Verethragna naturally knew nothing of the teasing and sympathy in the chat group.
He also indeed admitted that he couldn't answer Ryuga's questions.
Compared to humans who constantly explored themselves and transcended limits, deities generally seemed somewhat complacent, with few thinking about surpassing existing limits.
Although being rendered speechless by a mere human seemed to damage divine dignity.
He still maintained divine grace and didn't become angry because of it.
Not only that, he even showed a pleased smile.
"Words are light, words are sword. As a deity, I must praise your eloquence—your words are sharper than blade and sword, perhaps even surpassing deities."
As a deity already skilled at wordplay, he acknowledged Ryuga's advantage without reservation.
Then his tone shifted.
"However, thinking and reflection—those are matters for gods of wisdom to consider! For a war god, the only thing to consider is victory."
Saying this, his smile became much sharper, and his entire being looked eager to try.
"How about it? Want to personally experience divine power?"
The continuously rising aura and constantly accumulating divine power clearly showed he was ready for battle.
"Can't win with words, so you're planning to use force to resolve the problem?"
Ryuga asked with a calm expression.
"Even when just facing a human, is your competitive spirit this strong?"
"Can't help it—who made me the god of victory!"
Verethragna shrugged easily. Unlike when communicating earlier, when facing battle, his eyes were clearly more joyful.
"My purpose in descending this time is to seek defeat. Though somewhat sorry to my previous opponent, let King Mekar wait for now—I think fighting you will be more interesting!"
Mentioning King Mekar, Verethragna showed a childlike expression of wanting more.
The Heretic Gods that descended this time were not one, but two.
Previously, he had been in battle with the Heretic Mekar, when the opponent used a divine artifact to shatter his Divine Core, causing his incarnations to scatter everywhere and transform into various strange divine beasts.
Currently, the battle between the two Heretic Gods was not finished—this could only be called halftime. Normally, he shouldn't switch opponents.
But greedy as he was, he clearly didn't want to miss such an interesting human, so he planned to settle things with Ryuga first.
Seeing that Ryuga showed no signs of refusal, Verethragna's smile grew wider.
"If you can defeat me, you can directly become a Campione and study Divine Cores up close. You wouldn't want to miss such a good opportunity, right?"
Eager for battle, he directly used the spoils of war as temptation.
This low-level trick was naturally... actually quite effective.
Ryuga indeed wanted to study the structure of Divine Cores up close and figure out exactly what made so-called deities strong.
Heretic Gods obviously wouldn't be willing to become obedient test subjects. To study Divine Cores, the simplest method was to first become a Campione.
So he wouldn't refuse the opponent's invitation.
However—
"I don't mind using battle to communicate. But wait until you've gathered all your incarnations before fighting!"
Ryuga spoke thus.
"That way I can obtain complete Authorities too, avoiding having to collect them everywhere afterward."
Based on his understanding of the original work, killing Heretic Gods without resistance capability seemed to not grant Authority rewards.
Though the conditions for first-time god-slaying would certainly be more lenient, considering maximum benefits, it was better to wait for the opponent to recover full strength.
Hearing Ryuga say this, Verethragna was slightly stunned.
Before even starting, he was already thinking about spoils of war after victory.
Facing a genuine deity yet being so presumptuous—this was the first time he'd seen such a confident person.
Were all humans of this era so brave?
"If that's your request, no problem."
Out of basic respect for his opponent, Verethragna didn't refuse this demand.
The previously slain divine beast boar had directly returned to his body. He only had one incarnation left to recover—it wouldn't take long.
However, as a deity still needing to prepare thoroughly and recover to full strength before fighting a human, this feeling made him quite uncomfortable.
So after thinking, Verethragna added a sentence.
"Challenging a deity with a mere human body—I acknowledge your courage! For fairness, since you're willing to wait for me to recover full strength, I'm also willing to let you prepare for battle in advance. How about it?"
A battle between deity and human requiring both sides to recover full health before starting—this would be too embarrassing to mention.
He felt he should give Ryuga some advantage for it to count as balanced.
"Are you sure?"
Hearing this, Ryuga, who had no particular attachment to fair dueling, asked with somewhat surprised tone for confirmation.
"Of course I'm sure!"
Verethragna said decisively.
"If I don't even have this much leeway, what qualifications do I have to hold the position of war god?"
Not to mention this battle was a deity crushing a human, even if it weren't, what could Ryuga do by preparing a few minutes in advance?
After all, they were just human techniques—no matter how much preparation, to a deity, they were all easily broken useless efforts. What meaning could they have?
"Is that so..."
Seeing Verethragna's confident appearance, Ryuga didn't decline either.
"Then I won't be polite."
To be continued...
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