After I accepted the challenge, Gabriel approached me with a worried expression.

"Are you sure about this? the God of war might not go easy on you. It's all good if he kills you instantly as Yumi is here to revive you. But if the God of war really decides to punish you, then you're gonna experience a pain that you never felt before."

It looked like his worries for me are genuine as I already met a lot of people and I can tell whether someone is lying or not. And the Gabriel in front of me is genuinely worried for me.

"Don't worry, I may not look like the part but I'm a pretty good fighter if I say so myself", I assured him.

"And also, aren't you disgusted by me? I killed hundreds of millions of humans and even you don't know the real reason why." I asked him out of curiosity.

"My eyes tell me that there's more to you than what anyone else can see. I'm sure that there must be a good reason behind what you did. Although I haven't seen any of your days on earth, I feel that you're someone who doesn't kill for no reason."

He really is the God of wisdom, to be able to see through me. His title is really not just for show.

"Yumi, please heal this human. I don't want to fight a damaged human."

The God of war requested the woman with peach-colored hair.

"There's no kind of damage in his body though?" replied the Goddess

"I didn't mean physically, fix his spirit. A part of it is damaged."

Yumi then stared at me as if looking at something inside me. After a few seconds, her body trembled slightly and it was noticed by Gabriel and me.

"What's the matter? Yumi-san?" Asked Gabriel with a worried voice.

Yumi looked at me differently now, although still wary it was as if she saw something pitiful inside me. She whispered something to herself softly and then proceeded to my exhaustion and something within me with her powers.

However, she didn't know that my hearing is a hundred times better than an average human so I was able to hear her whisper clearly.

"Such deep wounds, Just what kind of suffering did you have to go through in that place?" is what she said.

Is this woman really the same person earlier who looked at me with disgust in her eyes? Right now her eyes looked at me as if I'm a pitiful creature, and honestly, it's making me a little frustrated as no one has ever looked at me like that since the death of my parents. I... don't fancy being looked at with pity.

"Are you able to feel it now?"

Yumi asked me with a straight face.

"Feel?"

"Your own emotions."

As she said those words, I was suddenly overcome with many feelings that I can never understand. Feelings and emotions that I never felt for so long that I almost forgot that I have them.

"I-it's finally back?"

Gabriel who was beside me was smiling throughout the process.

"Make sure to never seal it away again, it took me 30% of my energy just to claw it back from the depths of your abyss", Yumi said to me as she turns around and walks away. My tears almost fell from my eyes due to the mixed feelings that I'm experiencing, but I managed to hold it back in the end.

"Thank you." is the only word I was able to say in the end at her retreating figure.

"Good for you." Gabriel who was silent all the time tapped my right shoulder.

"I never thought that I would be able to get them back this way, I would like to show my thanks to Goddess of Life and death-sama after this is over."

"Don't worry about it, it seemed like she was also feeling a little guilty for hurling harsh words at you without knowing your side. So just treat this as her way of apologizing."

"But still, this apology is too-"

"Now now, don't worry about it anymore, what you should be paying attention to now is your duel with Alvion. Come with me, the arena is this way." Gabriel asked me to follow him to the place where the battle would take place.

We arrived at a circle platform at the back of the hall and we stepped into it, after a few seconds the pattern beneath us glowed intensely and teleported us to the front of a building.

"This looks like a bigger version of the Roman amphitheater from Earth", I muttered to myself as I looked around it.

"Follow me, we're going to the preparation room. I'd like to discuss a few things with you before your fight with Alvion."

"Yes."

I followed him to a certain room filled with knight armor and different kinds of weapons. The armor and weapons inside were way better than those forged from Earth. My eyes who was trained with almost all kind of martial arts can tell if an item is of superior or inferior quality.

"Lucas, who you're fighting is the God of war. One of the most powerful gods in the High ranking Gods. That's why the moment he attacks you. Make it so that his attack hits your vital point. If you get hit at a vital point by his attack, you will die instantly, and we'll have Yumi resurrect you after the fight. Got it?" said Gabriel with a serious look.

"Why should I? He wants a duel, I will give him a duel. I'm not someone who will take the easy way out just because my opponent is of a superior race. I trust in my strength which brought an entire world down to its knees. This is no arrogance nor tomfoolery."

"Sigh* Alright, since it has come to this, I'll let you borrow my magic. I will teach you a single-use spell that you can use to slow down Alvion. He's the God of war so no matter what offensive spell you use, it won't have any effect on him-"

Just as Gabriel was about to finish his words, a paper magically appeared on the table. He picked it up to read the contents and a look of shock appeared on his face.

I got curious at the contents so I took the paper from his hands to read it.

{Duel rules:

1. The match will only be deemed as over if one of the participants is knocked out or dead."

2. You can use any weapon of your choice

3. Surrendering is not allowed

4. Both contestants are not allowed to use magic

5. One must not hold back and fight with over 50% of their abilities.}

Gabriel was shocked by the rules as he didn't expect this to happen at all.

"Don't worry about it Gabriel-san, I have a plan." I told to the man beside me who looked tired.

"Sorry Lucas, it looks like you're gonna suffer because of me."

"What are you saying? don't worry about me, just watch from the spectator's seats and It'll be alright." I told him with a smile on my face. I gotta say, being able to smile again without forcing myself to feels really great.

"Alright, please do be careful", Gabriel said to me.

"Hahaha, sure sure, just watch me and I'll get through this."

As I said that, I looked out of a hole and saw a huge number of spectators, they number around a hundred thousand. As I looked around I noticed that the west side of the spectator's seat are all...

"Are those spectators from the west... humans!?"

I asked Gabriel who was about to leave.

"Oh yes, they're also humans from Earth and Greis."

"Are they..."

"Yeah, they're the souls of the deceased."

As I heard these words, I wondered if my parents are among these spectators...

<Spectators’ seats, West side>

"Look dear, there are many people who are watching the fight." Said a middle-aged woman to the man beside her.

"Yeah, after all the God of war is gonna fight a human in a formal duel, which is said to be the first time he did it."

"I wonder who's the human that made the God of war challenge him formally."

"Maybe it's our son, Lucas?"

"Hahahaha" Both of them laughed as if they were just joking.

"That's not possible, our son is now the King of humanity on earth, who's the person that can defeat him? I think such a human doesn't even exist on Earth."

"Yes yes, our son really is the best. Who knew that in just 10 years, He will become the king of humans at the age of 18? I didn't expect this at all."

"And also, we just saw him yesterday through the magical mirror exclusive to us, he's still working as diligently as ever down there."

"Yeah, but still. That kid suffered too much when we left him. Just seeing him suffer like that almost made me go insane, I blamed myself every day for not being a proper father."

"But in the end, he still persevered, and now he has reached the top. I'm really proud of him."

Their conversation came to an end when they heard the announcer's voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Gods and humans, today, we're about to see the God of war, Alvion fight against the chosen otherworlder from Earth in a martial arts battle without magic! This is the Time God, Rena. And this is the Space God Lena! We, the cute space-time twins are gonna be your announcers for this battle!"

At the drop of the announcer's voice, the entire arena was engulfed by cheers from both the humans on the west side and the Gods on the east side. The shouts are too loud that the average person's ears might bleed. But since the spectators are Gods and souls, such incidents never happened.

"From the west gate, A God of unparalleled might, the most feared High ranking god, One who loves to bathe in the blood of his enemies. The Mighty God of War, Alvion!!"

Loud cheers were both heard from the east and west sides. All of the humans and gods who idolize the God of war were roaring in their support.

from the west gate, there appeared the man with tanned skin, and dark indigo hair wearing a light armor with gold edges that allows him to move freely in battle, wielding a large spear. The God of war, Alvion, arrived at the battlegrounds.

"And from the East gate, The human challenged by the mighty God of war, The otherworlder summoned by the Gods to send to Greis. ummm, Rena, what achievements does he have again?"

"Don't ask me, this human just came in today so I didn't have any time to gather his information."

This little banter between the twins made the audiences laugh.

"oh, here it is, sorry for the wait everyone! so his achievements are..."

the moment Lena read the contents, her pupils constricted and she stuttered with her words.

"Lena? what's wrong?"

"ummm this person...H-He k-killed around 138 million of his own brethren."

The moment Lena's words were heard, the entire arena was engulfed in silence.

Most of the Gods on the east side started cussing at the Lucas who still has not arrived at the battlegrounds. However, contrary to the Gods, the humans in the West started clamoring among themselves.

"138 million? D-don't tell me."

"If it's the number 138 million then there's only one person..."

These types of mutters and whispers were shared among humans.

"D-dear, don't tell me."

"It looks like our guess was right."

The shock on the couple's faces was evident.

The announcer's voice rang out again.

"From the East gate, let's welcome. Lucas!"