The beads of sweat dripped down the forehead, mingling with the woman's rapid breaths, sounding exceptionally harsh in the deathly silent cave passage.
On both sides, the rough rock walls reflected distorted, wavering shadows under the flickering torchlight, as if countless devils were spying on this place from the darkness.
At this moment, the two goddesses had long lost their usual composure; their hems stained by the splattered mud, their hair disheveled, like two doe chased to their end by hunting dogs, now relying solely on instinct to survive, running frantically along the winding passageways.
The sound of footsteps echoed within the narrow space, amplifying their inner panic.
Clearly, they only needed to turn around to confirm there was nothing behind them, yet the invisible, suffocating sense of oppression still followed like a shadow, as though at any moment, that figure in the deep blue coat would step out of the shadows from somewhere, with that fear-inducing casual smile on his face.
"Hurry! Faster!"
Hera's voice was extremely urgent, she was almost dragging Athena as she ran, her face under messy brown hair slightly contorted by fear, "…absolutely, he's definitely following us, I can feel it—"
Athena did not respond, she bowed her head, only her legs mechanically maintaining the forward motion.
At this moment, a fork appeared in the passage ahead, and to the right, the outline of a fireplace built with rough stones could be vaguely seen.
"Over there, use Floo Powder!"
Hera's eyes burst with a gleam of ecstasy, like a drowning person grabbing the last straw, she crawled over with hands and feet, took out a delicate container from her bosom, with only a few shiny granules left inside.
She waved her magic wand to ignite the flames, then immediately sprinkled the powder into the glowing fireplace, shouting loudly, "Rwanda..."
The woman's words were only halfway shouted because the emerald flame did not ignite, the Floo Powder still flickered with a faint glow like ordinary gravel in the flames, then completely fell silent, as if it never existed.
"No..."
The blood drained from Hera's face, and she sat dejectedly on the ground.
It was at this moment she finally confirmed the most "terrifying" guess that had arisen in her heart long ago but she was unwilling to believe—the confinement laid down by the so-called "Prophet," even though he had turned to ashes, still functioned as the most secure prison, trapping them here, locking them together with that beast at the top of the food chain, with a large lock embedded.
Despair, like icy seawater, almost stifled the woman's breath.
Thus, she leaned against the rock wall, slowly slid to the ground, and covered her face with her hands, "It's over, all...we can't escape, that bastard will kill us, just like how he dealt with those Ashwinder, like...turning into a walking corpse..." she muttered incoherently, the dignity of the Celestial Empress completely gone.
Beside her, Athena also leaned against the wall, her chest rising and falling due to the intense exercise just now.
She glanced at Hera, who seemed a bit collapsed, then looked back at the dark passage behind, which had devoured all light—what the other had said had a great possibility of becoming the final ending of the story... perhaps, becoming an emotionless shell might be a better ending.
Compared to Ares, who was dismembered while conscious...
As for escape? Weren't they just running? But this convoluted, exit-less cave, was nothing more than a labyrinth designed to delay "death," the final endpoint was already determined when they started running...
She had been running for more than half a month, yet hadn't escaped his "clutches," now, witnessing William casually extracting others' emotions and then kneading a small "Secret Vault," Athena suddenly felt her previous efforts somewhat... laughable.
So what to do next? Continue fleeing, exhausting the last shred of strength and dignity in this cage like a headless fly, then being disposed of like garbage by that person?
No.
Pallas Athena, she is the Wisdom Goddess of Olympus, no matter how far she has fallen, she will never allow herself to end in such an undignified way.
Hera seemed to sense something from the other's silence, she raised her head, her voice carrying a slight hope—
"Pallas...you, you have another way, right? You always have a way, just like before..."
Athena did not look at her, her gaze firmly locked onto the darkness behind the passage, then she took a deep breath, slowly stood straight, straightening her slightly hunched spine from running, tidied her tangled golden hair, the fear in her eyes was forcibly suppressed, replaced by calm—
"Enough!"
She said softly; her voice was not loud but echoed clearly in the passage.
Hera looked up at her in surprise.
Was it about provoking when at death's door and then directly accepting the fate graciously?
Hera thought for a moment and was ready to stand up and join—
But fortunately, Athena's next words were faster than the woman's action; facing the darkness, she spoke with an exceptionally steady tone, "William Richard, sir," her voice produced a faint echo in the cave, "I know you're here, or rather, you can definitely hear."
She paused, perhaps organizing her language or maybe gathering courage.
"This chase game should end, we lost, but you can directly destroy us with your power—"
Her words were so candid it startled Hera.
This sounded like begging for mercy, but why could it be so firm?
"However, power is not the only way to solve all problems, killing us may be easy for you, but if you let me, us live, it might bring more, more..."
Athena's speech gradually quickened, and her thoughts became increasingly clear—
"Trust me, the secrets of Olympus are far more than what you can see, I, Athena, as a god...no, I swear on my character, willing to exchange all I know for a chance at survival, trust me, I am absolutely a qualified..."
Just as Athena's last syllable fell—
"So to say,"
A voice filled with laughter yet terrifyingly creepy appeared suddenly, extremely close behind Athena, close enough to stick to her ear, "I seemed to have given you a choice to cooperate long ago—but you just insist on tormenting yourself...
"So, you are a qualified what?"
A hard object pressed against the woman's lower back, the thick sense of death almost made her close to losing control—