In the Campione world, many gods wore more than one face.
Athena, for example, was also Metis the goddess of wisdom, the snake-haired monster Medusa, and could even be linked to the earth mother Gaia.
Myths here were all about syncretism, pulling together beliefs from different eras and regions—the god's original birthplace, its earliest form, which religion it belonged to, how the scriptures described it, and so on.
The same went for the two deities Diablo and Testarossa had replaced.
"The ones who fought us inside the Realm of Immortality were probably the original owners of the identities we took over," Diablo said. "Satan is the lord of Hell, also known as Lucifer—the former morning-star angel who became the god of the fallen angels."
Those overlapping myths had instantly granted him a massive amount of ultimate power.
The divinity of the lord of Hell. The divinity of the fallen angel.
In terms of ultimate power, it was easily enough to condense something on par with one of the Seven Deadly Sins skills, with plenty left over.
Unfortunately, he couldn't bring that power back with him directly.
Otherwise Damien could have kept repeating the process, stealing authority after authority from the gods trapped in the Realm of Immortality.
"So…" Diablo said seriously, "Master, would you like to try killing me and see?"
To claim the power now residing in Diablo, they would need to perform a proper usurpation. Only then could they use the rules of the Ring of Usurpation to quietly transfer the ultimate power away.
Yes—usurpation. In other words, a killing.
There were many ways to do it.
Testarossa could finish Diablo off and take the authorities of both Satan and Lucifer for herself.
Or Diablo could die at Damien's hands, helping his master become a Campione.
Diablo himself could also go hunting other Heretic Gods under the identities of Satan and Lucifer and gather even more ultimate power.
The one thing that absolutely would not work was for Diablo to keep the power for himself.
He could not claim the authority he had gained by usurping someone else's spot.
"No rush," Damien said.
He wasn't about to turn this into some tragic melodrama. The Little Black and Little White standing here were only avatars; even if they died, their main bodies back home would be completely unaffected.
Besides, in the end the two of them would definitely have to die by Damien's hand if they wanted to maximize the ultimate power they could bring back.
Only that way could the divinity of Satan and the divinity of Lilith be carried back to the Central Continent universe.
"What about you, Little White?" Damien asked. "I'm guessing Lilith in this world isn't just Lilith, right?"
"Correct," Testarossa answered. "The god I replaced is this world's Lilith."
"But she is also the creator goddess of Hebrew myth, the one who knows God's true name and holds the power to command Him."
According to Testarossa, the Lilith of the Campione world wasn't simply Adam's wife as portrayed in later biblical stories.
In the earliest Hebrew myths—before monotheism took over—there had been two deities: the male symbol Adam and the female symbol Lilith.
That was why the old tales spoke of Lilith and Adam arguing over who should lie on top.
In the Campione world, the earliest rulers of myth were almost always goddesses.
Goddesses symbolized dragons and serpents.
That matched perfectly with the legend of the red dragon of Satan with seven heads and ten horns.
Later in the myths, Lilith's status was cast down from her original place as a creator goddess equal to God and turned into a mere demoness.
The same thing happened to the evil red dragon.
"In other words, besides being the goddess of lust and the vampire goddess, I also hold part of Satan's authority."
The authority that should have belonged to Diablo had been split.
The part representing the lord of Hell had gone to Diablo.
The part representing the dragon and serpent had gone to Testarossa.
In terms of sheer volume of ultimate power, the two were roughly equal. Together they could just barely form the equivalent of three Seven Deadly Sins-level Ultimate Skills.
If nothing else, this single haul was already a huge success.
"Master, would you like to harvest our power right now?"
Neither Little Black nor Little White minded being slain on the spot.
It was all for Damien's benefit.
They had no problem being used as tools.
In fact, for devils like them, it was an honor.
And once Damien obtained this vast amount of ultimate power, there was no question he would bestow the new Ultimate Skills on his subordinates.
In the end the power would still end up with his followers; the only difference was that it had taken a little detour through the Godslayer process.
"No," Damien refused.
He preferred to call it an offering rather than killing them and stealing the power they had usurped.
Look at Duel Monsters—cards get offered as tribute, sent to the graveyard, destroyed, banished—and the duel spirits never complain.
His own Little Black and Little White were far more obedient and understanding than any duel spirit.
"As you wish, Master."
"Just call me Damien while we're here."
Damien smiled and gestured for the two of them to relax. "In this world, Little White, you're my personal maid, and Little Black, you're my butler."
"Understood!"
Clearly both of them were very pleased with their new roles.
"Ahem."
Testarossa cleared her throat and motioned for Diablo to leave the room. "I've got this covered. You can go."
"..."
Diablo's black eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Testarossa.
He knew exactly what she was thinking.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
After all, when he had taken human form, he had chosen to be male rather than female.
How envious…
Diablo really wanted to go on vacation and travel with the master too.
Things like taking a sauna together, soaking in hot springs, getting massages and foot rubs—that kind of good-brother bonding.
If he could experience it even once, he felt he would smile in his sleep for the rest of his life.
"Uh, about that…"
Damien patted Diablo on the shoulder. "This is Greece, not Japan."
He wouldn't have minded getting a massage with his subordinate.
But Athens probably didn't offer that kind of service, right?
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