Chapter 216: Standing Out Thanks to the Competition (Third Update)

Atreus was quite honest, saying that he had received an invitation from Wonder Woman to go to another Earth, originally from another timeline, to eliminate Ares, who was trying to start a twisted version of World War I.

In the end, Ares was defeated, but Atreus ended up becoming the God of War.

There were a lot of twists and turns in this, but the best lies are nine parts truth, one part fiction. Atreus conveniently left out the key part where his God Slayer system allowed him to absorb the powers of those he killed. This made it look like a ridiculous, unjust case of doing the right thing and getting framed for it.

“Ares not only betrayed the Olympian gods but also recklessly started wars, dragging billions of innocent people into the chaos…” Diana waved her arms in frustration, condemning Ares for his crimes.

With Atreus’s story and Wonder Woman’s testimony, everything seemed perfectly seamless.

Doctor Strange was left speechless.

“Fine, Kratos, I’ll believe you for now. But can you give me a guarantee?” Stephen asked seriously.

“Go ahead,” Atreus replied.

“Can you promise me—swear you won’t start wars recklessly to gain power or try to become the ruler of this planet?”

Atreus shrugged. “Ruling Earth is too much trouble. I’m not interested. I’ve already got plenty of money and power. If there aren’t any crazy alien invasions or disasters, I’d rather stay home and hang out with girls every day. Right, Diana?” That last comment wasn’t directed at Stephen, but at Diana.

Then, these two shameless people started flirting right in front of the single folks, feeding them a mouthful of PDA.

“Ugh!” The single ones groaned in disgust.

Atreus added, “Besides, my godly duties only require me to start one war per month, with at least a thousand participants, in any form. I could just organize a massive video game battle every month.”

Wong asked, “No need for actual results? No bloodshed? No deaths?”

Atreus gave him a side-eye. “I’m the God of War, not the God of Death!”

“Okay, my bad! I’ll shut up now. God of War… sir,” Wong said, but it was clear he did it on purpose.

Stephen stood up naturally, placing his hands on his knees. “Alright, since this was all a misunderstanding, now that it’s cleared up, there’s no reason for us to stick around. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be on our way.”

“Feel free,” Atreus gestured politely.

“In terms of protecting Earth, I hope we can collaborate again in the future,” Stephen said, extending his hand generously.

Atreus shook his hand, consciously keeping his strength at a human level. Otherwise, with Stephen’s regular human physique, just a handshake could’ve crushed his bones.

Stephen and the others returned to Kamar-Taj.

As soon as the portal closed, Stephen started gasping for air, his chest heaving as if he’d been holding his breath the entire time.

Fat Wong nervously asked, “Was it really that bad?”

“That guy’s gotten even stronger,” Stephen muttered, his eyes slightly unfocused. “Damn it, I just took one look at his body, and I almost went insane. You’re lucky you couldn’t see it.”

“Huh?”

“He has insanely powerful control over elemental magic. Kamar-Taj’s sorcerers need to channel magic from other dimensions, but that guy is a massive magical powerhouse himself. The wind, fire, and space magic inside him—any one of them could blow Gotham City off the map.”

“Is it really that extreme?” Wong’s mouth opened wide in shock, like you could fit an egg inside.

“What’s worse is his physical strength. His body is probably on par with Superman’s. If we fought, I wouldn’t even have time to cast a spell before getting obliterated. And the most troublesome part—he’s also a holder of an Infinity Stone. The worst-case scenario is that his stone would go up against the Eye of Agamotto.”

As Doctor Strange continued, his fear began to fade. Only his nerve-damaged hands still trembled out of habit.

He sighed bitterly, “I can only hope he truly is Earth’s protector and not some hypocrite. Because if he’s the latter, neither I nor Kamar-Taj will be able to stop him.”

Wong asked, “So was everything he said true?”

“There were definitely some lies. He knew way more than he let on, and he downplayed his ability to travel through time. But that’s no longer something we can pursue.”

“What should we do now?”

“I plan to learn more about Kratos from the sidelines. If necessary, I’ll reach out to other justice organizations that protect Earth. The era of Kamar-Taj alone defending the planet is over.”

On the other side, after Stephen left, Diana glanced at Atreus. “It seems like he didn’t fully believe you.”

Atreus, while playing with Wonder Woman’s gorgeous black curls, said, “He’s a very smart man. And smart people all share one trait—skepticism. He’ll definitely think more about it.”

“Will that cause problems for you?”

Atreus laughed. “If the world were truly peaceful, then someone as powerful as me would definitely be seen as the biggest threat to all mortals. But this messed-up world has so many problems. Time will prove my position.”

Sometimes, you don’t need to be perfect. As long as your competitors are worse, you’re the best.

Atreus picked up a magazine, and the cover prominently featured a character who looked suspiciously like Superman.

This guy, leading a team of seven, was standing in a V-formation on the cover.

The headline read: The Seven! Brought to you by Vought Corporation—A New Superhero Team to Protect America!

Seeing the guy who looked like a budget version of Superman, Homelander, Diana couldn’t help but feel disgusted. “Are they ripping off the Avengers?”

“No, they’re ripping off another superhero team that’s still in the works. But they don’t even know how to copy it properly,” Atreus sighed.

What really frustrated him was how ridiculous this world was becoming.

Even Homelander, a mommy’s boy, had shown up.

Just looking at his slicked-back golden hair made Atreus’s fists itch.

It wasn’t just him. Nick Fury was also tearing his hair out.

He was furiously complaining to his superiors: “How can they allow this? A private company breeding superheroes? Who can guarantee their moral integrity?”

His superiors explained helplessly, “Since the president pushed and passed the Extraordinary Individuals Classification Act, we can’t touch any supers unless they’re proven to be evil. Besides, the higher-ups are happy to see companies competing with Stark and Wayne Enterprises.”

Nick buried his face in his hand, covering his one good eye.

It was clear—the government would never allow one entity to dominate. After Hammer Industries’ failure had proven Stark’s superiority in tech, the other power-hungry factions had predictably moved on to biological experiments.

(End of this chapter)