Artemis looked at the enormous crack three meters away from her and swallowed.
She believed she had already experienced everything in the world.
But none of it had ever been this thrilling.
Following that massive fissure with her eyes, she saw it stretch all the way to the limits of her vision, like a scar carved directly into the earth.
"Hoo."
Rayleigh let out a long breath.
That one strike had burned through most of the Reiatsu he had finally managed to recover.
Because of that strange thing Marius had used on him, his Reiatsu recovery speed was now only about one-sixteenth of what it should have been.
In other words, it had become sixteen times slower.
The amount of Reiatsu that should have fully recovered in one hour would now take sixteen hours.
Proportional to that enormous consumption, the power of that attack had already surpassed the magic of a Level 3 mage using an ultra-long chant.
The signature move of the cheat king.
Getsuga Tenshō!
It was not an ability exclusive to Zangetsu.
Zangetsu's original ability was amplification of slashes, and when combined with Getsuga Tenshō, it could make an ordinary Getsuga's power become completely unreasonable.
One reliable move could carry you through everything.
Whether it was the prince next door or the sun god, their initial setups had been somewhat similar, yet neither of them had truly followed through with it to the very end.
Only the cheat king had kept using Getsuga Tenshō from beginning to end.
At most, when he wielded dual blades, he added a cross-shaped version.
In essence, that was still only an application of Getsuga Tenshō.
The principle behind the technique was absorbing Reiatsu, compressing it at the tip of the blade, and releasing an amplified sword pressure.
In theory, every Shinigami could use this move.
The Bakusaiga he had once mass-produced were swords that could automatically absorb Reiatsu and allow anyone with Mind to use Getsuga Tenshō.
The only issue was that if the wielder did not let go of the hilt, it would continue absorbing their power.
Compared to Magic Swords, Magic Swords did not consume the wielder's Mind.
In exchange, Bakusaiga had far greater endurance and durability than Magic Swords.
And that was only a flaw of the mass-produced version, not a flaw of Zanpakutō themselves.
Forging a kitchen-knife version of Zangetsu was not difficult either, but there was one thing that had to be understood first.
The thing that was truly strong was not Zangetsu.
Nor was it Getsuga Tenshō.
It was the wielder.
"Rayleigh..."
Artemis opened her mouth.
Her gaze fell on the sword in Rayleigh's hand, her expression extremely grave.
"Come with me."
After hesitating for a moment, Artemis took Rayleigh away alone.
Behind them, the girls were left standing there, their curiosity practically exploding.
'Lady Artemis! Don't tell me she was tamed by that man!'
They had heard that some hunting tribes had a custom where whoever lost a duel had to marry the victor.
And the faith of hunting tribes was the moon goddess, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.
That belief might very well have come from the goddess herself!
Could it be that Lady Artemis was going to...
Eh?
Wait.
If even Lady Artemis was captured by a male, did that mean they could fall in love too from now on?
That actually sounded pretty nice!
Rayleigh followed behind Artemis.
He sensed an extremely serious atmosphere from her.
The two of them spent some time crossing through the forest before arriving at the edge of a shimmering lake.
Looking at the moon reflected in the water, Artemis spoke.
"Rayleigh, as a god, I have a question for you."
"Hm?"
"That sword. No, all of your swords. They're called Zanpakutō, aren't they?"
Artemis asked in a stern tone, "What purpose did you have in mind when you created something like that?"
"Purpose?"
"Don't play dumb!"
Artemis pointed at Ruri'iro Kujaku at Rayleigh's waist.
"I didn't notice it before, but during that last instant, I truly felt the danger of death. Ordinary weapons cannot kill gods. Unless they are weapons forged specifically to slay gods, or divine artifacts... Yet your Zanpakutō can do the same thing. I'm not wrong, am I?"
Hearing Artemis's questioning, Rayleigh's expression did not change.
"That's right."
"So it really is true.... You forged those things knowing that... No, wait. Those are things you created, which means you deliberately pursued that effect, didn't you? Do you intend to slay gods?"
"Heh."
Rayleigh let out a soft laugh.
'To be able to laugh when questioned face-to-face like this...'
That fearless attitude made the moon goddess feel a little uneasy, and she unconsciously took half a step back.
After noticing that, Rayleigh said, "If you were afraid I would kill you, why did you specially bring me to a place like this alone?"
Artemis said, "I'm not afraid of death. Rather, even if a god dies, we will eventually be reborn, so even if I wanted to die, I couldn't. But those children are different! Even if they can come to Heaven and stay beside me after death, the life they lost will never return."
"You really are kind," Rayleigh praised.
"Hah?"
Artemis froze.
She could not understand why Rayleigh had suddenly complimented her.
"Zanpakutō. As the name implies, they are blades that can cut the soul. Whether someone is alive or immortal, the essence of the soul is the same. Even for gods, that does not change. Weapons made to slay gods? I would be very happy if you didn't describe the Zanpakutō I created as something that cheap."
Rayleigh looked down on so-called god-slaying weapons.
"Even a god will die if their soul is cut down. It's a very simple principle."
Rayleigh gently drew Ruri'iro Kujaku and swung the blade at a lush tree beside him.
A strange scene unfolded.
The large tree struck by the blade appeared completely unharmed.
But its bark rapidly dried and yellowed, and in only a few seconds, every leaf on it withered toward death.
Artemis stared wide-eyed at the scene.
Its soul had been cut.
Because of that sword's slash... Zanpakutō.
What an astonishing creation.
Hephaestus had truly found an unbelievable child to join her Familia.
"I don't have any particular dissatisfaction toward gods. Since I was young, I was taught that people can overcome fate through their own efforts, and that destiny is changed with one's own hands, not through prayer. I respect Hephaestus and other remarkable gods, but if a god harms the world or stands before me as an enemy, I also won't mind accepting the glorious title of godslayer."
After hearing Rayleigh's words, Artemis did not hide her surprise.
Her eyes widened, and a certain light flickered in her beautiful emerald gaze.
"Haha, what an interesting boy. No... what a proud man! You don't fear gods at all, do you?"
Artemis suddenly broke into a bright laugh.
She disliked Heaven.
And she disliked the gods of Heaven!
A warrior who would not bow and scrape before gods, who dared to carry out his own will...
"I don't hate that."
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