The Strongest Student of the Weakest Academy-Chapter 496: The Heavens Shall Fall (XXXVII)

『Let’s change places first』

The creator woman’s voice whispered in my mind, softer than before but carrying an undercurrent of something that made my instincts tense.

Before I could respond, the world twisted.

FWOOOOOOOOM!

Reality bent inward on itself, colors bleeding together and space compressing until I couldn’t tell which direction was up anymore.

My stomach lurched as I felt myself being pulled through something that wasn’t quite teleportation and wasn’t quite spatial manipulation.

Then everything snapped back into focus.

I was no longer in the Primordial Court’s stronghold.

I was standing in the center of a massive colosseum arena, so large that I could barely see the far walls through the haze of distance.

The floor beneath my feet was smooth white stone that seemed to glow with its own internal light, and above me stretched an open sky that was the wrong color, shifting between deep purple and crimson in ways that hurt to look at directly.

But what drew my attention immediately were the figures watching me.

Hundreds of them, maybe thousands, arranged in rising tiers of seating that climbed upward into shadows I couldn’t quite see into.

Each one radiated an aura of power so intense that the air around them visibly distorted, reality itself struggling to contain their presence.

These weren’t gods like the ones I’d fought in the Primordial Court.

These were something else entirely, beings that existed on a level I’d never encountered before.

...They at least had the power of an Outer God.

And they were all looking at me.

My gaze swept across the arena and landed on a massive throne set high above all the other seating, carved from what looked like crystallized starlight and shadow woven together.

Sitting on that throne, looking completely at ease and radiating more power than everyone else in the arena combined, was the creator woman.

She smiled when our eyes met, that same playful expression I’d heard in her voice countless times.

The other figures turned toward her as well, and I saw them clearly now.

Each one sat on a throne of their own, smaller than hers but no less imposing, and each one carried an aura that suggested they could unmake entire realms with a thought.

One of them, a figure that appeared to be made of living fire that constantly shifted form, let out a harsh laugh that echoed across the arena.

"THIS is your champion?!" The voice boomed with enough force to make the stone beneath my feet vibrate.

"PFTTT... he looks weak! I expected something more impressive from you!"

Another figure, this one shrouded in what looked like compressed darkness that ate all light around it, leaned forward slightly.

"Weak indeed," it said in a voice that sounded like grinding stone.

"I’ve seen mortals with more presence than this one. Are you certain you didn’t make a mistake?"

A third figure, something that hurt to look at directly because its shape kept changing in ways that violated geometry, added its own mocking tone.

"Perhaps she’s finally lost her edge. All that time spent isolated has made her forget how to choose proper champions. This one will be crushed in the first exchange."

More laughter rippled through the assembled beings, cruel and dismissive, and I felt anger beginning to build in my chest despite knowing that showing emotion to these beings was probably exactly what they wanted.

The creator woman simply smiled wider, completely unbothered by their mockery.

『You’ll see if he’s weak or not』

Her voice projected across the entire arena.

『So, let’s just try the fights...』

That was when understanding hit me like a physical blow.

She’d brought me here to be her champion.

To fight for her in whatever contests these beings engaged in.

’What is this bullshit?!’ I thought furiously.

『Now, now~ don’t be rude』

Her voice whispered directly in my mind, separate from the arena-wide projection.

『You agreed to do me a favor, remember? This is it. Just win a few fights and we’ll be even~』

Before I could formulate a response to that, movement caught my attention from across the arena.

A massive gate on the opposite side was opening, grinding metal and stone, creating a sound like thunder as whatever was behind it began to emerge.

"THAT’S MY CHAMPION!" one of the figures in the upper rows declared proudly, standing up from its throne with evident satisfaction.

"Let’s see how your little anomaly handles a real warrior!"

What stepped through that gate made me reassess every battle I’d fought in the Primordial Court.

It was a minotaur, but calling it that felt inadequate for what I was seeing.

The creature stood at least four meters tall, its body a mass of corded muscle that looked capable of tearing through reinforced steel with bare hands.

Its fur was pitch black, except for patterns of deep red that seemed to glow from within, and its eyes burned with intelligence far removed from that of any mindless beast.

But what made my divine core react with immediate alarm was the aura it radiated.

9✯ Intermediate True God.

Power on a scale that dwarfed anything I’d faced before, concentrated into a form designed specifically for combat and destruction.

The minotaur carried a massive war axe that looked like it had been forged from compressed starlight, the blade gleaming with edges sharp enough to cut through space itself.

I stared at it with some confusion.

Someone this powerful should have been a major figure in the divine realm, and yet I’d never seen or heard of anything like this before.

That was when the creator woman’s voice whispered in my mind again.

『We’re in another universe, dear~ This isn’t your divine realm. These are champions from thousands of different realities, all gathered here for... entertainment. Don’t worry about anything except the fight.』

Another universe...?

So... these beings on the thrones aren’t gods from my realm.

Really...?

They were something that existed above and beyond my universe, playing games with champions pulled from across countless realities.

And I’d just been volunteered as a playing piece.

The minotaur stepped fully into the arena, and the gate slammed shut behind it with a sound like a thunderclap.

It raised its axe and pointed it directly at me, and when it spoke, its voice carried the weight of absolute conviction.

"I am Krathax, Champion of the Crimson Throne, bearer of the Authority of Fate and Strength," it announced.

"You will die here, and your sponsor will know shame for bringing such weak prey to this arena."

’...Two authorities? How the fuck...’

I instantly gripped both my swords tighter, feeling Midnight’s presence in my right hand and the Heaven Swallowing Sword in my left.

My power had been strengthened significantly from unleashing my Fallen God bloodline and absorbing those corrupted angels.

I wasn’t the same as I’d been when I started the invasion.

And I refused to be mocked as weak by beings who didn’t know what I’d fought through to get here.

"Come on then," I cracked my neck slighly.

"Let’s see if your strength matches your words."

BOOOOOOOM!

Krathax moved with speed that contradicted his massive size, crossing half the arena in a single bound that cracked the stone floor beneath his hooves.

His axe came down in an overhead strike that would have split me in half if it connected, the blade trailing distortions in space as it fell.

I dodged left, and the axe hit where I’d been standing with enough force to create a crater easily five meters wide.

Cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact point, and I felt the shockwave wash over me even from several meters away.

CRAAAAACK!

Space itself fractured around the impact, reality splitting like glass and revealing glimpses of something churning and incomprehensible beneath.

Krathax didn’t give me time to recover, already swinging the axe horizontally in a follow-up strike that forced me to duck low.

The blade passed inches above my head, and I felt the wind of its passage strong enough to make my hair whip wildly.

I countered with Midnight, driving the blade toward his exposed ribs while he was committed to the swing.

The sword connected, and I felt it begin to cut through his flesh.

CLANG!

His muscles suddenly hardened to a density that turned them harder than divine metal, and Midnight scraped across his ribs without penetrating more than a few centimeters.

Blood welled from the shallow cut, but it was nowhere near the deep wound I’d been aiming for.

I was deeply shocked.

...His skin is actually hard enough to resist Midnight’s sharpness.

"Authority of Strength," Krathax growled, and I saw his entire body pulse with red energy.

"Your weapons mean nothing when I can make my flesh harder than any blade."

He backhanded me with his free hand, and even though I saw it coming and tried to block with the Heaven Swallowing Sword, the sheer force behind the blow sent me flying backward.

WHAM!

I crashed into the arena wall hard enough to crack the stone, pain exploding through my back and ribs.

Blood filled my mouth, and I spat it out as I pushed myself away from the wall just in time to avoid the axe that slammed into the spot I’d been occupying.

BOOOOM!

The wall exploded outward, chunks of stone the size of houses flying into the air and raining down across the arena floor.

I landed in a crouch and immediately had to roll sideways as Krathax’s hoof came down where my head had been, the impact creating another shockwave that made my ears ring.

This wasn’t going to work.

He was physically stronger than me, probably significantly so, and his Authority of Strength let him enhance that advantage even further.

Trading blows wasn’t sustainable.

I needed to use my own advantages.

I channeled the Authority of Frost and slammed my palm against the arena floor.

FWOOOOOSH!

Ice exploded outward in all directions, covering the white stone in a layer of crystalline frost that spread for dozens of meters.

The temperature dropped so rapidly that the air itself began to crystallize, and I felt the familiar cold settle into my bones as my power fully manifested.

Krathax’s hooves slipped slightly on the suddenly frictionless surface, and I capitalized on that moment of instability by launching myself at him with both swords raised.

Midnight went for his throat while the Heaven Swallowing Sword aimed for his chest, both strikes designed to hit simultaneously and force him to choose which one to defend against.

He chose neither.

Instead, his eyes flared with golden light, and I felt reality twist around me in a way that made my divine core scream in warning.

"Authority of Fate!" Krathax suddenly roared.

"I decree that your strength is that of a weakling child! I decree that your weapons are blunt and useless! I decree that—"

CRACK!

I punched him in the face with my free hand, channeling every bit of strength I could muster directly into his jaw.

The Authority of Fate he’d been trying to impose shattered like glass, unable to take hold against someone who carried the Authority of Defiance as part of their racial bloodline.

His head snapped back from the impact, teeth flying from his broken jaw, and he stumbled backward with genuine shock written across his bovine features.

"Your fate manipulation doesn’t work on me," I said coldly, already moving in for another strike.

Swip!

I drove both swords into his chest simultaneously, Midnight punching through his Authority-enhanced muscles while the Heaven Swallowing Sword nullified the divine protections he tried to raise at the last second.

Both blades sank deep, piercing what I hoped was his divine core.

Krathax roared in pain and rage, grabbing me with one massive hand and hurling me away with enough force to send me tumbling across the ice-covered arena floor.

CRACKLLE... CRASH!

I hit the ground three times before I managed to arrest my momentum, each impact leaving cracks in the frozen stone. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

When I looked up, Krathax was pulling both swords out of his chest, blood pouring from the wounds, but his expression showed more fury than pain.

"You DARE!" he bellowed, and his aura exploded outward with enough force to shatter all the ice I’d created.

"I am a 9✯ Intermediate True God! I have fought in ten thousand arenas! I have killed champions from a hundred realities! You are NOTHING compared to what I have faced!"

The wounds in his chest began to close, flesh knitting back together at visible speed as his Authority of Strength apparently extended to regeneration as well.

He raised his axe, and this time the blade began to glow with an intensity that made my eyes water.

Space around the weapon started to collapse, reality bending inward toward the edge as he charged it with enough power to split dimensions.

"I will end this now," Krathax declared. "And your sponsor will regret bringing such inadequate prey to face me."

VRRRROOOOOOOM!

He swung the axe in a horizontal arc that sent a wave of compressed spatial distortion racing toward me, a strike that would cut through anything in its path by literally severing the space it occupied.

I had maybe half a second to react.

Not enough time to dodge or to block properly.

So instead, I did something reckless.

I activated my Authority of the Abyss and stepped sideways into the darkness between spaces, letting reality fold around me as I moved through a dimension that technically didn’t exist.

The spatial distortion passed through where I’d been standing, cutting a line across the entire arena that went so deep I couldn’t see the bottom.

I emerged from the Abyss directly behind Krathax, both swords already moving in coordinated strikes aimed at the back of his neck and his spine.

But he was faster than I’d expected, spinning with his axe raised to block even though he shouldn’t have been able to track my movement through the Abyss.

CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Both swords met his axe shaft, and the impact sent shockwaves rippling outward that cracked the arena floor in spreading patterns.

We were locked in place for a moment, our weapons grinding against each other while power crackled between us.

His eyes met mine, burning with golden fury.

"You’re stronger than you look," he admitted grudgingly. "But strength alone won’t save you from what comes next."

His muscles bulged even larger, swelling to proportions that looked anatomically impossible, and I felt his power surge to new heights.

BOOOOOM!

He pushed forward with enough force to break our stalemate, and I was thrown backward yet again, my feet leaving grooves in the stone as I slid to a stop.

’Fucking hell...’

I wiped the blood on my lips.

If this is my first opponent... I don’t know if I’m going to get out of here alive.