Once the cheers from the audience subsided, the Grandmaster nodded to Ares. "God of War, after you win this championship, please convey my regards to your father, Zeus."
Clearly, in the Grandmaster's mind, Ares was already the default champion of this event; the other three were merely there to make up the numbers.
In the arena, Ares thumped his chest towards the Grandmaster's holographic projection, indicating it was no problem.
Seeing this, the Grandmaster shifted his gaze away from Ares and spoke again:
"Now, let us welcome our third contestant! He is the rising champion star who has suddenly emerged in the City of All Powers since the God of War's return. A survivor who, in every match, endures to the end through sheer willpower and a thirst for vengeance... Horse-Face Man!!!"
As the Grandmaster spoke, the southern gate of the arena opened, and a 'monster' with the head of a horse and a mechanical body walked out.
This was the original form of Beta Ray Bill, the future 'Horse-Face Thor'. But clearly, he had not yet become the Horse-Face Thor.
Of course, the hammer was still on Earth. Horse-Face Thor hadn't even come into contact with Mjolnir yet, let alone gained Odin's recognition to forge a new Thor's Hammer for him.
Horse-Face Thor—no, for now, he could only be called Horse-Face Man—his arrival also sent the audience into a frenzy.
Although Horse-Face Man's record wasn't as dazzling as Ares's, he was also an undefeated champion contender.
Such a clash of titans was naturally full of excitement!
The Grandmaster was also very satisfied. What's the fun if one side has overwhelming power? A match only has appeal when there's a worthy opponent.
Although he didn't think this cyborg, Horse-Face Man, could actually defeat a god~
The Grandmaster gestured for quiet and said leisurely:
"Alright, everyone, I know you're excited. You're eager to witness the championship duel between the God of War and Horse-Face. But let's calm down for a moment and welcome our final contestant for today, okay?"
"He is the new hunter, Number 666, who captured my top bounty hunter, Number 142... Spider-Man!!!"
As the Grandmaster's words fell, a metaphorical silence descended.
Both on and off the stage, there was utter silence. Everyone looked at each other, seemingly asking, "Who the hell is this Spider-Man?"
The first three, even Number 142, were at least somewhat known—she was the Grandmaster's ace bounty hunter. But this so-called Spider-Man... they genuinely hadn't even heard of him. Could such an unknown nobody really be a contestant in a tournament of this level?
Facing the audience's skeptical gazes, the Grandmaster had anticipated this.
This was a wild card he had added to the championship match, a dark horse selected solely to increase the spectacle of the event!
Because Spider-Man, who had easily defeated Number 142, was someone the Grandmaster believed would definitely give him, and all the spectators, a surprise!
But that surprise would only be revealed once the battle began.
However, as the final eastern gate opened, no figure of Spider-Man appeared within.
Now, not only the audience on and off the stage, but even the Grandmaster hosting from the high platform was taken aback. He turned to Topaz beside him and asked, "Where's Spider-Man?"
Topaz's face remained expressionless as ever. She impassively pointed towards the arena's sky. "He's not a prisoner, not locked in a cage. He's up there."
Hearing this, the Grandmaster looked up and indeed spotted a hovering ship above the arena. Sitting on the ship's edge was a figure holding a bottle.
As the Grandmaster's projection in the arena looked upward, the audience naturally followed suit, seeing the ship in the sky and the figure on it, realizing that was contestant number four, Spider-Man.
This inevitably stirred discontent among the spectators.
They were already unhappy about some unknown nobody participating in the Championship Tournament. Now this nobody was putting on airs, basically shitting on all their heads from above. How could they tolerate this?
Those on the stands, already a vicious lot, immediately began hurling insults at Ryan on the sky ship.
And it wasn't just the audience who were displeased. Within the arena, one person was also extremely unhappy with Ryan's flashy behavior!
"Hmph! No one stands above me except Zeus!" Ares snorted coldly and suddenly hurled a battle-axe in his hand towards Ryan in the sky!
Whoosh——————
The axe, carrying a fierce howl through the air, reached the ship's position in the blink of an eye.
Infused with divine power, the axe instantly caused the entire ship to explode!
BOOM——————
Watching the fiery explosion in the sky, the audience fell silent for a moment. Then, as the ship's wreckage turned into a rain of fire falling into the arena, they erupted into cheers for Ares once more.
"Ares, God of War! Ares, God of War! Ares, God of War!!!"
So that's what this nobody Spider-Man was for—to 'warm up' the arena and showcase Ares's might!
And Ares, standing in the arena, bathed in the falling fire rain, spread his arms like a victor, basking in the wave-like cheers from the stands. His power gradually swelled within these cheers.
He, the God of War, grew stronger the more faith he received during battle!
This was also why he, an Olympian god, would actively participate in the Grandmaster's Championship Tournament.
On and off the stage, while everyone was cheering for Ares, only two people held no joy.
One was Horse-Face Man, whose expression remained as cold and detached as his mechanical body, icy like a machine.
The other was Valkyrie, her face grim, teeth gritted: "Damn it, those two bastards! That was my ship!!!"
That bastard Spider-Man used her ship to show off, resulting in another arrogant jerk blowing it up. Who could she complain to about this?!
The angrier she thought about it, the more furious she became. Valkyrie drew her dragon tooth sword and pointed it at Ares. "You bald bastard, you owe me a new ship!"
Disturbed during his enjoyment of the cheers, Ares frowned immediately and looked at Valkyrie, a cruel smile curling his lips. "Don't worry, woman. You'll soon be joining your broken ship in hell!"
As he spoke, Ares reached out, intending to summon his other axe—the one he had just thrown—to chop the other two opponents on the platform into mincemeat.
But Ares immediately sensed something was wrong... because he couldn't summon back the axe he had just thrown into the sky!
It was as if... someone was controlling his axe!
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong!
At that moment, amidst the rain of fire, a silver-gray figure plummeted from the sky and crashed down onto the eastern side of the arena!
CRASH——————
As arena debris flew, a tall figure clad in silver-gray armor stepped out of the newly formed crater, carrying the axe on his shoulder, walking slowly through the falling fire rain.
And miraculously, the fire rain falling on the silver-gray figure didn't burn him. Instead, it rose from his body in wisps of white steam!
This miraculous sight made the fallen figure seem even more mysterious.
And this person was, naturally, Ryan.
If the original Spider-Man could take a Pumpkin Bomb from the Green Goblin to the face, then Ryan, who was now immeasurably stronger than his original self, naturally had no fear of a mere ship exploding right next to him.
As for the Symbiote's fear of flames...
Having undergone several rounds of upgrades with Ryan, if Riot still couldn't overcome its two weaknesses—fire and sonic waves—then Ryan would really have to consider tearing apart this useless piece of trash with his bare hands!
The current Riot no longer feared its two weaknesses: sonic waves and flames!
Ryan, holding the battle-axe comparable to stormbreaker, pointed it at Ares. "Was it you who threw this axe?"
Looking at Ryan, Ares didn't show any particular regard for him surviving the explosion. His expression was disdainful. "It was me. So what?"
Zzzzt——————
With a crackle of electricity, Ryan, who had been on the eastern side of the arena a second ago, was suddenly in front of Ares on the northern side, enveloped in purple lightning, swinging the axe directly at Ares!
CLANG————
BOOOOOOM——————————
Caught off guard, Ares was instantly sent flying. His body slammed into the edge of the arena and, with a thunderous roar, plowed a continuous trench for nearly a kilometer along the perimeter before finally stopping!
He almost went all the way around the entire arena!