Absolute Zero.
It's precisely a temperature of −273.15 °C, the theoretically coldest possible state.
When this temperature is applied, everything becomes incapable of moving on an atomic scale. Even electrons are affected.
Yet, it's not truly a complete stop of time in the strictest sense.
What? Is it a scam? Not really.
Even Dio Brando doesn't completely stop time, since he can still receive "information" during the activation of his stand's power.
Thus, information continues to flow.
'Time is a complex concept, but it's largely ignored by beings operating on a quantum scale,'
analyzed Doma as he advanced toward Heracles.
An example supporting Doma's assumptions can be found in the Tensura universe, after the use of time stop by a powerful creature.
Velzard.
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This dragoness possesses unfathomable power and managed to stop time in the central world—an absolutely incredible feat.
Unfortunately, that universe is teeming with beings capable of moving even in a world frozen by time.
For example: Guy, Veldora, Chloe, and many others.
Is moving in stopped time commonplace?
No, because it requires influencing one's environment on a quantum scale—that is, touching the very foundations of reality. This demonstrates the power of creatures like Veldora.
Doma even recalled that manipulating information became commonplace among the top 10 in the Tensura world.
It's literally a necessity if one wants to confront a high-ranking spiritual form, like a true dragon.
'Especially since ignoring the concept of time demands near-infinite speed,' he thought, as the image of Zeus flashed back into his mind.
Despite all the power of the Ragnarök king of gods, he was barely qualified to challenge a true dragon.
Doma then remembered that he was still just an ant on the multiversal scale.
A place where Velgrynd could use heat to travel between worlds in search of her man,
and where Shinra could literally manipulate reality through his flames.
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Even as the divine demon's mind wandered, he continued walking toward Heracles.
"Too bad… I would've sincerely liked to fight you with my martial techniques, not overwhelming power. Farewell, Heracles. And don't worry… humanity won't lose," he muttered, as the demigod's heart was torn out.
Ten seconds.
Heracles perished at Doma's hands after a ten-second time stop.
Could he have finished the demigod faster?
The answer is yes… but Doma felt strangely conflicted.
An unknown sensation washed over him right after pulling Heracles' heart from his chest.
Did he really want this?
Heracles and the others were fighting for their world, while he… came from nowhere to take their lives.
And for what? A simple System mission.
'I'm fine with new System options, but letting those two die doesn't sit right with me,'he thought, as his principles resurfaced.
Kill if necessary, yes… but avoid taking lives for objectives as much as possible.
"Am I a slave to the System? No … this is my will " he muttered, staring at Heracles' heart.
An idea then began to slowly germinate in the twisted mind of the demon of fate.
However, he was interrupted by a holographic panel popping up out of nowhere in front of his face.
[You have completed the Quest: Ragnarök]
[This had a difficulty level: B+ to ~S- (thus difficult)]
[You have accomplished a feat…]
[Title: The One Who Laughs in the Face of Danger]
[Effect: locked]
[Requirement: 5,000 points to unlock the title option]
[You are the first to complete a difficult-level quest in your group]
[Your rewards will be doubled…]
[Alert!]
[It has been detected that your rewards depend on your performance]
[Launching analysis of your content…]
[You have respected the tag: apocalypse in the scenario…]
[The number of System points depends on your successes; the presence of patrons grants points]
[You have received: 10,000 System points.]
[This doubles under the effect of the feat tied to the quest's difficulty]
[Your System points reach: 20,000]
[Alert!]
[The God of Stories is satisfied with your performance but also shows disappointment toward the impunity of the other Loki]
[He decides to become an exclusive patron to your theme but greatly reduces his quest reward]
[You have the choice between: …]
[A/ Temporal wish (limited to one event in a timeline, due to Loki's limited satisfaction)]
[B/ Open a dimensional rift to another random timeline once (the rift is controllable, but Loki is not fully satisfied. You thus cannot choose the world it leads to).]
"I'll… *crunch*… take option A," replied Doma, while devouring the demigod's arm without the slightest hesitation.
Even though he still felt torn about his victory, he continued devouring the Greek hero.
After all, he had won the fight. He thus had full right to enjoy his spoils of war.
'Back then, I didn't eat the demon slayer Kamiya Rengoku… but things have changed since,' he thought, while absorbing the rest of the muscular giant's body.
Doma had changed since his clash with the aspiring Hashira.
If someone raised a hand against him now, they had to face the consequences.
The Lower Moons had learned that the hard way, after abusing his kindness and constantly testing his patience.
"Is this really Zeus's strength?" muttered Doma, fully assimilating Heracles' body—except for his head.
He could feel his body strengthening, his life energy multiplying, and his veins burning under the influx of even more intense divine power.
Even though Beelzebub was tied to Satan, he remained individually inferior to Zeus.
Doma had gained great power from subjugating a fragment of Satan's will itself.
That's why the gain from Beelzebub had been mainly spiritual rather than physical.
But this time, he had just crossed a new threshold. His body could now rival Heracles', a being many had already compared to Zeus himself.
'I don't know yet how I stack up against Zeus or Adam… but my vector manipulation won't be overwhelmed so easily by brute force anymore,' he thought, recalling Heracles' fists crashing down on his face.
He had managed to deflect a good portion of the power aimed at Heracles, but the Greek hero had surpassed all his estimates with a second punch.
The scene reminded him of a truck trying to haul a load far beyond its initial capacity.
At that moment, Doma remembered he wasn't Accelerator at the end of his story.
"Well… time to greet my audience," he said after reaching his limits with the time stop.
Doma slowly lowered Absolute Zero, dissipating the supernatural cold that still froze the air around him.
The crowd, initially in delirium after seeing Heracles charge at Doma, began to realize the horror of the scene.
The Greek hero was no more.
From the gods' and mortals' perspectives, Heracles still had the advantage just moments ago… and now, Doma held his head.
"L–ladies and gentlemen! The situation is strange, but this is irrefutable… Doma has won!" roared Heimdall across the arena, his voice thundering like a clap.
An icy silence fell over the stadium for a moment, before cries of disbelief erupted from all sides.
"How is this possible?!"
"This makes no sense!"
"I feel like I'm witnessing the same phenomenon as between Adam and Zeus!"
One person's remark in the amphitheater drew the crowd's attention, as it was the most coherent.
"Did he really affect time?" This absurd phrase spread quickly through the crowd, even among the gods.
"Hermes… was he as fast as Father?" asked Ares, his voice slightly trembling at the idea.
Who is Zeus? The king of gods, victor of the Titanomachy. Yet a being from nowhere now seemed comparable to him based on the fight's observations.
"No, Father is faster. This man didn't move at extreme speed like him or Adam… he affected his environment," explained Hermes, the god of speed, his brows furrowed.
For a deity embodying speed itself, the mere ability to slow all movement to a complete stop was terrifying.
"Indeed. Unlike me and my former opponent… Doma doesn't go that fast," declared Zeus calmly. He paused, however, before adding inwardly: 'He weakens the movement speed of all things to a halt, and time is no exception.'
Hermes understood that thought, as did Zeus, but both kept silent.
The information was too heavy: Doma now had to be considered one of the most powerful divine beings.
Is that so bad? Normally, Zeus wouldn't have cared and might even have welcomed Doma into the Greek pantheon without hesitation.
After all, he had fought for the gods while claiming official neutrality, and he had even declared himself a fan of Zeus.
But today, the sky sovereign was in no mood.
Not only was Poseidon dead, but his adopted son had just perished in this absurd war.
'If Heracles had offended him, I could understand, but…' thought Zeus, his golden eyes gleaming with complex emotions.
Zeus appreciated power, but the moral state of his loved ones came first.
The god deemed Doma unfit to join his inner circle, after seeing him nonchalantly carry Heracles' head until its disappearance to Niflhel.
"So, Lord Doma… which side will you lend your support to?" Heimdall's voice was respectful, thanks to Doma's crushing victory.
The demon flashed a fake smile as his Völundr deactivated, weakening his overall aura.
"Of course, I give it to the gods' side," he replied calmly. The reaction, however, was not what he expected.
It was normal for mortals to curse Doma and throw objects at him, but the gods reacted the same way.
Doma was booed and cursed by both sides.
It was tangible proof of Heracles' popularity with both factions in the celestial dimension.
"Sorry to put you through this—" The demon didn't finish his sentence before the little valkyrie blocked his mouth with her palm and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Don't play the nice guy if you don't really mean what you say… it's just weird," she said before walking away.
Hlökk cracked a smile, then added: "And besides, I chose to follow you, not that crazy Brunhilde," she said, flipping her big sister the bird.
Surprisingly, Brunhilde was present at the fight's end. She watched Doma with calculating, cold eyes, while her palm bled from clenching her fist in anger.
Of course, her little sister's middle finger didn't help improve her mood.
"Stand proud before this rabble, for you have the great Hlökk as your partner!!" she said, puffing out her underdeveloped chest in an attempt to look imposing, but failing miserably.
'I see… we're very compatible,'thought the demon, recalling Buddha's words about the Völundr power.
The Völundr power is based on the principle of Samavadhāna, literally meaning "shared destiny."
Though its base is similar to the soul resonance principles in the worlds of Soul Eater and Fire Force, it allows the valkyrie and her bearer to affect gods by entrusting their lives to each other.
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A considerably cheat-like power, according to Doma.
"Should I take this as a marriage proposal? Isn't it a bit rushed, Hlökk?" he said in a falsely uncertain tone.
"Y-you… Grrr, BAKA!"
Hlökk tried to slap Doma's face, but he caught her hand and pulled her into a hug.
She struggled a bit but eventually calmed down in his arms.
Due to the height difference, Hlökk barely reached Doma's pecs.
"Even if you change your mind now, it's too late… I don't grant divorces easily," he murmured in her ear, which quickly turned red.
"O-okay… but you better not flirt with other girls!" she shot back, recalling her potential rival in her sister.
Unfortunately for Hlökk, she hadn't looked up at that exact moment in the conversation.
Otherwise, she might have seen Doma sweating from her last remark.
'Calm down, Doma… you haven't lost your touch with women in a century of existence… future you will always find a solution,'he convinced himself, feeling Hlökk's heartbeat quicken.
Meanwhile, the crowd doubled down on their curses.
"Get lost! You're pissing me off by flirting in front of us!"
"Damn, Lord Heracles was killed by a lolicon!"
"Not just that, he's an exhibitionist too!"
The last remark annoyed Doma and made Hlökk laugh.
"Lord Doma, it's time to leave the arena," urged Heimdall toward the couple.
"Oh yes, we've lingered here long enough. Hlökk, are you coming with me to my country? Or do you prefer to stay here?" he said, deliberately hiding the truth. It would be awkward if the gods discovered his origins at this point in the events.
"Hmm… I'd rather leave. Neither humans nor gods can tolerate our presence," she replied, after glancing around them.
Hlökk really wanted to stay, but she wasn't stupid.
The valkyrie had betrayed her own and the humans, while the gods' side held Heracles in high esteem.
Unfortunately, Doma had killed him.
Hlökk's options were thus limited.
"Good choice, Loki!" After nodding to Hlökk, Doma addressed the god of stories.
"What do you want from me?" replied a green-haired man, watching the scene from the VIP section.
It was Loki, from the Valkyrja Apocalypse universe.
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"Not you, idiot. I'm talking to the other Loki," said Doma. The king of giants was first annoyed, then confused.
"Which Loki are you talking about?" he questioned, but received no answer.
[The God of Stories wonders about your intentions in calling him that, without going through the patrons' discussion thread]
"Didn't you want to mock your alternate version a bit? That's why I called you that," explained Doma, glancing at his surroundings.
People looked at him like he was crazy, but Doma didn't care.
[The God of Stories laughs]
[The God of Stories wonders about your goal after contacting him]
[I just want to use my reward to 'cancel' the event tied to Heracles and Jack's participation. Of course, I don't want to create a paradox, just have those two come back to life…]
Doma briefly described the Uchiha power, which Danzo used like a hacker in an online fighting game.
Unlike the beginning, he now spoke through the System.
[The God of Stories cracks a predatory smile]
[The God of Stories declares being satisfied with the end of this arc in your scenario]
[The God of Stories has decided to grant reward B (limited), since you managed to fully satisfy him]
[Raw message from Loki: consider this a small compensation, since I found your ending too quick.]
[The God of Stories alters the death event of Heracles and Jack]
'System… take me and Hlökk back to the monastery in 3 seconds,' he said mentally, after abruptly grabbing Hlökk's hand.
"Heimdall, give this to Brunhilde from me," he said, before tossing his freshly severed hand to the Norse god.
"If she doesn't retrieve it, you won't get a chance like Jack and Heracles. After all, I hold your fate in my hands," he bluffed before vanishing.
Heimdall was confused but hurriedly picked up the severed hand, after seeing Heracles reform from Niflhel.
"T… this man can really control fate," muttered the Norse god after analyzing the situation.
…
"Haha… MUGEN-SAN IS TURNING INTO A DEMON!!!!" yelled a basketball head, slamming the shadow guard vice-chief against a wall.
"Tch, I'm telling ya I ain't interested in dudes," he declared, gripping the hilts of his two Kuri knives.
Total Concentration: Constant was running at full throttle, but Mugen's situation was desperate.
The monastery was under attack, and the shadow squad had lost much of its manpower.
"Lin can't intervene because of her demon nature, and the boss has been gone for hours," he thought, trying to light a cigarette on his lips.
Unfortunately, he failed due to his hands shaking from blood loss.
"At least Rin-san is safe," he muttered before charging at Akaza.
"You don't get it, Mugen-san. If I kill you… your talent will be lost," said Akaza, blocking and dodging Mugen's attacks.
'That's weird, why does Doma have so many powerful humans in his service?' he thought, as the night sky slowly changed color. Dawn was approaching.
"Talent here, talent there, sigh, I don't give a damn! Okay? I just want girls and booze!" Mugen's words were cut off by a kick.
"Too bad then, I'll have to finish this and check out the rest of Doma's playground."
Akaza spread his legs and took a stance that all Kyojuro Rengoku fans would recognize: the position of his Soryu style.
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