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"King!"
The moment Hiro approached, Erica cast aside her knightly pride and dropped to one knee without hesitation, not caring in the slightest that the muddy ground soaked into her clothes.
"Although I did kill Heretic Gods-more than one, in fact-I am not a Campione," Hiro said casually. "My maid is."
He didn't slow his steps as he passed the kneeling knight, walking straight toward the red car parked nearby.
"Not... a Campione?"
Erica kept her head lowered, but confusion flickered through her eyes as his footsteps gradually faded.
Then what was that exaggerated 'lion' just now?
And he killed two Heretic Gods back to back-how could he possibly not be a Campione?
Bang.
"Go back."
"Understood, Lord Hiro."
Arianna answered immediately, adopting the same form of address as Grayfia. She leaned out of the car window and glanced at her mistress, who was still kneeling.
"Miss Erica, are you planning to run all the way back?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
Erica puffed out her cheeks slightly as she stood up from the mud. In an instant, her usual elegance returned as though nothing had happened.
As she passed the rear door, she paused-hesitating as if she intended to open it-before quickly abandoning the thought and moving to the front passenger seat beside Arianna.
Crack.
Her eyes landed on the gear lever, snapped clean in half.
Her eyelid twitched.
"Arianna, you-"
"Ehehe... the situation was urgent, so I wasn't very careful," the maid replied, sticking out her tongue with a sheepish smile.
Hiro ignored the lively exchange in the front seats.
Closing his eyes, he silently condensed a humanoid figure-identical in height to himself-entirely formed of eerie, translucent purple energy. He placed it into the empty seat at his right.
This is the new authority the King obtained.
Erica was the first to notice it, instinctively sending her thoughts toward him.
"You seem to have many questions," Hiro said casually, meeting her gaze through the rearview mirror.
As he spoke, his right hand rested against the humanoid's forehead.
The sensation was strange-smooth like plastic, yet cold and solid like steel.
While silently analyzing the Susanoo constructed through Rinnegan dÅjutsu, Hiro activated the Reincarnation Spell Power he had obtained from Melqart, applying it directly to the purple figure.
"Yes."
Erica's eyes lit up at his response, clearly unable to restrain her curiosity any longer.
"If possible, King... what did you mean earlier when you said you were 'not a Campione'?"
"Hm. About that."
As the muscular-man icon quietly vanished from the system's item bar, a surge of satisfaction rose in Hiro's chest. Outwardly, however, he remained calm.
"Simply put, I rejected Pandora's Dark Ritual. Because of that, the ceremony that would have reincarnated me into a Campione never activated."
He continued evenly.
"I killed Heretic Gods-but I did not become a Campione."
The true Campiones are this Susanoo... and my maid, Grayfia, he added silently.
Since the system handled the installation process automatically, Hiro didn't need to focus on it. Even chatting with Erica wouldn't interfere with the experiment.
A convenient way to pass the otherwise tedious journey.
With a thought, the newly acquired Divinity - Susanoo no Otoko vanished from the system inventory.
"Rejecting the Campione reincarnation ritual... such a thing is even possible-"
Erica cut herself off mid-sentence, realizing she had crossed a line. A trace of panic flashed in her eyes.
"I-I apologize. Please forget I asked."
If Hiro rejected the ritual... then the next Campione would directly inherit Verethragna and Melqart's Authorities.
The luckiest Demon King in history.
"Hm."
Hiro nodded faintly, unconcerned with her slip or her thoughts. His attention remained fully on the being beside him.
After undergoing the so-called Campione Dark Ritual-or more accurately, the system's substitute-the Susanoo, once a mere energy construct, now possessed Campione-exclusive magic resistance and overwhelming curse power.
As for battle instincts or emotional exhilaration when facing Heretic Gods...
It doesn't even have a brain. Talking about 'consciousness' is meaningless.
At the same time, it carried the classification:
Divinity - Susanoo no Otoko (Five-Digit).
A Campione and a god.
A Heretic God and a Demon King.
Two incompatible existences unified into one.
If the hidden world learned of this, there would be only one conclusion-
Artificial Campione creation.
That would bring him unnecessary trouble.
And the closest witness was, naturally, Erica Blandelli.
Thus, mental manipulation activated silently, embedding a subtle suggestion deep within the knight's mind.
"King... is this your newly obtained Authority?"
Erica asked cautiously, eyes fixed on the unmoving purple figure.
Even after learning that Hiro was still human, she continued to call him King.
"Authority isn't that simple," Hiro replied, shaking his head.
He studied her expression-curiosity mixed with caution and faint confusion-before asking indifferently:
"Don't you feel anything unusual about its essence?"
Erica stared at Susanoo for a long moment.
Silence.
Finally, she shook her head.
I'm a knight, not a shrine maiden. Where would I get spiritual perception?
"If you don't feel anything, then forget it."
With that, Hiro dismissed Susanoo entirely.
Which also meant-
A certain "retired" Heretic God had officially become a target he would have to deal with.
Not that Hiro had ever planned to let that one go.
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