Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

At the center of the underground palace, a steady stream of blood sacrifice power seeped out from the void.

They eagerly flowed into Astraeus's body, and then with the pulse, every inch of his blood and flesh was rejuvenated.

Simultaneously, as the target of the sacrifice, a hatred far exceeding hundreds of times the previous one also impacted the God of the Stars' mind, causing his already strained sanity to collapse once more.

At this moment, feeling the blood sacrifice power that was inexplicably much stronger than ever before, Astraeus instinctively mobilized all his divine power.

Even if his recently rejuvenated body again lost its vitality, even if the laws would suppress his divine power the moment it left his body, at this moment, when the long-awaited mortal 'mistake' finally appeared, the God of the Stars chose to strike decisively without hesitation.

"...Humans...Humans——!"

"Ah——————!"

"I——want——you——dead——!"

Brilliant starlight burst forth, tearing the ${Artificial Magic Net} 'effortlessly' apart.

It pierced through everything in front, breaking the accelerated time domain here, passing through 'Erwin's' body.

Then, under the calm expression of the middle-aged man, it continued forward, shooting into the space gate that had already opened.

...

Outside Nafplion City, everything remained as it was.

All things stood still, only the old man stood in the air.

Unbeknownst to him, hundreds of energized rhombus crystal pillars were arrayed around him, a pitch-black crystal stone was held in his hand.

A space portal opened before the Goddess of Youth, and unimaginable elemental tides surged in the void around her.

${Time Freeze}, extending a second of real-world time to a day in the old man's view.

Even though its actual duration was less than a tenth of a second, and its use came with numerous restrictions, in the current mortal realm, it was the sharpest spear and shield in the hands of the great sorcerers.

Though it wasn't the first time he experienced this power, the old man couldn't help but marvel again at the greatness of time.

If this sorcery were not Eleven Rings, but could be sublimated to the Twelve Rings domain… it would be enough to shock even true deities despite not being of this world.

Yet, no one could reach this step, for sorcery stemmed from the analysis and mimicry of all things; since there existed no immortal being who controlled time in this world, even the Goddess of the Magic Net could only sigh in admiration.

Buzz——

"Hmm?"

"Finally arrived."

Minds stirred, the old man's expression grew solemn.

Feeling the spatial gate's fluctuations, the old man drank the last vial of 'Star Blood' in one gulp, then crushed the black crystal stone in his hand.

The next moment, the domain of ${Time Freeze} shattered with a roar, a beam of starlight pierced through everything and leapt forth the gate.

Beside the old man, the true apprentice hurriedly arrived, looking with lingering fear at the starlight that shredded his blood flesh puppet.

And from the perspective of the Goddess of Youth, before her eyes could even blur, a beam wrapped in anger, murderous intent, and madness collided towards her.

In an instant, divine power clashed, causing Hebe, who was preparing to escape back to the Mount of the Gods, to halt.

At the same moment, hundreds of brilliant streams streaked through the sky towards the direction of the Goddess of Youth.

With a pointed finger, as the black crystal used for spellcasting materials turned to ashes, it silently re-formed beside Hebe.

Almost at the exact moment the divine power shield and starlight simultaneously shattered, a pitch-black space vortex merged with the Goddess of Youth's form.

${Counteracting Spiritual Light}

${Regeneration Suppression}

${Divine Penetration}

${Weakness Detection}

${Defense Split}

...

${Eleven Rings Sorcery·Destruction Singularity}!

Space silently fragmented, ruthlessly tearing the deity's body.

Under the spellcasting skills honed by the chief of the White Tower over millennia, even with Hebe's divine power shield intact, it couldn't ensure her safety.

Witnessing the scene before him, the old man knew the easiest part of the 'God Hunting Plan' was completed.

The Goddess of Youth could no longer escape; she wasn't a god of Intermediate Divine Power or higher, thus having no chance to use divine power again in the mortal realm without risking backlash.

She wasn't one of those gods adept at combat, even excluding the divine aspect, she still was a top-tier demigod in the mortal realm.

A weak will, sparse skills, throughout the process almost entirely powerless to resist… if she were human instead of a goddess, such a mortal wouldn't even have the chance to become a high-ranking professional despite noble origins.

When Eleven Rings Great Witchcraft crushed her final resistance capacity, she was already a prisoner.

However, the old man knew the core of the 'God Hunting Plan' never lay in targeting a defenseless Goddess of Youth, but in avoiding any potential divine court anger, in making oneself disappear from the gods' sight, in nipping all unforeseen variables in the bud.

Though all these were merely 'possible', perhaps Olympus would treat Hebe's disappearance with indifference as it did that god imprisoned by mortals for decades… but the old man wanted certainty, not possibility.

Especially when everything finally settled, the old man couldn't help but recall the beginning of why the 'God Hunting Plan' emerged.

"...Hebe, did you know, I originally didn't intend to take this step."

"Although I so deeply desired your 'youth', your strength, none of these were reasons for me to take such risks… we ought to have lived in peace, not meet in weapons and warfare."

Shaking his head helplessly, the old man's eyes flickered with weariness.

As he said, he had never been one to seek fortune amidst danger. If possible, he'd prefer to accumulate victory with eternal life, rather than dream of sudden triumph.

"What a great opportunity… let the angel behind the church and Olympus fight fiercely, to extract knowledge and accumulate strength amidst divine wars."

"Eventually, when they provoke a true war, sweeping the world like the disaster of Typhon, then wait until the dust settles, wouldn't that be good?"

"We already have experience, understanding of the gods. This time, even if there isn't an unfortunate god like Astraeus, we could 'create' one… 'create' a god everyone ignores, who finally, unfortunately falls into our hands, even more than one."

"If that day truly comes, as the daughter of the Divine King and Heavenly Empress, even in failure, I would never cast my gaze upon you."

"It's just unfortunate, your luck is bad, my luck isn't great either… our luck is poor."

"Teacher."

Beside the old man, noticing his moving lips, the middle-aged man stepped forward respectfully and asked.

"Teacher, we finally succeeded… do you have any instructions?"

"...Nothing, there's nothing more."

Sighing, not looking at the student beside him, the old man stroked his chest.

"I've succeeded, but there's nothing to instruct anymore."

"I just suddenly feel a bit emotional… if any of you had shown a bit more promise, how would we have ended up here."