Chapter 86: The 1st Challenge

A special Thanks to my Divine Eminence tier patron Daniel O'Brien & Pure for supporting me on Patreon ~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support.

A special Thanks to my Celestial Emperor tier patrons Nathaniel Burdett, Commander Jimmy & Zedd 780 for supporting me on Patreon ~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~ Thanks for the immense support.

---

"If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?"

- Lelouch vi Britannia, (Code Geass)

---

<Atem POV> 

"So, I would get everything he has, huh? By the way, does he even own anything? He was a warlord before but currently, isn't he just a criminal?" I asked Zoya with a slightly displeased look on my face. I would have gladly fought if he owned the Chitauri army since that meant I would become the new master of the Chitauri after defeating him. But the reality was that the Chitauri army, Ronan was presently commanding, belonged to Thanos. I was pretty sure they wouldn't accept me as their king even if I were to crush Ronan in some honor duel.

"You are right, master. Ronan is indeed a Kree criminal who is wanted in more than 27 star systems and 2 galaxies. And this army isn't even his. But he was still the Supreme Accuser of the Krees once upon a time, meaning he should at least have some hefty credits to his name if nothing else. Also, even though he has defected from the Krees due to his lack of respect for the Supreme Intelligence or the peace agreement between the Krees and the Xandarians, he still belongs to a wealthy noble Kree household. So, you might be able to claim some of the land and wealth his family possessed back in Kree." Zoya dutifully answered my inquiries. 

"So, if he wins the duel, he gets my entire army and all the wealth I have accumulated including my planet. But if I win, I only get some measly credits. Doesn't sound that fair, does it?" I snorted, deciding just to let the para-demons slaughter Ronan and his army for me. 

However, before I could give the order, a familiar sound surprised me, it was the notification chime of the system. 

[Ding! New Mission Obtained]

[Mission Title: A Duel of Honor and Dominion] 

[Mission Description: Accept the challenge issued by the warlord, Ronan the Accuser, and partake in the dominion honor duel according to its conditions. Win the honor duel proving yourself as the honorable god everyone thinks you are, thereby spreading your tale as a true divine hero] 

[Mission Rewards: The blueprint for a Kree cosmic rod/universal weapon, an intergalactic map, and 3x increase in fame among four nearby galaxies as a fledgling emperor] 

[Mission Penalty: You will be known by the Kree and Nova empires as a not-so-honorable god and emperor] 

[Accept / Reject] 

'... A mission? It isn't offering any OP rewards, but I guess I could use some fame since I have decided to stop hiding after all. Also, I am quite curious about the universal weapon blueprint... However, it almost seems to me like this system just issued this mission because it doesn't want me to take the easy way out.' I pondered with an annoyed click of my tongue. 

"Accept the mission," I muttered with a grumble before using my telekinesis to stop Gamora from advancing toward Brunhilde again. I could sense that the Valkyrie was quite annoyed at being interrupted and thus sported a serious look on her face. She wanted to end the battle fast and wasn't going to hold back against Gamora. Now, the green-skinned female warrior might be an amazing fighter in her own right but in front of someone like Brunhilde who was used to battling gods and fighting wars against divine creatures, she wouldn't last long. The Asgardian warrior was powerful enough to end the daughter of Thanos with just a single punch.

"I have sent your response to their main ship, master. I hope they will respond soon... at least for their sake." The floating Mother-box responded while "staring" at the grand battle still happening in space where the para-demons were winning by slowly dominating the Chitauri army.

Anyway, while me and Zoya were having a calm discussion about the duel, Gamora on the other hand was doing her best to resist my telekinetic hold on her while yelling at Brunhilde, "What is going on? Are you using some sort of space magic on me? Let me down and fight me head-on if you have the guts."

"Hmm? It's not me who is using magic on you. If I were to use any of my runes on you, you would have already been deaf, not hanging in mid-air like this. No, unfortunately, I am not that kind, at least not in the time of war. You have someone else to thank for that." Valkyrie replied with a snort while sheathing her sword. 

"Someone else? Someone else ambushed me? Who was it?" Gamora yelled in anger as she scanned the surrounding battlefield, her eyes filled with fury. She quickly spotted Susan, who was still decimating the Chitauri troops, seemingly indifferent to everything else. However, realizing that Susan hadn't even noticed her, Gamora dismissed the thought that she was the cause of the situation she was in. So, her search continued until her gaze finally landed on me.

"YOU" She narrowed her eyes at me, trying to take a good look at me from the distance. The moment she saw one of my fingers suggestively pointing at her, she was quite accurately able to guess that I was the one responsible for holding her in the air with my telekinesis. 

"How ya doing?" I grinned, making a peace sign with my hands to annoy her even more. For some reason, I really wanted to see how much I could anger her before her green skin changed shades.

As Gamora clenched her teeth in anger, it looked like she was preparing herself to yell out the worst threats and insults she could possibly think of, but before she could do that, Zoya's announcement interrupted her, "Master, Ronan has proposed some conditions in this duel. If you agree, the dominion duel can be officially initiated. Also, the warlord seems to have ordered his forces to stop attacking our army, maybe we should do the same to show respect to the rules of the duel." 

"I understand. Proceed with the order for a temporary ceasefire. Maybe suggest the troops take a juice break or something. By the way, what are the terms of the duel? I hope he's not attempting to set a trap for me, otherwise, this is going to end much worse for him than he could ever imagine," I calmly inquired while gently placing Gamora back onto her hoverbike since she appeared to have relaxed a bit, likely having already received news of the ceasefire through her own communicator. 

I also sent a quick mental transmission to Susan to inform her of the temporary truce and tell her to stop killing more Chitauri for now although that hardly seemed to matter much since she had already killed ninety percent of the Chitauri troops that had invaded the planet before. 

"No, master. It doesn't appear that he is attempting to cheat in the strictest sense of the term; however, he is certainly looking to improve his odds of winning by proposing that the duel be altered from traditional one-on-one combat to three separate matches within this dominion duel—three individuals from their side versus three from ours. Also, even though in essence, this is going to be a death duel, death is completely optional here depending on whether the loser has admitted defeat or not at the end of the battle and whether the winner wants to end him or not. If you agree to the conditions, then we can proceed to begin the duel, if not, we can try to negotiate with him for more favorable terms and conditions." Cortana informed. 

"... Three of them against three of us, huh? Fine, no need to negotiate. I accept the conditions. Tell Ronan, to get out of his little hiding hole, we need to start the duel as soon as possible. My time is precious." I loudly announced with a booming voice, making sure that armies of both sides could hear my words, especially Ronan. 

Whooshh The primary Kree spacecraft gently descended onto the ocean of Morag, before a section of its top retracted and a figure with blue skin, clad in metallic armor, emerged with a confident gait. He strode out while surveying his surroundings, wielding a weapon that looked a lot like a battle hammer.

"So, you are the one who has declared war against ME, Ronan, the Supreme Accuser." Ronan declared while walking on the hull of his spaceship, his gaze scanning my figure like a predator looking at its prey. "Well, rejoice, for you will soon meet your end at the hands of the mightiest Kree alive. Your army will help me eradicate the diseases called Xandar and the Nova empire. It will force them to renounce their paltry gods and beg at my feet for mercy once they experience the true power of the Supreme Accuser just like you are going to now." Ronan confidently stated while looking in a certain direction.

Right away, another Kree man wearing heavy, red-colored armor quite similar to Ronan, flew toward the Kree warlord on a hoverbike before he too landed on the hull of the ship. As Ronan slowly backed away, the newly appeared man flexed his muscles before facing me with an evil smile on his lips. 

"So, who is the first one going to die at the hands of my servant, Korath the Punisher?" Ronan asked while glaring at me with a challenge.

He was probably expecting me to go and face the first contestant from his side on my own. That way, even if Korath were to lose, Ronan would still be able to observe my fighting style and techniques up to an extent and prepare himself adequately for that. However, unfortunately for him, not only was I too OP for the current him but, I also had no wish to fight one of his servants. 

"Susan, you think you have become better at fighting because of the experience you gained from today's war, right? Let's see if you have truly improved or not. I want you to be my first contestant. Can you, do it?" I asked in a soft voice, looking at her directly into her eyes.

"... Yes, you can count on me, Atem. I will show you how capable a Storm can be without anybody slowing them down." Susan said with a nod, smiling at me before willing the forcefield she was in, towards the ship where Korath was currently standing.

She had a cold and determined look on her face as she floated toward the makeshift battle arena, a look that truthfully suited her quite a bit... just like a superheroine that had slowly been corrupted by a villain.

---

GIVE me POWAH-STONES💎💎💎. 

You can join my Discord channel using the link below:

https://discord.gg/WYVfYe2KNS 

Also, you can check out my Patreøn page as well to read ahead or to support your amazing author. 

patreon.com/God_Doom

Right now, I have about 20 chapters in advance there. 

(My Patreon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So, whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)