The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion-Chapter 282: Damian Vs Greek Gods - 1

Zeus hadn't completely lost it yet.

He knew the man sitting on his throne was not a normal mortal, judging by the presence he was releasing. He couldn't just attack him recklessly.

The same went for the other gods, who felt offended and disrespected by Damian's actions. They, too, wanted to wipe that smile off his face and torture him and the women with him, but they didn't know the level of their opponent. They couldn't afford to be reckless.

"Who are you?" Zeus asked calmly. Although he tried to restrain his aura as the God King, the storm he had summoned was still raging, lightning striking hundreds of times in succession and gradually destroying what little remained of the surroundings.

"I'm the new and permanent ruler of the Greek pantheon. I guess that's enough for an introduction," Damian Simpoled replied, not even trying to hide his audacity.

His words only made the gods and their king tense up even more, and Damian could see a vein popping on Zeus's forehead.

"W-What do you mean?" Zeus asked, trying his best to control himself.

"It's exactly as I said. I'm taking over the Greek pantheon as its new ruler," Damian continued in a casual tone, glancing toward Poseidon. "Which includes Atlantis and the Underworld as well."

That was when Damian noticed Hades wasn't present. In fact, none of the gods or goddesses of the Underworld were there, which made sense since the Underworld existed in another dimension. Because Damian hadn't let his presence seep beyond this realm, Hades and the others couldn't have sensed his explosive aura.

Damian continued, "The real question is how many of you are willing to submit, and how many of you are going to die trying to fight me. Because this is inevitable. The Greek pantheon isn't going to be mine. It already is. It's always been mine."

Could he be any blunter about it? The goddess Tyche thought silently.

The goddess of Fortune, Luck, Variability, and Opportunity, Tyche, was also a member of the Silent Firmament and a close friend of Freya.

Like the others in that group, she had already made up her mind. She would submit to the Emperor of the Empire of Ouroboros.

She and the other gods of the Silent Firmament were already communicating through telepathy, and the moment Damian declared so confidently that the Greek pantheon belonged to him, they realized it was already a done deal. They might as well submit before the inevitable conflict between the gods began and things turned destructive.

One by one, gods and goddesses stepped out from behind King Zeus, walking past him and toward the man seated upon the white throne, before finally standing behind Damian.

"Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Selene, Deimos, Phobos. Some of you I expected to fight me," Damian muttered as he watched them join his side. "But I guess you have brains after all."

He could see that some were still hesitating, while King Zeus and his remaining loyal gods watched with furious expressions.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?"

"You've just crossed a line you can't uncross."

The gods who were loyal to the God-King Zeus uttered cries of fury and rage, staring in disbelief as so many gods betrayed them, willingly walking over to join the enemy who had come to conquer them. Zeus himself stood unmoving, not even sparing a glance at the gods abandoning his side.

Yet everyone could feel it, the fury and the madness Zeus was sinking into. At this very moment, only a thin thread kept him from completely losing his sanity.

It took only a couple of minutes. When it was over, nearly eighty percent of the gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon were standing behind the opposing throne.

Including Tyche, the goddess of luck.

"Even luck left us…" one of Zeus's loyal goddesses whispered, horror written all over her face.

"Still not enough to break you, huh? I'm surprised he held on for so long." Damian smiled. Then his gaze fell upon one of the goddesses still standing beside Zeus, her expression conflicted and complicated, as if she were suffering through an existential crisis.

"To think she would still stand by his side, even after all the abuse he put her and her daughters through. He was lucky to have a wife like her. She deserves more. She deserves to be mine."

Damian's figure vanished, and in the next instant, he appeared behind Zeus without being noticed, standing right beside Hera, the goddess of marriage and family.

The goddess froze, staring at him in shock and nervous disbelief as such a handsome face appeared inches from her own.

Even someone who harbored immense hatred toward Damian could not deny that he was the most beautiful, most handsome being in the universe. Hera, who had endured eons of mental and physical abuse from her husband and lived frustrated and deprived of warmth for ages, felt emotions stir within her that she had thought long dead.

"W-What… what are you—" Hera tried to speak, but Damian gently placed a finger against her lips, silencing her.

"You are a beautiful goddess," he murmured. "Why do you cling to that useless pig of a god?"

He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Come to me, Hera. Become mine. Be freed from his clutches."

Damian's voice was like a devil's whisper, coaxing the deepest desires of a soul worn down by despair.

It made her want to let go.

It wasn't just his words. It was everything about him. His appearance, his presence, even his scent. Everything about him made her want to give in.

"You…"

The god of war, Ares, finally snapped and tried to curse, but an overwhelming, invisible pressure crashed down on him, freezing him in place and rendering him unable to move.

"I'll deal with you in a minute, Ares," Damian snorted. "Be a good little dog of war and stay quiet."

He turned his attention back to Hera, who stood on the verge of falling into his grasp.

She only needed a little push.

Damian wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, pressing her against him. Her face flushed crimson.

"I'm going to kill every single one of them in a few minutes," he whispered. "I'm sure you don't want anything to happen to your daughters, right? Become mine, and your daughters will become mine as well. Then all you'll have to worry about is handling the limitless happiness that's waiting for you." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

He leaned closer, his voice intoxicating.

"Walk to the other side. You shall become free."

Damian whispered, and in the next second, he saw her simply staring at him in silence. Her gaze never left him, and certainly never shifted toward her husband, no, her ex-husband.

Something seemed to change inside her. A spark of life was rekindled in her eyes as she turned around and walked toward the other side without looking back, as if she had made her choice and would never, ever change it.

Following her, all her daughters, who had been hesitating about changing sides, also made their decision and followed their mother goddess.

"Good choice. I promise to treat you right," Damian said with a satisfied smile. His expression darkened as he turned his head to look at Zeus, who was burning with fury. Zeus's entire body trembled with rage, and the aura surrounding him became so destructive that space itself began crackling violently.

"Look at you, Zeus. Only a handful of your loyal dogs remain. I took your wife, just like you took the women of countless others." Damian stepped closer, staring straight into Zeus's face, only to see him biting his lips hard. Golden blood streamed from his bloodshot eyes, his face twisted with bulging veins that looked ready to burst.

"How does it feel to be on the other end, exactly where you belong?" Damian asked coldly, a cruel grin spreading across his face.

In the next second, a blinding light erupted in the middle of the great hall of the gods, bathing the entire area in searing white brilliance. A soulless explosion followed, instantly vaporizing everything in its path and leaving behind nothing but a massive crater.

"Zeus lost it," Nike muttered grimly.

She and the others who had joined Damian were unharmed. Just moments before Zeus unleashed his attack, Damian had sent them far away using his authority. Even without his intervention, they would have been fine. Eden and Grace were there. As Celestials, even Zeus's attack would not have been enough to threaten them or those around them.

At the center of the crater stood Zeus, now looking like nothing more than a man consumed by pure rage.

His entire form glowed bluish white, lightning strands snapping violently in and out of his body. The winds intensified as dark clouds gathered overhead, as if Zeus himself had become the eye of a raging hurricane.

In his hand was a single lightning bolt, shaped like a spear forged entirely from lightning, blazing with white energy.

"That's Zeus's true form," Selene, the Goddess of the Moon, Sleep, and Peace, said nervously. "No one has ever forced him to release his full power before. Not even his father, the God of Time, kronos, was powerful enough to do so."

"And he's not just facing the God King Zeus," Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, Seasons, and Harvest, added as she observed both her fellow goddesses and the women who had come with the Heavenly Son. "He's also up against Zeus's sons, who are not far behind their father in terms of power."

"He will win. Zeus and his sons are nothing more than playthings to him."

The sudden voice startled everyone. A goddess who had been silent until now finally spoke, drawing shocked gazes from all around.

"Aphrodite, don't tell me," Hera said slowly.

"It's him," Aphrodite declared, her voice steady. "He is my true love."