Off the coast of Naples, Italy, nearly all the cruise ships, and even the fishing boats of the local fishermen, had been commandeered, sweeping through every section of the sea in a massive search.
To them, all they knew was that an extremely distinguished person had fallen into the sea. Whoever could fish him out would be set for life for generations to come. But only a very small number of magicians in the know understood the truth: their King of Magicians had gotten himself lost again.
The King's Steward, Andrea, also stood on the deck of a cruise ship. He wasn't particularly worried about his king's safety.
After chasing a dragon formed from ley lines, he had been ambushed by a suddenly appearing Heretic God, and the two had erupted into a great battle off the coast. The result was that his own king had been struck by an arrow of the sun and had fallen into the deep sea, while the manifested Heretic God had transformed into a rainbow to chase the dragon of the ley lines away.
The King of Swords, Doni, when not in battle, was the most unreliable of all the kings, second only to Lady Aisha. He had used the Steel Protection of Siegfried to feign death and avoid a grievous fate, but he himself had also fallen into the deep sea. Because of his special state, even magic had difficulty detecting his presence, so they could only resort to this slow, stupid method of searching.
All of this could have been perfectly avoided, even if Doni wanted to satisfy his soaring desire for battle. The Pillar of Hercules that could summon a Heretic God was right on his own territory, and the dragon manifested from the ley lines was a symbol of the local life force. But he just had to go and slay the dragon-serpent, only to be ambushed by a Heretic God.
"And a Heretic God that ambushes, is that really a hero-god?" the King's Steward, Andrea, wondered.
Most manifested Heretic Gods were proud, had a strong sense of ritual, and distinct personalities. Logically speaking, a god who would ambush from behind and resort to schemes and tricks should not be very strong. But to be able to knock the King into the sea, its strength must also be considerable.
"That Authority that dominates witches, that essence that chases dragon-serpents, there can be no mistake." The earth witch, Lucretia Zola, looked out at the distant ocean. "It's just that the dragon flew to the east. I'm afraid this hero-god will have to be dealt with by the two Majesties in the East. I wonder if it will be the Martial Empress Luo Hao or the young His Majesty Seiya."
Seiya was unaware of the events happening on the other side of the ocean. At this moment, he was in a mansion in the Banchō area of Chiyoda, eating hot pot. This was a rare moment of leisure for him.
Temporarily taking over this land from the Old Gentleman had been easier than Seiya had imagined. He had thought there would be die-hard remnants, but as it turned out, the Kanto branch led by Sayanomiya and the mages led by Kufatsuka Mikihiko had scrambled over each other to swear allegiance to him on that very day.
It was probably the culture of the strong on this land. For example: "The weak must obey the strong, subordinates are not allowed to talk back to their superiors, the tears I shed today will never be shed again, how could I possibly resist such a strong Saint," and so on. And as the one who had defeated the Old Gentleman, the Saint Seiya was naturally the strongest, most powerful, and most vigorous existence.
The Official History Compilation Committee naturally disbanded and merged into the Onmyo Agency. The new state organ, which should now be called the Onmyo-ryō, spent a continuous week accepting written oaths of allegiance from various factions. Seiya would then lightly touch the scabbard of his sword to show his acceptance of their loyalty. The samurai and onmyoji had even smashed who knows how many blue bricks kneeling outside this courtyard. It was only late at night, after Seiya accepted the final oath from the Seishuin family, who considered themselves guilty, that it was all over.
During his leisure time, he was always studying the Wheel of Friendship and the Strong Wind avatar, because he could always seem to hear an extremely distant call. Although these two Authorities were not very useful in battle, when combined, they had an outstanding performance that exceeded expectations.
And the victory feedback from the God of Combat Authority after defeating the Heretic God Susanoo also arrived as scheduled.
[Combat Techniques: Pegasus Light-Speed Fist, Thought Overclocking Acceleration]
[Authority 'Strong Wind Avatar' has developed a new effect. Please check for receipt.]
The effect of the Strong Wind avatar was to control gales, typhoons, tornadoes, and other air currents. At the same time, it could also enhance the power of wind-based combat techniques like the Fierce Tiger Raging Wind Violet Lightning Fist and the Fierce Dragon Blizzard Frost Fist. But its truly heaven-defying effect was the ability to cross the distance of space and appear at the side of one who called for him.
And the new effect was an ability developed based on Verethragna's essence as a god of travelers. Its effect was to become a gust of wind blowing by to protect the people—especially travelers. It is said that the ancient Persians would chant Verethragna's spells to pray for a safe journey, or carve small statues of him to be placed on the streets as guardian deities.
A concrete manifestation might be that in the future, if he couldn't avoid fighting in a city or a densely populated area, he could use this Authority to grant the people the divine protection of warding off projectiles.
However, regarding the Saint Seiya's development of Authorities, the goddess of love, Stella, who was his subordinate deity, had a completely different opinion. At this moment, the goddess, having recovered to the appearance of a ten-year-old, was also holding children's chopsticks and feasting on the hot pot.
"As a Saint, your way of thinking is not wrong, but you should be more focused on yourself. As my main god, the main god of me, the perfectly perfect love goddess Stella, you should show a more magnificent air," Stella said, proudly patting her ample chest.
The Saint, Seiya, felt a little dizzy. Such grand reasoning coming from a child's body was only logical when it came from a love goddess like Stella.
Stella continued, "If you protect humans, you should more frankly accept their worship. You should have the air that all things in the world admire my glory. This world is essentially more inclined towards chaos. As long as you possess the strength to surpass the world, then the world will naturally be shaped into the form you desire."
Seiya lightly tapped Stella's head with a wooden ladle. Stella clutched her head, but she also had her own little thoughts.
Hera and Nemesis must still be searching for me. And now that I've fallen into this state, I definitely can't fight those two. Even Athena on the other side of the divine realm will surely kick me while I'm down.
But the main god I'm currently following, this God-slaying Pegasus, is quite the fighter. I'll first trick him into taking a shot at that old spinster Athena's throne, then lead him to attack Mount Olympus. Then, at a critical moment, I'll backstab him. Maybe I, the love goddess Stella, can even become the fourth-generation God King.
Stella's God King Plan is a go!
The thought of herself sitting on the throne of the God King, enjoying the worship of all things in the world, made her a little excited. As she was using her children's chopsticks to pick up a piece of beef, Stella couldn't help but giggle.
Seiya paid no mind to this goddess who had suddenly started giggling foolishly, but just looked at her with a gentle gaze. Stella wiped the drool from her mouth. Could it be that this Saint has already been charmed by me? That's not surprising. All things in the world cannot resist the charm of the love goddess. I just have to watch out for that old spinster Athena. She is my truly powerful rival... But soon, Stella realized that Seiya's gentle gaze was not directed at her, but at what was behind her.
There was no sign, no fluctuation. When Stella turned her body with a kacha kacha sound, what she saw was the beautiful, expressionless face of a young woman holding a winged staff. In this moment, Stella's heart pounded wildly. But this Athena walked right past her and came before Seiya.
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