Adam lived through the sum of his experience and the fiery crimson aura spread across his skin, traveling all over his body until he was wreathed in scorching red flames.

He felt the divine fire baptize his blood, soul, and very marrow, flooding into every single cell of his body.

Then the fires died and Adam fell onto his knees, smoke curling from his form.

"This fire is not a part of you, as it once was a part of my original self. It is a merely a torch you carry. Beware of those who would strip it from you."

Hyperion’s voice was much weaker when he spoke again, even his fiery from was flickering unstably like he could disappear at any moment.

But Adam failed to notice, for he was too enthralled by the sensation of his new body.

Immense power gushed into his body without end, and every cell of his body was now ignited in eternal crimson fire.

The world around him and the ground beneath his feat became several times more fragile. And he could feel enough strength in his body to level a continent on his own.

And the entire time, Athena had always been by his side. When he opened his eyes, the serene blue energy Lena had used to shield her finally, slowly dissipated.

Adam anxiously drew close to her, gently lifted her up from the ground, and asked with concern. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine." Athena replied softly. "You... you’re a god after all!"

Although she was crippled, her divine senses were working just fine. And according to the intensity of Adam’s divinity, she could tell that he had become an extremely powerful deity, for not even her father Zeus pssessed divine energy this intense!

"Mn!" Adm with a smile. "But it was not alway so. This is the consequence of a rather reckless gambit Nyx took to save my life."

Then Adam’s gaze became very gentle. "Thank you for holding onto hope and believing in me."

Seeing Adam up close, gazing at his celestial visage while his soft musical voice filled her ears, Athena couldn’t help but lose herself briefly in his thrall.

Everything about him ignited a fire in her body, one that would not calm no matter what she she tried. She bashfully averted her gaze before he could notice.

Adam then raised his head, and asked loudly. "Hyperion, I have done asked you asked and accepted your legacy, it’s about time you honor your promise and heal Athena."

It was a long while before Hyperion responded, and his dissipating sprirt descended onto the space in front of them.

His ancient eyes slowly settled onto Athena.

Then he sighed.

"You inherited much of your father’s arrogance," Hyperion said calmly. "But not entirely his cruelty."

Athena stiffened slightly.

The flaming spirit slowly raised one burning hand toward her.

A bit of suspiscion etered Adam’s eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Hyperion ignored him.

The flames around his arm suddenly unraveled into countless streams of crimson-gold light that slowly drifted toward Athena’s broken body.

And the instant the energy touched her, Athena gasped sharply.

A warm current of divine energy flooded into her body with overwhelming intensity. The cracks within her spine and the breakages betweeen her nerves reconstructed themselves at visible speed.

Large chunks of Hyperion’s spirit dissolved into glowing particles that continuously poured into Athena.

"You..." Adam began.

The Titan shimmered unstably.

"I am already dead. Perhaps rather than fading, this is the best use of my final remnants of life force."

Then it’s gaze drifted to a shocked Athena. "Do not misunderstand, child."

"I do this for him."

The damage inflicted upon her had vanished completely, and even her aura had become stronger and purer than before.

Then the flow finally stopped.

A massive burst of golden energy exploded outward from Athena’s body all while Hyperion’s body finally collapsed into countless crimson embers.

The glowing particles drifted silently upward into the dark sky.

As the sun Titan’s final existence drifted into the Void his voice rang besides Adam’s ears one final time.

"Go to Oisin, it is the key to the river of time."

As Adam watched the glowing crimson particles dissipate he bent his head down and gave an honorary bow to to the vanishing immortal.

Meanwhile Athena’s electric blue eyes cackled with power. Her entire body shone brilliantly with celestial light as she rose into the air. The darkness within the trial grounds was suddenly blown away by her splendor.

And when the light faded, she was glorious.

And like before, Adam was in awe at her beauty.

Her figure simply belonged to a devil. Of all the goddesses Adam had seen, perhaps only Nyx could match her, there were no others with curves as bountiful as hers.

Her body, even outlined by her armour boasted truly abundant buttocks and breast. Her voluptuous, perfectly shaped breasts spilled enticingly into her chest plate. Her large firm rear inside her tight gladiators skirt also stood proud.

Adam couldn’t help but imagine the shocking softness and elasticity it had. However, her waist was slender and thin, making him wonder how her slim waist could possibly support the weight of her giant upper body.

Those breasts, that butt, and that waist, all the most attractive parts of a woman coexisted perfectly on her body. Coupled with her intense, war-like aura, created a charm that seemed to draw him in like magic.

Unfortunately, with the recovery of her power, Athena’s gaze returned to being cold and impassive. It was almost as if he’d imagined her earlier emotional turmoil. Her eyes when she looked at him no longer held any attachment or dependence, only the detached curiosity and wary calculation he’d seen in them at first.

But before either of them could speak the entire trial grounds began to shake.

"What’s happening?"

Lena, still glowing on Athena’s index finger, answered.

"This place was built to he Hyperion’s prison. And now that he’s gone, the magic bonds that held this realm together are fading away."

As she spoke she drifted of Athena’s finger and levitate quitely between them and then began releasing and shaping her energy into a protective blue sphere of light.

And not a second too soon as the next moment, the world around them completely devolved into chaos: The sky itself fractured and the earth shattered beneath their feet.

The wind roared, the elements churned and the world around them became a lawless and chaotic hell.

But right as the chaos breached Lena’s protective barrier, the familiar dome of Tartarus’s depths took shape before their eyes.

As the space around them stabilized, Lena released her protective barrier.

The sensation of his skin crawling with termites, and his blood churning like it was turning to fire returned. And besides him Athena could feel it as well.

And their eyes immediately dirfted to the reddish black cloud infront of them, the manifestation of the anti-life!

The once calm reddish black cloud was now churning violently before them like a living catastrophe.

The moment Athena’s eyes landed upon it, her expression immediately sank.

"He did it..." she murmured quietly.

Adam soon saw what she meant.

A massive silhouette writhed from within the anti-life.

Adam’s pupils shrank.

Perses.

He looked different: larger, his skin as dark as obsidian. Where his eyes use to be were now two eternally burning orbs of blackfire. And the tattoos that snaked across his skin were now glowing scarlet.

"Too late...its too late." Athena said bleakly. "There is nothing we can do now. And when he breaks free, it will be the end of existence as we know it."

Adam quietly watched as Perses started to laugh within the cloud of negative energy. "Athena, I remember you saying that the anti-life would destroy him. Why is that not coming to pass?"

"It has indeed destroyed him. I believe his soul and consciousness must be fully corrupted by now. The current him is a merely ghost of destruction; a way for conceptual nothingness to bleed into the material world and destroy all that exist.

"But what if the anti life was occupied by someone else. Someone who could resist its dark influence?"

Athena shook her head. "That individual would need to have an innate nature that aligns with wanton destruction. Only then can the anti-life reside in him as its host. But someone with such a disposition, and yet who has the restraint to overcome the anti-lifes corruption does not exist."

"I am not so sure about that. . ." Adam mused as he stepped forward.

Lena immediately geussed his intentions and said worriedly behind him. [My lord, I strongly advise against what you’re about to do!]

Athena also frowned, overcome by the sudden, intense impulse to pull Adam back. An overwhelming fear gripped her soul as she watched him draw near to the anti-life. And it was so intense that she had almost moved to stop him before she caught herself.

But Adam did not stop walking, saying softly with a smirk. "Lena. . .you really are too good for me. . ."

Then he placed his hand against the reddish black cloud and all hell broke lose.