The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion

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

In the next instant, a purple-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.

The aura spread everywhere, covering the entire area, even reaching the Norse gods, who were several meters away.

It surged in an instant like a bomb exploding.

Its overwhelming power forced them back in fear, threatening them with its incredible intensity.

Damian snorted as his eyes turned bright red, like pools of blood.

In the next moment, a mountainous red-and-black aura, like death itself, erupted from him.

His power climbed the ladder once again as the golden chains, [Gleipnir], binding him began to vibrate, not in response to his immense physical strength, but to his energy of [Predation].

Then, something incomprehensible happened.

The energy of [Predation] completely engulfed the golden chains of [Gleipnir], and immediately the chains vibrated even more violently.

The divine energy the gods had been channeling into the weapon was cut off, and Odin lost his authority over it.

All the energy, aura, and concepts within [Gleipnir] were drained rapidly.

Within moments, its golden glow vanished.

The divine weapon fell to the ground like nothing more than old, rusted, useless chains devoid of power.

"Gleipnir… failed?"

"What…"

"What the fuck is happening…?"

The gods watched in horror and confusion as the energy of [Predation] returned to its master.

Damian absorbed everything he had extracted from the divine weapon, the energy, the essence, and every concept it had once embodied.

He closed his eyes, feeling his mind being elevated again and again in mere moments. He could sense himself drawing closer and closer to godhood.

[Extracting [Divine Essence] from Gleipnir...]

[Extraction Complete]

[[Divine Essence] has been extracted and stored within your [Spiritual World]]

[Extracting [Concepts] from Gleipnir...]

[Extraction Complete]

[[Concepts] have been extracted and transformed into [Laws] for immediate integration]

[Beginning Integration...]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Containment] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Concealment] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Protection] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Order] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Restoration] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Disruption] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Control] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Harmony] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Preservation] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Unity] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Stability] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Domination] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Resistance] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Suppression] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Regulation] has reached its limit]

[Your understanding of the [Law of Void] has reached its limit]

As Damian reveled in the sensation of his mind and soul ascending, his feet rose above the ground without his intent.

A brilliant silverish-gold light radiated from him, illuminating the area with a divine presence even more radiant than that of the Norse gods.

It looked as though his very existence was being elevated and transformed into something greater, leaving behind his mortal shell.

For a moment, it seemed Damian was about to take the next step.

But in the next instant, the divine light vanished. His body dropped back to the ground, unchanged.

He opened his eyes and sighed. "I almost got carried away and achieved godhood… but it's not the right time yet."

Damian, his eyes still glowing with that same godly, divine light, turned his attention back to the Norse Gods, who looked at him with absolute horror in their eyes.

Even though Damian had stopped midway before he could achieve godhood, his eyes still seemed bound to that divine form.

[Due to the influence of so many laws and the pseudo-divine state you were in for a short period of time, your [Eyes of Earth and Heaven] have been triggered into evolving.]

[Evolution begun...]

[Evolution complete.]

[Your Innate Ability [Eyes of Earth and Heaven] has evolved into the Unique Innate Ability [Divine Eyes of Causality].]

"Hmm, your time has come," he said in a cold tone that sent shivers down their spines.

Even Syn, Var, and Snotra felt as if death itself was staring at them, despite knowing they were not the true targets of Damian's fury.

The gods could feel it.

They were not mortals who could die at any time, anywhere.

They were gods, divine beings who drew power directly from the universe itself.

And yet, their instincts, their senses, everything screamed at them.

Damian was telling the truth.

Their time had come, and it was Damian who was about to become their executioner.

"No... it can't be..."

"I am not dying at the hands of a mere mortal..."

"I will NOT die today..."

The instant the thought of true death entered their minds, the gods lost control.

In the next instant, their divine power exploded uncontrollably, releasing all their divine concepts and essence.

Every single god, whether a battle god or not, charged at Damian with their most powerful attacks, with only Syn, Var, and Snotra holding back.

Damian felt tens of thousands of runes, divine magic circles, and dozens of powerful divine concepts descending on him from every direction, all with one intent: his destruction.

Swords, spears, flames, ice, wind, order, the sea, the auras of destruction and death, every concept and attack dawned upon him at once with a speed incomprehensible even to the eyes of gods.

"Good. Thats the spirit, bring out everything you have," Damian muttered with a sadistic grin.

His divine glow intensified, and in that moment, Damian, a mortal, seemed to become a god himself.

"By the way... you are not the only ones who can use Divine Concepts," he said.

His voice thundered like a strike from the heavens, spreading outward like a tsunami.

And then, everything stopped.

The swords, the countless attacks, even the aura of death that sought to claim him, all froze as time itself slowed.

[Law of Time: Activated]

"Too bad none of you possess dominion over the [Divine Concept of Time], nor any concept that can counter it." Damian crossed his arms, unconcerned, as the countless frozen attacks hung mere inches from his body.

Ignoring them, he looked past to the gods, trapped in his temporal domain.

They were not frozen, but in this space where his [Law of Time] reigned, their movements slowed to a crawl, barely perceptible.

"It's too easy to kill you..." Damian muttered, then began to unleash his laws one after another.

[Law of Disruption: Activated]

The thousands of attacks hanging in slowed time began to fracture, cracks spreading through every frozen force.

But it wasn't only their attacks.

Even the gods themselves felt it: their breathing, their control over their power, their bodily functions, even their very souls, were disrupted.

[Law of Corruption: Activated]

The energy of corruption seeped into the slowed world, rotting everything it touched.

Their weapons, swords, spears, shields, deteriorated rapidly. Even their divine essence corroded under its influence.

"Get a taste of your own medicine," Damian muttered, activating another law.

[Law of Control: Activated]

As the law awakened, Damian felt his will extend over everything in the area.

The gods, their attacks, even the very forces behind cause and effect bent to his command.

It wasn't that their power became his own, it was that the mechanics of their existence now operated under his will.

A wave of golden energy radiated from Damian.

Time resumed.

In an instant, the countless attacks that had been aimed at him shattered, weakening but not disappearing.

Instead, they twisted midair and surged back toward their senders like puppets on strings.

Before the gods could even react, their own divine power struck them.

Explosions shook the heavens, one after another, flattening the land into ruin.

"Not enough..." Damian narrowed his glowing eyes.

His blood-red aura deepened, turning into a pitch-black-brown miasma.

His eyes glowed with predatory hunger as the Aura of Destruction itself manifested.

[Law of Destruction: Activated]

Before the chain of explosions could end, Damian's destructive aura spread across the sky like a veil, then descended upon the gods.

Everything it touched, dust, air, stone, was annihilated instantly.

The gods, already weakened, scrambled to defend themselves.

Too late.

The aura fell upon them, not in a single blast, but as a force that gnawed at their very existence.

Their bodies were crushed, eroded, torn apart, dismembered, pulverized, mangled, every form of destruction manifested at once.

And Damian did not stop.

Again and again, he poured his destruction over them, leaving them no chance to recover.

Finally, his aura faded.

Damian's eyes glowed blood red, then his body suddenly exploded into a pool of blood.

The blood surged outward, moving with a will of its own.

It wrapped around the gods in a prison-like sphere, sealing them inside.

No matter how they struggled, the sphere shrank tighter and tighter, devouring them whole.

And then, from the pool of blood, a figure rose.

Damian, returned to his base form, stood tall.

But his eyes still bore the lingering glow of predation.