As Ryota slammed his palm down, the swirl of Sage Jutsu Chakra in his hand ignited like a fuse, racing across the skeletal frame and giant arms of Susanoo in an instant.
The blue-violet chakra tangled and fused with the golden Sage energy, a furious clash of powers surging across the titan.
That already towering chakra giant began a second — almost evolutionary — transformation under the infusion of Sage energy.
Mystical runes, reminiscent of nature's own markings, started glowing across its outer shell. The chakra on its surface flowed in rhythmic pulses, flashing as if it was breathing.
Both arms took on a rocky, earthlike texture while still exuding a current of roaring thunder and flame.
The chakra wings on its back transformed into golden, spirit-charged ribbons, fluttering like the wings of an angel of apocalypse.
On its helmeted face, savage and ancient beastly patterns emerged, and deep in its eye sockets, a fierce golden-purple light burned brightly.
In that moment—
the true Sage-Mode Susanoo descended!
Back in the original series, that edgelord Sasuke had activated his full-body Susanoo by absorbing and adapting to Jugo's Curse Mark, painting strange markings all over it.
But to Ryota's mind, that was just a half-baked, nature-energy-fused gimmick.
How could that be called a real Sage-Mode Susanoo?
His Sage Chakra was the purest — completely without any impurities!
His Susanoo deserved to be called a true Sage-Mode Susanoo!
Meanwhile—
all of Orario was plunged once again into a deathly silence.
If, moments before, Ryota's clash with Ottar had left people frozen in shock and disbelief…
then now —
this towering giant, covered in chakra-and-nature-patterned armor, blazing with gold and purple brilliance like a war god —
had absolutely shattered their worldview!
Before the light screens, whether gods or mortals, everyone wore the exact same expression:
Slack-jawed. Numb. Questioning reality.
"Is this… really something a Level 2 can do?!!!"
"What the hell even is that giant? Why wasn't there a Guild record on this? What are they even paid for?!"
"C-can Ottar even hold his own against that thing?"
No one answered.
No one dared answer.
Up in the gods' stands, where they'd just been happily debating what to splurge on with their winnings, every god had gone dead silent.
Silence blanketed them all.
Hestia smacked her own chubby cheeks, trying to wake herself up, then turned to Loki.
"Hey, you flat-chest, this was the trump card you meant?"
"You're asking me? Who the hell do I ask? I've never even seen this thing before!"
Loki vividly remembered last night, during Ryota's sparring with Mama, there'd only been, what, a half-formed skeletal giant?
But now this thing not only had legs to stand upright…
it even had patterns on it!
What in the actual hell…
Down below, Riveria was on the verge of a full mental breakdown.
Having gone toe-to-toe with that skeletal giant herself, she'd felt its terror firsthand.
As the famed Nine Hells, Orario's strongest mage, she had convinced herself Ryota's strange "magic" — or rather, technique — could at most match a three-stage invocation, about equal to one of her chants.
But this — a standing, fully armored, rune-etched giant towering in the arena, whose mere footsteps rattled the barriers — now appeared before her eyes:
"Don't tell me… there's a fourth stage… even a fifth stage…?"
The elven royal clutched at her brow, utterly dazed.
Behind her, poor Lefiya was already beyond shocked into numbness.
Her mind flashed back to when they were in the Dungeon, how she'd proudly told Ryota to "cover her" while she stood behind him chanting.
Now, in hindsight…
it felt like she'd signed her own death warrant.
"What… did I even say to him back then…"
Lefiya's face flushed bright red, all the way to the pointed tips of her ears, as a slideshow of memories from their Dungeon run played through her mind.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to crawl under her seat and disappear.
Seeing Lefiya steaming like a kettle, Bete's wolf ears twitched a little.
He looked over at the blonde girl whose pupils were contracting in disbelief and asked:
"Ais… if you'd fought that thing back then, do you think you'd stand a chance?"
At that, Ais tilted her head, her eyes glittering with a very peculiar light.
It wasn't doubt. It wasn't hesitation.
It was the kind of look you gave to an absolute idiot.
She just stared at Bete, silently.
Bete: "…"
Under that death stare, a chill ran up Bete's spine and all the way to the back of his head, forcing him to look away and mutter:
"…Fine, pretend I didn't ask."
Off to the side, honest Raul mumbled softly:
"Senior Bete's questions really are… as profound as ever…"
Bete's ears twitched, and he growled:
"You shut it, you rookie!!"
Inside the arena—
Ottar's entire body was tense, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
He was a true warrior, Orario's only Level 7.
But in that moment, standing before the giant Sage-Mode Susanoo, for the first time he felt—
small.
Ottar gripped the Supreme Black Sword tighter, trembling, and couldn't help taking a step back.
But just then—
a divine face burned into his mind, a face carved into his very soul like a sacred brand.
"…Freya."
He could not forget.
He was Freya's sword, a warrior born for Freya.
The fight wasn't over — how could he collapse now?!
"ROOOAAAHHH—!!!"
Ottar roared, his fighting spirit blazing anew, then launched himself forward with an explosive stomp!
BOOM!!!
The ground crumbled beneath his feet as he charged, stone shards flying. He gripped his massive sword tight, aiming straight at the giant!
His target was not Ryota.
It was the Susanoo's knee joint!
"First, I'll drag you down from up there!"
Like a wild beast, Ottar hacked away at the giant's legs, slashing with such speed the human eye couldn't even follow, the Supreme Black Sword leaving afterimages as it tore through the air.
Steel and chakra shell clashed again and again, sending deafening shockwaves through the stadium.
However—
Ryota's Sage-Mode Susanoo's defense was not something brute strength or skill could break through.
This wasn't ordinary armor.
It was a shell formed by ultra-concentrated Sage Jutsu Chakra!
No matter how long Ottar rained down blows — whether thirty seconds or a full minute —
eventually he had to stop, drenched in sweat and gasping desperately for air.
"Hah… hah…"
He glanced down at his palms, now cracked and bleeding.
And that towering chakra giant —
hadn't even lost a single fragment.
From atop Susanoo's head, Ryota looked down at Ottar, eyes carrying a faint note of regret.
"The power of a lovestruck fool… really is impressive."
"But—"
"This ends now."
As soon as those words fell, one of Susanoo's enormous chakra arms slowly lifted, spinning the chakra blade it held once, before letting it fade away into starlight.
The next instant, that enormous sage-marked fist was raised high!
BOOM!!!
Like a meteor crashing to earth, it came down with a shockwave that seemed to rip the air itself apart!
THOOM!!!
The entire arena quaked, shockwaves surging outward like a tide.
As for Ottar—
in that moment, all color vanished from his sight, leaving only blackness.
Without any suspense, he was smashed straight into the ground by that punch!
Ottar, known as Orario's strongest force, its only Level 7, a man regarded by the gods as an unshakable mountain —
couldn't even take a single punch from Ryota!
His once-mighty body was now like a shattered porcelain doll, embedded in the massive crater left by the fist, motionless and unconscious.
In the stands, Hermes glanced down at his betting slip — stacked on Ottar — and sighed under his breath:
"Ah crap… Asfi's gonna yell at me again…"
Before he could finish, he shot to his feet, face suddenly pale.
"Oh no!"
"The barrier… it's breaking!"
The magic barrier shielding the arena, under the force of Ryota's punch, was warping and fracturing before their very eyes!
Ripples spread out from the point of impact, warping the air like glass about to shatter, creating a terrifying sonic shock pattern.
As Hermes clenched his teeth, ready to break the rules and use divine power without Ouranos's approval to stabilize the barrier—
Ryota moved.
Standing atop Susanoo's brow, he lifted a hand, fingers closing together in a calm grip.
Click.
That one, seemingly gentle motion was like grabbing hold of the entire arena's core.
In the next instant, the tsunami-like shockwaves froze, as if someone had hit pause.
And then— complete silence.
The twisted air returned to normal, the barrier's splitting seams smoothed over like ironed cloth, and even that bone-deep howl of energy seemed to be sealed in a bottomless abyss.
Hermes, who'd been braced to intervene, froze mid-motion, his face completely blank.
"Uh?"
"No way… you… ah whatever…"
High above, Susanoo began to dissolve.
The rib cage fell apart, the chakra light streaming away, drifting down like stardust over the arena.
Ryota landed smoothly, letting out a long breath, hand on the hilt of his sword, a faint dizziness in his eyes.
After all, this wasn't some normal skill spam, but a triple-layered combination: Kamui, Susanoo, and Sage Jutsu Chakra all at once.
"Yeah, I overdid it."
"…A bit dizzy, but I can still stand."
He stepped toward the giant crater, looking down at the unconscious Ottar without a word.
Whether Ottar lived or died wasn't his concern.
This was a War Game, and at its heart, still war.
If it had been Ryota lying there, Ottar would probably have finished him off to make sure he stayed down.
So Ryota had given it everything, no holding back.
No matter what, he'd won.
He'd beaten Ottar.
As a Level 2, he'd one-punched a Level 7.
No one noticed, but up in the gods' stands, Freya quietly closed her eyes, the corners of her lips curling into a smile that was equal parts satisfied and mad.
"Phew… first round's over. Time to head back."
Ryota stretched lazily, about to turn and leave, when the mechanical voice rang out in his ear:
[Ding! Main Branch Quest: Defeat the Warrior Ottar — complete!]
[Reward calculation in progress——]
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