Verethragna steadied himself in midair, his divine body trembling faintly. His eyes were filled with shock, along with a trace of frustration he could barely hide.
The overwhelming power of his ten incarnations, once fused, should have been enough to sweep through the divine realm. Yet before Akuto's strange battle aura, it all seemed pitifully pale and powerless.
"Your Authorities are powerful, Verethragna."
Akuto slowly rose into the air until he stood level with the War God. Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura blazed around him like white fire, radiating a pressure so fearsome that even gods felt their hearts tighten.
"But power is not just the piling up of Authorities. Your attacks have form, but they have not touched the divine essence."
"Not touched the divine essence?" Verethragna frowned.
"That's right. Your attacks may look like they fuse multiple Authorities and multiply their might, but in the end, they are still nothing more than addition on the level of power."
Akuto raised his right hand. White battle aura gathered and compressed in his palm, releasing an immense presence that seemed capable of suppressing all things.
"My battle aura has already surpassed mere rule-based power. It is a new creation, born from the fusion of the power of living beings and the laws of the world themselves," Akuto explained calmly.
"Battle aura?... Battle aura!... So that's what it is!"
Verethragna's golden pupils widened instantly.
He had always felt that the power covering Akuto's body was both familiar and alien at the same time. So this was it... an altered form of battle aura.
"The aura of senjutsu power... and underworld power? Even two completely opposing forces can be combined?"
Verethragna had seen Eastern immortals use battle aura before, but he had never seen a god of the underworld use it.
After all, the style of an underworld god and the style of battle aura were worlds apart. And most underworld deities lacked sufficient life force and willpower.
Battle aura was the ultimate expression of life force and fighting spirit. Most underworld gods never studied life force, and they had little warrior's will to speak of. How could they possibly develop an underworld-style battle aura?
"So it is both battle aura and Authority. In that case..."
A Golden Sword appeared in Verethragna's hand. The script engraved upon its blade began to update without pause, and its once orderly, symmetrical form started to twist into that of an irregular, monstrous sword.
Clearly, he was forging a special Golden Sword meant to break Akuto's Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura.
The Golden Sword did not require complete understanding in order to seal an opponent's Authority. In the original case, even Kusanagi Godou had only partial knowledge of the Marquis's Authority, yet still managed to forge a Golden Sword capable of sealing it.
Of course, that kind of sealing was incomplete. It could only suppress as much as one's understanding allowed, usually around seventy or eighty percent at most.
But if what it sealed happened to be the opponent's strongest Authority, then cutting away seventy or eighty percent of its power was practically the same as sealing it altogether.
Verethragna's idea of forging an altered Golden Sword to partially suppress Akuto was correct.
Unfortunately... he was already too late.
Verethragna transformed into Phoenix, striking while moving and forging the Golden Sword at the same time.
Yet just as the sword was only halfway complete, Akuto's figure suddenly vanished.
Phoenix was indeed terrifying within the domain of divine speed, but compared to Akuto's Vāmana incarnation, it still fell short.
In the next instant, Akuto appeared directly in front of Verethragna. His fist, wrapped in Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura, ignored the layers of divine barriers Verethragna hastily threw up. It was like a red-hot iron spike piercing butter, effortless and unstoppable.
"Pff!"
The punch slammed hard into Verethragna's chest.
The violent battle aura ignored the physical defenses of the divine body and struck directly at the core of his godhead. Verethragna felt as though he had been struck by lightning. A mouthful of golden divine blood burst from his lips, and his divine radiance dimmed instantly.
"It's useless."
Akuto's gaze sharpened. He drew both fists back to his waist as Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura surged wildly, vaguely forming the shadow of a majestic crimson dragon behind him. It was not Ddraig, but a completely new pair of Dragon-Subduing Wings born from the fusion of Akuto's own dragon power and Heavenly Wheel Battle Aura.
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, First Form - Dragon's Roar Splits the Mountain!"
"The first punch shatters your divine power!"
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, Second Form - Dragon's Eye Pierces the Court!"
"The second punch breaks your divine body!"
Before Verethragna could even catch his breath, Akuto's left fist followed, smashing hard into his abdomen. Battle aura erupted, and spiderweb-like cracks spread across the surface of Verethragna's divine body in every direction.
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, Third Form - Dragon Claw Breaks the Soul!"
"The third punch destroys your divine soul!"
Akuto's right fist struck again, directly at Verethragna's brow. Verethragna felt as though his consciousness itself was about to be scattered by that blow.
"Roarrr! I am the War God of Victory! How could I possibly be defeated here?!"
Verethragna let out an unwilling roar and forcibly burned his godhead, trying to make one final stand.
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, Fourth Form - Falling Dragon!"
"The fourth punch crushes your godhead!"
Roooooar!!
A brand-new crimson heavenly dragon, similar to Ddraig yet clearly different, descended from the sky. Born from the Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, it struck together with Akuto's punch directly upon Verethragna's godhead.
Crack... boom!
That was the sound of a godhead shattering.
From that moment on, the War God lost the ability to resist completely.
...
Soaring Dragon Breaks the Dawn. Golden Dragon Calls Its Scales.
A Host of Dragons Seizes the Pearl. True Dragon, a Thousand Tons.
Dragon God Elephant Form. Dragon and Phoenix, Yin and Yang.
...
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, Eleventh Form - Dragon and Phoenix Soar Together!"
Akuto threw both fists out at once.
Twelve streams of white fist force, each condensed to the absolute limit and wrapped in crimson dragon phantoms, shot forward like twelve meteors piercing the galaxy. They instantly shattered the last defense Verethragna had raised by burning his godhead and struck the twelve key nodes of his godhead core with perfect precision.
"Heavenly Dragon Twelve Divine Fists, Twelfth Form - Heavenly Dragon Shatters the Mirror!"
Crack - boom!!
With that final punch, a brittle sound like glazed glass breaking flashed through the atmosphere.
Verethragna's movements froze instantly, and the divine light in his eyes went out completely.
His divine body, once shining with the brilliance of victory, began to collapse from the inside out, fragment by fragment, turning into the purest golden motes of light and slowly scattering away.
Verethragna, Eastern War God - godhead shattered. Defeated in full.
...
"I... have lost..."
Verethragna released a final sigh, one filled with relief and satisfaction, before it drifted away with the wind.
And so, the War God of Victory, Verethragna, was completely destroyed.
Akuto stood in the void and slowly lowered his fists, the battle aura around him receding, as though he had merely done something trivial. Only the broken earth and fading divine radiance testified to the godly war that had just shaken the heavens.
"Ah... you really have been defeated, Verethragna."
Akuto let out a relieved chuckle.
"But don't worry. I won't let you suffer defeat again."
"Because... your mythology now belongs to me."
On Akuto's chest, the crest representing Ring of Usurpation: Final swirled with hazy radiance.
As the Ring of Usurpation spun faster and faster, Verethragna's very existence was greedily devoured by it.
"Impossible! You are... usurping mythology itself?!"
For the first time, shock appeared on the face of Verethragna's true body. He could feel his connection to an important mythological concept being forcibly stripped away and transferred elsewhere. It overturned everything he knew of the laws of the world.
"That's right. I'm usurping mythology itself."
"From this day onward, you will no longer appear upon this land, nor within the divine realm."
"And if there will never be another battle, then naturally there will never be another defeat."
"As for the myth and legend of the War God of Victory itself, I believe I will carry it on far better than you ever did."
With that, Akuto drove Ring of Usurpation: Final with all his power and completely devoured the last fragment of Verethragna's existence.
[Ding!]
[Ring of Usurpation: Final activated successfully!]
[Target of usurpation: Divine Realm Verethragna.]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained reward: War God's Ten Incarnations - Strong Wind, Bull, White Horse, Camel...]
At the same time the system notification rang out in his mind, Akuto clearly felt a mythological concept tied to victory, youth, and the ten incarnations being branded onto his holy spear.
Akuto's True World-Piercing Holy Spear did not merely possess the concept of piercing the world. It also contained Akuto's divine kingdom itself.
So when Akuto changed through absorbing Verethragna's mythology, that change was also branded into the holy spear.
...
Aside from the increase in Authorities, Akuto's own power advanced as well because of the godslaying.
Before, when he fought Athena and later Verethragna, Akuto's true body had only been at the peak of the Chief God level. It was only with the blessing of the holy spear that he could unleash strength at the High-tier Demi-Dragon God level.
...
A Campione gained more curse power with every god they slew. If the curse power obtained from slaying a god for the first time was treated as ten, then each additional god killed would grant roughly a thirty percent increase, while the density of that curse power would also improve.
That was why veteran Campiones with multiple Authorities were so terrifying in both combat strength and stamina. If a younger Campione managed to fight them to a standstill, it was usually because they were not competing in attrition, which was perfectly normal.
As for Akuto, after absorbing Verethragna's Authorities, the effects of his Campione constitution allowed him to break through the shackles of the Chief God level and truly become an existence at the Demi-Dragon God level.
And this... was still only Akuto's most basic state, without the reinforcement of the holy spear or Balance Breaker.
It could be said that the current Akuto, if he truly went all out, now possessed the qualifications to fight beings at the Dragon God level.
...
"All in all, the experiment was a success."
"From this day onward, Verethragna's mythology has become a part of me."
"But this is only the beginning."
"Now I have already mastered the ability to use the Authority of Heretic Gods to summon the true bodies of divine realm gods."
"In other words, besides Verethragna, the true bodies of Melqart and Perseus can also be dragged down."
"But before that, I still need to clean up the aftermath."
Akuto glanced at the shattered surroundings and lightly spun the holy spear in his hand.
Bzzzz.
A nameless wave spread outward, and in the space of a moment, Akuto activated the function of Create the World and restored all of Italy to the state it had been in before he began the divine war.
Akuto was the responsible sort. If someone else started a divine war, he could ignore it. But since he had started this one, he would take responsibility for what he had done.
Under his belief in equal authority and responsibility, Akuto considered that only someone willing to bear the burden of everything had the right to wield all power.
And while he was not perfect, he was moving in that direction.
It was precisely because he had confidence in shouldering the lives of everyone around him that he could open his harem so boldly and without hesitation.
Over the next stretch of time, Akuto first covered Italy with Create the World once more. Then he summoned Heretic Melqart and Heretic Perseus out of mythology and defeated them as well.
...
After continuously absorbing the mythologies of Heretic Melqart and Heretic Perseus, Akuto's true-body strength rose to Mid-tier Demi-Dragon God, only one step away from reaching High-tier Demi-Dragon God.
...
While Akuto was in Italy slaying gods and usurping the true bodies of deities, the other Campiones and magical organizations of the world were starting to move as well.
America.
John Pluto Smith, the Underworld King, together with Annie Charlton, foiled the scheme of the Divine Ancestor Anne and defeated the Divine Ancestor Anne in her incarnation as the Body of Reason.
Britain.
The Black Prince returned to his beloved Britain, while the White Princess Alice, for some unknown reason, changed her attitude toward him from rejection to cooperation, and began helping him search for the Holy Grail and the Divine Ancestor Guinevere.
Eastern Europe.
The Marquis Voban only sensed something was wrong when the dragon-energy barrier shattered. By the time he asked around and finally got the answers, Akuto had already defeated Verethragna, Melqart, and Perseus, and had boarded his flight home.
As an old shut-in who spent his days holed up on an island, the Marquis Voban regretted missing the chance to hunt four gods in a single go more than words could express.
So after some thought, he decided to compensate his wounded heart a little.
Since he had missed the chance to hunt four gods at once, he simply had to summon a new god as compensation.
Southern Europe.
Ever since being defeated by Akuto and having his fate stripped away, Doni had vanished without a trace and never again appeared in public.
Japan.
After hearing the report from her disciple Lu Yinghua, Luo Hao was quite pleased by the fact that Akuto had beaten Doni senseless, and at the same time had developed a deep interest in Akuto.
Akuto, Akuto. That name clearly sounded like a Chinese name.
After ordering Lu Yinghua to investigate, Luo Hao received Akuto's information and confirmed that he was a Chinese orphan raised in Japan. She immediately sent an invitation, demanding that Akuto come to Mount Lu Island to pay his respects to a senior martial king of the same homeland.
...
As for Akuto.
After defeating and usurping the mythologies of three gods, he casually accepted the beauties delivered by the Italian magical societies.
After spending the night with them and giving each some private guidance according to their performance, he handed them over to Erica's management, using them as extensions of his influence to better control Italy's magical societies.
After that, Akuto boarded his flight home.
Only this time, unlike before, he was flying on a private jet generously provided by the Italian magical societies.
Aboard the private plane, Akuto amused himself with Erica and the others while casually rejecting Luo Hao's summons.
As if he would go to Mount Lu to pay respects to Luo Hao. Had she taken him for some junior Campione from the same homeland?
Akuto knew very well that when dealing with a strong-willed woman like Luo Hao, weakness was absolutely unacceptable. More importantly, he had never once taken a weak stance before a woman.
So Akuto directly refused Luo Hao's invitation and told her that if she wanted to see him, she was welcome to come find him herself.
Tokyo.
Narita International Airport.
As Italy's Air Force Three descended, Akuto finally returned to the Japan he was loyal to.
(Note: Air Force One was used by the Italian Prime Minister, since Italy is led by a prime minister rather than a president. Air Force Two belonged to the Sword King Doni. Air Force Three belonged to Akuto.)
...
At the private tarmac of Narita International Airport in Tokyo, the atmosphere was strange and subtle.
Kusanagi Shizuka stood at the very front of the crowd, unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes in her hands as she stared at the Italian private plane that had just come to a stop, her emotions tangled.
Saya no Miya Kaoru stood beside her. The words she had once said still echoed in Shizuka's ears.
"Princess Shizuka, Akuto-sama is now a Campione who rules above all humanity, a godslaying king. His majesty and power are no longer something we mortals can begin to measure. We must all watch our words and actions carefully in front of Akuto-sama."
"But you are different. You are both Akuto-sama's younger sister and Kusanagi Godou-sama's younger sister. You have already become someone who stands above ordinary people in Japan."
Yes, Kaoru had already told Shizuka that both of her older brothers, Akuto and Godou, had become Campiones.
There was no helping it. Since they had to come to the airport to receive Akuto, and since there was no chance of changing Shizuka's mind about coming to meet him, Kaoru had no choice but to tell her the truth beforehand, so that there would not be trouble the next day.
Looking at the private plane that had landed, Shizuka pressed her lips together. She understood Kaoru's awe, but what churned in her heart was something else.
That Akuto-nii, the one she had grown up with, the one who always wore a warm smile and carried such a dependable presence... had he really become so distant now?
A king who slew gods was simply too far removed from the world Shizuka had lived in.
...
The cabin door opened, and Akuto was the first to appear.
The sunlight fell on him, as if coating him in a halo that could not be described in words.
There was still that familiar, slightly roguish curve at the corner of his lips, but the overall aura of his entire being had changed completely.
The Akuto in Shizuka's memory had already been handsome, but now, after his return, she realized that he seemed even more charming than when she had seen him off. Even more enough to set her heart racing.
Her heart did race, but the moment she saw the large group of beautiful girls behind him, that racing heart immediately turned into chest pain.
She could understand Akuto, as someone at the very top of the world, bringing subordinates back with him.
But why were all of Akuto's subordinates beautiful girls, each with her own completely different kind of charm?
Could it be that they were not subordinates at all... but...
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Shizuka nearly clutched her chest.
...
On Akuto's side, he quickly took in the scene.
Shizuka. Kaoru. Mariya Yuri. Mariya Hikari. Renjou Touki. Seishuuin Ena. Kuhouin Hikohiko. Amakasu Touma. And a large number of attendants.
Judging from the lineup, all of the younger generation and the heads of Japan's Four Great Houses had come to receive him.
The so-called Four Great Houses of Japan were the four ancient bloodlines that had served emperors since ancient times through their own spiritual power.
They were the Seishuuin family, the Saya no Miya family, the Renjou family, and the Kuhouin family.
Among them, the Seishuuin family excelled in martial might and politics.
The Saya no Miya family served as the core strategists of the Official Compilation Committee.
The Kuhouin family was mainly responsible for guarding the West Heavenly Palace of Nikkō Tōshō-gū, serving the Four Ritual Priests and attending to hidden gods.
And finally, the Renjou family specialized in sorcery and commerce.
It could be said that Japan's Four Great Houses each had their own role and controlled power in different spheres of the nation.
Of course, when people said they served the emperor, they meant the Tennō, not a Campione. Until only a few days ago, Japan had still been a country that had never produced a Campione at all.
Akuto knew that although the people who had come to greet him were young, they represented the future of the entire nation.
Ena had already been established as the next head of the Seishuuin family.
Kaoru was being trained as the next head of the Saya no Miya family while serving as branch chief in Tokyo.
Hikohiko was also the designated next head of the Kuhouin family.
As for Touki, although she was on the verge of losing her status as heir because she could not use sorcery herself, she was still technically the next head of the Renjou family for the moment.
In other words, all four future heads of Japan's Four Great Houses had come to greet him in person.
Akuto's deep gaze swept over the welcoming crowd. Every person it touched, including strong figures like Amakasu and Ena, unconsciously held their breath and felt a tremor rise from the depths of their souls.
This was the absolute status suppression belonging to a Campione.
...
"Yo. Yuri, Hikari, Kaoru, Seishuuin, Renjou. Long time no see."
Akuto greeted each person he knew in order of closeness.
Yuri and Hikari were already very close to the point of being nearly won over. Kaoru was an old acquaintance and halfway to being a childhood friend. As for Ena, Akuto had worked with her a few times while carrying out requests, so while they were not exactly close, they were at least familiar with each other. As for Touki, he had only met her a few times at major holiday gatherings.
...
Akuto's voice broke the silence, and the crowd replied to him in turn.
"Akuto-kun, you're finally back. Hikari and I have been very worried about you," Yuri said.
"Akuto-nii! Welcome back!" Hikari called out brightly.
"Akuto-sama, on behalf of the Official Compilation Committee, I welcome you home in triumph," Kaoru said formally.
"Yo, Akuto-kun, long time no see. I really didn't expect that by the next time we met, you'd already have become a King-sama. That's so like you," Ena said with a grin.
"A-Akuto-sama, Renjou Touki, on behalf of the Renjou family, welcomes your return," Touki said stiffly.
Touki looked awkward and nervous.
Part of it was because she was the least familiar with Akuto among the new faces who had come merely to make an appearance.
The other reason was because... before coming here today, her family had informed her of a major decision. They were preparing to offer her to the new king, Akuto, as a concubine.
...
With Akuto's powers of observation, he had already noticed that the way Touki looked at him was off, but he said nothing.
Because there was still one important person he had not greeted yet.
His gaze passed over Yuri, Ena, Touki, and the others, before finally settling on Shizuka.
"Shizuka, I'm back."
Seeing the familiar yet somehow even more captivating smile on Akuto's face, Shizuka felt as though his smile was warmer than the sunlight itself.
As a result, her heart skipped a beat in a way that utterly betrayed her. Heat rose to her cheeks, and the words "welcome back" were already on the verge of slipping from her lips.
But in the next second, her eyes were drawn to the group of women standing behind him, each beautiful in her own way.
(End of Chapter)
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