On the other side.
Things turned out exactly as Liliana had expected.
Because Athena was simply too powerful, and could even divide herself into three bodies, Akuto ended up spending the entire night dealing with her.
If Athena had not been unable to maintain her peak chief-god level strength for long before dropping back to an early chief-god stage, Akuto had no idea how much longer it would have taken him to finish dealing with her.
Even so, Akuto still had to unleash the full extent of his sub–Dragon God–level power before he could completely conquer the goddess Athena.
Soon, the next day arrived.
…
Fusō.
In Tokyo, Sayōmiya Kaoru was carrying out the aftermath operations of this god-slaying incident.
After sealing off and cleaning up the final battlefield created by the new king's battle, Kaoru finally allowed herself to breathe a small sigh of relief.
After all, for the island nation of Fusō to produce a Godslayer for the first time in history—and for the godslaying to happen in Tokyo, the very region under her jurisdiction—was an event of unprecedented scale.
Sayōmiya Kaoru came from the Sayōmiya family, one of Japan's four great exorcist clans.
From childhood she had received the training of a Hime-Miko. Although her spiritual vision was slightly inferior to Mariya Yuri, her accomplishments in sorcery had already reached the highest levels.
Although Kaoru was famous for her androgynous style of dressing in men's clothing, even that could not conceal her refined beauty and noble aura.
Especially during the Hime-Miko gathering three years ago, her appearance in traditional shrine maiden attire left an extremely deep impression on all members of the eastern Japanese occult world.
However, after the focus of her work gradually shifted toward administration, Kaoru abandoned the shrine maiden attire she occasionally used to wear.
Since childhood, Kaoru had displayed extraordinary talent in both sorcery and management.
Through her own efforts—and a tiny bit of help from her family—Kaoru had already become the Director of the Tokyo Branch of the Committee for the Compilation of True History by her third year of high school.
As a candidate for the next leader of the Committee, Kaoru coordinated responses to spiritual ley-line disturbances across the Kantō region, and her relationship with Akuto was quite close.
After all, Saint Prince Akuto was one of the very few people in Fusō whose abilities in sorcery, swordsmanship, and kotodama had all reached the level of a Holy Knight.
Many matters that an ordinary Holy Knight could deal with could be entrusted to Akuto without any concern.
Because Kaoru had provided Akuto with quite a bit of convenience through her authority as Tokyo Branch Director, the two maintained a good relationship. As long as he was not too busy, Akuto was usually willing to take a look at and attempt to resolve the requests she sent him.
Kaoru had thought her life would simply continue like that.
Handling ordinary work most of the time, and when something truly difficult appeared, sending a request to Akuto.
Then… reality struck her like a bolt from the blue.
First came Akuto's temporary departure.
According to Kaoru's understanding, Akuto had gone to seek a divine artifact from the shrine maidens serving the new king.
That alone would not have been a problem. Akuto leaving for a few days would not have prevented Kaoru from carrying out her work.
But after Akuto left, bad news began arriving one after another.
The strongest typhoon in recorded history made landfall in Fusō, and traces of unknown divine power were detected within it.
Before the strongest shrine maidens could even mobilize, the typhoon headed straight toward Tokyo, the region under Kaoru's jurisdiction.
Even that might have been manageable.
Because while Kaoru was frantically coordinating the entire Japanese occult community to deal with the crisis, the typhoon suddenly disappeared.
However, even though it vanished, the trouble it left behind was enormous.
Because the cause of the typhoon was not some divine beast.
It was a genuine god.
And now, that god had been slain.
Fusō had suddenly gained a Godslayer.
…
According to the post-incident investigation, during the typhoon's assault on Tokyo, a Japanese boy wielding an unknown divine artifact had successfully slain the god responsible for the storm.
The god who had been slain was Hanuman, the wind god from Indian mythology.
The boy who killed him was Kusanagi Godou, an ordinary Japanese high school student who previously had almost no connection with the occult world.
…
Normally, when a country gains a Godslayer, the upper echelons of that nation feel both joy and concern—but usually the joy outweighs the worry.
After all, Godslayers are not easy people to deal with, but if one serves them well, the benefits are enormous.
However, Fusō was different.
The occult world of Fusō did not consider the emergence of a Godslayer to be good news.
Because Fusō had its own unique circumstances.
Although Fusō had never produced a Godslayer before, its occult community had never been overly worried about rogue gods or divine beasts causing catastrophic disasters.
Several centuries ago, after rampaging across the land for quite some time, the rogue god Susanoo had voluntarily chosen to withdraw.
But his retreat was only partial.
Susanoo continued to exert influence over Fusō's occult world.
Sometimes he issued direct orders.
Sometimes he dispatched shrine maidens who carried his divine authority.
Sometimes he even intervened indirectly.
Because of Susanoo's presence, Fusō had never been overly concerned about the descent of rogue gods.
The once-rampaging great god had greatly restrained his violent nature and seemed almost to have become the guardian deity of Fusō, rather than a calamity-bringing rogue god.
What rogue gods? What Godslayers?
The occult world of Fusō simply wasn't afraid of them.
But now, Fusō had suddenly gained a Godslayer anyway.
If it had only been that, Kaoru would have been somewhat annoyed—but not deeply troubled.
One powerful figure was already enough to serve; adding another did not fundamentally change the situation.
It simply meant there was now one more supreme figure above them to appease.
…
Then Kaoru received a message from Princess Alice.
Although Princess Alice had already nearly confirmed Akuto's identity through spiritual vision, physical confirmation was still necessary.
Since she was trapped outside the barrier with nothing else to do, she decided to prepare in advance.
Through their exchange, both sides gained a deeper understanding of the events unfolding in Italy.
Alice:
"As expected. Saint Prince Akuto has already left Fusō and gone to Italy. Moreover, he took a powerful divine artifact with him. That artifact gives him the full possibility of slaying a god."
Kaoru:
"Wait—Princess Alice, are you saying Akuto has already become a Godslayer?!"
Upon hearing the news that Akuto might have become a Godslayer, Kaoru immediately asked the shrine maidens in Fusō to confirm it.
Using an item Akuto had left behind as a medium, she asked Mariya Yuri to perform spiritual vision on him.
And then…
The vision was cut off midway, yielding no result.
Such a phenomenon was completely different from before, and it only strengthened the suspicion that Akuto had already become a Godslayer.
After confirming this possibility, Kaoru first felt happy.
Then she became depressed again.
She was happy because someone she knew had become a Godslayer.
But then several troublesome problems immediately came to mind.
First, if Akuto truly became a Godslayer, she could no longer casually send him requests for help. In the future, if she needed Akuto's assistance, she would have to formally submit a petition as a vassal addressing a king.
Second, if Akuto had become a Godslayer, he would likely need a territory.
Would that bring him into conflict with Kusanagi Godou?
Kaoru knew Akuto had known Godou since childhood, but since most Godslayers tended to fight whenever they encountered one another, she had already assumed the two would inevitably clash.
No matter who won that battle, the outcome seemed bad.
If Godou won, Akuto might have to leave Fusō, and Kaoru would lose the "Godslayer childhood friend" she had proudly claimed.
If Akuto won, how would Susanoo react?
Would the old god truly allow a Godslayer of Chinese heritage to rule over Fusō?
One problem after another flooded her mind, leaving Kaoru completely troubled.
…
However, despite her frustration, Kaoru did not forget the most important matter.
"Mr. Amakasu, this is the final location that needs cleanup."
"After we finish the work here…"
Kaoru looked at the slightly exhausted middle-aged man beside her.
"Yes, Director. Please give your orders," Amakasu Touma replied immediately.
"Good. I want you to deploy the female ninja unit under your command to protect a girl named Kusanagi Shizuka."
"You must not allow her to suffer even the slightest harm. If anything happens to her, it could provoke the wrath of two Godslayers at once."
"Two Godslayers' wrath?"
Amakasu was puzzled for a moment before the name surfaced in his memory.
Soon he located the name Kusanagi Shizuka in two separate intelligence records.
Wait…
Kusanagi Shizuka was the sister of two Godslayer Kings?!
One was her sworn brother.
The other was her biological brother.
Either way, there was no doubt about it.
Kusanagi Shizuka was the sister of two kings.
"I understand. I will order them to protect Princess Shizuka with their lives."
Amakasu Touma made the solemn promise.
Perhaps it was because the title "shared sister of two Godslayers" was simply too terrifying.
(End of Chapter)
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