The Supernatural Team 4 agent who had been named this month’s outstanding employee had made an accurate guess.
Or rather, it had gone beyond a guess and reached the level of near-future sight, enough to make even Il-gyu break out in goosebumps for an instant.
A letter had arrived demanding that, because MH Company had been dissolved, responsibility be pursued under the name of the Japanese king.
And from that, Il-gyu immediately realized that Godou didn’t even know what kind of company MH was.
“Could someone start by teaching me when MH became a Japanese company?”
“Uh, I think it’s because Japan held more shares than Korea did.”
“Ha... Does that bastard think having more shares is all that matters? Where the hell do I even start explaining this?”
Of course, Japan’s holdings in MH were indeed larger than Korea’s.
But if that logic held, then MH should be a Chinese company.
Because China’s holdings were even larger than Japan’s.
More importantly, that calculation only referred to the total shares held by all Japanese investors.
The same went for China, after gathering up all the shares split across dozens of separate holdings.
MH did have a somewhat high ratio of overseas investment, but the largest shareholder was unquestionably Korean, and it was a Korean company that had started business in Korea and spread across the world.
From the beginning, there were plenty of founders who ran companies while owning less than 5 percent of their own stock.
“If I gave a lecture on the relationship between shares and management rights, corporate operating structure, and MH Group’s growth process, would they actually listen?”
He regretted saying it the moment it left his mouth.
He might as well just fight a round and be done with it.
What made it even more absurd was that, thanks to the information the National Intelligence Service had brought him, he already knew the full background of the situation.
If he hadn’t known, he could at least have resigned himself to the fact that he’d gotten tangled up with some insane lunatic.
“Response?”
“I believe there’s nothing to do but ignore them or confront them.”
“However, the wording used in the letter is quite severe. Of course, it was probably ghostwritten, but to simply ignore it...”
They didn’t know how the other side would react.
To put it bluntly, that woman Erica and the Four Great Families had already driven Godou, the Japanese king, into a frenzy.
Roughly sketching it out, the Four Great Families had probably lit the fire, and Erica had poured oil on it.
If they ignored this, would that stop Godou?
What if the anger that had failed to explode turned around and swallowed them instead?
Judging by how he had been baited by such cheap provocation, Godou’s temperament was probably more hot-blooded than quiet.
People like that often can’t swallow their anger inside.
Erica and the Four Great Families could hardly have failed to know that.
They would probably just push ahead.
“I don’t like being played for their plans, but there’s no helping it.”
It was a dead end.
Well, if some so-called king suddenly picked a fight, what else could it be but a dead end?
Still—
“Not only Japan, but that woman Erica too. She’s with Italy’s Copper-Black Cross, right?”
“Yes. More precisely, she’s the young lady of the Blandelli family, and the head of the Copper-Black Cross, a magical society formed by the alliance of several families.”
“In practice, Paolo Blandelli himself serves as both the family head and the leader of the Copper-Black Cross.”
“A big shot.”
“He’s a big shot among big shots.”
Good.
“Then there’s no question who to hold responsible.”
With a fierce look in his eyes, Il-gyu said that once the immediate crisis was over, they should send word that he wanted to meet Paolo Blandelli under his own name.
He could come here if he wanted.
“If he doesn’t, I’ll go there.”
He’d need to hear the secret behind how that man had kept his niece in line.
Japan was no different.
They had no intention whatsoever of letting this matter slide.
They seemed to think they had kept within the line themselves, but—
Not a chance.
Without question, they would bear responsibility far beyond anything they could imagine.
The moment they dragged another country in to settle their own domestic problem, they had already crossed the line long ago.
But—
“All of this will be after we deal with that guy called the Japanese king.”
Bluntly speaking, if Il-gyu lost, he’d have nothing to say.
A king was someone who defined and proved himself through force.
“You haven’t found anything about the Authority of that Japanese king, Kusanagi Godou, have you?”
“I’m sorry...”
“No, there’s no need to apologize. That’s the sort of information they’d be desperately hiding at the national level.”
In any case, the conditions were the same.
Il-gyu didn’t know Godou’s Authority.
And Godou didn’t know Il-gyu’s Authority.
Each of them possessed only one Authority in full.
“If anything, I’d say I have the advantage. If they’re coming at me with this kind of fight, it means they must have a trump card they’re certain can win.”
At the very least, didn’t he already have information that it was a dangerously troublesome Authority?
So Il-gyu told them not to worry too much.
But at those words and that smile, the people from the National Intelligence Service only felt even more self-loathing and misery.
In the end, the reality was that everything had to be left to Il-gyu alone.
“If this were a fight against a god, I wouldn’t feel this pathetic.”
“This was a fight we should have stopped. Whatever the reason, he alone is carrying our incompetence and this country’s weakness.”
We have to get stronger.
Even if they could barely hope to reach Il-gyu’s ankles, the people of the National Intelligence Service resolved to become stronger and help him even a little more.
In a way, it was a heartwarming scene.
But they were mistaken.
“Hm? Why are they all suddenly making such determined faces? I just said there was no need to worry...”
Only then did Il-gyu realize that he hadn’t explained the ability of [Ju-bok-sa-sa] in much detail.
They probably thought the true value of his Authority lay in [Tyr’s Sword].
That one looked more like an Authority at a glance, more flashy and more obvious.
So they would likely assume that [Confiscation] was just a side effect derived from the Authority.
But—
“It’s the other way around.”
Those who knew, knew.
The true value of [Ju-bok-sa-sa] lay in [Confiscation].
[Tyr’s Sword] was also top-tier as an Authority once its usage restrictions were lifted, but [Confiscation] was simply beyond comparison.
Frankly, it was almost cheating.
As long as the opponent had enough karmic burden, and as long as they couldn’t make Il-gyu accept it, he could confiscate absolutely anything in a manner proportionate to the weight of their sin.
“Now then, let’s see just how much sin that Kusanagi Godou has committed.”
Ah, and for the record, Il-gyu’s legal code does not contain juvenile law.
Meanwhile, at the same time in Japan,
Godou, who had been completely taken in by the Four Great Families and Erica as expected, was preparing to set out in anger over the Korean king’s tyranny.
“What a nasty person! Well, I’m not exactly in a position to talk, but this is just someone getting lucky and gaining great power, right? What’s the big deal that they’d do something like this...? Fine, I’m not interested in being a king or whatever, but if this is something only I can do, then I’ll go give him a piece of my mind. He is my junior, after all.”
There may be people who would blame Godou for his naivety, but this wasn’t really his fault.
There’s a reason people say that when three people gather, it’s easy to make one of them a fool.
Up to the Four Great Families, he might have been suspicious, but Erica was the person Godou trusted most in this line of work.
They had conspired together to deceive him, so it was stranger that he hadn’t been fooled.
Still, even taking that into account, Godou was indeed somewhat reckless and naive.
Above all, denying that he himself was a king while doing a king’s work was the most blameworthy behavior of all.
By now he should have understood.
Whether he truly didn’t know, or was pretending not to know, Godou did not understand the weight carried by the name “king.”
Neither he nor the other kings had gained great power just because they were lucky.
And that power was by no means something that could be dismissed as trivial.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you this time, Godou. But you need to understand what kind of being you are. And what kind of ripple effect every one of your actions will bring.”
Erica sincerely hoped this matter would become a small lesson for him.
And, in addition, a deep apology to Korea.
But when kings face each other across their territories, collision is inevitable as a matter of fact.
Even if this hadn’t happened, it would have come to pass eventually.
She was neither a saint nor a villain.
She was simply the woman and knight of one king, Godou.
What she prioritized most was Godou, not Japan or Korea, so using the Korean king as material for Godou’s growth was something she could do without hesitation.
Besides, if she thought about what would come after Japan was seized, Korea would need to be cowed at least once anyway.
“Still, I couldn’t bring that woman with me after all. I thought she was a typical refined lady, but she turned out to have a surprisingly stubborn side.”
She meant the shrine maiden and spirit medium she had mentioned before.
Maria Yuri.
The most suitable person for lifting the restrictions on Godou’s warrior incarnation.
Erica had met Maria, explained the situation, and asked for her cooperation.
But the answer she received was a refusal.
Maria was by no means as naive as Godou.
“Is it truly the case that this conflict originated from Korea? If you swear it on your knightly oath, I’ll cooperate as well.”
“Ha! I thought you were the type to shut your ears and live without caring about the outside world, but I guess not?”
“At the very least, I know that our king is being played by you.”
“That’s a nasty way to put it. I’m sincerely doing what’s best for Godou. It’s just that what’s best for him isn’t what’s best for Japan.”
“You...”
“You won’t even obey a royal command? Aren’t you a shrine maiden?”
“If you command me directly, I will obey. Not as a proxy borrowing your authority.”
Since Erica obviously couldn’t tell Godou, “She’s the woman needed to lift the restrictions on your Authority, so order her around,” Maria was not included in this trip.
Godou still thought they were going there to argue with words.
Even though this was a place where Devil King would clash with Devil King,
fortunately, the Korean side had agreed to the formal procedure of a meeting, so Erica could accompany him as an aide, which was fine.
Still, it was impossible not to feel disappointed.
“It’ll be fine. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean it’s decided that the warrior incarnation can’t be used at all. Even without the warrior incarnation, Godou is still strong enough.”
As mentioned before, Godou had usurped all ten incarnations of Verethragna.
Considering that each incarnation was comparable to an Authority, it was fair to say Godou possessed ten Authorities.
Well, the restrictions were severe, and among those incarnations there were still some he couldn’t use, as well as abilities that weren’t suited to combat.
Even so—
“He’s no newborn Devil King.”
And so the trip to Korea began.
As neighboring countries go, it only took a few hours by plane for Godou and Erica to arrive in Korea.
Since a fight was inevitable anyway, Erica had made various preparations once Korea agreed to the unofficial meeting.
But wasn’t Il-gyu the type who hated unnecessary procedures?
As soon as they arrived at the airport, National Intelligence Service agents told them, “His Majesty is waiting,” and guided them to the place they had prepared in advance where the damage would be minimal.
They led them to Il-gyu, who was smoking alone in an abandoned industrial complex.
“You came?”
“You are...”
“So it’s true that when a godslayer meets a god or a fellow of the same kind, his body reacts first.”
As soon as Godou got out of the car, Il-gyu put out his cigarette.
And as the two godslayers faced each other, they could feel it.
The sensation of adrenaline surging through their entire bodies, sharpening their senses.
Their flesh was preparing for the violent battle to come.
For Godou, this wasn’t his first time; he had already fought the Sword King, Salvatore Doni, in Italy once before.
By contrast, this was perhaps Il-gyu’s first time facing someone of equal standing, so the sensation was quite fresh and mysterious.
“I underestimated the godslayer’s body. The difference between normal state and when it kicks into gear is this large? I’ve got more training to do.”
It felt like he was finally understanding the limits of his body properly.
Il-gyu was glad, if only because this meant the trip had not been a waste of time.
Godou, on the other hand, was feeling something entirely different.
It was the sensation of meeting a natural enemy he had never known in his life.
“What is this? He’s the same as me, no, he’s supposed to be a junior Devil King? Where the hell is he a junior?!”
Yes, the total amount of prana itself seemed similar.
That was because godslayers increase their prana along with the number of Authorities each time they usurp one.
If the number of Authorities is the same, then the amount of prana has no choice but to be comparable.
But the concentration, the density, was on a completely different level.
If the prana flowing through Godou was water, then the prana flowing from Il-gyu felt like mercury, like molten metal.
Not even a single drop was wasted.
Thank goodness Godou was a godslayer and Erica was a Great Knight.
If he had been an ordinary half-baked expert, he might not even have realized Il-gyu possessed prana at all.
Even Doni, the man called the Sword King, wasn’t this way.
He didn’t know about the Authorities, but as a prana user, the man was simply on a different level.
More than anything—
“That’s not all.”
Instinct screamed.
Don’t fight.
Run.
That being is a monstrosity that devours its own kind.
Your natural enemy.
It was the body of the godslayer itself refusing the fight.
Yet whether he understood Godou’s feelings or not, Il-gyu, satisfied with his fully heightened body, summoned a legal staff into his hand and then released his Authority.
“You’ve got an incredible finishing move, do you? Sorry, but I’m not all that interested in fighting itself. I don’t intend to wait, so I’ll go first.”
Crush the criminal to his knees and kill him.
“[Judgment of the Sinner]”
A domain that devoured space.
Il-gyu’s stage unfolded.
Godou and Erica realized their mistake and rushed toward Il-gyu at once, but the law forbidding combat within the courtroom bound the two of them.
“W-why won’t my body move?!”
“To think he was a king with a personal barrier as well!”
Domains can only be answered by domains.
Godou also possessed a domain, a personal barrier, so in theory he could respond.
But [Ju-bok-sa-sa] was a domain created through restraint, one that even forced the laws of space to include Il-gyu himself.
It would swallow most domains in reverse.
And from the outset, there was no way Godou could possibly be Il-gyu’s match in a battle of domains and prana.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“In my courtroom, I don’t deal with minors. If you want to claim juvenile immunity, bring someone under five years old.”
Of course, that was one thing and this was another.
Il-gyu’s law was that even juvenile immunity would be charged back to the parents.
Setting that aside—
In a courtroom filled with guillotines, Il-gyu finally began the trial.
“Now then, let’s see the charges. Hm, how strange. Something I expected to be there isn’t.”
He could not see the karma of murder on Godou.
He was a godslayer, so naturally he must have killed a god, and Il-gyu had assumed that would be there.
But apparently gods weren’t treated as human beings.
“No, rather, maybe when gods die they simply return to myth in the end, so it doesn’t count as murder.”
Well, that didn’t matter.
Why?
“He may not have committed murder, but he’s committed every other crime he could possibly commit.”
Destruction of property.
Destruction of structures.
Damage to public property.
Violation of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
And so on.
In summary—
“A terrorist bastard.”
The destroyer of the world who had killed no people stood here.
“I’ll give you a chance to plead your case. Speak.”
The Authority that placed even a king on the defendant’s bench.
Godou understood at once why Il-gyu was his natural enemy.
Meanwhile, at the same time in Japan,
as expected, Godou had been completely won over by the Four Great Families and Erica, and was now preparing to sortie in fury over the Korean king’s tyranny.
“What a rotten person! Well, I’m not exactly in a position to criticize, but this is just someone getting lucky and gaining a huge power, right? What’s the big deal that they’d do something like this...? Fine, I’m not interested in a king or whatever, but if this is something only I can do, then I’ll go tell him off. He’s my junior, after all.”
There may be people who would blame Godou for his innocence, but this wasn’t his fault.
When three people gather, it’s no big deal to make one person a fool.
He might have doubted the Four Great Families, but Erica was the closest confidante Godou trusted most in this field.
They had schemed together to deceive him, so it was actually stranger that he hadn’t been fooled.
Still, even accounting for that, Godou was indeed somewhat careless and naive.
Above all, doing a king’s work while denying that he himself was a king was the most deserving of criticism.
By now he should have understood.
Whether he truly didn’t know, or knew and was pretending not to, Godou did not understand the weight carried by the name “king.”
Neither he nor any of the other kings had gained great power just because they were lucky.
And that power was by no means something trivial.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you this time, Godou. But you need to know what kind of existence you are. And what kind of ripple effect every action of yours will bring.”
Erica sincerely hoped this matter would become a small lesson for him.
And, in addition, a deep apology to Korea.
But when kings stand face to face across their territories, collision is, in fact, inevitable.
Even if it hadn’t been this matter, it would have happened sooner or later.
She was neither a good person nor a villain.
She was simply one king’s woman and knight.
What she prioritized most was Godou, not Japan or Korea, so using the Korean king as material for Godou’s growth was something she could do without hesitation.
Besides, if she thought about what came after taking control of Japan, Korea would need to be intimidated at least once anyway.
“Still, I couldn’t bring that woman with me after all. I thought she was a typical demure lady, but she turned out to have a surprisingly strong side.”
She meant the shrine maiden and spirit medium she had mentioned earlier.
Maria Yuri.
The most suitable person for lifting the restrictions on Godou’s warrior incarnation.
Erica had met Maria, explained the situation, and asked for her cooperation.
But the answer she got was refusal.
Maria was by no means as naive as Godou.
“Is it truly the case that this dispute originated from Korea? If you swear it on your knight’s oath, I’ll cooperate as well.”
“Ha! I thought you were the type to shut your ears and live without caring about the outside world, but I guess not?”
“At the very least, I know that our king is being played by you.”
“That’s a nasty way to put it. I’m sincerely doing what’s best for Godou. It’s just that what’s best for him isn’t what’s best for Japan.”
“You...”
“You won’t even obey a royal command? Aren’t you a shrine maiden?”
“If you command me directly, I will obey. Not as a proxy borrowing your authority.”
Since Erica obviously couldn’t tell Godou, “She’s the woman needed to lift the restrictions on your Authority, so order her around,” Maria was not included in this trip.
Godou still thought they were going there to argue with words.
Even though this was a place where Devil King would clash with Devil King,
fortunately, the Korean side had agreed to the formal procedure of a meeting, so Erica could accompany him as an aide, which was fine.
Still, it was impossible not to feel disappointed.
“It’ll be fine. Just because I’m here doesn’t mean it’s decided that the warrior incarnation can’t be used at all. Even without the warrior incarnation, Godou is still strong enough.”
As mentioned before, Godou had usurped all ten incarnations of Verethragna.
Considering that each incarnation was comparable to an Authority, it was fair to say Godou possessed ten Authorities.
Well, the restrictions were severe, and among those incarnations there were still some he couldn’t use, as well as abilities that weren’t suited to combat.
Even so—
“He’s no newborn Devil King.”
And so the trip to Korea began.
As neighboring countries go, it only took a few hours by plane for Godou and Erica to arrive in Korea.
Since a fight was inevitable anyway, Erica had made various preparations once Korea agreed to the unofficial meeting.
But wasn’t Il-gyu the type who hated unnecessary procedures?
As soon as they arrived at the airport, National Intelligence Service agents told them, “His Majesty is waiting,” and guided them to the place they had prepared in advance where the damage would be minimal.
They led them to Il-gyu, who was smoking alone in an abandoned industrial complex.
“You came?”
“You are...”
“So it’s true that when a godslayer meets a god or a fellow of the same kind, his body reacts first.”
As soon as Godou got out of the car, Il-gyu put out his cigarette.
And as the two godslayers faced each other, they could feel it.
The sensation of adrenaline surging through their entire bodies, sharpening their senses.
Their flesh was preparing for the violent battle to come.
For Godou, this wasn’t his first time; he had already fought the Sword King, Salvatore Doni, in Italy once before.
By contrast, this was perhaps Il-gyu’s first time facing someone of equal standing, so the sensation was quite fresh and mysterious.
“I underestimated the godslayer’s body. The difference between normal state and when it kicks into gear is this large? I’ve got more training to do.”
It felt like he was finally understanding the limits of his body properly.
Il-gyu was glad, if only because this meant the trip had not been a waste of time.
Godou, on the other hand, was feeling something entirely different.
It was the sensation of meeting a natural enemy he had never known in his life.
“What is this? He’s the same as me, no, he’s supposed to be a junior Devil King? Where the hell is he a junior?!”
Yes, the total amount of prana itself seemed similar.
That was because godslayers increase their prana along with the number of Authorities each time they usurp one.
If the number of Authorities is the same, then the amount of prana has no choice but to be comparable.
But the concentration, the density, was on a completely different level.
If the prana flowing through Godou was water, then the prana flowing from Il-gyu felt like mercury, like molten metal.
Not even a single drop was wasted.
Thank goodness Godou was a godslayer and Erica was a Great Knight.
If he had been an ordinary half-baked expert, he might not even have realized Il-gyu possessed prana at all.
Even Doni, the man called the Sword King, wasn’t this way.
He didn’t know about the Authorities, but as a prana user, the man was simply on a different level.
More than anything—
“That’s not all.”
Instinct screamed.
Don’t fight.
Run.
That being is a monstrosity that devours its own kind.
Your natural enemy.
It was the body of the godslayer itself refusing the fight.
Yet whether he understood Godou’s feelings or not, Il-gyu, satisfied with his fully heightened body, summoned a legal staff into his hand and then released his Authority.
“You’ve got an incredible finishing move, do you? Sorry, but I’m not all that interested in fighting itself. I don’t intend to wait, so I’ll go first.”
Crush the criminal to his knees and kill him.
“[Judgment of the Sinner]”
A domain that devoured space.
Il-gyu’s stage unfolded.
Godou and Erica realized their mistake and rushed toward Il-gyu at once, but the law forbidding combat within the courtroom bound the two of them.
“W-why won’t my body move?!”
“To think he was a king with a personal barrier as well!”
Domains can only be answered by domains.
Godou also possessed a domain, a personal barrier, so in theory he could respond.
But [Ju-bok-sa-sa] was a domain created through restraint, one that even forced the laws of space to include Il-gyu himself.
It would swallow most domains in reverse.
And from the outset, there was no way Godou could possibly be Il-gyu’s match in a battle of domains and prana.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“In my courtroom, I don’t deal with minors. If you want to claim juvenile immunity, bring someone under five years old.”
Of course, that was one thing and this was another.
Il-gyu’s law was that even juvenile immunity would be charged back to the parents.
Setting that aside—
In a courtroom filled with guillotines, Il-gyu finally began the trial.
“Now then, let’s see the charges. Hm, how strange. Something I expected to be there isn’t.”
He could not see the karma of murder on Godou.
He was a godslayer, so naturally he must have killed a god, and Il-gyu had assumed that would be there.
But apparently gods weren’t treated as human beings.
“No, rather, maybe when gods die they simply return to myth in the end, so it doesn’t count as murder.”
Well, that didn’t matter.
Why?
“He may not have committed murder, but he’s committed every other crime he could possibly commit.”
Destruction of property.
Destruction of structures.
Damage to public property.
Violation of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
And so on.
In summary—
“A terrorist bastard.”
The destroyer of the world who had killed no people stood here.
“I’ll give you a chance to plead your case. Speak.”
The Authority that placed even a king on the defendant’s bench.
Godou understood at once why Il-gyu was his natural enemy.
thanks for the chapter