Would Humanity's side claim its first victory?
Or would the gods claim the first victory?
Thor revealed the most ferocious expression he had ever worn, then gripped Mjolnir even harder and crushed its handle?
His hand sank directly into Mjolnir's body.
Then, Mjolnir rapidly swelled like a tumor, covering Thor's arm and merging with it.
Moreover, the hammer changed as well. One end of its head flattened, turning into an axe!
The thunder hammer had become an axe-hammer. It actually had a fusion form like this.
"I've never heard that Mjolnir could do this."
"Lord Thor had been hiding a move like this?"
Odin's two ravens were utterly stunned.
"This really is—!"
Loki was equally astonished. He had never heard of such a thing; this was likely the first time Thor had displayed his true ultimate move.
It was clear that none of Thor's previous enemies had ever truly driven him into a corner.
Loki's pupils contracted as he stared in shock at the other person.
The other person had changed as well!
Mechanical Demon Form
After the Norse thunder god Thor transformed and fused his arm with Mjolnir, the gods erupted into cheers once more.
In this state, Thor was clearly far more powerful than before.
Arcs of electricity occasionally burst from his body, tearing through the air, while the aura radiating from him made the very air tremble.
However, before they could fully celebrate, the human on the other side transformed as well.
That mechanical body changed again, becoming even more savage. No matter how one looked at it, it was a killing machine.
Two more arms had appeared, and that sword had bizarrely split into four. Each arm gripped one.
His lower body also transformed, seemingly to become more powerful. His mechanical legs no longer resembled human feet, but those of a beast.
Wings unfolded from his back—bat-like wings that looked like skeletal machinery stripped of flesh.
Across his body, certain patterns emitted a dim azure glow. The light flickered, making it seem as though eerie flames were coiling around him.
If one had to describe that appearance accurately, it was—
"He looks exactly like a Mechanical Demon."
With cold sweat on her face, Goll described him in a fearful voice.
The transformed Hegemon King Xiang Yu radiated an aura that seemed evenly matched with Lord Thor's.
Their auras collided, causing the air to let out strange sounds, as though it were wailing.
Thus, those gods who had been arrogantly shouting for humanity to kneel just moments ago had fallen silent again.
It was here—the final strike!
In the battle of Ragnarok, the battle between humanity and gods, the victor of the first match would soon be decided.
Everyone fell silent, holding their breath and staring wide-eyed at the moment that would bring an unprecedented change to history.
Boom—!
A massive explosion erupted!
This surpassed even the destruction caused by their previous stomp. Its force reached the arena walls behind both sides, cracking them and terrifying the spectators closest to them half to death.
Yet before even half of the shockwave from their stomps had dissipated, strange light dyed the entire arena platform.
Black lightning and azure light intertwined, then burst outward in every direction, shrouding the entire venue. They surged into the sky as well, staining the blue heavens with an eerie hue.
Following the burst of light, the delayed shockwave swept through the surroundings.
At that moment, the entire arena seemed to be screaming, as if it could shatter and collapse at any moment.
Of course, there was more than just the shockwave. There were also the sound waves produced by the collision.
Yet many people did not hear the deafening roar. The impact was simply too intense; before they could even register how loud it was, their brains were already dizzy and their ears seemed to have gone deaf.
"Waaah~~"
Goll screamed as a piece of shattered stone seemed to have flown her way and struck her on the head.
But she had no time to care about the pain. She stared fixedly at the arena. Who had won?
Hm?
Her gaze was drawn to the screen suspended in the air, which was replaying the collision between the two in slow motion.
Lord Thor had leaped forward fiercely. At the same time, he swung the axe-hammer in his hand from behind him, releasing even more terrifying black lightning as propulsion.
This turned Lord Thor into a streak of black light.
As for Hegemon King Xiang Yu, all four of his hands held swords, their blades held horizontally forward as though four claws were about to strike.
At the same time, azure flames coiled around the sword blades.
He leaped forward as well. The metallic demon wings on his back were covered in luminous flames, seemingly generating thrust and turning him into a streak of azure light.
The moment they collided, the screen flickered with static and lost its image.
So Goll looked back to the arena, waiting for the light and mist to disperse.
"Sister Brunhilde?"
She could not help asking her sister beside her. When she glanced at her from the corner of her eye, she was instantly frightened by her sister's terrifying expression.
It was not anger, but a somewhat twisted expression born of extreme tension.
So she had better not ask anymore.
If she disturbed her sister at a time like this, she would be in for it.
Who would win this battle?
Although Goll desperately wanted Humanity's side to win, she had lived under the gods for so long that the belief that humans could never contend with gods was too deeply rooted within her.
Even though she could now see that the two were nearly evenly matched, she still had little confidence.
"Who will win?"
"Do you even need to ask? It will definitely be Lord Thor."
The question and answer came from two individuals—no, two ravens perched on Odin's shoulders.
The white raven was flustered, and its tone sounded somewhat uncertain.
The black raven answered firmly, but despite its words, it stammered slightly, clearly proving that it was not all that certain either.
The two ravens immediately realized that their tones had actually betrayed doubt in Lord Thor. They glanced at their master from the corners of their eyes and were instantly so frightened they nearly fell off.
Their master, Odin, the supreme god of the Norse pantheon, wore a terrifyingly grim expression.
Hm? The interwoven light, lightning, and mist were dispersing. The situation at the center was about to be revealed.
Who had won?
Everyone's hearts had risen to their throats.
The next instant, the luminous mist blocking everyone's sight vanished in an instant. Its dispersal was strange, compressing inward from the outside before disappearing.
This was likely caused by the collision between the two, which had created a vacuum around them. The higher external air pressure rapidly rushed into the low-pressure center, compressing the light and mist until they vanished.
Thus, the scene that appeared before everyone's eyes at that moment—
"A... a draw?"
Heimdallr announced it sharply.
Both were still standing, though they were not facing one another. They had switched places and now stood seemingly back-to-back.
"No, it isn't a draw!!!"
Heimdallr raised his voice again.
There were no new wounds visible on Thor.
But Hegemon King Xiang Yu's body was horribly twisted and deformed. His four arms were nearly ruined, and the four swords he held had been reduced almost entirely to hilts.
His chest was even more grievously damaged, bearing a wound more severe than Lord Thor's. It had likely been cleaved by the axe.
His body suddenly swayed as he fell toward the ground, but then he abruptly stepped forward and forcibly held himself up.
Though he had not fallen, everyone could see that merely standing was already a struggle for him. He no longer had the strength to fight.
The outcome was obvious.
The victor was clearly Thor, who had suffered almost no further injuries.
Of course, it was not yet time for Heimdallr to announce the result, because only one side could leave the duel alive.
Thor needed to turn around and deal his opponent the final blow. Once the opponent's death was confirmed, the result could be declared.
But why was Thor not moving at all?
Suddenly, Heimdallr's body stiffened as though struck by lightning.
As the announcer, through the feedback from the Akashic Records, he learned what had happened in the instant of their clash, something most gods and humans had failed to see.
The victor had indeed been decided, but not as everyone believed...
Godslaying
A man whose muscular body resembled sculpted rock could finally let out a sigh of relief.
But after making the motion of sighing in relief, he immediately looked around. Upon seeing that no one had noticed him, he was about to sigh again—
No, this time he sighed inwardly instead.
The man was the sixth god among the Twelve Olympian Gods: the God of War, Ares.
As the God of War, he naturally could not reveal such easily shaken emotions. A God of War needed to possess powerful composure and appear calm and dependable before everyone.
That was why he had been relieved that no one had noticed his earlier nervousness. It would have damaged his image.
It had to be said that this Ragnarok had exceeded his expectations.
A human had actually driven Thor, the strongest Berserker of Thunder of the Norse pantheon, to such a state that he had even unleashed an ultimate move the gods had never seen before.
And now, the victor had finally been decided.
The Scales of Justice had completely tipped toward the gods. As long as Thor delivered the final blow to that human, who no longer had the strength to fight, victory would belong to the gods.
Thus, Ares, God of War, could barely resist the urge to pump his fist in excitement.
Hold back. He needed to remain composed. Let the other gods express that joy for him.
"Roarrrrrrrr...!"
Indeed, an overwhelming roar rose from the audience stands, cheering for Thor's victory.
"Did you see that? Humanity, this is the power of gods!"
"Kneel, humanity!"
"Submit to the gods!"
Some people were once again spouting unpleasant words.
Among the human spectators, some people's hopes had turned back into despair.
But there were still others supporting the hero who represented them, shouting his name.
However, their hero truly seemed to have no strength left to fight, and those cries of support gradually weakened.
"Western Chu Hegemon King Xiang Yu? As the God of War, I raise a toast to you!"
Ares raised his wine cup, intending to see this human off.