Chapter 328: Learning from Your Opponent

The battle between Oaks and Gilgamesh, while not earth-shattering, was at least comparable to a missile strike.

When Gilgamesh got serious, his absolute strength enhanced by cosmic energy was on par with the Hulk, and he had over seven thousand years of combat experience, making him a master of battle techniques!

And as Thena had said, the enemies of the Eternals, the Deviants, were mostly in animal form.

So, as a frontline Eternal, Gilgamesh had extensive experience dealing with enemies in animal form—

Although Oaks' beast form didn't have the vulnerabilities of a regular animal, the attack methods were still quite similar.

While the Eternals may have 'eternal' strength and will not progress, they still possess human emotions and extraordinary intelligence. Their combat experience and skills continued to accumulate!

And now Oaks, as the Archdruid of the Four Specializations, is a "Champion of the Ecosystem" with the blessing of Gaia Mirror. Even with Gilgamesh's boundless cosmic energy, he couldn't change the fact that this was still Oaks' territory

Although Oaks didn't employ large-scale celestial-level attacks or spells to counter Gilgamesh, he could be described as an "unstoppable force" in terms of both strength and combat endurance!

Back when he encountered Druig, Oaks had already learned how to disrupt the cosmic energy within an Eternal's body.

If he wanted to kill Gilgamesh, he wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

But for now, he was just maintaining a battle stance that was evenly matched with Gilgamesh—

Because he was analyzing the way Gilgamesh utilized cosmic energy!

Each Eternal possessed different abilities.

They are masters of cosmic energy manipulation, and just as Oaks had learned some of Druig's methods for harnessing cosmic energy, he could also learn from other Eternals' energy manipulation techniques.

Previously, his time spent "learning" from Druig was too short, and his strength was far from strong enough at that time, so he didn't truly grasp Druig's mental control techniques.

But now, by challenging Gilgamesh proactively, he wouldn't leave empty-handed!

However, apart from the commotion they caused, another pair of opponents in confrontation reluctantly refrained from engaging.

Thena and Malorn exchanged glances and instinctively moved their battlefield away from these two wild and fervent individuals.

One was a beautiful Goddess of War, and the other had only recently acquired a new body—both of them naturally kept their distance from the sandy battlefield that could dirty their clothes, hair, and fur.

"It's a bit better here, so let's begin."

Thena was wearing a white gown, and a golden light flashed in her eyes. Magnificent metallic lines formed a fiercely murderous halberd in her right hand, while her left hand held an equally crafted short sword.

"It seems that your body is not made of flesh and blood. I wonder if it can withstand my weapons?"

"Give it a try."

Malorn showed no signs of panic. His body slightly sank, and his sapphire-like eyes flickered with a hint of light. He lowered his head slightly, and a surge of electricity passed through his beautiful antlers, followed by a lightning-fast charge like a projectile!

"Clang!"

Thena's eyes widened in shock. In that instant, she decisively abandoned the short sword in her left hand and switched to wielding the halberd with both hands, barely blocking Malorn's fast charge and the antlers in front of her!

"So fast! And... such incredible strength! What material are those antlers made of?"

Thena's cosmic energy weapon was almost like a divine weapon in terms of sharpness. However, she was facing Malorn, whose body was composed of Vibranium!

Especially his most durable part, the antlers specifically designed for combat!

The invincible divine weapon couldn't sever Malorn's antlers, and his strength was not the kind of skillful combat that Thena excelled at. So she decisively leveraged her strengths—

Constantly changing weapons!

A short sword silently appeared in her right hand, and then Thena held the halberd in her left hand as she shifted her body to dodge—

The strength resisting the antlers weakened, Malorn rushed forward with great force, but Thena had already evaded the sturdy antlers, and her right-hand short sword instantly slashed toward his foreleg!

"Swish~"

"What?!"

Thena widened her eyes. Her short sword didn't hit anything and simply passed through Malorn's foreleg!

And immediately after, Malorn's upper body evaded Thena's missed strike, and his front hooves leaped high into the air before crashing down forcefully!

"Boom~!"

A large shield composed of golden lines barely withstood the ground-shaking impact caused by Malorn's density-altered, incredibly heavy stomp. However, Thena underneath clearly felt the strain.

But in an instant, two crossed longswords rose from below and sliced upward toward Malorn's abdomen—

Of course, they still didn't hit anything.

However, after Thena somewhat disheveledly stood up, she shook her head helplessly:

"Another one who can fly."

Indeed, Malorn was currently flying in the air, looking down at the Goddess of War on the ground:

"It's not easy to keep up with Lady Thena's reactions... but I belong to the more unique kind."

He tilted his head, his sapphire-like eyes filled with curious light:

"Have you... encountered Deviants that can fly?"

"Of course."

Thena smiled. The longsword in her left hand disappeared and was replaced by a magnificent longbow, while her right-hand longsword extended further, transforming into a giant arrow!

She drew the bowstring, and the sharp arrow aimed at the white divine Stag that emitted a green glow all around its body:

"Although generally, professionals deal with those who can fly, I'm at least a semi-professional."

The bow was like a full moon, and the arrow was like lightning!

Although Thena had already witnessed Malorn's intangibility ability, she had discovered that the white Stag in its intangible state couldn't attack!

The reason Malorn chose to fly to evade Thena's attacks just now was because he had just performed a trampling attack and couldn't intangibilize in time.

Therefore, if Malorn wanted to attack, he had to dispel his intangibility, and once he did, Thena's continuous stream of arrows could directly affect and even harm him.

That's right, an endless stream of arrows.

The cosmic energy of the Eternals was inexhaustible, and Thena's arrow rain poured down on Malorn like a waterfall, sealing off all his evasion options from every direction.

Under such dense arrow rain, Malorn gradually realized that even intangibility couldn't completely evade them!

Ultimately, Malorn's intangibility as a Vibranium entity relied on energy to change his density.

But Thena's arrow rain appeared to be physical attacks, yet they were actually energy-based!

Each arrow she manifested was transformed from cosmic energy. While having fewer arrows was manageable, having too many...

"Ding ding ding..."

Helplessly, Malorn dispelled his intangibility. Although the arrows still couldn't easily penetrate his Vibranium body, their tangible impact force prevented him from maintaining normal flight.

"However, I've collected quite a bit of data..."

Muttering to himself, Malorn's eyes brightened, and a dense circle of lightning flashed around him, deflecting all the arrows!

"Crackle... Boom~!"

Enveloped in the momentum of the lightning, the white divine Stag charged at the Goddess of War once again!

With a solid foundation, speed equals strength.

Even with a shield for defense, Thena was immediately sent flying by Malorn!

Thena performed an elegant somersault in mid-air and landed steadily, but she didn't make any further moves—

A pained expression crossed her face, and she couldn't help but clutch her head and kneel down!

"Shoo!"

Malorn's footsteps stopped in front of her.

"What's wrong with you... Huh? Your mental fluctuations are so chaotic?"

A rich green light coated Malorn's antlers, and he lowered his head slightly, enveloping Thena with the Nature energy emanating from his antlers.

"I..."

The pained expression on Thena's face gradually disappeared, and she regained her composure. She looked at the white divine Stag in front of her in astonishment.

"You can actually soothe my agitated mind... Thank you."

"Thena!"

In the distance, the thunderous sound of battle came to a sudden halt, and a disheveled Gilgamesh rushed out of the lingering dust.

"Are you okay? Are... are you really okay?"

Perceiving the abnormality in the battle here, Gilgamesh looked at Thena, who was smiling and gently stroking the forehead of the white Stag, with his mouth agape.

Malorn wasn't very large in size, just slightly taller than Oaks, well, if we include the antlers.

So Thena was just a bit shorter than the neck-held-high Malorn.

The scene now, with the beautiful goddess and the divine Stag, looked quite harmonious.

"Is it over?"

Thena turned her head and saw the shocked Gilgamesh and his disheveled appearance. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Mr. Stag's magical powers are quite effective."

"The Chairman's magic can even calm down a rampaging Hulk."

That's how Malorn referred to Oaks outside. He saw Oaks, who emerged from the swirling dust without a speck of dirt on him, and looked at Thena again with a strange expression.

"I didn't expect you to have such severe mental issues. Sorry, our challenge triggered it."

"The energy fluctuations you previously detected were actually Gil helping me suppress this state."

Thena walked up to Gilgamesh, looked him up and down, and said:

"Didn't you have the advantage?"

"...No."

Gilgamesh gave Oaks, who was now joining Malorn, a resentful look and then glanced at his own dusty and disheveled appearance.

"Tsk, their magic is quite useful."

"Gilgamesh, this sparring was quite enjoyable..."

Oaks, who had learned the situation from Malorn, walked over, sensed Thena's mental state, nodded slightly, and took out an acorn necklace.

"If Thena's mental state is unstable, this might help. It's not as powerful as Druig's hypnosis, but it can stabilize the mind and keep you alert."

"..."

Gilgamesh received the necklace with some skepticism and helped Thena put it on. She immediately felt the effects.

"Gil... It really works!"

"That's great!"

Gilgamesh burst into laughter, turned around, and gave Oaks a bear hug.

"Thank you, Chairman Oaks, you've been a great help."

"..."

Oaks looked at himself covered in dust and couldn't help but think this guy did it intentionally!

"We..."

"Chairman!"

Malorn's voice interrupted Oaks.

"The target has appeared. The general area is in Louisiana!"

"Oh?"

Oaks' eyes lit up, then he looked regretfully at Gilgamesh and shook hands with him.

"Sorry, I have to go. Some special guests have arrived on our turf."

"I had a great time today."

Gilgamesh looked at Oaks, who had immediately become spotless, and twitched his mouth.

"The Eternals won't be a threat to Earth.

If there's a chance to reunite with our comrades, I'll let you meet them."

"It's a deal."

Oaks let go of Gilgamesh's hand, nodded to both him and Thena, and waved his hand to open a teleportation portal.

"Looking forward to that day."

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