That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

With each step Hall took, a rune would appear on the ground, disappearing almost instantly and becoming difficult to detect.

"How dare these despicable humans be so arrogant!"

"This cannot be tolerated!"

Hidden in the dense forest, the leopard-woman gritted her teeth. Seeing no chance of victory in a direct confrontation, she had no choice but to endure and devise a plan.

"The only way to defeat him is to bite his neck like a leopard."

Leopards often hunt by surprise, biting the throat and killing their prey instantly, giving them no chance to escape or fight back.

But her previous encounters made her realize that she would be detected the moment she launched an attack.

Does hesitation lead to defeat?

The leopard-man pondered these words and made up his mind.

"You only have one chance."

"I'll enjoy your heart!"

The leopard-man smiled smugly and muttered softly, "Come on, brave leopard-man warriors!"

The leopard-man called to his retinue, ordering it to hide in the forest and approach Hall, intending to use a feint.

But she was unaware that her every move was being observed by Hall.

Hall was both amused and exasperated. For a leopard-man with such a simple intelligence, the fact that he could even consider a feint attack was already a remarkable improvement.

Hall chose to cooperate in order to lure out the leopard.

The leopard-man was still quite sensible; instead of having the leopard-man warriors reveal themselves directly, he approached stealthily, just like her, without leaving a trace.

She knew Hall would inevitably discover the leopard warriors.

This move serves two purposes: it tests Hall's sensory abilities, and then, the moment Hall attacks the leopard warrior, she will launch a sneak attack from behind.

"The leopard woman doesn't know that I've discovered her, that I've discovered the leopard woman warrior."

Hall stood with his back to the leopard-man, a smile playing on his lips, pretending to sense something amiss.

The moment the leopard warrior entered the ten-meter range, Hall charged out at full speed, sparing no effort.

"here!"

Hall gave a nonchalant shout, and a sharp flash of sword light severed the leopard warrior's head.

The leopard warrior lost consciousness instantly without even knowing how he died, and his body, which was not protected by divinity, was completely devoured by the True Aether Collapse Technique.

Behind Hall, the leopard-man seized the opportunity, leaping even faster and unleashing a flying kick at Hall's back with speed comparable to a light cannon, his entire body covered in powerful divine energy.

The timing was perfect, the speed was even faster, and it shouted triumphantly, "You've been tricked, meow!"

"Take this [Leopard Kick]! Maximum power!"

Hooked.

Hall didn't turn his head, but the smile in his eyes grew stronger.

Just as the leopard-man was about to kick Hall in the back, a barrier made of runes unfolded, completely protecting Hall's body.

boom!

The runic barrier that withstood the attack trembled violently, flickering between light and darkness, but it managed to block the leopard-man's full-force strike.

what! ?

The leopard-woman was stunned. The leopard-woman flying kick was one of her strongest attack methods, which could be considered a Noble Phantasm. She couldn't understand why it would be blocked by the rune barrier.

Ordinary magical barriers or runes are certainly not possible, but the problem is that the leopard people's attacks are basically infused with divine power.

Half of Hall's existence is that of Tiamat's servant, possessing a certain resistance to and special attack against the divinity of the gods she created.

not good!

The leopard-woman immediately retreated, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Hall wasn't pursuing her. As long as she could escape into the dense forest, she still had a chance.

Click~

The leopard-man heard a strange, clear, and melodious sound, like ice breaking...

The sound was coming from beneath her feet.

The leopard-woman looked down and saw that her right leg had been frozen solid by ice at some point. Frosty white runes were written on the ground, and magic surged and condensed into ice.

"It's so cold!"

The leopard-man roared.

boom!

The runes symbolizing cold are activated, unleashing a frost mist approaching absolute zero, freezing the air and plants along with it.

Half of her body was frozen, and the leopard-woman jumped out of the cold mist in a sorry state. Before she could get far, a runic barrier appeared around her, suppressing her body and knocking her down from mid-air.

The leopard man was dumbfounded, completely unable to understand what was happening, only knowing that it all had something to do with Hall.

And the instant she touched the ground, she touched and activated the rune symbolizing fire.

The leopard-man cried out, "There's more!?"

The terrifyingly high temperature caused an explosion, burning down dense forest vegetation within a radius of more than ten meters and melting the earth.

Hall turned around unhurriedly to admire the leopard man's disheveled state. The reason he didn't make a move was that the battle was already over. The moment the leopard man launched his attack, he stepped into Hall's chain of rune traps.

Incidentally, each rune trap incorporates the concept of countering divinity.

Hall was very strong in close combat and even more skilled in magic. He only used the leopard man to test his magic against Quetzalcoatl because he couldn't use it against Quetzalcoatl.

Hall's rapiers vanished as true ethereal elements. "The leopard-men's divinity isn't very high, and their magic power is almost depleted. These rune traps with divine special attacks are enough."

boom!boom!boom!boom!

Explosions continued, and surging torrents of elements turned the dense forest area upside down.

A few dozen seconds later, the leopard-man, who had triggered five rune traps in a row, collapsed to the ground, giving up all resistance. His magic and divine power vanished, and his body was covered in wounds.

Once the dust settled, the rune traps disappeared.

Merlin appeared out of nowhere and came to the leopard man's side. He poked the charred leopard man's body with his staff. "No reaction, but life activities have not stopped."

Leopard Man: "......"

Seeing Hall approach, Merlin greeted him with a smile: "Oh, I'm quite surprised. Although she is a lower-ranking deity, this is the first time I've witnessed a human defeat a deity in all the heroic deeds I've sung about."

Ishtar also floated down from the sky, looked at the leopard-woman lying on the ground pretending to be dead, and asked, "What should we do with her?"

Merlin suggested, "Why don't we trade her for Anna?"

Hall shook his head: "That feathered serpent god won't buy into that, and besides, the leopard man and the winged serpent already have a bad relationship."

“That’s true, but they must have some kind of connection.” Merlin nodded.

The divinity of the leopard-men originates from Tescatlipoca, a god who is hostile to Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god.

Ishtar said nonchalantly, "Then kill them."

The leopard-man lying on the ground trembled.

Hall shook his head: "Forget it, let's hurry up and go to Eridu to rescue Anna."

Ishtar crossed her arms and scoffed, "She's your spoils of war, do with her as you please."

Merlin had no objection to this statement.

Hall doesn't dislike the leopard woman; in the original timeline, she was a positive character and one of the main characters' group.

Hall rarely kills positive figures unless absolutely necessary or for significant personal gain.

After Hall and his group left.

The leopard-man got up from the ground, brushed the dust off his body, and cried out, "I just wanted to take a vacation in this world, why am I being treated like this?"

Chapter 435 Serious about love, serious about work.

In Eridu, at the highest point of the pyramid-like altar, there is a peculiar round stone that emits a faint light, not dazzling, but as warm as the spring sun. Wherever the round stone shines, the land is full of life.

In front of the round stone, Quetzalcoatl sat lazily on his throne, his gaze fixed on the projection in mid-air, his eyes filled with passionate intoxication.

The projected image showed Hall easily defeating the leopard man.

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, slid his tongue across his lips, leaving them glistening with moisture. An unnatural flush rose on his face as he murmured, "To think he's grown to such an extent... letting him go was definitely the right choice."

After a pause, her gaze shifted to the mirror suspended in mid-air on the other side, and she smiled and said, "You've repaid the favor you owed me last time, Goddess of Death."

"..."

After a brief silence, Ereshkigal's image appeared in the mirror, his expression serious. He said, "It was I who asked you to give him the trial. Why is it considered that I'm repaying the favor I owed you? Doesn't this make it seem like I came to you to repay a favor?"

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, cupped her blushing cheeks in her hands: "Because~ encountering a great warrior is a very romantic thing. It's a surprise, I originally thought you would be on his side."

Ereshkigal proudly declared: "What nonsense are you talking about? I am a pillar of the Three Goddess Alliance, and moreover, the ruler of the underworld who symbolizes death."

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, chuckled sarcastically. "But you like him quite a bit, don't you? An unusually fondness."

Ereshkigal blushed and looked away, shaking his head. "How can personal feelings supersede divine authority? I have my own duties and responsibilities. Being serious about love and work is my divine life motto. That's why I wanted to test him—his strength, his thoughts, and what he desires from this world."

"Wouldn't you be more suitable for a simple test?"

"There's nothing I can do about it. First of all, as you said, I like him, not as a human being, but as a lover. I even thought about secretly cursing him to death and getting his soul forever. But that's impossible. Secondly, whether it's strength or anything else, I'm no match for him."

"Is that really the case?" Quetzalcoatl narrowed his eyes.

"Sometimes I find him quite terrifying."

"Don't you like him? No one would find their lover scary."

"These are two different things. He is too normal as a human being, yet he possesses far too abnormal power. The contradictory fog makes it impossible to see his true purpose and thoughts."

"You're overthinking it. Of course, I don't deny that he might see further ahead than we do."

"Perhaps that's true. One thing I'm very clear about is that Hall... he is the Three Goddesses Alliance, and also an enemy of humanity."

"And you, the enemy of the Lord of Death... Have you discovered anything?"

"Just a little bit, I'm sorry, I'm not going to tell you, but you'll probably find out if you can corner him."