Chapter 880: A Titan’s Obsession ×, A Simp’s Will √
"Move—!"
As that roar from the horizon—seemingly shattering the clouds and brimming with pure killing intent—drew near, Achilles’ expression hardened. Grabbing his spear and shield, he bellowed and outright smacked his good friend Ajax flying aside. There was no technique, no strategy whatsoever. He simply angled his round shield over his head, stomped the ground for leverage, and shot upward to meet the beam of dark violet energy head-on.
In the next instant.
Rumble—!!
Thanos’ energy release—laden with the most primordial physical laws embodied by the Power Stone—struck Achilles dead center. Massive thunder erupted deep within the planet’s crust, completely engulfing the great hero of the Trojan War.
Crack—crack—
The crust, mantle, and core groaned under unbearable strain. Continental plates convulsed more violently under the impact. Under immense pressure, searing heat and magma found outlets to vent, erupting through the increasingly fractured rifts in the earth.
Swept up by a torrent of scorching magma and blasted ten thousand meters into the sky, Ajax was like a fallen branch caught in a gale. Only after being caught and cushioned by an unfamiliar purple-skinned, red-clad Shi’ar super soldier did he manage to steady himself.
"Thanks," Ajax said.
There was no need for further words between comrades who had survived the battlefield together.
The grand plans of those higher up were none of his concern as a mere frontline soldier. He would simply carry out his mission—stall or suppress Thanos to buy time for Master and the others.
Many Servants and members of the Anti–Black Order Pact had already forged bonds through life-and-death battles. They were comrades now.
After a quick glance over the battlefield, Ajax’s heart sank slightly.
Even Ramesses II Ozymandias had fallen.
Any Servant who could endure until now was among the rare top-tier. In a conventional Holy Grail War, they would be the type capable of single-handedly sweeping the field.
"Where is Heracles?" he asked.
Securing the original Aias shield to his arm, Ajax moved without pause. Spiritrons materialized into his customary spear. Mana condensed and burst forth as he hurled it toward the collision point between the raging lightning and the massive round shield. Immediately after, he drew his bow. The moment the string released, a rain of arrows filled the sky.
The Shi’ar super soldier pointed toward a distant planet within the star system—its surface shaved away as if parted neatly down the middle. "That warrior was blasted away by Thanos during close combat just now." With a shout, he unleashed a stream of energy, flinging round, flashing light bombs at Thanos.
Boom—!
Within the exploding lightning, Achilles trembled as he forced the divine shield upward with both arms. His face flushed crimson, teeth clenched so tightly that no sound could escape his throat. Every muscle in his body was drawn taut like a bowstring stretched to its limit. His upper body involuntarily arched backward.
It was a curvature worthy of envy—proof of astonishing flexibility.
Unfortunately, the being before him was no Greek. Evidently, Thanos had no interest in men—nor in the women of this world, for that matter.
"Blasphemous wretch. Your actions, your words, your very existence defile the sincerity between me and Her. I will make you regret coming into this world."
Thanos’ voice was cruel and powerful.
Crack! Bones and tendons snapped audibly as Thanos’ clenched left fist drove into the concave structure beneath Achilles’ shield. Dark violet cosmic energy leaked from the golden Infinity Gauntlet, clashing violently with the divinely forged shield.
Akhilleus Kosmos: The Miniature World Enclosed by the Azure Sky.
Forged by the fires of the Twelve Olympian Gods and the smith god Hephaestus. Blessed as well by Poseidon, god of the sea.
Surging cosmic energy struck Thanos from behind and from the sides—from every direction but the front. Yet he paid it no heed. No matter how horrifying the wounds he sustained, the fully activated Eternal cells within him—driven to their utmost potential—combined with the invincible effect of the Power Stone, healed him in an instant. Stronger each time.
And thus he grew ever more at ease.
Thanos spoke with disdain. "The power of your gods is beneath contempt."
In mere breaths, the Olympian divine runes carved into the warped shield flared to their peak brilliance. Even the vast, surging torrent of mana was worn away. The edges of the divine shield were scorched brittle by blazing lightning, crumbling into drifting ash.
Achilles bared a blood-slick grin. He had already pushed his Comet Form and the Noble Phantasm Spear-tip of the Star Traversing the Skies to the absolute limits of his current body. And still it was not enough?
If only I had a little more time to fully complete the chant... if only I had a little more time to activate the divinely granted "Limiter"... I—ah, forget it. A true warrior speaks not of what-ifs. Defeat is defeat.
"This round, you win," Achilles coughed blood as he laughed. "Next time, I’ll come back for you."
Clang—crack!
"There will be no next time. I will drown you completely in despair and the abyss—never to see daylight again!"
Perhaps Achilles meant he would return again as a Heroic Spirit, summoned anew. He did not believe his supreme patron, the Root Divine Emperor, would ever swallow a loss without repayment. But to Thanos, it sounded entirely different.
The green-haired man before him was still provoking him.
In Thanos’ understanding, all beings shared a single destination after death—to return to the domain of the goddess Death. And yet this one spoke of returning, of revival? Was Death herself to resurrect him, to bless him? Was this a declaration of war—an attempt to compete for Death’s favor?
Boom!
Under repeated, crushing impacts, the phantom cities and mountains of ancient Greek poleis depicted upon the shield shattered into powder. The Olympian runes finally dimmed, their power dispersing. A crack split the shield—then a second, then a third...
"Hahaha!"
Thanos roared with laughter. He could scarcely wait to tear this foul-mouthed fool apart. Even the matter of finding Gorgon could be postponed for this.
"Achilles, release the chant! Crush him with your shield!" Ajax’s voice rang out.
At the same moment, seven petals unfolded before Achilles.
"Rho Aias—The Seven Rings that Cover the Burning Heavens!!"
It was Ajax’s Noble Phantasm.
"Your trash-talking truly lives up to your reputation."
A streak of violet-red light shot toward Thanos’ face from the sky.
"Gáe—Pierce!"
The Queen of the Land of Shadows crossed space, wielding a demonic spear radiating baleful aura.
"Mahāpadma!"
The atmosphere froze.
"Trash talk is also a tactic," Esdeath said as she lifted Achilles’ divine shield with one hand. The seeping extreme cold slowed the collapse of the Noble Phantasm. Chilling magical particles flooded into it. "Do not resist. Cooperate with me."
After resting and restoring her stamina to unleash Mahāpadma once more, Esdeath reentered the fray and, without hesitation, took on the role of frontline pillar and tactical core. She pushed Achilles upright, restoring his posture and leverage.
"If you’re going to die, make sure you die at maximum efficiency," she said.
With that—
Clang—!
A color like hellfire instantly lit up the entire field of vision. The surrounding space let out a mournful creak-creak, as though wailing in agony. Matter eroded. Energy annihilated. Within that colossal flash that seemed to split the world in two, the seven petals withered—scattering like dying cherry blossoms.
Ajax was blasted backward. His Spirit Origin shattered, blood frothing endlessly from his mouth. The shield filled with glory was broken.
"You owe me one," he said.
Their eyes met. No words were needed.
With resolute finality, Achilles raised the round shield in both hands. His five bloodstained fingers brushed over the dim divine runes upon it. Then, with an invigorated roar, he released the true name of his Noble Phantasm.
"This is the shield that praises the world!"
"Bearing the world I once traversed through life, embracing the world I fought within, reflecting the things I swore to protect..."
...
Drip.
The faint hiss of evaporating blood echoed. A deathly chill spread between Thanos’ jaws. He was certain—his face had been pierced.
"How many more times can you use it?" Thanos grinned viciously at Esdeath, whose consumption only grew heavier each time she froze time and space.
Ignoring Scáthach’s strike-and-retreat assault, he cleaved her down with gaseous lightning. With a casual motion he shattered several Servants’ Noble Phantasms mid-release. A single punch reduced multiple Novamarines and Shi’ar guards into mangled, bloody pulp.
He swept aside the incoming rain of Noble Phantasms with a wave of his hand. Dragging several assassins out from the shadows of light, he crushed them into paste beneath his foot. He tore the head from a Nova Centurion...
Other than powers akin to time—those that froze time and space—Thanos feared no one.
"Reconstructing time and space to deploy a parallel-world microcosm for defense and attack? Hmph. Empty fame built upon divine hand-me-downs."
Still locking onto that foul-mouthed bastard, Thanos clenched his fist and snapped apart the edge of Heracles’ axe blade.
"I will shatter your world."
Buzz—!
Blue light flashed. A massive fissure torn by Spatial Collapse ripped across the void, appearing behind Thanos. Beyond the rift lay dead planets, dragged by spatial force. Thanos clenched his fist and swung heavily toward Achilles.
Crash—!
Heaven and earth overturned. Planetary bodies were hurled like pellets, roaring as they smashed down upon Achilles.
"And you too!" That golden bastard—spouting "mongrel" at every breath, a coward hiding behind secret treasures and weapons. Enjoy throwing them at me, do you? I’ll return it a hundredfold—no, ten-thousandfold!!
"Then come!"
The full release chant of the Noble Phantasm completed. Achilles’ fighting spirit blazed.
"Akhilleus Kosmos—!!"
A true world rose from the ground.
A world Achilles had galloped through, lived through, fought within, plundered, and protected—blossoming forth.
Beneath a sky of luminous emerald divine radiance, heavy, dark-toned mountains and rivers, forests, oceans, city-states—even people rendered entirely in light—spread out and took shape. Unlike the rigid emergency activation before, this time they were vivid beyond compare, as if a complete world truly lived within.
"Hah—!"
With a shout, Achilles pushed the divine shield.
Whoom—!
Breaking past the limits of his Comet Running Method—footwork reaching the divine realm—splurt! A mist of blood burst from his ankles. Bones and tendons crackled like popcorn exploding. He dashed. He galloped. He galloped again!
It was truly a comet striking the moon. The expanding microcosm stacked and enlarged proportionally, no longer merely ancient Greece but something akin to a fragment of Olympus itself. In an instant it surpassed the third cosmic velocity, reaching one-third lightspeed as it crashed violently toward Thanos.
BOOM—!!!
In the blink of an eye, a massive star was flattened, releasing a heaven-shaking roar. Each collision’s aftershock was a contest of force exceeding trillions of tons—countless Himalayas, Andes, and Rockies forming and pulverizing in a single instant.
Immense pressure descended head-on. Thanos’ eyes widened—not in fear, but in exhilaration.
Rumble.
His blood boiled, surging through his veins like molten magma. Crystalline purple lightning interwove across his entire body.
"In the end, I will prove—I am your destiny!"
Might swelled. He stepped forward with a clenched fist.
The ultimate laws of physics manifested at this moment.
Fragments of a disintegrating star fell.
These awe-inspiring powers seemed to herald the sounding of doomsday’s horn, making all who witnessed it tremble. Gladiator, who had served as a living shield against Thanos for so long, wore a complicated expression.
Could he truly bring Thanos to justice?
His confidence wavered.
"This is the last time."
Esdeath understood clearly. Achilles could only stall—he could never defeat Thanos. But only his fully released divine shield could overpower Thanos through sheer magnitude for a brief time. And conveniently, his sharp tongue had secured Thanos’ hatred.
Heracles was immensely powerful, yes—but his greatest strength was suppressed. Thanos, wielding the Power Stone, was his natural nemesis. As a meat shield, he was adequate.
Esdeath was already exhausted. Her mana remained abundant, but her stamina and mental strength could no longer sustain repeated use of Demon’s Extract’s ultimate technique.
Without hesitation, she drove her hand through her own chest. From the blood-soaked Demon’s Extract mark, she crushed her heart—shattering her Spirit Origin into the purest Servant core.
Splurt!
Gladiator was stunned speechless.
"You... you..."
"Command Seals are used up. I’m spent. Only by annihilating my Spirit Origin can I unleash one final spiritual detonation," Esdeath said lightly, wiping blood from the corner of her lips. Her bloodstained, fair fingers protruded from her chest. It was as though she had stabbed someone else.
"Are you ready? Then let’s begin. This is the last opportunity I will create for you."
Her Servant form began to flicker. She spoke to the other Servants—and to Gladiator and the rest.
"Mahāpadma!"
Whoosh—
Time and space froze.
In an ice-blue universe, like a bulldozer crushing through a microcosm, Thanos—mid-punch toward the exhausted Achilles, whose Noble Phantasm had shattered—fell into stasis.
"Chains of Heaven!"
"Chains of Heaven!"
Suddenly, golden light rippled through space. Like winding serpents, chains crossed and coiled around the immobilized Thanos.
It was Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
"Gáe! Gáe!—Pierce, penetrate!"
Ancient runes wove from her lips as she invoked the spear of causality. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, her damaged veil scorched black. Scáthach drove her demonic spear forward.
"Bolg Alternative—Gáe Bolg!"
In an instant, a crimson stream over ten thousand meters long tore across the void, staining even the black curtain of space dark red.
Clatter—
"Frozen again."
As the icy stasis dissolved and the chains locked tight, Thanos tore apart the Achilles before him at point-blank range. Spiritron-infused flesh carrying primordial cosmic energy splattered across his face. Thanos licked it with bloodthirsty delight, savoring the sensation.
"Hm?"
His super-intellect’s microsecond reaction speed snapped him from that intoxication. When he pulled his left arm back—he found it would not move.
These elegant chains, almost like decorative toys—were this sturdy? With his current strength, he could yank apart not only the Dark Order’s planet-destroying warships, but even vessels of the Divine Empress Order—one pull would wreck their engines.
No—why were the chains tightening the more he struggled? No matter how he unleashed energy—even invoking the Power Stone’s laws—there was no immediate response.
What principle was this?
Another divine artifact?
"From the abyssal valley, from the dim realm of death, I come racing forth."
Thanos was given no time to think.
A pitch-black figure rose slowly from submerged shadow, emanating silent pressure. From him, Thanos sensed something faintly familiar.
Death.
It was the executioner who had beheaded the Black Order.
Confusion and unease began to spread.
His power... impossible. Authority over death belonged to the goddess Death.
While Thanos pondered the uniqueness of this skull-helmed, heavy-armored executioner, a sharp edge arrived silently. A crimson streak pierced heaven and earth, striking Thanos’ head as his left arm remained restrained by the golden chains.
For a fleeting moment he was dazed. Blood sprayed. Yet Thanos’ gaze never left the executioner.
He moved.
An ancient greatsword descended in a plain, unadorned swing. The instant Thanos perceived the concept of death permeating it, his very soul and body trembled in agony.
Instinctively, Thanos understood the intent.
Damn it—the executioner meant to sever his left arm and seize the Infinity Gauntlet.
He nearly cursed aloud. The Divine Empress Order, Eternity... how splendid indeed. He possessed not a single divine artifact bestowed by the goddess Death, yet the enemy seemed to have them wholesale—divine blood, sacred weapons one after another. It drove him to fury.
Without these damned Noble Phantasms, he would have long since annihilated Gorgon’s hounds and gone to seize the Time Stone.
"It seems you have failed."
A cool, pleased voice shimmered like a wandering star. From behind the pitch-black executioner, eyes of faint pity lit up.
Thanos saw her.
"Gorgon!"
Platinum radiance shimmered from her griffon-like wings, dazzling against the empty cosmic curtain. The Beast Goddess crossed her clawed arms, lips curved in finality.
As if to say: Little Titan, you are not worthy to be my opponent.
Had Gorgon seized authority over death?
No!
The goddess Death would never abandon him!
It was Eternity—Eternity had suppressed her, stolen the authority of the goddess he loved.
"No—!"
The fear of failure struck.
Like icy tentacles spreading from his skull downward... his heart slowly freezing.
Despair...
Then came fury—filling his chest.
Was everything he had done destined to end in failure?
"Never—!!"
Driven by the will to die if he must, Thanos activated the Infinity Gauntlet—not one Stone, but four at once!
I will claim victory!
Sizzle—
Four primordial cosmic singularity energies flooded his body simultaneously. Even for the Eternal Titan’s physique, his cells burst like water bubbles—popping—or split like overripe fruit.
Blood-soaked. Brutal.
Selene watched silently.
"Love... truly is a force that drives one mad."
Until Thanos’ breath grew faint, his broad frame rapidly shriveling, nearly dead—yet his obsession still burned fiercely, bright as a star in the night sky.
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