Chapter 32

"Hoho~ Young man, you do know you won't be able to do anything without a... Völundr, right? So, where is it?" As he spoke, his body started bulking up to grotesque proportions. He now stood at 8 feet tall, towering over me. 'Gross, but oddly inspiring, having a physique like that. His legs are almost as wide as me.'

"So boy, how do you expe—"

I launched at him before he could finish, pushing off my toes and blitzing forward. As I got close, I delivered a roundhouse kick straight to his chin, snapping his jaws shut. He was airborne for a moment before I grabbed his leg and hurled him to the other side of the stadium.

*Boom* Rubble collapsed onto him.

The stadium fell silent. I didn't turn my back on where I'd thrown him, I knew better. 'I haven't even used Muramasa yet.'

And just as I expected, Zeus rose from the rubble as if nothing had happened.

"Hoho~ That was quite a good kick, boy. Want to see mine?"

He dashed towards me, and I braced myself. 'This is going to hurt.'

I summoned Muramasa just as Zeus's foot swung toward me.

"Divine Axe"

The force of the kick was overwhelming, dust shot up, and a sonic boom echoed through the arena.

When the dust cleared, the crowd gasped. I was blocking Zeus's kick with my katana. I took the opening and ran Muramasa across his leg, slicing part of his thigh before he backed away. Blood dripped from both Muramasa and Zeus.

Heimdall's voice boomed across the arena. "Ryou blocked Zeus's attack! Then countered with a sword strike! Who would have expected such a turn of events?!"

'My arm feels broken... that was a bad idea.'

Zeus glanced down at the wound on his leg and then at Muramasa. "Young man, what is that blade?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I launched a low "Cursed Slash" at him, hoping to catch him off guard. But Zeus responded instantly, striking with a "Near Lightspeed Jab"—a punch delivered at 0.01 seconds.

He obliterated the attack I sent his way and charged at me again. I forced cursed magic through my brain and eyes, heightening my senses to keep up with his attacks.

-With Brunhilde and Göll-

'Insane.' That was the only thought running through the sisters' minds. They had been certain it was over when Zeus used Divine Axe and Ryou didn't block. Göll had even turned away, unable to watch, until her sister told her to look again.

"Sister, do you know what that sword is?" Göll asked nervously, her voice trembling.

Brunhilde didn't answer, but someone else did as they approached the sisters.

"It's Muramasa, said to be a cursed sword," came the voice of Kojiro Sasaki, the History's Strongest Loser. "I didn't even know I had a descendant."

He stood next to the Valkyrie sisters, overlooking the battle below.

Brunhilde took a moment to gather herself before asking, "Are you able to keep up with this fight? I can't see anything other than when they stop."

Kojiro shook his head. "Barely... but I'm not too disheartened. Judging by the facial expressions of those Gods over there, they can't keep up either."

He was right. Aside from a few of the more powerful Gods, the rest were lost.

Brunhilde suddenly started laughing, catching Göll off guard.

"Sister, are you alright?" Göll asked, worried.

Brunhilde's laughter grew louder, almost manic, as she covered half her face with one hand and shouted, "Alright?! I'm fucking ecstatic! Look at those Gods! Haha!"

Göll chuckled nervously at her sister's outburst but couldn't shake the unease as she looked back down at the fight.

-Back with Ryou-

My body was screaming in pain, mostly my head and eyes. I dodged another Near Lightspeed Jab and barely avoided Zeus's Divine Kick. The relentless onslaught was getting harder to withstand. I channeled half of my remaining cursed magic through Muramasa, focusing everything I had into a single, piercing strike. I lunged forward, my blade slicing through the air, and landed it dead center in Zeus's chest.

He was blasted back several feet, his body crashing into the ground before collapsing in a heap. 'Fucking finally.'

Dropping to one knee, I felt the toll of the battle on my body. Cuts, bruises, and burns marked every inch of my skin. My right arm was definitely fractured from the earlier exchange.

'He's done.' I thought as I caught my breath, the crowd falling into shocked silence.

Heimdall's voice echoed through the arena, "Zeus is down! He is decisively down! Ryou is the—"

Suddenly, Heimdall's words were cut off, his mouth clamped shut by thick, meaty fingers. Zeus was back on his feet, steam rising from his body like a raging furnace. The eerie silence returned, but now it was laced with disbelief and terror.

Brunhilde stopped laughing, her expression shifting into shock.

Zeus grabbed the wound on his chest, forcing it shut with his bare hands, a sickening crack as his bones realigned. He stood tall, pointing a finger at me, his voice reverberating across the arena.

"Boy, I don't sense the fires of hatred for the Gods in your eyes... Tell me, what is it that drives you to fight?"

The arena fell deathly still. Every God and human locked their eyes on me, waiting for my answer.

I glanced up at the sky, the memories flooding back, the destruction, Rias's body obliterated, my world reduced to nothing. Rage surged through me, burning away the exhaustion.

"Why?" I muttered, more to myself than anyone.

I began to cycle cursed magic through my entire body, the power coursing through me like a dam breaking. A thick red haze enveloped me, swirling with dark energy, choking the air around me.

"Why?" I repeated, louder this time, my voice trembling with fury.

The images flashed before me again, Rias's broken body, the death of everything.

I fixed my gaze back on Zeus, my purple eyes blazing with cursed magic.

"I fight because I was promised something no man could refuse. Something beyond gods, beyond this fight." My words were laced with venom, but the pain was undeniable.

The silence hung heavy once again, but Zeus simply laughed. A loud, booming laugh that shook the arena.

"Haha! That's hilarious! I wonder what that bitch promised you!"

His body began to change again, but this time, instead of grotesque bulging muscles, his form shrank in mass, becoming leaner, sharper, more dangerous.

I felt my instincts kick in, my body moving on its own as I shifted into a stance with Muramasa held in front of me. My right foot slid forward, positioning myself to either lunge or dodge at a moment's notice. My grip tightened around the sword's hilt. 'Seeing it in person is truly horrifying. He now feels on par with Great Red and Ophis.'

Before Ryou stood Zeus in his ultimate form, Adamas. By compressing all his muscles to their absolute limit, Zeus had become a walking force of destruction, his body nearly indestructible, all his divine power concretrated into every movement.

The weight of his presence was suffocating, like staring into the heart of a storm.

"This fight has only just begun, boy" Zeus said, his voice low but heavy with promise.