---o---
"Lord Li, it has been a while."
Just as Li Zihan had greeted him, the noble prince sitting in the chair smiled back, offering a courteous greeting of his own.
The fated enemy of a God-Slayer is a God of Steel from among the gods, and the King of the End is the highest-ranking God of Steel.
Yet now, this man, who could be called the Strongest Steel, was indeed conversing with a God-Slayer who should have been his prey.
"It certainly has been some time," replied the boy, who was on reasonably good terms with Rama, speaking as if with great emotion, completely forgetting that he had contacted Rama just yesterday.
"Lord Teishakuten has already been defeated by me."
Very plainly, the Strongest Steel named Rama stated the result of his battle with the Warlord Verethragna.
The Warlord, who had succeeded the position of the Strongest Steel from Mithra, had been defeated.
By the formula that a god's strength equals their status plus their degree of self-awareness, Verethragna should have been considered a top-tier god. After all, he was both a God-King and a wild God of Steel; his status was incredibly high, and he was highly individualistic.
Unfortunately, he encountered Rama.
Rama's status was that of an avatar of the supreme god, and his identity was the Strongest Steel.
"Lord Teishakuten was an excellent warrior."
As if sighing with emotion or regret, Rama placed the divine sword he had taken from Verethragna's hands on the table and pushed it in front of the boy.
"His will was as hard as iron, his combat skills were sublime, and his application of Authorities had reached a state of perfection."
And then you killed him with one slash?
Li Zihan rolled his eyes at the fellow who seemed to have gained some life insights while fighting Verethragna.
Rama was a very special god.
He was the one to whom the gods had granted everything. Therefore, through his armament—the Divine Sword Mandala—he could freely draw upon the divine tools of the gods from within the Divine Sword of Salvation.
Just like the supreme bully from the Moon (Gilgamesh), this guy could guarantee a special attack bonus no matter who he faced.
Furthermore, this guy was one with the Divine Sword of Salvation. Unless the sword itself was broken, he would not truly die. But as a collection of the divine armaments, the Divine Sword of Salvation was ridiculously sturdy; destroying it was an unreasonable demand.
He could deal damage, he could take damage, and he himself was the Strongest Steel. It would be a miracle if Verethragna could have beaten him.
"You really are quite amazing."
The boy, who could have defeated Verethragna with the Divine Sword himself but estimated he'd have to repeatedly respawn or jump between worlds, praised the blue-haired noble prince.
"Compared to Lord Li, I cannot be called strong."
Hearing Li Zihan's praise, Rama shook his head.
He could feel that within his ally existed a power far surpassing his own.
That power was not that of a god or a God-Slayer, but even without understanding it, Rama could still feel its heart-palpitating terror.
If he were to release it completely, killing Mithra and Verethragna with overwhelming force wouldn't actually be difficult for him, would it?
"The power given by a black-hearted boss is just so-so," the boy shrugged, not feeling that his Herrscher powers would be of much use in the upcoming battles.
The power of a Herrscher was indeed awesome, but hoping to use a Herrscher's abilities to chop down the Imaginary Tree was no different from trying to subdue the Vairocana Buddha with a vajra pestle.
To live a completely stable life, he had to walk other paths.
The path of Eternal Destruction.
Fu Hua had already gone to find Alucard. Traveling with her was Su. When Fu Hua defeated him, Su would use the power of the Second Divine Key to create a World Bubble and imprison him.
At that time, his mission would be completed. He would take the Divine Sword of Salvation as a temporary Holy Relic and devour the souls of Alucard's Dead River.
After that, his strength would reach his personal limit. To take another step and achieve a qualitative change, he could only resort to bugged items.
The boy, who would probably be heading to a world where sixteen races lived in constant conflict next, narrowed his eyes.
That would probably be very troublesome.
After all, the God of War, who was constantly being patched and whose power was becoming more and more bugged, was a monster that was simply undefeatable.
The world sometimes creates puzzles.
Based on chance, deliberation, malice, vanity, or various other reasons, it creates puzzles.
The sovereign of the Flugel—Artosh—was a seemingly unsolvable puzzle.
So, what can solve these puzzles?
The answer could be wisdom, or it could be a bug.
The boy, whose level of wisdom was still unknown but whose skill at exploiting bugs was first-class, narrowed his eyes.
Artosh's "unsolvability" had its limits.
When he leaves that world, can he still display his divine might without restriction? If he can, for how long? Or rather, when he leaves that world, can other divine spirits fight him?
"Alright, let's not talk about this."
The boy, who was in a hurry to participate in a high-spec Holy Grail War, picked up the blade of Demon King slaughter that had been handed to him.
"From now on, I leave my world to you."
The man, who could have completely abandoned his job as the King of the End but chose not to because his waking without a quick return to sleep would cause the world's destruction, stood up from the table.
"Mm, from now on, I will act as the King of the End and slay all the Heretical Gods on the worldline you and Mithra were on."
The boy, who had no issue with cleansing all God-Slayers by slaughtering all Heretical Gods, smiled gently, then activated his Authority on the Strongest Steel who had been waiting for him here for a long time.
Fire-Bringer + Ring of Usurpation.
An unprecedented feeling of weakness rose in Rama's heart.
However, he was unmoved by it.
He could clearly feel that the Blade of Salvation, which had bound his destiny, was becoming unfamiliar to him.
From now on, he would no longer be bound by the Divine Sword of Salvation.
Finally, can I sleep peacefully?
A smile of relief appeared on the face of the man who had never really wanted to be the Hero who annihilates Demon Kings.
I hope this time, I can rest in peace forever.
He thought.
"Please choose your desired place."
Li Zihan made a "please" gesture to the God of Steel who had already lost his invincible immortality.
Next was the final task.
"Then, I'm counting on you."
The Warlord, who had long chosen the final destination for his life's journey, smiled at the boy and walked out of the shop.
He walked slowly through the city, all the way to the suburbs, and then stopped at a desolate, abandoned port.
"Here is fine."
The words had barely fallen before he closed his eyes.
And then—
A flash of platinum light shone.