Verethragna flashed a satisfied smile at his plan's success, then charged at his opponent, the Golden Sword in his hand slashing toward the Star Holy Sword in Aslan's grip.
*BZZZ!*
The Sword of Wisdom that seals Divine Authorities cleaved toward the Star Holy Sword!
In an instant, the surrounding environment underwent a subtle change.
A dream-like world overlapped with reality.
And within this dream, Verethragna rushed forward, brimming with the joy of victory already in sight.
But the next second, Verethragna, clutching the Golden Sword, froze.
"This?!"
In the dream vision, he saw the target of his attack. Thirteen tall, majestic figures piercing the heavens sat around a round table.
Behind those silhouettes, a golden sun hung high in the sky, overseeing everything.
Even the shadow of this world carried terrifying power.
And among the many silhouettes, the only one he could clearly see was Aslan.
At this moment, Aslan slightly bowed his head, as if he had discovered Verethragna's presence.
Then, countless lights gathered in Aslan's hand, forming a golden sword.
— It was the sword that saves the world!
— It was the Star Holy Sword that, once drawn, would surely face an enemy strong enough to destroy stars!
Verethragna looked down at the Golden Sword in his hand, then up at the Star Holy Sword in Aslan's.
He fell silent for a moment, then showed a relieved smile.
"To fight an existence like this—even if I die, I will have no regrets!"
Countless golden lights surged toward Verethragna like a waterfall!
*BZZZ!*
Everything returned to calm.
Outside, the corner of Aslan's mouth twitched helplessly.
He had just wanted to fight Verethragna gallantly, to put on a show for Pandora.
But who knew the opponent would arrogantly choose his Star Holy Sword as the sealing target.
It should be known that the Star Holy Sword's thirteen restrictions were the strongest seal!
The Halloween Queen had spent a fortune upgrading the Star Holy Sword into a treasure meeting Little Garden standards, nearly sacrificing all of Avalon.
Aslan had once heard Scathach say that to remake this Star Holy Sword, the Halloween Queen referenced and used the technology the Takamagahara Pantheon employed to forge Kusanagi.
Combining the partially constructed worldview from King Arthur's era, the Spirit Status of all Round Table Knights, the original Little Garden Excalibur, plus portions of the Halloween Queen and Scathach's Spirit Status.
Only then was this Star Holy Sword created, capable in extreme conditions of unleashing breakthrough power from the Three-Digit level.
Of course, "extreme" here referred to facing extraterrestrial enemies aiming to destroy all human history on Earth and Little Garden. Only when all restrictions were released could Three-Digit breakthrough power be unleashed.
But essentially, if such a non-human-history extraterrestrial enemy recognized by Little Garden's Central Core appeared, Two-Digit would have acted long ago.
And if Two-Digit couldn't handle it, the Winds of Decadence would.
If even the Winds of Decadence couldn't… Grandpa, please come in~~
One reason the Geocentric Theory could destroy worlds was because of extraterrestrial enemies.
And now that the Geocentric Theory had been surpassed, extraterrestrial enemies were virtually impossible.
This made Aslan always feel this Holy Sword was specifically made to target Shiroyasha.
And with the Halloween Queen's poor sense of humor, this possibility genuinely existed.
Spending immense effort and resources just to annoy Shiroyasha.
Though it was a Three-Digit breakthrough attack, for Shiroyasha who had reclaimed the Geocentric Theory Spirit Status, it might be more of an insult.
Of course, besides that, the Star Holy Sword was an absolute Divine Artifact from any perspective. Whether used in the Lower or Upper Layers, it could unleash extraordinary power.
It was a Divine Artifact just below Another Cosmology.
All that could be said was Verethragna was truly bold to think of sealing the Star Holy Sword after surpassing its thirteen restrictions.
But could something like this be considered God-slaying where the weak defeat the strong?
Aslan blinked, looking at the frozen Verethragna before him.
And in Pandora's judgment, was the opponent dead or not?
The power output just now didn't exceed Five-Digit at all. It was merely on par with regular Artoria unleashing Excalibur in a Holy Grail War.
But that occurred in the illusion realm where restrictions manifested.
As expected, a fight was still needed.
Aslan sighed, took the Holy Sword, and gently stabbed Verethragna.
Then, as if it were the final straw breaking the camel's back, with just a light touch, Verethragna's figure crumbled into sand.
After a gentle breeze, he vanished, blown away by the wind.
At this moment, just as Aslan was about to fabricate his battle story with Verethragna, he felt a very slight drowsiness and a summoning intent.
As if with just a little resistance, this feeling could be severed.
Sensing this, Aslan realized the Mother of all God Slayers—Pandora—had arrived!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Boundary Between Life and Death, Underworld!
This was a world overlapping reality, a strange realm akin to the spirit world.
As one of its inhabitants, Pandora who mastered the Circle of Usurpation once again sensed mythological fluctuations.
It was the special reaction that only occurred when a Heretic God died at human hands.
"Has a new child been born again?"
A figure looked up at the false sky of the Netherworld.
It was a petite girl reminiscent only of a child.
Her long purple hair parted on both sides, extremely short in height but wearing a thin white dress.
Yet unlike her youthful appearance, her face radiated devilishly captivating beauty.
Pandora, the handmaiden given by the Gods to humanity, the first woman, mother of mankind, joint mother with fools.
She was also the key figure in the Campione world who gave new life to humans who slew Gods, transforming them into Devil Kings.
Currently, sensing the new child's location, in a flash of thought, Pandora arrived in a stone forest.
This stone forest corresponded to Sardinia's location in the outer world.
In the Underworld, distance meant nothing. As long as desired, she could go anywhere. Similarly, as long as she wished, she could also see the outer world's scenery.
But now Pandora paid no attention to the outer world. She simply let the Circle of Usurpation hidden in her body resonate with the God Slayer outside, preserving the new child's life.
Because now Pandora had something more important.
"Greetings, ancient Persian War God Verethragna."
Before Pandora stood Verethragna in tattered clothing and expressionless, bound by illusory chains.
Facing Verethragna's indifference, Pandora felt no particular surprise—she merely smiled.
"It seems my child gave you an unpleasant experience."
Losing to a human was shameful for a God. Few Gods could bravely become victims.
Most Gods would only curse the newborn God Slayer with their greatest curse before the Circle of Usurpation activated.
"If you don't mind, could the War God become the next victim for my new child?"
Pandora smiled, but was already prepared to act.
At this moment, the numb Verethragna, due to mythological connection, finally regained some awareness.
He looked at Pandora in surprise but said strangely.
"Mother of fools, why are you here?"
Pandora blinked oddly, then asked in wonder.
"Bestowing the most beautiful blessing upon the newborn child is my duty."
"Newborn child?"
Verethragna was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Are you sure you didn't see wrong? That's your new child?"
"Hahaha, who knew the Mother of fools would one day become a fool herself."
"Witch, open your eyes and look closely—is that your child?"
Pandora looked at Verethragna with a strange expression, nodded slightly, then crossed through the Underworld to gaze at Aslan.
"Indeed, the one who killed you is human, and he looks very nice~"
Pandora wiped drool from the corner of her mouth.
"I'm touched—finally someone considers me human."
A man's voice sounded beside Pandora. Aslan wiped moved tears from his eye corner.
Since arriving in Little Garden, he had lost his human identity, speeding down the non-human path.
But how many knew the pain in his heart?
Why? Why? Little Garden was so unfair to him!
Sakamaki Izayoi with the Third Perpetual Motion Machine in his body, Kasukabe Yo using Genome Tree to simulate different creatures' abilities—they could all be called human.
But why not him?
Aslan emotionally patted her shoulder. Because of this one sentence from Pandora, he would protect this Pandora.
Even if Jesus came, it wouldn't work! He said so!
But sensing the abundant Divinity in Aslan's body, Pandora's movement froze.
Such powerful Divinity, and carrying a Savior's aroma. Was this the King of the End?
But wasn't the King of the End Rama?
Then what was this one? Pandora looked at Aslan with held-back tears.
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"
"Could another world's King of the End have come hunting me?"
"Is there still time to surrender now?"
"Is there a foolish child coming to save mother?"
Pandora's heart wailed madly.
(Mother dies, you'll never get new Divine Authorities again!)
"Hmm? Why not continue? Keep the ritual going?"
Aslan said somewhat strangely, reminding Pandora that he was currently still a human awaiting reincarnation—he still needed to become a God Slayer.
"Do you desire My Divine Authorities so much? Take them—as payment for showing the unknown King a farther path!"
Verethragna laughed loudly, then voluntarily released his Divine Authorities, shattering his Divinity and returning to mythology.
"Take them, take everything—as the price for My arrogance!"