Chapter 1288

Chapter 1289

Before Herakel received Hera’s punishment and was left with an intellectual disability, he had hidden a method in his temple that would allow him to awaken his true self, albeit for a brief moment.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The air in the area stirred wildly. A powerful force that had grown stagnant in Herakel’s body flowed fiercely through his veins again. As he regained vitality, every cell in his body slowly regained its life and energy. His golden hair, which had been cut short, suddenly grew long. Even his cut-off arms were reattached.

“Hooooo.” Herakel exhaled a breath of hot air.

Although Herakel’s muscles had bulged, it did not feel unfamiliar to him. After all, it was because this was Herakel’s original form and power.

In the Gaia Continent, Herakel was considered a symbol that represented two things.

The first thing he represented was the word "Hero." He obtained the title of Hero when he completed the Twelve Tasks. During that time, he solved and dealt with the troubles that worried the humans and created achievements that no other gods had ever made.

The other thing was strength. Herakel was different from the other gods. As a demigod, he could not rule over or command anything. Regardless, his strength and power far surpassed those of the other gods. In fact, even Zeus, the master of Olympus, could not easily pierce through his tough and sturdy body.

His lips twisted into a sneer. His consciousness, which had been hidden deep within the abyss inside Herakel’s body, had resurfaced, and he found the entire situation absurd.

“How f*cking dare you?”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

Then,

he,

Herakel, looked back at Ares and sneered. When he turned back to Conir, the smile had turned into a faint yet gentle smile. He rubbed the boy’s head as he pushed back on the ground with his toes.

Herakel did not have any weapons in his hand. He just spun around and punched Ares with his bare hand.

Crack!

The sound of Ares’s jaw breaking rang on the battlefield. That was not the end. The force that broke Ares’s jaw continued, breaking not only his nose but also crushing his teeth.

“Kuheeeeeeeck!”

Ares’s face as he stepped back and vomited a mouthful of blood. His face was literally crushed.

As mentioned before, Ares had a massive inferiority complex toward Herakel. That could be a huge misinterpretation. The more exact description of their relationship was fear. Ares was afraid of Herakel.

“Yo, Chicken Ares! How dare you do that, huh?”

Herakel, who did not have any intellectual disability, was by no means kind. He could not understand why the world labeled him a hero with his attitude. Herakel’s arrogance knew no bounds, and the charisma that resulted from it was somewhat disconcerting. This disconcerting charisma created fear.

Ares’s crushed face recovered quickly. It was a shocking regenerative power. One look and anyone could tell it surpassed the regenerative abilities of the Absolute Gods of the other continent.

Nonetheless, Ares was in a panic. Strictly speaking, he was like Hephaestus in this relationship. No. If Ares and Hephaestus’ relationship was like that of a dog and its master, then Herakel and Ares’s relationship was far worse than that. At the very least, Hephaestus could still make eye contact with Ares.

Ares, who was overwhelmed with indescribable terror, could not even make eye contact with Herakel. His legs shook so much that everyone wondered if he was the same cruel and vicious God of War from earlier.

“I haven’t hit you for a long time, Ares.”

However, those words snapped Ares back to reality. That was right. A long time had passed, and many things had changed during that time. Ares not only inherited the throne of the God of War, but he had also proven he was

the

true God of War by joining the ranks of the Twelve Gods of Olympus. Ares, the coward and the chicken who always gave in, grew stronger and more mature.

In contrast, Herakel was sent to earth and was forced to revert to his youth, with an intellectual disability to boot.

“I knew you’d come back, you bastard!”

[Master of the Battlefield.]

[The Master of the Battlefield absorbs those who had died in battle.]

So what if Herakel came back? Ares knew Herakel’s weakness. Besides his strength, he did not have any abilities.

Furthermore, the blood that dyed the ground became the source of Ares’s powers. His level, which had fallen after his artifacts were destroyed, was now restored. Then, the muscles in his limbs bulged, and he gained even more strength.

[God of War Ares. Level 1,413]

Everyone present groaned when they saw Ares’s level recover and even jump beyond his previous level. They also felt this creepy feeling as if they were looking at someone possessed by an evil spirit. Perhaps it was because Ares had used the Master of the Battlefield and absorbed the dead.

Ares moved like lightning. He, followed by yellow lightning, cut Herakel in all directions.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Herakel did not respond. Even though blood began to dye his body red, he still did not move.

‘There’s not much time.’

The others might not know, but the gears in Herakel’s head were turning rapidly as he received Ares’s onslaught of attacks.

The duration of his unsealed state was at most ten minutes. Unfortunately, there was an even bigger problem than that.

‘I can’t kill Ares.’

If Herakel killed Ares, then the destruction of both the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire would be set in stone. No. It would be far worse than that. The continent they lived on would be dyed with blood, as the Gods of Olympus in the Gaia Continent would rally their troops and go to war.

Of course, there was still a way.

‘If I can’t kill him, then...’

He had to force him to run away.

Spurt!

Ares immediately raised his sword at Herakel’s neck after he cut the man’s flanks. At that moment, Herakel raised his palm facing the sky. Then, a club made of light appeared on his palm.

“That’s right. I’m someone who only has strength and power. But...”

Herakel raised his other hand. Then, he pinched Ares’s sword with his thumb and index finger. The sword that was swinging with significant momentum at his neck not only stopped in its tracks, but it also snapped in half.

“...the other Herakel’s different.”

Although his other self had an intellectual disability, the true Herakel had learned a lot of things from him. He could even say that the other Herakel had many things that were much better than he did.

He

had blamed and cursed himself for being weaker than Conir. Regardless, there were a lot of people around

him

. These people gathered around Herakel, who was belittling himself.

Grandpa Ben, who lay collapsed on the ground, had patted Herakel on the shoulder and said, “Hoho. Then, would you like to make something with this grandfather?”

Brod, who had become an emperor, had tapped him on the shoulder and said...

–

If you want it, I will make something that will give you a massive boost in strength.

The dozens of Beyond the Heavens Empire vassals gathered around Herakel and put their heads together to help him. Herakel was both honest and stupid. The stupid Herakel knew one thing. And he made it clear to everyone that he could only do this one thing.

With understanding, conviction, and acceptance, they could make something for Herakel the fool.

‘I only know one thing.’

Yes. Herakel knew one thing, and that was swinging his club. The foolish Herakel trained all day and night. He swung his club tens of thousands and even millions of times just to complete and understand one skill.

[One Ton Club.]

[A club that weighs a ton will inflict 12,500% additional damage to the enemy!]

BOOM!

The armor of light that had appeared earlier around Ares’s chest was crushed by the shining club in Herakel’s hand.

Ares, whose mouth was filled with blood, grinned and said, “You made just this one thing...”

“That’s right. I only made this one thing.”

Herakel smiled faintly. He was not the only one who made it. Everyone here helped him make it.

Ares jumped swiftly. This time, his sword, imbued with so much power, aimed for Herakel’s heart. Before it could reach Herakel’s chest...

[Ten Ton Club.]

[A club that weighs ten tons will inflict 30,000% additional damage to the enemy!]

BANG!!!

Herakel’s club hit Ares. The ground beneath him exploded, and a crater with a radius of several hundred meters appeared. This was all caused by the aftermath of Herakel’s swing. The thick cloud of dust covering the entire battlefield made it seem like hundreds of grenades had exploded simultaneously.

Ares, who was stuck in the ground, was left in disbelief. It was just one skill, but he could trigger it again and even make it stronger.

Alas, that was not the end.

[Hundred Ton Club.]

[...weighs a hundred tons...30,000% additional damage...!]

BANG!!!

The unbelievably strong and heavy club once again made contact with Ares. This time, the club's swing created a crater with a radius of four kilometers.

Choking on his blood, Ares tried to move. Alas, all of his bones had been crushed. It was to the point that he could not even move a single finger. Even the bones on his face were crushed.

The helpless Ares looked up at Herakel, who had leapt to the sky above him. He thought he had overcome the fear and terror he felt when facing this man, who possessed strength and power that far overwhelmed him. But it seemed like nothing had changed. Whether it was in the past or the future, he remained the same.

Trickle...

Ares’s crotch grew damp from fear. He was terrified at the thought that he might just die right here and now.

“How... It’s just one skill...”

Herakel’s club fell from the sky. The single skill trained over tens of millions of times had evolved into a skill with several chapters.

[Herakel’s status as the God of Heroes is being transmitted throughout Olympus!]

This was his declaration of war. Herakel was back!

[Ten Thousand Ton Club.]

Herakel skipped the Thousand Ton Club and immediately triggered the ultimate chapter of his skill.

One person was falling from the sky. The place he was falling toward was in the middle of Ares’s army.

BOOM!

[A club that weighs ten thousand tons will inflict 6,900% additional damage to everyone recognized as your enemies within an area with a two-kilometer radius!]

A vast wave spread the moment Herakel’s club slammed into the ground. It spread out quickly and swept everything in its path. It was as if a nuclear bomb had exploded. Just like that, the bones of Ares’s millions of troops were crushed.

Crack, crack, crack!

The horrendous and terrifying sound of bones cracking resonated all over the battlefield.

Since Herakel could not kill Ares, he decided to fulfill the contents of the quest that the God of War had suggested, which was to endure for a day.

Fwoosh!

Herakel’s hair fluttered with the wind as he stood firmly on the ground.

[There are ten seconds left before Unseal ends.]

Herakel had completed what he had to do. Ares’s soldiers had an average level of Level 700. Although only a few of them died, he left almost all of them severely injured. At this rate, both the Beyond the Heavens Empire and the Luvien Empire could deal with them and survive for a day.

[God of War’s Blessings.]

[The God of War’s Blessings will restore 10% of the HP of all people recognized as allies.]

[Their HP will recover by 0.7% per second.]

Just as Ares did not expect Herakel to develop a skill, Herakel also did not expect certain things.

Ares stepped out of the crater on the ground. His condition? Almost fully recovered. On the other hand, Herakel’s hair was slowly growing shorter. When Ares saw that, he realized something.

“Keuhahahahahahahahaha! Keuhahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahhahaha!”

The golden stream of energy escaping from Herakel’s body signalled his return to his

original

state. Herakel had now grown weaker. This meant that he would die here. It seemed like nothing had changed. Ares won. His soldiers would recover faster than the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire could kill them.

“Keuhahahahahahahaha!” Ares cackled. His face, still in the process of regeneration, looked quite grotesque, and he had a vicious smile.

At that moment, he saw everyone turn to look in one place. He found it quite puzzling. Why were they looking there?

“You know, the people always say...”

An unfamiliar voice rang from above.

“Minhyuk’s superhero landing.”

Genie, who found out where he was, smiled bitterly as she elaborated, “Minhyuk’s late because he was eating

.

”

“Well, I don’t want to hear something like that again, so I came earlier this time.”

Herakel, whose consciousness was growing hazy, made eye contact with the man.

‘Everything’s fine now. He’s here. He...’

“I gained some new powers. Do you want to see?”

[Calamity Slayer.]

[You have triggered an Eight Pillar Disaster.]

He came with a new ultimate skill.