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Verethragna glanced at the weapon in Alex's hand."A fine blade," he said calmly. "But it's a shame it isn't a divine artifact."
Alex replied without hesitation, "Once it's killed enough gods and drunk its fill of divine blood, it'll naturally evolve into one."
Verethragna summoned his own golden sword, pointing it straight at Alex."Ambitious. I hope your strength lives up to that ambition. Come, then. Let us slaughter each other to our hearts' content and amuse me!"
The moment the words left his mouth, he struck first.
The golden sword slashed toward Alex, who met it head-on with his own blade.
In the blink of an eye, they clashed countless times.
And to Alex's shock, he was being completely overwhelmed in pure martial skill.
Overwhelmed? Even with Crown-Rank martial arts?
That was impossible.
No… this wasn't normal skill. It was authority.
The Fourth Incarnation: Camel.
In the original story, once Kusanagi Godou used this incarnation, he gained god-domain-level kicking techniques. His striking power and durability skyrocketed, his combat instincts and fighting sense reached divine levels, his perception of pain dulled, and even heavy bleeding would stop on its own.
The drawback was severe. It could only be used when the user was badly injured.
But Verethragna wasn't Godou. These authorities were originally his. He didn't need conditions to activate them.
Which meant that right now, his combat skill and battle awareness were truly at god-domain level.
Watching the live feed, Luo Hao frowned slightly. She could tell at a glance that Verethragna's martial skill was no weaker than her own.
That meant close combat was a dead end for Alex.
With his technique completely suppressed, Alex gained nothing from close-range fighting and instead took several slashes in return.
Fresh wounds opened across his body.
"Rakshasa King," Verethragna said, leveling the golden sword at him, "your martial skill is impressive, but it's still not enough to defeat me."
"In that case," Alex replied coldly, "I'll kill you with authority."
He raised his sword.
The world instantly erupted into chaos.
Fierce winds howled as towering tornadoes rose from the ground, twisting into roaring wind dragons.
Dark clouds swallowed the sky. Blue-white lightning tore through the air, shaping itself into thunder dragons that thrust their heads out from the clouds.
Under Alex's control, the twin dragons of wind and thunder charged straight at Verethragna.
"Godslayer," Verethragna laughed, "this is the authority you gained from killing Melqart, isn't it? If this is all you have, then you've already lost."
He raised the golden sword.
In the next instant, an overwhelming surge of divine power exploded outward from him.
Everything turned gold.
The land, the mountains, buildings, even the sea, all transformed into pure gold.
Countless divine runes floated in the air, while golden swords erupted from the ground one after another.
Verethragna swung his blade downward.
Every golden sword shot toward the wind and thunder dragons.
There was no resistance at all. The swords pierced straight into their bodies.
The twin dragons stiffened, rapidly petrified, then shattered into fragments.
At the same time, Alex felt it clearly.
His authority, "Lord of the Sky," had been sealed.
His body dropped out of the air.
Thankfully, he still had flight magic. Halfway down, he stabilized himself and hovered again.
Hestia nearly rushed forward at the sight, but Alex stopped her with a single glance.
This was all within his expectations.
Even without "Lord of the Sky," he still had two trump cards left.
Verethragna pointed his golden sword at him once more and laughed loudly."Hahaha! Rakshasa King, what other tricks do you have? Use them all! Entertain me!"
"Heh," Alex smirked. "Just don't regret it."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a stone tablet.
Verethragna's expression changed instantly."That thief…!"
Alex didn't hesitate for even a second, leaving Verethragna no time to react or evade.
As the words were spoken, the Prometheus Grimoire was already activated.
Blue flames erupted from the tablet and slammed into Verethragna.
The flames themselves weren't powerful enough to injure him.
But the golden sword in his hand was stolen.
Verethragna had only just stabilized himself when he realized the weapon had vanished.
At the same time, a golden sword appeared in Alex's hand.
In the next instant, Alex used "Godspeed Step" and flashed to the parked business van.
Inside the vehicle, Luo Hao, Erica, and Liliana all froze.
The fight was still going. Why did he suddenly show up here?
Was he asking for help?
Before any of them could figure it out, Alex yanked open the driver's door, pulled Erica out, and said urgently, "Upload all of Verethragna's information to me!"
Without waiting for her response, he grabbed her and kissed her forcefully.
Erica froze for a split second, her face flushing crimson.
Embarrassed as she was, she still followed his instructions and transmitted everything she knew about Verethragna to him.
The moment the transfer was complete, the golden sword activated.
Brilliant golden light burst from Alex's body, engulfing everyone.
This time, the roles were reversed.
Inside the golden domain, Verethragna was targeted by countless golden swords.
One after another, they pierced his body.
Flames ignited around him, rapidly draining his life force.
Verethragna stared at the swords impaling him, disbelief written across his face."So I… was defeated by myself…"
Luo Hao and Hestia both smiled when they saw this.
Alex had succeeded in killing a god.
This time, he hadn't borrowed anyone else's power. He had done it on his own.
As Verethragna's body began to disperse, Alex silently prayed,"It has to be the Ten Incarnations…"
His vision darkened, and he collapsed.
[Group member Alex has slain a god and obtained 5,000 points!]
…
When he regained consciousness, he found himself once again in the dim Underworld.
Pandora beamed when she saw him awake."As expected of my child from another world. Killing a second god after just one day, and the undefeated war god Verethragna at that. Mama is so proud of you."
Alex looked at the cheerful goddess, memories from his last visit to the Underworld flooding back.
"So the moment I leave this place, the memories disappear," he thought wryly.
Seeing him silent, Pandora leaned closer and asked seductively,"What authority do you wish to obtain this time?"
"I want all of the war god's authorities,"Alex answered without hesitation.
"How greedy," Pandora laughed, blinking at him. "But Mama can grant that."
Alex froze, shock flashing across his face.
So she really could manipulate the authorities a godslayer received.
Pandora clearly enjoyed his reaction.
"Then let us begin."
She summoned the Ring of Usurpation and used Verethragna as the sacrifice, forcibly seizing all of his authorities.
As the new powers poured into his body, Alex lost consciousness once again.
When he woke up for the second time, he was back in his hotel room, lying on his bed.
"You're awake! What authority did you get this time?" Hestia asked eagerly.
Alex closed his eyes and sensed his power, a smile slowly forming.
"The Ten Incarnations."
Luo Hao shot to her feet in shock."You gained ten authorities at once?"
Alex nodded."Yeah, but just like Godou in the original story, they come with usage restrictions."
Luo Hao waved it off."That's fine. Later on, those restrictions basically disappear anyway."
"Exactly," Alex agreed.
In the later stages, Godou had used the Ten Incarnations in all kinds of absurd ways.
There was no way Alex would be any worse.
"Enough talk," Hestia said suddenly, hopping onto the bed and already starting to undo his clothes. "Alex, want to update your blessing?"
Well, she wasn't even waiting anymore.
Alex cooperated, letting her remove his shirt and expose his back.
Next came the familiar process: cutting a finger and writing the new blessing with divine blood.
Name: Alex
Level: Lv.5
Stats: Strength: I0 → SSS9999Endurance: I0 → SSS9999Dexterity: I0 → SSS9999Agility: I0 → SSS9999Magic: I0 → SSS9999
Development Abilities: Luck F, Mystery G, Divinity H, Godslayer I
Authorities: Lord of the Sky, Black Dragon of the Underworld, War God of the East
Magic: Type-Moon Magecraft, Godslayer Magecraft, Unemployed Magic, Fairy Tail Magic
Skills: War God, Godslayer's Body
Just like last time, his stats had broken through straight to the limit.
More importantly, the Authorities list now included "War God of the East" and "Black Dragon of the Underworld."
"Black Dragon of the Underworld" was an authority he had purchased from the chat group."War God of the East" was the collective title for the Ten Incarnations.
And his skill "Crown-Rank Martial Arts" had evolved into "War God."
That meant Alex's martial path had officially reached god-domain level.
Seeing "War God" in the skill list, Luo Hao smiled with satisfaction."Little brother, congratulations. You've graduated from the martial path."
Hestia tilted her head, confused."Why did 'Crown-Rank Martial Arts' evolve?"
"..."
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