Ivory pushed herself up from one knee, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and deep confusion. "What do you mean by business, Divine One?"
"Well," Haruto explained, tapping his chin with a finger. "Our friend Haruto here has officially allowed a god—well, two gods, actually—to occupy his vessel. From this exact second forward, he is officially my reincarnation as well."
Ivory's analytical mind immediately started reeling. She blinked, trying to compute the logic. "Wait... he was already the chosen vessel for the God of Creation. How is it possible for him to suddenly become yours too? Can a single human soul even hold two contrasting divine entities?"
Haruto let out a cheerful, melodic laugh. "Oh, Ivory. There are absolutely no hard-coded limits on how many gods a human can accept, as long as their soul's capacity is large enough to sustain the data load."
"But can a human body truly handle that much raw, celestial pressure without completely bursting apart?" Ivory asked, her voice tight with genuine concern for Haruto's physical safety.
Haruto's crimson eyes flashed with a sudden, deep seriousness. "Normally, it would completely vaporize them. But because I am now physically present within his core network, this body has basically proven itself to be entirely indestructible. It survived the ultimate stress test on the floor today. It was built to endure the absolute worst torture this world could throw at it."
She stepped closer, her white hair swaying. "And the God of Creation? What does he think about this?"
"Oh, Aetheris and I already reached a mutual agreement," Haruto replied with a casual wave of his hand. "We are both going to upgrade this boy together. So yes, starting today, he fully possesses my void attributes alongside his original powers. And since he has a lot to learn, I'll be deploying one of my personal guides very soon to teach him how to properly channel my energy—just like how you all guide him for the God of Creation."
A faint blush crept onto Ivory's cheeks, and she looked down, fidgeting slightly. "Um... if I may ask... will this new guide be a girl?"
"Oh, obviously!" Haruto giggled loudly, flashing a bright, brilliant smile. "I don't keep a single man in my entire divine faction. Well, except for Haruto now, of course!"
Lustra and Bellona exchanged an awkward, slightly overwhelmed smile in the background, completely amazed by how casual the conversation had become.
"Yep, she's definitely a girl," Haruto continued, his tone suddenly dropping into a low, mysterious whisper. "To be specific, she's the Goddess of Death. So, you can look forward to that. But putting that aside, listen to me very carefully."
The playful energy completely vanished from Haruto's stance, replaced by a cold, heavy gravity that made Toya and the goddesses freeze.
"Because this human body has just processed an absolute overload of contrasting divine code today, the system balance is severely strained. There are going to be severe side effects. He might look completely fine when he wakes up, but moving forward into the next stages... things are going to get very unpredictable for him."
"What?" Ivory asked, her voice tight with sudden fear. "What kind of side effects?"
"Honestly, I have no idea," Haruto replied, giving a tiny, casual shrug. "It could be absolutely anything. His mind and body just took a massive hit. He might suffer from memory loss, he could lose his emotions completely, or his eyesight might fail him. It's completely unpredictable."
Hearing that, Ivory, Bellona, Lustra, and Toya felt their hearts drop. Panic washed over them. If Haruto went blind or lost his memories, how was he ever supposed to continue his journey? How would he even recognize them?
Before they could spiraling into despair, the cheerful look returned to Haruto's face. "Well, my job here is officially done! You can have your regular Haruto back now. Oh, and just so you know, everyone in the stadium will wake up in about two minutes."
With a simple wave of his hand, a beautifully crafted sword materialized out of thin air. Controlling Haruto's body with absolute elegance, the deity walked over to where Kallen lay unconscious on the ground. First, she cast a quick spell over him to completely wipe away all the physical evidence and severe wounds from their brutal fight, ensuring no one could prove what had actually happened.
Then, she resting the sharp edge of the blade directly against Kallen's neck.
"Bye-bye," she whispered with a playful grin.
FLASH!
A sudden light flickered, and the presence of the goddess vanished entirely.
Instantly, Haruto's long, flowing white hair began to shrink back to its normal length, shifting from pure white back to his natural deep black. However, a few distinct strands of hair near his temples remained completely snowy white—a permanent, unchangeable mark left behind by the divine energy.
Slowly, his eyelids fluttered open. But as he looked up at his friends, they gasped. While his right eye was its usual dark color, his left eyeball had turned a permanent, piercing crimson red. The side effects had already begun to claim their price.
Just then, a collective groan echoed through the stands. All across the colosseum, the tens of thousands of sleeping spectators, along with the King, Fredrick, and Seraphine in the royal box, began to stir, slowly rubbing their eyes as they woke up from their sudden slumber.
The entire stadium erupted into a chaotic murmur as tens of thousands of people rubbed their eyes, blinking against the bright sunlight. Confusion blanketed the stands. Nobody could understand why they had all suddenly fallen asleep, or exactly what had happened in those missing moments.
All they remembered was Haruto somehow standing up in a flash of light, and then—blank.
As the fog cleared from their minds, everyone looked down at the center of the track. The sight left them completely stunned. Kallen was lying entirely unconscious on the shattered marble floor, his weapons gone and his cocksure attitude completely broken. He was alive, but completely out cold.
Standing right over him was Haruto.
The crowd gasped as they noticed the striking changes in his appearance—the sharp strands of snowy white hair mixed into his dark locks, and that single, piercing crimson eye staring blankly ahead. But what caught everyone's attention was what he held in his hand. Haruto was calmly holding Kallen's dark purple crown.
A heavy silence hung over the arena for a split second as the reality of the scene sank in. Then, high above the field, a massive, brilliant announcement screen manifested in the sky, flashing in golden letters for the entire kingdom to see:
🏆 MATCH RESOLVED 🏆WINNER: TEAM HARUTO
The moment the declaration appeared, the commoner stands absolutely boiled over. A deafening roar of cheers and applause shattered the silence, echoing loudly across the entire colosseum. People were jumping up and down, screaming Haruto's name in pure excitement.
Up in the VIP box, the King, Fredrick, and Seraphine stared down in absolute amazement, while Princess Lilith and Aetherna finally let out the breaths they had been holding. Down on the field, Ivory, Bellona, Lustra, and Toya rushed to Haruto's side, watching the crowd go wild as the official victory was cemented. The impossible duel was finally over.
To everyone in the roaring stands, it looked like a standard, miraculous upset. They truly believed that through some hidden tactical play or a sudden burst of hidden strength, Haruto had somehow managed to turn the tables at the absolute last second and win the duel.
But up in the royal pavilion, Aetherna's heart was hammering against her ribs. She looked over at Princess Lilith, the King, Commander Fredrick, and Seraphine. The heavy tension in their silence was deafening. Aetherna knew the terrifying truth—because her defensive barrier had been too large, every single one of these high-ranking royals had witnessed the entire cosmic event. They had seen the infinite health pool, the transformation, and the terrifying presence of the God of Nothingness.
Down near the luxury suites, Gelli stood by the railing of her box. She didn't look confused or panicked like the rest of the elites. Instead, a slow, deeply satisfied smile spread across her face. She locked her eyes on Haruto for a brief moment, memorizing every single detail of his altered appearance, before quietly turning around and stepping into the shadows, leaving the stadium without a word.
Down on the track, the divine presence fully receded, and Haruto suddenly snapped back into total control of his own body. The rush of real-world consciousness hit him like a physical wave, making him blink rapidly as the deafening cheers of the crowd flooded his senses.
Before he could even process the strange weight of his new white hair strands or the altered vision in his crimson left eye, his friends swarmed him.
"You actually did it, you absolute madman!" Toya laughed loudly, stepping up and slamming a proud, heavy hand onto Haruto's shoulder.
Bellona threw her fist into the air with a triumphant roar, her volcanic energy flaring in sheer excitement. Ivory stood right beside them, a rare, genuinely proud smile gracing her face as she looked at her captain. Lustra was practically cheering, jumping up and down with pure joy, completely thrilled that the nightmare was finally over.
But amid all the cheering and celebration, Haruto stood completely still. He felt a deep, chilling hollowness creeping into his chest—a strange, foreign quiet that hadn't been there before the fight. He looked down at his own hands, his fingers trembling slightly. He was deeply disturbed by the sudden blankness in his mind, but looking at the ecstatic faces of his teammates, he chose to stay completely silent. He quietly hid his shaking hands behind his back, forcing a calm nod as the stadium continued to chant his name.
Up in the royal pavilion, the King slowly stood up from his golden throne. He stepped toward the stone railing, his sweeping gaze locking down onto the chaotic stands. He raised his hand, his voice booming across the entire stadium with absolute majesty.
"Silence!"
Instantly, the deafening cheers of the commoners and the frantic whispering of the nobles vanished. The entire colosseum fell into a pin-drop silence, tens of thousands of eyes locked onto the ruler of the kingdom.
"The conditions of this contest were clear from the very beginning," the King declared, his voice firm and unyielding. "Haruto has proven himself victorious in this sanctioned duel. Therefore, by royal decree, he has earned the right to marry Princess Lilith and claim his place at her side."
BOOM!
The stadium erupted yet again, but this time it was a chaotic mixture of ecstatic cheers from the commoners and fierce, outraged shouting from the noble sectors. Up in the VIP box, Lilith's face instantly flushed a brilliant crimson. She quickly looked down, biting her lip in sheer embarrassment, her hands tightly wrapping around her royal gown as her heart hammered in her chest.
But the celebratory mood didn't last long. From the front row of the elite section, Lord Gromen snapped to his feet, his face twisted in pure, aristocratic rage.
"Your Majesty, I must protest!" Gromen shouted, his voice echoing filled with arrogance. "The rule states that the strongest must claim the throne, yes, but we must also consider the sacred royal bloodline! Haruto is nothing but a nameless commoner! Handing the entire future of the kingdom to an outsider without lineage is an insult to our history!"
The moment Gromen spoke, a heavy wave of angry murmurs broke out among the elite students and high-ranking officials. But the commoners in the upper stands weren't having it. They began shouting right back down at the nobles.
"Are you blind?!" a voice from the crowd roared. "Kallen was a monster! We would rather have a commoner than a sadistic king like him!"
"Silence!" the King thundered again, his aura flaring slightly, instantly shutting down the brewing riot.
The King looked down at Lord Gromen, his eyes incredibly cold. "Tell me, Gromen... when a hostile empire marches across our borders to slaughter our people, do you think the enemy commander will stop and ask about our bloodline? Do you think the sword cares about royal lineage? No. They will strike, and if our defender is weak, our kingdom will burn. It is that simple. Strength protects. And Haruto has proven his."
Gromen clenched his fists, his jaw tight as he desperately looked for a loophole. "Kallen is young, Your Majesty! He is still naive and hasn't fully mastered the true depths of his power! It was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was holding back during that match! He was merely showing mercy and playing around with Haruto!"
Hearing the word 'mercy' associated with the brutal, sickening torture everyone had just witnessed on the track, the King let out a loud, mocking laugh. It was a cold, sharp sound that made Gromen freeze.
"Holding back?!" the King scoffed, his expression turning deeply sarcastic. "Do not make a mockery of this court, Gromen. If that horrific display of mindless cruelty and bloodlust was Kallen 'holding back,' then I suppose I can offer him a fitting job in the royal palace. I can appoint him as the Head of the Underground Dungeons. His talent for excessive torture would be perfect for extracting information from foreign spies—but he will never sit on a throne."
Gromen's face turned completely pale. He opened his mouth to argue, but the sheer finality in the King's eyes choked the words right out of his throat. He slumped back into his seat in total humiliation, completely silenced.
Up in the stands, a sudden wave of snickers and laughter broke out among the commoners and the rival factions, mocking the absolute defeat of the arrogant noble family.
The sound of laughter rippled through the entire stadium, a massive wave of relief washing over the commoner stands. Everyone was celebrating. The dark cloud of Kallen's potential reign had finally been lifted, and the people were overjoyed that they wouldn't have to see a sadistic torturer crowned as their future king.
Up in the royal pavilion, the King calmly sat back down on his golden throne, satisfied with how he had handled the arrogant nobles.
Down on the shattered track, Haruto watched the cheering crowd, the laughing faces of his teammates, and the general joy surrounding him. He opened his mouth, wanting to smile, to laugh along with Toya, or to at least say something to ease their worries.
But nothing happened.
Haruto froze. He tried to force a word out, but his throat felt entirely empty. His mouth opened and moved, but not a single sound escaped his lips. His voice was completely gone.
Even worse, as he looked at the ecstatic faces of Bellona and Lustra, he realized something far more terrifying. He didn't feel happy. He didn't feel relieved. He didn't feel anything at all. A cold, absolute blankness had settled deep into his chest, completely wiping away his ability to feel emotions. The terrifying side effects the goddess had warned them about were executing within his system in real-time.
Why is it always like this? Haruto thought, a dull, familiar numbness creeping into his thoughts. Even after all of this... it's just getting boring again.
The vibrant colors of the stadium began to blur together. The roaring cheers of the audience turned into a distant, muffled hum. The figures of his friends spinning around him started to sway and warp in his vision.
His knees buckled. Without a single sound, Haruto's strength completely cut out, and his body tilted forward, collapsing heavily onto the cracked marble floor as the world went completely dark.
When Haruto's eyes finally snapped open, the roaring cheers of the stadium were gone. He was lying in his own bed, inside his familiar room at the mansion. Outside the large glass windows, the world was wrapped in the deep, silent stillness of the night.
Right beside his bed, Aetherna was sitting in a chair, her head resting on the mattress as she lightly dozed off, exhausted from watching over him.
Haruto slid out from under the covers, moving as quietly as a shadow so he wouldn't wake her. His body felt light, but strange. He walked out of the room, down the quiet, empty corridors, and made his way to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of cold water. He drank it down in a single gulp, but the cool liquid did nothing to wash away the heavy, suffocating emptiness locking down his chest.
Needing fresh air, he stepped outside into the dark estate grounds. His feet instinctively guided him through the garden until he reached the familiar stone bench—the exact spot where Princess Lilith had trusted him with the dangerous secret of the God Slayer. Sitting down in the quiet dark, a sharp, throbbing ache suddenly flared up behind his temples. The pain pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. He squeezed his eyes shut, enduring the headache in total silence before pushing himself up and retreating back inside the mansion.
He walked back upstairs into his room, bypassing the sleeping Aetherna, and locked himself inside the private bathroom. He stood in front of the sink, slowly raising his head to look into the mirror.
The reflection staring back at him was that of a stranger.
The front locks of his hair were framed by permanent, stark white strands, contrasting sharply against his deep black hair. And when he blinked, his left eye burned with a brilliant, steady crimson red. The physical traces of the primordial entities were deeply etched into his skin.
He stared at his own face, feeling a sudden, bizarre urge to laugh at the absolute absurdity of his existence. He wanted to break out into a wild, mocking laugh just to shatter the quiet. But as he forced his mouth to move, nothing came out. Not a chuckle, not a smirk, not a sound. His face remained entirely frozen, his throat dry and empty.
The realization hit him like a physical blow. He felt absolutely nothing. No joy from the victory, no anger at the experiment, no fear of the future. It was a vast, hollow void of complete emotional emptiness.
Haruto tightly gripped his head with both hands, burying his face in his palms as the psychological weight of the divine overload began to crush his thoughts.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
The sudden, soft sound of someone rapping on his bedroom door sliced through the silent midnight air.