"HAHAHA!!"
"Yes! That's it! Verethragna, this is exactly how it should be!"
"If you do not even have the resolve to break through Mithra's restraints, then how dare you call yourself the War God of Victory?"
Akuto was extremely satisfied with Verethragna's display.
Because at the very moment Verethragna became completely Heretic, the system's notification rang out in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the main storyline mission: Verethragna, Fully Heretic.]
[Mission Requirement: Make Verethragna accept his defeat wholeheartedly and push him into complete Heretic transformation so that he will pursue a true duel with the Host.]
[Note: This mission is rather special. Upon completion, the Host will not only receive the original system reward, but will also obtain a method to drag the true body of a Heretic God down from mythology itself.]
[Mission Rank: Red.]
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining reward: Ring of Usurpation: Revised II (Red).]
[(P.S. A detailed description of the fused result will be provided later.)]
...
[Ding~]
[Detected rewards eligible for fusion.]
[Fusable Items: Ring of Usurpation, Ring of Usurpation: Revised, Ring of Usurpation: Revised II, Stone Tablet of Prometheus.]
[Does the Host wish to fuse the available rewards?]
"Fuse them."
[Ding!]
[Fusion function activated...]
[Fusion base: Ring of Usurpation.]
[Fusion materials: Ring of Usurpation: Revised, Ring of Usurpation: Revised II, Stone Tablet of Prometheus.]
[Ding!]
[Fusion successful!]
[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining reward: Authority - Ring of Usurpation: Final (Rainbow).]
[Ring of Usurpation (Rainbow): The ultimate Ring of Usurpation after being transformed into an Authority. It can be called the ultimate solution to the Campione world.
Base Effect: Usurp anything that possesses divine Authority, including divine tools, avatars, divine beasts, divine weapons, Heretic Gods, the gods within divine realms themselves, and so on. In short: everything.
Final Ability One - Strengthens the ability to enhance stolen divine Authorities on the foundation of Ring of Usurpation: Revised.
No matter the rank of a god's Authority, its upper limit will automatically be raised by one level. At minimum, it will be elevated to Gold rank, with the cap raised to Red rank. In other words, if a Gold-rank Authority is stolen, its quality will rise to Red rank.
Authorities that are already Red rank or above will instead receive a power boost. If another Authority of the same rank is obtained, even a Red-rank Authority may be elevated to Rainbow rank.
Final Ability Two - Expands and strengthens the function of Divine King's Blessing.
The Host may duplicate his own Authorities and bestow them upon beings he acknowledges, while still retaining the original Authority himself. The same Authority may only be given out once and cannot be granted infinitely. At the same time, duplicated Authorities can resonate and cooperate with the Host's own, achieving effects beyond their original grade.
Final Ability Three - The ability to usurp the powers of supporting characters and powerful beings.
Even if the target is not a god, as long as the target's strength reaches the Demon King class or their fate exceeds that of a supporting-character level, the Host may use the Ring of Usurpation to seize their abilities. However, powers unrelated to gods cannot receive the same Red-rank strength correction as divine Authorities.
Final Ability Four - The power to trace things back to their source.
The Host may use a Heretic body to drag a god's true body out of the divine realm.
Final Ability Five - The power to usurp and replace mythology itself.
After defeating and absorbing a god's true body, the Host may replace that god's conceptual existence within mythology. Not only can abilities be usurped, but mythology and legend themselves may also be seized.
Example: If the Host defeats and usurps Zeus, he may obtain all of Zeus's myths. Of course, if there are myths the Host does not want, they may also be selectively removed.
Moreover, due to the special nature of the Host's own existence, once a mythology is usurped by the Host, it will be permanently fixed and will no longer be influenced by the human world.]
"Hoo..."
Looking at the evolved Ring of Usurpation: Final, Akuto revealed a satisfied smile.
Just as the system had described, the Ring of Usurpation: Final was the ultimate answer to the Campione world.
"Still... the fact that it can even strip out unwanted parts of mythology. All I can say is, the system really is absurd."
When Akuto saw that the system could selectively remove myths he did not want, the smile on his face only deepened.
He did indeed want Zeus's many seed-spreading myths, since they would make it much easier for him to form mythological and physical connections with all sorts of goddesses and legendary beauties. Still, myths like seducing women in the form of a bull, or the ones that ignored gender entirely, could be left out.
...
"In any case, I'll test it on Verethragna first."
After fusing the Authority-formed Ring of Usurpation, the first thing Akuto wanted to do was try out its abilities to usurp mythology and fix mythology in place.
At that moment, a crazy idea flashed through his mind.
If he usurped the myths of every male god and hero, would that mean he alone would fill every male role in every myth?
And if that were the case...
Wouldn't that mean he had, in a sense, already claimed every goddess, and even every woman in myth, for himself?
After all, the myths usurped by him were fundamentally different from the original myths.
Just imagining the satisfaction of achieving such total usurpation sent a strange heat and tingling through his waist and body.
So as he felt the terrifying pressure rolling off Verethragna, not only did Akuto show no fear, a gleam of excitement instead burst from his eyes.
"For now, I'll drag Verethragna's true body out of mythology first."
"Explosion - Create the World!"
"What?!"
Verethragna instinctively raised a defense, yet there was nothing to defend against. Create the World carried no direct offensive power at all.
In an instant, Create the World spread outward at terrifying speed, covering all of Italy and completely enveloping Verethragna within it.
At that moment, the Persian War God's greatest pride, his Authorities, were rendered completely useless beneath the space-sealing effect.
Forget using Strong Wind or Phoenix to escape. Verethragna could not even activate his Authorities at all.
When it came to restraint, the sealing power of Create the World was even above Mithra's heavy spirit words.
The only reason Akuto had used Mithra's words of power earlier instead of Create the World was because he had needed Mithra's divine words to trigger Verethragna's Heretic nature and complete the system mission of pushing him into full Heretic transformation.
Now that Verethragna had already become completely Heretic, Akuto had no intention of continuing to play with him.
A fully Heretic Heretic God still did not qualify to amuse him for long.
So Akuto simply used Create the World and bound him outright.
In the next instant, Akuto's figure appeared directly in front of Verethragna.
The holy spear in his hand carried crystalline radiance that sealed away every possible outcome, and with no flourish at all, it pierced straight through the War God's chest. The very instant the spear tip shattered his godhead with perfect precision, the fighting spirit in Verethragna's golden eyes froze solid.
"Cough...!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed out.
Verethragna lowered his head to look at the holy spear piercing his chest, yet a relieved smile tugged at his lips.
"A beautiful strike... O one who has broken free of fate... I acknowledge it... this is my defeat..."
Verethragna had not expected Akuto to have hidden his strength so deeply.
But since he had still lost even after regaining his fully Heretic body, he had nothing to say. He admitted Akuto's victory without hesitation.
Akuto's expression remained indifferent as he twisted the shaft of the spear. Golden power of possibility surged madly along it, destroying the War God's very existence.
The War God's body shuddered violently. The spirit particles composing his being began to collapse and scatter away, like the last ember of a candle in the wind.
...
On Akuto's chest, the crest representing Ring of Usurpation: Final began spinning at high speed before erupting into blinding light, transforming into a dark vortex that seemed able to devour all things.
"In my name, cast forth the anchor that binds mythology!"
"Appear, true Verethragna!"
Akuto gave a low shout, and from the center of the ring shot forth a chain that was both immaterial and formless, yet capable of twisting the rules of reality themselves. It stabbed violently into the deepest part of the void.
Rumbleeeee!!!
The sky above Sicily seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand.
Clouds rolled backward. The sea boiled. The earth groaned as if unable to bear the strain.
Within a pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth, a figure slowly descended. He wore white robes, his features similar to those of the young man from before, yet far more ancient and majestic.
Merely by existing there, the surrounding space cracked apart inch by inch.
High-tier Demi-Dragon God.
The true Persian War God's real body had reached the level of a High-tier Demi-Dragon God.
...
As he looked at Verethragna's form, so similar to before and yet utterly different, Akuto licked his somewhat dry lips. Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura wrapped around him once more, and at the same time the holy spear appeared behind him, raising his own strength in one breath to the level of a High-tier Demi-Dragon God as well.
Of course, that was only in terms of raw power.
Because of Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura, Akuto perfectly locked all of his spiritual energy within himself, preventing Verethragna from sensing the true extent of his strength.
Faced with Verethragna's true body, Akuto became serious for one of the rare few times.
"Now this is more like it, Verethragna!"
For once, Akuto's voice carried real fighting spirit. No matter what, a god at the Demi-Dragon God level was at least qualified to serve as his opponent, enough for him to stretch his limbs a little.
Of course, only a little.
"Come then, Verethragna. Let me see just how much stronger the real you is than your Heretic incarnation!"
"Akuto... is it?"
"Though I know not how you have accomplished this... if this is your wish... then I shall answer it and grant you utter defeat!"
Verethragna's white robe stirred though there was no wind, and the divine radiance around him blazed more fiercely than ever before.
At this moment, the powers of Verethragna's ten incarnations had fused perfectly into his divine body, and every single incarnation was several times stronger than before.
The vast divine might of the War God of Victory twisted the sky over all of Italy.
"O one who has broken free of fate! This is my true form! In my full glory, I shall bestow upon you the end called defeat!"
(End of Chapter)
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