"Hm?" Seeing Riku easily block his hammer strike, Thor's expression hardened. Truth be told, Thor had always thought that Riku must be an extraordinary human hero to have passed the preliminaries of the Sun Sovereignty War, but he had never truly felt much apprehension.
After all, in the Little Garden, humans could never cross the barrier of the triple digits. Judging from Riku's Divinity Rank, he wasn't even close.
But he had never expected that Riku would suddenly unleash such overwhelming power, easily receiving his attack. It was inconceivable, almost as if he had casually shrugged off the shackles of the Little Garden.
It wasn't just Thor; Sif was equally shocked. As for Juntan, he was utterly amazed. He had never imagined his leader had a second transformation state. It was as if he had no limits at all.
"Thor, now's not the time for you to be surprised." Riku's emerald-green eyes flashed, his gaze sharp as he looked at the god-king before him, his voice cold.
As he spoke, Riku suddenly vanished from where he stood, breaking the deadlock, and appeared behind Thor, his leg sweeping out like a whip toward Thor's neck.
Boom!
Rumble!
Thor's pupils contracted; he twisted his body and raised his arm to block the strike. With a heavy, dull sound, Thor felt an earth-shattering force surge into his arm, blasting him away.
Like a meteor, he flew backwards, smashing through mountains and forests, the ground trembling beneath him, dust and debris filling the air.
Holding nothing back, Riku transformed into a golden meteor himself, streaking across the sky even faster as he charged at Thor.
"Looks like the boss deliberately cleared the space here. In that case, I'd better step it up too," Juntan grinned, his battle spirit flaring.
Sif, in response, launched her own attack.
The battle reignited.
Elsewhere, Riku hovered high in the sky while Thor, unharmed, stood opposite him, his entire body wreathed in crackling divine lightning. The white clouds above churned from the pressure of man and god alike.
The next moment, Thor swung Mjölnir forward. Violent blue divine lightning surged forth, annihilating everything in its path as it shot toward Riku.
Riku's expression did not change. Golden phoenix flames coiled around his body, a faint phoenix cry echoing as he met the lightning head-on.
Zzzzt!
Divine lightning and divine flame clashed, neither yielding, consuming each other as the entire space quaked, the aura of destruction spreading.
"Those are… phoenix flames?" Thor's expression shifted slightly, his heart unsettled. It was already extraordinary for a human to face him head-on, but to possess such a rare gift as well—
"Looks like I'll need to show some real skill if I want to win this fight," Thor said with a wry smile.
"Divinity Release!!!" In the next instant, Thor's eyes narrowed sharply as he roared.
The divine lightning around him condensed into substance, turning pitch-black. His aura and strength skyrocketed at an astonishing rate.
Even Mjölnir changed, black lightning dancing across it, radiating an aura of annihilation.
The previously evenly matched lightning and phoenix flames shifted. Thor's empowered divine lightning smashed through the phoenix flames, the black bolts streaking toward Riku at a speed beyond starlight.
In the face of this strike, Riku remained calm, golden ki surging to cover his right hand. He then unleashed a violent punch, his unmatched power detonating outward, shattering the incoming black divine lightning. The broken bolts crashed into the earth, wreaking catastrophic destruction.
Neither Riku nor Thor paid any attention to the devastation they stood locked in their standoff.
"So quick to release your Divinity. I thought you'd probe me for a while first," Riku said evenly.
"I wanted to. But your strength is beyond what I imagined. Without going all out, winning against you would be too difficult," Thor admitted with a helpless smile.
"And without releasing my Divinity, I can't draw out its true power." Thor gave Mjölnir a sharp swing, his tone turning serious. "Hero of humanity, be careful. As it is now, Mjölnir can obliterate even the soul itself. The true, world-destroying divine thunder!"
"Raaahhh!!!" Without further words, Thor roared, his entire body transforming into black divine lightning, tearing through the fabric of space as he appeared before Riku, swinging his hammer. Black divine lightning surged forth, pressing down on Riku from every direction.
Szzzt!
Boom!
Riku's expression tightened. Golden ki cloaked his body, phoenix flames swirling between his hands as he met Thor's strike head-on.
A deafening explosion erupted. Riku was driven into the ground, the sheer force blasting open a massive crater spanning a hundred thousand li, black divine lightning entwining his body as it broke through his defences.
However, by the time it touched Riku's body, only a trace of its power remained; it didn't harm him at all, only leaving his body slightly numb.
"As expected of the mightiest god-king in Norse mythology, stronger even than Odin, Thor, the Thunder God. Such power truly befits the title," Riku said, looking up at the sky in admiration.
"World-destroying, yet also world-saving divine thunder's roar!" Thor's eyes gleamed sharply above, black lightning raging around him as he roared, his divine might suppressing the very heavens.
The sky churned with black lightning, which then condensed into a massive column, several li thick, hurtling viciously toward Riku.
This strike contained the majority of Thor's strength, locked entirely onto Riku.
"Quite the bold way to fight. In that case, I'll show some real skill of my own," Riku grinned, his battle spirit surging.
He extended his right hand toward the incoming lightning.
Crack!
Rumble! In the next instant, a colossal pillar of aurora burst from Riku's palm, colliding head-on with the black divine lightning. The one-hit-kill cosmology utterly crushed the powerful black thunder, driving straight toward Thor.
"A… Simulated Star Map!!!" Thor's face paled in shock. Even as a first-generation god-king, he could not suppress his fear, scrambling to evade.
Simulated Star Maps were just that overpowered, even double-digits would never dare take them lightly. And Riku's Simulated Star Map cosmology… was a one-hit kill!
"A [Pseudo Star Map]… and a one-hit-kill cosmology at that absolutely can't take it head-on!"
Sensing the incoming cosmology of the [Pseudo Star Map], Thor's expression changed drastically, thoughts racing as he instinctively tried to dodge.
However, before this, because he had considered Riku's phoenix flames and their regenerative abilities, his original plan had been to go for a killing blow one that, even if it couldn't kill Riku outright, would at least paralyze him with divine lightning, leaving him unable to move and thus judged as dead, granting Thor victory. To accomplish that, he had already burned a massive amount of power, making it utterly impossible to evade now.
"Raaahhh!!!"
Calming himself slightly, Thor let out a furious roar, Mjölnir now wreathed in pitch-black lightning of world-ending power.
Thor swung Mjölnir with every ounce of his strength, smashing it toward the oncoming aurora pillar.
Rumble!
In that instant, the hammer and aurora clashed, an earth-shattering detonation erupting as the heavens quaked, the ground trembled, and all creation seemed to face annihilation.
Crack!
The next moment, cracks began spreading across Mjölnir itself. Thor gave a faint, wry smile. He couldn't hold it back!
"Hero of humanity… this time, you've won." Thor's voice of admiration rang through the sky, then the aurora pillar completely engulfed him, his form scattering into motes of starlight that faded into the world.
Yet Thor's death didn't mean the aurora pillar was finished.
Still carrying its world-shattering momentum, the pillar slammed into the sky itself, as though it might pierce through it entirely.
But this was still the White Night's Horizon, the [Heliocentric Theory] Paradox Game field, and it was not so easily destroyed. The aurora only made the heavens shudder violently before dissolving into falling motes of light.
Such a commotion naturally drew the attention of the other contestants.
They all turned their gazes toward the source.
Athena, the Star Sea Dragon King, and Azidahaka all wore grave expressions.
"That power… was it that brat? Reckless fool. But to reveal such a powerful trump card right from the start, who did he run into?" The [Lord of the White Night] narrowed her eyes toward the distance, snapping open her folding fan as she muttered to herself.
"Well then, since he's revealed his position, this is the perfect chance to take revenge." She suddenly smiled coldly and gave a short laugh.
She had never forgotten the humiliation she'd suffered at Riku's hands, and now was clearly an opportunity to pay him back.
"How interesting… I didn't expect him to have this kind of power," the Halloween Queen murmured to herself, cheerfully watching the scene from afar through her domain. "Should I go find him for some fun?"
"Mm… no. Compared to that, teasing that idiot White Night King is still more amusing." She gave a playful hum and instantly vanished.
The power of her domain allowed the Halloween Queen to move through this world with ease—any significant disturbance would instantly draw her attention.
But for her, the Sun Sovereignty War and fighting the other contestants were less important than verbally sparring with the White Night King.
"What recklessness… It's only the first day, and he's already caused such a stir. Who knows what this Sun Sovereignty War will turn into," Indra muttered helplessly atop a mountain peak.
"This is a [Pseudo Star Map] never seen before… I wonder who the holder is," a voice echoed around Indra.
"I don't know. But it's quite likely that human hero…" Indra shook his head slightly, then his thoughts drifted to the mysterious Riku.
"If that's the case, we'd better go find him," the voice replied.
"Mm. Let's go." Indra's eyes flashed, and in the next moment, he vanished from the mountaintop in a streak of golden lightning.
———
While the other factions moved in response to the commotion Riku had caused, a voice rang out in his mind—it was the Little Demon Laplace.
"[Congratulations, contestant Riku Dola, for obtaining the Sun Sovereignty Equatorial Twelve Signs—Horse Sign.]"
In that instant, one of the suns above dimmed, as the Horse Sign once held by Thor was taken by Riku.
Riku only gave it a brief glance before storing it away, then rose into the air toward the diamond-grade treasure chest floating nearby.
He placed his hand upon it and opened it.
In a burst of dazzling light, the chest revealed a glowing orb hovering quietly inside.
[Congratulations, Master, for opening a diamond-grade treasure chest and obtaining a Construction Card—Celestial City.]"
Construction Card – Celestial City:
Upon use, this card allows you to build a floating city in a designated location. Its defensive barrier can withstand multiple attacks from double-digit [Authority Domain] level beings without being destroyed.
Additional functions are for the Master to discover.
"A construction card… now this is nice," Riku murmured, glancing at the new card in his hand.
Since arriving in the Little Garden and forming a community, he had always intended to construct a city for it. Originally, he'd planned to use magic to build something sturdy, which would have been fine, but lacked style, and its defences would be lacking.
Now, this solved the problem perfectly. A floating city like Celestial City, capable of withstanding double-digit Authority Domain assaults, was beyond stylish. It would amaze the entire Little Garden.
Riku tossed the card into his system space, then vanished from where he stood.
———
Elsewhere, Sif and Juntan, now in his true form, were locked in fierce combat. Their strength levels weren't far apart: one a standard triple-digit, the other a four-digit irregular.
Overall, Sif was still suppressing Juntan triple digits were triple digits, after all.
But when she sensed Thor's defeat, Sif faltered. Juntan seized the chance to turn the tide and regain the offensive.
Riku made no move to intervene. Sif, as a triple-digit god, was an ideal opponent for Juntan; fighting her would greatly benefit his growth.
In the end, after a long, hard battle full of mutual caution, Sif was finally defeated by Juntan.
Juntan wasn't in great shape either, his body covered in wounds.
Still, he was grinning ear to ear, paying no mind to his injuries.
"Boss, I think it won't be long before I can fully master my potential and reach the triple-digit omnipotence class," Juntan said excitedly. This fight had been incredibly rewarding for him.
"Not bad." Riku nodded in approval. Four-digit irregular was good, but still below his expectations. Triple-digit was the ideal rank for a community's cadre. And a four-digit irregular breaking through to triple-digit should be far stronger than average.
Riku was very satisfied. As expected of a pure-blooded dragon, one of the mightiest races, the potential was immense.