Moments earlier—when there were still four hours left and Tania was facing Sekhmet—

  Athena stared at Menrva in disbelief, while the Etruscan goddess remained bright red, her hands pressed to her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t have time to waste on you. If you tell me the way to Areópago, you’ll be doing me a huge favor—understand?” Athena said with a sarcastic smile.

  “M-Ma’am Athena… I’ve only ever dreamed of one thing and it’s… becoming you,” Menrva said, still blushing.

  “Becoming me?” Athena asked, confused.

  “Yes. I want to be the new Athena. So… I have to defeat you first,” Menrva continued, embarrassed.

  “Huh?” Athena froze, baffled.

  Menrva made her totema appear in her right hand. It was shaped like a mirror, with the image of an armed goddess etched into it. The Etruscan goddess raised the mirror to the sky and declared:

  “Mi amu Menrvae, ad rathum fleren, quo trutnutha lacairut. Lauchuma, qui ituim pulumchva (My name is Menrva, the sacred goddess, who rules over thunder. Queen who divides the stars)—”

  A bolt of lightning struck Menrva, and every soldier instinctively backed away, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and Athena.

  “Our lady is fighting seriously,” one of them said.

  “She can never lose to Menrva—our Keres Number One,” another proclaimed.

  Athena watched, perplexed, as Menrva shone like a brilliant mirror.

  When the light faded, Menrva’s head was covered by a golden helmet shaped almost like a hat, with two plumes rising from the top. She wore a long crimson tunic, and upon her chest gleamed an aegis similar to Athena’s. In her right hand—where the mirror had been—she now held a golden spear wrapped in crackling electricity, still raised toward the heavens.

  “You know, Medea? You shouldn’t aim to be just like me. You should create your own identity. Why don’t we join forces and beat Ares?” Athena asked Menrva.

  “My name is Menrva, not Medea, Ma’am Athena,” the Etruscan goddess corrected, flustered.

  “I’m terrible with names, Megara,” Athena replied casually.

  “Do you have any idea how awful it feels when my heroine can’t learn my name and keeps saying it wrong?” Menrva asked, tears forming.

  “That totema of yours… is that an aegis?” Athena asked, eyeing the armor on Menrva’s chest.

  “Oh—no, it’s only an imitation, Ma’am Athena,” Menrva admitted, ashamed.

  “Thought so. There should only be two in this world—mine, and the one my father carries,” Athena said.

  “That’s exactly why I need to defeat you, Ma’am Athena. I’ve always dreamed of this moment—where I would wield your legendary Aegis and your spear Erichthonius. I trained since I was a child just to cross spears with you,” Menrva said nervously.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “I think you have an obsessive fixation, Melina,” Athena replied.

  “Menrva. I’m Menrva. But… how are you wearing the aegis? I heard your totema was confiscated when your rebellion began,” Menrva asked.

  “True. This is a totema I made myself—comparable to a dead totema. But the aegis is something I managed to reclaim when I escaped Olympus,” Athena answered.

  “I see… I’m so happy,” Menrva said with a huge smile. “Because today, I will finally know what it feels like to wear the aegis.”

  “All right,” Athena said, dropping into a boxer’s stance. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “You won’t use your spear, Erichthonius?” Menrva asked, taking her own stance.

  “I don’t need it,” Athena replied.

  “I see my teacher is underestimating me,” Menrva said.

  In that instant, the Etruscan goddess surged her divine power. An electric aura rose behind her as all the malakim shouted in excitement for their heroine.

  Menrva screamed and lunged at Athena, spearpoint aimed straight at her.

  But to Menrva’s—and every malakim’s—shock, Athena simply slipped aside… and as Menrva passed, the Greek goddess drove a hook into her stomach.

  Menrva hit the ground, folded over in agony, while the malakim who supported her stared in disbelief.

  “You left several parts of your body wide open, Methe,” Athena said, resetting her boxing stance.

  “I knew my teacher wouldn’t be easy,” Menrva said as she rose and gripped her spear again. “But I’ll show you how strong I am!”

  Menrva shouted:

  “Unus Frontac (Electric flow)!”

  A massive wave of electrical energy erupted from her spear. Athena stepped aside, avoiding it cleanly.

  The moment Menrva finished releasing her power, Athena appeared behind her and struck again—this time into her ribs.

  The electrical blast slammed into the mountains, punching through them with a violent explosion of lightning.

  “Discipline. Constant training. Knowing your weak points. That’s what you lack,” Athena said.

  She remained in her boxing stance, staring at Menrva—who was once again down, one knee on the ground, clutching her right ribs in pain.

  “I will never give up!” Menrva screamed.

  In that very moment, the Etruscan goddess thrust upward, trying to spear Athena’s throat.

  Athena leaned her head back and let the spear miss by a hair.

  Then she seized the enemy spear, used it as leverage, and drove a hook into Menrva’s jaw.

  Menrva’s vision blurred—and she collapsed flat on her back.

  “I’m sorry, Malena, but you’re not my rival. You’d need another thousand years just to get close to my level,” Athena said, still poised to fight.

  The malakim were terrified. Ares’s Keres Number One couldn’t do anything—she was being struck again and again. They said Menrva was so strong she could defeat the other Keres even if all of them fought her at once.

  Using her spear as support, Menrva forced herself upright again. She was panting—slow, deep breaths. Her eyes were filled with rage, because her heroine—the goddess she admired most—was underestimating her… and wasn’t even using weapons, only fists.

  “You don’t have to humiliate me like this, Ma’am Athena! Changing my name—treating this like a game! Do you know how miserable I feel right now?” Menrva shouted, furious.

  “I have no moral duty to make you feel good, Melinda,” Athena said calmly. “I told you clearly: I don’t want to fight you.”

  “This fight was everything to me! I lived only for this moment! Do you have any idea how I feel now!?” Menrva screamed.

  Menrva charged her golden spear with electricity. Multiple bolts surged outward, lashing through the area—striking ground and mountains alike. Then she cried:

  “Pulumchva Luri (Bright stars)!”

  But every shot was effortlessly avoided by Athena.

  “Then I’ll show you one of my techniques,” Athena said.

  Blood began to drip from Athena’s hands—blood that burned the ground like acid the moment it touched.

  Then the Greek goddess shouted:

  “Aíma gorgón (Gorgon blood)!”

  With a swift motion of her right hand, she flung the droplets toward Menrva.

  Menrva raised her guard—yet the droplets detonated like bombs upon contact, blasting her backward as her skin scorched and parts of her armor shattered into fragments.

  Athena returned to her boxing stance as the smoke cleared—then realized Menrva had vanished, along with her presence.

  In the next instant, Menrva appeared like a bolt of lightning above Athena, pressing her right hand against the Greek goddess’s face.

  “I always dreamed of seeing Aíma gorgón in action,” Menrva said with a smile as Athena stared, surprised. “It’s impure tannin blood, isn’t it? But I’ve got other tricks too—like teleportation.”

  Then Menrva shouted:

  “Unus Frontac!”

  A massive electrical explosion swallowed both goddesses—while the malakim erupted into cheers, roaring with joy.

  There was no way Athena could have dodged that.

  I couldn't translate into Etruscan with the limited sources I had, so I combined Etruscan words I found in a dictionary with Latin. I apologize for this and hope to improve it later.

  Erichthonius was the first king of Athens and adopted son of Athena.

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