The next morning, Erica woke up from her bed, rubbing her dizzy head.
She remembered drinking with Kaido until midnight and finally passing out from exhaustion.
"How embarrassing to be seen in that state!"
For Erica, who especially valued her appearance, getting drunk in front of Kaido was truly discourteous, both from the perspective of a knight and a half-dame.
However, Erica had gotten drunk occasionally in front of Kaido before, but at that time, they were just friends, and she hadn't reacted so strongly.
Upon waking up, her blood sugar level was slightly low, making it difficult for Erica to open her eyes, but when she instinctively felt around beside her, she touched a very soft object.
It was round and pleasant to the touch, like cotton.
"What is this?"
Erica looked confused and saw Liliana sleeping beside her.
The sensitive girl, whose intimate area was being massaged, also noticed the anomaly in her body. Upon waking up, she saw the pale hand grasping her breast.
Liliana took several seconds to react, stunned.
Then, this silver-haired Literary Knight put on a "face-changing" performance in front of Erica.
Her face was red as if it were on fire. The girl immediately pulled away the hand that was still taking liberties, instinctively covered herself with the sheet, and looked at the owner of the "errant hand" with shame and anger.
But upon seeing Erica, she froze again.
"Huh? Why are you?"
"Why can't I be?"
Erica covered her mouth and laughed between her teeth.
"Why are you reacting so strongly? It's not like I haven't touched you before."
—Uf… I thought it was the King… sleeping beside me.
Liliana said with a reddened face.
"Tell me, why can't I be?"
A firm voice came from beside her at the right time. Kaido was sitting at the desk by the window, smiling as he watched the two beautiful girls in the bed.
The golden sunlight filtered through the transparent glass, falling on his face, making his already handsome features seem incredibly sacred at this moment, and his dark eyes were like a deep starry sky...
Kaido held a cup of green tea and took a small sip.
Erica and Liliana recovered from their daze, and then both girls discovered that the dresses they had worn the previous night had disappeared, leaving them only in their intimate underwear.
"Your skin is well taken care of."
Kaido's gaze boldly swept over the bodies of the two girls.
Scientists say that frequently looking at beautiful women helps prolong life, and he had always maintained this healthy habit that was both welcoming and good for him.
"Uf… The King… last night!"
Liliana shuddered and immediately checked her lower body.
Fortunately, there was no pain or additional red or white marks.
"Did you bring us back last night?" Erica asked.
"If you expect me to kindly send you both back to your rooms and then go back to sleep, you're thinking too much."
"Oh, I wasn't thinking too much~~~ On the contrary, I'm surprised that the King didn't take the opportunity last night and take Liliana and me at the same time."
Erica's tone was slightly disappointed.
"It was a good opportunity, but I'm not interested in doing those things with two drunk people."
Kaido shook his head in helplessness and stood up.
"You two get ready; the Gorgon Stone will be delivered soon."
"Respected King, what you requested has been brought."
Just as they finished breakfast with the two girls, there was a knock at the door. After receiving permission, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, carrying a metal briefcase, knelt before Kaido.
He had actually arrived early, but upon hearing the servant say that the King was having breakfast with two female knights, he had waited at the door until now.
Voban's influence was truly terrifying. Although Kaido wasn't a fool, these Europeans didn't dare to cross the line lightly and could only maintain their most humble posture.
"You can go."
"Yes."
After this extra, Kaido violently opened the briefcase, which had dozens of layers of magical seals applied. The magical formulas were as fragile as white paper to a Godslayer.
Inside was a stone emblem the size of a fist.
Kaido felt that it was slightly hard and smooth to the touch. The material was polished obsidian, with the face of a child scribbled on it and dozens of snakes carved on its surface.
In fact, a weak aura of magical power remained on it, weak but quite powerful.
The Gorgon Stone was actually useless to Kaido.
As a Sacred Relic of the Age of Gods, its only purpose was to attract the ancient disobedient gods to descend.
Kaido remembered the plot involving the Gorgon Stone.
Kusanagi Godou took the Gorgon Stone to his country, which attracted Athena to descend to Tokyo, leading to a battle.
The loli goddess, who descended in an incomplete form, sowed darkness and terror in Tokyo.
Suddenly, a good idea appeared in Kaido's mind.
King, will this method really work? Forgive my presumption, but it seems a bit unreliable.
The Adriatic Sea, a large bay of the Mediterranean Sea, is located between Italy and the Balkan Peninsula, and its deepest point reaches over a thousand meters.
Erica leaned on the ship's railing, watching with her own eyes as Kaido threw the suitcase containing the Gorgon Stone into the sea.
Yes, the Sacred Relic of the Age of Gods, the symbol of the Earth Mother Goddess, had just been thrown away by him.
Many things in the world are not as complicated as you imagine. For that old Voban, who likes to hunt gods, nothing is more important than this.
After throwing the box overboard, Kaido set sail.
He leaned on the railing, explaining to Erica and Liliana.
Voban was an orphan from a young age. Although he seemed like a wise old man, he preferred to solve problems with violence and was cunning, but not straightforward in his dealings.
If he found out that the Gorgon Stone had been discarded in the Adriatic Sea, even if he knew Kaido did it on purpose, Voban would come without hesitation.
—But do you really think the Goddess will descend? What if... say, the Goddess you're talking about doesn't come, and Voban takes the Gorgon Stone, what will happen then?
Liliana still expressed her concern.
If Voban obtained the Gorgon Stone, he would definitely return to his territory, waiting for the Goddess to descend and fight with him.
—Then I'll have to go myself —Kaido said with a smile—. Don't worry, if I'm not mistaken, that Goddess has already arrived in Italy and is running towards the Gorgon Stone without stopping.
Kaido said with a smile.
"All we have to do is wait for them to start fighting."
The Gorgon Stone was useless to him. Instead of keeping it and waiting for Athena to descend, it was better to orchestrate an uncontrolled war between others and wait to collect the leftovers at the end.
On the other side, in Milan, the fashion capital of Italy, inside the famous Milan Cathedral, a small, short-haired, silver-haired girl was among the bustling crowd, looking at the sacred stained glass with her purple-cyan eyes.
The tourists and clergy passed by the girl who was in the center, but, surprisingly, they seemed not to see her; no one could sense her presence, they simply walked unconsciously around her towards their desired destinations.
The Gorgon Stone is no longer there. Did that young Demon King really take it away?
The silver-haired girl murmured to herself, turning slightly. She was petite, like an elementary school student, but her purple eyes were full of coldness and loneliness.
Although human mages had placed a seal on the Gorgon Stone, there was an unbreakable bond between the "snake" and her, and this invisible bond would guide her to the side of the "snake".
She had been searching for many years.
Now that the Gorgon Stone was within her reach, the Goddess, who symbolized night and wisdom, was absolutely determined to obtain it.
Soon, the girl's position was instantly transferred to the top of the Milan Cathedral.
From her lips emanated an elegant and ancient song.
"What I seek is the Gorgon Stone, carved on my shield in the past, the ancient snake that resides here in the distant memory..."
"What I seek is the Gorgon Stone, oh snake, grant me ancient authority to me who no longer obeys..."
"What I seek is the Gorgon Stone, oh ancient snake, that guides the journey of the disobedient gods and once again grants me darkness, earth, and celestial wisdom."
Thus, the little Goddess used the Spirit Word to indicate the location of the Gorgon Stone and headed towards the Adriatic Sea.
Meanwhile, an old man who had received the news stood up from the sofa.
That young man is not like the foolish boy who stole my prey two years ago, but that's all. It's understandable that a young man would steal a beautiful woman, but this prey is not just his target.
A clear and intelligent voice came out of the old man's mouth.
"Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I've been to the beach."
The old man walked under the sunlight. With a broad forehead, sunken eyes, and pale cheeks, he looked like an elderly university professor.
However, when his servant was observed by those emerald-green eyes, he felt as if he was being watched by a wolf.
You have twenty minutes to prepare a boat to cross the sea. Don't make me wait a single second longer.
Oh, how long it's been since I've seen you, my dear André! I've missed you so much!
Stop talking nonsense! Salvatore, idiot!
Along the Italian port coast, a middle-aged man in an elegant suit was scolding a young man wearing a floral shirt and bell-bottom pants.
—Oh, we can talk about educating you later. I know that a lot of interesting things have happened in Italy lately.
André, the butler of the Sword King, paused and said slowly: "The location is on the Adriatic coast. I've already prepared the boat."
The information about Voban and the Sword King, written on paper, was in Kaido's hand.
He wasn't surprised by Voban's participation. For him, who only possessed appetite and eagerness for battle, given that a goddess would descend in the Mediterranean Sea connected to the Balkan Peninsula, he would undoubtedly get involved.
However, Kaido didn't expect the elusive Doni to appear at this time.
After all, before becoming a Godslayer, Doni had gone to Africa to search for a disobedient god who was suspected to be there, and he hadn't appeared for a long time, so much that even the Council of Sages couldn't track his whereabouts.
"Doni is also here, a bit unexpected."
Kaido threw the document into the trash and reclined in his chair as if he were resting.
—King, the true name of the Sword King is Salvatore, not 'D'.
Erica often heard Kaido call Doni 'D'.
Given the King's memory, it was unlikely that he would make such a mistake.
Did "D" have some special meaning?
"It's better if you don't know."
Kaido smiled and shook his head.
—But since you said it was unexpected, does that mean the plan failed?
Erica, who secretly noted down the word "D" and planned to look it up later, didn't dwell on such a minor matter.
What plan? What plan? I don't know of any plan.
Kaido asked, confused.