Rumble—!
With a sound that seemed to tear the very sky asunder, bolts of blue lightning struck down vertically. The jagged rocks of Okinotori Island melted into slag under the intense heat, and seawater evaporated instantly, sending plumes of white steam billowing into the air.
Amidst that downpour of destruction, Kusanagi Godo was running desperately, maintaining the godspeed of The Phoenix. His body had become as light as a feather, accelerating beyond the limits of physical laws, yet the speed of the lightning pursuing him was relentless.
*Damn it, just dodging isn't enough. I have to create an opening!*
Godo looked up at his senior King, Min-jun, who was hovering in the sky. The senior King hovered there with his arms crossed, summoning calamity with the mere flick of a finger. To shatter that overwhelming composure, Godo didn't need simple evasion—he needed a heavy blow capable of tearing through that leisurely arrogance.
Godo didn't slow down. Instead, he made a sharp turn toward the coastline and reached his hand out toward the heavens.
“Come to my side, for victory's sake! O immortal sun, grant me a shining steed! O mystical horse of fleet foot, bring forth the halo that is your master!”
The incarnation of Verethragna: The White Horse.
The eastern horizon flared crimson. The coastal waters erupted as if detonated, and from within the spray emerged a massive white horse, its mane fluttering with the flames of the sun. Following Godo's will, the white horse charged in a straight line toward me.
Neigh—!
“Ho?”
I kept my arms crossed as I felt the solar heat surging toward me. This wasn't mere child's play with fire. It was a fierce thermal output capable of incinerating even the winds of Tāwhirimātea that swirled around me.
*I was going to take it easy on him, but he’s playing for keeps.*
I let out a wry smile and uncrossed my arms. Blocking this with Medusa’s petrification was a bad matchup. Heat doesn't have a solid form, making it a pain to turn into stone.
“Fine. I’ll show you some respect.”
I extended my right hand into the empty air.
“The stars fall from the heavens to become the King's sword, a vow of the end that signals the conclusion of all strife.”
Particles of brilliant light swirled within my palm.
“As the King who shoulders victory, I hereby promise triumph. Excalibur!”
K-Boom!
The holy sword clutched in my hand vomited a dazzling golden light. I swung the blade without a moment's hesitation at the charging White Horse of the sun.
“Shatter!”
The light of the holy sword collided head-on with the flames of the horse. Accompanied by a roar that sounded as if the entire island were being flipped upside down, the solar flames were split in half and scattered into nothingness.
“Huff, huff…!”
Godo stared in horror, seeing his trump card blocked so easily.
However, his eyes didn't harbor despair; they were moving desperately, searching for his next move.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest, far removed from the direct aftermath of the battlefield...
“Godo…!”
Erica Brandelli could no longer bear it after witnessing even The White Horse being repelled. She threw herself toward the battlefield.
Clang!
But before her blade could reach the fray, it was intercepted by a wall of pitch-black steel.
“Move!”
The one blocking her path was Alessandro Gaspare, the knight once known by the title ‘Diabolosso’ of the former Bronze-Black Cross. He hadn't even drawn his sword; he was obstructing Erica’s path using only his scabbard.
“Stand down, Sir Erica Brandelli. Intervening in the sacred trial of Kings is an act of irreverence.”
Erica gritted her teeth. Her opponent was a legendary knight, a grand senior whom she couldn't dare to challenge under normal circumstances. But she couldn't back down now.
“Forgive me, Lord Alessandro. But my liege is in mortal danger. As a knight, I will commit any irreverence necessary to protect my King!”
Erica raised her sword high. To pierce this iron wall, she needed her greatest incantation, one filled with all her pride.
“O Lion of Steel and the ancestor, the Lionheart King! Hear the oath of the knight Erica Brandelli. I am the successor to the valiant horn, the tip of the black warrior’s blade; as long as my heart does not break, my sword shall never shatter! Lionheart King, manifest the essence of struggle in my hands now!”
Her beloved sword, Cuore di Leone, was enveloped in crimson mana along with the roar of a lion.
“Hah!”
The first strike. A rapid thrust. Alessandro shifted his upper body just slightly, letting the blade slip past as if letting out a sigh.
“Too linear.”
The second strike. A horizontal slash. Alessandro stepped back a single pace, evading it cleanly.
“Your mind is hurried, so the tip of your sword wavers.”
The third, the fourth. Erica swung her sword like a storm, but Alessandro rendered every attack moot with minimal movement, as if he were merely out for a stroll.
“A knight's sword cuts with coldness, not heat. Have you still not realized that?”
Alessandro's voice didn't carry the bloodlust of an enemy, but the stern guidance of a mentor teaching an inexperienced junior.
“I know that… but!”
Erica gasped for breath as she widened the distance. She couldn't break through this iron wall using conventional methods. Her opponent was a being who had transcended humanity after receiving the King's blessing—the Knights of the Round Table.
A venomous light settled in her eyes as she adjusted her grip on the sword to a reverse hold.
“If it means surpassing you, I will even commit a taboo.”
A mournful chant, laden with the resolve for sublime sacrifice, began to flow from her lips. The knight's ultimate sacrament—converting her own life force into mana.
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani! My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou answerest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel! All my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels; Thou hast brought me into the dust of death!”
The Incantation of Golgotha.
A blood-colored aura erupted from Erica's body, dyeing the atmosphere crimson. Her skin began to rupture and her veins screamed, but she did not stop.
“For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet! O my strength, haste Thee to help me! Deliver my soul from the sword. Save me from the lion's mouth: for Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns! I will declare Thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee!”
Explosive mana enshrouded Erica.
“Ooh….”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“To dabble in the forbidden. I shall acknowledge your loyalty and resolve toward that fledgling King.”
He slowly, very slowly, drew the sword from his waist.
“However, junior. You aren't the only one who knows that incantation.”
The same mournful words flowed from Alessandro's lips. Yet, the depth and weight were entirely different.
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani! My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou answerest not; and in the night season… My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, melted within me. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death!”
VROOOOM!
The pressure erupting from Alessandro was on a different plane than Erica’s. If Erica was a burning red flame, Alessandro was a pitch-black abyss of fire that swallowed everything. It was an overwhelming presence created by the combination of a King's blessing and the Incantation of Golgotha.
“O my strength, haste Thee to help me! Deliver my soul from the sword. Save me from the lion's mouth, and from the horns of the wild oxen! I will declare Thy name and praise Thee in the center of the world!”
“As your senior, I shall teach you the true weight of the power you wield. Come!”
“Graaaaaah!”
The two knights collided head-on. Red and black mana intertwined, erupting in a shockwave that threatened to blow away the entire forest.
Back at the center of the battlefield.
I looked down at Godo, who was breathing heavily, while I kept Excalibur planted in the ground.
“You actually surprised me a bit, rookie. The White Horse, huh? You almost singed my hair.”
I bantered casually, but internally, I was re-evaluating the kid. He had the guts to throw a haymaker even when pushed to the edge. And despite his wavering eyes as he watched his knight fighting and bleeding in the distance...
“Your knight seems to be struggling quite a bit. What are you going to do? Are you just going to sit here and watch?”
Godo raised his head at my provocation. His eyes were no longer wavering.
*Erica is fighting too. She’s even using a taboo for my sake… If I back down here, I’m trampling over her resolve.*
Godo realized it. He couldn't win through raw power. To bring down this monstrous senior King, he didn't need simple firepower; he needed to cut through the very essence of that power.
The knowledge Erica had taught him. That was the only key.
Godo forced strength into his trembling legs and stood up. He reached his right hand into the air, as if grasping an invisible sword.
“I shall manifest justice upon the world through the power of word-spirits! Let this incantation be mighty and eloquent!”
Verethragna's tenth incarnation: The Warrior.
Countless golden spheres gathered around Godo’s hand. They were wisdom, they were language, and they were blades meant to kill gods. Soon, those lights merged into one, manifesting into a brilliantly shining golden sword.
An incorporeal godslaying weapon forged from wisdom and incantations.
“Ho? You finally pulled that out. That little toy.”
I watched the sword with genuine interest.
Godo pointed the golden sword at me—specifically, toward my eyes. The words meant to define me, or rather, the god residing within me, began to burst from his lips.
“That ashen curse you use. The Evil Eye that turns what it sees to stone. That is no mere magecraft!”
The golden sword vibrated along with Godo’s shout. I felt Medusa’s divinity squirming inside me, shrinking back as its true identity was exposed.
“In ancient times, you were the fertile Earth Mother, but you were cursed by a goddess and became a monster with snakes for hair! The tragic goddess who was beheaded by the hero Perseus and gave birth to Pegasus from her blood!”
Godo’s eyes flashed with certainty.
“The identity of your power is… the Gorgon of Greek mythology, Medusa!”
Ving—!
The golden sword emitted a fierce light, locking onto my Authority. It hadn't cut yet, but the tip of the blade was already aimed at the heart of my power.
Godo tightened his grip on the sword and glared straight at me.
“With this sword… I will seal your Authority!”
The gazes of the two Kings collided in mid-air.
The test was now rushing toward its climax.
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