Chapter 124: A Merciless Greek Tragedy (2)

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"Those who are granted great power lose all self-restraint when among the weak. Oranges don't start out rotten. It's the container that makes them rot."

– Onodera, (Nisekoi)

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<(Omniscient POV)> 

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Shockwaves spread throughout the beach, blowing sand all over the place as Bruce adorned in his Merciless armor beat the shit out of Hercules, treating his face like some sort of premium-grade punching bag. 

Hercules in return could not do anything to resist his strikes. He had subconsciously already admitted defeat in his mind even though he refused to say it out loud. In fact, the Greek warrior should have already lost consciousness and fainted multiple times by now, but the golden ichor running through his veins proved his biggest bane as it refused to let him keel over. He was forced by his own god-like stamina to endure Bruce's metal-shattering punches one after another directly in the face without being able to do anything against it at all. 

And while Bruce was having his "way" with him, all Hercules could do was just keep kneeling down and silently take it like a bitch. He had even already prayed to his father for help a few times as a last resort but as he had expected, there was no indication of any divine help coming his way. Hercules just hoped that by the time this monster was done with him, he would at least be alive due to his newly gained divine immortality. 

But unfortunately for him, this was not Hercules' day and fate had other plans for this "Hero". 

"I can feel it... your warm blood getting colder, losing its shine. It seems that you have already given up, Hercules. Weren't you the one challenging me as a man?... As expected, even after possessing all that power, even after getting the divinity of strength, you are just a B-grade god. A pity! Whoever said, never meet your heroes, had never uttered wiser words." Bruce said with a deep chuckle before grabbing Hercules by his throat.

As Bruce tightened his hold around Hercules' neck, the Greek warrior with a now bleeding and disfigured face quickly spoke up in a hurry. "If you do anything to me, the gods... t-they would..."

"They wouldn't do anything at all because they had abandoned you a long time ago. I have no idea if Gods truly care for mortals or not, but they definitely don't care for giant assholes like you who think themselves above other men, who rape women thinking that it is their right to do so. You, Heracles of Greece might have been a hero once but now, you are nothing more than one of the countless third-rate villains you yourself had fought, back in your golden days. You have become the very thing that you used to despise, an arrogant corrupted selfish asshole." Bruce interrupted him before slowly lifting him up in the air with just one hand.

For a few seconds, there was an expression of visible hopelessness and fear in Hercules' eyes, but soon something changed inside him. For some reason, those emotions were slowly replaced by pure unadulterated, and uncontrolled anger after he processed Bruce's words. It was like he had suddenly remembered something from his old life, a memory that was buried deep with him, a nightmare that he was trying very hard to forget and had even almost succeeded up until Bruce reminded him of it.

"... Yes..., you are right. Of course, the Gods don't care for men like you and me. They care ONLY about themselves. Oh, how could have I forgotten, everything that we mortals had to face because of gods in that era, all the suffering they put us through? I... have truly fallen low to join hands with the same god who had once manipulated me to force myself over the Amazon Queen. How could I have forgiven the gods who had forced me to do unspeakable deeds in the name of the twelve labors, the same gods who had taken my family from me... I truly am the worst human being ever, a stain upon mankind" Hercules muttered with anger in his voice yet drops of tears were slowly streaming down his face. 

'Wait, did I suddenly get Naruto's powers or something? When the hell did, I get the power of friendship and love fighting on my side?' Bruce mentally wondered while listening to Hercules' rant. 

"You are a human being too, a mortal, right? You were absolutely correct in assuming that the gods don't care about me. They don't care about anyone; all they care about is maintaining their power and authority. However, there is one thing they care about..., they love a good show. So, I will give it to them, one final show for them to enjoy before they are wiped out." Hercules stated with a confident grin, as he looked toward the giant mountain at the corner of the island. "Εγείρου και πάρε τη θέση σου μεταξύ των ζώντων, ω μέγα τιτάνα, χρησιμοποίησε τη δύναμή σου να μετατρέψεις ακόμα και τους αθάνατους σε θνητούς και μετά να ξεσπάσεις τις ζωές τους για πάντα, αφύπνισε... Ιαπετό." He quickly muttered in Ancient Greek before Bruce could do anything to stop him. 

*Rumble Rumble* A heavy tremor shook the entire island of Themyscira as soon as Hercules had finished his chanting. Thunder rattled in the sky while the sea waves around the island suddenly increased in intensity as a deafening silence seemed to spread around the place. 

*ROOOOAAAAAAAR* A loud roar suddenly came from the mountain as the calm summit suddenly fractured and turned into an active volcano with fire, lava, and ash being thrown everywhere, out of its newly opened mouth-like crater. 

"What did you do?" Bruce muttered almost in a whisper as he observed the apocalyptic scene with wide eyes. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" He yelled this time, feeling a rageful fire building up within his chest as he further tightened his grasp on Hercules' throat, popping a couple of his blood vessels in the process. 

"I finished the ritual..., but it was not to win and rule the world as I had previously planned like a fool but to take the revenge that I had once sworn on my dead family. That Titan will do what should have been done a long time ago. He will destroy all the gods once he is done slaying these female puppets that the gods have raised on this island as their entertainment and personal army. Each and every immortal in this world will die at the hands of Iapetus, the titan of mortality." Hercules painfully groaned out in a burst of mad laughter even though he struggled to breathe under Bruce's hold, much less talk. 

"... I was wrong. You aren't just a massive asshole but an incredibly stupid one at that too... Blaming the gods for everything you have done, all the wrong you have committed till now, and acting like you were just a victim... Pathetic! But, since you are ready to sacrifice all the innocent lives on this island just for some petty millennia-old revenge that you didn't even remember a few minutes ago, then you truly deserve what I am going to do to you." Bruce snarled, blaming himself for not killing the idiot before he had a chance to crank up the difficulty of this thing to hell level. 

"Do whatever you want with me, I am dying anyway since I have used up most of my life force to bring the titan back to its peak. I have already fulfilled my destiny. I don't care if you kill me a few minutes before my time or continue to torture me." Hercules had a satisfied look on his face as he relaxed his muscles, waiting for his death that he could already see approaching. 

"Your destiny?" I snorted with a chuckle. "Destiny is nothing but the effort we put in. And it looks like your death was meaningless because there is no way I will accept this "destiny". I will change it with my own hands, and I will be using your infamous strength to do so too." Bruce declared before reaching deeper into the divine powers held within Ares' helmet. 

From the very beginning, Bruce had been able to sense a connection between Ares and Hercules, or should he say, between Ares' helmet and Hercules' new divine powers. He had been wondering if he could somehow use this to his advantage, but he was struggling to find out how. However, now that he was in direct contact with Hercules' body, he could sense that particular connection getting stronger. In fact, the more Hercules' willpower to resist and fight decreased, the more Bruce felt like he could tap into that connection to control the 'divinity' that Hercules had recently gained. 

Seeing that the Greek warrior had completely given up resistance, Bruce began to focus and used the energy from Ares' Helmet to connect with Hercules' own divine energy before trying to forcefully bring it into himself.

In short, he was attempting to absorb all of Hercules' newly acquired godly powers. 

Soon enough, some sort of energy began to enter Bruce's body from Hercules through the connection. However, the feeling wasn't pleasant at all. There was no soothing or pleasant feeling. In fact, it actually felt more like hot molten lava had suddenly replaced the blood flowing in his veins.

But the process was still extremely smooth, the way Hercules' power began to smoothly merge with the helmet's residual energy, Bruce almost felt they were two pieces of the same puzzle that were always meant to be together, a match made in Heaven. 

"Wait, why are you absorbing the rest of my divinity?... And why can't I seem to be able to stop it?... Stop, don't. You have no i-idea what you are d-doing. This won't end w-well. Your mortal body and soul can't contain or channel all that power. You will be disturbing the balance of this universe if you d-do this. S-STOPPPP." Hercules tried to separate himself from Bruce's iron grip but failed spectacularly as the famous godly strength he was known for, rapidly left his body, entering Bruce instead. 

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