Ragnarok Arena.
"Finally... we have finally arrived at the long-awaited Ragnarok! The second round!"
Heimdall continued to commentate for Ragnarok with twelve-tenths of his usual passion; one could say he was extremely dedicated to his job.
"The next great lord to take the stage is—the Father of the Gods!
No, he is the GFOC! The Father of the Entire Universe!
When the whim strikes him, he creates something from nothing; if it displeases him, he returns all to naught!
When he is in high spirits, the sun shines brightly in the heavens; when he is angry, the sky erupts with thunder and lightning!
He is the absolute and only tyrant!
The one who triggered the Titanomachy to determine the strongest god in the universe!
He did not hesitate to bear the infamy of slaying his own father, Cronus!
The battle-loving perverted god!
The God among Gods!
His name—Zeus!"
[Zeus~]
[Zeus~]
After Heimdall introduced Zeus, deafening cheers erupted from the side of the gods.
Then, an elegant yet slightly stirring melody echoed from the gods' entrance, causing the entire arena to fall silent.
Hermes walked out playing a violin, leading the way for Zeus while performing a piece in G major.
Behind him, Zeus performed a comical dance while blowing kisses to the goddesses in the surrounding stands.
As the melody grew more stirring, Zeus's figure began to slowly become taller and more robust.
Within just a few breaths, Zeus completed his physical transformation while continuing his dance.
At this moment, aside from his face which still looked like an old man's, no other part of Zeus's body resembled one at all.
A demonic, muscle-bound giant of an old man!
"Lord Zeus, I wish you success in battle."
Once Zeus reached his position, Hermes gave a respectful bow and then returned to the spectator stands.
Seeing Zeus in place, Heimdall turned his gaze back to the profile of the human fighter in his hand.
"The human side... eh?"
Heimdall scratched his head, thinking to himself that it was another name he recognized, but the background seemed entirely different...
Surely it couldn't be like the previous one—another existence so perverted it defied logic.
With a light cough, Heimdall continued the introduction:
"Everyone!
A traveler who has witnessed civilization return to nothingness and her homeland sink into dead silence—
She hails from the fallen Izumo, bearing the Naught-Banishing Blade, yet under the corrosion of Nihility, she became a Self-Annihilator walking on the edge of extinction!
She worships no gods and accepts no titles; simply because she walked the furthest in the shadow of Nihility, she possesses the power of an Emanator, yet she never admits to being one.
The Aeon IX is faceless and heartless, glancing at nothing, while she is the most silent incarnation of Nihility.
Her homeland is dead, and her memories are fading; she uses her scabbard as a shield and the power of Faded Dreams, never drawing her blade, yet able to slash through falsehoods.
Upholding meaning within meaninglessness, guarding what remains within extinction!
She is the ferryman of the netherworld, a Galaxy Ranger, the gravekeeper who holds a blade in the midst of despair.
Her name—
Acheron!"
[Acheron?! Isn't that...]
[Isn't that the one from the Underworld...?]
Even on the side of the gods, there was a sense of trepidation at the mention of this name.
Could it be that the fighter appearing this time isn't a pure human either?!
Then what was the point of starting this Ragnarok!
At this moment, the gods were all more or less bewildered.
Hades, who had come to the scene because Thor was completely crushed by a suspected person from another world in the last round and because Zeus was appearing in this one, couldn't help but frown slightly.
The incarnation of Acheron should still be somewhere in the Underworld without having left...
He was very clear on that point.
Therefore, this fighter Acheron was likely just like that Morax from the previous round—not a person of this world.
While he was speculating, an eerie aura began to permeate the human fighter's exit.
In an instant, the vision of every living being present blurred, and they found that the scenery before them had changed.
A calm, waveless water surface, a starry sky with shooting stars, and—
A massive black hole standing on the water's surface not far away.
!!!
This scene frightened the gods into hurriedly rubbing their eyes, only to find they were still in their seats in the spectator stands.
One person having a hallucination might be an accident, two or three might be a coincidence, but everyone falling into the same hallucination together was definitely not normal.
So, the culprit behind all this...
Everyone fell silent, cold sweat trickling down their temples as they stared intently at the human side's position.
Tap... tap...
A woman with a cold expression and long deep-purple hair slowly walked out, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
Her eyes, which were the only part clearly visible, gazed forward with extreme calm; it was impossible to tell what she was thinking from her face.
"Mei!!! Good luck!!!"
"..."
Acheron was slightly stunned for a moment, then looked up toward where Kiana was. She narrowed her eyes slightly, nodded, and said faintly:
"Mhm."
On Kiana's side, Mei looked at Acheron, whose appearance was extremely similar to her own, and pondered while stroking her chin.
She knew this person—a Self-Annihilator of Nihility, a Galaxy Ranger who had walked extremely far on the Path of Nihility.
Furthermore, the other's name had really caught her attention; she had been momentarily stunned when she first noticed this person.
Because the other's name was—Raiden 'Wansen-no-Kami' Mei!
But she soon came to terms with it; perhaps this person was simply her counterpart in the universe.
"Kiana, after the match, I will share a portion of the authority of 'conquest' with her to help her conquer the corrosion of Nihility."
"Okay! Speaking of which, I totally forgot to help her handle that. You're as attentive as ever, Mei!"
Kiana had a look of realization and smacked her palm, then stuck out her tongue, clearly having forgotten such an important matter.
"Constantly resisting Nihility with one's own will can be seen, in a way, as conquering Nihility with one's own strength. It fits your Path quite well; she truly is your counterpart, Mei."
Bronya said while looking at Acheron.
"She... how does she compare to the previous one?"
Cold sweat trickled down Brunhilde's temple as she looked at the indifferent Acheron below and asked.
Göll hugged Brunhilde fearfully, clearly frightened by the illusion just now.
"The previous one was just an avatar, and that avatar had the power of an Emanator. Emanators, at a minimum, possess the power to easily destroy a star system. The one appearing this time is also an Emanator."
"Easily destroy a star system...!!?"
Brunhilde's pupils shook slightly, and her elegant composure instantly crumbled.
In the end, are they the gods, or who are we...
The gods of their own world seemed like little girls in front of them.
"Well, Hilde, don't be discouraged. It's not necessarily a bad thing to have your horizons broadened."
"I expect that after we leave this time, this world will undergo an upgrade. At that time, the power level of the living beings in this world will have a qualitative leap."
Bronya said while analyzing the world.
This world really has quite the nerve...
Shearing wool right under the eyes of the three of them, secretly using the power left behind by Zhongli's techniques to upgrade its own world.
But they didn't bother to care. It wasn't like it was trying to secretly cause trouble; the world itself was quite humble, just picking up scraps here to eat.
Now, no one in the entire arena dared to speak, all quietly watching the two people facing off in the center of the field.
Zeus also withdrew his casual, playful smile. At this moment, he gradually displayed the majesty befitting a King of Gods.
His intuition told him that if he didn't give his all in this fight, he might end up dying even more miserably than Thor.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"