A Duel with a God!

In the Duel Arena, beams of light shone down as footsteps echoed from the underground passage leading in from the square entrance.

Amid the applause and cheers of the alien spectators, Kyle strode out powerfully and stood tall in the vast arena, his gaze solemn and focused.

He held a mechanically crafted sword and shield in either hand. His perfect human physique was clad in the silver metal armor provided by the Sakaar guards, making him look like an immortal war god who had survived countless battles.

"My God, it really is Mr. Kyle!"

In the spectator stands, Anli, her younger brother, and Bai Bo stared at the fully armed figure in the arena, unable to say a word for a moment.

High above the interstellar Duel Arena, in the viewing room where the Grandmaster and his confidants were gathered.

Carnage sat near the Grandmaster, gazing down expressionlessly at Kyle below. In a voice only he could hear, he murmured, "I know your strength better than anyone. You truly are terrifyingly powerful, but no matter what, you cannot defeat that arena-defending creature that far surpasses the human race."

As if it had heard him, the tempered glass bottle in the pocket of Carnage’s trench coat trembled slightly. Another crack quietly spread across its already fractured surface.

"Alright. The challenger is out. Now, let us welcome tonight’s star—the arena defender!"

The Grandmaster was excellent at stirring up the atmosphere, and the defender had already built up a considerable following. In an instant, applause and cheers more than ten times louder than Kyle’s erupted.

A humanoid shadow slowly emerged from the passage opposite the main entrance.

In the arena, Kyle looked tense. Sweat slicked the hands gripping his sword and shield as he stared at the towering figure about to emerge. He could already keenly feel a powerful pressure bearing down on him.

"The biological overlord who has defended the Champion’s Match arena six times in a row—the uncrowned king who truly deserves his title. He is the Demon King, Kratos!" As the Grandmaster finished his impassioned introduction, the towering figure fully stepped out of the passage.

He was a tall, imposing bald man with rugged, unrestrained features. Red markings ran over his left eye, and a thick black beard covered his chin. Iron chains wrapped around the backs of his hands, while his broad shoulders and powerful waist were covered only by primitive leather clothing that could hardly be called armor.

The instant he appeared in the arena, his heavy, overpowering aura swept outward and immediately stirred the crowd into a tide of frenzy.

"Demon King! Demon King! Demon King!"

Ignoring the spectators’ cries, Kratos strode forward and faced Kyle. "So you are my opponent this time."

"Who else would it be?" Kyle’s heart pounded uncontrollably. He breathed slightly harder, trying to conceal the fear he could not suppress.

It was like a cat or dog encountering a lion or tiger—something so much higher on the food chain that even his blood and genes trembled.

Was the creature he had to defeat really a god?

"Please enjoy the match."

The Grandmaster’s holographic projection disappeared, signaling the official start of the Champion’s Match.

I have to strike first and seize the initiative!

Kyle’s eyes grew resolute. He kicked heavily against the air behind him, and bursts of white vapor erupted from where he had stood. Amid the turbulent surging of energy tides, his speed instantly broke past the speed of sound!

Aerial Sprint! A support skill that unleashed explosive straight-line acceleration!

Kratos stood motionless, as though he had yet to react. In less than 0.1 seconds, Kyle’s figure blurred across twenty meters and arrived before him.

Still in midair, Kyle clenched the sword in his right hand and raised it high. With the explosive force of his sprint behind it, he viciously slashed down at Kratos’s exposed neck.

Knowing full well the difference in strength between them, he had seized the initiative with this explosive attack. This slash contained all of his power!

The absolute limit that a physique ten times stronger than a human could unleash!

Clang!

The instant the sword struck Kratos’s neck, Kyle’s face filled with horror. His tiger’s mouth shook violently, and the trembling blade nearly flew from his grip, as though he had struck an unyielding vibranium shield and could not cut in.

"How is that possible…" Kyle’s mind went blank. He had been completely confident in the burst of Aerial Sprint. Not even a god could be certain of avoiding it, yet the strike that should have at least seriously wounded his opponent had not even broken through his defense!

At this distance, with his mind focused, the Ability Cards on Kratos’s body appeared before him as well.

Nearly a thousand white, green, and blue Ability Cards emerged and revolved around Kratos’s body, almost blinding Kyle.

One of them hovered above the bald man’s head like a divine king, radiating brilliant light.

God Race Gene: The origin gene of the God Race. Rare purple Ability Card (unawakened).

The God Race is the collective name for the species at the forefront of evolution in the Marvel universe. Possessing exceptionally superior divine genes, they have lifespans of at least several thousand years, and their strength, willpower, physique, speed, and other bodily qualities rank among the best of all alien lifeforms.

They possess divine power within their bodies, which can be used to strengthen attacks, cast spells, and even empower divine artifacts with unimaginable force.

As their origin power gradually awakens, each member of the God Race gains different law powers, such as lightning, fire, frost, or death.

Current Status: Extractable (must remain within one meter and extract continuously for three hours. The rare purple prefix is unique and can only be extracted once).

Warning: Kratos's divine power focuses on enhancing his physique.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Kyle’s sword had struck Kratos’s neck with all his strength, drawing only a few tiny drops of blood from the skin.

When the attack failed, he immediately tried to retreat at high speed.

"What explosive speed. And you actually managed to injure me—you are the first challenger in the past half year to do so." Kratos bared a row of white teeth at Kyle. A faint golden-red divine power glowed around his fist, which was as large as a sandbag, before he punched toward Kyle’s chest in midair.

Kyle’s expression changed drastically. With no time to widen the distance, he could only hastily raise his shield and brace it desperately before him.

The moment he completed that movement, Kyle felt a terrifying force slam into the shield. It forced his arms to bend against his chest and sent his entire body flying backward like a kite with its string cut.

Boom!

Kyle flew back more than thirty meters and crashed into the wall at the edge of the Duel Arena. The outer wall collapsed into a deep pit, sending shattered stone flying as dust billowed through the air.

The alien spectators all around the arena opened their mouths in unison, falling silent from shock and disbelief.

From the start of the match—Kyle’s charge and slash, Kratos taking the strike to the neck and countering with a punch, Kyle being blasted away—the entire exchange had taken less than a second.

Gods fighting! This was what gods fighting looked like!

"As expected of the God Race…" Kyle coughed several times, fresh blood seeping from the corner of his mouth as he climbed out of the rubble in a sorry state. The metal shield beside him bore a massive fist-shaped dent in its center, and its cracked surface clearly could not withstand a second punch.

"But the battle has only just begun!"

Kyle stared at Kratos’s invincible figure in the arena, his eyes filled with defiance. He decisively unleashed the trump card he had prepared over the past two days. "Ves, Iron Man mode, prepare to activate!"