"My dear friend, just watch closely—I'll take down this opponent myself!" Doni declared with spirited determination. Although Su Mo's offer to help moved him slightly, what truly stuck with him was Su Mo's certainty that he couldn't win. That part wounded his pride. Doni had made up his mind—he would take down this rogue god with his own hands and show Su Mo the true extent of his power.
"Confidence is a good thing…" Su Mo responded diplomatically, though he wasn't hopeful. After all, the King of the End was the one enemy that even if all the god-slayers come together—aside from Su Mo himself—would never ever be able to defeat. The difference in power levels was simply too vast.
What's more, there were currently seven god-slayers alive. According to the Covenant Law, the King's magic power would scale with the combined strength of the remaining god-slayers.
Still, Su Mo wasn't planning to challenge the King of the End just yet. If Doni could at least awaken him, that would save Su Mo the effort. So, he thought for a moment and explained, "To awaken that heretic god, you'll first need the Holy Grail of Magic. For that, you'll need to track down a Divine Ancestor named Guinevere—she has it."
The Holy Grail of Magic could be described as the god-slayer world's version of the Holy Grail. It contained enough magical power to rival several god-slayers combined. Its purpose? To empower the King of the End when he awakened. Su Mo, having already obtained the Third Magic, had no interest in it himself. In fact, his goals somewhat aligned with Guinevere's—both sought the King's awakening.
"But I should warn you," he added, "the Black Prince Alec is also searching for the Grail. If you want to awaken that heretic god, you'll be making an enemy of him." That was precisely Su Mo's intention: get Doni involved and pave the way for future moves.
"Once you've secured the Grail, I'll tell you how to awaken the heretic god."
Su Mo had no plans to send Doni off to find the King of the End directly—not yet. After all, the far East housed not just the King, but two other heretic gods. And those were Su Mo's intended prey.
Hearing this, Doni didn't object. He didn't understand magic anyway, nor how to awaken heretic gods. But since Su Mo had promised to share the method later, he trusted him to follow through. Su Mo was, after all, a man of honor. In that regard, Su Mo was trustworthy.
"No problem, my friend! Expect good news from me soon!"
Doni showed no hesitation at the prospect of facing another god-slayer. If anything, he seemed eager—especially if it meant a chance to duel the Black Prince Alec. Even if he didn't get to fight a heretic god, a bout with Alec would be a worthy challenge. Still, he didn't want to miss out on heretic god news either.
"Once I finish slaying the god you told me about, let's have that rematch!" Doni's eyes burned with fighting spirit as he looked at Su Mo. To a warrior, defeat wasn't the end. What mattered was the courage to rise again. And if nothing else, Doni had courage in spades. If he managed to acquire a decent Authority, he'd definitely want a rematch to wash away his earlier humiliation.
"If you gain a new Authority, I'll be happy to oblige," Su Mo replied without concern.
Doni could never defeat the King of the End—but if he managed to take down one of the other heretic gods, he'd once again become a suitable medium for Su Mo's summoning rituals. Because of this "tool-like" quality, Su Mo welcomed his challenges. The more heretic gods Doni ran into, the more Authorities Su Mo could gain.
Having obtained the leads he needed, Doni didn't even stop to rest for the night. He promptly took his leave, departing with Andre in tow. From the rare air of seriousness around him, Su Mo guessed Doni planned to leverage the resources of the magic associations to investigate Guinevere's whereabouts.
"Never thought such a reckless god-slayer could be 'tamed' by my lord," Erica remarked in a tone that was equal parts impressed and awestruck as she watched Doni's departing figure.
"That's a bit of an insult," Su Mo replied, shaking his head. "I didn't 'tame' him. I just gave him some information about heretic gods."
"There are plenty of generous god-slayers like me out there."
"So, Erica, you simply misspoke. Doni and I—well, we're dear friends after all!"
Even someone as sharp-tongued as Erica was momentarily speechless at Su Mo's shameless line.
"…Dear friends, huh? The 'dear friend' our Lord speaks of is quite… special, isn't he…" she murmured.
When Salvatore Doni said, "dear friend," it was spelled "d-e-a-r f-r-i-e-n-d" but meant "rival."
When her Lord said "dear friend," it was spelled the same—but probably meant "tool."
Thinking this, Erica couldn't help but cast a pitying look in Doni's direction as he disappeared into the distance. Standing nearby, Liliana asked respectfully, "My Lord, do you have plans for what comes next?"
Though they'd been residing on Sardinia, that had only been a temporary base during the battles. Now that the heretic god had been dealt with, and the King of Swords sent packing, there was little reason to stay.
Su Mo considered it for a moment. The Gorgon Stone incident should be drawing near. Now that Doni had been sent off, Su Mo was the only one well-positioned to seize it. But before that, he needed to decide—should he head to the island nation and deal with the heretic god of the Netherworld and the monkey?
Or should he proceed with more summoning rituals—and maybe use the Marquis Voban as the catalyst? After weighing his options, Su Mo turned to Liliana.
"Next stop—Rome." For now, he'd camp out and wait for the Gorgon Stone to appear. Beyond that, before settling on which chaos to tackle next, he needed to return to the Mist Space and share power with his other selves.
"Yes, My Lord," Liliana replied, already preparing to arrange accommodations for their stay in Rome. Su Mo, unconcerned, returned to his room. Once there, he immediately stepped into the Mist Space.
...
...
Emerging from the white fog, the Su Mo of the god-slayer world found that his counterparts from the Type-Moon world and the One Piece world were still present. But this time, another had joined them—the Su Mo from the DanMachi world. As soon as the god-slayer Su Mo arrived, the DanMachi Su Mo approached, clearly aware of what had transpired with the heretic god summoning.
Clap!
He smacked his palm against his counterpart's, as if passing a baton, both the Su Mo from the DanMachi world and the one from the Campione world felt the surge of power within them.
"You leveled up?" Campione Su Mo asked curiously, sensing the increase in strength flowing through his body.
"Yeah." DanMachi Su Mo nodded.
"Thanks to your battle with Perseus, I reached Level 4. And now, with the experience I just gained, I'll be able to level up to 5 once I return." For him, heretic gods were enemies that far exceeded his current tier. Even killing just one would completely overload his experience bar. The last time he returned for a level-up, he'd actually been waiting to cash in on this new surge of experience.
Of course, if Campione Su Mo wanted to come to the Mist Space every time he slew a god, it wasn't impossible. But for Su Mo and his other selves, the power gained from levelling up didn't yet justify the effort of repeatedly crossing between worlds. And now that the number of Su Mos kept increasing, pooling experience points had become easier and more efficient. There was no need to be so stingy anymore.
"Fair enough. Every little bit helps. The stronger our bodies, the better," Campione Su Mo remarked with a grin. Raw physical power really did make a difference—especially when fighting heretic gods, as they had just experienced. His superior strength compared to an average heretic god allowed him to unleash his swordsmanship to its fullest. Otherwise, to make up for a gap in strength, he would have had to sacrifice offense for technique.
"I get that," DanMachi Su Mo said with a smile. "But if you really want strength, you'd be better off hunting down a god of strength or something." He then turned his attention inward and felt the flow of new power rising within him.
"The Man of Steel and the Silver Light Sword... damn, you stripped Doni down to his last thread!"
Counting the power of Dionysus as well, they had just acquired the authorities of three different gods. One of them was the defensive ability they'd all been eyeing—this haul was nothing short of a massive win.
"And best of all," he added excitedly, "besides the Golden Sword, we finally have a summonable weapon!"
DanMachi Su Mo wasn't particularly concerned about the defense granted by [Man of Steel]. What caught his interest was the [Silver light Sword]—a weapon authority obtained from the Silver Arm God-King, Nuada.
Though it shared the same origin as Tony's [Ripping Silver Arm], their interpretations of myth differed. And thanks to Su Mo's correct recognition of the legend, his version was the true Claiomh Solais, the Sword of Victory and Light.
It could shift its form at will, creating magical blades with diverse effects and uses.
Because of his proper understanding of the myth, Su Mo's hand wouldn't turn silver when using it. Instead, a shining silver sword would manifest directly in his grip—no need to carry a physical sword or grab a branch like Tony.
Since it was essentially a sword of light with no fixed form, its flexibility was unrivaled. It could transform light into a magical blade, shape the earth into a sword, slice through anything, or even forge a weapon from a meteor.
All the applications Tony had developed—Su Mo could now replicate. If the Golden Sword was the ultimate weapon against gods, then this Silver light Sword was perfect for regular combat.