Chapter 196: The Authority of the Heavenly God
"Hestia?"
Seeing the familiar goddess appear before him, Shirou felt no reassurance. Instead, he felt an unprecedented pressure condensing from her.
The uninhibited release of Divine Power reminded him of facing the Goddess of Justice, Astraea, directly.
But how could this be?
Hestia was different from Astraea; she should not be able to use Divine Power freely in Genkai, and it should be impossible for her to release her Authority to this extent.
Shirou subconsciously thought of Divine Power monsters.
If it were an existence like the Antares Scorpion, perhaps by swallowing a god into the monster's body, Hestia could release that level of Authority.
But the current Hestia looked completely normal.
She did not appear to have been swallowed by any special monster, so she should not be able to use Divine Power so wantonly.
"What exactly happened?"
Shirou's eyes widened.
At the same time, Hestia's eyes gradually opened with Shirou's arrival.
She looked like a radio with a bad signal. Although she appeared to be standing peacefully in place, she always gave off a strange, elusive feeling, as if she was completely incapable of normal conversation.
This overly bizarre state made Shirou dare not approach easily, yet he could not ignore it.
After all, if Hestia did not stop her Authority, the entire Orsa Island would be swallowed by the great fire shaped by Divine Power, and the adventurers on the island would not be able to survive.
Shirou took a deep breath and slowly walked forward.
But as soon as he moved, the girl with Hestia's appearance suddenly raised her hand.
In an instant, astonishing flames abruptly enveloped the surroundings. The light formed by the flames was as bright as the sun, rapidly engulfing everything and rushing towards Shirou.
"Boom!"
When the torrent of flames dissipated, Shirou's figure reappeared.
Although he was not harmed in the process, Hestia's reckless action, which was clearly intended to kill him, completely sank his heart. He realized that this was a chaos that could only be ended through battle.
To this end, regardless of whether the girl in front of him was the real Hestia, he directly raised his hand and created countless swords, and with his Authority, he tempered every sword in fire.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
In the blink of an eye, a large number of swords shot straight out, about to pierce Hestia's body.
However, at this very moment, Shirou's pupils suddenly widened.
Because he saw an unprecedented fire expanding from Hestia. The speed of the expansion was completely abnormal, and even at a god's level, she was in an unnatural state.
Shirou thus realized.
After observing Hestia's way of utilizing Divine Power from such a close distance, Shirou finally understood the change that had occurred in Hestia.
He had actually sensed it before.
A god is actually composed of two parts: Divine Power and Authority.
These two things are the foundation of a god.
Although Divine Power cannot be used in Genkai, Divine Power naturally exists within the gods. This makes the gods immortal and ageless, and even if killed, they will only return to Heaven through the heavenly staircase.
So, what if someone could influence the existence of Divine Power?
What if the Authority of a certain existence was to manipulate Divine Power, or even to a certain extent, strip Divine Power away?
Shirou had once been curious about one thing: why was the heavenly staircase of the God of Death Thanatos sealed, and why could Thanatos not return to Heaven?
This question had never been answered.
Thanatos himself had not found the answer in his thousand years of exploration, let alone Shirou.
However, now, after observing Hestia's strange situation up close, Shirou finally realized the whole truth.
Simply put, the Heavenly God Ouranos—his Authority was none other than the Manipulation of Divine Power!
Although he still couldn't use Divine Power in Genkai, Ouranos was able to manipulate the Divine Power of the other gods, and even any living creature.
That's why Ouranos was able to create the Xenos race.
Because the status of Divine Power is far above everything else.
In this world, once Divine Power is mastered, it is equivalent to mastering everything.
Ouranos was fully capable of interfering with any concept through the Authority of Manipulation of Divine Power, because almost all concepts in this world were merely subordinates to the concept of Divine Power.
Therefore, it was naturally an easy matter for Ouranos to cut off Thanatos's heavenly staircase.
As for Hestia's current situation, although a normal person could not understand her predicament, Shirou could clearly see everything.
Because he had already discovered the fact that Hestia's own soul had been sealed.
As mentioned before, a god is composed of two parts: Divine Power and Authority.
If a god's Divine Power is completely sealed and locked, and even the concept at the soul level is completely erased, then only the 'Authority' remains in that god.
In this case, the so-called god is equivalent to becoming 'Authority itself'.
And a god's 'Authority' has no rationality, and even less any reason.
It will only follow the starting point of the Authority, infinitely extending from the beginning of the concept, thoroughly pushing the attribute of the Authority to its extreme.
In conclusion, the current Hestia was no longer the original Hestia, but the very concept of the 'Eternal Divine Fire' itself.
She would only follow one purpose next: to ignite all the flames she came into contact with, and endlessly burn everything completely!
Shirou undoubtedly intended to stop all of this.
But he also knew very well that it would be difficult for him to contend with Hestia's Authority.
Because Hestia's Divine Fire was the Authority whose nature was the closest to his own power, and Hestia's Authority, in terms of status, could almost be said to be the highest among the gods.
Even Astraea's Sword of Judgment, purely in terms of status, would be difficult to compare with Hestia's Divine Fire.
In this situation, Shirou could not easily defeat Hestia no matter what.
Or rather, even if he could defeat her, the time it would take would be enough for the entire Orsa Island to turn to ashes in the endless burning Divine Fire.
"Do I have to use my trump card..."
Shirou frowned.
Although he was reluctant to use that move, at this point, he seemed to have no other choice.
—He must use Solomon's Ten Rings!
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