The Fused Form of the Thunder Hammer Mjölnir

"No way?"

The gods' spectators also noticed the other figure still standing.

Meanwhile, the spectators on Humanity's side felt their tightly clenched hearts ease slightly.

Then, the dust and smoke vanished as quickly as foam, revealing Thor first.

Just as the gods were about to cheer in excitement, their expressions and raised hands froze instantly.

They saw blood—blood flowing down Thor's body. A straight wound ran from near his left shoulder and chest down to his right flank, blood pouring out uncontrollably. No matter how they looked at it, it was a serious injury.

So Thor had lost?

No, Lord Thor was still standing. That meant he had not lost. He had merely fallen into a disadvantage and suffered a heavy blow from his opponent?

No, his opponent had definitely been injured too. Perhaps even more badly than Lord Thor.

The smoke continued to clear, drifting away from Humanity's side, revealing some metal fragments scattered across the ground.

Sure enough, the opponent's weapon had shattered, while Lord Thor's weapon was still intact. That opponent was as good as dead.

When the smoke finally cleared from around the opponent—

"Ha, Lord Thor won!"

"The other guy lost!"

A few gods shouted excitedly.

As the dust dispersed, smoke was rising from the opponent's body. He looked as though he had been charred by lightning, and his injuries appeared far worse than Lord Thor's.

"See? How could Lord Thor possibly be at a disadvantage? Surely—"

A god who had closed his eyes and was speaking excitedly suddenly stopped. The surroundings had gone eerily quiet, followed by sharp intakes of breath.

What was going on?

When he opened his eyes and looked over, there seemed to be no problem. The human on the other side had been burned black all over, looking as though he was—

Urgh!

His pupils contracted violently, and he was startled as well.

The charred layer on the opponent's body began to peel away, exposing the structure beneath his skin. If this had been an ordinary person, it would have been a horrifying sight.

But if that were all, he would not have been so frightened.

What terrified him was that the structure revealed beneath the peeling skin was not normal muscle tissue.

Nor was it muscle tissue that had been carbonized. There had never been any muscle beneath the skin in the first place—only machinery.

It resembled the mechanical body revealed when the skin of a futuristic android was peeled away in human science-fiction films.

However, the machinery before them felt exceptionally savage, as if it had been designed solely for war. It was like a vicious demon.

Looking closely, its body was larger than it had been while wrapped in human skin, as though some of its previously restrained mechanical components had unfolded.

No, it did not merely seem that way. Some mechanical components truly had unfolded, as if the body had transformed.

Most noticeably, he now possessed four arms, though two of them had been destroyed. Those were likely the arms Thor had broken.

In addition, one arm held a sword that emitted a dim gleam. The final drop of blood slid from its tip.

Normally, more blood should have clung to it, but the blade was too smooth for any blood to remain attached, causing it all to drip away.

From the looks of it, the wound on Thor's chest had been inflicted by that sword.

"Sister Brunhilde, wh-what is that?"

Goll's voice trembled slightly...

Xiang Yu, the Hegemon King now representing Humanity, possessed such a demonic mechanical form that it was simply too shocking, making even her scalp tingle.

"That is Xiang Yu, the Western Chu Hegemon King."

Although she knew what Goll was really asking, Brunhilde deliberately answered that way.

She was also greatly shocked. That mechanical body had itself reached the level of a divine weapon.

It was essentially a humanoid god-slaying divine weapon, one into which a person's consciousness had been implanted.

That only made Brunhilde feel that this Emperor was even more terrifying. She could not imagine what kind of scene it would be if he entered the arena himself.

"What kind of heresy is that?"

"What the hell is that monster?"

The two crows that had constantly been jeering also saw that figure and felt a chilling pressure. Their voices no longer carried their earlier arrogance and trembled slightly.

Loki let out a strange laugh, but there was no longer any playfulness or contempt in it—only caution.

Valkyries turned themselves into divine weapons for others to wield, while the other side had created weapons comparable to divine weapons.

No, if they could rival divine weapons, then they were divine weapons.

They had forged a divine weapon like that, then implanted a human consciousness into that humanoid divine weapon, bringing the weapon to life.

Living divine weapons were not actually rare. Thor's Mjolnir was one such example. But the thing before them was completely different. It was a divine weapon that possessed human wisdom.

The gods had also researched such inhumane divine weapons before, but they had never succeeded. Rather, they had been unable to create a divine weapon capable of contending with a god on Thor's level.

Such divine weapons would harm and destroy not only human souls, but even divine souls.

So how had that human managed it?

And what kind of person had created such a monster?

If humanity had truly mastered such technology, it would not be good news for the gods.

But that was absolutely impossible. How could humans have mastered such technology?

Most likely, some divine pantheon had helped them...

The Fusion Form of Mjolnir, the Thunder Hammer

Compared to ordinary gods, the High-Gods who witnessed the near-even clash between human and god did not feel anger or agitation.

On the contrary, these Sovereign-class figures became increasingly excited.

Long ago, the gods had also fought and slaughtered one another.

However, that era had been too long ago. Though conflicts still occasionally arose among the gods afterward, the violent slaughter of the past had almost never happened again.

Most preferred harmony, so there were no scenes of both sides fighting with everything they had.

Over time, everyone had gradually grown lazy, spending each day half-asleep. It was far too boring.

But now, seeing such long-lost scenes of slaughter and the possibility that they too could fight to their hearts' content, of course they became excited.

"Ah, if I'd known, I would have fought for the first match representing the gods. We both have four arms, so we could have had a proper contest."

In one corner of the gods' side, Shiva, a god with four arms, spoke with deep regret.

He had originally come merely to watch the show, but he had not expected the Valkyries to truly find someone like this to fight. Xiang Yu had driven Thor to such a state, making his blood boil and leaving him eager to enter the arena himself.

"There's no need to be so anxious. There will still be opportunities later."

The one who answered his regret was the Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite, whose every movement stirred the hearts of the male gods around her.

Whenever she spoke, she drew the surrounding male gods' gazes.

Because whenever she moved her lips to speak, the magnificent part of her body swayed quite noticeably.

"True."

After all, in Ragnarok, one side had to win at least seven matches to claim victory.

That meant Humanity's side would have to fight at least seven matches, and there would still be at least six more chances for him to take the stage.

And the people who came afterward would surely grow more and more interesting.

"This is bad!"

"What is it?"

Aphrodite frowned when she saw Shiva's expression abruptly change.

She carefully looked toward the arena as well. Had Shiva noticed something? Had he seen that the situation was unfavorable for Thor?

But she could not see anything.

"I need to apply to participate immediately."

That was why Shiva had said it was bad. After seeing a battle like this, surely he was not the only one whose heart had been stirred.

Then those people had certainly already rushed to apply.

Naturally, he had to apply at once too. He immediately sent word to Zeus, demanding that he be reserved a match.

The result was a perfunctory reply from that old bastard. There were likely too many applicants for Zeus to give him a definite answer.

But one thing was certain: that old bastard Zeus had definitely reserved a match for himself.

At heart, Zeus was a violent maniac, a berserker who thirsted for slaughter. He would definitely enter the arena.

"So, what exactly happened in that instant just now? I'm sure many of you still don't know, do you?"

The host Heimdallr raised his voice once more.

That instant referred to what had happened during Thor's final hammer strike.

How Thor had been slashed, how Xiang Yu had avoided a fatal blow by sacrificing two arms, and how he had transformed to grow two more arms.

Only gods of great strength had been able to clearly see what happened in that instant.

So now, he replayed it in reverse and slow motion, allowing everyone to see it clearly.

"Watch closely!"

The footage on the giant screen in the air rewound, returning to Thor's overwhelmingly powerful hammer strike propelled by lightning.

The instant it collided with Xiang Yu's halberd, the Hegemon King's halberd shattered as though it were porcelain.

However, an unexpected scene appeared. Xiang Yu's halberd had not truly been completely destroyed.

A sword had been hidden within the halberd.

When the halberd shattered, the sword was exposed. Then two extra hands transformed out from Xiang Yu's body. One hand seized the sword and, with lightning-like speed, tore through the air and sliced open Thor's chest.

Of course, the Mjolnir in Thor's hand had already come crashing down. It struck Xiang Yu before the Hegemon King's halberd could, but Xiang Yu's two arms forcibly held it off for an instant.

Using that instant, the Hegemon King launched his counterattack.

After leaving a wound on Thor, Xiang Yu's two arms could no longer hold on. They were torn away and smashed to pieces by Mjolnir.

And it had been just a little short—the thunder hammer would have struck Xiang Yu's head.

Furthermore, the terrifying heat released by Mjolnir instantly turned Xiang Yu's outer layer into charcoal.

The explosion caused by the impact also widened the distance between them.

It was not that the shockwave had pushed them apart. Rather, the shockwave had blasted the arena open, cracking it apart like a piece of wood that had not been fully split, though its upper portion had separated.

That was the fleeting scene most people had failed to see clearly.

"It was truly spectacular—and a truly perilous instant. If either of them had made even the slightest mistake at that moment, victory and defeat would have been decided instantly!"

Heimdallr grew more excited as he spoke, as if he had personally been in the midst of it.

Ah, in truth, he had witnessed that heart-stopping battle from the side. He had indeed been right there.

"I only have one strike left!"

Thor suddenly said.

"Same here!"

Xiang Yu responded in the same manner.

What did that mean?

"Does this mean the two of them will completely decide victory and defeat with their next strike?"

As Heimdallr became excited at that point, he nearly could not resist blowing the horn in his hand to announce his excitement.

At that moment, the clamor of the entire arena fell silent. Everyone widened their eyes and watched the instant that would decide the victor.