The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion

"Hahaha…." Damian laughed out loud, his face full of amusement as he clapped his hands together, as though he were truly entertained by what the gods were trying to do.

To think they would try to bind him with [Gleipnir], the divine chains that once bound the beast of the end, Fenrir?

The gods narrowed their eyes in nervousness; some of them didn't even bother to hide the fear on their faces.

Even after seeing the divine weapon, one that, if it bound him, would require the combined might of the most powerful gods of the upper plane to break, he still laughed, as though the entire ordeal were nothing more than a joke.

Did this mean that this mortal did not fear the divine weapon?

Did he believe he possessed the strength to break free from the chains if bound, or that he could escape before they closed around him?

No.

If his plan had been to escape, he would have acted before the chains were summoned.

That he did not meant only one thing: he truly didn't care if [Gleipnir] bound him.

No matter what the gods tried, it would not harm him.

From the very beginning, they had been fighting a losing battle, a battle not only of defeat but of death.

Worse still, their very souls, their divine concepts, their powers, and even the faith they had cultivated from mortals would all be consumed as fuel for Damian's endless greed to grow stronger.

After this battle, it would be as if these gods had never existed at all.

For once a god truly dies, the faith mortals held in them vanishes swiftly, as though it too were erased from existence.

"Go on, Odin… use your divine weapon. I'll wait. Let's see if your plan works," Damian said with a grin, deliberately provoking the gods.

The gods exchanged uneasy glances.

Even Odin himself felt fear creeping in, though he tried to suppress it.

He shook his head slightly, forcing the nervousness from his face, struggling to steel his heart against surrender.

He could not give in.

He would not give in.

He was a god-king, one of the most powerful gods of the entire lower plane, ruler of its greatest pantheon.

He would never, ever admit defeat.

Not to anyone.

And certainly not to a mere mortal.

"I won't accept it… I can't accept it!" Odin bellowed, his voice thundering across the battlefield as he rejected the idea of their impending doom.

"I refuse to believe that even Gleipnir is not enough to stop you… you loathsome creature!"

Odin's figure surged with a presence unlike any he had ever released before.

Fueled by his fury, a tremendous aura burst from his body.

With a sharp gesture, the golden chain that veiled the darkened sky began to shrink, collapsing inward until, in moments, it condensed into a size fit for battle, several meters long.

Odin narrowed his eyes, then looked toward the gathered gods.

At once, they responded.

Heimdall, Vidar, Baldur, Bragi, Forseti, Hermod, Ullr, Njord, and the goddesses Sif, Gefjon, Syn, Sjöfn, Snotra, Idunn, Lofn, and Var all unleashed their divine auras in unison.

The combined might of so many gods and goddesses radiated outward, so vast and terrible that even beings from distant worlds could sense it.

Countless eyes turned toward the Norse Pantheon, drawn by the overwhelming surge of divine power.

Their combined divine power was focused on the divine chains, [Gleipnir], while the God-King Odin manipulated the restraint to his will.

In the next instant, the golden chain moved like a giant python, coiling tightly around the Night King as though crushing its prey beneath its weight, squeezing him, breaking him, and threatening to devour him.

The chains wrapped around his neck, arms, legs, and torso, pulling in every direction as if trying to tear him apart.

Damian, still in his [Blood King's Descent] form, was already under the restraints of countless divine concepts, and now the divine weapon Gleipnir bound every part of his body even more tightly.

He narrowed his eyes with a faint smile, straining against the golden chains.

But it was like trying to move a molten boulder, immovable.

"Well done, Odin… it seems your idea worked," Damian said calmly, his face showing no fear or concern, as if everything were still under his control.

"How are you smiling? How can you smile? How can you still act as though you have everything under control? How can a mortal stand against the might of so many gods and still, just how… you monster!" Odin bellowed, his expression twisted with madness, unable to believe what he was witnessing.

Not only Odin, but all the gods and goddesses on the battlefield wore the same expression.

Many had already started to believe they had won, though deep in their hearts they knew they were only lying to themselves.

Damian ignored their stares as though they were beneath him, calmly surveying the gathered gods and goddesses one by one.

Excluding the fallen god Thor, there were seventeen deities Odin and his children had brainwashed into committing the blasphemous deeds they had done.

Aside from Thor and Odin, there stood Heimdall, Vidar, Baldur, Bragi, Forseti, Hermod, Ullr, Njord, Sif, Gefjon, Syn, Sjöfn, Snotra, Idunn, Lofn, and Var, each unleashing their divine aura in unison.

Damian could sense that not all of them were beyond saving.

Some had never even touched the [Law Forger].

He could feel it; several were acting under fear, forced into obedience by Odin's tyranny.

Among them, the goddesses Syn, Var, and Snotra remained pure of heart.

He felt their emotions, oppression, burden, and subjugation.

They had been forced to participate in the abominations of the Norse gods, controlled by the God-King Odin himself.

Now, for the first time, they began to fear true death.

All because of the notorious King of the Norse pantheon.

Damian felt their every emotion.

Syn, Var, and Snotra were kind-hearted goddesses, yet Odin had dragged them into this.

Pitiful, truly pitiful.

The [Law Forger] was a greedy artifact.

It required a vast amount of divine energy to even function, and for Odin to wield it properly, he needed the power of many gods.

That was why he had forced them to join him, threatening to kill or imprison them if they refused.

Damian's eyes swept over each and every one of the gods, making them feel an overwhelming sense of intimidation.

But when his gaze finally landed on three particular goddesses, Syn, Vár, and Snotra, it was enough for them to understand the message of impending doom that hung over the pantheon.

If they wished to survive, they would have to do what they were meant to do.

The three goddesses exchanged complicated, fearful glances.

After a few seconds, the divine energy they had been channeling into [Gleipnir] vanished, along with the radiant aura around their bodies.

"What the hell are you doing?" The other gods and goddesses turned toward them, sensing that they had stopped their flow of power.

"We can't…" Syn said softly.

"I can't do this…" Vár and Snotra muttered, shaking their heads while staring at the ground, refusing to meet the eyes of the others.

"You insolent, pathetic swine! This is not the moment to show insubordination!" Odin roared, his eyes wide with fury.

"That monster is going to kill us all! You can't back out, you whores!" Heimdall snarled, slamming his sword into the ground.

The goddesses remained silent, their heads bowed as if in shame.

Yet, in truth, it was not shame they felt, but disgust.

A single stolen glance at the mighty Vampire Progenitor revealed his satisfied smile, and they knew in their hearts where they stood.

The truth was undeniable.

The smile on the mortal's face, the sudden defiance of the goddesses, it was clear they no longer stood with the gods.

They had chosen their side, and it was not the one Odin would have wished.

Fury like never before burned in the hearts of the gods, especially their king, Odin.

But they did not act.

They could not act.

If they interrupted the binding process now, the Vampire King would break free from Gleipnir's hold.

To seal him for eternity, all their divine energy was required to fully charge the weapon.

For [Gleipnir] was no mere binding tool, it was a divine artifact, forged with countless divine concepts.

Wielding it granted its bearer heightened comprehension of these concepts, each one immeasurably powerful.

[Gleipnir] was created by imbuing the concepts of Containment, Concealment, Protection, Order, Restoration, Disruption, Control, Harmony, Preservation, Unity, Stability, Domination, Resistance, Suppression, Regulation, and Void.

Every concept that could suppress body, spirit, or soul, no matter how powerful, no matter how unique, was woven into [Gleipnir].

Even the Beast of the End had once been subdued by its power.

It was, in truth, a brilliant idea by the Norse gods to bind Damian with [Gleipnir].

Not even he was impervious to its divine binding force.

But what they had not accounted for was Damian's most crucial and terrifying ability, [Predation].

[Predation] not only allowed him to extract energy from anything, living or non-living, but also to consume and absorb laws themselves, or even metaphysical and incorporeal forces.

And concepts were nothing more than the higher form of laws.

Mortals could only comprehend laws.

Once their comprehension reached its peak, they could go no further, unless they ascended to godhood.

At that point, the laws they had mastered would transform into concepts, and their comprehension of them could continue to grow without end.

Damian decided he had enjoyed enough fun, now it was time to finish this once and for all.

In the next instant, a reddish-blue aura began to emanate from him, his predation of energy surging in every direction.

The god narrowed their eyes in horror as they felt something dreadful, terrible, and overwhelmingly powerful make its presence known.