"This feeling—"
The Eastern God of War, beneath an unbearable and crushing pressure, revealed an unprecedented gravity upon his face.
In the direction of his gaze, warped calamity-clouds converged into a swirling vortex.
Bathed in a force potent enough to twist even space and time, a black-haired girl in long robes slowly descended from within the vortex. It was Satsuki, who had already entered the [Aspect of the Demon Buddha] state.
The phantom aura radiating outward marked power that had reached its absolute limit.
Her lowered gaze, looking down upon all beneath her, carried a reckless confidence that disregarded all existence.
Before the two Heretic Gods present could react, a ripple of spacetime force suddenly spread outward from the black-robed girl.
The invisible wave swept across the battlefield. In an instant, heaven and earth changed once more. The calamity clouds in the sky froze. The green forest encircling the ancient ruins was locked in stillness. Even Ariana's worried expression in the distance and Erica's shield-bearing figure were frozen in place.
Only the two Heretic Gods on the field remained able to move.
At the moment before dawn arrived, a faint golden radiance shone from behind the girl's head. Then the two gods heard again that layered, overlapping voice from before.
"I recall that the ancient Persian God of War, guardian who served the god of light Mithra, may enhance his divine power somewhat when bathed in the light of dawn."
"You—so you are a god as well? To think even I would misjudge."
The youthful god incarnated by Verethragna overflowed with the power of the Bull incarnation. As the golden sunlight of dawn poured over him, his already vast divine power rose again, reaching the level of his full prime.
Satsuki remained unmoved. Her gaze shifted toward the other god.
The King of the Gods, Melqart—akin to Odin or Zeus in rank—also possessed solar divinity. Yet he governed too many domains.
And because he did not command the multitude of incarnations that Verethragna did, the constraint of "Name" bound him more tightly. As a result, when the sun rose, he could not similarly elevate his divine power.
—However, Satsuki merely lifted a hand. A blue light of Authority shone upon the god who had been forced immobile under immense pressure.
"To think such a formidable foe would appear openly within my territory!"
The shock upon Melqart's face rivaled Verethragna's. As the chief deity guarding this land, he had failed to notice the arrival of such a powerful enemy.
This could not be explained away as mere carelessness. It could only mean his strength was inferior to that of this mysterious goddess.
Through her Authority of Status Infusion, Satsuki in her Demon Buddha state swiftly discerned the condition of his divinity.
"As Erica said, you are indeed a supreme god with many aspects—king, god of wisdom, god of life, god of war, god of the underworld, and more. But this incarnation primarily bears the honorary title bestowed by the people when protecting the city of Tyre. In that case, I shall return the corresponding Authorities."
With a backward sweep of her hand, the blue light of Authority extracted a portion of Melqart's former state and refilled it into his present body.
A world-level Authority was on par with a chief god. Negative states might be resisted by divine barriers—but positive effects took hold instantly.
Within a burst of radiance, the great god whose power had been unstable was restored to full strength.
The crude armor upon him transformed into something magnificent. Polished bronze reflected the light of dawn. The thick wooden club in his grasp shifted form, becoming a trident gleaming with divine brilliance.
The sudden restoration left Melqart momentarily stunned. Then his lion-like face, thick with white mane-like hair, showed sudden realization.
"Restoring my divine power—so this is the confidence with which you intend to defeat me?"
Floating in the air, Satsuki gave a slight nod.
"If I were to defeat you in an unrestored state, your loss would be unwilling, and my victory meaningless." ×3
"Hahaha—HAHAHAHA—HAHAHAHAHA!"
Like muffled thunder, Melqart's bold laughter boomed from his immense chest.
"Since I became a god, I have never heard such overbearing words! If one day my true body could battle you, then even should I fall, I would have no regrets!"
On the other side, the youthful God of War Verethragna realized that this existence before him was even more arrogant than himself—she intended to fight two at once.
—The road in pursuit of defeat was not one he walked alone.
Realizing this, his blood boiled.
Here, at last, was a god who might fulfill his wish. Upon the invincible monument of victory, there could not be two names!
The corners of his lips lifted. His youthful form rose slowly into the sky. As he ascended, the crushing pressure weakened, until he stood level with Satsuki's black-haired figure—and the oppressive force vanished entirely.
That was the blessing and dominion incantation—the Authority of the Hero incarnation—repelling the surrounding pressure.
"Worthy indeed of drawing my attention. But defeating me with this alone is far from enough."
He began to chant.
"Language is light. Words of power are light. Therefore, O light, O sacred words—become my sword, become my blade!"
In the next instant, golden radiance surged above the sun.
A divine sword of gold appeared from the void. Verethragna transformed, taking the form that wielded the golden blade, and charged directly at Satsuki.
Within her Tenseigan, the sword manifested an Authority capable of severing divine power itself. If an ordinary divine weapon clashed against it, it would be reduced to fundamental particles and disintegrate.
"That's more like it. Come!" ×3
The Demon Buddha floated unmoving in the sky. She merely raised her palm slightly. The concealed power of Vipralopa stirred space into violent distortion.
Then came the first clash between gods—bare palm against golden sword!
Boom—!
The shriek of metal and the eruption of divine force churned the surrounding air into destructive tidal waves. The residual force formed visible layers of Authority-light that blasted apart the divine barriers around them.
Melqart stepped back slightly, his massive frame stirring seawater and tides with his trident, laying heavy defenses around himself.
Yet the golden sword that severed divine power and the spreading force of Vipralopa cut through enemy and ally alike—splitting the pure waves—and struck directly against the bronze armor reflecting coppery light.
Were it a being like a great yokai of the world, a single aftershock would have slain it instantly. Yet Melqart, King of the Gods, merely retreated two steps. His mighty body showed no sign of injury.
With her 360-degree perception, Satsuki naturally observed this. It seemed Melqart had no intention of joining forces with the Eastern God of War to besiege her.
She neither approved nor objected.
Verethragna, whose attack had been blocked barehanded, merely narrowed his eyes—yet his assault did not pause for a moment.
He had realized the opponent's strength. Even empowered by the Bull incarnation, he had been sent flying by Satsuki's immense force—while her figure in the sky had not retreated a single step.
Immediately, he invoked his eighth incarnation—Ram.
This agile divine beast, worshiped by nomadic peoples as the embodiment of lightning.
Without even chanting, thunder erupted from his hand, crashing toward Satsuki.
What followed was a gale from the front—the Authority of Gale.
Facing such attacks, Satsuki simply beckoned with her left hand. Nine Truth-Seeking Orbs appeared before her, twisting and rotating to form a massive repulsive storm.
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion."
Though merely a probing strike, the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion formed by the nine Truth-Seeking Orbs was enough to overturn mountains and shatter falling meteors.
Thunder filled the heavens. Storms incarnated as natural calamities and surged forward—only to be swept away in an instant by a force surpassing the planet itself. They vanished midair without a trace.
The failure of two incarnations did not discourage the God of War.
...After that, he invoked various other divine powers.
The Boar incarnation granted him unparalleled charging force. The Camel bestowed upon him a mind's eye capable of seeing through Satsuki's movements. The Raptor granted godlike speed.
That instantaneous shift in velocity caused the repulsive storm—capable of blowing away an entire nation—to miss its mark. Even Melqart, who had withdrawn to a distance, could not help but remark,
"Tch... still as adept as ever at shifting forms in battle. An irritating ability. However, this time he has met a true rival."
Merely a rival?
No. From the very first clash of the golden sword, the war god had already exercised unprecedented focus. An opponent capable of receiving the golden sword with her body alone—such a terrifying existence could not be faced with even the slightest carelessness.
Yet he was the God of War who could defeat any god or demon.
Thus, emerging from divine speed, he swung the golden sword once more.
But this second slash bore no comparison to the first. The sword aura it unleashed seemed capable of cleaving the earth itself—towering between heaven and ground.
This was true divine technique—martial skill refined to its absolute peak.
To perfectly wield a massive weapon, one must master the art of using it as lightly as a feather.
To perfectly wield a slender blade, one must learn how to strike with the weight of mountains.
"Making the light as heavy..."
Endless nebulae were born and extinguished within Satsuki's golden eyes. Facing the sword aura sweeping in from her flank, she casually raised a hand and pressed downward in its direction.
With her motion, a colossal palm formed from glazed, jewel-like radiance descended from the heavens, crushing down and bursting the incoming sword aura midair.
Her barehanded strength alone was sufficient to resist the golden sword's slash.
Against the war god's ever-changing combat techniques, the black-haired goddess did not fall behind in the slightest.
The more they fought, the more powerful she seemed.
The more they fought, the more terrifying she became.
Then—for the first time—the black-haired goddess launched an offensive.
In an instant, the war god's vision flipped upside down. Space and time twisted and inverted simultaneously in a surreal mirage.
By the time he understood what had happened, Satsuki's figure had already closed the distance before him. Her palm lightly swept forward.
BOOOOM—!
Within that seemingly casual strike lay force even a supreme Heretic God could scarcely endure. Though the war god's perception—accelerated by the Camel incarnation—barely kept pace with Satsuki's instantaneous strike that pierced through spacetime, the sheer impact still sent both him and the golden sword flying. His hands trembled uncontrollably as he clutched the blade.
Yet this was far from over.
Having mastered the divine technique of spatial exchange, Satsuki could now swap positions freely within her field of vision.
Under such seamless offense-and-defense spatial control—
There was no interval between attacks. Frequency held no meaning.
There was only endless assault, striking from every conceivable direction.
Faced with attacks that appeared before him, vanished behind him, emerged from nowhere and carried lethal threat, the youthful god relied upon the War God divinity's instinctive danger prediction, the enhancement of mind's eye, and the accelerated perception of the Camel to barely evade again and again.
In the blink of an eye, he had fallen into disadvantage beneath a storm of blows.
...
"Such reckless expenditure—how long can you maintain it?"
Though forced into clumsy evasions, the war god did not panic. Such ghostlike spatial techniques could not possibly be limitless.
Yet just as he prepared to continue dodging until her divine power waned—
Satsuki, whose previous strike had missed, did not vanish this time.
Instead, her golden eyes fixed upon him. The corners of her lips curved slightly upward.
An unprecedented sense of crisis surged within him, as if a godslaying blade hung above his head—about to fall.
Instinctively, the youthful war god attempted to retreat.
But in shock, he realized his body had been forcibly frozen in place.
"My ability does not act upon myself alone."
With that whisper, Satsuki closed the distance once more.
Her right hand shifted from palm to blade, cleaving downward. If that strike landed while he was fixed within the coordinates of space by her spatial exchange—his right arm would be severed.
Yet the undefeated war god did not panic.
With perception accelerated by the Camel incarnation, he recited a divine incantation at supernal speed:
"Fear me—withdraw at once! I am the one who breaks all obstacles. The mighty and the unjust alike cannot strike me down."
In that instant, Satsuki narrowed her eyes.
The world became blindingly bright.
She understood—
The youthful war god had transformed into light.
The freezing effect caused by forced spatial exchange could not bind such intangible particles of radiance.
Ten—twenty—nearly a hundred spheres of golden light scattered around her.
Then the light converged.
The slender youth reappeared, bathed in brilliance. His divine body shone resplendent, surrounded by countless beams.
"O radiant lord of the sun, Mithra the praised! To conquer all enemies—grant unto me a thousand lights and a thousand swords!"
Fusing the White Stallion—symbol of cosmic conflagration—with the Golden Sword, the war god unleashed his supreme technique—
A Thousand Lights, A Thousand Swords.
Clang!
A continuous cascade of metallic resonance echoed.
"This is—!?"
Melqart's expression turned solemn. A familiar sensation rose within him.
In a single instant, heaven and earth were covered by a golden barrier. Divine sigils flowed across the sky.
Upon the earth, golden "wheat stalks" began to sprout, stretching as far as the eye could see—
No.
They were not wheat.
They were countless golden swords, formed of pure light, their tips pointed skyward, radiating dazzling brilliance. Even without looking upward, one could see that the sky itself had become a magnificent "Great Wall" of golden blades.
These were the Golden Swords in their true form—Authority made manifest, sharp enough to sever divine barriers.
...Innumerable golden lights—majestic, tyrannical, merciless—each pointed toward Satsuki.
"Under such magnitude of attack, can your spatial ability still function?"
Hearing this, Satsuki attempted to shift one of the golden swords within her sight through spatial exchange.
Yet the surface of the selected blade rippled with sword aura, severing the locked-on sensation.
"Oh? Unable to establish spatial coordinates? Interesting."
Facing a golden sword domain that seemed to cast the entire world as her enemy, Satsuki spoke calmly.
"Then the game ends here."
Zing—
Suddenly, an incomparably sharp golden torrent of sword light shot upward into the heavens.
The countless golden swords filling the sky could not halt that edge—so absolute, so annihilating it pierced to the marrow.
Space itself began to tremble under the pressure of that blade, vibrating—then peeling away like shattered glass.
Along its path, the golden swords were swept aside like treasures scattered from a king's vault—vanishing the instant they touched the torrent of blade light.
Nothing could withstand its pressure.
Even from great distance, Melqart sensed the intent of that strike piercing through heaven and earth. Though restored to full strength, his divinity felt a needle-like sting.
Then the golden torrent swept across the sky.
Within the eyes of the undefeated war god, there remained only that golden sword domain spanning the heavens—
Cleave the firmament.
With annihilating force, it descended from above.