"Mortal scum!"
As Jaden's words fell, the two deities closest to him-clearly acting as guards-stepped forward.
One held a sword.
The other carried a shield.
Their bodies were heavily muscled, both standing well over two meters tall, their auras dense and oppressive.
"Do you even know what you're-"
The sword-wielding deity reached Jaden first. He raised his sword high, intending to cleave Jaden in half.
But before he could finish his sentence-
Puff!
Jaden's hand shot upward.
It was a penetrating strike posture.
His fingers pierced straight through the deity's jaw, punching upward through his skull.
Blood sprayed instantly.
Because of the angle of the strike, the deity's face twisted grotesquely, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. His raised arms locked in place, paralyzed by the overwhelming pain, unable to bring the sword down.
"Brother!"
The shield-wielding deity roared.
Rage flooded his face as he glared at Jaden. He raised his shield and charged straight forward.
His speed was fast.
But-
Jaden was faster.
Just as the shield-wielding deity was about to crash into him, Jaden lifted his foot and stepped directly onto the deity's shoulder.
The force came down like a mountain.
The deity's body bent instantly.
At the same time, Jaden pulled with his arm.
The sword-wielding deity screamed as the hand still embedded in his skull dragged him forward. His body collapsed face-first onto the bent back of the shield-wielding deity.
They stacked together.
Jaden withdrew his blood-soaked hand.
He raised his arm high.
Bang!
His arm descended like a blade.
Like an axe.
Like lightning falling from the sky.
The two brother-deities, stacked together, were pierced simultaneously by a single strike.
Both lost their lives instantly.
Their bodies began to emit scattered points of light, slowly dissipating into nothingness.
Jaden watched this happen.
Then he smiled.
He looked at the now-silent group of gods and spoke calmly.
"Is that it?"
There were no harsh insults.
No long declarations.
No grand speech about killing gods.
Just that casual tone.
That faint contempt.
And that, more than anything, was the most humiliating part.
Since when could a mere human stand above the gods?
Since when could a human ride on their necks?
In an instant, the atmosphere changed.
Moments ago, the gods had looked at Jaden as if he were a joke.
Now, their gazes were filled with naked killing intent.
Their auras surged.
But not all gods reacted the same way.
Shakyamuni glanced at Jaden, shook his head with a faint smile, and quietly stepped back. He leaned against the wall, clearly having no intention of getting involved.
Hercules tightened his grip on his weapon.
He closed his eyes.
He sighed silently.
Then, at last, he chose to fight.
Aside from those two-
The rest of the gods were enraged.
Zeus, appearing as a wizened old man, stepped to the front.
His eyes, completely lacking any white, locked onto Jaden.
"King of Man," Zeus said slowly, "you have come to the wrong place to prove your strength. The gods are far stronger than you imagine. Although over ninety percent of the gods are gathered here today, the remaining ten percent are not. But even that one-tenth would be enough to-"
Jaden interrupted him.
"Zeus."
"Are you talking about Poseidon and the others?"
Huh?!
Jaden's words stunned the gods.
The ten percent who hadn't attended today's banquet weren't weak.
They weren't unqualified.
They were solitary figures.
Powerful.
Eccentric.
For example-
Poseidon.
And many other gods like him.
That was why they hadn't come.
Zeus had been about to say that even those gods would be enough to wipe out humanity.
But-
Jaden reached into his system space.
He pulled out Poseidon's trident.
Blood-stained.
He tossed it casually onto the ground.
Clang.
With an unchanged expression, a slight smile on his face, and the tone of a child stating something obvious, he spoke.
"They're all dead~"
What?!
"Before coming here, I went to find those isolated guys first," Jaden continued casually. "Honestly, they were pretty annoying."
"If all you damn gods had gathered together, it would've saved me a lot of trouble~"
"But I guess the ones I could take out easily were just low-level scrubs."
"I was actually looking forward to visiting the Gods' Paradise."
"But they couldn't even manage to injure me~"
As he spoke, Jaden looked at Zeus.
Zeus's face had darkened visibly.
Jaden's smile widened.
"So," he said lightly, "you guys won't disappoint me, right?"
At that moment, every combat-capable god drew their Divine Weapon.
Because the nature of the situation had completely changed.
If what Jaden said was true-
Then this invasion was the most devastating event the Gods' Paradise had faced since its creation.
Most likely-
On the very first day of his arrival.
Nearly one-tenth of the gods...
Were already dead.
-
Poseidon.
Thor.
Shiva.
Hermes.
Loki.
Odin.
And finally, the King of Gods-Zeus.
Before arriving, Brunhilde had informed Jaden which gods required special attention.
More than half of those gods hadn't attended today's banquet.
Jaden had found every one of them.
One-on-one.
And eliminated them all.
For Jaden, these gods weren't difficult.
Even if they possessed one or two Divine Weapons with special effects or immense power.
That was under one condition.
A one-on-one fight.
But facing over ninety percent of the gods in the Paradise at the same time?
That would be different.
Before coming here, Brunhilde had warned him.
With his strength, if he waited until the banquet ended and hunted them down individually, it would only be a matter of time before all the gods were dead.
Even if the gods realized something was wrong, it would likely already be too late.
There was absolutely no need to storm a gathering where ninety percent of the gods were present.
But Jaden had rejected her advice without hesitation.
Naturally, Brunhilde asked why.
It wasn't for humanity.
It wasn't for some grand cause.
In Brunhilde's eyes, the reason wasn't even necessary.
It was a little foolish.
But that was Jaden's reason.
Because-
"Are you angry now?" Jaden laughed. "Hahaha. Then come at me all at once!"
After all-
"You're too weak for one-on-one fights."