It was how every fight you'd expect would start.
There was no more words exchange between the two as both Zenkichi and Odin charged at each other, fist and fist meet near the beer pyramid, creating a shockwave that reverberated throughout the arena and sending the beers flying in all directions.
"Good!" Odin roared, his voice booming across the arena. "Finally, a worthy opponent."
Zenkichi gritted his teeth, feeling the force behind Odin's punch. Even with the gauntlet, The Iron and Blut Vene augmenting his physical capabilities that even a steel blade wouldn't scratch him or make him feel pain — Odin's punch had somehow made him feel like he was punching a mountain!
'I underestimated his strength. Fuck, I thought their strength was still around the limits of a human!' Zenkichi pushed forward, trading heavy punch after punch against Odin. But he would always blocked them with his hands or the shaft of his spear.
Even with his Devil Style that would make his every attack connect, Odin seemed to have an innate ability to defend against Zenkichi's onslaught. It was his instinct and experience in battle had honed his reflexes to a level that surpassed Zenkichi's own unnatural abilities.
"No matter how many times you attack, boy, it will be in vain," Odin taunted with a cocky grin. "I have been forged in countless battles, and you are nothing but a mere mortal. Your efforts are futile."
'I guess there's a difference about watching the show than really experiencing a fight against a God.' Zenkichi felt the weight of each blow as his fists collided with Odin's impenetrable defenses, despite having The Iron at all times.
So there was a limit to how much The Iron could take, and an opponent with Godly strength was the limit.
The sheer power behind Odin's attacks was overwhelming, pushing Zenkichi to his physical limits. He could feel his muscles strain and ache with each punch and kicks he threw, but he refused to give in.
Zenkichi went in once more to punch Odin to his face with his right fist but the Aesir King easily caught it with his left hand, the latter made to twist his hand to cripple him but it was at that moment that something strange occurred.
[Liquid Morph]
The hand that Odin was holding onto turned into water, slipping through his fingers and reforming back into Zenkichi's solid hand. Odin's eyes widened in surprise, momentarily distracted, giving Zenkichi the opportunity to land a solid punch to his jaw.
The impact caused a crunching sound to be heard and sent Odin stumbling back, and for a brief moment, Zenkichi thought he had gained the upper hand. But Odin quickly regained his composure, a trail of blood dripped out of the corner of his lips as his eye glowed with amusement.
"Impressive," Odin said, his voice filled with a mix of joy and excitement. "You possess the power to change the state of your existence into a liquid one. A very interesting ability that would be troublesome to match, for lower tier Gods that is."
"Have you forgotten one of my domain, boy?" Odin lifted a single index finger in the air and a blue line trailed down where his finger moved.
Zenkichi felt the hair on his neck stand, making him clench his fists. He shook his head and rouse the Reishi in his body, this was the perfect time to–
'Zenkichi, run! I don't know what you're doing but even I'm not sure I can take on one of his primordial rune!' Brunhilde's voice boomed in his mind, making him stop at his tracks.
He immediately processed her words and instead of complying, he instead took a step forward and raised his left arm as if he was grabbing something.
'Idiot! Didn't I tell you that–!'
'Trust me,' Zenkichi calmly replied to Brunhilde as he got closer to Odin.
"In my left hand, I command weapons," There was a flash of green lightning emitting from his left gauntlet and a long katana, surpassing his height, appeared in his hand.
"Vinstri Mund ór Stál(Left Hand of Steel)!"
As the captain of the Valkyries, Brunhilde is known to be the strongest amongst all her sisters. It was known she knew every martial arts in existence, carried a powerful spear that wasn't any inferior to most divine weapons, and that in battle she would bring victory to her comrades.
She was the Valkyrie of Victory and Battle. Her hands are weapons, her clothes are her armor.
That legend of her transferred into her Völundr abilities.
So long as there was a battle to be fought, her left hand would continue to bring out weapons of war.
Zenkichi raised the long katana with a determined expression, he didn't take a stance. There was no need.
All he needed to do was to slice the enemy in front of him.
Gripping the katana, he uttered,
"Hiken..."
On the audience area, Sasaki Kojiro was just sipping on a cup of sake provided by his Valkyrie, Hrist. He was supposed to be healing from his injuries but as a fellow Japanese and elder, he wanted to see how the kid would fare against the God and if this wasn't just some kind of joke Brunhilde had came up with or a plot she and Odin were cooking up.
They were from the same pantheon after all, and he did hear that she was his daughter or whatever.
"Huh?"
But the moment he saw Zenkichi holding a long katana, he dropped the cup and stood up in shock.
There was no way.
But this feeling... It might look different but there was no mistaking that intent!
A sword technique that was created for the sole purpose of cutting down a swallow.
"Kojiro-san? What are you–"
"That kid, Hitoyoshi Zenkichi," Kojiro gulped as he stared at Zenkichi's figure, he could feel the boy giving off a different kind of aura than before. An aura of a swordmaster! A grin spread across his face as he exclaimed, "No wonder your older sister chose him... He's a monster! Hahaha!"
"Interesting," Odin murmured, having felt the laws of physics bending and space and time distorting around them. Smirking, he lowered his finger and didn't complete the rune. He instead gripped Gungnir's golden shaft, intending to meet the sword technique with his divine weapon.
It was for two reasons, out of pride and to show the mortals that no mortal technique can ever match up to–
Odin's single eye widened.
He saw the world slowing down, the noises all around them gone. He couldn't feel his body, his divine power or his weapon.
'What's going on?' What is this feeling?
It was something he couldn't understand. It was a feeling he had long forgotten.
And there it was.
His headless body, falling. Blood spurting from his severed neck and torso.
'Ah, I see.' Odin calmly closed his eye and in the next moment he opened his eye, seeing Zenkichi in front of him and that everything he just saw was a vision of his death.
Did his clairvoyance activate? After he had sacrificed his eye to Mìmir, Odin had gained the power of foresight and omniscience, the latter being restricted due to that stupid rule Frigg and her fellow goddesses imposed on them all when that perverted freak Zeus and his friends went in a perverted journey.
Seriously, he didn't join them!
But no... He didn't feel his clairvoyance activate at all.
Was that all just that boy's intent?
This all occured in a split second, Odin's mind processed everything faster than even computers.
But it wouldn't help him to what was to come.
Zenkichi stood before Odin, his grip on the katana firm and his eyes filled with determination, and then... he swung his sword.
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
The blade moved with lightning speed, the technique bending space and time. One, two, three concurrent arching blades close onto Odin's body from all sides to create a prison, allowing no chance for defense or evasion.
'I can't dodge,' Odin's mind raced as he realized the inevitability of the attack. His divine instincts and battle experience told him that he had no chance to avoid the sword technique.
'Looks like I have to get serious.' Odin's eye glowed with a dark glow, divine power burst out of his body as he adjusted his grip on his spear.
If he can't dodge it, he just have to deflect the attack.
"I am Odin, I stand not as a King of the Norse, but a God of War!"
Gungnir is a weapon of war and authority of the Norse pantheon, a powerful divine weapon that eclipses even the great hammer Mjolnir. Legends even say that during a great incident that involved the Abrahamic God, Zeus and other chief gods — he had used Gungnir, threw it across the great cosmos and shattered three stars and a black hole that were about to cause devastation to the Nine Realms.
Though the divine spear is mighty, its other ability was its mostly known one: granting its user absolute precision.
No matter who, what defenses they've got, the spear would always hit the target no matter what.
In one swift motion, Odin swung Gungnir, colliding with the oncoming blades. The clash was deafening, sending shockwaves throughout the arena. The force of the impact created cracks in the ground, shattering the beer pyramid and shaking the very core of the arena.
Zenkichi stumbled back from the impact, the technique canceled and he hurriedly raised his katana to deflect a spear thrusting towards his neck. The two weapons clashed, the sound of metal against metal ringing through the air.
Inevitably, the katana broke first. Causing Zenkichi to activate the hidden thruster in his greaves to propel himself back, creating some distance between him and Odin.
"...I had wondered which Valkyrie you had Völundr," Just as Zenkichi was about to catch his breath, Odin's voice interrupted his thoughts. "But to think you would fight against me like this once more, daughter."
Brunhilde's astral projection appeared over Zenkichi's shoulder, her eyes cold and unwavering. "Well, what can I say," she said with contempt. "I'm just that rebellious daughter almost every father dreads, except you that is. Shitty old man."
Odin chuckled, a dark and sinister sound that sent shivers down Zenkichi's spine. "Ah, how adorable. So full of anger and rebellion. Was the incident with Sigurd not enough to quell your rebellious spirit? Or do you seek more vengeance?"
"Shut up!" Brunhilde snapped, her voice filled with rage.
"Don't get distracted now," Odin smirked, his right index glowing with magic.
Zenkichi's eyes widened and he looked down to see a hexagonal runes forming under his feet. "Oh no, not this again," he muttered.
Odin raised his hand, and Zenkichi felt an invisible force pulling him towards the ground. He tried to resist it, but it was no use. He was being dragged down, his body pinned against the ground by the rune's power.
"No!" Zenkichi grunted, struggling against the force. But he couldn't break free. Odin's magic was too strong.
He tried changing his body to a liquid state but found that even that ability was being suppressed by Odin's power.
Without wasting a beat, Odin appeared above Zenkichi and raised Gungnir over his head.
'Looks like I have no choice.' Bright blue circuit-like lines appeared all over Zenkichi's skin, causing his armor to glow accordingly as spiritual power surge out of his body like a tsunami, forcing back Odin in surprise, as the energy quickly formed a large pillar of spiritual power.
Everyone watched in awe, shock and amazement at the sudden appearance of the strange pillar of blue spiritual power. They were even more captivated by the unnatural sounds of bells ringing coming from the pillar.
Odin narrowed his eye, the feeling of danger once more creeping up on him. He knew that Zenkichi's power had increased significantly, and he couldn't afford to let his guard down.
With a quick flick of his wrist, Odin redirected his spear towards the pillar, sending a surge of divine energy through it to try and disperse it. But the pillar held strong, its blue light pulsating with intensity.
"Boy, are you even human? Because right now," Odin murmured as he retracted Gungnir. "You resemble a demon more like it."
Zenkichi slowy rose from the ground, his eyes glowing with determination. A pair of bat-like blue energy wings unfurled from his back as a brightly glowing halo hovered over his head, like a crown. The blue spiritual power surrounded him, swirling like a protective barrier. He could feel the surge of energy coursing through his veins, empowering him beyond his limits.
"I — The Iron; Vollständig," Zenkichi declared, his voice filled with a newfound confidence. "Ready for round two, Odin?"
....
AN: Sorry for the late update. I played Genshin Impact for six hours straight yesterday; trying to finish that goddamn thaw the ice quest and getting that princess box. It was so fucking tedious, I even cried!🥲
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