---o---
"Long time no see, Pandora."
After annihilating Susanoo with absolute firepower, the young man, who was no stranger to Pandora, greeted the stunned goddess.
"You killed that old turtle Susanoo?"
Pandora's voice was filled with admiration, clearly startled to see the power of a notoriously infamous war god appear as a sacrifice in the ritual.
"Yeah, I killed him."
He had used the System to blind Susanoo's observational abilities, then baited him into an ambush with talk of "unleashing the King of the End" and "my body is already boroboro da."
Battles between masters have only two outcomes.
One is a one-hit kill; the other is a three-thousand-round epic.
Susanoo, whose intelligence came entirely from the four great turncoat families of the Far East, felt he had the upper hand and could go for the one-hit kill.
He brought his good buddy—a Sokushinbutsu—to set up an ambush.
And then, his good buddy was the one who got one-shotted.
A single blow, a simulated Herrscher of Thunder Authority derived from the scumbag boss's chest-piercing fist, directly eliminated the Sokushinbutsu.
After that, Susanoo himself was dragged into a Reality Marble.
He was met with an unlimited supply of the God-Slaying Spear, the Vijaya bow, Brahmastra, thermonuclear weapons, simulated black holes, fluid cutting, and Skyfire Judgement.
It was obvious that even the King of the End himself, the Heretical Rama, would have been skinned alive by such a high-intensity saturation bombing.
Could Susanoo's strength compare to Luo Aotian's?
The answer was obviously no.
Before the combo was even finished, Susanoo was dead.
Having once again used a god as a sacrifice to activate the God-Slaying ritual, Li Zihan naturally appeared before Pandora once more.
"So, seeing as how I so beautifully took care of that sly old fox Susanoo, can you open a back door for me and let me choose my own Authority?" the young man asked the supposedly ancient goddess with utmost seriousness.
Although the God-Slaying ritual was created by the Prometheus brothers, it was presided over by Pandora. Her authority was, in fact, incredibly high.
If Pandora was willing to help, the process could be changed from "randomly obtain one Authority from Susanoo" to "pick one Authority from Susanoo."
"That sort of thing is a forbidden matter."
Pandora, who had the ability but would absolutely never use it, rolled her eyes.
She and the Prometheus brothers created God-Slayers to produce warriors who could rival Heretical Gods, maintaining peace in the mortal world through a dynamic equilibrium.
But...
This Li Zihan fellow was just steamrolling Heretical Gods!
If they gave him an à la carte Authority package, he'd probably be able to fight his way all the way to the divine realms where the gods' true bodies resided.
"Tsk—"
Hearing her firm refusal, Li Zihan couldn't help but make a sound of displeasure.
All he really wanted was an Authority with an ability similar to the true form of the rebirth ritual—the Ring of Usurpation.
But—
Obtaining an Authority was half compatibility, half luck.
The probability of getting an Authority that perfectly matched his desires was rather low.
For example, the as-yet-unnamed Authority he got from Susanoo didn't possess all the characteristics he wanted.
The young man seriously began to contemplate the success rate of snatching the Ring of Usurpation from Pandora by force.
Then, he abandoned the thought.
He was confident he could take out Pandora within three minutes.
But—
He had no idea where the Ring of Usurpation was hidden. Even if he killed Pandora, he wouldn't be able to find the divine artifact that symbolized the essence of the Gods of Steel.
Sensing the gaze of the one who was both her child and, in a way, her nephew, Miss Pandora started to get nervous.
"Besides, if you want to ask for something like that, you should be asking Prometheus," Pandora said. "If it's you, Prometheus would probably be more than happy to offer some help."
This was a fact.
Surya adored Karna, even being willing to bestow upon him the golden armor and earrings that symbolized immortality, allowing him to shine with the same brilliance as himself.
When he learned that Indra was coming to trick his son out of the Sun's Armor, he immediately sent him a dream, telling him to ignore that shameless Indra. When his son didn't listen, he took a step back and told him how to obtain the God-Slaying Spear to mitigate his losses as much as possible.
After Karna was killed by Arjuna on the battlefield, the very heavens changed, and everyone could see how heartbroken Surya was.
Surya's other children never received such treatment.
His other child, the Monkey King, got nothing.
And Surya and Prometheus were two sides of the same coin, the same god manifested in different mythologies.
Considering the degree to which Surya doted on Karna, asking for a favor really wouldn't be difficult.
At this thought, Pandora's heart began to race.
The true master of the Ring of Usurpation wasn't her.
Its master was "Hindsight" Epimetheus—Prometheus's younger brother and brain-dead fan.
If this guy really went and asked Prometheus, he might actually get the custom Authority package.
"It's time for you to go back, Karna from another world."
Feeling that letting Prometheus meet this guy would lead to a very dangerous development, Pandora promptly closed the gate to the Astral Plane, much to Li Zihan's bewilderment.
When his vision cleared, he was already back in the mortal world.
What the hell was that?
Li Zihan, who had practically been kicked out of the Astral Plane by Pandora, looked at the scenery around him, a bit dazed.
Feeling that his treatment had been rather poor, the young man scratched his head and sighed.
The slaying of Susanoo was a success.
Unfortunately, the Authority he obtained was not the Ring of Usurpation.
But luckily, Susanoo was far from the only God of Steel in this world.
Next, he could still hunt the Heretical Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the Heretical Second Master from the Age of Gods (Perseus), couldn't he?
If I still don't get the Authority I want after that, I'll probably just unleash all the divinity in my body and summon a Heretical God myself, the young man thought, stretching lazily before patting his System.
He needed to make a trip back to the Honkai world to bring some people over.
Seele, who was a Herrscher of Death from the get-go, could enhance herself with the power of an underworld pantheon.
Bronya, who would sooner or later obtain the Core of Reason from Welt, also needed the power of a smithing god to improve her understanding of other things.
And then there was Mei. She needed the power of a hearth god—ahem, a thunder god, to increase her strength.
With these thoughts, he had the System open a portal. A faint white light enveloped him, teleporting him back to the Honkai world.
And then—
The gate to the Astral Plane unfolded once more.
A figure stepped out from within.
Subsequently—
In the sky, the brilliance of the sun intensified.