Chapter 57 – Divine Olympics!
Hello there!
Here's the chapter of the week!
Enjoy it peasants!
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Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
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Pov. Third-person.
A feast on Olympus was what the Norse gods greeted, with Frigg sitting at the table with Baldr right beside her and Thor could be seen sitting a little farther away, at a nearby window, as he had decided the conversation was not interest for him...
Though Thor always looked at Zeus and Poseidon carefully.
Most of the deities were present at the banquet hosted by Zeus, but most were just eating and didn't seem to mind the guests.
Only Rhea showed excitement, which could be clearly seen due to her chatting nonstop with Frigg, choosing to sit next to her.
"–And so that terrible monster was defeated by my son, with his brilliant plan and the sickle's help," Rhea said with a proud smile.
Frigg looked interested but unimpressed.
"Well, what about your kids? What feats did they perform to echo through divine eternity?" asked Rhea, looking at Frigg expectantly.
Frigg looked coy with the question.
"Well, my kids are a little more troublesome. But the most prominent achievement comes from my son Thor, who annihilated 1000 Jotuns... While drunk," Frigg said, with a slightly embarrassed smile.
Rhea looked stunned... But by the end of the answer, she was in disbelief.
"…Drunk?" asked Rhea.
"...Very drunk...The bloodthirsty drunkard is one of the titles he won from the people," Frigg said, embarrassed.
For the Nordic mother, although consumption of mead is a cultural thing, starting to drink alcohol from an early age, she considers her red-haired son to be a little too addicted to mead...
"...My brother has his quirks, goddess Rhea, but I assure you he is a great example to my Asgardian people when it comes to their relentless quest to become someone strong; in fact, he's my inspiration," Baldr said, with a gentle smile at Rhea.
Rhea didn't seem so convinced, as the great Greek mother only had contact with a few deities with such an appetite for alcohol...
Her grandson, Dionisio, was a good example.
To Rhea, Dionysus was far from a fighting god.
In fact, the most combat-addicted deity would be Ares, the prince of Olympus, son of Zeus and Themis.
A being that ended up growing up and living by violence, mainly due to its own volatile birth from the combination of Zeus' nature and Themis' nature.
Ares grew up to be considered an aberration that always yearned for combat, so much so that the god began to have the particularity of covering the bed with the skin of warriors fallen by his hand.
Themis, devastated by what her son had become, secluded herself in the hidden chamber of the Delphic temple, where she began advising humans with prophecies when Apollo was not present.
Ares, however, cared little about his mother leaving, the young god only cared about one thing...
Fight.
"…So you are the Crown Prince of Asgard?" asked a voice.
The voice belonged to a young man who was sitting across from Baldr. Being described as someone of great beauty, albeit with a bloodthirsty aura, sporting long blonde hair similar to the current king of Olympus, and glowing red eyes that emitted a dangerous glow as if they were flames.
The young man was the crown prince of Olympus...
Ares, god of the violent war.
Baldr reacted politely to the question that had an obvious answer.
"... Indeed..." said Baldr.
Ares just snorted in response.
"Interesting... You seem to be a tough guy," Ares said, with a confident smile.
Baldr, however, only needed a second to respond in a way…not well understood by most people at the table.
"That's what she said!" said Baldr with a smile.
The silence that followed was caused by the confusion of most of the table's occupants.
Baldr, noticing the silence, was uncomfortable and, surprisingly, confused. The young god of light then looked at the only figure he could trust in this uncomfortable moment...
Thor.
"…Wasn't the time right?" asked Baldr.
Thor just smiled.
"No little shit, the time was perfect, you're just way ahead of your time," Thor said with a small smile.
Baldr smiled and waved in response before turning his gaze to Ares, who was looking even more confused.
"Don't worry too much about my kids… They're just a little eccentric, but then again, who isn't? Right?" said Frigg, shrugging her shoulders.
Baldr and Thor just smiled at their mother, while Rhea gave a knowing smile.
"…I think I understand what it's like," Rhea said, looking at a specific spot on the table.
The place was occupied by Rhea's youngest son and the current ruler and king of Olympus.
Zeus.
And right now he was doing something that needed his full attention...
"So tell me... Do you have other uses for these talented hands?" asked Zeus, wiggling his brows with a smile as he looked at a Nymph, who was pouring wine.
The Nymph only gave a polite smile, but it was noticeable that she was nervous about being approached by the King of Olympus so blatantly.
Rhea then looked at Frigg and gave an apologetic smile.
"Unfortunately, some of my kids are more eccentric than others," Rhea said.
"Oh... I see," said Frigg.
It was then that Baldr chose to comment on something else, to get out of a possibly embarrassing situation.
"So... What do you guys do to pass the time around here?" asked Baldr curiously.
The hall was silent, all the Greek deities stopped to think about an answer, yet nothing came to mind due to a simple fact...
They didn't have much to do for fun, mainly because they had just won a war and the vast majority went into hiding during the Typhon crisis.
Zeus, noticing the scenario, in addition to having the opportunity to impress potential lovers, chose this moment to speak.
"To celebrate our victory, I propose… Games!" said Zeus, getting up from the table and saying aloud, his voice like thunder.
Everyone was immediately interested, after all, any opportunity a deity has to have fun will get their full attention.
"... Games?" asked Baldr, tilting his head in confusion.
"Have you never heard of competitions? Ha! How weird," Ares said.
Baldr, however, didn't look offended, and actually wondered if his pantheon had some sort of competition between deities...
The answer was kind of obvious.
"Our people were not created this way. The closest thing to competition is dispute resolution in the Valhalla arena... In short, we don't play games," said Thor, who had approached the table.
Hera, who was next to Rhea, stared at Thor's facial features in silence… as if she saw something familiar.
"...weird," said Hera, whispering to herself.
If Hera didn't know better and wasn't a virgin, she'd say Thor was the father of the only child she ever had and will have...
Hephaestus.
But while Hera was lost in thought, the god Ares didn't like the statements.
"Are you saying we 'play'?" Ares asked, narrowing his eyes.
Thor only raised an eyebrow in confusion, though he soon shrugged.
"It was a way of speaking, I didn't exactly mean that," said Thor.
Zeus, looking for an opportunity, soon approached.
"So how about we have the first friendly competition between you Asgardians and us Olympians in some non-fatal competitions," Zeus said with a smile.
Thor looked at Zeus apathetically.
"I don't see a good reason to—" Thor said, but stopped when he remembered something.
Thor then grabbed Baldr, who was confused by the action, and they walked away for just a few seconds...
When the princes returned, they both had a smile on their faces.
"If it's a competition, then I suppose there's some prize for the winner," Baldr said with a smile.
Zeus frowned.
"Is there anything more valuable than the glory of victory?" asked Zeus.
That didn't make the Asgardian princes lose their smiles.
"While glory is important, an award for the winner should be a more effective motivation," said Thor.
Zeus paused to think, though he glanced briefly at Mjolnir, which was attached to the golden belt, the Megingjörð, with a look of interest.
"I like the hammer," Zeus said, commenting on the weapon.
Thor just shrugged, but an even bigger smile on his face.
"... It's all yours... Thurisaz," said Thor, pulling Mjolnir from his belt.
As soon as Thor said the command word 'Thurisaz' Mjolnir expanded, changing in size to giant size.
Thor then placed Mjolnir on the pristine ground of Olympus.
"... You just need to lift it," said Thor.
Zeus, who flashed a confident and arrogant smile, thinking he got a new weapon for free, soon stepped forward and grabbed Mjolnir's hilt and made a move to lift it up...
Just to Mjolnir didn't move off the ground.
Zeus, frowning, gripped the hilt with both hands and tried to lift Mjolnir again...
Only to fail spectacularly.
"Urrgg!!! What kind of magic is this?!" questioned Zeus, sweating, while still trying to lift Mjolnir off the ground.
Thor only had a smile on his face, but it was Baldr who answered.
"My brother's hammer, Mjolnir, is undoubtedly a rather peculiar divine weapon, this is due to the fact that, unlike most weapons, Mjolnir does not choose the wielder, in fact, anyone can wield it, as long as they have enough strength," said Baldr.
Athena, who approached, soon questioned.
"What do you mean, 'just be strong enough'? Are you referring to willpower?" asked Athena.
Baldr, however, surprised most by shaking his head.
"No… Physical strength" said Baldr.
This seemed to stun most of the Greek pantheon.
"How... Primitive," said Athena, frowning as she looked at Mjolnir...
Now Zeus and Poseidon were trying to lift Mjolnir with all their might.
"Come on brothers! You can do it!" said a female voice, with a inspiring tone.
The voice was Hestia, who was cheering for Zeus and Poseidon, with two flags that had their symbol respectively in her hands.
"It may be primitive, but no one has been able to lift Mjolnir apart from my brother so far..." said Baldr.
Athena soon raised an eyebrow.
"Then how does he manage to accomplish such a feat?" asked Athena in disbelief.
Baldr just smiled and pointed at Thor, but before Baldr could answer Athena's question, Thor chose that moment to speak.
"Thanks to my gauntlets, Járngreipr, and my belt, Megingjörð, I can safely hold Mjolnir," said Thor.
This, however, was misunderstood by all who were unfamiliar with Thor's plight...
It is wrong to think that Thor is the one who needs gauntlets and a magical belt to hold Mjolnir.
The truth was the complete opposite.
It was Mjolnir that needed Thor to use two limiters simultaneously, so there was no risk of Thor breaking it by accident.
This, however, was not known to anyone but a few deities, Baldr being one of them.
Most, even most Asgardians, thought that Thor used his gauntlets and belt to be strong enough to lift Mjolnir.
"Then let's do the following, two competitions, in case of your victory, I will gladly give my gauntlets and belt, in order to gain possession of Mjolnir. However, in the case of the Asgardian victory, the rewards for us might be Cronus' sickle and... Do you want something Baldr?" asked Thor, looking at his younger brother.
Baldr paused to consider consideration for a few seconds before answering.
"I heard of a blacksmith god who is absent... I don't want to insult you brother, but I would like something made by the hands of a different culture than ours, maybe because the forging method is different, the result is as unique as the technique used," said Baldr, giving Thor an apologetic smile.
Thor didn't look insulted, in fact, he had a knowing smile on his face as he looked at Baldr.
"...Nanna?" asked Thor.
Baldr, surprisingly, blushed in response.
"...Yes," said Baldr.
Thor even patted Baldr on the back in acknowledgment.
"So… we have a deal?" asked Thor, looking at Zeus.
Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon looked at Thor.
"Deal!" said the Greek gods.
And so, a few minutes later, in an arena made of gold and filled with Greek supernatural beings such as Nymphs, Satyrs, Centaurs, Harpies, Sirens, and Empusas, cheering for the competitors.
Several Greek deities also attended the site, one of them was Hephaestus, who was in a bad mood due to being forced out of the forge.
"I don't understand, why am I here? I won't even compete! I just created some materials for the competition," said Hephaestus, complaining to his mother who was sitting next to him.
Hera gave a knowing smile.
"I understand you don't like to come out of your forge, my son, but I ask you to remember the promise you made to me about participating in important events," said Hera.
Hephaestus just grumbled.
"The king, Zeus, just created this event..." said Hephaestus.
Hera went to answer her son's dissatisfied grumbles, but a voice ended up interrupting.
"Excuse me, Hera," said the voice.
When Hera looked at the source of the voice, she saw a deity who ended up becoming her and her son's best friend due to coincidences...
Aphrodite.
The goddess of love ended up being the target of many male Olympian gods, even Zeus, though the goddess firmly refuses on the grounds that she would be exclusive to her future husband...
Aeolia.
The problem is that when Aphrodite learned of the destruction of Knossos, she soon went to the underworld with the biggest smile in the world and demanded Aeolia's soul from Hades...
The problem is, the god of the underworld claimed that the soul of no one named Aeolia was to be found in the underworld.
This resulted in Aphrodite's wrath which shook the Greek underworld to its foundations and only stopped with the intervention of Hades.
The goddess then believed that Aeolia was very much alive, just in another location. During that time of searching, she met Hephaestus, who claimed to consider Aeolia a father figure, this caused Aphrodite to get so close to Hephaestus, and they became friends.
Aphrodite also met Hera, and considered her a close friend, although the two always argued over a specific title that both goddesses aspired to...
The most beautiful goddess.
When the two argued about this title, Hephaestus soon walked away claiming he had a headache...
"May I sit here?" asked Aphrodite, pointing to the vacant seat.
Hera just smiled in response.
"But of course! Sit down! At least I will have someone to talk to other than my son who is quite upset at the moment" said Hera, looking at Hephaestus with a teasing smile.
Hephaestus just grumbled even more, while Aphrodite cracked a smile.
It was then that the entire audience looked towards the center of the arena when they noticed an Empusa that appeared on the spot.
"Greetings! To honor the victory over the Titans and the terrible Typhon, our king decreed a celebration!... Welcome to the Olympics!" shouted the Empusa.
Hephaestus soon scoffed.
"What a creative name, as expected of the king," said Hephaestus.
Aphrodite gave a small laugh, while Hera lightly scolded her son.
"Hephaestus, don't mock your king!" said Hera, frowning in rebuke.
Meanwhile, the Empusa has spoken again.
"For champions to serve as an example to be followed by future generations, competitors must compete naked!" shouted the Empusa.
This, of course, led to the screams of most female supernatural beings, some male beings also started screaming in response.
When the Empusa declared, from one of the gates of the arena, Zeus and Ares soon came out...
Completely naked.
"People of Olympus! I give you your champions! The king and his heir! Zeus and Ares!" said the Empusa.
The audience cried out in response, and at the same time, the Empusa didn't stop and soon introduced the duo that was leaving the other gate...
"And the challengers! The Asgardians! The crown prince and his brother! Baldr and Thor!" shouted the Empusa.
As they both walked out of the gates, they both looked around and remained, surprisingly, a little ashamed of their naked state.
"Why are we doing this naked anyway?" asked Thor, whispering to Baldr.
Baldr just forced a smile.
"They say it's tradition, and they claim that nudity shows the beauty of the contestants' bodies, and should be something to be proud of. Also, they claim that the clothes get in the way of the athletes' movements, especially because, if you've noticed, the weather here is quite hot," said Baldr, waving politely with a smile.
Thor also nodded politely, though he had noticed that most of the women, and even men, looked at him in shock.
"…what the hell is wrong with them?" asked Thor, in confusion.
Baldr only smiled in response, but he already knew why. After all, due to Thor's height, most women, and even some men, were staring at one extremely big particular member, which resulted in most women looking at Thor in interest and men looking at him in envy.
"...If the Asgardian is willing, I might be quite interested!" said the Empusa in the center of the arena, winking at Thor.
Thor just disregarded the flirtation and approached the center of the arena, along with Baldr, heading towards Zeus, Ares, and the Empusa, and then crossed his arms.
"Let's get on with it, I want my sickle... Besides, it's weird to be naked like this... The wind is annoying," said Thor, muttering the last part.
Meanwhile, Rhea and Frigg were watching the interaction from one of the reserved seats in the arena.
"Looks like your sons were sculpted for war," Rhea said, looking at Thor and Baldr's physiques.
The Greek mother goddess noted that Thor's physique was more powerful than Baldr's, although the god of light was not far behind in terms of muscular definition.
"…why are they doing this without any clothes on?" Frigg asked, looking confused.
Rhea just smiled in response.
"There is nothing more beautiful than the body my friend... We have a culture of appreciating the body a lot, naked turns out not to be a big deal" said Rhea.
Frigg didn't seem to agree.
"This sounds more like something perverted created by your children…" Frigg muttered under her breath, making Rhea not hear.
Meanwhile, with Aphrodite, Hera and Hephaestus...
"Hephaestus... Do you have any twins?" asked Aphrodite, looking at Thor in amazement.
If you didn't consider the exposed golden veins, the black sclera, and the giant musculature... Thor would be a carbon copy of Hephaestus.
"No...Well, no that I knew of," said Hephaestus, slowly, as he faced Thor.
To Hephaestus, he felt something familiar; while Hera was silent and just stared at Thor with a frown, showing the goddess's confusion and curiosity.
It was then that the Empusa that was presenting the games spoke again.
"Very well, by order of Zeus, there will only be two modalities! The first one will start now, and due to the draw made earlier, the contestants will be the crown princes!" said the Empusa.
Ares and Baldr were soon face to face, and then, with a small glow emerging from the arena, a kind of ring was created from the ground, with only Baldr and Ares in the center, with both hands, covered by leather straps called himántes, which basically would be something like boxing gloves.
"The first modality is the famous Pancrácio! The rules are simple, except sticking your fingers in the eyes, attacking the genital area, scratching or biting, everything is allowed! The fight ends when one of the fighters is unable to continue or has given up!" said the Empusa.
Baldr then raised his fists towards Ares, who copied the gesture, and clapped his fists together. Both crown princes then quickly backed away and assumed a fighting stance.
Thor looked quite relaxed, which couldn't be missed by Zeus, who was standing next to the Asgardian.
"You seem confident of your brother," Zeus said, approaching Thor.
Thor looked at the King of Olympus and gave a small smile.
"Of course I am… After all, Baldr is the second strongest of all the Asgardians," said Thor.
Zeus frowned briefly and looked back at the ring.
At this moment, Ares chose to attack, quickly lifting his foot and kicking Baldr's abdomen hard. However, while the kick had the effect of pushing Baldr away a bit, Asgard's god of light was completely fine.
Ares didn't seem to want to stop the charge, so he soon ran towards Baldr and soon started punching the young god of light, who raised his arms in a defensive stance, each blow from Ares hit Baldr, shaking the arena as if it were an earthquake.
The arena screamed for each successful strike by Ares, and to the audience, Baldr was on the defensive as he was losing. The war god of Greece only laughed in response and looked displeased with Baldr tin so defensive.
"HaHaHaHa! What is this Asgardian?! Show me what you're capable of! Don't embarrass me that way!" Ares said, still punching Baldr with his fists.
It was then Ares had a brief glimpse of Baldr's eyes shining like two suns. The war god's fighting instincts screamed in response, and then Ares jerked his head to the side, just in time to dodge a lightning-fast punch from Baldr.
However, Baldr soon bent his outstretched arm quickly, and elbowed Ares right in the side of the head, resulting in the god of war backing away.
When Ares lifted his head and looked at Baldr, you could see the excited smile on his face.
"Now this is interesting!" shouted Ares.
The god of war then ran towards Baldr.
Ares's increase in speed and strength was noticeable due to the fact that the longer a conflict goes on, Ares' physical capabilities will always constantly increase until Ares' body reaches the limit.
The two princes then punched each other in the face at the same time, both with an outstretched arm, though Ares was the only one to bleed again, while Baldr just stared at Ares with a look of apathy.
Baldr didn't stop and soon approached Ares at lightning speed, surprising him, and punched the god of war in the face with all his might, sending Ares' body crashing into the ground, destroying the ring, and cracking the arena, causing an earthquake.
When the dust settled, Ares could be found knocked out in the center of the ring, while Baldr was standing unharmed.
The audience politely applauded the Asgardian's victory, while Thor briefly glanced at Zeus, and was surprised that the king of Olympus did not appear to be angered by the defeat.
"...You don't look upset," said Thor.
Zeus only glanced briefly, before giving him a bored look.
"Ares is young, he still has a lot to fight for and a lot to learn. After all, he is a deity of the sixth generation of rulers," Zeus said with a shrug.
Thor raised an eyebrow.
"…Sixth generation?" asked Thor, curious.
Zeus nodded briefly.
"Well, yes. The first ruler was Chaos, the second was Gaia, the third was Uranus, the fourth was my father and I am the fifth ruler" said Zeus.
Thor only nodded at the answer, as he was of the fifth divine generation, as the 'Norse primordial of the Void', Ginnungagap, was the first ruler, with Buri being the second, Borr being the third, and Odin being the fourth ruler of Asgard.
Though Ginnungagap could hardly consider a ruler, for at the time of his existence, there was nothing to rule over, and with his death, Ymir was born first, then Auðhumbla, and finally Buri.
As Thor thought for a while about Ginnungagap, the Empusa interrupted his thoughts by drawing the attention of the arena audience.
"The Asgardian victory is indisputable, now we will move on to the next modality! Now with our king, Zeus, competing against the brother of the Crown Prince of Asgard!" said the Empusa.
The arena then glowed and turned into a sort of throwing combo, with several discs made of celestial bronze next to an inscribed circle in the middle of the arena.
"The next competition will be Dískos, the contestants will throw a very resistant bronze disc as hard as they can, the arena will mark the distance with Sématas made of energy, and the arena itself will measure the distance from the disc's exit from the area of throwing, which is the circle, and will show us the result!" said the Empusa.
Such an arena capability was created by Hephaestus, who had nothing better to do and wanted to come up with some great innovative project.
Zeus flashed a confident smile and grabbed one of the disks and soon began to spin his body at high speed. It was noticeable that some lightning appeared out of nowhere, further increasing Zeus' turning speed.
After a few seconds, and when Zeus was about to create a hurricane in the middle of the arena, the king of Olympus threw the disc into the sky.
The disk came out of Zeus' hand looking like a meteor, causing the sound of an explosion as it was thrown.
A few seconds passed until the arena glowed again and a number could be seen as a hologram in the center of the arena, for all to see.
"As expected of our king! 20247 Stadion is amazing!" shouted the Empusa.
The audience applauded as Zeus nodded with a confident smile. Meanwhile, with Rhea and Frigg, the Greek motherhood goddess wore a confident smile.
"Are you confident of your son's victory my friend?" asked Rhea, looking at Frigg.
But then the goddess Rhea was confused by Frigg's actions...
Frigg had strapped herself to the chair.
"... What are you doing?" asked Rhea, in confusion.
Frigg just smiled sheepishly.
"My son Thor has a tendency to exaggerate a little... I suggest you hold on to something," Frigg said.
Meanwhile, Thor started towards the pile of throwing discs, but as he passed Baldr, the god of light soon asked with a smile.
"... Going to overdo it again, won't you?" asked Baldr, with a nervous smile.
Thor responded with a smile.
"You can be sure of that," said Thor.
Thor then walked away.
When the Asgardian thunder god approached the circle and picked up one of the discs, which unfortunately for Thor, were too small to be thrown by traditional methods.
Thor then smiled and assumed a baseball pitching stance.
The thunder god soon assumed the stance and the world seemed to freeze as Thor was about to throw the disc.
It's worth remembering that Thor was doing it completely naked, which means one thing...
He didn't have any of the strength limiters.
As Thor released the disc, the air seemed to tremble as if it were made of glass, bending space with the force behind the throw, crushing any resistance, as if space itself were a sheet of paper.
*BOOM*
The result was the sound of an explosion, resulting from a shock wave, which shook all of Olympus, bouncing the audience off their seats and cracking not only the floor but all the buildings of Olympus, some gave way to damage and fell, while others they were barely standing.
When the dust cloud from the arena settled down, only a single number could be seen in the center of the arena, which surprised everyone present.
0.
It made Thor look in shock.
"What the-?! Does that mean I lost?" said Thor, looking at the Empusa that presented the divine Olympics.
The Empusa was lying on the floor, her eyes showing a state of confusion, while it was possible to see that she was so pale that it was possible to see her soul trying to leave her body.
Meanwhile, the only one standing in the arena, who although he fell like the others, was the only one to recover and get up quickly was the creator god of the arena system...
Hephaestus.
And at that moment, the blacksmith god was looking at Thor in shock.
"... 0?... That means the disk never came out of the circle," said Hephaestus, starting to sweat at the meaning of it.
Another person from the arena who also thought about this was Athena, who already feared Thor due to her first encounter with him... But now...
For Athena, Thor was possibly a great ally or, in the worst-case scenario...
An enemy worse than Typhon.
"... He may not have enough achievements... But he is already in the Top 10 of the strongest existences" said Athena, worried.
A few minutes passed, and while the arena was being repaired, the Empusa in charge of the event decreed the winner.
"Well, although there are disagreements. According to the established rules, the winner was decided by the longest distance traveled by the disc... Meaning Zeus' victory!" told Empusa, who was still in a state of recovery.
Thor could be seen mumbling in a corner, while Baldr, who was nearby, smiled nervously at his brother.
"With the tie, a new competition has been set to break the tie!" said the Empusa.
It was then that someone emerged from the gate of the Greek deities of the arena.
"A race from the human world, from the entrance to Olympus to the Pillars 'end of the world' located on the western edge of Greek territory! And the one chosen by Zeus was his son who helped our king to free himself from the clutches of Typhon! The great Hermes!" said the Empusa, gesturing to a young man.
The young man, identified as Hermes, had a confident smile, although he looked like a child.
"The one who will compete for the Asgardians will be the brother of the heir again, Thor!" Empusa said, but there was uncertainty in her tone.
Thor then took a step forward, and then the arena glowed again, this time with a portal at the exact opposite end of Thor and Hermes, showing Mount Olympus' entrance into the human world.
Thor and Hermes took their positions and prepared as the countdown began.
The air danced through the body of Hermes, flapping the wings on the 'helm' and sandals, which began to flutter in cheer.
Meanwhile, several lightning bolts began to erupt from Thor's body, enveloping the Asgardian thunder god in a kind of armor.
When the countdown ended, time froze, and then hell derailed.
Hermes and Thor shot towards the portal as if they were two comets, Thor being blue and Hermes being green.
For humans, the sky was split in two by two 'meteors' who were assumed to be the displeasure of the gods.
The race had only lasted a few seconds.
And the victory was overwhelming.
"And the winner of the race and, by extension, of the first divine Olympics was..." began the Empusa.
The Empusa then gestured to the first comment that had returned.
"Thor!" shouted the Empusa.
The audience cheered in response to the result, even Zeus cheering excitedly.
"We must do this again! It was kind of fun to pass the time!" said Zeus, looking at Baldr.
The Asgardian god of light smiled.
"Maybe in the future, King of Olympus... But now it would be nice to deliver our promised prizes," said Baldr, extending his hand to Zeus with a smile on his face.
When Zeus remembered that he lost, and now had to hand over Cronus' sickle plus the services of the best blacksmith on Olympus, he stopped smiling and clapping and showed a resigned face as he grumbled.
"…Damn it," Zeus said, with a scowl of displeasure.
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