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There is a human belief in taking a part of a hero or warrior—their possessions, or even their flesh—and praying to make the deceased's power one's own.
The gods who correspond to this belief are the Gods of Steel.
Those who wield their armaments, hunting demons, dragons, serpents, demon kings, and Rakshasa, are the most vicious type of deity and the mortal enemies of God-Slayers.
Li Zihan yearned to become 'Steel'.
Prometheus, who possessed the Authority of wisdom and knowledge, looked at the young man who had been actively seeking out Gods of Steel, hoping to seize from them the power that corresponded to their very essence. He took a deep breath.
With a wisdom that could penetrate all things, he could easily see through to the desire in the young man's eyes.
He longed to be like a God of Steel, to seize the authority and power of those he defeated, to rapidly accumulate strength through plunder and elevate his own existence.
"I only desire the power of 'Steel'."
"As for becoming 'Steel' myself, I must respectfully decline," the young man said with a shrug, having no particular wish to become a honey badger-like God of Steel.
"That is not a matter for you to decide."
Prometheus shook his head as he looked at the youth who craved the essential power of the Gods of Steel.
"A God-Slayer is already an existence very close to 'Steel'. Once you obtain an Authority that corresponds to the essence of 'Steel'..."
The man whose very name, "Prometheus," carries the meaning of "prophecy," slowly spoke, revealing the future he had seen.
"You will continuously be purified in the direction of 'Steel', until you become one of them."
"That sounds rather terrifying," the young man said with another shrug, completely unconcerned about the prospect of becoming a God of Steel.
"So, did you descend to warn me not to touch the power of 'Steel'?"
Li Zihan, who knew that Gods of Steel were generally despised by everyone in the divine realm, looked at the man who most certainly disliked them and posed the question.
"It is not a warning, but merely some advice from a father," Prometheus replied, shaking his head, though he did indeed detest the Gods of Steel.
"If you merely wish to obtain an Authority that takes power from others, you don't necessarily have to target a God of Steel."
Don't necessarily have to target a God of Steel?
Hearing these words, Li Zihan couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
It seemed the centerpiece of the God-Slaying ritual—the Ring of Usurpation—had led him into a mental trap.
Gods of Steel generally possessed the power to seize the abilities of others.
But—
They weren't the only ones with such powers.
Furthermore, to take another's power, one didn't necessarily need to defeat, dominate, and plunder them.
Didn't the God-Slayer named Kusanagi Godou rely on the power of Prometheus to steal an incarnation from Verethragna and kill him with it?
Li Zihan raised his head, his gaze fixed on the gentle-faced man.
The source of that power was the very man standing before him.
The Prometheus Grimoire could forcibly seize an incarnation from a war god. As the source of the grimoire's power, Prometheus himself possessed an Authority whose effect could only be stronger.
"It seems you've figured some things out."
The man, whose legend included the theft of heavenly fire, chuckled lightly, utterly unconcerned that his words could easily incite a patricidal incident.
"So, are you going to put me through a trial next?" the young man asked, recalling his encounter with the Heretical Lugh in England and the trial he had received from that divine king who considered Scáthach's skills mere parlor tricks.
"Although I would like to directly bestow the power of the 'Fire-Thief' upon you, that would be too far outside the rules."
"So, allow me to test your martial arts."
The man, who knew full well that his chances of victory against this Karna from another world were slim, spoke with a faint smile.
Endless madness began to surge from his body.
His mere presence gave off the feeling of impending disaster, sending a chill down one's spine.
Then—
Terrifying divine power erupted from the deity.
The refined, gentle man's body began to swell, transforming into a ferocious and majestic giant.
No, he was simply returning to his true form as a giant.
Returning to the giant form he possessed as both Prometheus and Loki.
"As you wish."
The young man, clearly not opposed to a battle with Prometheus, spoke. Like a dam releasing its floodgates, a torrent of magical energy, infinitely close to that of a god's, surged within his body.
"Last night's full moon is not the moon of tonight, / A year holds twelve cycles of its fullest light. / How long can the time of a youth remain? / Yet I suspect at its peak, the moon's beauty begins to wane."
A chant like this seemed to echo in the air.
The Reality Marble of the Emiya family began to unfold.
Then—
It was as if the very principles of heaven and earth were shattering.
The space around them fractured like a pane of glass, dissolving into nothingness.
A world of the mind eroded reality.
The sky changed.
The sovereign celestial body was replaced by the moon.
The sun vanished from the world.
Just as described in the chant, the moon in the sky began to shift continuously.
New moon, crescent moon, first quarter, gibbous moon, full moon...
In a mere instant, the moon hanging high in the firmament cycled through all the phases that would normally take a month to appear in the real world.
Then, the cycle began anew.
Light and shadow fell into disarray, overlapping like tangible objects, piling up in the dome of the sky.
A distant, ancient river appeared at the edge of his vision.
"So, this is the battlefield?"
Prometheus, now a giant, remarked as he looked upon this world whose rules of time and space were completely different from the outside.
"This is the place most suitable for me to display my full combat strength."
The young man, who had once slaughtered the strongest war god of the Far East in this very world, raised the longbow in his hands.
Within this world, completely unimpeded by outside rules, his control over spacetime would be magnified to its absolute limit.
Unless the enemy possessed resistance to time or the power to shatter this otherworld in an instant, fighting Li Zihan here was a one-way path to death.
However, this time, he didn't plan on using his time or Herrscher powers.
After all, relying too heavily on one or two abilities was not a good thing.
So, it was time to train his martial skills for the first time in a while.
Feeling his blood heat up in anticipation, the young man slung Vijaya onto his back.
The demonic spear and demonic sword from Lugh manifested beside him.
The self-aware demonic sword circled him like a vicious dog.
The bloodthirsty demonic spear was gripped in his hand.
Its forked tip pointed directly at the giant's chest.
Battle was imminent.