Chapter 1451. Challenge accepted!

---Cinema Dimension---

The room was silent. They had watched the concert enraptured. It wasn't so much the music itself, but the whole display that was entertaining.

“Is that ... a challenge?” a cold voice cut through the silence. A silver haze was crawling over her figure, as quite a few eyes looked at her in shock, respect, and some fear. Challenging the goddess of war was never a good idea.

“He didn't mean it like that, Thena. Calm down,” Hephaestus hurriedly spoke up for his fosterling. Originally, the god of blacksmiths was looking forward to the fusion of Forgebrand's skills he had developed as the champion of Hades, and his own blueprint. But now he was worried the little blacksmith had gotten too cocky.

Athena glared at him, and he hurriedly shut up.

“Don't worry, I won't do anything to him...” she said with a calm smile, but her eye betrayed her. There was a glint of craze.

Just what had the little blacksmith kicked off here...

“After all, how could my power lose to some pesky demon...” he heard the goddess mumble under her breath.

...

By the time Seth had infused the soul into the 210 plates and the gorgon head, the storm had dissolved. With anticipation, he placed the Aegis in the Water of Styx to allow its rebirth. The Aegis started to glow as the body and soul melded together, when suddenly-

Boom! Thunder cracked and lightning descended from the clear blue sky, striking the Waters of Styx and the Aegis within. The blacksmith stared silently in shock. He needed a couple of moments to restart his brain and take in the situation.

The water bubble and the Aegis within had been struck by a lightning bolt that came from nowhere, but nothing was damaged. There was a spark crawling across the plates for the aegis for a blink of an eye, but nothing more.

The notifications rolled over him as he still tried to get a grasp on the situation. His breath stopped for a moment when he looked at the Aegis and instinctively used the .

Seth swallowed. The demonic effects of Furfur had been completely absorbed; there was no mention of the demon. They were not just absorbed. Like a nucleus, they had become the center of even stronger effects. Effects that made Seth question whether it was okay to hand this kind of power to anyone.

On top of the powers of the Aegis came the power of the soul. The passive effects increased some of the stats of the armor itself. The Damaged Negation Rose by 10% and the effect to petrify opponents was no longer called Gorgon's head, but Phinene's Head.

Furthermore, the soul offered the Gorgon Physique and the . The trait gave the wearer the slightly weakened powers of a gorgon. Overall stats were enhanced by 25%, an additional 5% Damage Negation was granted, bringing the overall negation to 50%, and Monique would be able to use the Petrifying Gaze with her own eyes, although one with a temporary effect.

was similar to the demon magic Seth had gained with the Salamander Set. It allowed the user access to a variety of skills, though only one at a time. But that was not necessarily a problem, since the item itself could use its skills freely.

The real gains started from hereon. Four skills based on the original enchantment of Furfur. The ballad Seth had etched into the soul was Thunder from the Sky, the most powerful and costly ballad of the storm demon he knew.

The description said that it could instantly reap the user's soul when an unprepared soul so much as dared to simply wear or touch an item enchanted with this. It was a gamble, but it had paid out, since Athena's power had completely gotten rid of that drawback.

The described powers were not unlike the skills that were added. Those who withstood the power of the demon would be able to wield the power of thunder, storm, and lightning as they saw fit...

is active, they deal 170% Magic Damage as Holy Damage.

If is active, they deal 160% Magic Damage as Holy Damage.

If both are active, deals 250% Magic Damage as Divine Damage. >

With these skills alone, Monique could easily dominate a battlefield. These were the skills of just one item, when added to the rest of the set and taking the set effects into account... Monqiue would easily be able to wipe the floor with existences like Phinene in the future.

The Aegis had even gained a Damage Negation comparable to the Dragon Armor. The only drawback was that the skills did not differentiate between friend and foe. Whether this was a little of demonic nature remaining or just the nature of Athena was unclear.

“Well, she would simply have to watch out a little,” the blacksmith thought naively, but immensely satisfied not just with the new power, but also the changes to the flavor text. This was much better. He didn't even mind that his name vanished from the requirements; after all, he had Athena's blessing.