Comprehensive Anime: Ragnarok Start, Roleplaying as the Hero King

In the blink of an eye, two more lightning-fast spear thrusts followed. Thor's gauntlets shattered instantly, scattering into countless fragments in the air.

At this moment, the Hegemon King Xiang Yu did something astonishing. He stopped attacking and set his spear down to the side.

Logically, after Thor's gauntlets and weapon were destroyed, he should have pressed his advantage. Why give up such a lead?

Was he planning to fight hand-to-hand? Did he think that would be fairer?

"Wh-what is he doing?"

Goll shrieked, clutching her hair.

Did he still care about fairness at a time like this?

Had this Hegemon King Xiang Yu lost his mind?

"What is he trying to do?"

Brunhilde couldn't understand his actions either.

They had managed to knock away Thor's divine weapon, and victory was almost within reach. Yet, the Hegemon King had also put down his own weapon.

What was he thinking? Did he really want to fight Thor bare-handed?

Wasn't he worried about Thor picking up Mjolnir again?

In that regard, it wouldn't happen. Thor's gauntlets, Járngreipr, were actually meant to protect his hands.

Without these gauntlets, his hands wouldn't be able to withstand the power of Mjolnir if he were to pick it up.

That was precisely why Brunhilde had arranged for their fourth sister, Lantigreese, to enter the arena.

Their fourth sister's specialty was being a "Shield Breaker," specifically designed to destroy divine weapons like the gauntlets, preventing Thor from wielding Mjolnir.

Suddenly, Brunhilde's expression changed. She sensed that the Hegemon King had severed his connection with his spear.

What was he thinking? Did he really believe he could defeat Thor with pure human strength, assuming Thor couldn't use his divine weapon?

How arrogant could he be!

However, he suddenly said something that stunned everyone.

"The thing that was suppressing your power has been destroyed. Show me your true strength, Thor!"

Chapter 057: Mechanical Ascension Failed?

Brunhilde had told him about Thor.

She had said that Mjolnir contained immense power, and if the wielder didn't take proper precautions, they would suffer a backlash.

The gauntlets Thor wore, Járngreipr, were said to be for Thor's protection.

Therefore, Lantigreese, the fourth of the thirteen Valkyrie sisters, had been sent into the arena.

As a Valkyrie, Lantigreese had transformed into a divine weapon with the property of a "Shield Breaker."

Thor's gauntlets, Járngreipr, were a form of armor, and this divine weapon had a special effect against them.

The plan to confront Thor was to destroy his gauntlets, thus preventing him from using Mjolnir.

With Thor stripped of his divine weapon, his power would naturally be reduced, increasing the human side's chances of victory.

This was Brunhilde's plan.

However, someone else had no intention of following such a plan.

Initially, he hadn't connected with the divine weapon because he wanted to see what kind of damage pure human form could inflict on Thor. He hadn't expected it to be only this much.

Later, he had undergone divine weapon bonding with Lantigreese to better understand this special human-god unity and gather more data.

During his exchange with Thor, he noticed something unusual.

Brunhilde's information might have been inaccurate. The claim that the gauntlets, Járngreipr, were meant to protect Thor was likely mistaken.

The battle had made him feel Thor's desire for combat growing stronger, as if Thor was urging him to become stronger, strong enough to unleash his true power.

He also discovered during the fight that Thor's attacks, which should have been more ferocious, were being restricted by the gauntlets.

He sensed that Thor was barely containing himself, wanting to cast off the restraint and engage him with his true power.

The reason Thor was still holding back was that he hadn't yet seen enough power from their side to make Thor do so.

Thus, Thor was a mix of anticipation and disappointment.

So, he decided to push their current human-god unity to its peak and destroy Thor's gauntlets.

As expected, after the destruction, he clearly felt the much fiercer power about to erupt from Thor's body.

This made things interesting.

Then, he prepared for his own mechanical ascension, allowing both of them to engage in a full-power battle.

This would be separate from the purpose of the Ragnarok war; it was purely about finding an opponent worthy of their strength and having a satisfying fight.

Therefore, during the transformation, he decided to add a little surprise.

"Huh? Sister Brunhilde, wh-what did he just say?"

Goll, in the spectator stands, was bewildered.

The Hegemon King, Xiang Yu, said that he destroyed the thing suppressing Thor, allowing him to use his true power?

What did he mean by that?

The thing suppressing him must be the iron gauntlet, Járngreipr.

But wasn't that supposed to protect Thor? How did it become something that suppressed his power?

"I don't know either."

Brunhilde's expression gradually grew serious.

The Hegemon King, representing humanity on the arena, wouldn't speak without reason.

If what he said was true, then the information she had about Thor might be false.

And now, the arena itself had changed. Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, was melting the ground. It felt like if no one picked it up to stop it, it would melt right through the earth.

Seeing this, most of the gods in the audience panicked. If the iron gauntlet, Járngreipr, was destroyed, then Thor wouldn't be able to use his hammer.

This meant that most of the gods, like Brunhilde, had the same information: they believed the iron gauntlet, Járngreipr, was meant to protect Thor.

"Whoa, what is this?"

Goll suddenly flinched, perhaps hearing a heartbeat?

This heartbeat seemed to be coming from Mjolnir.

The outer metal shell of the hammer was cracking open as if something inside was expanding, revealing flesh that made her skin crawl.

It was as if some grotesque creature was inside.

Brunhilde's expression grew even more grave as she witnessed this. Especially when Thor said to Mjolnir, "You've finally awakened," it made her feel a sense of foreboding.

Her gaze shifted to a lecherous old man—Zeus. Unlike everyone else panicking, he wore an amused expression.

His look clearly indicated he wasn't worried about Thor losing; rather, he found the situation more interesting.

As if noticing her gaze, that annoying gaze shifted back to her.

"Little sister Brunhilde, judging by your expression, you don't know, do you? Then I'll tell you. Actually, there's a misconception in the legends of Mjolnir and Járngreipr."

So, the information she had was indeed not true. This made Brunhilde's expression turn somewhat ugly.

"Do you know? Actually, the gauntlet wasn't protecting Thor from being corrupted by Mjolnir's power, but the other way around."

"The other way around? You mean—"

"Yes. The gauntlet was actually suppressing Thor's true power so he wouldn't accidentally crush Mjolnir before its awakening."

This intriguing revelation made Brunhilde's face turn ashen.

Thor's true power could easily crush the hammer, Mjolnir?

Wait, Mjolnir before its awakening?

This meant that the current Mjolnir was awakening and would become even more terrifying. Furthermore, Thor's own true power was no longer being suppressed.

"Feeling despair, little sister Brunhilde? Want to come cry in my arms~"

Brunhilde ignored Zeus's teasing words, her face ashen as she could only stare at the arena.

She hadn't expected this. This meant that humanity's chances in this match were—

"It's over. There's no way they can win!"

Goll murmured in despair once more.

"It's... it's not time to give up yet, Goll!"

Brunhilde said this, believing Xiang Yu must have some trump card.

As for what that trump card was, she had a guess, but she wasn't confident.

Huh?

Xiang Yu was finally about to reveal his trump card. With a wave of his hand, a huge metal box appeared out of thin air behind him.

Such an appearance out of nowhere wouldn't surprise the gods.

This was because summoned humans could freely summon items from their past lives.

After a series of mechanical whirring sounds, the metal box suddenly shot out several thick cables, which bound Xiang Yu's limbs and lifted him above the box.

Thwack—!

The sound of flesh being pierced by blades.

At that moment, the entire venue froze.

Chapter 058: Sacrificing Himself to Summon... Himself?

The entire arena fell silent.

Even the gods' audience, who had been cheering for Thor about to unleash his true power, became silent as if time had stopped.

They stared in shock at the situation opposite Thor, who represented the gods.

Could it be that he knew he wasn't a match for the true power of the god Thor, and that's why he did this?

But no matter how you looked at it, it was incredibly strange, so strange that they all felt a sense of unease.

"Sister Brunhilde, Sister..."

Goll's voice trembled, her tongue feeling tied.

They had expected Hegemon King Xiang Yu to reveal some trump card, but this so-called trump card had turned into this scene, terrifying everyone.

She glanced at her sister, who was also startled. However, her sister seemed to understand something and wasn't flustered, but rather... expectant?

Expectant of what?

What was there to be expectant of in this scene?

It's over, they had already lost this match.

"What... what is he doing?"

Hermes, the man dressed so gentlemanly beside Zeus, looked utterly bewildered.

He couldn't comprehend the opponent's actions.

Of course, he didn't believe the opponent was attempting suicide.

"Who knows, but it looks like things are about to get more interesting. I'll be looking forward to it."

Zeus chuckled with a smile.

This human had abandoned his divine artifact and instead produced this metal box, believing the contents within could be stronger than the divine artifact transformed by a Valkyrie?

"This is truly astonishing."

After forcing Thor to use his true power, this human was now acting as if he too was about to use his true power?

How arrogant could he be, believing that only when Thor was serious and using his full strength was he qualified to use his own true power?