"It looks like I have the qualifications to become a Campione too."
Whether a human could become a Campione was already decided by fate.
Take Erica, for example.
Before meeting the god of war she had dreamed of replicating her ancestor's glory—slaying a god and becoming a Campione.
But the moment she faced that god of war, a single sentence from him stripped away her will to resist.
Even the thought of raising a sword against him vanished.
Simply keeping herself from collapsing to her knees had already exhausted every ounce of her spirit.
In contrast, when Damien looked at Zeus his human body felt no discomfort at all.
If anything, he felt excited.
Yes—excited!
It was the blood-boiling thrill that only the child of a fool born to become a Campione could experience.
It felt completely natural.
Zeus and the Heretic God opposing him were supposed to die by his hand!
"Have you already reached this stage, Violet?"
"Destined power successfully analyzed."
Violet replied, "According to the fate I wrote for you, Master, Zeus would fall even without Little Black and Little White's help."
In other words, the moment Damien encountered a Heretic God he was fated to become a Campione!
There was nothing strange about it.
Campiones were, at most, products of this worldview.
Damien came from another domain entirely. He was a creation god who had gathered the powers of multiple worldviews into one.
How could his qualifications be inferior to those of a mere child of a fool?
If Godou Kusanagi could become a Campione, Damien naturally could as well.
Of course!
Being able to do it was one thing. Whether he would personally take action was another.
Boom!
While Damien pondered, the two colossal figures in the sky had already collided.
Unlike Zeus fighting alone, Diablo's first move was to send forth his army of tens of thousands of angels.
"Don't play such petty tricks in front of me!"
Zeus's eyes blazed with dazzling lightning as he looked at the encircling angels.
In an instant the world fell silent.
Countless blue-white arcs of electricity streaked like meteors across ten thousand meters, striking down angel after angel in the blink of an eye.
"Is that…?"
"Zeus's thunderbolts?"
The thunderbolts of Zeus were among the most famous divine weapons in Greek myth.
Faster than light, they pierced the angels' hearts like venomous snakes and erased their earthly vessels.
"As expected of the god-king of Olympus—he's quite strong."
Numbers alone meant nothing when facing a Heretic God.
Of course, that hadn't been Diablo's goal.
He had sent the angel army mainly to drain some of Zeus's divine power and gauge the god-king's exact strength.
"But…"
Diablo said, "That's all he's got."
"Little White, you join in too."
Damien found a rock and sat down. "Little Black can defeat Zeus, but it'll take a little time. Go help him."
"As you command!"
Testarossa looked at the two giant gods locked in battle, then soared into the air and pierced through lava, lightning, and divine light.
A moment later an earth-shaking dragon roar split the heavens.
"A second Heretic God?"
Unlike the visible Zeus, the Divine Ancestors and Heretic Gods hidden in the Netherworld could only observe Diablo and Zeus fighting.
Now that Testarossa had appeared, a flood of information poured into their minds.
Lilith!
Mother of all living things!
The most ancient dragon-serpent of seven heads and ten horns!
Satan!
Source of all sin, goddess of original sin!
"ROAR!!!"
Testarossa hadn't come to entertain them.
The seven-headed red dragon she had become let out a deafening roar that shattered every observer's spirit vision, merging the battlefield and its secrets so no outsider could spy on them any longer.
"I can't see anymore."
"Is it because of Lilith's Authorities?"
Lilith was a nightmare of mystery, a witch who stole the lives of infants, mother of countless monsters and demons.
Her existence could not be observed or probed by others.
Using that legend, Testarossa had turned the battlefield into a dream realm, completely cutting off all external spirit vision.
"Hm?"
Zeus swung his thunderbolt spear and clashed with the morning-star sword in Diablo's hand, unleashing an explosion of energy like a nuclear blast.
Before Zeus could press the attack he instinctively summoned a shield to block the scorching breath that came from the red dragon.
"Dragon-serpent of original sin, why do you interfere in my battle with the lord of Hell?"
Zeus quickly retreated. He had assumed Testarossa's target was Diablo.
But their positioning made the god-king's eyes widen in fury.
Crack!
Rumble~~
Gales howled and thunder roared as Zeus wrapped himself in heavenly might and bellowed, "Have you both abandoned the honor of being gods?"
Two against one—in Zeus's eyes this was nothing short of blasphemy against the dignity of divinity!
As god-king he possessed his own pride.
When Diablo challenged him, Zeus had accepted without hesitation.
Even if he was outmatched in power, he had never considered fleeing or asking for help.
That was the dignity of a god-king.
He could die—be slain by Diablo and forcibly returned to myth.
But teaming up with another god for victory?
Such behavior would tarnish the glory of this battle between god-kings!
"Honor?"
Diablo found the idea laughable. He had never known what honor was.
He stood here fighting Zeus for one reason only: to please Damien.
To Diablo, as long as he could earn his master's praise, he wouldn't hesitate to use Testarossa's power to gang up on Zeus—or even more underhanded methods.
Everything was for Lord Damien.
Nothing more!
"You seem to be misunderstanding something."
All seven dragon heads of the red dragon that was Testarossa spoke at once.
The deafening echoes rolled across the apocalyptic world.
"We are simply that person's power!"
"You think you're fighting two Heretic Gods?"
"Ridiculous!"
The red dragon's body was several times larger than Zeus's, easily looking down on him. "We are nothing more than that person's servants."
"You speak of a fair fight?"
"You haven't even seen that person's face," Testarossa said with disdain, "so what right do you have to speak of honor?!"
^^^
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com/XElenea