"H-How is this possible..."
Zeus, who had been sent flying, leapt out from the massive pit and landed at its edge.
Jaden's strike had slightly deformed his helmet but failed to shatter it. Because of that, the damage Zeus suffered was not fatal. Yet as he lay there, staring at Jaden-who was calmly walking toward him through midair, expressionless-he couldn't suppress the disbelief in his voice.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
That attack just now...
It was his ultimate technique.
Using the indestructible Ares's Spear as a medium, he had loaded it with an immense amount of lightning, pushed its speed to the absolute limit through a punch that transcended time itself, and then let the spear-wrapped in lightning-transform directly into a destructive bolt of divine thunder.
That move-
Should have been a guaranteed kill.
But...
-Why is he unharmed?!
Shock coursed through Zeus. Jaden landed in front of him and looked down at the fallen god.
"You're wondering why I'm fine, aren't you?"
Perhaps because the Divine Artifacts had been damaged in battle, Jaden could vaguely hear fragments of Zeus's thoughts.
"There's no need to wonder," Jaden continued calmly. "I already told you before you launched that attack. The result might disappoint you."
When Jaden had first faced Zeus in full armor, he had been genuinely pleased.
At that time, he couldn't hear Zeus's thoughts. His Observation Haki was interfered with. The Divine Artifacts carried unknown abilities. Fully equipped, Zeus also possessed terrifying durability. His attacks could even injure Jaden, who wasn't using Armament Haki.
Jaden had been truly happy then.
But now-
"Are you disappointed?"
Zeus frowned. He stood up, raised his shield again, and tightened his grip on his battle spear.
The complete failure of a sure-kill strike was a massive blow.
But what he felt wasn't disappointment.
It was-
-Despair.
At the start, his attacks had only left shallow wounds that healed almost instantly on the monster before him. After he managed to surprise him once, the moment that body-hardening ability appeared, his attacks could no longer break through at all.
Zeus knew this thing was flesh and blood.
As long as the opponent lacked some absurd special ability, his attacks should have been able to tear the body apart.
But-
-The same was true for himself.
If not for this set of Divine Artifacts-already deformed-he would have been beaten to death long ago. And now, aside from Ares's Spear, even Athena's Shield bore several deep punch marks.
Yet this monster...
Even after blocking his ultimate attack, he looked exactly the same.
Unchanged.
Unscathed.
Is he... invincible?
Even Zeus couldn't stop that thought from forming.
However-
Even if the enemy was invincible, Zeus would fight to the very end.
He only knew how to die in battle.
Just as Zeus was about to roar and continue the fight, his shout caused the ground to tremble. The clouds overhead thickened, and crimson lightning began to snake through them.
Seeing this, Jaden-who had been calm until now-finally showed a change in expression.
He looked at Zeus and asked directly.
"Do you have any more hidden cards?"
For some reason, Zeus heard a trace of expectation in Jaden's voice.
Unfortunately-
"No..."
Zeus himself didn't fully understand what was happening. He felt the tremors beneath his feet. The atmosphere. The sense that the world itself was reacting.
And then-
He realized something.
"This... this looks like someone has touched the core of the Gods' Paradise!"
The Gods' Paradise was itself a Divine Artifact.
A super-scale Divine Artifact created jointly by the gods after they wiped out all their enemies.
Divine Artifacts could be destroyed.
They could wear down.
Just moments ago, Zeus had even considered detonating his own Divine Artifacts if they reached their limit-to buy time.
If his artifacts could explode...
Then naturally, the Gods' Paradise could as well.
But-
-Who would do something this insane?
They were all inside the Gods' Paradise right now.
And the core of the Gods' Paradise was also inside.
Which meant-
Whoever intended to detonate it was also inside it.
As this thought struck him, Zeus suddenly realized a possibility. He hurriedly scanned his surroundings, but he didn't see the figure he expected among the gods.
"Odin! Was this your doing?!"
Zeus roared.
At this point, the other gods finally understood what was happening.
Some of the more timid ones tried to flee the Gods' Paradise immediately.
They all failed.
The Gods' Paradise had been sealed.
And-
This place was about to become a grave.
"It was me."
Odin's voice echoed from every direction.
"Hmph. But I should thank you, Zeus. If we had all attacked together like I suggested earlier, even then, we might not have been able to deal with this monster."
"Damn monster... I want you to pay for my son's life!"
Odin's voice was unnaturally cold.
Zeus's brows tightened instantly.
He had known Odin for far too long.
This man was a madman.
And he was clearly in the middle of one of his episodes.
It was already too late to stop him.
So-
Zeus had to find some kind of remedy.
Jaden, the target of all this, listened quietly.
He felt the violent trembling of the Gods' Paradise.
Yet he didn't frown.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't disappointed.
Instead-
He burst into laughter.
"Hahaha-hahahahaha!"
"Odin, you know, I was just thinking earlier. The gods are so boring. After killing Zeus, I'd have to go around hunting down the rest of you one by one."
"That sounded so tedious I was almost about to yawn."
"Now this is perfect."
"You're helping me kill everyone at once."
As he spoke, Jaden turned toward a certain direction, smiling with undisguised delight.
"Thanks, Odin~"
This...
Zeus hadn't even figured out a solution yet when he saw Jaden deliberately provoking Odin further. His eyes widened.
Before he could say anything, Odin's voice-cold and clearly suppressing fury-rang out.
"Hmph. You're welcome."
And then-
"Let's all die together!"
The trembling of the Gods' Paradise intensified violently.
In the pitch-black void beyond the world, a single beam of light suddenly appeared.
Then-
Like the birth of the universe itself, an explosion erupted.
Even in the human world, at the heart of the supercontinent Pangaea, the impact was catastrophic. The once-perfectly rounded landmass was split in two by the shock. Except for a narrow central region that remained connected, the continent was torn apart into two massive halves.
The Gods' Paradise had been detonated by Odin.
Whether his goal was achieved or not-
One thing was now certain.
"The era of the gods is completely over."