After a moment of stunned silence, everyone in the audience erupted into cheers at the sight of this terrifyingly destructive strike!
"Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Spider-Man!!!"
However, this time they were no longer chanting the name Ares, but shouting the name Spider-Man for the first time!
Such was Sakaar, where the strong were revered. They didn't care if you were a wealthy tycoon or a beggar before; as long as you performed with enough strength in the arena, you could win their respect and cheers!
On the high platform, the Grandmaster rubbed his hands together like a fly: "Hehe, looks like I don't need to announce the start of the match. The contestants are already eager to fight. So, let our contestants freely present an epic battle for the audience!"
With that, the Grandmaster's projection in the arena completely vanished, officially announcing the start of the Championship Tournament where only one champion would prevail!
DONG——————
The instant the Grandmaster's projection disappeared, Valkyrie lunged at Ryan, swinging her sword down at him.
Naturally, this strike was effortlessly blocked by Ryan, who raised his axe with his over-the-top Spider-Sense.
Having learned from her last lesson, Valkyrie no longer stubbornly tried to match Ryan in raw strength.
With one strike missing, she immediately began swinging her dragon tooth sword again, unleashing a storm of slashes upon Ryan!
As she hacked away, Valkyrie ground her teeth and said, "You bastard, that was my spaceship! I spent all my savings on it, and I hadn't even had it for long!"
"Now, because of you, not only am I a prisoner who has to win the championship to get out, but I also have to save up for a new ship from scratch!"
When it came to strength, Valkyrie was no match for Ryan, but when it came to speed, as a goddess, she was... even less of a match!
Facing the frenzied woman's slashes, which were so fast they left afterimages, Ryan, even wielding a cumbersome giant axe, could precisely raise his axe to block every single one of her strikes!
Seeing Ryan remain silent and looking completely relaxed and at ease, Valkyrie grew even angrier, shouting, "You owe me a new spaceship, you hear me?"
"Otherwise, I'll..."
BAM——————
Before Valkyrie could finish, a giant axe suddenly flew in from her side, smashing her away!
Ryan put a hand to his ear: "Otherwise you'll what?"
"He is mine! No one touches him!"
Following a voice that sounded like a domineering CEO, the giant axe, after sending Valkyrie flying, spun through the air and returned to the hand of Ares, who had just pried himself out of the arena's perimeter wall.
At this moment, Ares's eyes were blood-red, his chest armor bore a deep, bone-revealing crack, and he was radiating a terrifying bloodlust as he stared at Ryan:
"I will tear you to pieces, you lowly mortal!"
Hearing this clichéd threat, Ryan sneered coldly:
"You're not the first to say that to me. The last one, a blue creature bigger than you, you red-shelled shrimp, had his head chopped off by me after saying those words and became part of my power!"
"Today, you will share the same fate!"
"Arrogant!" Ares roared, gripping his axe with both hands and charging toward Ryan like a blood-red bulldozer!
He was Ares, the God of War! When had he ever been looked down upon like this? It infuriated him beyond measure!
As a rare power-type fighter within the Spider Family, Ryan had no intention of adopting the agile fighting style commonly used by Spider-Man. Instead, he dragged his giant axe and charged toward Ares as well!
Great strength doesn't necessarily mean agility, but it certainly means speed!
In the blink of an eye, the two power-type fighters collided, and the blood-red light axe in Ares's hands clashed with the purple electric-light axe in Ryan's!
SWOOSH——————
In the next moment, a dual-colored circular shockwave erupted from the point of their collision, half of it blood-red and half of it electric purple!
This dual-colored shockwave instantly swept across the entire arena, not only covering the whole combat area but also affecting all the spectators in the stands!
The spectators on the red shockwave side had their hair singed black and were steaming with heat.
The spectators on the purple shockwave side had their hair standing on end, all twitching as if electrocuted.
Fortunately, these spectators were not ordinary people; otherwise, this single blast would have wiped out the entire audience!
But even though the audience's constitutions were strong enough to withstand this shockwave, they all leaned back tactically, wondering why the organizers hadn't told them that they, the spectators, would also be participating in the match... As for the Grandmaster, the organizer, being high enough up, he became the only one unaffected by the collision's aftermath.
But at this moment, the Grandmaster was also starting to panic because this wasn't going as he had anticipated... He had thought the Spider-Man had some skill, especially with that ancient Symbiote on him, so he should at least last a while in the arena.
But he never expected the Spider-Man to be this strong!
He could actually match Ares, the God of War, blow for blow!
And to think he had placed a huge bet on Ares winning this championship match!
If Ares lost, he would be ruined!
This made the Grandmaster instinctively pull out his controller, wanting to rig the match as he had done in the past.
But Topaz beside him mercilessly reminded him: "Grandmaster, you've forgotten again. He's not a prisoner; he wasn't fitted with a bio-electric collar. You can't control him."
Grandmaster:...
At the center of the arena, due to the collision between Ryan and Ares, the ground looked as if it had been struck by a meteor, forming a giant crater!
And Ryan and Ares were at the center of this crater, still locked in a contest of strength!
To Ryan's surprise, this God of War Ares possessed astonishing strength, far greater than even the Hulk in his normal state!
To put it another way, he was much stronger than Thunder God Thor even after reclaiming Mjolnir!
Both were sons of a God King, so why was the gap between Thor and Ares so vast?
Meanwhile, Ares's heart was roiling with shock. He had just massacred a Planet's royal family for Zeus because they refused to let Zeus host a Silver Orgy in the Planet's temple. Fresh from the Blessing of war, his power was significantly enhanced!
Yet even in this state, he could only barely match his opponent in strength. Was that reasonable?
Even his father, Zeus, without using divine power, would be about this strong in pure physical force!
Thinking this, Ares suddenly realized, right! If he couldn't overpower his opponent with strength, he still had his divine power!
What made a god a god wasn't just their immense strength, but also their divine skills!
Ares took a deep breath and unleashed his area-of-effect skill, War Roar, at Ryan: "ROAR————————"
The deafening divine soundwave might have truly troubled Ryan when he had just obtained the Symbiote.
But now, Ryan hadn't suffered much physical damage, but the mental attack was severe... because he just felt that Ares's breath was really stinging his eyes and making him nauseous!
Therefore, Ryan retreated during the contest of strength with Ares.
Seeing this, Ares thought his War Roar had taken effect, a flicker of joy flashing in his eyes.
But immediately, Ares's joy vanished.
Because Ryan, having stepped back, wasn't affected by the soundwave at all. He was simply done playing and intended to finish off Ares's foul mouth!
Ryan retreated one step, avoiding the pressing victory of Ares's battle axe, and in one fluid motion, thrust the handle of his own battle axe deep into Ares's wide-open mouth, physically putting an end to Ares's sonic attack!