Chapter 11: Spar Between Godlings (1)

Aster smirked before staring at Ezekiel maniacally, “Habagat. Oh, Habagat. I can finally kick your ass. I’ll beat you so hard, you never wished to befriend that annoying trickster.”

‘Damn it.’ Ezekiel wasn’t expecting that he’ll actually be fighting the second most powerful godling. This was bad for him. He’ll definitely be in constant pain for an entire month, considering Aster despises him and Corey more than other godlings because they continuously defy and mock him.

“Don’t worry, Jupiter. I’ll defeat Loki for you.” Maskim said as black veins were visible around her eyes briefly due to a sinister goal. “My precious friends will have fun with him.”

Corey chuckled nervously, ‘I’m in danger.’

William walked in the middle, “Alright, you damn godlings! Make your way to the arena! To those who aren’t chosen, you can have your chance next time! To those who are disappointed with the match up, deal with it! Now move!”

As all of them made their way to the arena, the superior godlings wished each other luck while mocking the weak godlings. The arena was humongous. It can hold 60,000 spectators.

There were banners hanging on the balcony which symbolizes the power of the top ten strongest godlings - fire for Zhurong, lightning bolt for Jupiter, water for Ryujin, a shadow for Erebus, a sun for Amaterasu, club for Heracles, winged sandals for Hermes, dragon for Longwang, sword for Takemikazuchi, and apple for Idunn.

The seats were then filled up with Fatherland members and godlings who weren’t chosen to fight in the arena. Erebus, Amaterasu, Longwang, Takemikazuchi, and Idunn sat on their special seats which float around to the arena in their liking in order to witness the fight better.

“All right! All the contestants are here!” William yelled in the microphone. “It’s time for the spar. Have the lower-tier godlings improved on their abilities? Or have the higher-tier godlings become stronger? No matter what it is! Make the Fatherland proud! Praise the Fatherland!”

“Praise the Fatherland!” All of the members and half of the godlings yelled proudly.

“For the first round! It’s a battle between the number one strongest godling and whatever rank the weak godling is in!” William announced the first match up. “Introducing Zhurong and Quetza…something!”

The audience cherered as Shu walked towards the arena while her body was partially covered in flames while Hugo walked in with a shivered body due to fear. If there was an option to surrender during a spar, he would gladly take it but there is none. And if he ever surrendered early on, he’ll face a cruel punishment in the “Discipline Room” where the godlings are cruelly punished to toughen them. He doesn’t want to experience that ever.

“Begin!” William ordered them.

As the first round began, neither of the contestants moved an inch. Shu was closing her eyes, waiting for her enemy to strike first because she doesn’t want to waste her energy on someone with a weak gift. Hugo, on other hand, couldn’t muster up the courage to fight her. He isn’t confident with his gift, even if he has an advantage with numerous objects outside of the arena for him to use.

Eventually, William Hudson raised a red flag which signifies to fight or both of them will be in the Discipline Room.

After seeing the flag, Shu shifted her feet as a line of humongous flames were making its way towards Hugo. Hugo dodged out of the way immediately while his heart was beating faster than ever. With no other choice, he lifted a dumbbell using his telekinesis and threw it at the fiery godling at incredible speed. Shu caught it with her single barehand effortlessly before burning it, disintegrating into nothing but ash.

“Is that all, Quetzalcoatl?” Shu was unamused by the move. All godlings have superhuman physiology, even the weaker ones, so ordinary objects are ineffective against her even if she hadn’t caught the dumbbell. “This is already a disappointing fight.”

Hugo was terrified. He stared at his fellow weak godlings on what to do, but they had none as well and they weren’t allowed to help him. He lifted several pebbles on the ground before unleashing them towards Shu, but once again, she burned all of them with the swipe of her arm. It was useless. No matter what his attempts are, they are useless against her.

Shu cracked her knuckles, preparing to end the fight, “My turn.”

She clapped her hands as enormous waves of flames, which took the shape of a phoenix, were making their way towards her opponent. Hugo was paralyzed with fear. His entire body was shaking wildly. This was Shu’s ace-in-a-hole move, meaning that she intended to end the fight early on.

As Hugo was about to accept his face, the phoenix-like fire dissipated once he clenched both of his hands. It surprised the entire audience that the strongest godling’s move… disappeared, especially the so-called superior godlings.

“Wha-?” Hugo was confused before staring at hands, questioning what he did.

Shu was surprised by that, “Interesting.”

She conjured two fireballs before throwing them at Hugo to test his capabilities. Hugo closed his eyes while he moved both of his arms forward. The fireballs were stopped dead on their tracks midair before making contact with his hands. He opened his eyes, realizing what he just did which made him smile.

“So they can get stronger with the right training.” Shu whispered to herself, realizing that Kléf and Alcaeus were right about the weaker godlings’ capabilities on their gifts.

The leader of Fatherland, Alam, found it fascinating that a D-Rank godling managed to get stronger even if he doesn’t look like much. He wondered if some of the “weaklings” have greatly improved on their gifts since the last time he saw them. It’ll greatly benefit his organization when the Day of Judgement arrives next year.

On the other hand, Aster, Sethos, and Maskim were surprised by the unexpected simple move that a weakling just committed. They haven’t seen anyone, including themselves, being able to stop Shu’s attack nor saw anyone dismissing the devastating phoenix-like flame attack.

Kléf and Alcaeus, however, knew that they were right. Unfortunately though, they knew that Hugo is no match against Shu who hasn’t used her full power this whole time.

“You’ve surprised me. It seems you have potential.” Shu’s body was partially covered in flames. She then moved her arms forward to deliver another devastating blow, one that cannot be stopped by a mere telekinesis. “But unfortunately for you, you are still beneath me.”

“Crap.” Hugo immediately threw the fireballs back at Shu.

She absorbed the fireballs before unleashing her secondary ace-in-a-hole move. A dragon-like flames released a loud roar to intimidate her opponent before running towards him at incredible speed. Hugo used his telekinesis to dissipate the flames, but it wasn’t effective. The flames were refusing to dissipate. The flames instead increased its heat intensity which made the arena feel like Hell. The flames then engulfed Hugo, as he fell off from the arena with a burnt body. The winner was Zhurong.

‘A primordial deity like me was defeated…!? Pathetic…!’ An unknown voice yelled loudly in Hugo’s mind, which made him wake up briefly.

“Who are…?” Hugo groaned before falling unconscious again.

“Disappointing. I was hoping your gift has improved a bit.” William insulted the unconscious, barely breathing godling. “Don’t be such a wussy. You will regenerate anyway. You’ll be fine… in a couple of weeks. Get this boy out of here.”

A bunch of robot maids, iClean, carried the godling out of the arena. The higher-tier godlings were laughing at the miserable state of the weakling while the low-tier godlings sympathized with him. The match was hilariously one-sided.

Willaim sighed in disappointment before speaking on the microphone, “After the disappointing, short spar! We shall proceed to our next contestants! Ryūjin and Odin! I hope this fight lasts longer!”

Halvor gulped, “It will certainly not.”

“You better entertain me. You are named after the Chief of Norse Gods after all. You should be strong, otherwise, that name is wasted upon you.” Kaito warned his opponent to not disappoint him in the fight.”

Halvor chuckled nervously, “I-I-I’ll… try… m-my best…”

‘You better, níð.’ An unknown voice said in his mind.

Halvor flinched before looking around, ‘Who said that!?’

There was no answer from whoever spoke in his mind. He shook his head as he might’ve just been hearing things before the both of them entered the arena. They went to their side of the arena as the match commenced.