"Heretic God?!" Erica blurted out her judgment on instinct.
[More precisely, it should be an avatar of a Heretic God.]Akuto silently corrected in his mind.
He understood the awkward positioning of something like the [Boar]—half a step stronger than a divine beast, yet far inferior to a true Heretic God.
A Holy Knight might be able to handle a divine beast, but against an avatar like this, there was no chance at all.
Yet asking a Campione to intervene would be like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken. Even if they won, they would gain no authority. Calling it "chicken ribs" would be generous. It was worse than that.
"Go evacuate, now! I'll come find you afterward! Remember—don't let this leave your side!"
Without hesitation, Erica stuffed a necklace imbued with protective magic into Akuto's hand.
Before her words even fully landed, she activated "Hermes' Boots," took a single step, and dashed straight toward the [Boar].
"Uh, this thing…"
Akuto lowered his gaze to the necklace.
Inside it was an instant-cast defensive spell that could roughly block one strike at Lower Devil-class.
In addition to the defensive formula, it also carried a trigger for tracking.
Clearly, Erica intended to deal with this suddenly appearing [Boar] first, then return to continue their earlier conversation.
Akuto had not expected Erica to treat him as someone who needed protection.
Still, he appreciated her courage and sense of responsibility. She was proud, yes, but she also fulfilled the obligations of a "knight" and a noble—protecting civilians on her own territory.
"Come forth. O Lion of Steel. O steel that houses the soul of the lion, that houses the essence of struggle!"
On a nearby balcony, Erica chanted a battle formula.
In the next moment, her red formal gown transformed in a burst of light into a red-and-black combat uniform.
The blonde girl's silver knight's sword shone brilliantly in her hand. A crimson radiance bloomed before her, and within it, the faint sound of a powerful lion's roar.
"Answer my hand. Answer my voice!"
"Thy name is Cuore-di-Leone…"
"I shall answer thy loyalty with my valor and chivalry!"
A silver lion manifested within the magic circle and lunged straight at the boar avatar.
"Oh? Not bad, not bad… To dare initiate an attack against a divine avatar…"
Akuto offered his commentary without the slightest stinginess.
He knew the Campione anime compressed the plot so heavily that Erica's feelings toward the protagonist looked opportunistic, almost like she was attaching herself to the status of a Campione.
But in truth, Erica fell for the original male lead because they endured battle after battle together. She witnessed his courage, his fighting spirit, his intelligence, and his presence, and only then did her feelings gradually deepen.
What truly "captured" Erica was never the title of Campione.
It was the bond forged in battling gods, the miracle named "godslaying" that the two created together—not some mere label called "Campione."
…
The fight between the silver lion and the boar avatar did not last long.
The silver lion tried to circle and harry it, but the rampaging boar suddenly erupted with astonishing burst speed and slammed directly into the middle of the lion's body!
"What?!"
Erica's beautiful eyes widened in shock. She had not expected a brute-force opponent that looked so heavy to explode with that kind of speed!
The War God's boar avatar had terrifying destructive power, and its charge capability was equally monstrous.
It was a genuine "nimble fat one."
In fact, once someone possessed the [Boar] avatar, they could indeed gain an inexplicable, seemingly "from nothing" charging force—allowing movements that flatly violated common physics.
"Boom!"
The impact's shockwind blew the girl away. She skidded across the ground for a long stretch before she barely managed to stop.
"Crack—"
The steel lion shattered under the gale and could not hold. It broke into steel fragments that returned to the girl's hand.
Erica stood back up, but the confidence she had shown earlier was gone from her eyes.
"Is human power truly this feeble before a god…? Then it's no wonder even 'godslayers' end up contradicting themselves."
This battle made her face, with absolute clarity, the gulf between humanity and divinity.
But even so—
She looked toward the [Boar] again.
With his dragon veins protecting him, even if a true Heretic God fought nearby, it might not be able to suppress him by even an inch.
"Gods. This is a god's power. Hm? …I suppose. If you can't see it, it's only natural you'd say something so ignorant."
Erica assumed Akuto was a "mundane," someone who could not perceive the supernatural.
Indeed, in the Campione world, if you were not part of the hidden world, you could not see the scene of a Heretic God rampaging. You would only interpret it as some sort of natural disaster.
"Miss, first, I need to correct you on one point."
With one hand in his pocket, Akuto spoke calmly.
"What's appeared before us isn't a god. It's a divine avatar—an avatar of a Heretic God."
"Huh?"
Erica frowned.
Not a god, only a divine beast?
If that was true, then if it had been the true god instead of a beast, wouldn't she have already died?
At this moment, Erica once again felt the difference between herself, a Campione, and a god.
If even a beast could defeat her so easily, then what about the god itself?
It was almost laughable. As recently as today, Erica had still entertained the naïve, adorable thought: "Someday, I might become a Campione too."
"Wait…!"
Erica finally realized something.
"Who are you, really—"
Akuto did not answer her question.
Instead, he called the girl by name.
"Erica Blandelli, I admire your courage and sense of responsibility in fighting for the people."
"So I'm willing to give you a choice."
"A choice?" By this point, Erica already had a rough guess about Akuto's identity.
"Yes. A choice."
"Erica, if you're willing to become my knight, to serve at my side for life, and from this day on to devote your life to carrying out my will…"
"I will calm the chaos caused by this [Boar]."
"Well? Are you willing?"
Akuto had no interest in slowly building feelings the way the original plot did—growing closer through many battles, step by step.
Or rather, with his status and the nature of his existence, that approach was not even realistic.
Two weaklings could forge deep camaraderie by facing a god together.
But if one was strong and the other weak, what formed was dependency and admiration—not "battle-bond."
So from the beginning, Akuto had no intention of dealing with Erica in the way Kusanagi Godou did.
…
Hearing Akuto's terms, Erica swallowed hard.
"You say you can resolve this divine avatar. That means… Your Excellency is also an existence of the same rank as a goddess?"
"Whether I am or not isn't important," Akuto replied.
"What matters is whether I have the ability to solve the problem. Isn't it?"
Akuto gave no direct answer.
By rights, having inherited the legacy of the Biblical God, he should qualify as a god.
Yet his essence was also different from the gods born naturally in the DxD world.
From another angle, having seized divine authority via the "Ring of Usurpation," he might be closer to a Campione.
But compared to a pure Campione, he carried far too many other traits.
Maou? God? Holy Son?
Akuto felt none of those labels could truly describe him.
The only thing he could be certain of was this:
Akuto was not a "Heretic God." In fact, even a Campione fit the label "Heretic God" ten times more closely than he did.
In the end, Akuto's conclusion was simple.
He was himself. Nothing more.
…
Although Akuto did not answer directly, Erica still got her answer.
Now Erica finally understood the truth of it.
Of course—how could a boy with a face like an extraordinary god be ordinary?
The reason she could not detect anything earlier was likely because this "god" had some method to conceal himself.
Without question, the boy before her was also a god.
Two gods contending on Sardinia—now a third had appeared.
Wait.
Wasn't there one more, counting that white-haired goddess from earlier?
That would mean three gods had been present at once!
…
"So? What's your choice?"
Akuto raised his right hand slightly, offering an inviting gesture.
Just then, Lion's Heart in Erica's hand flashed with silver radiance.
"Hm? This reaction from Lion's Heart—!"
Erica snapped her head up to the sky.
High above, a powerful dark-green warhorse was galloping through the air.
A striking black-haired beauty sat astride the saddle.
The female knight's black hair was tied back in a ponytail, swaying in rhythm with the horse's tail.
Her wheat-toned skin made her Latin blood obvious at a glance. Coupled with her sharp, refined features, she presented the perfect image of a valiant, dashing knight.
"Saint Raphael!"
Erica spoke the name of the female knight in the sky.
The reason Lion's Heart reacted was precisely because of Saint Raphael.
Because Saint Raphael had been the previous owner of that silver longsword.
…
"Isn't it a bit unreasonable to bully a little girl?"
Leaping down from the green warhorse, Saint Raphael looked straight at Akuto, making her position clear.
"That contract—how about I take it instead?"
(End of Chapter)
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