"Lord of the Sky who controls the heavens, storms, and thunder. The Raging Sea that controls the oceans and long voyages. The Cycle of Life and Death that controls harvest and devastation. And the Legion of the Underworld that controls the realm of the dead."
"Whoa, four Authorities in one go! This is something my other children wouldn't even dare to dream of. Little Su Mo, you've hit the jackpot!"
In the Netherworld, the purple-haired, twin-tailed girl raised her hands high, cheering with joy, looking even happier than Su Mo himself. If she hadn't been stopped a few times, with her personality, she probably would have snuck in a hug by now.
Faced with information he already knew, it was difficult for Su Mo to feel excited.
"Melqart's divinity is quite complex. If he had descended under the name Baal, he would likely have possessed even more Authorities."
Much like the relationship between a Servant and a Heroic Spirit, when a god descended to the present world as a Heretic God, they would be matched with a different divinity depending on the circumstances, which would be reflected in the difference in their divine name.
Under this mechanism, even if it were the same god, if they descended twice, they would manifest in different forms.
Melqart was the main god worshiped by the Semitic people. As a typical sky god, he later showed a tendency to transition towards a monotheistic god like Odin or Zeus.
At the same time, he was the prototype for Saint George and had many other names, such as Beelzebub and Baal. The four Authorities he possessed now were by no means his limit.
"That may be so, but he would also become much more difficult to deal with, wouldn't he?" As Pandora said this, she suddenly slapped her own head.
"Oh! I almost forgot. For you, an ordinary Heretic God is no problem at all."
When other God-Slayers were hunting gods, Pandora still had to worry about their safety. But with Su Mo, there was no need to worry at all. Or rather, it was the Heretic Gods who needed to worry.
During the Authority usurpation ritual earlier, Pandora had tried to strike up a conversation with God King Melqart, but to her surprise, the proud God King remained completely silent, as if he had been traumatized by Su Mo.
Looking at him, he probably wouldn't be descending to the lower world again anytime soon.
Hopefully, I didn't give him any psychological trauma.
"These four Authorities are quite rich in their effects. However, compared to the Authorities, I think these two divine weapons are more important."
After probing the scope of the Authorities' powers, Su Mo shifted his gaze to the two clubs before him.
Chaser Yagrush and Expeller Aymur.
Su Mo just slightly raised his hand, and the two divine weapons obediently circled behind him. After obtaining Melqart's divinity, these two divine weapons had naturally become Su Mo's possessions.
Unlike Authority-type weapons like the Golden Sword, which were powered by their owner, these divine weapons didn't require Su Mo to provide divine power. They could accumulate power on their own; Su Mo only needed to control them.
"Eh? Why do you say that?" Pandora tilted her head, a little confused. "Although their power is impressive, divine weapons and Authorities are generally on par with each other, aren't they?"
Both were powers based on divinity. One was controlled by oneself, while the other was entrusted to a divine artifact. There was no obvious superiority or inferiority.
"Generally, yes, but these weapons are different." Su Mo shook his head, looking at Expeller.
"Melqart once used this weapon to shatter Verethragna into ten incarnations. In other words, this divine weapon has the power to harmlessly dismantle divinity!"
"So?" Pandora still didn't quite understand. "This ability is rare, yes, but it's not that useful, is it?"
"So, it's very suitable for research."
As a weapon, Expeller's trait was clearly a bit lackluster. It could shatter Verethragna's divinity but couldn't kill him, giving him a chance to reorganize his divinity, which was a counterproductive move.
But if it wasn't treated as a weapon, but as an experimental tool like a scalpel, then this weapon's nature was very useful.
To dismantle divinity without causing any damage was practically a scalpel with a built-in safety guarantee.
"Research... Little Su Mo, you really like to delve into this kind of knowledge. The gods of wisdom I know aren't even as curious as you are."
After a few encounters and a bit of peeking, Pandora had a general understanding of Su Mo's style. Hearing this, she wasn't too surprised, just sighed a little.
"Knowledge is the ladder of human progress," Su Mo replied with a calm tone. "Of course, the same applies to gods."
"If you had spent these years studying the structure of gods and myths instead of wasting your time peeking, perhaps you wouldn't have needed a God-Slayer. You could have taken revenge on the Gods of Steel yourself."
He started off with a bowl of toxic chicken soup.
"Stop it, stop it! Spare me! I just can't do that kind of thing!" Hearing this, Pandora immediately hugged her head and shook it violently, as if a tightening-headband curse had been chanted.
As a former member of the Earth Mother Goddesses, Pandora was by no means bad when it came to mythological techniques. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to create the Pandora's Dark Rite. But compared to Su Mo, she was far behind.
To this day, Pandora still couldn't understand how Su Mo, having just obtained an Authority, could pull off a move that even Verethragna himself couldn't.
To instantly kill a God King-level Heretic God with just a newly acquired Authority... that was an explosive feat in any era.
So, she had no intention of listening to Su Mo's lecture and immediately changed the subject.
"By the way, do you know what the 'true power' Verethragna mentioned before was?"
"Mhm." Su Mo nodded lightly.
Although the battle had been a one-sided slaughter, he had still obtained the information he wanted.
"Tell me! You can tell me, right?" Pandora's eyes immediately lit up with curiosity. She was also very curious about what kind of gift Verethragna could leave for Su Mo.
"What he was talking about was less a 'power' and more the correct way to use a power. Or rather, the essence of the war god's divinity."
Su Mo had no intention of hiding this information. Because even if others knew, it wouldn't be of any use.
"The essence of the war god's divinity?" Pandora, as expected, didn't quite understand.
"Among the Ten Incarnations, which one do you think is the core of this Authority?"
Su Mo didn't answer her question, but instead posed another one.
"Eh?"
Pandora was instantly lost in thought.