Poseidon stood beside his vehicle, eyes fixed on the descending aircraft that cut through the night like a dagger. Under the shroud of darkness, the strange vessel touched down gently upon the plaza not far from him.
The side hatch of the craft hissed open. The first to leap out was Earth Dog. The moment he appeared, Poseidon's eyes widened—he immediately recognized him as the mechanical being who had once accompanied Xiao Feng.
Following him, K and Rush emerged slowly from within the aircraft. Upon spotting Poseidon, Earth Dog's expression shifted, and he whispered to his companions,
"That's Poseidon, the Sea God. Be extremely cautious."
Before K and Rush could reply, Pandora stepped out. She had once again discarded her black leather coat, revealing a fitted tank top and sleek black leather pants. Her short violet hair shimmered under the moonlight, exuding a wild and effortless elegance.
The moment she heard Earth Dog's warning, her gaze locked onto Poseidon in the distance.
Within Pandora's sight, a string of data illuminated beside Poseidon's figure:
Name: Poseidon
Alias: Sea God
Ability Level: Grade Eight
Powers: Mastery of Water and Ice
Status: One of the Seven Gods of the League
Threat Level: Dangerous
Additional details such as height, weight, and personality profile flickered briefly. After scanning through his dossier, Pandora stretched lazily and began walking toward him with languid grace.
Earth Dog's presence had already set off alarms in Poseidon's mind. He instinctively pulled out a communicator, aware that most of his fellow gods—Zeus and Apollo included—had already departed the temple. He needed to alert them.
Yet the moment the communicator was raised, Pandora glanced at it with a flick of her eyes. Instantly, the device emitted a shrill, earsplitting screech—then exploded violently in his hand. Startled, Poseidon hurled the smoldering remains aside.
Staggered, he muttered to himself,
"What kind of ability was that...?"
At that precise moment, Pandora reached him.
Poseidon, tall and lean like Kairui, stood stiffly as she looked up at him.
"So, you're Poseidon."
A strange, unplaceable sense of danger rippled through him. His brows furrowed.
"I am. And who are you?"
"I'm Pandora," she said coolly. "I've been sent directly by Victoria Corporation to rescue Xiao Feng. Anyone who stands in my way—dies. Do you understand?"
Poseidon, a member of the exalted League of Seven Gods, and a man of immense pride, would not be cowed by mere words—no matter how sharp. As one who had surpassed the standard limits of an eighth-level psychic, he responded with ice in his voice:
"So you've come for Xiao Feng? Then we are enemies. Spare me the chatter. If you wish to take him, there is only one path forward—over my dead body."
With those words, he prepared to attack. Water spheres coalesced around his hands, swirling in anticipation. His technique: to strike with water, then freeze it upon impact, trapping or killing his foes with sudden frost.
But before he could make a move, Pandora lunged with a blinding side kick—so swift even Kairui, with his speed-enhancing abilities, would have struggled to evade it.
Poseidon, reacting fast, summoned a water shield at his cheek in a split-second defense.
Her heel shattered the shield like glass.
Crack!
With a sharp sound, Pandora's black high-heeled shoe slammed into his face, knocking Poseidon to the ground in a single, brutal motion.
The strike was ruthless—clean, merciless, and efficient.
K and Rush watched, stunned. It was one thing for Pandora to dispatch a level-four esper like Kairui, but Poseidon—one of the League's Seven Gods, an eighth-level powerhouse—was felled in one blow. It defied reason.
Pandora turned to K.
"What are you gawking at? Restrain him."
K nodded swiftly, activating his ability. Thick, reinforced metal shackles clamped around Poseidon's limbs, binding him where he lay.
Pandora turned to Earth Dog.
"Let's go. We find Xiao Feng."
Earth Dog gave a nod. On his shoulders, twin machine guns swiveled into position—his weapons systems primed to annihilate any threat in their path.
As Pandora and Earth Dog entered the temple, alarms began to shriek throughout its halls.
Pandora frowned.
"Make it fast," she snapped. "We need to extract Xiao Feng and get out. If the League's forces trap us here, we won't walk out alive."
At that moment, Ares and Hades emerged from the interrogation chamber. They had been tasked with watching Xiao Feng, and with the alarm triggered, responsibility fell squarely on their shoulders.
The temple's defense system was advanced—any intruder unrecognized by its sensors would trigger an alert. Once triggered, the garrison would move in to apprehend the threat. If they failed, the Seven Gods themselves would be summoned to deal with it.
Ares and Hades recognized Earth Dog instantly—but the violet-haired woman at his side was a stranger.
Ares clenched his fists, watching as guards stormed in with rifles drawn. He moved to call them back—but too late. Earth Dog's shoulder-mounted guns roared to life. Bullets rained down, mowing through the guards with cold precision.
In the confined space of the temple, at such close range, Earth Dog's targeting was near perfect—every shot a lethal one.
Ares charged, shouting,
"You dare draw blood in the temple?! Do you have a death wish?!"
His speed was immense, erupting forward like a missile—but Pandora moved even faster.
He didn't even have time to react before her heel slammed into his face.
The force of their collision sent a shockwave through the air. She stood firm, her heel embedding with a crunch into the temple's marble floor, fracturing the stone beneath her. Ares, meanwhile, flew backward, crashing and skidding across the hall.
A perfect imprint of her shoe was left on his face. Two of his teeth shattered from the impact, and he writhed on the floor in agony.
Hades, watching his comrade dispatched in an instant, roared,
"You filthy ***, I'll kill you—!"
He lunged at Pandora with a furious cry.
She met him head-on. With fluid grace, she caught his swinging fist, seized his shoulder with her other hand, and drove her knee into his arm with brutal force.
In that moment, Hades felt it—an explosion of agony as he realized just how terrifying Pandora's strength truly was.