Pitch-black flames surged upward, engulfing the summit of Mount Olympus in a blazing inferno.
If it were an ordinary fire, it naturally wouldn't possess such power. But the flames Duanmu Huai wielded were different—they were Destined Death, a power designed to hunt gods. This was also one of the reasons Duanmu Huai looked down on the abilities of the Greek gods. No matter how impressive those abilities were, they were meaningless in the face of death and destruction.
Not to mention that those abilities weren't even that impressive to begin with.
The labyrinth Athena used to trap Duanmu Huai was naturally no ordinary thing—but it couldn't withstand being burned continuously by the black flames!
You had to understand, this was fire meant to hunt gods and slaughter deities. The Golden Tree lineage only managed to cling to life because they had the Golden Law backing them. Ordinary beings would die instantly just from touching it!
Just like right now…
"Ahhhhhhh————!!!"
Amid a scream, Hera, seated upon her throne, reached up and clutched her own neck tightly. Her body visibly shriveled at a rapid pace as black flames burst out from within her. In the blink of an eye, Hera turned into a dried corpse, collapsing painfully onto the ground before being completely swallowed by the black flames.
"Hera…!"
Seeing this, Zeus's expression changed drastically, and Athena wasn't doing much better. In fact, the labyrinth itself had been formed with Athena borrowing Hera's divine power. As Queen of Heaven, Hera possessed incomparably powerful life-based divine energy. Logically speaking, with Hera's divine power sustaining it, even if the labyrinth were destroyed, it should have rapidly regenerated.
But what Athena never expected was that Duanmu Huai's black flames were so domineering that they not only burned down the entire labyrinth, but also killed Hera herself, the very source of its divine power.
Just how many trump cards did that man still have?!
Only now did Athena realize that this man was far more terrifying than she had imagined. In his battles with Ares and Hades, he had displayed overwhelming combat power. In his fight against Poseidon, he could freely summon armies and clash head-on with the god of the sea. When facing the heroes, he even used his eloquence to persuade them to retreat and withdraw. Precisely because Duanmu Huai was so formidable did Athena ultimately choose this method to trap him.
She originally thought Duanmu Huai would try to find an exit from the labyrinth, which might give her a chance to negotiate with him.
But she never expected that this black flame would be powerful enough to kill Hera outright?!
"Whooooo—!"
At this moment, the raging flames had almost reached the summit. The platform atop Mount Olympus now looked like a frying pan engulfed in fire. Seeing this, Athena turned and rushed toward the exit without hesitation, trying to escape. However, just as she reached the doorway, the tightly shut door panels suddenly shattered, and a massive black-flame-covered hand reached out, grabbing Athena by the head!
Immediately after, the black flames surged forward, smearing directly over Athena's face!
"Ugh… aaaaaahhh…!!"
The pitch-black flames drilled into Athena's nostrils, mouth, eyes, and ears. Very quickly, her head shriveled like a roasted pig's head, and then her entire body vanished into the flames just like Hera. Immediately after, the doors opened, and Duanmu Huai strode in from outside, his entire body burning with black flames.
"It's you————!"
Seeing Duanmu Huai, Zeus roared and stood up from his throne.
"What exactly do you want to do?! You bastard! You killed my brothers, my children, destroyed Mount Olympus! Why are you doing this?! What grudge do we have against you?!"
"A grudge?"
Hearing Zeus's question, Duanmu Huai tilted his head.
"Oh, nothing much… I just don't like the look of you. And while I'm at it, I'm doing a quest."
"Y-you said what?!"
Zeus was so furious his beard practically stood on end.
"For such a trivial reason, you slaughtered the gods and destroyed Mount Olympus?!"
"A trivial reason?"
Facing Zeus's roar, Duanmu Huai chuckled.
"Isn't that exactly how you treat mortals? Since you can destroy mortal kingdoms at a whim and bring disaster upon them based on your own preferences, why can't you accept being treated the same way?"
"Die!!"
Driven mad by Duanmu Huai's mockery, Zeus roared and raised his right hand. The next instant, a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, flying toward Zeus's hand—but at that very moment, Duanmu Huai suddenly flung his warhammer high into the air. In the next second, the lightning that was supposed to land in Zeus's hand abruptly changed direction and struck Duanmu Huai's warhammer instead.
"Idiot. I guess you don't understand basic electrical conductivity at all!"
While Zeus was still stunned, Duanmu Huai burst out laughing and charged straight at him.
"You————!"
At this moment, Zeus was furious beyond measure, but he had no time to say anything more. Duanmu Huai had already rushed in front of him and threw a punch. Facing Duanmu Huai's attack, Zeus had no way to dodge and could only raise his arms to block. The next instant, Duanmu Huai's fist slammed into Zeus's arm, the tremendous impact smashing him against the wall, leaving him unable to move.
"Ora! Ora! Ora!"
Duanmu Huai threw punch after punch, smashing them into Zeus's body without the slightest mercy.
From a third-party perspective, it looked exactly like a muscular young man brutally beating up a white-haired elderly man—a textbook case of bullying.
Of course, Duanmu Huai didn't deny it.
"Ora ora ora ora!!!!"
Soon, Duanmu Huai's punches grew faster and faster, while Zeus was beaten until he couldn't move at all. Finally, after the beating, Duanmu Huai clenched his fist once more and raised it high.
"———ORA!!!"
With a furious roar, Duanmu Huai's flame-wreathed heavy punch blasted forward. Under the combined force of massive impact and gravity, it punched straight through Zeus's chest, pinning him to the wall!
"...…"
At this moment, Zeus's face was swollen and bruised, his entire body bloated like a balloon, looking like an elderly man who had been brutally abused. He opened his mouth blankly, and in the next instant, a strand of white light shot out from his mouth, nose, and eyes, only to be completely swallowed by the rising black flames.
Then, Zeus's body exploded violently.
Brilliant arcs of lightning scattered everywhere, illuminating Duanmu Huai's vision in blinding white light.
When everything settled, the summit of Mount Olympus was utterly ruined. The once lofty circular platform was now shattered beyond recognition. Immediately after, the entire mountain began to tremble slightly as cracks appeared, spreading and widening. Massive boulders began to collapse and fall from Mount Olympus.
By the time Duanmu Huai left, Mount Olympus had completely collapsed like a shoddy construction project.
"Phew… done. That's a wrap."
Duanmu Huai clapped his hands, withdrew his gaze from the collapsed Mount Olympus in the distance, and looked at the system interface before him.
[Special Divine Office Quest "Godslayer" completed]
[Calculating results, please submit the divine offices you obtained]
"Hmm…"
Looking at the quest requirements, Duanmu Huai thought for a moment. Clearly, this quest's evaluation was determined by how many chief gods he killed and how many divine offices he obtained. Very quickly, he submitted the divine offices he had gained in this battle—leaving only War, since compared to controlling seawater, manipulating lightning, or a divine office that just spams SAO all day, the War divine office was at least somewhat useful.
[Divine offices submitted, calculating...…calculation complete]
[Quest Evaluation: Unremarkable]
[You destroyed a divine pantheon, completely annihilating its chief gods and their faith. From this moment on, Olympus shall cease to exist. Those survivors will forever tremble beneath your shadow]
[Fear Aura increased to LV4]
[Title acquired — Godslayer]
[Godslayer: There is nothing in this world that can make you submit. Even when facing gods, you dare to fight and annihilate them
(All attributes +5% against gods, divine resistance +10%, attack +5%)]
[Lesser Divine Power +15]
[Integrating War divine office into the domain of the God of Destruction]
[God of Destruction LV7 (Destruction, War)]
So that's how it is.
After reviewing his updated system data, Duanmu Huai finally understood. That is to say, after obtaining the War divine office, the system didn't give him a separate "God of War" side job. Instead, it directly merged War into the domain of the God of Destruction.
That was fine. Honestly, Duanmu Huai had been worried the divine office system might turn into some MMO nonsense where one player juggles multiple classes. Forget anything else—just leveling would be exhausting.
However, at that moment, another system notification suddenly popped up before him.
[Divine office enhancement, divinity strengthened, Charisma +1]
"Holy shit!?"
Duanmu Huai was so excited he almost jumped.
Charisma +1?
Seriously???
Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai hurriedly opened his status panel again and clicked on the attribute section. Very quickly, he saw the line at the bottom of the attribute list marked Charisma, which now displayed…
[Charisma: 2 (Locked) (Communication -2) (Intimidation +3)]
"Hahahahahaha! This is awesome hahahahaha!!"
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai raised both hands in excitement!
He really hadn't expected an unexpected windfall like this!
This quest was absolutely worth grinding!
(End of chapter)