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Ch. 291 The Authority of Divine Power
🕑 Added 2024-02-11 16:00:04 +0000 UTCIf he could start over, Windrest Fortress lord would never have chosen to attack Russell proactively.
Wouldn't it have been better to let him leave quietly? Why did he have to provoke him, resulting in the current predicament?
Though he had a tinge of regret, Windrest Fortress lord was well aware that even if he had made a mistake, he had to grit his teeth and persist at this point.
If he did nothing and let Russell leave at this juncture, the reputation he had painstakingly built over the years would undoubtedly plummet to rock bottom.
Whether it was Asgard or Vanaheimr, there was a strong hero worship culture and a culture of admiring the strong.
A warrior who voluntarily surrendered and admitted defeat would not only be looked down upon by his comrades but might even be disdained by his family.
To preserve his reputation as much as possible, Windrest Fortress lord could only find ways to keep Russell.
Even if he couldn't keep him permanently, he at least had to demonstrate the determination to fight to the death.
Russell noticed Windrest Fortress lord's change in attitude, and when he counterattacked, he took it slightly more seriously.
Although their positions were different, Windrest Fortress lord's approach was quite to Russell's liking.
If they were in a different scenario, they might even have shared a drink.
However, for now, all Russell could do was defeat Windrest Fortress lord as quickly as possible to prevent him from further disturbing his attempt to copy Ebony Maw's telekinesis ability.
After deflecting Windrest Fortress lord's attack once again, Russell casually flicked his left hand.
The next moment, the Sword of Athena, which he had placed in the system space, appeared in his hand.
Although he wasn't particularly afraid of Windrest Fortress lord's trident, which had already been empowered by divine power, he had no intention of testing the sharpness of a divine power-enhanced trident with his body.
Even if his Kryptonian physiology could withstand a divine power-enhanced trident, he wouldn't do it. It had nothing to do with the risk of injury; it was purely because it would look bad.
Besides, his Kryptonian physiology couldn't protect his clothing.
He didn't want to end up with torn or exposed clothes while fighting.
After retrieving the Sword of Athena, Russell no longer just passively defended against Windrest Fortress lord's attacks; he began to attack actively.
The incredibly sharp Sword of Athena in his hand seemed to have a life of its own, first creating a dazzling display of sword slash.
Then, it descended upon Windrest Fortress lord like the scythe of death.
As before, Russell didn't employ any fancy sword techniques; he simply followed the three words: "fast, precise, ruthless."
However, even so, his attacks posed a deadly threat to Windrest Fortress lord.
When the Sword of Athena was about to pierce his chest, Windrest Fortress lord finally raised his silver trident to the expected position to block Russell's fierce strike.
Clang!
A crisp sound of weapon collision rang out.
Before Windrest Fortress lord could feel the tremendous force transmitted by the Sword of Athena, Russell's left wrist turned, and the Sword of Athena traced a beautiful arc, heading straight for Windrest Fortress lord's neck.
Perhaps sensing the threat of death, Windrest Fortress lord didn't dare to hold back any longer. He shouted loudly, and his divine power suddenly erupted. A violent tornado, two meters in diameter, instantly formed around him, enveloping him.
This raging tornado, which was originally meant for offense, now became Windrest Fortress lord's defensive maneuver to withstand Russell's attacks.
Although it consumed a lot of his energy, the effect was undeniable.
Russell's Sword of Athena struck the suddenly appearing tornado.
Then, it was bounced back by the rapidly rotating tornado.
Just as the tornado that shrouded himself repelled the Sword of Athena that was attacking him, Windrest Fortress lord, situated in the tornado's eye, invoked another aspect of his divine power.
Lightning!
Although the divine power awakened by Windrest Fortress lord wasn't pure storm and lightning power, his control over the hurricane and lightning was still quite good.
While the tornadoes and lightning he created couldn't compare to true storm and lightning powers, their power was still considerable.
The rapidly rotating violent tornado had not yet dissipated, and the pitch-black night sky began to flash with dazzling silver-white lightning.
Rumble!
As soon as these silver-white lightning bolts appeared, they turned into streaks of lightning, striking towards Russell.
At first, Russell thought that Windrest Fortress lord was using lightning to attack only him. However, he quickly realized that he wasn't the only target chosen by Windrest Fortresss lord.
Distant and motionless Ebony Maw, who was also the target of Windrest Fortress lord's attack, felt the lightning's attack speed was swift, but Russell's reaction speed was equally quick.
Sensing Windrest Fortress lord's intention, Russell didn't hesitate and once again took control of Ebony Maw. As for himself, he unleashed the super-speed granted by his Kryptonian physiology, effortlessly dodging the silver-white lightning bolts that struck at him.
Although Russell had taken control of Ebony Maw's body, Ebony Maw clearly lacked Russell's super-speed. Even if Russell forcefully guided Ebony Maw to evade, Ebony Maw couldn't achieve such incredible speed.
To prevent a comical scene where Ebony Maw would be struck by Windrest Fortress lord's lightning before successfully replicating the power, Russell chose a simple evasion method for Ebony Maw.
Under his control, Ebony Maw once again employed its telekinesis ability.
This time, he didn't manipulate objects like bricks and tiles but directly controlled the armor worn by the Windrest Fortress lord's guards who had been knocked down by the storm walls.
To be precise, he manipulated the black armor worn by these guards, and for Ebony Maw, controlling these armors posed no issue even though his telekinesis couldn't directly control living beings' movements.
When the silver-white lightning was about to strike Ebony Maw's head, three guards wearing black armor swiftly flew to his overhead, forming a peculiar "lightning rod."
Although Ebony Maw had created a special lightning rod composed of Windrest Fortress lord's guards above its head, Russell still had Ebony Maw lay down for safety, preventing electric currents from inexplicably jumping to him.
Without a doubt, the lightning of incredible power struck the "lightning rod" above Ebony Maw's head.
Subsequently, the once-deceased guards in black armor emitted a fragrance of roasted meat.
Well...
Although this method seemed somewhat inhumane, at this moment, there probably wasn't anyone who cared about that issue.
After resolving the crisis involving Ebony Maw, Russell once again focused his gaze on Windrest Fortress lord.
'Divine power, huh?
I can do that too!'
Without any hesitation, Russell promptly used his latest acquired power, "Power of Thor!"
The thunderclouds over the Windrest Fortress lord's manor were initially created by Windrest Fortress lord's divine power. However, at the moment Russell began to unleash Power of Thor, the ownership of these thunderclouds changed.
Whether it was the Asgardians' divine power or Vanir's divine power, fundamentally, they were both a higher-level application of natural energies.
This natural energy encompassed not only well-known elements like lightning, storms, fire, and strong winds but also some less common energies found within planets.
Examples included cosmic energy, dark energy, the power of stars, and so on, which were spread throughout the universe.
For awakeners of divine power, in a sense, they were akin to administrators in a video game world who possessed certain system privileges.
If the two sides of a battle awoke to entirely different divine powers, there wouldn't be any issue.
However, if both sides awoke to similar divine powers, a comical and helpless scenario would unfold.
In games, administrators with higher-level permissions could easily strip lower-level administrators of all their privileges.
The same applied in the domain of divine power.
With the Power of Thor he now possessed, although it only granted authority over the domain of lightning, it was at least one level higher in authority than Windrest Fortress lord, who also held authority over the domain of lightning.
Thus, the thunderclouds Windrest Fortress lord had expended divine power to create became Russell's possessions the moment he invoked Power of Thor.
Windrest Fortress lord sensed that something was amiss the moment Russell unleashed Power of Thor because he instantly lost control of the thunderclouds.
Upon realizing this, Windrest Fortress lord's already unpleasant expression turned even uglier.
Though Russell hadn't yet used Power of Thor to launch an attack, the loss of control over the thunderclouds was enough to prove that Russell held a higher authority in the domain of lightning compared to Windrest Fortress lord.
Russell didn't keep Windrest Fortress lord waiting for long. After gaining control of the thunderclouds, he didn't hesitate and decisively manipulated the thunderclouds.
The pitch-black as ink thunderclouds once again gleamed with silver-white lightning.
Subsequently, the lightning transformed into bolts of varying sizes, striking down upon Windrest Fortress lord and his group.
Rumble!
The silver-white lightning, resembling ferocious beasts brandishing their claws wantonly, carried an aura of destruction and brutality as it descended from the sky, instantly shrouding the entire garden.
Unlike Windrest Fortress lord's lightning attacks, Russell didn't need to be overly precise in targeting. This was because, within the garden, everyone except Ebony Maw was an enemy. What was more important was that there were many of them, and their distances from each other were quite close.
As the silver-white lightning struck down, the garden immediately resounded with cries of agony, one after another.
To save time, Russell directly employed an area-of-effect attack, liberally wielding his divine power.
Although he wasn't sure if it was due to his new power, "Power of Thor," his divine power now possessed a lightning attribute rather than being devoid of attributes like before.
Moreover, because of this change in divine power attribute, casting lightning magic was now easier and more potent than before.
As relentless bolts of silver-white lightning continually struck Windrest Fortress lord and his group, Russell silently accelerated the replication of Ebony Maw's telekinesis ability.
Though Windrest Fortress lord and the others were not quite clear about what he was doing with Ebony Maw, one thing they knew for certain was that he had a hidden agenda.
Otherwise, he wouldn't persist in controlling Ebony Maw in such circumstances.
Windrest Fortress lord and his group had no spare capacity to stop him at the moment.
Windrest Fortress lord was particularly occupied.
As the primary target of the lightning attacks, he was the most heavily struck by the lightning bolts. Besides Windrest Fortress lord, Gamora and Nebula also became Russell's primary targets for attack.
As for the noblewoman who preferred women and the unremarkable guards of the lord's manor, Russell didn't waste too much effort on them, casually manipulating the lightning to attack them.
Undoubtedly, the thunderclouds Windrest Fortress lord had spent a considerable amount of divine power creating were quite practical.
These thunderclouds not only saved Russell the effort of creating his own but also conserved a significant amount of divine power.
At this moment, Russell had a feeling of using the enemy's weapons to attack the enemy.
Time passed bit by bit.
The silver-white lightning that rained down from the sky seemed never-ending, continuously assaulting everything within the garden.
Taking advantage of the current lack of interference, Russell focused his primary attention on Ebony Maw, silently accelerating the replication of Ebony Maw's telekinesis ability.
The relentless barrage of lightning attacks not only attracted the attention of everyone within the lord's manor but also drew the notice of the residents inside the castle.
The silver-white lightning, ferociously venting its power, filled the garden with ear-piercing thunderclaps. Russell continued copying Ebony Maw's telekinesis ability while also accessing his memories.
He didn't intend to leave with Ebony Maw just yet.
With some time available, he planned to directly extract information from Ebony Maw's memories to understand why they had come to Vanaheimr and how they had seemingly made contact with the noblewoman suspected to be Windrest Fortress lord's daughter.
Although Ebony Maw's mind contained a wealth of information, it didn't take Russell much effort to find the intelligence he sought.
This...
After reading Ebony Maw's memories and obtaining the information he desired, Russell couldn't help but look at Ebony Maw with disbelief.
It turned out that the turmoil in Vanaheimr wasn't just a common dispute left over from the long history between Asgard and Vanir, as he had initially guessed.
The reality was far from simple, as he had imagined.
