Chapter 435: The True Reason for a Campione's Birth
Normally, Prometheus's secret technique cannot control Heretic Gods.
However, the summoned Heretic Gods were a manifestation of the Great Sage's ability, which changed things.
So, the plan was to activate Prometheus's power the moment the opponent used this summoning ability, stealing it for themselves.
In doing so, it would be equivalent to controlling two Heretic Gods?
In a way, wasn't this even more impressive than directly becoming a Campione?
But this was only temporary.
After Prometheus stole and released the opponent's ability, it could only be used once.
Moreover, not everyone could use Prometheus's secret technique.
For ordinary people, the cost of using it was instant death.
Yet this high school student, poised to become a Campione, appeared unharmed after using it, suggesting he possessed extraordinary bloodline.
So now, would he simply stand by and watch the two Heretic Gods on his side battle the Great Sage?
Would he become a Campione just by waiting for the Great Sage's two junior brothers to defeat him?
Perhaps it could really work, but the problem was that Kaoru didn't believe Zhu Ganglie and Vaisravana—both junior disciples—could defeat the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, as these two were essentially subordinate deities under the Great Sage.
At best, they could hold out for a while, but ultimately, they would still be defeated.
Of course, this would still significantly drain the Great Sage's power. After that, would it be time to subdue the weakened Great Sage?
However, this Godou Kusanagi wasn't just standing idly by; he was selectively intervening in the battle between the senior and junior disciples.
He wasn't directly confronting the Great Sage himself but was using the Prometheus Secret Art against him, making the Great Sage hesitant to use his abilities recklessly, lest they be stolen again.
"Kaoru, Ena isn't right."
A sudden voice came from Yuri, who had somehow calmed down and was now watching the duel intently.
"What did you see?"
Kaoru also noticed that Ena before them had become somewhat strange, almost unfamiliar.
"She... she's being controlled by that sword. If this continues, her soul will be devoured."
Yuri, having realized this, was at a loss.
"So she's being manipulated?"
Kaoru had suspected as much, but at the moment, she could only stand helplessly by, unable to intervene.
At the same time, she felt even more chilled by Ena's so-called grandfather.
Ena had genuinely treated him as her own grandfather, but what was the result?
He was merely a tool to make Godou Kusanagi a Campione, with no concern for her life or death.
"Princess Alice, can you save Ena?"
Huh? Princess Alice had appeared? Her figure seemed somewhat transparent?
After a moment of surprise, Kaoru, also a Hime-Miko, finally understood the princess's situation—she had come here directly in her astral form.
Had her sudden disappearance earlier been due to excessive consumption of her astral power, forcing her to return to her main body temporarily?
She never expected the princess to be this formidable; she hadn't even realized the princess was in an astral state before.
Truly worthy of being a Witch of the highest celestial rank.
"I'm sorry."
That was all Alice could offer in response.
She had very little spiritual power left now; just maintaining her astral form to reappear here was already an effort.
In truth, she still had a small amount of spiritual power left, but she needed to use it to lock onto that mysterious figure.
That mysterious figure was definitely connected to the horrifying scene she and Yuri had witnessed.
She suspected that the mysterious figure was one of the countless gods—but which one specifically?
She could narrow it down: it was likely affiliated with the Biblical Pantheon.
It was possible that the figure had already infiltrated this world, replacing one of the existing beings. But who could it be?
There was one likely candidate: the anomaly on Sardinia that day, where a god was attempting to descend to the mortal world. It might have been that one.
It seemed like it had been destroyed before reaching the mortal world, but now it appeared it might have succeeded after all.
She needed to fully confirm the figure's origins—was it one of the archangels? Or perhaps a being like Saint George?
Huh? Someone was calling her?
It seemed to be coming from the Netherworld?
At the edge of the Netherworld—the entrance to the Immortal Realm—John had returned here once again.
In reality, she had initially been dragged into a special Netherworld space by a few individuals who intended to trap her there.
Her Authority was rather special, allowing her to quickly disengage and return to the present world, but she suddenly received a summons from her foster mother.
This time, her foster mother's expression was unusually stern.
"Wait a moment, the person is coming—ah, here she is."
A golden-haired woman appeared—it was Princess Alice.
"Now, I will tell you about some of the hidden truths of this world,"
Pandora said with great seriousness.
"Including the reason why Campione come into existence, and who The Last King is."
These words left John and Alice stunned.
"Don't look at me like that, Annie. The reason I never told you before was because I couldn't speak of it—I was unable to reveal the information. That woman's restraints on me were too strong. But now, an opportunity has suddenly arisen. That woman seems to be preoccupied with something and the restraints have loosened."
"That woman?"
"Yes, she is..."
Pandora moved her lips but no sound came out, making John and Alice immediately realize that she couldn't reveal that woman's name.
"Never mind, let's not dwell on that woman's origins for now. First, let me explain how Campione came to be."
In the next instant, their vision shifted. They saw two men in conversation—one was Prometheus, the other Epimetheus, who in human mythology is Pandora's husband.
The dialogue between the two gods and the surrounding scenery made John and Alice realize they were witnessing a scene from the past.
These two gods, observing the human world from the immortal realm, saw Heretic Gods—deities who had strayed into the mortal world—bringing various calamities upon humanity.
Among them, one God of War, after the seventh calamity, suddenly decided to make the human world more interesting. This God of War severed his own head.
Yes, it was through this act that humans were driven into a frenzy, scrambling to seize everything left behind by this God of War—his blood, flesh, bones, and divine sword. Unfortunately, very little remained.
This mad scramble among humans to steal the power of the gods led to even larger-scale slaughter.
Regrettably, any human who used the remnants of the god would immediately perish.
Witnessing this, the two brothers suddenly conceived an idea: What if there were a way for humans to truly obtain the power of the gods?
If so, it could minimize the rampages of Heretic Gods, as there would be humans capable of opposing them.
Thus, the two brothers thought of the most powerful faction in the divine realm, which possessed a Divine Artifact capable of seizing Authorities from the remains of gods.
They went to great lengths to obtain this artifact and entrusted it to Pandora to devise a method.
To seize a god's Authority, one had to personally kill the deity, but how could mere humans accomplish such a feat?
So, Pandora devised a way to enable humans to slay Heretic Gods and use that Divine Artifact, the [Usurpation Circle], to seize the gods' Authorities.
"This is the story of what happened on the eve of the birth of Campione,"
a playful voice reached their ears. The vision faded, and they saw Pandora, who possessed the physique of a young girl.
In her arms, she held an object—a large disc resembling a shield, engraved with a great dragon's head and surrounded by eight sword emblems.
This was most likely the so-called—Circle of Usurpation.