Chapter 25: Warm-up

Colosseum stands.

Hundreds of Constellations had gathered, looking down at the center.

A magnificent illusion of Mount Olympus, like a scene from a movie.

And in one section of the stands, where Tyr and Hela were seated, Artemis, dragging Aphrodite like a dog, joined them.

Tyr, who had been watching them, smiled and said:

“Did your persuasion fail?”

“Ugh, that stubborn bastard!”

Then, as if her anger flared up again, Artemis threw Aphrodite aside, huffed, and sat down.

She crossed her arms, her eyebrows forming a V, and complained:

“How is he going to beat Hercules?! Huh?! Without equipment?! If he fights barehanded, even Zeus could be beaten by that loafer!! Right, Tyr?!”

“Hoho…”

“He looks so innocent he couldn’t even catch a bug! But his pride is soooooo strong!!”

Like a wife nagging her useless husband.

After about 30 minutes of non-stop nagging, she finally calmed down.

Artemis looked at Tyr and asked:

“What are the odds?”

“26 to 1.”

“It’s a wonder it didn’t go over 30.”

“Well, it might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…”

Artemis sighed.

And when she brought up the system window on the screen, the odds appeared.

Bets that Constellations usually make when a one-on-one duel is arranged.

Normally, it would be right to bet on the winner, but….

At that moment, baby angels began to fly around the stands, acting as brokers.

[The match will begin in 10 minutes!!]

“”””Waaaaah -!!!””””

A roar like thunder erupted.

Seeing that, Aphrodite smiled eerily.

“There are 10 times more people than usual.”

“Of course, it’s Hercules! Hmph!”

One-on-one duels between Constellations don’t happen often.

And fights between strong Constellations, not cute Incarnations, are always interesting.

For Constellations addicted to dopamine, it’s a super fun event that cannot be missed.

And the reason why there were so many more people than usual was….

[Hercules is entering the arena 10 minutes early!!]

Hercules, appearing first in the Mount Olympus arena.

A giant, 285cm tall, with a thick and combat-ready wrestler’s physique.

Furthermore, a legendary hero whose fame was widespread back when everyone was still a ‘god.’

That’s why he was in this match.

The reason everyone confidently bet their precious coins without hesitation was simple.

The name Hercules and the deep trust in his myth.

Because he was a hero, everyone believed without a doubt that he would win.

[The victory reward has been decided! The sponsor is Zeus-nim!! The reward is the Jewel of Ishtar’s Tears!!]

Tyr was surprised by those words.

Because the victory reward was absurd.

“Why the Jewel of Ishtar’s Tears…”

The Jewel of Ishtar’s Tears is a one-time use item.

If used, a Constellation can manifest in the lower world for 24 hours.

It wasn’t something to be casually offered in a show like this.

However, Artemis, who knew Zeus well, snorted and said:

“Hmph! It’s obvious he’s planning to go down to the lower world and fool around with women! Constellations can’t trade items directly!”

As she said.

Precious items or abilities cannot be traded directly between Constellations.

If that were possible, they could have created superhumans by pooling the power of Constellations from Greece, Northern Europe, and Egypt.

To trade abilities or items, they have to go through the system and fairies and list them on the exchange at a fair price.

So Zeus, on this occasion, intended to give his son a precious item without ‘commission.’

“Kekeke~♪ Hasn’t it started yet?”

Sun Wukong suddenly popped up from behind.

He squeezed between Tyr and Artemis and took a seat.

Despite receiving glares, the mischievous monkey didn’t care.

He wagged his tail and giggled.

“Did you guys bet?”

“Um…”

Artemis pondered the monkey’s question.

Realistically, she thought Cain had no chance of beating Hercules.

Furthermore, because she was acting as a wallet, her remaining fortune was only 3.2 million coins.

So she hesitated, but….

“I bet on the stoic guy~ keke♪”

“This ☆ great one did too!”

“Well, I did too.”

Sun Wukong, Aphrodite, and Tyr had all placed their bets.

Artemis, surprised by their words, asked everyone:

“No, his opponent is that Hercules?! What were you thinking….”

“Just… a love goddess’s intuition☆”

She considered hitting her, but…

Hela, who had been staring blankly like an idiot, moved her pale fingers and completed her bet.

“You too…?”

“…Believe.”

Hela spoke.

Everyone had made a risky underdog bet.

Artemis scratched her wavy blue hair and finally bet on Cain.

His opponent was tough, but Hercules was barehanded, without any powerful weapons.

Besides, she had seen his peculiar and strange skills with her own eyes, so she took a chance.

“Damn it…!! I don’t care anymore!!”

[Betting time is over!]

The odds were 27 to 1.

Even though Artemis and Hela had put in money, the odds had increased further.

She clasped her hands and prayed that her entire fortune wouldn’t disappear.

“Please, ability…! Use that awesome ability well!!”

[Hercules’s opponent!! Cain appears!!]

And Cain appeared on the screen.

The Constellations murmured at the unfamiliar name, but it wasn’t a big deal.

After all, there were many Constellations, and many came from unknown minor gods.

The Constellations focused on the screen, expecting to see a legendary hero’s fight.

The two talked for a moment, and then….

[Don’t worry, I won’t use any abilities.]

“You bastard -!!!!”

Finally, Artemis exploded.

This time, Aphrodite had to hold her back, as the virgin goddess was furious.

But the arrogant Hercules presented his face, daring him to hit him….

“Hit him right in the kisser!!”

[Yaaayayaya~….]

“You motherf*cker… Aaaargh!!!!”

He was slowly throwing a punch, playfully provoking him.

Sun Wukong, the mischievous Constellation next to her, covered his face with his hand and cackled.

Artemis, whose entire fortune was at stake, was furious.

“Hahaha! This will be over quickly.”

A cheerful voice from one of the Constellations.

And Hercules, angered by the provocation, swung his fist to counterattack, but….

[Yaaaaah… ap -!!]

His round expression sharpened, and he grabbed Hercules’s face.

He grabbed his face like a handle and slammed him onto the ground…

The hero of Greece, Hercules, was driven deep into the center of Mount Olympus.

Artemis, frozen by the unexpected turn of events.

“He was that strong…?”

It wasn’t just Artemis.

The Constellations gathered in the Colosseum as spectators.

All those who had been chattering loudly and laughing were frozen simultaneously.

If Constellations were divided by rank, where would Hercules be?

There might be some differing opinions, but he would be A-rank top-tier… or S-rank low-tier.

The S-rank gatekeeper before entering the so-called strongest line.

And yet, that Constellation was driven 6000m deep into Mount Olympus, piercing the ground.

“Kekeke…What did I tell you… He seems like my kind of person.”

With Sun Wukong’s cheerful hum, the battle between the two Constellations began.

****

Mount Olympus trembled.

Hercules, embedded in the center, tried to lift the 6000m upper part of the mountain.

Since I couldn’t just stand by, I jumped up in place.

And like swinging a hammer at a nail, I stomped on the ground.

–Rumble -!!

Then the temple, along with the mountain, sank.

As Hercules slightly lifted it, the center of the mountain, which had been split open, closed again with force, and rubble and dust clouds billowed out…

Due to the impact of my stomp, the sinkhole split open in a straight line, and Mount Olympus was torn in two.

After that, Mount Olympus remained motionless, as if Hercules was crushed underneath.

I stood in place, put my hands on my hips, and looked down into the sinkhole.

At that moment, the mountaintop began to tremble.

-Rumble, rumble, rumble….

“Uh-oh…? Wait, you crazy bastard!”

The giant temple split in half and moved away from me.

No, the entire mountain was moving away… no, no, half of the mountain was splitting.

Hercules, visible in the splitting gap.

Sitting on the ground, using both legs… that is, in a leg press posture, he pushed away the half of the mountain I was standing on.

I hurriedly jumped to the other half of the mountain that hadn’t fallen.

I barely managed to hang onto the cliff face of the severed section.

And when I looked back….

“Wow, what a spectacle.”

A 6000m rock mass, completely severed.

As it tumbled down below, it completely covered the visible ground.

The moment the rock mass, whose weight I couldn’t even guess, hit the ground….

-BOOOOOM -!!!

A massive earthquake occurred, so strong that it felt like I was inside a washing machine for a moment.

The rock face I was holding onto crumbled, and I fell.

I tried to grab onto the wall again to stop my fall, but….

“This way.”

Hercules, his massive body thudding against the cliff as he ran down the tilted surface.

He leaped at me, grabbed my waist in a tackle, and we fell together.

The hero, gripping my waist tightly, intending to slam me into the ground.

I raised my fist and, while falling, struck Hercules’s face.

-Whack!!

But Hercules didn’t let go.

As he leaned his weight forward, my head tilted downwards.

And the moment his cauldron-like hand covered my face, plunging me into darkness, I felt an impact on the back of my head.

-Thud!

Was it revenge for slamming him into the ground earlier? While falling, he grabbed my face and smashed the back of my head against the stone floor.

And Hercules immediately mounted me and swung his fist.

I crossed both arms and blocked his attack.

–Thump!! Thump! Crash!!

Every time he pounded my forearms, the ground screamed and cracked as if in pain.

“Kuh Haaaaaaah!”

Hercules raised both arms high.

As he made a large motion, preparing to strike with all his might, I sat up and delivered a surprise headbutt.

-Crash!

Hercules, staggered by the unexpected attack, was momentarily defenseless.

I swung my fist in that opening.

-Crack!!

A sickening crack echoed from his skull.

My fist landed squarely on his face, and Hercules was sent flying far away.

Hercules, who must have weighed at least 400kg, flew hundreds of meters and crashed into a wall.

-Crash

Mount Olympus began to shake again.

It was due to the accumulated damage from hitting the ground, which had already been heavily damaged, and the impact of crashing into the wall.

And right in front of me, Hercules pulled up the remaining half of the mountain and was about to bring it down on me… huh?

The mountain was gradually collapsing.

“Oh my god….”

Three Mount Hallasans are falling on my head.

-Craaaaaash -!!!!!!

Smoke billowed up.

And the overly large Mount Olympus fell on my head.

Crawling out from the debris, through the pitch-black darkness, I saw flat ground.

The terrain had completely changed due to the rubble that had turned into gravel.

“Phew…. That was dangerous.”

Hercules is stronger than I thought.

I slightly revised my assessment of him and, as I climbed up, I saw a fist.

Where did the warrior’s pride go? A surprise attack, waiting for me to climb up and then swinging unexpectedly.

I ducked to avoid it and then, among the temple’s marble and various weapons mixed in with the rubble from the collapsing mountain, I grabbed a spear and thrust it into Hercules’s abdomen.

-Creeeak…

“Ah, it’s just an iron spear.”

“A useless act.”

But naturally, an ordinary iron spear couldn’t even pierce his skin, let alone his abs.

The spear bent like a candy cane.

Taking advantage of the opening created by my failed attack, he grabbed my neck, lifted me up, and then…

-Whack -!!

He punched me in the abdomen, sending me flying far away.

My body skipped across the ground several times, like a stone skipping on water.

As soon as I crashed into the ground, I immediately stood up, but Hercules was right in front of me.

It seemed he had chased after me at the speed I was flying….

He swung his fist before I could even get into a stance, but I dodged by ducking diagonally downwards.

At the same time, I struck his abdomen with a back kick, putting my weight into it.

-Craaaaaack -!!

The impact must have been significant, as a worm-like vein popped out on his forehead.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as if he wanted to vomit.

But like a true warrior, he endured the pain and swung his fist at me again.

I also swung my fist at Hercules, and….

-Craaaack -!!

We simultaneously struck each other’s faces.

Then, fan-shaped cracks appeared on the ground behind each of us from the shockwave.

Hercules and I staggered from the impact, and then….

We threw another punch.

As if our thoughts were connected, this time it wasn’t a straight punch but an uppercut.

Again, we simultaneously swung upwards with the intent to break each other’s jaws.

–Crack!

The world seemed to move in slow motion.

The sound of slightly opened jaws colliding with fists and upper teeth echoed.

And as mine and Hercules’s faces snapped upwards, our skin stretching from the acceleration, only when our gazes, shaking from the impact, met with wavering focus, did the turtle-slow sound finally reach our ears.

-Craaaaaaaack -!!!

An uppercut swung so fast that the speed of sound felt cute.

Our bodies, due to the impact, were simultaneously launched into the air and thrown nearby.

Our bodies, which had risen hundreds of meters, collapsed into a pile of rubble.

I rubbed my aching jaw and stood up again.

“I apologize once more.”

And Hercules, visible before my eyes.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his teeth seemingly broken from the attack.

“You are small and gaunt, but you are an excellent warrior.”

“Well… thanks.”

Hercules rubbed his jaw and said to me:

“It seems you’re holding back your strength.”

Oh, sharp.

His brain may be muscle, but when it comes to fighting, it seems to work quickly.

Well, even in mythology, he was the type to use his head to defeat monsters stronger than himself.

Hercules crossed his arms, pondered for a moment, and then said to me:

“The warm-up is over. I know your skills well now.”

You know them well?

Then you should be running away right now.

But Hercules smiled confidently and said:

“Currently, I am fighting with 25% of my strength.”

…….

So what…?

I looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, my shoulders slumped.

But he, full of confidence, says to me:

“From now on, I’ll go all out. Don’t die, excellent warrior.”

“…Yeah, whatever.”

I sighed and got into a stance.

Talking to someone living in a delusion will only make me tired.

I clenched my fists and this time took a boxing stance.

Seeing that, Hercules smiled, took a stance similar to wrestling….

He smiled, taking the stance of Pankration, an ancient Greek martial art.

And he says, as if greatly enjoying himself:

“Let the real game begin.”

Think whatever you want.

From now on, I’ll gradually increase my output.

So don’t act arrogant and please don’t just die on me.