"Master, are all the Godslayers in this world as powerful as you?"
After the shock wore off, the ahoge on Artoria's head drooped slightly, her eyes filled with confusion as she looked at Su Mo.
Back in the Nasuverse, she knew Su Mo had god-level strength, but in the eyes of an ordinary person, even the most powerful god should be cautious when fighting one against two, right?
However, the reality that had just unfolded shattered this common sense. She hadn't seen a thing, and the two Heretic Gods were utterly defeated. The gap between her Master and a god seemed even greater than the gap between a god and a Servant.
Therefore, Artoria began to suspect that the "slayer" in "Godslayer" might be a misunderstanding. Did it actually mean "to casually slaughter"?
Consequently, the way she looked at the bound Doni became a little strange. Could it be that this guy wasn't just a simple idiot, but some kind of incredibly powerful expert?
Faced with Artoria's question, Erica provided an explanation before Su Mo even needed to answer.
"Of course not! There are two types of Godslayers in this world: Lord Su Mo, and everyone else."
"Once you've been with him for a while, you'll know. Lord Su Mo's power has nothing to do with being a Godslayer. It's purely because Lord Su Mo himself is just that powerful!"
"I see."
Artoria accepted Erica's explanation rather quickly. Compared to the idea of an entire world full of bugs like Su Mo, the existence of just one bug like Su Mo seemed much more reasonable.
Seeing that she was no longer confused, Su Mo finally gave his command.
"Saber, use your sword and finish off the Heretic King Arthur!"
Under Su Mo's control, of the two Heretic Gods, only the Heretic Gawain had been slain and sent back to myth. The Heretic Arthur still remained in the present world. To send him back to myth, a final blow was needed.
"Master?"
Artoria never questioned Su Mo's commands and would execute them directly. But this time, she did hesitate. It wasn't because she didn't want to strike down her other-worldly self, but because... "If I do that, won't Master be unable to obtain an Authority?"
She had heard Erica explain how Godslayers were born. If she personally slew the Heretic God, she would very likely become a Godslayer. But wouldn't that be snatching her lord's spoils of war?
"Um, dearest friend! If you guys don't want it, you can give it to me! I don't mind!"
Hearing the two of them deferring the chance to obtain an Authority, Doni's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
You had to know, back then he had just snatched one of Marquis Voban's kills and was nearly electrocuted to death for it. Something this good, if you don't want it, I do! I don't mind having one more Authority!
"Don't worry about it. Just carry out the order," Su Mo shook his head, completely ignoring the King of Swords. "As a counterpart, King Arthur's Divinity will provide a greater bonus to you... Besides, with the mechanism of the Usurpation Cycle, the Authority might not necessarily go to you in the end. Let's just try it and see!"
Seeing Su Mo's insistence, although she didn't know why he said that, Artoria still raised her holy sword and carried out his command.
"Excalibur!"
A torrent of golden light surged forth. Under Doni's heartbroken gaze, the body of the Heretic Arthur completely vanished into motes of light, returning to myth.
And soon, a familiar spatial passage appeared before Su Mo.
Erica, knowing Su Mo's intentions, immediately stepped forward and had Sakura follow him. Then, Su Mo led Artoria and Sakura together into the Astral Plane.
---||---
"My dear child, I didn't think you'd be so obedient to your mother, knowing I'm lonely and coming to see me three times in one day. Come, let Mommy give you a loving hug!"
The first step upon entering the Astral Plane was for Artoria to step forward and block the pouncing Pandora.
"Master? Who is this?"
After successfully preventing the suspicious girl from approaching her Master, Artoria was confused by Pandora's form of address.
No matter how she looked at it, this fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl didn't seem to be her Master's mother. Setting aside everything else, their hair color, appearance, and personality were not alike at all.
However, one could never be sure about gods, and the other party indeed held no hostility, which left her rather baffled.
"Pandora, a former Earth Mother Goddess," Su Mo introduced her simply. "She is the creator of Godslayers, the mother of the Godslayers of this world, so we do have a certain kinship in terms of Spirit Origin. But there's no need to pay it too much mind."
This was the reason he had never corrected Pandora's form of address. Since she wasn't using an incorrect term, there was no reason to change it.
"How mean! What do you mean, 'no need to pay it too much mind'? If you bully your mother like this, I'll cry for you to see!"
The twin-tailed goddess put on a tearful act, seemingly hurt by Su Mo's words.
Su Mo paid no mind to the goddess's fake crying. Seeing that Artoria still had a look of half-understanding, he explained further.
"Kinship in Spirit Origin is actually very common. For example, you, who possess the bloodline of the red dragon, could in a sense be called the daughter of the Red Dragon of Britain."
"I understand!"
Only then did it dawn on Artoria. So, she's not a proper mother.
"Although the principle is correct, it's not that low-level!" Pandora puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. Though she really wanted to refute, she couldn't find any supporting arguments.
For other Godslayers, Pandora at least had the life-saving grace of pulling them back from the brink of death. But Su Mo was different from the others.
He had always been at full strength and had never experienced a near-death rebirth, making it difficult to even get close to him.
"Pandora, has the ritual of the Usurpation Cycle been activated?"
After explaining, Su Mo directly switched the topic to business.
"Even if I let you call me 'mother,' I feel like you wouldn't listen. I really can't do anything with you... Yes, yes, it's been activated. All the Authorities of the two Heretic Gods will be directly transferred to you!" Pandora sighed, but still cooperated with Su Mo's inquiry.
"Two Heretic Gods?"
Hearing this, Su Mo paused for a moment and glanced at Artoria.
"As expected. The Heretic God slain by Saber was also judged as my kill?"
"That's right!" Pandora nodded. "After all, this child is your attendant. In the judgment, she is similar to a subordinate god or a divine beast, an accessory of yours. No matter how she slays a Heretic God, it will ultimately count as you doing it yourself."
"A pity..." Su Mo shook his head.
He naturally knew this rule as well.
It was just that Artoria wasn't a traditional spiritual Servant; she was summoned with her own physical body. He had thought she would be an exception, but it seemed she was still classified as an accessory.
But it didn't matter. Even if this method didn't work, he had other ways to achieve his goal.
"It seems, for now, I can only use the blessing of the Youth incarnation as a substitute."
Before he made a breakthrough in his research on Divinities, this method's effect would be a little weaker.
However, for the current Artoria, whose power was already maxed out, it was still enough to take her strength a step further, reaching a point where she could match an ordinary Heretic God.