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[Allen, in this world, you are the dragon-slaying hero Sigurd or Siegfried, and Brunhilde is the eldest of the Valkyries...]

Allen halted his steps upon hearing the system's words, simultaneously feeling a wave of disgust. 'No, please tell me it's not true that I'm that guy'

Allen felt as though he had swallowed a bitter insect. There was contempt and even revulsion at the thought of the "hero," who, in his eyes, was nothing but a pathetic bastard.

In modern times, ancient heroes have been romanticized for their deeds, and it is true that Siegfried defeated the dragon Fafnir and bathed in its blood, becoming immortal and invulnerable. However, what he did to Brunhilde went beyond unpleasantness in Allen's eyes.

The story of Sigurd, or Siegfried, with Brunhilde, as known in the Germanic origin tales, is a tragic love story, but is it really that?

Odin, the father of all, ordered Brunhilde to marry. However, she had declared that she would only marry someone who proved to be stronger than her. Being a natural warrior with nearly unmatched strength, there was no way this could have been possible.

Odin punished Brunhilde, the eldest and most beautiful of the Valkyries, condemning her to eternal sleep, surrounded by a ring of fire that prevented anyone from reaching her.

Siegfried uses his invulnerability to rescue Brunhilde, leading them to fall in love. Up to this point, everything seems like a legend of true and unbreakable love... but life can't be that beautiful.

Siegfried, who had promised eternal love, ended up abandoning Brunhilde and marrying Princess Krimilda, sister of King Gunther of Burgundy. This broke Brunhilde's heart, but her love for him still lingered.

Allen began to boil with rage, to the point where a dark aura mixed with ki spread from his body.

As if it weren't enough, Siegfried, having discarded the woman he swore to love—something Allen considered a despicable act; disguised himself as Gunther, his wife's brother, and defeated Brunhilde, forcing her to marry Gunther.

He gritted his teeth. For greedy womanizers like Allen, Siegfried, who gave away the woman he loved to another man.

But the story didn't end there. Later, Brunhilde discovered this betrayal and hated Siegfried, planning to kill him. She achieved this by revealing the secret of his invulnerability; his entire body hadn't been bathed in Fafnir's blood. Like Achilles, where only one spot remained vulnerable, someone stabbed him in that area and killed Siegfried. The next day, unable to bear the pain of killing her beloved, Brunhilde committed suicide.

Allen shook his head in disbelief. To make matters worse, Siegfried's wife, the one he had abandoned Brunhilde for, demonstrated her love for him by marrying Etzel (Attila). A man has no right to imprison a woman if she decides to move on with her life after her husband's death. However, Brunhilde couldn't continue living without Siegfried, even after what he did to her, while Krimilda remarried. This guy might have been a great hero but he was a horrible lover and bad at choosing a wife.

Later, Krimilda kills Etzel and throws herself into the flames, but this doesn't redeem Siegfried.

[Allen, calm down. There's no need to get upset. Remember, you're not Siegfried. You've just taken his place. With your personality, it would be impossible for you to be that kind of... man, if you can even call him that.]

'That's true...'

Allen calmed down. He wasn't the pathetic Siegfried. He would never abandon his woman, let alone give her away to another man. Moreover, in his heart, there was only longing for Brunhilde, which indicated that Allen had never abandoned the demigoddess. Not only that, but nothing guaranteed that his story would be the same as the original Siegfried's. After all, Allen's decisions would never be the same as Siegfried's.

Allen turned toward the spectators, stunned by his sudden anger and the unprovoked rampage.

"I'm fine now. I just felt disgusted for a moment, but it has nothing to do with you..."

The dolls exchanged glances, not quite understanding, but it seemed like Allen didn't like his identity in this world for a brief moment.

Allen left the cell to face the darkness of the underworld. 'What kind of world am I in?'

Allen couldn't recognize this place, but it made sense; after all, his knowledge of the Record of Ragnarok was essentially zero.

...

(Ragnarok Colosseum)

Previously, Thor appeared in front of Brunhilde once again; this took the story away from its original storyline, so the outcome of their interaction was unknown.

From the perspective of any Norse god, Brunhilde's actions represented clear treason. But it wasn't surprising, as she had already shown rebellion even against Odin, whose word was supposed to be absolute law.

"Brunhilde..." Thor's voice was crushing and terrifying.

Brunhilde was aware that in front of her was the son of Odin. As Odin's chosen son, destined to rule the Norse pantheon in the future, it was natural for him to demand respect. However, this Valkyrie not only did not give it but also stabbed them in the back.

Thor narrowed his eyes. There was something different in his aura, and it was that both he and perhaps all the gods had made a mistake by ignoring humanity for so long. They were gods, idolized, but except for a few heroes and demigods, they hadn't paid much attention to humanity.

How could a god understand the life of a human being? Their lives began and ended in the blink of an eye. After facing Lü Bu, Thor began to question something that could be considered blasphemy: do the gods have the right to judge humans?

Why had he never met Lü Bu Hosen in life? A warrior like that existed among humanity, and yet, in the heavens, was he bored from the lack of worthy opponents? Was it always like this? Had there always been humans like that, who lived and died unnoticed?

'For a god, boredom, which comes with immortality, is one of the few things worse than death.' Thor changed his mind. If he had to vote again, he certainly wouldn't vote to eliminate humanity.

Lü Bu Hosen's death wasn't in vain... at least it convinced a god that humanity deserved to live.

Unfortunately for Thor, his imposing aura didn't convey his thoughts. Brunhilde was sweating as she tried to think of what to say to avoid being killed.

"Thor-sama, I.... A!"

Her words were cut short as her gaze fixed on Thor's back. She wondered if his eyes were deceiving her. She questioned if this wasn't one of her lucid dreams where she could see her beloved. She raised the possibility that it was all a mere illusion, perhaps by Loki. However, something inside her told her that it was not so and that the man in front of her was real.

"Hi..." Allen said with a sad smile.

All her thoughts stopped in an instant. It didn't matter whether Thor, Odin, or Zeus were standing in front of her, ready to kill her. Even if humanity were at risk of perishing, even if the world would end in the next moment... no divine power could capture Brunhilde's attention. Her heart pounded as if it would break, her eyes clouded with tears.

"...!" Thor, on the other hand, felt a chill run down his spine. Instinctively, he spun around, holding his hammer in a ready stance with all his might. In the original mythology, it was said that Thor would die in Ragnarok against Jörmungandr, but even with such a fate, Thor never felt an ounce of fear. However, at this moment, every divine particle in his body urged him to reach the limits of his power.

*AUGE*

...

The pressure generated pushed the air down the hallway, reaching several gods who were surprised. Was someone fighting inside the Coliseum?

"Thor?" Odin opened his eyes and looked in a confused direction.

Several gods were startled to hear a loud noise coming from beneath the ground.

"What's happening?" Zeus snapped out of his mood and released a murderous intent, also sensing that someone was fighting. "Oh ho, who dares to disturb our festival?"

The system became aware of the situation and isolated the place after Thor's first attack, ensuring there would be no unexpected visitors. Many in the Chat, by this point, could already tell which world Allen was in. However, everyone, without exception, remained silent.

...

"Wh!..." Thor's gaze was one of disbelief, his mouth slightly open, a bead of sweat running down his cheek. Do gods sweat? They should if they bleed, but that's an odd question. Thor, since his birth, was destined to be the strongest; Thor, the Nordic god who once considered his strength a blessing, ended up hating it. After all, that strength didn't allow him to enjoy a fight.

Thor had always thought this way. Of course, Thor wasn't arrogant; there were many pantheons besides the Nordic one, and even though he held the title of the strongest, he would never take his father Odin, Shiva, Zeus, Buddha, or even his brother Loki lightly. But even so, he had the confidence to face anyone, regardless of who would win in the end. But... he certainly never imagined finding himself in such a situation in his life. His hammer, capable of destroying an army of giants in one blow, the one that shattered a divine weapon, the hammer that killed the most barbaric warrior in human history, had been completely stopped by the hand of a single person.

'Who is he?!'

Thor looked at the man's hand, which didn't even flinch as it stopped his blow. Compared to a god like him, who was a muscular giant, this person was merely an athletic young man with deep black hair and wine-colored eyes, which looked somewhat melancholic at that moment.

'He's not looking at me!'

The line of sight of his opponent wasn't on him but on the woman behind Thor, who met the young man's gaze.

A displeasing smile replaced Thor's surprise. There was no need to think about it; his body eliminated all traces of inhibition, and the Thunder God set himself to fight with all his power.

Sensing this, the young man looked at Thor for the first time. The god's body froze, and at the same time, Mjolnir exploded with an agonizing screech. This event occurred because the hammer had life, with a fleshy structure inside the divine metal.

'Mjolnir?'

Without understanding what happened, Thor's body was covered in blood, but the blood did not reach Brunhilde.

"Did you call me?" Allen asked softly, walking beside Thor, who remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the hilt of his divine weapon.

Each step Allen took towards the kneeling woman felt heavy. He didn't remember who she was at this point, but he felt a sense of apology towards her.

As expected, Brunhilde was the most beautiful Valkyrie, with long black hair and green eyes, complementing a beautiful face. Her body, as it was, would make women envious and men desire her. This beautiful woman, often portrayed as a warrior with a bad temperament, showed none of that. Her melancholic and sad eyes, full of grievances, burned Allen's heart.

"Don't kneel..." Allen said those words with difficulty. If she was his girlfriend, lover, or wife, why was she kneeling? What kind of pathetic man in this world allowed so much suffering to a woman he loved?

In front of her, Allen lowered one knee to the ground to be at the same height as her. Thousands of words tried to escape his mouth, but he couldn't utter any because he didn't know what to say. Comfort? Apologies? Excuses? Reasons? Motives?

Allen didn't understand half of it, but when it came to motives, feeling the trembling body of the woman in his arms, he was overwhelmed by a mix of nostalgia and guilt.

"Days...weeks...months...years...centuries no matter the amount of time... not a single day went by that I didn't want to take your place in that cursed place!"

"I'm sorry... you shouldn't have suffered..."

The woman began to cry uncontrollably. It wasn't an act, nor a lie; these were real feelings coming from her heart.

Thor snapped out of his daze when he heard the Valkyrie's cries. His mind processed the information and quickly arrived at a name, but that name belonged to someone dead and forgotten. Not only that, but the good-hearted man who had been a hero in his time was nothing like this monster.

"You…"

"Don't speak… I am not in a good mood at the moment, and you are only alive... because at no time did you show bad intentions towards her..."

"…!"

Thor looked at the back of the kneeling man, Thor stepped back. Once again, the Thunder God sweated heavily, taking a step back for the first time in his millions of years of life.

'What's happening to me?'

Of course, Thor didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend what was going on because he had never experienced it. Helplessness? We're talking about the undefeated and strongest Nordic god. Fear? Thor, whose opponents ended up as mere piles of meat, how could he feel that? Desperation? If there were ever a time Thor would feel desperate, it would be at the end of the world, and even then, the Thor of this world would probably die with a smile.

Even so, as impossible as it seemed, each of those emotions was coursing through his body at that moment, but what else could he feel? He wasn't aware that he had forced the woman of the wrong man to kneel, nor could he understand that at this moment, Allen was merely looking for someone to direct his anger at.

He was incapable of comprehending that in this world of gods and miracles: THERE WERE NO RESTRICTIONS FOR HIM.

...

The smile on Zeus's face faded, just like those of every god who had been euphoric moments before. Odin's ravens became restless. Mythical creatures, from dragons to phoenixes, that filled the heavenly realm began to roar and become agitated.

It didn't matter whether they were gods of light, darkness, destruction, or creation, of life or death; all, without exception, felt uneasy.

Clairvoyance couldn't predict it, and Buddha's all-seeing eyes also failed to identify the uninvited guest. There was something that fundamentally changed the rules of the game.

...

Hours of silence passed while some gods began to grow impatient. Among them was Ares, the God of War, the sixth god of Olympus, who even approached Zeus, who was silent.

"Father, should I go find that Valkyrie bitch and drag her here?!"

"No need…"

Zeus's response was unexpectedly calm, leaving Ares stunned. Hermes, the messenger of the gods and the tenth god of Olympus looked at the elder with disbelief. He knew how capricious, vulgar, authoritative, unpleasant, impatient, and ill-tempered Zeus was, so it made no sense for him to allow a mere Valkyrie to make him wait.

Brunhilde was supposed to present the next fighter for humanity. Not only that, but she had to announce the list of the other Ragnarok fighters. That list had to include twelve humans who would fight against twelve gods.

Brunhilde had dared to make the gods wait for hours—a clear act of disrespect. Remember, Zeus was capable of killing men just to sleep with their wives. He was that kind of bastard.

Yet, not a single god dared to point this out because if the king of the gods didn't show his dissatisfaction, who would?

*Footsteps*

Zeus opened his eyes and raised his head towards the opposite side of the coliseum—the area of humanity.

*Footsteps*

"…!"

An atmosphere of unease spread throughout the place as the footsteps approached from the hallway leading to the other side of the Coliseum, right where Brunhilde had gone after losing the first match. If it was just Brunhilde, Zeus didn't understand why his gaze couldn't leave that hallway.

'What…'

...

The second round of gods versus humans was about to begin!

===

A/N: I have nothing against Siegfried but I assumed that for Allen to be someone unpleasant 🍷🗿