Just call me Thor

Chapter 573: Sword God



Hearing those words, Mike froze, his expression turning strange.

Ares... fought himself?

What kind of absurdity was this?

Even though his mind was flooded with questions, Mike didn't interrupt.

If Ares had brought it up, he would explain it eventually.

"You've always wanted to learn Fate's Reversal, haven't you?"

Ares suddenly shifted the topic, his tone casual.

"After today, I'll teach you the third use of Fate's Reversal."

The first two uses of Fate's Reversal were both about locking health, though the restrictions differed.

Mike had heard that Fate's Reversal had four uses.

The third was Ares's creation.

As for the fourth, if Mike remembered correctly, it was Cedric's unique invention.

Mike hesitated, debating whether to ask about what had happened back then.

In the end, he couldn't hold back.

It wasn't just curiosity-Mike needed to understand the past if he wanted to figure out how to save Ares.

Ares seemed to consider how to explain, but then he waved it off.

"Forget it. It's too complicated to explain."

He suddenly stopped walking and raised his right hand, as if hailing a cab.

Mike blinked, and a white horse appeared before him.

[Wow-SSS-grade talent!]

The Eye of Truth was clearly envious of the white horse.

If it could, it would love to be a free SSS-grade talent too.

When the white horse appeared, Mike immediately understood what was about to happen.

If it was too complicated to explain, they'd just go see it for themselves.

Suddenly, a thought struck Mike.

If the white horse had always existed, didn't that mean it could use its time-reversal ability to observe everything Mike had ever done?

Mike felt a sudden urge to pay more attention to his image.

At the very least, he needed to prepare some iconic lines for his final battle with the Supreme Demon God!

The white horse flickered, and that familiar sensation surged through Mike's body.

Hold it in!

This time, he didn't throw up!

Standing beside him, Ares chuckled and said casually, "If you feel like throwing up, just do it."

Mike, though his body felt like jelly, stubbornly replied, "I'm fine!"

Ares raised his hand, his tone serious.

"You'll feel better if you let it out."

Hearing Ares's kind tone, Mike's face turned pale.

He knew that even if he didn't want to throw up, he'd end up doing it anyway...

After a moment's thought, Mike punched himself in the stomach.

"Blegh-"

Ares nodded in satisfaction and explained, "If you don't throw up now, it'll feel worse when we get back."

He wasn't a sadist. If he didn't have to, he wouldn't put Mike through this.

And if he did want to torment Mike, he could just draw his sword-why bother with all this?

After finishing the ritual of vomiting, Mike turned his attention to the scene before him. Unlike Mike, Ares showed no signs of discomfort, fully embodying the composure of a Supreme Being.

That said, his figure seemed slightly dimmer than before.

Mike forced himself not to dwell on it, focusing instead on Ares's battle with the Supreme Demon God.

Ares had timed it perfectly.

When Mike looked toward the Supreme Abyssal, the swordsman had just made his entrance.

Unlike Nathan's lone battle, Ares wasn't alone.

Behind him stood another figure-Apollo.

Mike's eyes lit up. A century ago, Apollo had already reached near-Supreme-level combat

power.

But his excitement quickly faded.

Apollo stopped in his tracks, not stepping forward.

Not just Apollo-another powerful figure hidden in the shadows also halted.

Ares's voice echoed in Mike's ears.

"They would die."

Ares explained, "No one but me can return alive from the Supreme Demon God's hands."

Mike: ...

Classic Ares. Even now, he can't resist bragging.

Ares chuckled self-deprecatingly and added,

"Humanity always needs at least one Supreme Being alive, right?"

Nathan could die in battle. Ares could fight to the death. But Apollo couldn't.

Humanity could be passionate, could be heroic, but it needed to preserve a spark of hope.

Now, with Ares severely weakened and Apollo as humanity's Supreme Being, they had to protect the next potential Supreme Being-Thor.

Mike fell silent again, saying nothing.

From the moment he arrived in this world, everyone had told him that humanity needed three

Supreme Beings to hold back the abyss.

But what did it mean to be a Supreme Being?

A Supreme Being was the pinnacle of an era, a singular existence.

Three Supreme Beings? The phrase itself was a contradiction.

There could only ever be one Supreme Being.

It wasn't until recently-until today-that Mike fully understood what had happened over

the past three centuries.

What humanity had sacrificed to get here.

And what it would have to sacrifice to keep going.

Mike was momentarily dazed, lost in thought, until a surge of killing intent snapped him back

to reality.

Ares had arrived at the Supreme Abyssal, standing at its edge.

He had come to fight-to face his fate.

This was the fate that no Supreme Being could escape.

But Ares didn't believe in fate.

He wanted to see which was stronger: fate, or the Broken Sword in his hand.

Mike gasped sharply.

He suddenly realized something.

The Supreme Abyssal wasn't open!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In other words...

The second battle between humanity's Supreme Being and the Supreme Demon God wasn't

because the Supreme Demon God had emerged.

It was because Ares had gone to him!

At that moment, Mike wanted to wave a glowstick and cheer for Ares.

What Ares did next left Mike completely captivated.

Ares spoke calmly.

"Wake up!"

Countless sword lights converged into a massive blade of light, slamming into the Supreme

Abyssal and waking the slumbering, gravely injured Supreme Demon God.

ROAR!

The Supreme Demon God's roar echoed across the Supreme Abyssal.

But his roar was quickly drowned out by a cold, irritable voice.

Amidst a rain of swords, the swordsman bellowed,

"Come here and let me cut you twice!"

Ares's entrance was nothing short of spectacular.

For a brief moment, Mike entertained an unrealistic fantasy.

Maybe... Ares could win?

But alas, he wasn't watching a live broadcast-this was a recording from 300 years ago.

Knowing the outcome of the battle, Mike felt like a reader who'd been spoiled. The

anticipation was gone.

After this battle, the bad news was that the Supreme Demon God survived.

The good news? Ares survived too.

But judging by Ares's words, his survival wouldn't last forever.

At most, he'd live until Apollo's final battle with the Supreme Demon God.

Otherwise, humanity's powerhouses wouldn't be so anxious. Cedric wouldn't have carried his sword case to the Forest of Truth.

Mike guessed that after he left, Cedric would return to Apollo.

What they'd discuss, Mike didn't know.

But... it didn't matter!

When Mike returned to the Forest of Truth, he could just ask Apollo directly!

For now, Mike focused all his attention on the battle unfolding before him.

In truth, witnessing a battle between humanity's Supreme Being and the Supreme Demon

God was a privilege few could claim.

Simply remembering this fight and reflecting on it from time to time would yield endless

benefits.

The last time Mike had watched Nathan fight, he'd gained valuable insights.

Even when fusing the Greed Source and the Source of Calamity, the process had gone more

smoothly.

The impact of these battles was profound.

If nothing else, Mike could learn from them for the next hundred years.

This time, however, Mike's strength had grown since the last battle. The stronger he became, the more he could understand.

And unlike Morpheus's fighting style, Ares was a pure swordsman.

Every strike Ares made brought Mike new insights.

As for how the Supreme Demon God defended, Mike didn't care.

He couldn't learn it anyway, so why bother?

Mike had no intention of becoming the Supreme Demon God.

In fact, at Ares's level, defending against his swordsmanship was almost impossible.

The Supreme Demon God employed the simplest strategy to counter Ares's attacks: playing

dead.

Throughout history, the tactic of "playing dead" had been widely used in battles between powerhouses.

Once someone started playing dead, thickening their skin and numbing their heart, all

physical and spiritual attacks became ineffective. They simply lay there, embracing their weakness, becoming invincible.

The Supreme Demon God's version of playing dead was straightforward.

His health bar was thick enough to endure Ares's attacks.

Either Ares would cut him down, or he'd outlast Ares.

This level of combat wasn't about depleting mana or stamina-it was about burning one's

source.

Every strike Ares made consumed his own life force.

In other words, Ares was fighting with his life on the line.

At first, Ares's strikes were swift and relentless, each one severely wounding the Supreme

Demon God and weakening his aura.

But as time passed, Ares began to sweat, and his strikes slowed. The Supreme Demon God's

aura plummeted to its lowest point.

Then...

Before Mike's eyes, the Supreme Demon God dropped from level 1999 to 1998, and his aura

instantly returned to its peak!

Mike: ???

Is this cheating?!

For most enemies, depleting one health bar meant moving on to the next.

But for the Supreme Demon God, depleting one health bar meant a full reset!

It was as if every level the Supreme Demon God lost equated to Ares killing him once.

Mike remembered Apollo mentioning that after Ares's battle, the Supreme Demon God had dropped from level 1999 to 1899.

In other words... Ares had killed the Supreme Demon God 100 times?!

What the...

Even knowing how formidable Ares was, Mike hadn't imagined it would be this terrifying!

The relentless strikes took a heavy toll on Ares.

But even Mike could see that Ares couldn't afford to stop.

Though the Supreme Demon God was playing dead, he hadn't given up on counterattacking.

If Ares showed even the slightest flaw, the Supreme Demon God would seize the opportunity

to retaliate.

At that point, not only would Ares fail to achieve his goal, but he'd also lose his life.

So, he couldn't stop.

Strike after strike after strike!

Countless sword lights flashed before Mike's eyes. For the first time, he realized just how many techniques a swordsman could have.

Ares even improvised new moves on the spot, slashing however felt natural.

Watching Ares in his prime, Mike truly understood what it meant for every move to be at its

peak.

As the strikes continued, the Supreme Demon God's level steadily dropped.

Half an hour later, Ares had killed the Supreme Demon God seven times.

For the first time, sweat appeared on Ares's forehead.

And that wasn't a good sign. Mike's pupils contracted as he noticed a detail.

Ares's sweat wasn't clear-it was faintly pink, tinged with blood.

He wasn't sweating. He was bleeding.

The blood-sweat stained Ares's clothes, blooming into dark flowers.

Mike's mouth fell open, unable to hide his shock.

Some of his questions were answered in that moment.

Why did Ares always wear white or black?

It wasn't a preference-it was practicality.

He liked wearing white, but during battle, the blood would stain it black.

Most of the time, the blood belonged to his enemies.

But this time, facing the Supreme Demon God, Ares was being pushed to his limits.

Mike stood there, helplessly watching as dark flowers bloomed on Ares's clothes, helplessly watching as his white robes turned black.

White robes stained with blood-still the Sword God.

When Ares finally stopped attacking, both sides paused.

Not because the Supreme Demon God was honorable, but because the repeated level drops

were taking a toll on him.

The many Supreme Beings fused within him were beginning to lose control.

If Ares could keep slashing for three more days and nights, the Supreme Demon God might

actually die.

But Ares was also nearing his limit.

His relentless attacks, burning his life force with every strike, had severely wounded the

Supreme Demon God-but they were also killing Ares.

Everything came to a standstill, as if this moment would last forever. Neither could kill the

other.

Until... Ares struck again.

Mike couldn't imagine how Ares would survive the Supreme Abyssal, how he would cut the

Supreme Demon God down to level 1899.

What Mike couldn't imagine, Ares could achieve.

He was humanity's Supreme Being.

It was that simple.

The black-clad swordsman leaped into the air, his Broken Sword radiating infinite light.

As before, the Supreme Being's final strike robbed Mike of his vision, plunging him into

darkness.

The gap in power was too vast. If Mike could see the strike clearly, his eyes might be permanently damaged.

Even the Ares standing beside Mike squinted, unable to look directly at the sword light.

He took a moment to marvel, "Not bad. I really am incredible."

Even now, Ares couldn't resist bragging.

Mike heard the sound of the sword falling.

The technique felt familiar.

In that instant, Mike felt his hands and feet go cold, his blood freezing as time seemed to

stop.

"Watch closely!"

The Ares who had unleashed the strike stood proudly in the sky, a faint smile on his lips.

With pride and the resolve to die, he delivered his final blow.

"This is my... final Fate. And what I'll do is make Fate Reversal!"