one of these two war gods at all costs today, or at least severely wound them, to avoid being attacked from both sides in the future.

But both were quite alert, retreating from his presence before he could activate his 'Longinus Holy Spear.'

At the same time, Li Mochen's secondary body in the American underworld 'Twilight Dragon City' slightly opened his eyes.

He sensed that the many 'Death Gods' who had been coveting this place began to withdraw one after another, retracting their powerful divine thoughts. Especially the one that made him feel threatened—

As Li Mochen's gaze looked down, a vast expanse of frozen, decaying underworld soil appeared before him.

'Hela!'

Li Mochen's eyes were gloomy, filled with extreme wariness.

—That was the Queen of the Underworld in Norse mythology, the Goddess of Death, also governing ice, aging, and disease. She was the youngest child of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda, and the sister of the wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jörmungandr.

She ruled Helheim, an existence that even Odin could not kill and was prophesied to destroy the Aesir.

In the brief clash just now, even with the support of Angela's entire underworld power, he could barely contend with her. Of course, this was also because this underworld was not yet strong and vast enough. It was growing but needed more time.

Li Mochen sighed inwardly, feeling that the path ahead was still full of thorns.

Hela, Tyr, Ares—these opponents, each one was a headache-inducing enemy.

And above them were the outer god-kings like Zeus, Odin, Ahura Mazda, Poseidon, Hades, Njörðr, Amun, and so on. Once their true bodies descended, they could easily kill him.

At most ten years, this world would be filled with these outer gods. They would raise a tidal wave, leveling everything in this world.

'Have they retreated?'

Angela also manifested her avatar beside Li Mochen, looking with equal wariness at the edge of this underworld, and smiled bitterly: 'This Norse Queen of the Underworld is far more powerful than the previous Underworld Ruler 'Ereshkigal.' She makes me lose confidence in opposing these underworld lords and death gods in the future. I can't always rely on you to guard this underworld—'

'She is certainly not comparable to 'Ereshkigal.' After all, she is the backlash of this bright world against the Aesir; they were born bearing the world's will to destroy the Aesir.'

Li Mochen's secondary body relaxed at this moment: 'Don't worry too much. We have at least one year. One year is enough for us to prepare for battle.'

Angela thought, one year? What could one year do? For gods with infinite life, it was but a brief moment in their long existence.

But she gained a bit more confidence; Li Mochen had always given her a feeling of reliability.

Angela always believed in her husband's words without question.

…

On the central surface of the Pacific Ocean, after Ares and Tyr withdrew, the area around the Destiny Home magic tower returned to calm.

Although there were still no fewer than seventy lesser gods and their demigod and legendary subordinates attacking, trying to destroy key nodes of the magic array.

Li Mochen's subordinates could barely cope.

The many domains and divine authorities controlled by the Fate Master could greatly enhance their strength. Correspondingly, their opponents were greatly suppressed within the initially formed 'Magic Net.'

At this moment, Li Mochen could still sense the auras of Ares and Tyr lingering outside the material plane, along with several other powerful gods.

Such as the Olympian 'Sun God' Apollo, the 'Messenger, Commerce, and Information God' Hermes, Odin's queen—the 'Goddess of Sky and Earth' Frigg, the 'Thunder God' Thor, the 'Dark God' Höðr, and so on.

Fortunately, these gods either did not descend in true form or were limited by the 'Treaty of Separation between Gods and Men' from sending all their power into the bright world.

Diana's timing was quite good; preparations were a bit hasty now, but if it continued, the chances of the Magic Net failing would only increase.

Li Mochen looked around and saw that Anthony was also caught in a bitter struggle. His opponent was Ares's brother, the 'God of Fire, Forging, Smelting, and Crafts,' Hephaestus.

Although it was only a divine incarnation of the latter, it still suppressed Anthony embarrassingly. The forging hammer in his hand could easily destroy Anthony's creations.

Estandin was also in a tough fight. His opponent was the Slavic dragon god of magic, the 'Black Dragon Zarnitsa,' known as the source of magic.

This was an 'Eternal Dragon' above 'Ancient Dragon' and 'Primeval Dragon' in rank, but its divine rank exceeded even its own 'Eternal Dragon' power.

To this day, many mages in Eastern Europe still worship this dragon as the Lord of Magic, granting Zarnitsa chief god-level power.

Estandin used the magic tower to counter with various forbidden spells and strange magic. As the chosen of the Magic Goddess Diana, he could also draw on the goddess's divine power, barely restraining Zarnitsa from causing widespread destruction.

Other battlefields were also in full swing. At least five of the many 'Archdukes' of Hell and the Abyss appeared on the battlefield.

Diana's prepared contingencies also appeared one by one: the Goddess of Hunting and Nature Artemis, the Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Desire Venus, and the Goddess of Disaster Pandora all appeared on the battlefield.

But at this moment, the region where Li Mochen was stationed became quiet. For the next two hours, no powerful god attacked.

Although dozens of divine-level and hundreds of demigod-level beings were destroying the magic array by any means, and their numbers continued to grow, the Magic Goddess's clergy also began to enter the battlefield.

Li Mochen had already concluded that Ares would not appear before him again after such severe divine power loss, so he began to mobilize the tower's fifty 'Magic Energy Annihilation Cannons' to support all directions.

He sought to kill, often concentrating dozens of annihilation cannons on one target, killing seven divine-level beings in just ten minutes.

This instilled fear in those gods and demons, who began to withdraw from the center of the pentagram array. The pack of wolves and the hundred-handed giants also dared not face the edge of the fifty 'Magic Energy Annihilation Cannons' and soon withdrew through spatial gates, restoring calm to the surrounding hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

Of course, this 'calm' was relative. At the edges of the pentagram array, they were still probing, restless.

Truly calm was America, where the Goddess of Liberty Eris was stationed; no one dared to provoke trouble in that direction.

Although it was only an incarnation of the 'Goddess of Liberty' Eris that was stationed there.

At this moment, however, Li Mochen cast a thoughtful gaze into the depths of the starry sky.

He felt that the gods' counterattack against the magic net was too weak.

Moreover, the reaction of the Olympian pantheon was also strange, although they had invested considerable force in this war. Yet most of those who stood by Diana and provided her with assistance were also members of the Olympian pantheon.

In comparison, the offensive of the Aesir pantheon was much more powerful, even the god-king Odin did not hesitate to descend an avatar in person.

"I suspect that our Lady of Magic has likely struck a deal with Zeus."

After the four borders were pacified, 'God of Strategy' Garcia Ferron returned to Li Mochen's magic tower: "Odin and his subordinate gods prepared an entire world for today. How could the Olympian god-king not want more bargaining chips? Moreover, he is, after all, somewhat different from Odin."

He too was gazing into the astral void: "Although the three brothers are god-kings from the outer realms, they were born from the womb of Rhea. This allowed them to largely avoid the backlash and repulsion of this world. Yet at the same time, these few have become deeply entangled with the world of light."