"So, you're saying the false king, Kusanagi, has already been killed?"
A rather agitated voice echoed within the halls of the History Compilation Committee.
The speaker was a stunning beauty dressed in men's clothing, the kind of person who could make young girls fall in love at first sight.
A white shirt and tie, a suit jacket, and trousers. Not a skirt, but men's trousers, giving her a dashing and heroic air. It even made one feel that seeing such a person in a skirt would be incongruous.
This was none other than Sayanomiya Kaoru, the one who had represented the History Compilation Committee to contact Kusanagi Godou immediately after the incident.
—The next head of the Sayanomiya family, and a candidate for the next leader of the History Compilation Committee.
"Is it really appropriate to call Lord Kusanagi a 'false king' so casually?"
A man in a scruffy suit who looked like a corporate drone shrugged and took a sip of tea from the cup on the table.
His name was Amakasu Touma, a descendant of ninja and an agent for the state agency that managed mages and sorcerers—the History Compilation Committee.
"The victor is king, the loser a bandit. To call the defeated, and possibly dead, Lord Kusanagi a 'false king' instead of a 'bandit king' or 'rebel' is already a respectful term," the beautiful girl dressed as a man sighed heavily.
Her lack of composure was understandable; the situation had developed too suddenly.
Kusanagi Godou had been utterly defeated.
Yes, less than three minutes after arriving on the battlefield, he was defeated. Then, he vanished completely.
Meanwhile, the newborn king he fought had leisurely found a detached house and moved in with his wives and concubines.
It was common knowledge that a God-Slayer's strength was not determined by the number of their Authorities, but by the extent of their development and their ability to control the battlefield. Therefore, the combat capabilities of the God-Slayers were thought to be quite close.
But—
Now, that understanding had been shattered.
Kusanagi Godou was defeated. He hadn't even lasted three minutes against the newborn king.
"The current King of the Far East must be an existence similar to Lord Kaslana."
Amakasu Touma, who had received some intelligence from the Vatican, shrugged and revealed a rather shocking piece of information.
The eighth God-Slayer, Kevin Kaslana, had crushed the Heretical God Michael with absolute martial might. After a fierce battle of half an hour, he used an unknown power, different from magical energy, to freeze Michael along with St. Peter's Basilica, and then promptly beheaded him.
That newborn king possessed power rivaling that of Heretical Gods and God-Slayers even before his apotheosis. After being reborn as a God-Slayer and gaining divine Authorities and various enhancements, Kevin Kaslana's power was definitively a cut above the other God-Slayers.
If the new king who declared himself the King of the Far East was a similar case, then his ability to thrash Kusanagi Godou was easy to understand. He was already no weaker than you to begin with, and now he had the God-Slayer buff on top of that. It would be stranger if he lost.
"You seem quite pleased with this," Sayanomiya Kaoru, still agitated, questioned Amakasu Touma, who wore an indifferent expression.
"Because we are utterly incapable of resisting the King's rule, are we not?" the scruffy, laid-back man sighed and said.
Sayanomiya Kaoru was rendered speechless by his words.
Campione—God-Slayer—is an overlord. Because they have slain the gods of heaven and seized their supreme divine power.
Campione—God-Slayer—is a king. Because they wield the Authorities usurped from their kill, they dominate the mortals of the earth.
Campione—God-Slayer—is a demon lord. Because no mortal living in this world possesses the power to stand against them!
This was the advice given to all of humanity in the book "The Demon King," written by the nineteenth-century Italian mage, Albert Rigano.
Countless chosen ones had once detested the wolf king of the Balkans, raising the banner of justice to subjugate him. To be able to face the old Marquis directly as an ordinary person was absolutely impossible without extraordinary courage and strength. It could be said that those who dared to rebel were all peerless heroes.
But what was the fate of these heroes who dared to challenge a demon lord?
They all died. Not a single one survived. They were turned into undead, dominated by the old Marquis's Authority, becoming his most humble servants, never to find release.
And now, the King who had come to the Far East was a demon lord who had disposed of another God-Slayer as if killing a chicken.
He could be even more terrifying than Marquis Voban!
"Then, in your opinion, what should we do?" Sayanomiya Kaoru asked, a pointless question given that she could basically confirm their only two options were to "wait for death" or "become bootlickers."
"The Seishuin family has yet to state their position."
As representatives of Japan's prominent families and one of the four great houses, the Seishuin family was special. Behind them stood a great personage who, under normal circumstances, did not interfere much, but at critical moments, would directly command the entire Far East.
That divine lord was the true ruler of the Far East.
The fact that the Seishuin family had not made a move...
Sayanomiya Kaoru was worried. Lord Susanoo had not acknowledged the newborn king.
"Lady Sayanomiya, who do you think is stronger: His Majesty the King, or a Heretical God?"
And then—
Amakasu Touma's voice reached Sayanomiya Kaoru's ears.
The answer was the King from China. A god's combat power was only a line stronger than a God-Slayer's, yet this demon lord among demon lords treated other God-Slayers as if he were wringing a chick's neck.
If he could dispose of a God-Slayer like wringing a chick's neck, then strangling a Heretical God was likely no difficult task for him either.
Like a blade of grass on a wall bending in the wind, Sayanomiya Kaoru made her choice.
"It seems I must pay a visit to His Majesty the King."
Having clearly made her decision, Sayanomiya Kaoru stood up from the table.
"What do you think we should bring as a gift when we go to see His Majesty?"
"That depends entirely on what His Majesty wants," the very頹廢-looking man said. "If His Majesty wants mythological texts, we must search for mythological texts. If His Majesty wants beautiful women, we must organize a beauty pageant."
"A lackey should just do what a lackey is supposed to do."
Hearing Amakasu Touma's words, Sayanomiya Kaoru couldn't help but smile bitterly. In the eyes of a God-Slayer, magical aristocrats like them were probably just lackeys who handled miscellaneous affairs.
"That may be so, Amakasu, but we can't go empty-handed."
Quickly accepting the reality of her new role as a lackey, Sayanomiya Kaoru continued to question her capable subordinate.
"I am not His Majesty, how would I know what he likes?" Amakasu Touma rolled his eyes. "But—"
"One thing is certain. As a God-Slayer, His Majesty is interested in 'the hunt,' is he not?"
"And on our barren lands, there is still prey that would interest His Majesty, is there not?"