On how PhDs become human evil

Iskandar drew the Cypriot sword from his waist and pointed it at Athena!

"Come forth, my army! Answer my call and come forth! — The King's Army (Ionioi Hetairoi)!"

The scorching sun beat down on the earth, the clear blue sky stretched to the horizon blurred by sand, and there was nothing obstructing the view.

The scene described above completely replaced the boundless night sky the moment Iskandar finished speaking. On the endless yellow sand plain, tens of thousands of armored cavalrymen appeared one after another behind Iskandar.

The founders of dynasties, war gods... those who left their mark on history have now become heroic spirits, answering Iskandar's call and descending into the world of the King's Army!

As she took in the seemingly endless army, Athena's lips curled into a smile: "Though you are the son of Zeus, you truly deserve the title of Conqueror. This bond between ruler and subject that transcends time and space is something even I have never witnessed."

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, the earth mother, and also the goddess of war and military affairs. For her, witnessing such a magnificent army must have been extremely satisfying for her as a goddess of war.

however--

"Unfortunately, even such an unparalleled army is nothing more than shrimp soldiers and crab generals to me."

Sizzle—!

With a swing of the scythe, the terrifying dark moon immediately fell, tearing open a massive rift spanning a thousand meters in the sandy land within the natural barrier! The deathly aura unique to the underworld erupted from the rift like a volcanic eruption, and a pitch-black storm surged straight into the sky obscured by the yellow sand.

Amidst the storm, a pair of scarlet snake eyes opened—

P.S.: This afternoon in Teamfight Tactics, I got crushed by the Guardian Ocean Mage comp. Who came up with that disgusting comp?! It's truly awful!

Section 468, page 22: I just went to the supermarket and bought a bag of spaghetti.

Athena carefully considered how she should fight against Bai Jie.

It's obvious that in a head-on fight, she's no match for Bai Jie. Although she hates to admit it, if they really fought, she would probably be instantly killed by Bai Jie—provided that Bai Jie fights her seriously. Fortunately, for some reason, Bai Jie doesn't really go all out, but even so, the combat power he displays still surpasses the level of a god.

Therefore, what Athena needs to do is avoid a direct confrontation and instead turn the conflict into a battle of wits.

That being said, it is still necessary to have combat power; otherwise, having only wisdom but no fighting strength will only make one a nobody.

And Athena's fighting power—is this guy.

In Greek mythology, there are three monsters with incredibly sharp teeth and hair made of countless venomous snakes. Anyone who is seen by them will turn to stone.

The Gorgon sisters, that's what people call them.

Athena is a triune goddess, composed of Gorgon, Metis, and Athena herself. As the queen who rules the Mediterranean, summoning one of her incarnations is not difficult, but the lack of the crucial Gorgon Stone makes it challenging.

Fortunately, Rin Tohsaka, who summoned Athena, was extremely talented in magic. Under Athena's guidance, she successfully created a replica of the Gorgon Stone. Even though its performance was less than half that of the original, it was enough for the current situation.

A Gorgon with crimson eyes emerged from the black storm, unleashing a soul-shaking roar—

"WWWWWWRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

The roar from the divine beast awakened the most primal fear in the human heart, and the once invincible momentum of the King's Army visibly shrank in response to this roar!

However, amidst this roar, Iskandar remained unmoved—and even more excitedly raised his sword!

"There is no need to panic! My fellow countrymen!"

"Even if our enemies are mythical monsters! Even if our enemies are goddesses! We have nothing to fear! For we are the unparalleled army that has conquered the world!"

Standing atop his chariot, Iskandar delivered a powerful and ambitious speech before the army!

"Furthermore, when facing the goddess Athena, we should fight with all our might to prove our bravery to her! — All troops, listen to my command!"

The sword was pointed directly at Athena, and Iskandar roared in fury—

"All troops, charge!!!!!"

"AAAAAAALLLLLLLaaaaaaaaa!"

Iskandar, leading the charge, drove his chariot, with thunderous roars exploding beneath its wheels and the hooves of the divine bull, as he charged toward Athena and Gorgon with the intent to utterly crush everything in his path!

Behind Iskandar, tens of thousands of soldiers, inspired by him, shouted and followed their monarch's charge!

The iron cavalry that once ravaged the world has now launched its conquest of the goddess who sits in the sky!

A beautiful smile graced Athena's lips as she sincerely praised the warriors before her: "Your lofty aspirations and ambition to dominate are truly commendable. If I were still in my Trinity form, even if you were the son of Zeus, I would surely have bestowed upon you divine protection. The same is true of these warriors who follow you. Of all the rituals of heroes vying for supremacy throughout history, the Holy Grail War, I now truly appreciate its beauty."

"But, warriors, to swing your blade at the Mother of Warriors is the most reckless act!"

"—Steel, return to the hand of the goddess—"

The goddess's words resounded.

The bodies of the heroic spirits charging towards Gorgon below were suddenly torn apart without warning! Upon closer inspection, the steel armor on the heroic spirits' bodies had transformed into monstrous venomous snakes, frantically devouring their flesh!

In mythology, steel and snakes always appear together, and the steel heroes, who are regarded as brave warriors, also have a deep connection with the snake goddess.

Susanoo found the Kusanagi Sword inside the corpse of Yamata no Orochi, and Perseus overcame many crises by using the head of Medusa... Just as the Steel Heroes have a way of restraining the Serpent Goddesses, the Serpent Goddesses can also control steel to a certain extent.

This was a power that brought them shame. Athena would never have used this power under normal circumstances, not even when she was driven to the brink by Bai Jie in the past. But since her combat power was insufficient, it was necessary to make up for it by various means. Therefore, even though she was extremely unwilling, Athena still used this power.

The swarm of steel-formed snakes wreaked havoc on the King's army, their sharp fangs gnawing at the bodies of the heroic spirits, their deadly venom corroding each and every one of them.

However, as an army that nearly conquered the world, they had overcome not only swarms of snakes but also even worse situations. After the initial panic, the heroic spirits immediately organized a counterattack, and the venomous snakes wrapped around their bodies were torn apart like fragile ropes.

So what if they're unarmed? So what if they're unarmored? Even without weapons and armor, they still have bodies!

Iskandar paid no attention to his men's struggle against the snakes behind him, because he firmly believed that his people would not be hindered by this difficulty. As a leader and king, what he had to do was to keep charging forward and make his figure a guiding light for the army's advance!

“GGGGAAAAAAAA!”

Gorgon swooped down towards Iskandar, his hair transforming into countless venomous snakes that unleashed a torrent of deep purple beams at Iskandar. In an instant, thousands of beams rained down like a torrential downpour! Iskandar's vision was filled with nothing but beams of light!

"No problem at all!"

Iskandar yanked hard on the chariot's reins, and the two divine bulls immediately leaped into the air, carrying the chariot high above. They used the incoming beam of light as a road and sped along it! The lightning and the beam of light collided wildly, and the resulting magical shockwaves ravaged the land within the natural barrier!

Realizing the beam was no longer effective, Gorgon's eyes immediately shone with a scarlet light!

"Watch out! Rider! If she sees you, you'll turn to stone!"

"No need for you to remind me, just hold on tight, kid!"

With Webber's body pinned beneath him, Iskandar spurred the sacred bull onward, raising its hooves high and unleashing a thunderous storm!

At that very moment, Gorgon's eyes unleashed crimson petrifying beams, instantly turning the lightning storm into giant, lightning-shaped boulders upon contact. The sacred bull, naturally, also met the same fate. The petrifying beams swept over the chariot and the sacred bull, turning them both to stone. However, Iskandar and Waver on the chariot had vanished.

“AAAAALLLLLLLLaaaaaaa!”

The roar from high above drew Gorgon's attention. The moment his eyes turned, Iskandar's figure plummeted down, the Cypriot sword piercing her eye like a meteor!

puff!

The petrified eye was immediately pierced, and then Iskandar swung his sword to stab the other eye!

"boom!"

Before he could even swing his sword, countless snake hairs had already coiled around it, biting the blade to pieces. Then, hundreds more venomous snakes shot out from the hairs, tightly binding Iskandar's limbs! They even bent his limbs into shapes that no human body could ever make!

As Athena slowly descended in front of Iskandar, she smiled and said, "It ends here, King of Conquest. To fight my half-body to such an extent and even lose an eye, I shall give you a compliment."

"Haha... To be praised by the goddess... I am truly honored..." Iskandar, whose limbs had been severed, gave a bitter laugh. "Ah... Even though I was summoned by the Holy Grail twice, I was still unable to fulfill my wish... The endless sea at the end of the world... I really want to see it."

"Yes, it's a pity. Wait for the next Holy Grail summons. With such excellent ministers by your side, you will surely reign over this world once again."

Iskandar followed Athena's gaze and saw Waver's disheveled figure running towards him. Running seemed incredibly difficult for Waver; he stumbled after almost every two steps. Even so, Waver continued his frantic sprint towards him, extending his right hand, which suddenly glowed with a bright red light!

"I command it with a Command Spell! —Rider! Go and claim victory!"

"I command it with a Command Spell! —Rider! Go and conquer the world!"

"I command you with a Command Spell! —Rider! Don't you dare lose, you hear me!!!"

The power of the three consecutive Command Seals entered Iskandar's body.

The scene was exactly the same as it had been ten years ago. Seeing Waver kneeling in the yellow sand, his magic exhausted, Iskandar laughed with satisfaction: "Hahaha! Waver Velvet! How dare you speak to a monarch like that! What courage!"

"Then open your eyes wide and watch! I—Iskander the Conqueror—will conquer forever!!!"

Divine power—not magical power—burst forth from Iskandar's entire body, and extremely violent lightning surged forth like a raging torrent, directly shattering the snake hair all over Iskandar's body, and even driving his severed limbs to stand up again!

"The power of Zeus, huh? That guy really loves his children."

Looking at the lightning with disgust, Athena raised her scythe.

"Come, Conqueror King, let me grant you the end of your life."

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!"

Iskandar, whose body swelled to the size of a small mountain, charged toward Athena with endless lightning, as if he wanted to smash through the sky!

In response, Athena simply covered her scythe with her death power and then slashed down!

Sizzle—!

The lightning was instantly cleaved apart, and Iskandar's body was slashed open from the shoulder, with a gash running diagonally across his entire body, and blood gushed out like a flood!

"Cough!"

Mouthfuls of blood gushed out, and Iskandar's vision was gradually obscured by the blood mist.

"Truly... this expedition has stirred my heart quite a bit."

Having fought against the goddess until now, Iskandar has exhausted all his strength and has nothing to regret.

Athena smiled at Iskandar—not the son of Zeus, but the king of conquerors: "You are an excellent warrior and an unparalleled king. I praise you in the name of Athena."

"Haha...that's really...I'm extremely grateful..."

With a satisfied expression, Iskandar slowly closed his eyes. At the same time, the entire Reality Marble began to collapse. Iskandar, as its core, had died in battle, and the Marble naturally lost its power to maintain itself.

Retrieving Gorgon and the scythe, Athena looked up at the sky without glancing at Waver.

"That defeats one Heroic Spirit, leaving five more... Heh, don't let me completely seize the initiative, Godslayer."

P.S.: The second Noble Phantasm of the young Conqueror King, [Blessing of the Gods], has the effect of strengthening the body with Zeus's lightning each time it is used, increasing divinity, and decreasing the level of the beautiful young man's skill - the reason why he turned from a cute boy into a red-haired gorilla has been found.

P.S.: JO fangirl mode activated! Preparing to order a bottle of squid ink online to start making squid ink pasta.

Section 469, Chapter 23: Sorry, I lost track of time watching Kamen Rider.