Brunhilde had briefed him on Thor's capabilities.
She explained that Mjölnir contained overwhelming power—without proper protection, the wielder would suffer backlash.
Thor's iron gauntlets, Járngreipr, existed to shield him from this.
That was why Randgriz, the fourth of the Valkyrie sisters, had been chosen for this battle.
As a Valkyrie, Randgriz's divine weapon form possessed a unique property: Shield Breaker.
And Thor's Járngreipr, being a defensive artifact, was particularly vulnerable to her.
The plan was simple—destroy the gauntlets, rendering Mjölnir unusable.
Without his divine weapon, Thor's power would diminish significantly, tipping the odds in humanity's favor.
That was Brunhilde's strategy.
But someone had no intention of following it.
At first, he hadn't linked with a divine weapon because he wanted to test how much damage a purely human state could inflict on Thor.
Turns out, it wasn't much.
Later, forging a divine bond with Randgriz was merely to gather more data on the peculiar fusion of human and divine power.
Yet in his clash with Thor, he noticed something unusual.
Brunhilde's intelligence must have been flawed. The so-called iron gauntlet [Járngreipr], which was said to protect Thor, was likely incorrect.
During their duel, he sensed the opponent's growing thirst for battle, as if urging him to become stronger—strong enough to unleash his true power.
In their exchanges, he also noticed that Thor's attacks, which should have been far more ferocious, were instead being restrained by the gauntlets.
He could feel Thor barely holding back the urge to discard this restraint and engage him in a true, unrestrained battle.
The only reason Thor was still enduring was that he had yet to see enough power from his opponent to warrant such a release.
Thus, Thor was caught between expectation and disappointment.
So, he decided to push his current state of unity between man and god to its limit and shattered Thor's iron gauntlet.
Sure enough, the moment it was destroyed, he could clearly sense the far more violent power about to erupt from Thor's body.
Now, things were getting interesting.
He, too, prepared for his mechanical ascension, allowing both sides to engage in an all-out, unrestrained battle.
This would no longer be about the purpose of [Ragnarök]—it would simply be a pure clash between two warriors seeking an opponent worthy of their full strength, a battle fought for the sheer thrill of it.
And during the transformation, he might as well throw in a little scare.
"Eh? Sister Brun, wh-what did he say?"
Göll, seated in the audience, was utterly bewildered.
The Overlord Xiang Yu had just declared that he had destroyed the thing suppressing Thor, allowing him to wield his true power?
What did that mean?
The thing suppressing him… was it the iron gauntlet [Járngreipr]?
But wasn't that supposed to protect Lord Thor? How had it become something that restrained his power?
"I don't know either."
Brunhilde's expression grew increasingly grave.
The Overlord representing humanity on the arena stage wouldn't make baseless claims.
If what he said was true, then the intelligence she had gathered about Thor might have been false.
And now, the arena itself was changing—the divine hammer [Mjölnir] was melting the ground. If no one picked it up to stop it, it might melt straight through.
Witnessing this, most of the divine spectators panicked, exclaiming that with [Járngreipr] destroyed, Lord Thor could no longer wield [Mjölnir].
In other words, most gods shared the same understanding as Brunhilde—that [Járngreipr] existed to protect Thor.
"W-what is this?!"
Göll suddenly shrank back, startled by a sound—a heartbeat?
The heartbeat seemed to be coming from [Mjölnir].
The hammer's metallic shell cracked apart as if something inside was swelling, revealing something that made her skin crawl—flesh?
As if some grotesque creature lurked within?
Brunhilde's expression darkened further as she watched this unfold, especially when Thor spoke to [Mjölnir], saying, "Finally awake?"
This did not bode well.
Her gaze shifted to a certain lecherous old man—Zeus. Unlike the others, he showed no panic. Instead, he wore an amused grin.
That expression made it clear—he wasn't worried about Thor losing. If anything, he seemed to think things were about to get even more entertaining.
As if noticing her gaze, that annoying stare turned towards her again.
"Little sister Brunhilde, judging by your expression, you don't know, do you? Let me tell you then—there's actually a misconception in the legends about [Mjölnir] and [Járngreipr]."
In other words, the intelligence she'd obtained was indeed false, which made Brunhilde's expression darken.
"Do you know? In truth, the gauntlets weren't made to protect Thor from [Mjölnir]'s power. It's actually the opposite."
"The opposite? You mean—"
"Yes. The gauntlets were meant to restrain Thor's true power so he wouldn't crush the unawakened [Mjölnir] in his grip. They were suppressing his real strength all along."
This disturbing revelation gradually drained the color from Brunhilde's face.
Thor's true power could easily shatter the thunder hammer [Mjölnir]?
Wait—the unawakened [Mjölnir]?
That meant the current [Mjölnir] was awakening, becoming even more terrifying, and Thor's true power was no longer being suppressed.
"Feeling despair yet, little sister Brunhilde? Want to cry in my arms~"
Brunhilde ignored Zeus's teasing words, her face pale as she stared at the arena.
To think it would come to this. That meant humanity was—
"It's over. There's no way to win!"
Göll murmured in despair once more.
"It's... not time to give up yet, Göll!"
Brunhilde said this, believing Xiang Yu must have some hidden card to play.
She had her suspicions about what it might be, but she wasn't entirely confident.
Hm?
Xiang Yu was finally bringing out his trump card. With a wave of his hand, a massive metal crate materialized behind him out of thin air.
Such an appearance didn't surprise the gods.
Summoned humans could freely call upon objects from their past lives.
With a series of mechanical whirrs, several thick cables suddenly burst from the metal crate, wrapping around Xiang Yu's limbs and lifting him onto its surface.
Thud—!
The sound of flesh being pierced by blades.
In that moment, the entire arena fell into stunned silence.
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