At the port on Sardinia, as the Heretic King Arthur descended, somewhere in the forests of Northern Europe, a girl who looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen, with the beauty of a princess, was wading in a clear spring at the heart of the forest.
Silky golden hair clung softly to the exquisite curves of her body, and droplets of water from the spring traced down her slender, pale legs, eventually falling back into the water.
Chirping birds sang, not at all afraid of the girl. Some even perched on her shoulders. Just looking at the scene, one would think she was a Disney princess who had run away.
And in reality, the girl before her did have the name of "princess." Although she looked to be no more than a child, she was also King Arthur's queen in the myths, the daughter of King Leodegrance, and the bewitching, nation-ruining god-ancestor Guinevere.
God-ancestors, like familiar gods and divine beasts, were of the same rank. They were beings formed by the reincarnation of Earth Mother Goddesses after they had lost their Divinities.
For Earth Mother Goddesses, clean springs and life-filled forests contained rich terrestrial spirit energy, enough to replenish their magical energy.
Just as her condition was returning to its best, the figure of a white knight was suddenly reflected in the spring water.
"Uncle?" Guinevere looked at the surface of the water in confusion, not turning her head. Because this was a knight who currently only existed in the water.
The Knight of the Lake, Lancelot, like Arthur and Gawain, was a member of the Celtic pantheon. However, the Lancelot before her was not a Heretic God, but the shadow of a god who had not fully manifested.
"My beloved child! I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I just sensed a familiar Divinity," the knight clad in white armor said in a gender-neutral voice.
"A familiar Divinity... Could it be my Lord, the Last King?" Guinevere was startled, then immediately wore an expression of joy.
The Last King - the very name inspired a sense of foreboding.
He was the ultimate hero burdened with the covenant of the gods, responsible for cleansing the Godslayers from the world, his mission to annihilate all Godslayers on earth without exception.
Guinevere, as his god-ancestor, was his attendant, having always waited for the Last King to awaken.
"Speaking of which, I heard that a seventh Godslayer has been born in Southern Europe. This is an unprecedented situation. His Majesty surely won't allow so many demon kings to run rampant in the world!" she said.
She had come up with the reason herself before anyone else could speak, and she became even more excited.
"No. While it cannot be said to be unrelated to the Last King, he is likely not the Last King," the knight shook his head, quickly denying the girl's guess.
"If I am not mistaken, it should be one of our comrades from the Knights of the Round Table who has descended... or even, it is very likely King Arthur himself!"
"King Arthur himself..." Hearing this name, Guinevere fell silent for a moment. In the Campione! world, King Arthur had never existed.
Even the Arthurian legends had been personally spread by Guinevere more than a thousand years ago.
At the time, she had woven the tales of the Last King into a myth in order to awaken him, planning to summon the Last King using Arthur as a cover.
But to her surprise, Arthur had indeed been summoned, but he had nothing to do with the Last King. He was a completely independent god.
To put it simply, her cover had gained its own consciousness.
Realizing that this path was not feasible, she had never thought of finding the Last King through Arthur again. However, hearing this name again, she still felt a little unwilling. Could it be that her plan, which had been laid out for a thousand years, was truly of no use?
"My beloved child, do you want to go take a look?" The white knight, accurately sensing the girl's thoughts, asked.
"Mm!" After thinking for a few seconds, Guinevere nodded. "The aura that Uncle sensed should be the new king's base. He has only been a Godslayer for a day. He shouldn't be too difficult to deal with. We can just sneak over and take a look."
"Heh!" Hearing Guinevere's words, the white knight chuckled. "My beloved child, don't underestimate Godslayers. A Godslayer who can defeat the King of Swords on just the second day of his reign can't possibly be weak. If you go, remember to take the remnants of the God Sword."
"The God Sword of Salvation? Are you sure?" Guinevere revealed a look of surprise. The God Sword of Salvation was the former sword of the Last King, a blade capable of rending planets.
Given Lancelot's strength, not even seasoned experts like Marquis Voban could necessarily force him to use this divine instrument. Yet, they were only facing a newborn Godslayer. Was Lancelot really being this cautious?
"I don't know, but my premonition tells me that a hearty battle is surely ahead!" As he said this, the God of War Lancelot's tone revealed a strong sense of anticipation. For a Steel Hero God, only battle could not be disappointed.
"Yes!" In terms of battle, Guinevere chose to trust Lancelot's premonition.
She stood up, stepping barefoot on the earth. The earth split open, revealing a golden holy grail over a meter tall and a slender, double-edged sword.
"With the help of the Holy Grail and a fragment of the God Sword of Salvation, we absolutely cannot lose!" After declaring this flag, the girl rushed off towards Southern Europe.
The shadow of the God of War in the water also dissipated.
Southern Europe, at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Sardinia.
After settling things with Pandora, Su Mo took Artoria and Sakura and left the Astral Plane, returning to the present world.
Sakura would visit the Astral Plane regularly to learn magic, but her daily meals and activities would still take place in the present world.
"So, are you going to release me now, dearest friend?" On the magic circle for summoning a god, seeing Su Mo and the others return, Doni voiced his request.
"Of course not," Su Mo immediately shook his head. "The real summoning ritual is just about to begin."
"Huh?" Doni was completely dumbfounded. What do you mean it's just about to begin? Were the two Heretic Gods before fake?
Su Mo didn't continue to pay attention to Doni, instead focusing his attention on the summoning ritual.
In the Nasuverse, when the world faced a major crisis, Alaya would send down seven heroes as a means of salvation. This spell was the Primate Murder's decisive battle spell.
The Heroic Spirit summoning ritual of the Holy Grail War was a simplified version of the Primate Murder's decisive battle spell. Precisely because the world innately had a mechanism for Heroic Spirits to descend, summoning Servants was possible.
This was the same in the Campione! world. Precisely because gods originally had a mechanism to descend to the world, the result of summoning a god could be achieved.
After confirming that this point was sound, the key problem that needed to be solved was: why would a god descend to the world?
In the Nasuverse, Matou Zouken used the lure of the Holy Grail's wish-granting machine to entice the Heroic Spirits on the Throne of Heroes to willingly descend.
But in the Campione! world, this wouldn't work.
Setting aside that there was no wish-granting machine for the gods to use, even if there were, the capricious gods might not care. Residing in the Undying Divine Realm, they rarely had wishes that could only be fulfilled by descending to the mortal world.
Therefore, Su Mo made improvements to the original spell. Compared to wishes, the gods of the Campione! world seemed to value karma more. If there wasn't enough karma, even a volatile god like Melqart might give up the fight and return to myth of his own accord.
Conversely, if there was enough karma, even in another world, a Heretic God might chase after it.
In view of this, if you wanted to summon a god, you had to use something that the gods cared about. This thing could be a divine instrument, it could be a location, and of course, it could also be a Godslayer.
"You weak gods who have fallen at my hands! I, in the name of the King of Swords, Salvatore Doni, once again issue you a challenge! If there are any who wish to rebuild their martial prowess, come down and try your hand! If there are any cowards who shrink back from the fight, I will make all the people laugh at your name!"
With Doni wearing a WTF expression on his face, Su Mo directly used his name to issue a challenge to all the Heretic Gods who had karma with him.
For ordinary people, these words would not be of much use, unable to affect their interests. But for gods, such belittling was a grave insult.
Moreover, simply provoking them was one thing. Ordering all his subordinates to mock the name of the god was a bit too much. If such a thing were spread on a large scale and persisted for a long time, it really might rewrite the myth!
No matter which god it was, they couldn't sit idly by and watch something like that happen.
And so—
Buzz~Buzz~Buzz~
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth trembled violently one after another.
The essence of the sky, the earth, and the sea all converged.
Gods separated from the Undying Divine Realm, formed Saint Graphs in the Astral Plane, formed complete Divinities in the present world, and finally used their divine power as a core to construct energy lifeforms, which served as their material foundation.
Under Su Mo's provocation, the gods all manifested as Heretic Gods in the mortal world.
"Merely having acquired my Authority by chance, and yet daring to challenge me again." The Silver-Armed God King, Nuada, stepped onto the beach, casting a murderous glare at Doni.
"We meet again, heretical evil gods, dragon-slaying hero, and you, cunning son of a fool!" Saint George greeted the Silver-Armed God King, with whom he had once had a conflict, and another Heretic God beside him, before turning his gaze to Su Mo.
Clearly, he could tell that Su Mo was the one in charge.
"Hello." The dragon-slaying hero, Siegfried, politely returned Saint George's greeting. He was the one who provided the Authority of the Protection of Steel.
"Hmph!" The earth tore open, and along with the gushing magma, Vulcan, the Roman God of Fire, emerged.
Several Heretic Gods were gathered in one place. Perhaps such a magnificent scene had not been seen for thousands of years.
Looking at the familiar Heretic Gods before him, Doni was first stunned into numbness, then suddenly felt that something was wrong.
After counting them several times, he finally said blankly, "Doesn't it feel like someone's missing?"
"Hahahaha! With such a lively scene, how could there be a party without me and my wine?" As if hearing Doni's words, a scent of wine suddenly permeated the sea air, the unmistakable aroma of wine.
Soon, a Heretic God, half-naked, holding a glass of wine in one hand and a thyrsus in the other, arrived nearby while drinking.
The Wine God Dionysus shook his head before complaining, "It's all your fault. You snatched all the earthly spirit energy, forcing me to descend from so far away to get here."
"Speaking of which, I'm not a deserter, am I?"
Looking at the laughing and joking appearance of the great gods, even Erica was feeling a little nervous now.
The Celtic God King, Nuada of the Silver Arm; the Christian Saint, Saint George; the Norse mythological hero, the dragon-slayer Siegfried; the Roman God of Fire, Vulcan; the Greek God of Wine, Dionysus.
A total of five Heretic Gods were all present on this island. Just their manifestation alone had nearly drained the ley lines in the vicinity.
Not counting the two Heretic Gods who had been defeated earlier, this was a scale that was fully capable of destroying the world!