Stirring Shadows

However, just as he was about to raise the wineglass to his lips, he suddenly felt an unusually oppressive aura.

Did this aura come from old man Zeus?

Looking over, Ares could not help but jump in fright. Zeus had become especially gloomy, like the prelude to a furious outburst.

W-What was going on?

How many years had it been since he had seen Zeus like this?

His pupils contracted slightly, and he noticed that Hermes beside Zeus also wore a somewhat grim expression.

What?

He looked toward the other pantheons, especially the Norse side.

The instant he saw Odin, Ares nearly got chills all over. Odin was even more terrifying, radiating an aura that seemed capable of destroying everything.

What exactly was happening?

He noticed that many Main Gods had suddenly turned exceptionally grave.

Thor had clearly won, so why did they all look so terrifying?

His gaze returned to the arena. Even Heimdallr, the host, had gone from excited to gloomy.

What the hell—!

With a crack, Ares, God of War, crushed the wineglass in his hand.

He finally understood why they were all acting like this.

It was not the gods' side that had won. The gods had lost!!!

"How could this be!"

He staggered to his feet, muttering in disbelief.

Most of the cheering gods also seemed to sense something and gradually fell silent.

"Hm? Sister Brunhilde, what's going on?"

Goll had originally believed they had lost the first round. Slumped on the ground, she too noticed that the atmosphere emanating from the gods had become wrong—unusually oppressive.

Especially among the Norse gods—

"Ugh!!!"

An incoherent whimper slipped from her lips because the supreme god Odin had also glanced in their direction.

That single glance was so terrifying that it felt as if her soul were about to be torn apart!

What had happened to make Lord Odin so furious?

Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at her sister. Her sister, who had seemed tense before, now had delight written across her face.

Sister Brunhilde had noticed Odin staring at her as well, so her smile became even brighter. Lord Odin's expression grew even darker, making Goll feel as though her little heart could not bear that gaze that truly seemed intent on killing someone.

What exactly was going on?

"Goll, get up and cheer for our victory!!!"

"Huh?"

What nonsense was Sister Brunhilde talking about? What did she mean, their victory?

Was she saying that Hegemon King Xiang Yu had won this match?

But the Hegemon King in the arena clearly no longer had the strength to fight. Even standing was a struggle for him.

Meanwhile, Lord Thor—

"Ah!"

A slightly hoarse sound escaped Goll's lips. Her eyes widened to their limit and trembled.

A red line had appeared around Lord Thor's neck—a red line that circled his entire neck.

The next instant, blood erupted, and Thor's head separated from his body.

"Lord Thor l-lost?"

She muttered in disbelief.

"What else? Can someone survive after their head falls off?"

As Brunhilde's words fell, the body of Thor, the Norse Berserker of Thunder, instantly filled with cracks like porcelain struck by a blow.

Then it truly shattered, turning into specks of light and vanishing into the air.

Thus, the god spectators who witnessed this scene fell completely silent.

As for Humanity's side—

"Th-They won?"

"Ah, of course they won. The other side disappeared."

"So the first match between humans and gods was won by humanity?"

"Humanity won!"

For a time, the cheers seemed as though they would burst through the heavens.

But how had he lost?

What had happened in that instant? How had Xiang Yu delivered such a fatal strike?

Host Heimdallr began explaining in a deep voice and played back a slow-motion replay.

When the two sides clashed, Thor's axe came crashing down toward Hegemon King Xiang Yu, seemingly intending to split him in two.

Xiang Yu had initially seemed to intend to block it with two arms, but that clearly would not be enough, so he used all four arms to hold crossed swords against it.

However, even the four swords could not withstand that terrifying strike and shattered.

Still, they held out for a brief instant, preventing Hegemon King Xiang Yu from being split in two. Instead, a massive wound was carved across his chest.

At that point, no matter how one looked at it, Thor had the upper hand. So why had Thor lost instead?

Xiang Yu's weapons had shattered, and all four of his arms were twisted to the point where he could barely raise them. How could he still attack?

As the ultra-slow-motion footage continued, everyone finally understood how he had done it.

While fragments of the four shattered swords were still in the air, Xiang Yu suddenly craned his head forward and bit down on a relatively long piece of blade.

As he crossed paths with Thor, the blade clenched in his teeth flashed across Thor's neck.

That was the instant most gods and humans had failed to see—the instant that decided the victor.

In other words, humanity had slain a god!

The Stirring Shadows

The gods who had been so arrogant before had endlessly insulted humanity.

Now, those gods could only grit their teeth and endure the accumulated anger and mockery from Humanity's side.

"This is humanity's victory!"

"See that? Why aren't you continuing to act so high and mighty?"

"Didn't you call us mere insects? In the end, you couldn't even beat insects?"

They had finally experienced what the humiliation humanity had suffered earlier felt like.

Thus, some gods could only remain silent and lower their heads.

Who knew whether they did not want humanity to see their shame and fury, or whether they were mourning Thor's death?

"Damn it, this isn't—this isn't a battle between humans and gods!"

"What is with that mechanical body? Is that even human?"

"This match isn't fair at all!"

A few stubborn gods began shouting in humiliation and rage.

They had actually used the word unfair and even claimed they did not acknowledge the duel, drawing ridicule from everyone.

"Enough!"

"Shut up."

"Are you not embarrassed enough already?"

The gods beside them, unable to stand it any longer, stepped in to stop them. Yet that god still insisted on making a scene.

The next instant, that god's entire body suddenly stiffened. With extreme terror in his eyes, he stared in one direction—the seat of the Norse supreme god.

The moment that figure entered his vision, the god's pupils lost their light, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

"Heimdallr, announce the result!!!"

The voice sounded as if it had come from the deepest depths of Hell, making Heimdallr shudder.

That voice belonged to Odin.

"In the final battle between gods and humanity, the first round has concluded with victory for Humanity's side—Western Chu Hegemon King Xiang Yu!!!"

"This is getting rather troublesome."

The one who said this was Shiva of the Indian Pantheon. He twisted his neck, producing a series of cracking sounds.

His blood was nearly boiling, so he intended to find Zeus and make him send Shiva into the next match no matter what.

He could not endure it any longer.

"Thor lost the first match. What should we do now, Uncle Odin?"

The instant Loki finished speaking, his expression changed drastically. He immediately darted away and readied himself to defend.

Yet it seemed as though nothing had happened. Odin had not done anything to him.

But the aura released in that instant had truly made Loki feel as if death were about to devour him.

So after giving an awkward laugh, he left.

Otherwise, if he stayed here and failed to control his mouth, Odin might really slaughter him.

Where should he go? Naturally, to the Greek Pantheon, to tease Ares, God of War.

But before heading there, he first went before someone else.

"Sister, is this really—"

Before Goll could finish saying the word won, her tongue seemed to lodge in her throat, and she could not speak.

In truth, she had been frightened by someone's sudden appearance. That person was Loki, the God of Trickery—a god who also made her shudder.

Brunhilde, who had likewise seen Loki appear before them, turned cold-faced.

"Congratulations, Brunhilde. Congratulations on winning the opening match."

He sounded as though he were sincerely offering congratulations, but to Brunhilde, it sounded utterly disgusting.

"So you're furious inside, aren't you? You don't need to force that smile."

Brunhilde shot back with a taunt, making the God of Trickery's face darken slightly.

But he changed expressions exceptionally quickly. In less than 0.01 seconds, he had returned to that irritating smile.

"Do you think Uncle Odin is angry? After all, Thor died."

Those words made Brunhilde's expression stiffen. The god she feared most was Odin.

In truth, Brunhilde had not held much hope of winning the first match. As long as the first match made the gods realize that humans truly possessed the possibility of slaying gods, it would have achieved her goal.

Therefore, Thor's defeat had not been part of her plan. She should not have provoked Odin in the first match.

But who could have expected them to truly win the first match? Thor had died, which surely had provoked Odin—after all, Thor was his son.

"Winning one match doesn't necessarily mean humanity's Ragnarok will be delayed. It might even accelerate it, Brunhilde~"

After saying that with a soft laugh, Loki vanished.

"Sister..."