No Matter How Strong, You Kneel

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Bang, bang, bang.

On the narrow dock, Diana and the First Born fought with savage intensity.

She was no match for him.

Her equipment seemed to have been upgraded. She was now the new God of War, no longer merely a demigod but a true god with a powerful divine office. Yet she was still no match for the First Born.

The First Born was like a tank rampaging down a road. No matter what grade of luxury car stood in front of him, he would crush it with ease.

"This is hard to watch."

Damon watched for a while, then theatrically turned his head away.

"Agree to one condition, and I will help you deal with him."

"What condition? What do you want now?"

Diana barely managed to block as she shouted at Damon.

"Just answer whether you agree."

"If you guarantee my mother and the rest of Themyscira will be restored, I agree."

Damon laughed despite himself.

"You have changed. What a pure child you used to be. Now you even know how to raise the price at a critical moment."

"Do you agree or not?"

Diana held up the First Born's descending fist with both hands and turned her head to shout.

"Fine. I agree."

Damon smiled.

"Hmph. Overestimating yourself."

A disdainful snort came from the side. Cassandra sneered.

"Who do you think you are? No man and no god can stop the First Born."

Before Damon could speak, Lilah immediately fired back.

"Who do you think you are? No man and no god dares speak to my master like that."

As soon as she finished, Lilah waved a hand and sent a blast of flame toward Cassandra.

Cassandra was a demigoddess, but her power had been speech, and that had already been destroyed. Even if she still had it, she was essentially a weapon of words. Facing Firestorm's attack, she could only dodge in embarrassment.

Lilah pressed the advantage and chased her.

In midair, Lilah waved both hands again and again, hurling flames at Cassandra while Cassandra fled in disgrace.

"Hurry... hurry and help me."

Diana had no time to watch Lilah. The First Born's strength was growing heavier, and she was almost unable to hold on.

Boom.

A sound like the shattering of heaven and earth suddenly rang out.

Damon stood where the First Born had been moments ago and slowly withdrew his fist. Looking at the First Born, who had slid away across the ground, he smiled at Diana.

"What did you say?"

So fast.

Diana had not seen Damon's movement at all. She only felt the pressure on her vanish, and then the First Born had already been sent flying.

"You are getting stronger," Diana said with a complicated expression.

"No. I was always this strong."

Damon smiled and shook his head.

"I simply had not met an opponent who required this much strength."

Had his earlier enemies all been too weak?

Diana thought of Eris, goddess of strife, and Ares, God of War. Damon had crushed both of them so easily that she had never been able to see the full extent of his strength. Where was his limit?

A violent gust struck her face. In the distance, the First Born instantly charged back, punching at Damon.

Damon punched back.

The collision of their fists forced Diana several steps back. The seawater beside them rose like a waterfall. The ground around Damon and the First Born caved in as they stood fist to fist, as if time and space themselves had frozen.

It seemed to last only an instant.

It seemed to last a very long time.

"You are going to lose," Damon said with a brilliant smile.

"Hmph."

The First Born snorted.

Almost at the same time, both of them attacked again.

The First Born's fighting technique was not refined. It was primitive and brutal. But his strength and recovery were terrifying. His divine power carried something extremely special.

Hate.

The power of hatred.

That hatred was filled with violent, cruel will, as if it wanted to slaughter every god and destroy heaven and earth.

Fight everything before his eyes.

Kill everything before his eyes.

The hate and brutality made Diana's expression turn grave, and she could not help worrying for Damon. It made Hera's legs weaken until she collapsed to the ground. It made Zola want to turn and run.

"Diana's strength really is weaker than yours. Even stacking her demigod-level power five times was still not enough to surpass you. But you are still trash."

As Damon finished speaking, the aura around him changed abruptly. A hatred even stronger than the First Born's roared out of him.

The hatred seemed almost solid. Even Diana could not stop herself from kneeling and trembling.

It changed the color of heaven and earth. It made the gods on Olympus shudder.

"You..."

The First Born's expression changed dramatically.

Why did this power feel so familiar?

It was his power.

"Infinite Stacking, two times."

Damon had rarely shouted it aloud anymore because it felt too theatrical. But now, he found it exhilarating.

His eyes flashed with excitement as he punched.

Bang.

The First Born blocked with his fist, but the immense force drove him back. One step. Two steps. Before the third, Damon punched again.

His fist struck the First Born's face and tilted him to one side. Before he could fall, Damon hit him back from the other direction.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The First Born was battered between Damon's fists like a training dummy that would not fall. After more than ten punches, his face had become almost unrecognizable. His features remained, but the skin had been torn away, leaving raw red flesh exposed.

Damon suddenly leaped up and brought his fist down.

Boom.

The First Born hit the ground instantly. The earth caved in, and his body bounced several times before falling still.

The First Born, who had killed Lennox with one sword strike and beaten Diana until she could barely fight back, had been crushed by Damon just like that.

How powerful was he?

"He really can take a beating."

Damon lowered his head and looked at his injured fist. The wound was healing at a visible speed.

He turned toward Diana.

Diana lowered her head by instinct, avoiding his gaze.

"Are you hiding from me?"

Damon withdrew his divine power, and the overwhelming hatred and pressure vanished instantly.

Diana let out a breath and looked back at him.

"Your eyes just now were terrifying."

"I am not going to eat you. What are you afraid of? Wait. I suppose I really can eat people?"

Among the First Born's abilities was one that allowed him to obtain language and memories by devouring someone. When he crawled up from the depths of the earth, he had not known the language, so he ate a scientist who discovered him and gained English.

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