On the sea surface filled with drifting ice, standing beneath the rotating Circle of Usurpation, Kaiser had his eyes closed, slowly sorting through the gains from this dual God-Slaying.
First was the Authority. This was the fixed reward for God-Slaying—Kaiser didn't even think about it and made his choice directly.
Next was the power beyond the Authority—all of it had turned into Magical Power, merging into Kaiser's body, causing a substantial increase in his Magical Power once again.
The increase in Magical Power affected many aspects, but what Kaiser valued most was undoubtedly the enhancement of his own Magical Power resistance.
As long as Magical Power was circulated, one's Magical Power resistance would grow stronger. The more Magical Power, the stronger the resistance. If this continued to rise, one day, perhaps even the Authorities of the gods would be repelled by Kaiser's physical body and would have no effect on him.
"My current Magical Power... is probably around ten times that of an average Campione, right?"
Kaiser sensed it and nodded in satisfaction.
Once the Magical Power finished increasing, Kaiser opened his eyes and put away the Circle of Usurpation that had completed its task.
At this moment, a radiant golden sword appeared in Kaiser's hand.
This was precisely the Authority he obtained from Verethragna.
In the original work, after the protagonist slew Verethragna, the Authority he received was the Ten Incarnations—allowing him to use the powers of "Strong Wind," "Bull," "White Horse," "Camel," "Boar," "Youth," "Phoenix," "Shepherd," "Goat," and "Warrior," just like Verethragna—extremely versatile.
Of course, because it was only one Authority, his Ten Incarnations came with very strict usage conditions.
Verethragna's Ten Incarnations—any one of them alone could become a powerful Authority. The original protagonist combined all ten into one Authority, so naturally, there were corresponding limitations.
For example, once an Incarnation was used, that protagonist could not use it again within the same day. The usage time of an Incarnation was also limited and required additional activation conditions.
Like the "Bull" Incarnation, it could only be used when fighting an opponent possessing superhuman strength.
Like the "White Horse" Incarnation, it could only be used when confronting a great sinner who brought suffering to the people.
Also, the "Camel" Incarnation could only be used when seriously injured. The "Boar" Incarnation required a massive object as the target to be activated—these were clearly imposed limitations, which made the original protagonist's combat strength fluctuate, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Coupled with a poor mentality, he often got beaten up—even ordinary people could trample on him, which was quite humiliating.
Therefore, Kaiser had no intention of obtaining all Ten Incarnations of Verethragna and only took the Golden Sword used in the "Warrior" Incarnation.
This was the strongest sword and shield against gods—even if the opponent wasn't a god, as long as they possessed divine power or an Authority, this sword could take effect.
In the original, the protagonist could only use the "Warrior" Incarnation and summon the Golden Sword when confronting a god or someone else and thoroughly understanding them. Kaiser, having taken only the Golden Sword as an Authority, naturally had no such restrictions—he could summon it anytime, anywhere.
Of course, if he could thoroughly understand the opponent and use that knowledge to hone the Golden Sword, the Golden Sword would become even more powerful and sharper.
"With this, I now have a deadly weapon specifically meant for dealing with gods."
Kaiser played with the Golden Sword, smiling.
Although he already possessed a God-Slaying spear, the positioning of the Golden Sword and the God-Slaying Spear was different.
The Balance Breaker of the True Longinus—[Spear of Divine and Demonic Judgement]—its god-annihilating power was, in essence, not a force designed specifically for dealing with gods.
It targeted all beings, all life.
Whether god or demon, as long as they were pierced by the spear, they would certainly die. This Balance Breaker's power was essentially an extreme enhancement of the power to kill living beings, not a force designed to counter gods.
In other words, the God-Slaying Spear dealt true damage, while the Golden Sword dealt bonus damage—one's essence was slaughter, the other's essence was restraint. In the field of gods alone, the Golden Sword was undoubtedly stronger.
Moreover, when using the Golden Sword, Kaiser would also receive the blessing of the "Warrior" Incarnation.
"Physical abilities will be enhanced, and I'll also gain special eyes that can pierce through the nature of hostile gods. This will undoubtedly help me understand enemy gods faster, see through their origins, and use that knowledge to forge an even stronger Golden Sword."
If he brought this sword back to the High School DxD World, or went to those other worlds where gods existed—it would definitely be interesting, wouldn't it?
Kaiser thought with a hint of mischief.
"With the Golden Sword, plus the Circle of Usurpation, from now on, all gods will serve as nourishment for me."
Kaiser then activated his Authority, letting golden engravings spread across the Golden Sword, claiming it as his own and strengthening it.
Immediately after, Kaiser put away the Golden Sword and instead summoned two staves.
These two staves—one wrapped in whirlwind, the other in lightning—emitted the aura of wind and thunder, ancient and full of divinity.
They were precisely the divine tools Yagrush and Aymur, forged by the God of Craftsmen and wielded by Melqart.
At this moment, compared to when they were in Melqart's hands, the appearance of these two divine tools had changed significantly.
When held by Melqart, these two staves were rather unappealing in form—one had a bulbous head like a clump of whirlwind, the other was shaped like lightning—no matter how you looked at them, they seemed awkward.
Perhaps it was due to this impression—when Kaiser selected these two divine tools as his Authority, the Authority responded to his will and altered their forms.
Now both staves were long rods, pitch black throughout, seemingly cast from some kind of ironwood—one bore wind-patterned engravings, the other lightning-patterned engravings—and inscribed in Semitic script were the words "Yagrush (Pursuer)" and "Aymur (Exiler)," appearing ancient and mysterious.
These two divine tools respectively symbolized wind and lightning. The former could control storms, the latter could control thunder. When used together, they could summon a tempest—the scale of the storm depended on the amount of Magical Power expended. If Kaiser were willing to spend enough Magical Power, it would be no problem to engulf an entire large country in a storm.
"Ryūjin Jakka is the strongest flame-type Zanpakutō, capable of incinerating all creation."
"Hyōrinmaru is the strongest ice-type Zanpakutō, capable of commanding water in the sky and atmosphere, freezing everything."
"Now, adding Yagrush and Aymur—one with the power of wind, one with the power of lightning..."
Fire, ice, wind, lightning... Kaiser had now mastered various elemental attributes—and each was especially powerful, powerful enough to harm even gods—making him tangibly feel himself growing stronger step by step.
"These two staves also have the ability to change size."
With a thought from Kaiser, Yagrush and Aymur immediately began to enlarge, instantly growing to about the same size as Melqart's giant form.
Each magical staff could grow up to fifteen meters in height, or shrink to the size used by ordinary people—down to one meter in length, becoming two short rods.
"They can also automatically engage the enemy."
With a wave of Kaiser's hand, the two massive staves immediately flew out, dancing like twin dragons—soaring into the sky, diving into the sea, summoning storms one moment, lightning clouds the next—instantly throwing the entire sea area into chaos.
"Though not as lethal as the Golden Sword, they are still powerful weapons for regular combat."
Kaiser summoned the two staves back, placed both hands on them, and activated his Authority to claim and strengthen them.
Once ownership was complete and the staves were returned to his body, Kaiser stretched lazily.
"Odin, Poseidon, Verethragna, Melqart... In just a few days, I've slain four gods in a row, gained four Authorities, and obtained four powerful exclusive weapons."
"God-Slaying truly is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor—once successful, it never fails to yield results."
"Next..."
Next, where should he go to find more gods?
Kaiser mused for a moment, then turned his head to look east.
"Looks like I'll have to return to that country."
After all, a god was still sealed there.
That god had been Kaiser's childhood idol—he was genuinely looking forward to meeting him.
And...
"Mariya Yuri... if I can obtain her Spirit Vision, I should be able to locate even more gods, right?"
Kaiser increasingly felt that he had to bring that Hime-Miko under his command.
It wasn't like he hadn't done something like that before.
In the Asterisk world, Kaiser had personally invited Kirin Toudou to be his teammate for the Phoenix Festa.
In the High School DxD World, Kaiser had also recruited Kuroka and Asia, taking these two girls along as they roamed the world.
In the Bleach world, he even had Hinamori Momo—a vice-captain who could come at a call, be graceful in public, do housework at home.
So when it came to recruiting teammates and subordinates, Kaiser wasn't unfamiliar at all.
"It's just... with that shrine maiden's personality, she's probably very worried I'll do something outrageous, huh?"
Kaiser muttered, then suddenly chuckled.
"Mm, no rush—let's take it slow. Teasing her a bit along the way could be fun too."
For some reason, just thinking of Mariya Yuri's timid look around him always made Kaiser want to tease her.
"Could it be... that's exactly why that super-intuitive shrine maiden subconsciously grows more afraid of me?"
Kaiser suddenly realized—feeling like he had learned a certain truth.
...
At the same time, far away in the island nation of the Far East, inside the Shichio Shrine, Mariya Yuri—who was combing her hair in front of the mirror—suddenly shuddered all over.
"...I have a bad feeling something's going to happen."
The Hime-Miko lady immediately became somewhat uneasy.
Little did she know—someone had already set their sights on her.
And not just one person.