The moment the Warrior Incarnation appeared, every leader of the mage societies felt their heart jump into their throat.
Because the new King was very clearly starting a divine war inside the city.
And yet, the fight was absurdly simple.
No flashy exchanges. No "equal Authorities" clashing head-on. The new King merely stepped down once—and instantly killed the divine incarnation that had manifested.
"Huh?!"
All the society leaders stared, eyes wide.
Because this wasn't some ordinary divine beast. This was a divine incarnation—one tier above a divine beast.
In fact, most Godslayers don't have the ability to instantly kill a divine beast. Usually, they can cripple one with a single blow, but if they want a clean one-shot, they still need to charge up and unleash a finishing move.
But here? The new King didn't charge anything. No wind-up. No obvious "ultimate." And even so, he casually erased a divine incarnation with one stomp.
At that moment, the same thought surfaced in everyone's mind:
So… has the new King's strength already started to surpass other Godslayers?
They weren't wrong.
To be precise, it wasn't "starting to surpass." Akuto's current strength already stood above other Godslayers.
A normal Godslayer, at baseline, can burst out power at the Super Demon King tier. If they lean hard into "willpower" and go full conceptual, they can reach god-class or even chief god-class.
During the Tōjō War, most Godslayers could maintain god-class as a constant state, and reach chief god-class when fully unleashed.
Later on—after being exiled to another world for many years, once the story progressed into the "Godslayers of the Divine Realm" stage—most could maintain chief god-class by default, and push into sub–dragon god-class when they truly exploded.
(Author's note: late-stage feats like "the Cosmic White Horse" or "igniting worldlines" are not treated as universe-destruction in this book. After the recalibration, so-called "cosmic-level Zhaowu Tianzhen" is classified as sub-god-class.
You can also infer that each Godslayer world's "universe" is actually very small—more like a single vast world. Only by combining all parallel Godslayer worlds and their related worlds do you get something that counts as a complete universe in scale.)
As for Akuto—after last night, he had obtained two starter ability slots from Saint Raphael and Arianna.
He used those two starter slots to exchange for the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet and the Usurpation Disk.
Because his mastery of his "divine marrow" was already high, once he acquired the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, he successfully performed an initial fusion—pushing his power into a stable, always-on chief god-class once again.
Now, Akuto's baseline had already surpassed his mid-tier chief god-class from the DxD era. He was firmly anchored in high-tier chief god-class.
And even that… still wasn't his limit.
With that high-tier chief god-class source power as fuel, Akuto even forced the blue-tier "Godly Avatar — Vāmana" to break past the Demon King ceiling and erupt at the absolute peak of Super Demon King tier.
That was why he could kill the Warrior Incarnation so effortlessly.
…
"Well? Not a bad 'welcome gift,' right?"
Akuto turned back toward the stunned society leaders.
They had to admit it: they'd never seen a battle resolved so cleanly.
That kind of instant kill not only displayed Akuto's strength—it also kept collateral damage to the bare minimum.
In that moment, they couldn't help wishing every other Godslayer's battles were this neat and controlled.
And naturally, their next thought followed:
We have to find someone in our societies who can match the "Crimson Devil Erica," so the King will stay in Italy long-term.
As for the Sword King?
What Sword King? Never heard of him.
"Lucrezia…"
While everyone else was still spiraling in their own calculations, Akuto extended his hand toward Lucrezia Zola.
"Yes."
Lucrezia understood instantly. She pulled the tablet—still carrying a faint milky scent—from her chest and placed it into Akuto's hand.
She'd never planned to "take it back" in the first place. Accepting it had only been a way to draw Akuto's attention.
More precisely, in her heart, she already belonged to him. And if she belonged to him, then her tablet obviously belonged to him too.
As for why she was throwing herself at him so completely…
That went back a very, very long time.
"Wooooom…"
Prometheus' Stone Tablet glimmered with a soft white radiance, then slowly absorbed the newly captured "Warrior Incarnation" into itself.
At this point, the tablet contained a full four divine incarnations.
If Prometheus' Stone Tablet fell into the hands of a mortal truly "fated" to be a Godslayer, that person could likely ride their sheer luck and immediately accomplish the feat of killing a god.
But if it fell into the hands of an ordinary grand knight or holy knight, the best they could do would be to borrow its power to contend with a powerful divine beast, or temporarily drive off a Heretic God. Forget killing a god—don't even dream about it.
"To think you've stored four divine incarnations in my tablet… King, I truly don't know how to thank you for such an extravagant gift."
After the incarnation was sealed, Lucrezia naturally tucked the tablet back into her chest again, then shot Akuto a sultry wink—so obvious it barely needed interpretation.
"How should you thank me?"
Akuto's tone stayed lazy and direct.
"Tonight, 11 p.m., come to my room. I'll explain exactly how you should thank me."
Akuto didn't turn down invitations, so he accepted Lucrezia's offer outright.
To be honest, it wasn't just that he was interested in her seductive, voluptuous body—he was also deeply curious why she had fallen for him at first sight.
The very first time he'd looked at Lucrezia, he could tell she was still a virgin. She didn't have the habits of someone who slept around.
So what, exactly, had made an ancient witch—someone from a completely different era than Saint Raphael and the Grail—develop this level of devotion to him?
Akuto could think of only one explanation.
And tonight, he intended to confirm it personally.
…
After defeating the divine incarnation, Akuto entered a lavishly decorated mansion, escorted by the leaders of the mage societies.
"The Pillar of Hera" wouldn't arrive until tomorrow morning, so Akuto planned to rest in Palermo for the night.
And before Liliana delivered the "Pillar of Hera," her personal maid, Karen, had already reached the destination in advance.
Normally, Karen's speed shouldn't have been able to outpace Liliana's.
But lately, Liliana had been running herself ragged, and she hadn't kept her maid at her side.
Karen happened to be closer to Palermo, so once she learned Liliana was bringing the "Pillar of Hera" to Palermo, she hurried ahead to Liliana's intended destination.
Partly because she was Liliana's maid—busy periods aside, when things were calm she was expected to remain as close to her mistress as possible.
And partly because Karen planned to run interference for Liliana: get a read on the new King's preferences and habits ahead of time, so Liliana wouldn't embarrass herself in front of him.
Right now, Karen was doing routine work—handing her mistress's notebook to Erica for the usual review.
"…啪."
With a soft snap, Erica closed Liliana's notebook and sighed, shaking her head.
"Honestly. Why are Liliana's stories always this cliché, this corny? Is 'hero saves the damsel' really the only thing that can make her heart race?"
Erica couldn't hold back the urge to complain.
"Hero saves the damsel" really was old-fashioned. For example, Erica herself didn't buy into that.
Of course, that didn't mean it had no effect on her at all. If it was worth 100 points to Liliana, it was still worth about 30 points to Erica.
But compared to that, Erica preferred doing things with Akuto that actually felt dangerous—things with real stakes.
…
Hearing that, Karen lowered the hand she'd been holding over her catlike "smiling lips," then defended her mistress with mild reproach.
"Erica-sama, please don't be too harsh on Liliana-sama."
"Liliana-sama has never been in a relationship since she was little. The only time she's ever felt anything like love was with Akuto-sama, so her imagination is… limited."
"And besides, if she's writing a story, isn't it normal to write the kind of scene that makes her own heart flutter the most?"
Karen was, without question, a troublesome maid.
But precisely because she was troublesome, she understood how hard it was to be a genuinely good person.
And her mistress, Liliana, was exactly that: a good person, and a pure girl.
"Yeah… you're right."
Erica shook her head and handed the notebook back to Karen.
"Fine. Karen—let's trade. I'll tell you what little I know about Akuto-kun, and you can use it to help Liliana."
Then Erica began explaining her understanding of Akuto's personality.
Yes—this was the deal.
Karen used Liliana's notebook as her bargaining chip, and in exchange, she received Erica's personal insights into Akuto's temperament.
Anyone else wouldn't have gotten a word out of Erica.
But with Karen, Erica was willing.
Because deep down, Erica also wanted Liliana and Akuto's relationship to move forward.
For years, she'd watched Liliana's quiet crush with her own eyes. Now that it was finally a situation where it could actually bloom and bear fruit, Erica had no intention of playing the villain and blocking Liliana's feelings.
Of course…
Not blocking wasn't the same as giving way. Liliana's "turn" still had to come after hers.
(End of Chapter)
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