Just call me Thor

Chapter 583: This dream feels so real



The sky was gray and overcast.

When Mike opened his eyes, he found himself in this strange space.

"Why does this feel like Inception?"

He raised his hand and pinched himself, muttering in amazement, "This dream feels so real!"

Regardless, Mike's plan had worked. At least, it had a successful start.

Once again, he found himself standing in an open field. It didn't take much effort for Mike to locate the same child he had met before. The kid was still crouched on the ground, back turned to him.

Mike approached and squatted down, striking up a conversation as if they were old friends.

"Hey, buddy, we meet again!"

The child, surprised to hear Mike's voice, turned and exclaimed, "Wow, sir, you actually came back?"

To Mike's surprise, not only did the kid remember him, but he also seemed to have a good impression of him.

Mike nodded in satisfaction. "What a polite little guy."

As for whether this child would grow up to be Ares or Morpheus, Mike still wasn't sure. Even squatting, Mike was taller than the kid, so he simply sat down on the ground and asked, "You said I actually came back. Does that mean others have been here before?"

The child nodded. "Yeah, they all came only once, but you're the only one who came back."

Mike didn't press further about who "they" were, and the child didn't elaborate. Perhaps Ares had used his abilities to glimpse this kid's childhood?

Mike's presence here was thanks to a combination of Ares' talent and the effects of Illusory Reality.

He continued the conversation. "So, little guy, what have you been up to lately?"

The child replied earnestly, "I heard the demon race is coming, so I've been eating a lot and sleeping well to make sure I have enough energy to fight them!"

Mike couldn't help but laugh.

But behind his laughter was a trace of doubt he didn't voice. Something about this situation felt... off.

This kid claimed to be an orphan, with no parents. By all logic, Mike should have guessed he was Ares as a child. But something didn't add up.

While the kid could be temperamental at times, he lacked Ares' cold arrogance. That kind of pride should've been ingrained in Ares from a young age.

If not Ares, then who?

It couldn't be Morpheus-there were no demons in his childhood.

Mike realized a grim truth: by process of elimination, he had ruled out every Supreme Being he could think of.

Huh.

Things were getting interesting.

The child's voice interrupted Mike's thoughts. "Sir, why did you come back?"

At that moment, the heavy clouds in the sky seemed to press lower, dimming the light even further.

Mike knew his time here was running out.

Whatever guesses he had about the child's identity, it didn't matter for now. The kid wasn't a threat, nor was he in any immediate danger. Mike decided to focus on the task at hand.

He casually said, "Remember the game we played last time? How about we play it again?"

"You're not here to fight? Sure! Let's play with sticks!"

The last bit of wariness in the child's eyes disappeared. He was about to ask Mike which pile of sticks they'd play with when, suddenly, a massive, intricate structure made of over 100,000 sticks appeared before him.

The child: ...

Mike, ever the gentleman, extended a hand and made a polite gesture. "Kids first!"

The child stared at the impossibly complex pile of sticks, lost in thought.

Clearly, if Mike couldn't solve this puzzle, the kid wouldn't be able to either.

But Mike waited patiently. Two heads were better than one, after all.

"I've got it!"

To Mike's surprise, the child figured it out in just a minute.

Mike gave him a thumbs-up. "Cool!"

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little unnerved. The kid's intelligence and problem-solving skills were terrifying. Even Ares wouldn't have been able to crack this sword prison so quickly.

Mike watched eagerly, curious to see how the child would tackle the seemingly impossible puzzle.

Under Mike's gaze, the child raised his hand-and slapped the entire pile of sticks, scattering them everywhere.

The child's expression was a mix of excitement and smugness as he turned to Mike and proudly declared, "See? I solved it!"

He had chosen the simplest, most brute-force method to break the puzzle.

Mike stared at the child in silence. His gaze shifted slightly upward, to the sky behind the kid. The once-gray clouds were now pitch black, oppressive and suffocating. If one looked closely, faint wisps of black mist could be seen seeping from the child's back.

Mike finally understood who this kid was.

In fact, he should've realized it much earlier.

With the Eye of Truth awakened four times and his combat power at its current peak, there were very few beings whose identities Mike couldn't discern. The list was limited to Supreme

Beings.

By process of elimination, Mike had been trying to figure out if this child was Ares or

Morpheus as a child.

But he had been wrong.

Mike had forgotten one crucial detail: Supreme Beings weren't limited to humans.

There was one more.

Someone Mike would never have guessed.

A name surfaced in Mike's mind.

"Supreme Demon God."

The child, still grinning innocently, pointed at the scattered sticks and asked, "Sir, do you

want to play with me again?"

Looking at the seemingly harmless, weak, and innocent child version of the Supreme Demon

God, Mike was at a loss for words.

Now that he knew the child's identity, another realization hit him.

Previously, Ares had created the sword prison to trap Mike as a test. If Mike could escape, it would prove he was capable of surviving whatever battles lay ahead.

Ares' plan had been flawless. Nothing should've gone wrong.

But even Ares hadn't accounted for Thor's first instinct upon being trapped: to exploit a

loophole.

Mike had used Void Exile to try and escape the sword prison, triggering its Illusory Reality

effect.

So far, so good.

But once inside the dream, Mike had encountered this child.

From the start, Mike had sensed the kid wasn't ordinary.

But he never expected the child to be the Supreme Demon God.

This changed everything.

After meeting the Supreme Demon God, an oblivious Mike returned to the sword prison and

began working on breaking it.

And he used the method the child had taught him.

In other words, the moment Mike successfully broke the sword prison, it would likely spell his

doom.

At the last second, the lingering effects of the Supreme Abyssal's [Dream Come True]

activated...

Mike had mentally solved the sword prison, but out of respect for Ares, he assumed it couldn'tn/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

be that simple.

Thanks to Dream Come True, his assumption became reality.

As a result, Mike found himself trapped in a sword prison reinforced with over 100,000 layers

of sword energy, its difficulty multiplied a hundredfold.

Mike never could've imagined things would escalate to this point.

But there was one silver lining: the enhanced sword prison ensured Mike wouldn't die.

If he couldn't break it, not even the Supreme Demon God could touch him.

Meanwhile, outside the sword prison, Ares stood with Maxen, who still couldn't make sense

of the situation.

This was supposed to be Ares' sword prison. Why had the Supreme Demon God gotten

involved?

And most importantly... was Thor okay?

Ares explained the situation in a few brief sentences.

Maxen, still confused, felt a metaphorical question mark hovering over his head.

He knew the truth was far more complicated than Ares made it sound.

Anything involving the Supreme Demon God was never simple. Gripping his flail tightly, Maxen cautiously asked, "Godfather, what do we do now?"

"Wait."

Ares glanced at him and chuckled. "Relax. As long as I'm here, you won't die."

Hearing this, Maxen loosened his grip and turned his attention to Thor. "I'll be fine, but what

about Thor? Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine," Ares replied, shaking his head. He added, "This place is special. Thor won't be

harmed."

The two stood silently in front of the sword prison, watching and waiting.

Ares, notably, was unarmed.

It was almost laughable: the world's greatest swordsman without a sword.

His sword servants couldn't enter the river of time, and he hadn't had time to retrieve his old

Broken Sword.

But it didn't matter.

With or without a sword, Ares could cut down any foe.

Just standing there, he was like an insurmountable mountain.

"Whew-"

A man in blue arrived at the edge of the battlefield, stepping out of the river of time.

Maxen's eyes lit up as he approached. "Cedric! What are you doing here?"

Unlike Maxen, Cedric had come on his own, without needing a white horse to guide him.

In other words, Cedric also had the ability to traverse the river of time.

Ignoring Maxen, Cedric walked forward and stood beside Ares, gazing at the sword prison.

"You're late," Ares remarked.

Cedric shrugged. "I changed clothes. Took a little extra time."

He had dressed up for the upcoming battle, choosing an outfit he thought looked particularly

dashing.

"Now that you're here, wait with us."

Ares sat down and gave an order. "Take Thor's golden tree, make a chessboard out of its

stump, and carve some chess pieces. I want to play a game."

Maxen: ...

"Got it!"

While they waited, back in the Supreme Abyssal, the trio climbing the mountain was still

struggling. Shadow Nine, having recovered some strength after using his abilities, turned to the other two and snapped, "Calderon, you useless old fool! Are you trying to drag me down?" Calderon plopped down in the snow and rolled his eyes. "Kiss my ass! I'm not as bad as you

think!"

After shouting, Calderon pointed at their unlucky companion. "You need to get rid of him. As long as he's here, neither of us is getting anywhere!"

Afterskin looked helpless.

To be fair, the trio's current predicament was largely due to Afterskin's bad luck.

His mission was complete, and sticking with the group wasn't helping anyone.

The three quickly reached a consensus:

"Here's the deal. We leave you here."

"We'll come back for you when we're done." Afterskin, fully aware of his situation, asked, "What's the other option?"

Shadow Nine thought for a moment before offering a second plan. "This is the Supreme Abyssal. Because of the two Supreme Wars, there are time distortions here. You could enter the river of time and try to find a white horse..."