The gods despised humanity.
Or rather, the gods did not value any existence other than themselves.
This had been the case ever since they successfully eliminated all beings that could be considered their enemies and established the so-called Gods' Paradise.
Up until now.
So, at the beginning, when Jaden stormed in, they looked down on him as well.
That attitude was only natural to them.
But now-
That was no longer the case.
They were no longer treating Jaden as something beneath them.
-They were treating him as a true enemy of the gods.
An enemy of the kind that had existed before the establishment of the Gods' Paradise.
In other words-
They could no longer maintain their arrogance.
At this moment, even Zeus, while frowning slightly, gave Jaden an evaluation.
"After the establishment of the Gods' Paradise, we gods seem to have gradually grown lazy."
His voice was calm.
"After all, since that time, we gods have had no enemies."
As he spoke, Zeus leaned on his staff.
He did not take a battle stance.
He did not even show the slightest intention of fighting.
Instead, he looked at Jaden directly, his gaze heavy.
"Be proud, King of Man."
"As the first being in millennia to force the gods to abandon their arrogance, you are now an enemy acknowledged by the gods."
He paused briefly.
"And the only Enemy of the Gods to appear in millennia."
Then, his tone changed.
"However... this is different from when we punish humanity."
"Are you prepared to face the wrath of the gods?"
Hearing Zeus's words, Jaden laughed.
Not a chuckle.
Not a light laugh.
He burst into loud, unrestrained laughter.
"Hahahaha-!"
Wrinkles gathered on his face as he laughed, the sound continuous and wild, making him look like a demon cackling without restraint.
"I can't stop laughing."
"Hahahaha-!"
Seeing this, the veins on Zeus's forehead bulged visibly.
Jaden, however, continued laughing, completely ignoring him.
At that moment, a god stepped out from the crowd.
He had long red hair.
Black patterns covered his stern face.
He carried a massive hammer on his shoulder.
The Thunder God-Thor.
He walked straight toward Jaden.
Without adopting any formal stance.
Without using his full power.
He simply swung the hammer down at Jaden.
He only wanted to interrupt that laughter.
But-
Jaden kept laughing.
In the middle of his laughter, he casually raised one hand and caught Thor's Mjolnir barehanded.
Ah.
That sight-
The pupils of the surrounding gods involuntarily contracted.
Thor, however, showed no visible reaction.
After the brief exchange of force, he lifted the hammer back and leaned his body backward.
-This was his combat stance.
A stance that gathered all of his strength into his arms and poured it entirely into Mjolnir.
Boom!
The hammer sliced through the air.
The friction of steel echoed like suppressed thunder.
Anyone could tell how much power was packed into that strike.
But-
Thud.
Everything repeated itself.
The horizontally swung Mjolnir was once again blocked by Jaden's single hand.
This time, Jaden stopped laughing.
He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
Ignoring Thor completely, he turned his gaze toward Zeus.
"Facing the wrath of the gods?"
"And you say the gods have abandoned their arrogance?"
He shook his head slightly.
"I really can't stand this kind of joke."
"Do you still not understand the situation?"
"Me, facing your wrath?"
"You, abandoning your arrogance?"
"You, evaluating me as the Enemy of the Gods?"
His smile widened.
"That's hilarious."
"Let me put it simply-are you even worthy?"
"Big talk is something the strong say to the weak."
"And for the weak to say it to the strong..."
He laughed again.
"Hahaha."
"I used to say that the 'God of Man' I fought before wasn't quite up to standard."
"But now I've changed my mind."
"You lot, right now, are the best clowns I have ever faced."
Haaah-!
Thor let out a low growl.
His hammer was still being held back by one hand, but he began to exert force with both arms.
Jaden glanced at him.
Then, without hesitation, he kicked upward.
The kick landed cleanly on Thor's chin.
Thor's massive body was sent flying.
"Someone told me earlier that Thor was one of the gods who needed special attention."
Jaden spoke calmly.
"Honestly, if I hadn't seen the data on your Mjolnir and known that no other god could wield it besides you, I'd suspect you were an imposter."
"The weapon is heavy."
"And once your attack is blocked, all you know how to do is add more force."
"Even the gods who didn't need special attention are stronger than you."
"You are the most useless god I've ever encountered."
"If I hadn't wanted to see what kind of power you'd produce in that stance just now..."
His gaze dropped.
"I would have kicked you in the crotch."
"Exposing your groin to an enemy, showing such a massive opening, and producing an attack that weak..."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Do you even deserve to be called a God of War?"
As Jaden finished speaking, Thor had already struggled back to his feet.
He stared at Jaden.
His expression remained blank.
But his eyes had changed.
They were sharper.
Colder.
He removed the gloves that many gods considered part of his defense.
At the same time, the Mjolnir that had been knocked away began to emit terrifying heat.
The head of the hammer seemed to come alive.
A heartbeat echoed faintly from within it.
Cracks spread along the shaft.
The outer iron shell appeared unable to suppress what lay inside.
Muscle-like tissue bulged out through the cracks and began pulsing rhythmically.
Thor grabbed the hammer once more.
He assumed the same stance as before.
Seeing this, the surrounding gods-though still burning with anger toward Jaden-cleared a wide space around them.
Thor hurled Mjolnir.
Then he charged forward at the same time.
Jaden did not move.
He did not need to.
The spinning Mjolnir flew past him, circled behind him like a boomerang, and came around from the other side.
At that exact moment, Thor arrived.
He reached out with both hands.
He caught the still-spinning Mjolnir.
Using the centrifugal force of the rotation, he poured his entire body's strength into the hammer.
The weight of Mjolnir.
The force of its spin.
Thor's own body weight.
All of his power.
Everything converged into a single strike.
The hammer slammed down toward Jaden's head like a bolt of wrathful lightning.
Jaden crossed his arms.
He let the hammer smash directly onto his forearms.
Boom!
A massive sound erupted.
Shockwaves rippled outward.
Yet-
The ground beneath Jaden's feet did not crack.
If one looked closely, they would notice that his toes had lifted slightly.
Only the points where his toes pressed down left two small indentations.
As for the force of Mjolnir-
It was completely repelled.
This was Goryu.
An upgraded version developed by Jaden based on the secret techniques of the Niko Style.
His own force.
Plus all of Thor's force.
Everything was reflected back.
At first, nothing seemed wrong.
But then-
Mjolnir was sent flying high into the air.
Thor's hands were still gripping it tightly.
Yet Thor himself-
Dropped.
He slammed to the ground.
Kneeling directly in front of Jaden.
Both of his arms were shattered.
Completely broken.
His arms, Mjolnir, and blood scattered through the air.
Thor, now armless, could only stare as the hammer flew away, having lost all ability to follow it.
Jaden looked down at Thor kneeling before him.
He slowly raised his hand.
"The hammer is good."
"But your physique is too poor."
"You simply can't withstand the power of your own weapon."
He paused.
"-Goodbye."
His hand came down.
In the distance, Odin thrust his spear toward Jaden.
But before that attack could even reach-
Blood sprayed sideways with Jaden's motion.
Thor's head was gone.
His body and shattered arms turned into golden dust midair, slowly dispersing.
Mjolnir fell toward the ground.
Then-
Snap.
The moment it hit the surface, it too shattered into golden dust.
Like a bubble bursting.
It disappeared together with Thor.
Jaden looked at the silent gods.
The smile on his face was the same one he had worn when he first arrived.
"If you keep coming at me one by one..."
"This game, which could still be a little interesting, is going to become boring."
He spread his arms slightly.
"So, you weaklings."
"Come at me all at once."
With his words-
His Conqueror's Haki erupted outward.
It wasn't the strongest.
But it was enough.
Enough to become the final blow that shattered the mental defenses of some gods.
Many gods, their faces filled with fear, grabbed their weapons and roared as they charged toward Jaden without regard for consequences.
One.
Then another.
Then more.
Before this, the gods had claimed they had abandoned their arrogance.
Yet they still clung to their godly pride.
They still disdained the idea of ganging up on a single human.
But at this moment-
-The gods' pride was utterly crushed by Jaden.