Erica managed to unite Italy's mage associations by "creating a common external enemy."
Once the will to unite was confirmed, everyone stopped having much to say about Erica's leadership.
Because they all understood this clearly: if you really had to pick one female knight or mage from Italy who "met the strength requirement," "met the looks requirement," and "met the capability requirement," then Erica was, without question, the most suitable choice.
Other than Erica, the others really did come up a bit short in one way or another.
Even Liliana, who had been Erica's rival, had to admit that Erica was the best person to unify and manage Italy's many mage associations.
Still, even as she admitted it, there was a little knot in her eyes.
If only she could be as commanding as Erica. But she had been born with this personality, and there was no changing that.
"Hah…"
After letting out a long sigh, Liliana also quickly entered work mode under Erica's arrangements, beginning to integrate the intelligence networks of the major mage associations so they could obtain more comprehensive, more timely information.
…
Elsewhere, a siege battle was raging.
With a flicker of light, Akuto and Athena appeared on a vast stretch of grassland.
"I never imagined you had already obtained a blessing of this level."
Athena drew her reaper's scythe and held it across her chest, watching the holy spear "903" in Akuto's hand with clear wariness.
She tried to use the Authority of the Goddess of Wisdom to peer into the spear with her eyes, but she discovered that, when facing Akuto and his holy spear, her Authority completely lost its function, as though Akuto were something that simply could not be seen.
"No, it wasn't 'obtained.' Although it really was bestowed by the previous God of the Bible at the beginning, the later strengthening and sublimation all relied on me. I used an ancient method to forge it and made it take on the qualities of a divine-class weapon."
"Is that so?"
Athena's quiet violet eyes trembled slightly. It was obvious she was extremely satisfied by the fact that Akuto had forged a divine weapon with his own hands.
But given her persona as a proud, tsundere goddess, there was no way she would express her admiration for Akuto directly.
If she did, that man named Akuto would definitely think her admiration was romantic, the kind between a man and a woman.
That was the last thing Athena wanted.
To avoid giving anything away, Athena greeted him and immediately moved into the combat sequence.
"Then let this one see what you can really do, now that you have only issued this challenge after deciding you must win!"
[All who possess life, cease your beating! Kneel before this one! What suits you is a cold gravestone, for that is the goddess's mercy and favor!]
"Voom…"
With Athena as the center, petrification spread outward across the ground, rapidly reaching Akuto's position.
And then… nothing happened.
The moment it touched Akuto, Athena's Authority was like ice melting under the sun. It retreated directly from in front of Akuto and flowed back toward Athena.
"Hm?"
Athena frowned. If her Authority had simply been dispelled, she would not have been so surprised. But just now…
"You. Did you rewind the time and space of this little world to the moment before this one used her Authority?"
"Correct."
Akuto smiled faintly, holy spear in hand, and in a flash he appeared right in front of Athena.
There were no fancy techniques. Only a single, stripped-down thrust, returning to fundamentals, as Akuto's holy spear went straight for Athena's chest.
The "holy spear that pierces the world" in Akuto's hands erupted with dazzling divine light. The spear tip tore through the air with a resolve that could rend anything, stabbing straight for Athena's heart.
It was astonishingly fast, brutally powerful, far beyond what an ordinary godslayer could manage.
Akuto clearly had no close-combat Authority right now. Akuto was clearly just swinging the spear in the simplest way possible, yet it somehow felt as though he were stronger than even the gods who specialized in close-range Authority.
Master one art, and all arts change.
As time passed, Akuto's understanding of the God of the Bible's knowledge had grown more and more integrated, already approaching the five-percent mark.
Akuto estimated that, in only a few weeks to a month, he would be able to push the God of the Bible's trial to the next stage.
With knowledge fused to practical application, plus the two worlds' world-level power he had just obtained, Akuto's various skills had already reached a realm of perfection.
So even without a related Authority, he still possessed the godslaying power to kill mighty existences in a single blow.
…
Facing Akuto's holy spear, Athena instantly condensed a shield of darkness in her hand.
The next second, Athena's dark shield met the holy spear head-on.
Under that utterly pure spear strike, the dark shield cracked open at once.
Relying on the shield's defensive power, Athena retreated several steps in a hurry, barely buying herself the sliver of breathing room she needed.
"Relying on brute force…"
Athena snorted, and once again formed the black scythe of the Underworld in her grasp, charging in.
In an instant, spear and scythe collided violently. The shockwave from their clash peeled the ground up in layers!
Akuto's spearwork had no frills. Every strike was precise and lethal, blending power, speed, and angle into perfect unity. He was not simply wielding the holy spear; man and spear had become one, turning into a golden bolt that tore through the night and suppressed Athena's guard completely.
The goddess's figure was forced steadily backward. Her technique was exquisitely refined, yet at this moment it seemed sluggish, as though what she faced was not a human, but the world itself.
The spear's edge grazed her divine body again and again, leaving tiny, scorching trails of godblood.
"Tch! This holy spear, just what is it…?"
Even after being struck by the "holy spear that pierces the world," Athena did not feel heavily wounded. It was simply that the spear tip's powerful holy power suppressed her dark divinity somewhat.
But if it was only suppressing her somewhat, then that did not quite match how terrifying the spear itself felt.
"Don't tell me! You're deliberately holding back the spear's power, just to prove that in close combat you can completely suppress this one!?"
Akuto did not answer. His assault only grew more violent.
"Hmph."
Athena let out a proud, tsundere snort. She had already gotten her answer from Akuto's eyes.
This man really was letting her have room.
After returning to her Trinity state, her strength had already approached early-stage King-class.
To unleash her full power in a battle against Akuto, she had even used a secret art to connect to her true body in the divine realm, allowing her to remain in the miraculous, fully rational state of complete disobedience.
In that complete disobedience state, Athena's strength had soared to the peak of a chief-god level.
It could be said that Athena was now the strongest Heretic God in the godslayer world, since beings like Rama did not count as Heretic Gods.
And yet, even so, Athena realized she still was not Akuto's match.
She even had the feeling that, even if she dragged out that tattered world's true body, it still would not be enough to defeat him.
…
So the two continued, weapons colliding again and again, whipping up storms with every clash.
Each storm formed by their collisions easily sliced through tens of kilometers of land, completely reshaping the terrain around them.
If Akuto were not maintaining a Creation Model, restoring the environment at the boundary of its range every time he moved, then Italy would already have suffered countless earthquakes and tsunamis, collapsing into national paralysis…
…
After a long stalemate, Athena confirmed that Akuto truly was playing with her, and that he truly could crush her in close combat. So she chose to retreat in midair, widening the distance.
[In Athena's name, vassals of the night, devour this one's enemy!]
An owl's sharp cry tore through the sky as countless pitch-black wings surged forth from the void.
Their pupils flashed with a wisdom that was cold and merciless.
At the same time, the ground churned. A massive serpent of the Underworld writhed up from below, tongue flicking, exuding the breath of death. Under Athena's command, the owl swarm swept toward Akuto like a black storm, while the Underworld serpent lunged like a crazed beast, jaws gaping, seeking to swallow him and the space around him whole.
Faced with this terrifying spectacle, Akuto only smiled.
"Funny. I think I can do this one too."
Akuto lifted his hand, visualizing the Authority core he had plundered.
[In the name of the new Lord of the Underworld, manifest here. My vassals!]
Even more dazzling dark divinity erupted from Akuto.
The same number of night-owls screamed as they poured from the shadows behind him, meeting Athena's swarm head-on with perfect precision.
At the same time, the earth shuddered beneath his feet. Not one serpent, but three thicker serpents, their divine aura far more terrifying, burst from the ground, roaring as they coiled around Athena's summoned serpent.
In the air, talons and beaks tore madly, feathers mixing with shards of dark divinity as they rained down.
On the ground, the serpents' biting and constriction produced an ear-splitting, tooth-grinding roar as rocks shattered and the earth cracked open.
The difference in power was immediate.
Akuto's vassals were larger, more solid in form, their bodies wrapped in a darker, fiercer divinity.
Very quickly, Akuto's owls tore apart Athena's formation, while Akuto's Underworld serpents crushed Athena's serpent with overwhelming force, pinning it, grinding it down until it howled in agony and its body began to collapse into fragments.
For the first time, shock appeared on Athena's exquisitely beautiful face, along with a faint trace of admiration she did not realize she was showing.
Her vassals came from her divinity and Authority. If they were being crushed, that meant Athena herself was losing shape in the use of her own Authority.
She was furious, but she had to admit it: Akuto was using the Authority he had taken from her extremely well.
"Athena, your power is very useful."
"Too bad. Now it's mine."
Akuto smiled at her, his voice calm but carrying unquestionable authority.
As Akuto's words fell, the blood-colored divinity around him gathered at extreme speed.
Athena's last Underworld serpent burst into pitch-black divine particles under the simultaneous tearing bites of its three counterparts.
Athena let out a muffled grunt. A thread of golden godblood spilled from the corner of her lips, and a faint flush surfaced on her cheek, hard to notice.
Being completely suppressed by Akuto was something she had anticipated long ago, and it would not shatter her composure.
What truly annoyed her was Akuto calling himself the new Lord of the Underworld when he summoned the vassals.
What did that mean?
Was he seriously trying to take advantage of her?
The moment she thought about how Akuto had already assumed he would become the Underworld's new master, assumed he would become her partner, Athena, while bristling, could not help but reveal a stunning, shy look.
(End of Chapter)
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