When Erica's vision returned to normal from that pitch-black starry sky, she could only stare wide-eyed at the scene before her.
—Just moments ago, there had clearly been a skyscraper dozens of meters tall. She had unmistakably been fighting a god on its rooftop.
And yet now, the high-rise had vanished without a trace. In its place remained only a gigantic crater several dozen meters wide. The surrounding groundwater flowed inward toward the center of the pit, quickly forming an enormous pool.
The surrounding darkness also receded, replaced by a night sky glittering with countless stars.
It was darkness—yet not complete darkness.
Soon, innumerable streetlights illuminated the roads and avenues once more. Light spilled from the buildings' windows. In an industrialized society, true darkness was nearly impossible. At this moment, the land returned to that familiar half-lit state.
If there was any darkness that truly drew the eye, it was Satsuki herself, floating at the center of the crater, gazing up at the starry sky.
Only after a moment did she begin to stroll casually toward Erica. There was something sacred in her bearing, tinged with a captivating allure. Having just emerged from battle, even Erica found herself momentarily entranced.
It was not until Satsuki approached her, the refreshing fragrance of lotus lingering in the air around her, that Erica finally came back to her senses.
"You... you're not hurt, are you?"
Satsuki gently shook her head.
"Athena—where is she?"
"Here."
Satsuki raised one hand. Resting above her palm floated a small black pearl. Through a certain perception unique to a Godslayer, Erica could faintly sense traces of Athena's divinity and divine power emanating from within.
"She's been sealed?"
Having witnessed Satsuki's utterly unreasonable displays more than once, Erica no longer found it strange—even now, seeing a god bound within the palm of her hand.
All she wanted at this point was to go home, take a bath, and sleep soundly. The cleanup could wait.
—After all, with Satsuki here, nothing was truly insurmountable.
However, Satsuki clearly had other thoughts.
"I have temporarily abandoned the idea of destroying Athena. From the eulogy she recited upon returning to her true form during the battle, she possesses value for cooperation. So I took the liberty of preserving her divinity and power."
"Value for cooperation?"
When Athena reclaimed her trinitarian form, Erica had been swept aside by the wind of death and had not paid close attention to the hymn of awakening.
"She once declared herself a goddess cast into disgrace, and one violated by her father Zeus. Her lament made it clear that she still remembers that hatred..."
Otherwise, she would not have deliberately emphasized being the eternal maiden.
That experience stirred a trace of sympathy within Erica as a fellow woman. Athena's beauty was no less than her own, and her temperament possessed its own distinct charm.
Given such a past, becoming a Heretic God seemed almost understandable.
—As if!
Erica would not forget that she had nearly been killed. No matter how tragic one's past, an enemy was still an enemy. Meaningless mercy would only become a blade turned upon oneself.
But now that everything had settled, the one who truly decided such matters was not her—it was Satsuki.
So Erica asked, "What do you intend to do?"
"I will gradually decipher her power. Perhaps one day, her identity and strength will prove useful."
"Will you also become a Godslayer?"
"Not exactly. I will simply possess another identity and form."
...
The day after the decisive battle with Athena was Saturday.
Unwilling to waste unnecessary power restoring a single building, Satsuki and Erica returned to the Seven Heroes Shrine to handle the aftermath.
"It's... it's resolved?"
Upon learning that Athena had been defeated, Yuri Mariya's gaze toward Erica no longer contained mere reverence—it now carried shock.
Although Godslayers were Campiones who possessed the power to slay gods, that did not mean that Godslaying was as casual as buying cabbages from a roadside stall.
On the contrary—it was only slightly less difficult than a miracle.
Throughout history, there had been no shortage of Godslayers, but most met their end in battle.
Those who still lived in the modern era were either veterans who had survived for centuries or individuals who had only recently become gods.
Typically, the vast majority of Godslayers fell during their second godslaying battle.
And Erica—she had become a Godslayer less than a year ago. To accomplish another godslaying feat in such a short span of time was almost unbelievable.
However—Erica herself knew the truth. The one who had slain the god was not her, but Satsuki, who was currently watching television as though none of this concerned her.
"To think she accomplished feats like defeating the King of Swords and Heretic God Athena, yet she shows no awareness of it at all..."
Erica muttered, turning her gaze toward the television screen.
News of the incident was being broadcast: large portions of Edogawa, Kōtō, Chūō, and Minato wards had been swallowed by darkness for approximately four hours.
The official explanation attributed it to a malfunction in the power facilities, with the cause still under investigation—a press conference had been held that explained nothing.
After checking television and newspapers, it was clear every media outlet treated it as headline news.
Yet none provided detailed reports about how all tools related to light and fire had become unusable.
It was obvious that someone was controlling the flow of information.
There was no doubt—it had to be the Historical Compilation Committee.
"In that case, Princess Alice's prophecy has also been averted. It's almost unimaginable."
Yuri Mariya was still deep in thought.
"Indeed. A crisis that could have plunged the world into ruin was resolved in less than fifteen minutes." Touma Amakasu stepped out from the shadows of the shrine. As someone from a ninja background, he always appeared and disappeared like this. "Is this the power of a Godslayer? Only by witnessing it personally does one understand how small and insignificant ordinary humans truly are."
From Erica's introduction, Satsuki had heard he supposedly had a ninja background, so she casually swept him with the Tenseigan.
The result was unimpressive. There was no so-called chakra reaction within him. Aside from passable concealment techniques, his other abilities were insignificant in Satsuki's eyes—barely stronger than an ordinary human.
Erica, having changed into a fresh set of clothes, brushed a strand of golden hair behind her ear and reminded the shrine maiden, "Now that this matter is concluded, I hope Miss Mariya will fulfill our prior agreement."
"Oh? An agreement?"
A sharp gleam flashed in Touma Amakasu's eyes. Had this princess shrine maiden reached some arrangement with them without his knowledge?
"It's nothing that requires special secrecy," Erica said lightly, "but I assume Mr. Touma of the Historical Compilation Committee is not the sort who enjoys eavesdropping."
"Actually, I'm quite inter—"
Just as Touma Amakasu was about to abandon his dignity and press further, the latter half of his sentence was abruptly cut off.
Not only that—he completely lost control of his body.
"Since the aftermath has been handled, we should leave. We don't have that much time to waste."
Satsuki rose to her feet and glanced at Erica. An invisible thread of chakra connected from her to Touma Amakasu.
It was this thread that rendered him incapable of controlling himself, leaving him able only to watch as Satsuki and Erica walked down the shrine steps together.
And once they descended the mountain, a formidable trial immediately stood before them.
There, parked by the roadside, was the maid skilled in drifting, sitting behind the wheel with an expectant smile as she looked toward the shrine.
Even Satsuki, who had remained unperturbed before Athena, could not help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
"I suddenly feel that time is not so pressing after all. Perhaps it would be better to walk back. How about granting Miss Arianna a day off today, my Campione?"
"But you're not allowed to shake me off," Erica replied.
With that, she seized the chance and hooked one arm around Satsuki's, pressing lightly against her side as they walked.
The intimacy caused her eyes to curve into crescent moons. Especially upon seeing Satsuki's tsundere yet charming expression, which made the corners of her lips lift involuntarily.
When we get back, I'll definitely give Arianna a raise—mm~
...
"Has there been no change in the Divine Arena's mission?"
After returning to her residence and declining Erica's invitation to have lunch together, Satsuki immersed her consciousness into her sea of awareness.
The system's sphere of light floated out. "Host, the prompt remains simple: Complete Godslaying Objective 2/?. There have been no further changes or additional hints."
"I see. Expecting anything from you was my mistake."
Satsuki sat cross-legged on a tatami mat, her sharp tongue once again in full effect.
"Uh..."
The system's light sphere fell silent. As it gradually developed its own awareness, it was increasingly troubled by its half-baked state. The mission prompts it provided were always vague and incomplete. New hints would only appear once events had already fallen into place. Until then, everything remained shrouded in darkness.
If not for the clear directional implication of the name Divine Arena, it might have taken even longer to confirm that their opponents were Heretic Gods.
"Forget it. I'll study Athena's divinity instead."
With that, Satsuki raised one hand. Within a spatial distortion that formed a temporary passage, the Gorgon Stone reappeared in her grasp. Blue light of Status Infusion began recording the information of Athena's divinity and Authorities.
Time passed quietly, second by second.
Dozens of minutes later, Satsuki gradually stopped.
"It seems obtaining Authorities is far more difficult than I imagined."
Her golden eyes regarded the Gorgon Stone in her hand with faint interest, her tone devoid of strong emotion.
Much like her earlier attempt to use the Tenseigan and other abilities to see through the essence of a Heretic God, the decoding process itself proceeded smoothly. However, when she attempted to directly acquire Athena's divine power and Authorities through analysis, she encountered interference—from the Divine Arena itself.
—She could not directly obtain Authorities through godslaying.
Similarly, when she had defeated the Persian war god before, she had been unable to usurp his Authorities using Prometheus' Grimoire.
Though the explanations differed, the underlying meaning was obvious: unless she achieved final victory in the Divine Arena, Satsuki could not obtain additional Authorities.
That was reasonable.
After all, the final reward of the Divine Arena was precisely the acquisition of an extra Authority. It would make little sense for her to accumulate seventeen or eighteen Authorities within it.
She still remembered the system's prompt when she attempted to use Prometheus' Grimoire: "The rank of this world item is insufficient to interfere with the Demon Buddha Dharma Body."
For Satsuki, that message was actually good news. It meant that most divine artifacts in this world were ineffective against her.
She could neither obtain surplus Authorities nor have her own abilities stolen by strange divine tools.
Thus, after careful consideration, she had transferred Verethragna's Authority to Erica. The current result was not unexpected. From the beginning, Satsuki had not intended to become a Godslayer herself, but rather to assume the identity of Athena.
Since the experiment had confirmed her expectations—she could not directly absorb these Authorities—it did not mean she could not make use of them.
With that thought, she opened her sea of awareness and spoke, "Fortunately, I have already prepared a method for recycling waste."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The system's light sphere was still confused when suddenly Yomotsu Hirasaka manifested beside Satsuki. It formed a passage connected to her inner world, and the system sphere was forcibly drawn out.
"Host, what are you doing?"
Even without understanding the specifics, the system felt a sense of danger. The look in Satsuki's eyes was identical to the one she had worn when she reconstructed it into Ruri.
"Nothing much. I just need you to serve as a test subject."
With that, Satsuki raised her hand. The recorded blue light of Authority information shone onto the system sphere, while she tossed the Gorgon Stone toward it. The three began to merge.
At that point, the system understood. Satsuki intended to use the analyzed Authority data and the Gorgon Stone—containing Athena's divinity and power—to reconstruct the god known as Athena.
Just as she had once constructed the shikigami Ruri.
Only this time, she was not creating a shikigami.
She was creating a true god.
However—to prevent the consciousness dominating the Gorgon Stone, namely Heretic God Athena, from taking control of the reconstructed being—Satsuki had decided to use the system as a vessel. By utilizing its Swirl of the Root characteristics, she would generate an entirely new Athena.
...
While Satsuki was engaged in the act of god-creation—
On the other side of the world, the oldest Godslayer of this era opened his ferocious vertical pupils.
—Sasha Dejanstahl Voban.
As for his origins, he had not initially been a Marquis. Born in what is now called Hungary, he had once been nothing more than a penniless orphan. There were days when even obtaining a single loaf of bread to fill his stomach was difficult. He drifted from place to place, surviving as a wandering youth for over a decade.
Until one day, he succeeded in killing a god—and usurped its Authority to become a Godslayer.
To this day, no one knows how that boy accomplished such a feat. It is only known that a few years later, after gaining power, he attacked the castle of a neighboring Marquis, seized his title and lands, and then, not long after, grew bored of the title and discarded it. Yet the name remained.
Thus came the origin of the title Marquis Voban.
Moreover, the surname "Voban" carried a rather extraordinary past.
After overthrowing the former Marquis, he learned that the noble had kept a fierce hunting dog named Voban. On a whim, he adopted that very name as his own surname—effectively turning the deposed Marquis into his relative. In other words, the former master was now subordinate to what had once been his own dog, reduced to servitude.
One had to admit—in terms of humor, this method of humiliating an enemy at great cost to one's own dignity was refreshingly creative.
At present, this so-called humorist was meeting someone in a suite of a high-rise hotel.
"So you are Krannichal's granddaughter? We met four years ago, I believe. Yet I have no recollection of your face. How curious. I do not believe my memory has declined—perhaps it is simply that your generation matures too quickly. After all, modern Europe rarely suffers famines like those of the Middle Ages..."
His voice was clear and cultured, though his diction and phrasing carried the archaic cadence of centuries past.
His appearance also evoked the image of an ancient noble—broad forehead, deeply sunken eyes, a sickly pale complexion. He looked every bit the conspirator lurking in shadows.
"At that time I was still very young, and the Marquis saw me for less than ten minutes. Please do not trouble yourself over it," she replied politely, offering a knight's salute.
The prodigies of this generation in Milan seemed overwhelmingly female. Erica Blandelli of the Copper-Black Cross was one.
And the one now standing before Voban was her rival—Liliana Kranjcar of the Bronze Black Cross.
She was a gallant young girl. Beneath her lowered gaze lay a strikingly beautiful face—charming yet dignified. Her silver-brown hair was tied into a ponytail that hung behind her.
And she, too, was only sixteen years old.
If this were Japan, she would likely possess the standard "high school student" pseudo-protagonist setting as well.