The lethal blow had been blocked by Su Mo.
Perseus's eyes widened slightly, impressed. "To block a strike like that… Clearly, you're no ordinary man."
He narrowed his eyes and studied Su Mo more closely. "So, you're the god-slayer of this era, aren't you?"
"That's right," Su Mo replied with a small nod. "And I'm here to take your head. It's fortunate you decided to come down."
Unlike other gods, the method of summoning Perseus had already been recorded in the original lore. This Steel Hero God, renowned for slaying serpents and dragons, could be summoned by offering a dragon as bait.
And this underground ruin in Naples just happened to be able to manifest a dragon.
That's why Su Mo had come here—to use the dragon to lure Perseus down.
And by the looks of it, it worked perfectly.
"So, you're opening with a declaration that you'll take my head?" Perseus said with a grin rather than outrage. In fact, he looked excited.
The look of a true warrior.
"I rather like blunt opponents like you," he said. "But… before we begin, could I finish off that dragon first? As a hero, I don't like leaving work unfinished."
His gaze turned to the emerald dragon beside Su Mo. Slaying evil dragons was his divine calling—he had descended specifically because of that.
Now, even with a worthy opponent like Su Mo in front of him, he still wanted to finish what he started.
Su Mo turned his head slightly to look at the dragon.
The emerald dragon was severely wounded, its wings torn and barely held together by thin strands of flesh and bone. In theory, it shouldn't be able to fly at all.
But dragons weren't bound by such mundane biological laws. As creatures born of the earth's very lifeblood, they did not necessarily need wings to fly.
Even now, the dragon kept itself aloft—most likely for Liliana's sake.
Though Liliana could fly on her own, the dragon didn't know that. To it, she was a companion it needed to protect.
Liliana, for her part, hadn't realized the dragon's silent effort.
But the moment Su Mo arrived and deflected Perseus's strike, she immediately directed the dragon to fly behind him.
She had just witnessed her King face down a Steel Hero God and rescue her from death.
The Emerald Dragon finally understood that Su Mo had no intention of harming it. After letting out a pitiful whimper, it obediently hid behind him. Judging by its behavior, it was unlikely to resist anymore and would probably even welcome Su Mo riding on its back. Unfortunately, Su Mo had no such plans at the moment.
"Sorry, I refuse," he said to Perseus, then turned to Liliana behind him and instructed, "Lily, take this guy and fall back."
Being a dragon rider might sound impressive, but in a battle against a Heretic God, it wasn't necessarily an advantage. The dragon's strength wasn't particularly notable to begin with—especially when facing a hero who specialized in slaying dragons and serpents. In front of such a divine being, riding a dragon would only make one an easy target.
"Understood!" the silver-haired knightess responded. Fully aware of the disparity in strength between the two sides, she wasn't foolish enough to overestimate her own abilities, nor would she allow herself to become a liability in this battle.
After she mounted the Emerald Dragon and took off into the skies, Liliana turned back to shout toward Su Mo, "My King! That Heretic God just now revealed his name—our enemy is called Perseus!"
She might not be able to help in combat, but she could still assist from the sidelines. Liliana felt that this piece of information was crucial for Su Mo to know.
"Got it," Su Mo waved his hand. A gust of wind swept Liliana and the Emerald Dragon far away from the battlefield. Perseus, the Heretic God standing before him, made no move to stop them. He knew that he didn't have the ability to do so—not while Su Mo, the Godslayer, had his full attention locked on him. If he tried to chase after the dragon, he would likely leave himself open to a fatal blow. That was not a trade worth making.
And who was he?
A hero—one who wielded iron and fire to conquer the land. Dragons and serpents were certainly his enemies, but so too were demon lords. From Su Mo's identity and intentions, it was clear: he was an enemy.
However—
"You don't look surprised at all," Perseus said with a raised brow, clearly a little taken aback. Liliana had done well. He didn't mind revealing his name to civilians or witches, but when facing a Godslayer, he typically wouldn't be so forthcoming—not with his penchant for trickery. After all, Perseus in myth was a notoriously cunning hero. He had expected the witch to back down after hearing his identity. He didn't anticipate that she would blurt out his true name before fleeing—and even more unexpected was the Godslayer's complete lack of shock.
"Perseus... perhaps that is indeed the name you currently hold as a divine being," Su Mo said meaningfully, "but there's another identity of yours—one that's deeply connected to a god I've already slain."
"A hero from the East... or rather, the Sun God of the East."
At those words, Perseus's expression darkened. His demeanor turned serious.
The sun rises from the east—that's common knowledge. But if one were to interpret that too simply, they'd miss the deeper meaning. Geographically speaking, from the perspective of ancient Rome, the competitive power lying to the East was none other than Persia. And if one mentioned Persia—
"Let an old friend of yours greet you," Su Mo said as a burst of magical power exploded from his hand. He activated the Authority of the [War God of East], summoning one of its divine avatars—the Boar of the Earth.
"ROAR—!"
A massive, dark green divine beast appeared, emanating an even more overwhelming pressure than the Emerald Dragon from before. With thunderous force, the Boar avatar charged directly at the Heretic God.
Though the two were hovering in the sky, the Boar itself wasn't capable of flight. Yet, with its explosive power and incredible leaping ability, it rocketed toward Perseus like a missile. As a divine beast capable of launching itself from the Earth to the Moon with its charge, this feat was nothing.
Perseus, facing the fearsome charge, simply smiled wryly. "Uncovering my true identity so quickly... Are you sure you're a Godslayer and not a god with the Authority of wisdom?"
The identity of the Eastern Sun God was complicated. While the Greeks had Helios, the Romans—especially when looking eastward—would inevitably think of the Persian Sun God. And the name "Perseus" itself bore Persian roots.
Thus, there was only one candidate—the deity worshipped by Zoroastrianism.
The god of light and contracts—Mithra. That was the true identity of the Heretic God standing before him.
The moment he saw the Boar avatar, he knew. The Godslayer in front of him wasn't just probing—he knew exactly who he was. The Boar, guardian of contracts, and the White Horse, guardian of light, were both divine manifestations granted by Mithra to his war god and servant, Verethragna—the very deity Su Mo had slain.
Realizing this, Perseus no longer felt the need to hide. He revealed his true nature. He was Mithra.
"Begone," he said softly.
Behind him, a radiant solar disc blazed into existence. A single ray of that divine light shone upon the battlefield—and the terrifying image of the Boar was instantly vaporized.
Light, when overwhelmed by a greater light, becomes powerless.
Verethragna was a warrior who protected the light. Mithra was his master. Therefore, as Mithra, Perseus could easily seal Verethragna's Authorities. This was the one true counter to Verethragna's otherwise overpowered abilities. Thankfully, Su Mo had anticipated this.
"…I won't bother testing with the other avatars either," he said with a slight shake of his head. "Whether it's the White Horse or the Wind, I'm sure none of them will work on you—aside from the Golden Sword."
Strictly speaking, even the Authority of the Golden Sword—an Authority born from understanding divine powers and forging weapons from them—could be negated by Mithra's light. But its strength lay in its ability to forge weapons endlessly. Even if a portion were neutralized, it wouldn't matter—if he could produce them fast enough, they might still have an effect.
In the original story, it was exactly this tactic that allowed Kusanagi Godou to triumph over Mithra. Still, there's no denying that the protagonist's plot armor played a big role in that victory. Realistically, Verethragna's powers alone would never have been enough to defeat the Sun God Mithra.
Type advantage is king—even for gods.
"Hahaha! Precisely!" Perseus laughed heartily. "Verethragna was my companion—his powers have no effect on me. So? Ready to admit defeat?"
He wasn't sure how many Heretic Gods this Godslayer had slain, but judging from Su Mo's apparent age, it probably wasn't too many. That gave Perseus a fair amount of confidence.
"Admit defeat?" Su Mo chuckled softly. "Spare me the jokes. If that's your last line, it's a pretty embarrassing one to go out on."
There was no more need for words. The two locked eyes—calm, but dangerous.
"Come then!" Perseus roared and lunged first, swinging his blade down at Su Mo.
"Clang!"
The sound of clashing weapons rang out.
The blow was effortlessly blocked by Su Mo's II Maestro, now completely coated in Armament Haki. With monstrous strength, he forcefully pushed back against the assault.
"Are you even human…?" Perseus' expression shifted from confident ease to a cold sweat in barely two seconds.
He couldn't believe that the god-slayer in front of him was suppressing him so completely in terms of raw strength—without even using any Authorities. That sort of power was not something a Campione was supposed to possess.
"It's just a result of a few lucky encounters," Su Mo replied casually, showing no intent to explain further.
In truth, a god-slayer without the aid of Authorities shouldn't be overwhelming in strength. But Su Mo wasn't like others. He had fused the physical power and training of many of his alternate selves across different worlds and had undergone several enhancements.
Moreover, his version from the One Piece world possessed the sheer brute strength to move mountains. With all of these physical stats combined, even a Rogue God—unless one specializing in divine strength—would be completely outmatched in a contest of force.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
As a Heroic God, Perseus' martial skill was among the finest, even within the realm of Rogue Gods. But in this duel against Su Mo, he was completely suppressed.
Be it physique, swordsmanship, or combat instincts—he was outmatched in every respect.
In just a few seconds, the two had already exchanged countless blows.
Perseus relied on his skill and divine artifacts just to keep up, but he was clearly being pushed to his limits.