The Divine Blade of Salvation, this divine armament formed through the combined power of the gods of heaven, possessed truly extraordinary might.
It was the sword of the strongest steel that inherited the destiny to slay the Demon Lord, a terrifying divine weapon capable of slaughtering a Campione in a single strike.
Knowing that such a powerful divine weapon existed in the world, and that it was intrinsically linked to the natural enemy of Campiones, and furthermore, knowing its exact location—how could Kaiser possibly have no interest in this divine blade?
It was one thing before, but now that the Heretic Sun Wukong was about to appear, and those undead ancients residing in the Netherworld were about to unveil their schemes bit by bit, Kaiser understood clearly that if he didn't act now, he might lose the initiative.
Therefore, after resolving the binding curse of Keeper of the Horses, Kaiser immediately headed for the satellite orbit and retrieved this Divine Blade of Salvation.
However, this scene seemed a bit too shocking for Guinevere.
"Where is my king? Where is my king?!"
Guinevere completely lost her composure and shouted loudly.
"The Divine Blade of Salvation is clearly right before me, so why can I not sense my king's presence?!"
Guinevere already had a terrifying suspicion.
This was a premonition born of her supernatural insight as a Divine Ancestor.
The moment she saw the Divine Blade of Salvation, the spirit vision of this Witch Queen was triggered, causing her to witness numerous scenes.
There were scenes of it slumbering on the floating island in the satellite orbit.
There were scenes of Kaiser arriving at that island and grasping it.
Naturally, there were also scenes of Kaiser drawing it forth, causing platinum light to illuminate the entirety of outer space.
These scenes all conveyed one message to Guinevere.
That was...
"Your king, whom you serve, has already been dealt with by me."
Kaiser's blunt statement made Guinevere scream out in loss of control.
"Impossible! That is absolutely impossible!"
"My king is the hero born in accordance with destiny, the strongest steel chosen by fate to slay the Demon Lord!"
"Even if slain, he would never vanish. So long as Campiones still exist on earth, no matter how many times, my king will always revive!"
This was the truly terrifying aspect of the Last King.
Unlike other Heretic Gods, even if the Last King fell in battle, his soul would not return to the divine realm, nor to the Realm of Immortality.
Whether fallen into slumber or slain on the spot, this hero would transform into the form of a divine blade and remain on earth until the time came to awaken and revive once again.
This was a characteristic bestowed upon him by the fate of the hero who slays the Demon Lord, and also a form of binding.
Since fate determined that he must be the steel that slays the Demon Lord, he must continue to fulfill that mission until his own existence is completely worn away into nothingness.
Therefore, the Last King could not truly die. For Kaiser to say he had dealt with him was, to Guinevere who knew the nature of this karma, nothing short of nonsense.
But—it was the truth.
"Any weapon that falls into my hands, even a divine blade forged from the combined weapons of the gods of heaven, will be completely under my control."
The Divine Blade of Salvation in Kaiser's hand radiated an even more dazzling platinum light, illuminating Mount Nantai.
"In such a situation, to erase the existence of the Last King within this divine blade is as easy as lifting a finger."
The Divine Blade of Salvation was also a part of the Last King.
In other words, the existence of the Last King actually resided within this divine blade.
And once Kaiser recognized the Divine Blade of Salvation as his own and made it his personal weapon, the existence of the Last King within the blade was directly erased by Kaiser.
For someone like Kaiser, who could completely control any weapon he came into contact with, erasing a will, an existence, was simply too easy.
To prevent the Last King from being revived under the influence of fate, Kaiser had even prepared two contingency plans.
The first was the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi.
In the original story, Kusanagi Godou had once fused his "warrior" incarnation with the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi, giving it the power to sever the threads of fate.
Though it was only temporary, and the threads of fate would soon once again entangle the Last King, causing him to reawaken and fight Campiones, if Kaiser were to fuse the power of Gungnir with the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi, he would then possess the ability to alter fate.
Gungnir itself was a spear that governed destiny, and at the moment it was thrown, it possessed the fate of "certain hit" and "certain victory."
By using the power of the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi to fuse with Gungnir, Kaiser would gain a degree of fate-altering power. Even the fate of the Last King as the hero who slays the Demon Lord could likely be altered successfully.
This was Kaiser's first contingency.
The second was the Balance Breaker of the True Longinus—[Spear of Divine and Demonic Judgement].
The annihilating power of [Spear of Divine and Demonic Judgement] was extremely overbearing. Its ability was to unconditionally kill any being pierced by the Holy Spear and prevent them from resurrecting.
This was the ultimate expression of destructive power, a force akin to a rule—one that ethereal fate could never overturn.
With this, Kaiser had no fear of being unable to kill the Last King.
However, these two preparations were ultimately unused.
As it turned out, Kaiser's own Authority was the most powerful and terrifying force—an ultimate Authority that transcended even the Authorities of the gods.
When Kaiser grasped the Divine Blade of Salvation and fully controlled it, the Last King within the blade became nothing more than a toy in his hand.
Once he chose to erase the existence of the Last King, it vanished instantly, with not even the power of fate able to retrieve it.
Clearly, whether it was the Last King or the power of fate, neither could resist the Authority of Kaiser himself.
Thus, once the divine blade fell into Kaiser's hand, the existence of the Last King was completely erased.
The final boss of the Campione world met his end in such a swift and simple manner.
"Because it wasn't a fair duel that led to his death, I wasn't able to trigger the dark Christmas ritual and usurp the Authority of the Last King," Kaiser smiled at Guinevere and said, "But having this divine blade as a trophy is enough to make up for that loss, isn't it?"
"Impossible… Impossible…"
Guinevere seemed unwilling to accept this reality, shaking her head repeatedly like a stubborn child.
Perhaps due to the immense shock, the Disk of Arrowheads that she had been holding fell to the ground.
"Buzz!"
In the distance, the Circle of Usurpation, which had been entangled in a struggle with the Disk of Arrowheads and refused to yield the Divinity of the Heretic Sun Wukong, immediately activated its power. It scattered the power of the Disk of Arrowheads and completely devoured the power of the Heretic Sun Wukong.
The dark ritual was instantly activated, initiating the Dark Christmas, holding a ceremony to feed the power of the Heretic Sun Wukong back to Kaiser.
Far away atop Mount Nantai, Kaiser felt a heavy sensation on his back, his magical power rapidly increased, and he gained a new Authority.
If the Divinity of the Heretic Sun Wukong had been taken by the Disk of Arrowheads, this trophy might have been lost to Kaiser.
Fortunately, the Circle of Usurpation, as Kaiser's personal weapon, grew stronger alongside him, its power far surpassing that of Pandora's version, preventing the Divinity of Sun Wukong from being taken.
Otherwise, the Authority gained from this God-Slaying would have forever been beyond Kaiser's reach.
However, now was not the time to examine the nature of this new Authority.
At the very least, the moment Guinevere came to her senses, she immediately shouted out loud.
"My king's divine blade still remains in this world. Since that is the case, then there must be a way to call him back again!"
Indeed, although the Last King had been erased, like the other Heretic Gods who had been slain, he had merely returned to mythology, returned to the Realm of Immortality.
If that was so, then there must be a way to summon him again and cause him to manifest once more on earth.
Although summoning a specific Heretic God was extremely difficult, Guinevere was a Divine Ancestor, the Witch Queen. As long as she had the Divine Blade of Salvation as a medium, it wasn't impossible to conceive a method.
"Uncle! Please help Guinevere!"
The young woman began to cry out.
"Retrieve my king's divine blade!"
As those words came from Guinevere's mouth, a thick mist suddenly sprayed out from behind her.
From the mist, a divine and noble white horse slowly emerged, and seated on its back was a knight.
A knight clad in white armor, wearing a helmet that just covered the face—preventing anyone from seeing the visage—and holding a reverse-barbed cavalry lance.
The moment this knight appeared, Kaiser's body was instantly filled with strength, and his fighting spirit surged without him even realizing it.
There was no doubt—that was a god.
Only, it did not seem to be a Heretic God.
"My beloved child, my chances of victory are not high."
As soon as the other party appeared, he spoke such calm words.
"Though I hate to admit it, the Demon Lord before us is special. In my current state, it will be very difficult to fulfill your request."
Such calm remarks were completely unlike those of a Heretic God driven by madness.
Kaiser, however, was clear on the other party's identity.
"Lancelot, former comrade and subordinate of the Last King, the Witch's guardian, the god of war who protects the Divine Ancestor…"
Indeed, this one was not a Heretic God, but a "shadow of a god" that had briefly manifested on earth. He once fought alongside the Last King and, like Guinevere, chose to serve him.
For so many years, Lancelot had always been Guinevere's protector, the god supporting her actions from behind.
"Uncle!"
Guinevere sat in front of Lancelot, leaning against him, as if grasping her last straw.
"This is our only hope of bringing my king back!"
Guinevere's voice was filled with anxiety and longing.
"Then let us fight!" Lancelot did not hesitate and said decisively, "Even if this is the final gallop, my spear shall never lose its brilliance!"
Saying this, Lancelot rode his white horse and soared into the air.
"Rumble—"
Lightning appeared in the sky.
Above Mount Nantai, a thunderstorm arose without warning, its might utterly terrifying.
(End of Chapter)
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