A man as burly as if carved from stone finally allowed himself to exhale in relief.
But after making the motion of relief, he immediately glanced around, ensuring no one had noticed him, and then—
No, this time, he merely sighed inwardly.
This man was the sixth of the Twelve Olympians, the God of War—Ares.
As the God of War, he couldn't afford to show signs of being shaken so easily. A war god must exude unshakable composure, appearing utterly reliable and unflappable before others.
Thus, he was relieved that no one had witnessed his earlier moment of tension—it would have damaged his image.
There was no denying that this "Ragnarök" had exceeded his expectations.
A human had pushed Thor, the mightiest berserker of the North, to such extremes, forcing him to unleash an ultimate technique the gods had never before witnessed.
And now, the outcome was finally decided.
The scales had tipped decisively in favor of the gods. All that remained was for Thor to deliver the final blow to the human, who no longer had the strength to fight, and victory would belong to the divine side.
The excitement surging within the God of War Ares nearly compelled him to raise his fist in triumph.
But he restrained himself. Composure was key. Let the other gods express this joy on his behalf.
"Roar roar roar roar roar roar roar....!"
A deafening roar indeed erupted from the spectator stands, cheering for Thor's victory.
"See that? Humans, this is the power of gods!"
"Kneel, humans!"
"Submit to the gods!"
Some were again spewing unpleasant words.
Among the human spectators, some saw their hopes turn back into despair.
Yet there were still those supporting their representative hero, shouting his name.
However, their hero truly seemed to have no strength left to fight, and these supportive cheers gradually weakened.
"Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu? I, the God of War, toast you!"
Ares also raised his wine cup, ready to send off this human.
Yet, just as he was about to bring the wine cup to his lips, he suddenly sensed an oppressive aura.
Was this aura coming from the old man Zeus?
When he looked over, Ares couldn't help but shudder. Zeus's expression had turned unusually dark, as if he were on the verge of a furious outburst.
W-what was going on?
How many years had it been since he last saw Zeus like this?
His pupils contracted slightly as he also noticed Hermes beside Zeus, whose face was similarly shadowed.
What?
He turned his gaze toward the other mythologies, particularly the Norse side.
The moment he saw Odin, Ares nearly recoiled in horror. Odin was even more terrifying, exuding an aura as if he were about to annihilate everything.
What in the world was happening?
He noticed that the expressions of many chief gods had abruptly turned grave.
Thor had won, so why had everyone suddenly become so terrifying?
His eyes returned to the arena, where Heimdall, the announcer, had also shifted from excitement to gloom.
What on earth—!
Crack!
The wine cup in Ares's hand shattered under his grip.
He finally understood why everyone was acting this way.
It wasn't that the gods had won—they had lost!!!
"How could this be?!"
Staggering to his feet, he muttered in disbelief.
Most of the gods, who had been cheering moments ago, seemed to sense something as well, gradually falling silent.
"Huh? Sister Brunhilde, what's going on?"
Göll, who had thought they had lost the first round, was slumped on the ground when she noticed the oppressive atmosphere emanating from the gods.
Especially from the Norse gods—
"Eek!!!"
A wordless cry escaped her lips as the supreme god Odin cast a glance in their direction.
That single glance was so terrifying it felt as if her soul were being torn apart!
What had happened to provoke Odin's wrath?
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her sister—who had seemed tense earlier—now wearing a look of joy.
Her sister had clearly noticed Odin glaring at her, and her smile only grew brighter. In response, Odin's expression darkened further, his murderous gaze so intense that Göll felt her heart might give out.
What was happening?
"Göll, stand up and cheer for our victory!!!"
"Huh?"
What nonsense was Sister Brunhilde spouting? What victory?
Was she saying Xiang Yu had won this match?
But on the battlefield, the Overlord was barely standing, utterly drained of strength.
Meanwhile, Lord Thor—
"Ah!"
A hoarse sound escaped Göll's lips as her eyes widened to their limit, trembling uncontrollably.
A thin red line had appeared around Lord Thor's neck—a perfect circle.
In the next instant, blood erupted as Thor's head separated from his body.
"Lord Thor… lost?"
She muttered in disbelief.
"Obviously. Can someone survive after losing their head?"
As Brunhilde's words fell, Thor, the Norse's mightiest Thunder Berserker, began to crack like fragile porcelain, his body instantly covered in fissures.
Then, he truly shattered, dissolving into motes of light that vanished into the air.
The divine spectators who witnessed this scene fell into complete silence.
As for the human spectators—
"Th-this is a win?"
"Ah, of course it's a win. The opponent has vanished."
"So you're saying... in the first battle between man and god... humanity won?"
"Humanity won!"
For a moment, the cheers seemed capable of piercing the heavens.
But how exactly was the loss incurred?
What happened in that instant? How was such a fatal strike achieved?
The announcer Heimdall began narrating in a solemn tone as slow-motion replays commenced.
The moment of collision showed Thor's axe blade swinging heavily toward Overlord Xiang Yu, seemingly intent on cleaving him in two.
Xiang Yu initially appeared to attempt blocking with both arms, but realizing this would be insufficient, he crossed all four arms wielding swords to withstand the blow.
Yet even four swords couldn't endure this terrifying strike—they shattered completely.
Still, they held for the briefest moment, preventing Xiang Yu from being split apart, though the impact left a massive wound across his chest.
At this point, everything suggested Thor held the advantage. So why was it Thor who ultimately lost?
With Xiang Yu's weapons shattered and all four arms twisted beyond use, what possible attack could he have launched?
The super slow-motion replay revealed the answer.
As the broken sword fragments still hung in midair, Xiang Yu suddenly lunged forward and clamped his teeth around one of the longer blade fragments.
When he and Thor passed each other, this blade clenched between his teeth flashed across Thor's neck.
This was the decisive instant most gods and humans had missed—the moment that determined victory.
In other words... a human had slain a god!
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