Although Salvatore Doni had only studied under Saint Raphael for a month or two, he truly did regard her as a master.
Through the sword, Doni believed he already understood Saint Raphael well enough.
In his eyes, Saint Raphael was absolutely upright, the kind of person whose "knight" side vastly outweighed her "woman" side.
To him, she was gallant, responsible, and trustworthy, but... absolutely not the type who would go looking for a man.
He simply could not picture Saint Raphael with a man.
And on top of that, he was currently in a state affected by Sacred Madness, his mind far more reckless and direct than usual, so he blurted it out on the spot:
"That old woman Saint Raphael actually really does have a man?!"
"Doni, saying something like that... aren't you afraid Saint Raphael will hear about it and come beat you up?"
"Uh... hahaha. If that happens, I'll accept my punishment properly. At worst, I'll stay in Steel Protection and not fight back."
Other than the fact that he never listened to Saint Raphael very well, Doni did genuinely respect her.
"Doni, if I told you that in a serious fight, you probably still wouldn't be Saint Raphael's match, would you believe me?"
"Oh? You mean..." Doni's brain was having a little trouble catching up.
"It doesn't mean anything right now. You'll understand later." Akuto kept smiling.
"As for the present, I, your master, have something I need from you."
"What is it?"
A look of excitement appeared on Doni's face, because he could already sense what Akuto was about to do.
Although Akuto calling himself his "master" annoyed him quite a bit, since Akuto was clearly planning to fight him properly, he decided to set that matter aside for the moment.
"What is it? I'll tell you after I beat you flat!"
"Good! Good, good, good! In that case, no more nonsense!"
Doni bared a grin tinged with madness.
On Akuto's side, the instant he received Doni's response, the system prompt rang out in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, you have triggered a story mission - Instill Fear in Doni.]
[Mission Rank: Gold]
[Mission Description: As everyone knows, the Sword King is the kind of person who clings shamelessly to a fight. Even if you defeat him, he'll still keep crawling back to challenge you again. To avoid being pestered endlessly by Doni in the future, Host must leave a sufficiently deep impression on him.]
[Mission Objective: Completely defeat Salvatore Doni and make him understand the gap between the two of you. Eradicate any notion of him casually coming to challenge Host again in the future.]
"Oh?"
After seeing that he had triggered a system mission, Akuto's gaze toward Doni became even more "gentle."
He had to admit, the Sword King Salvatore Doni really was a treasure boy. Not only had he delivered the Campione fate Akuto needed, he had even brought a system mission along with him.
And Akuto had never once gone looking for him. Doni had come delivered right to his door all by himself.
Faced with such a "treasure boy," Akuto smiled faintly as three different auras rose from his body at the same time.
The first was battle aura, the strange power that could only awaken when one's vitality,精神, will, combat spirit, and bodily refinement had all reached a high enough level.
The second was the senjutsu power born from his Sage Body.
The third was the underworld power he had obtained after triggering the system mission through the goddess Athena.
Because he already had experience combining holy power and demonic power, Akuto was quite practiced at this sort of thing. So only a few days after obtaining underworld power, he successfully fused it with senjutsu power.
Senjutsu power represented vitality, yet when cultivated to the extreme, it possessed the ability to sever the vitality of others.
Underworld power represented death, yet within the underworld, death did not mean an end. On the contrary, it meant rebirth.
It could be said that senjutsu power and underworld power were just like holy power and demonic power: forces from opposite ends of the scale. Only by possessing absolute control over both could one bring them into mutual circulation and true balance.
Just as before, Akuto gathered senjutsu power and underworld power within his dantian in the form of a taiji diagram, letting them revolve ceaselessly and thereby maintain a dynamic equilibrium.
Waves of chaotic energy spread out and intertwined with the battle aura around Akuto's body, pushing his presence to a whole new height.
Whether it was the Sage Body or divine underworld power, both were judged by the system to be gold-rank constitutions. They were already quite good, but for the current Akuto, they were still somewhat lacking.
But now, through Akuto's chaotic fusion, those two powers had surpassed the limit of gold quality and reached an effect possible only for a red-rank constitution.
At this moment, within Akuto, life was death, and death was life. Whether life or death, both were merely forms of existence. What Akuto now grasped was no longer simply life and death, but the cycle of reincarnation itself.
And because of that, because he had grasped something akin to reincarnation and the very code of life, Akuto's battle aura also entered an entirely new realm.
The realm of an acquired Authority.
"Th-that... an Authority?"
Doni's Campione instinct warned him that Akuto was using an Authority, yet Doni realized the aura of Authority on Akuto felt completely different from anything he had ever encountered in gods or Campione. It was something entirely new.
"That's right. An Authority. To be precise, an Authority awakened through acquired means."
Akuto spoke calmly.
"Huh? An Authority awakened through acquired means?"
Doni's brain simply could not combine the words "Authority" and "acquired."
In his view, Authorities were the essence of divine power. Campione themselves did not inherently possess Authorities. Their Authorities were all stolen from gods.
So if gods were born with Authorities, then Authorities could only be something innate.
But... what the hell was an acquired Authority supposed to be? Did that mean Akuto had somehow become a god through effort?
"Doni, I know what doubts are in your heart. And as your master, it is my duty to answer a disciple's questions."
"You're not wrong. Authorities do indeed come from gods."
"But if you trace things back further, then where do the gods' Authorities come from?"
Faced with Akuto's question, Doni's bright, handsome brain, utterly smooth and wrinkle-free, gave its answer immediately.
"No idea."
A quality answer: I don't know.
Faced with such a quality answer, Akuto made no comment. He merely smiled.
"The root of Authority... lies in the rules of the world and the power of the minds of sentient beings."
"The world's rules originally existed there in the form of earth spirits. The will of sentient beings gathered together, changed them, and bestowed them with intention."
"And once that power of rules possessed will and selfhood, it became what people call a god. The channels through which collective consciousness spread, through myths, stories, and the like, became what we call mind-power."
"And it is precisely because gods are born from the light of sentient minds that, even after their birth, they still remain subject to the influence of the human world."
"Conversely, once someone reaches the level where their own energy exists strongly enough, and their own inner light can influence the rules of the world, then what they awaken is an Authority."
After listening to Akuto's answer, Doni placed one hand on his forehead and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! So that's how it is!"
Even someone as wild and uninhibited as Doni had to admit that Akuto really did have a bit of the bearing of a master.
Unfortunately... he had never cared much about that kind of thing.
"So basically, what you're saying is that you're very strong. Strong enough to alter innate rules through acquired training, right?"
Doni did not need to understand too much. For him, knowing that much was more than enough.
"..."
"That isn't quite what I was trying to say. But if it's defeat you crave, then I will naturally grant you complete defeat."
"After all, if I can't even deal with a half-baked disciple like you, what right do I have to call myself your master?"
Akuto slowly raised a hand. The battle aura that had already become an acquired Authority, along with the power of reincarnation, the fusion product of senjutsu power and underworld power, intertwined perfectly around him.
Battle was about to erupt.
Meanwhile, back at the manor...
Saint Raphael and Lucretia Zola both knew that Erica and Liliana were the protagonists today, so they had no intention of stealing the spotlight. Inside the manor, they spent the time studying and exchanging ideas with each other.
"So you're saying the Authority and divine power on your body come entirely from Akuto's infusion, and without Akuto's infusion, it would only last a day or two at most?"
Lucretia looked with a subtle expression at the golden crest on Saint Raphael's calf, which had already faded by half.
She had to admit, that setup was just a little too lewd.
A holy female knight who needed a man's infusion in order to display her strength. That was not some flashy fictional setting. It was literally standing right in front of her.
"Yes, that is true. But soon enough, I should be able to rely on my own power to use it."
"Huh? Saint Raphael, are you saying..."
Lucretia's brows shot up in shock.
Saint Raphael's words could clearly be taken in two ways. Either "the crest Akuto granted me will lose effect very soon," or "I'll soon gain the ability to wield this level of power even without relying on the crest."
Looking at Saint Raphael's expression, Lucretia felt the second interpretation was far more likely.
"In any case, I'm currently cooperating with Akuto on a very important experiment. Once the results are out, I'll tell you the specifics."
Since Akuto's side had not yet reached a conclusion, Saint Raphael could not say too much for the moment.
After all, their current experiment had already produced a rather intense reaction.
At that exact moment, the dragon vein beneath their feet suddenly reacted violently.
Because she had already received Akuto's enhancement regarding dragon veins, Saint Raphael sensed the change immediately.
(End of Chapter)
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