Round 2: Lu Bu vs. Zeus

Lore & Background

Lu Bu stands as one of the most feared mortal warriors in Chinese history, a general of the late Han and Three Kingdoms era whose battlefield record earned him epithets like the Flying General and the Invincible Warlord. In the Record of Ragnarok framework, his combat ability is treated as the ceiling of human physical and martial potential—speed, strength, and a fighting instinct so refined it borders on the supernatural. His weapon, the Fangtian Huaji, is a massive halberd that he wields with a fluidity that makes each swing feel like a natural extension of his own body.

Zeus occupies the throne of the Greek pantheon as the god of the sky, thunder, and kingship. In the manga's cosmology, he represents the pinnacle of divine authority among the Olympians, a being whose wrath manifests as cataclysmic bolts of lightning capable of leveling landscapes. His presence in the arena carries the gravity of a sovereign who has never needed to prove himself in mortal combat—making his participation in Ragnarok a statement in itself.

The pairing of these two was a deliberate provocation by Loki: matching the most physically dominant human warrior against the most symbolically powerful god in one of the major pantheons. The result became a defining moment of the first tournament, demonstrating that the line between mortal and divine is thinner than the gods had assumed.

In Their Own Story

The arena floor is still warm from Thor's shattered hammer fragments when the second gate opens. A figure steps through—broad-shouldered, calm, gripping a halberd whose twin blades catch the torchlight like frozen lightning. Across the ring, the air itself seems to bow. Zeus descends not with a walk but with a pressure, the sky above the coliseum darkening as if the god has pulled the weather into his fist.

Lu Bu does not bow. He does not speak. He simply plants the butt of his spear into the stone and waits.

The first bolt strikes like a falling mountain. The shockwave cracks the arena walls for a hundred meters in every direction. Lu Bu is thrown back, boots carving trenches in the bedrock—but he is still standing. Still holding the spear. His eyes are open, and something in them has shifted from patience to hunger.

What follows is not a duel. It is a storm meeting a wall that refuses to be weather. Zeus hammers, hammers, hammers. Lu Bu breaks through, breaks through, breaks through. And when the warlord finally drives the Fangtian Huaji forward with the full weight of his body, the King of the Gods learns, for the first time in eternity, what it feels like to be struck by something that does not flinch.

Reader's Guide

Round 2 pairs Lu Bu (human) against Zeus (god). Loki's selection was a deliberate power statement: the strongest mortal warrior against the most authoritative deity in the Greek pantheon.

The fight opens with Zeus dominating through sheer elemental force—massive lightning bolts that reshape the arena and would obliterate any lesser combatant. Lu Bu absorbs the punishment, taking hits that crater the ground, but refuses to fall. His defense is not a shield; it is a body that simply does not yield.

The tide shifts when Lu Bu stops merely enduring and begins to close distance. His spear work becomes a torrent—each thrust and slash faster and heavier than the last, forcing Zeus to shift from ranged bombardment to direct confrontation. The warlord's aggression is relentless, leaving no opening, no breathing room.

The decisive moment comes when Lu Bu channels his full physical output into a single, overwhelming strike that pierces through Zeus's divine defense. The King of the Gods is driven to the ground, and the arena falls silent.

Lu Bu's victory in Round 2 shatters the gods' assumption of invincibility. If their supreme authority can be toppled by a mortal, then every subsequent round carries the threat of the same humiliation. The stakes for the remaining pantheons ratchet upward, and the human delegation gains the momentum that will define the tournament's trajectory.

Did You Know?

• Lu Bu's weapon, the Fangtian Huaji, is a historical halberd associated with the Three Kingdoms era, and in the manga it is depicted as nearly as tall as the warrior himself.
• Zeus's participation in Ragnarok is notable because, as King of the Greek pantheon, he is the highest-ranking deity in that tradition—his presence in the arena is a direct assertion of divine sovereignty.
• Lu Bu's fighting style in the manga emphasizes overwhelming physical force and relentless forward pressure, contrasting sharply with the more technical or magical approaches seen in other rounds.
• The Round 2 victory is significant narratively because it is one of the first times a god of Zeus's tier is defeated, setting a precedent that reshapes how the remaining pantheons approach their own representatives.