Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 476: I Think I've Had This Authority for a Long Time Now
"That's more or less what it means," Nian said, nodding. "But authority isn't something you can just obtain because you want it. Even a nearly useless authority is enough to let a human step beyond the bounds of humanity and reach the level of a god. As for authorities like death or destruction… I've never even heard of one appearing."
She acknowledged Steven's understanding, but knowing this alone was of little practical use. If anything, this third method was even harder to achieve than the first. Nian might believe that Steven had the potential to truly bring down Ursus itself, but she absolutely did not believe that anyone could obtain an authority over death.
And even if such a thing really did exist, it would inevitably draw the joint wrath of all gods.
A power so dangerous, one that threatened every divine being, would never be tolerated—whether by gods or by nations.
"Is that all?" Steven asked.
Compared to Nian, who had gone deep into gloomy speculation, Steven instead felt as though a light had suddenly turned on in his head.
If they were talking about authority… then didn't his commands count as a form of authority as well?
Seen from that angle, he had already possessed something akin to the authority of death for a very long time now.
The price, however, was probably a bit on the steep side.
Given Hypergryph's temperament, if he actually used the /KILL command, the World Acknowledgement Point consumed would definitely be an absurdly high number.
And if the target was a god, that cost would naturally skyrocket even further. At the very least, Steven could tell that with the points he had just about finished squandering, it definitely wouldn't be enough.
"That's all I know," Nian said with a shrug. "At the end of the day, I'm just a fragment. It's not like I'm some truly omniscient, omnipotent deity. You'll have to figure the rest out yourself."
This really was the limit of her knowledge. If not for Steven himself, there was no way she would have said this much just for the sake of two chunks of ore.
"Thanks, then. Sorry for interrupting your work—and thanks for the trouble," Steven said.
At least he had confirmed what he needed to know. This trip hadn't been wasted. After offering a clean, decisive farewell, Steven turned and headed for the door.
"Do you know what you're about to do?" Nian's voice came from behind him. "Even if you succeed, it'll basically mean making an enemy of every god in this world. When that happens, those monsters hiding in the shadows won't let someone like you go—a human who threatens them and isn't bound by any restraints."
She had a premonition that Steven might really be able to accomplish the feat of godslaying. But at the same time, he would inevitably face a fate similar to that of her original body.
On this matter, she had more right than anyone else to speak.
Those who slay gods will inevitably suffer backlash. That was an unavoidable truth.
"Thanks for the warning," Steven replied, waving his hand without turning around. "But there's nothing I can do about it. After all… once I've made a promise, there's no room for regret."
He understood perfectly well what Nian was saying.
But he had already given his word—to that future Talulah.
And to him, a promise once made was something that could no longer be changed.
Besides, godslaying was hardly new territory for him.
He had done it plenty of times before. Testing how resilient the gods of this world were didn't sound like a bad idea at all—in fact, it sounded rather interesting.
After leaving Nian's room, Steven casually tried entering a command into the input bar.
[/kill Deathless Black Snake]
Ding!
[Executing this command will consume 2,000,000 World Acknowledgement Points. Insufficient points. Force execution?]
Just as expected, the warning for insufficient points popped up.
If he wanted to forcibly erase Black Snake from this world—kick it out of existence altogether—the amount of points required was far beyond what he currently had in stock.
Sure, force execution is technically an option. But honestly speaking, Steven wasn't in a hurry to completely tear things apart with Hypergryph just yet. Since he was playing in someone else's world, as long as she didn't cross his bottom line, he was still willing to follow her rules for the time being.
"So where am I supposed to get those points from…?" Steven muttered. "I don't even know what the original plot of this game looks like. How I'm supposed to intervene is already a problem. Don't tell me I have to dig out the protagonist first?"
He pinched his chin and pondered for a long while, seriously considering this century-old dilemma of how to farm points—much like how seagulls forever ponder where to steal fries.
After careful thought, Steven ultimately decided not to rush things.
If the protagonist showed up too early, who knew how badly it might mess with the subsequent plot? And any changes triggered by the protagonist—there was no guarantee Steven could even extract points from them.
In truth, the situation wasn't that urgent anyway. As long as he kept an eye on things, even if that Black Snake had some scheme in motion, it likely wouldn't be able to carry it out smoothly.
After all, both Nian and Kal'tsit had said it before: what made that thing truly disgusting was its immortality and how hard it was to eradicate. In terms of raw power, it wasn't actually top-tier.
At the very least, the fact that it could be solo-killed by Talulah already proved that its combat strength probably wasn't even comparable to a single Ursus Emperor's Blade.
Once he thought it through, Steven shook his hands lightly.
Right now, the most pressing matter was clearly the ominous premonition coming from Alina's side.
"Let me think… if I need a bodyguard, who on Rhodes Island would actually be reliable?"
He searched through his memories for candidates suitable to act as Alina's personal protector, then rubbed his temples with a headache.
Turns out there really weren't many good options.
Among the people he knew and trusted, most were medics or frontline guards. They were absolutely reliable when it came to fighting, but protecting someone was another matter entirely, and it would be pushing their skill sets a bit.
If he had to name someone, Ace wasn't bad. But first, he was a grown man, and second, he clearly had other duties to attend to. There was no guarantee he could spare the time.
Thinking it over again and again, Steven realized there was only one truly suitable candidate left.
Strictly speaking, that girl didn't fully count as a Rhodes Island operator yet—but if he stepped in personally, given the favor she owed him, making a small request shouldn't be a problem.
Having made up his mind, Steven directly took out a Warp Stone and initiated his next teleport.
. . .
The Nearl Family Estate, in the Grand Knight Territory of Kazimierz.
With the complete collapse of the K.G.C.C and its reorganization into what was now the Block Consortium, Kazimierz Major—competitions riddled with shady dealings behind the scenes—had finally come to an end.
As a result, the Grand Knight Territory had, for once, lost an activity that had practically involved the entire population. Yet because of that, the city itself also shed a layer of its former noise and urgency. Its residents were no longer consumed solely by work; they finally had the time to pause and experience life for what it was.
Maria, for instance, had recently been considering whether she should learn a bit about gardening. If she did, she could help tidy up the greenery in her aunt's newly purchased estate so it wouldn't look quite so much like a haunted house.
Just as she was about to practice on the flower by the front gate—an expensive plant her uncle had apparently spent a small fortune on, though she had no idea what species it was—a figure suddenly appeared before her.
Startled, Maria's hand slipped.
Snip
The blossom, which had been in full bloom only a moment ago, fell cleanly to the ground.
Like a child who'd just been caught doing something naughty, she hastily pulled her scissors back, then stared at the boy who had appeared out of nowhere with wide, shocked eyes.
"Uh… did I come out at a bad time?" Steven asked awkwardly, pointing at the flower lying on the ground. "This, uh… it's fine, right?"
Using black-hole teleportation for convenience had its downsides. Scaring people half to death was one of them.
"Phew—so it's Mr. Steve." Once she recognized him, the wariness on Maria's face quickly melted away. She was quite fond of the young man who had helped both her and her aunt so much, and her tone naturally grew lighter.
"But this is your fault, you know. What are we supposed to do now~?"
As far as the flower was concerned, she fully intended for Steven to take at least some responsibility.
"Eh, that's easy," Steven said, deliberately lowering his voice as if they were conspiring about something. "If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, then as long as nobody saw it, it never happened. The flower just fell off naturally. What does that have to do with us?"
His expression made him look exactly like a shady uncle trying to lead a child astray.
"But… what if Uncle Młynar finds out?" Maria asked hesitantly, her index fingers nervously poking at each other. For such a pure-hearted girl, lying was still a bit too advanced.
"Mr. Steve, please don't tease my sister like that," a clear, heroic voice came from inside the estate. "And what if you really end up teaching her something bad?"
A moment later, Margaret stepped out of the doorway, dressed in simple white casual clothes. She looked at Steven with a helpless expression and gently admonished him.
"Oh, come on. I trust that a good girl like Maria would never actually do something like that," Steven replied with a smile. "I was just joking with her."
After ruffling Maria's dazzling golden hair, Steven finally turned his gaze toward the girl he had come here specifically to find.
With the Radiant Knight as a bodyguard—no matter how you looked at it—that was about as reassuring as it got.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed