"Are we still going to fight?"
When seeing the human and god communicating as equals, Erica had relaxed somewhat, thinking the two wouldn't continue to conflict.
Unexpectedly, in the end, a battle was still unavoidable.
After confirming this, surprisingly, Erica didn't feel very nervous at this moment.
Thinking about it carefully, even an idiot like the Sword King/King of Swords could accomplish the great feat of god-slaying. There was no reason Ryuga-sama couldn't do the same.
However, the Sword King's god-slaying experience relied more on luck. If he hadn't picked up scraps during a war between Heretic Gods, with his power, he couldn't even survive the aftershocks of divine battle.
Ryuga-sama was naturally much stronger than the former Sword King, but god-slaying relied more on luck.
Since he had decided to fight, she must assist from the side, finding the right opportunity to help Ryuga-sama.
Erica's thoughts were roughly the same as those of the group members.
After witnessing Ryuga create miracles multiple times, everyone didn't think Ryuga absolutely couldn't defeat a deity, but they also absolutely didn't think this battle would be as easy as when facing the divine beast.
According to their speculation, this should be a battle of early disadvantage and late-game comeback.
With Ryuga's wisdom, he would surely be able to seize key opportunities and achieve reversal.
"Haha! Let me see the source of your confidence!"
Seeing Ryuga agree, Verethragna's smile became increasingly wild.
"Let me witness what it means to be human!"
Clearly, this was responding to Ryuga's earlier question.
Ryuga naturally didn't mind satisfying such a request.
The various techniques originally prepared in secret were now directly brought to the surface, displayed before Verethragna with an incredibly open attitude.
"Steel lion, I entrust to you my sighs and anger. Dwelling in the laments of God's son and Holy Spirit, baptized with the blood of the sacred end, manifest—Holy Spear Longinus!"
Accompanied by high-speed divine word techniques, in just the blink of an eye, Erica's beloved sword in Ryuga's hand transformed into the appearance of a crimson long spear.
Though merely a mortal weapon, Verethragna felt a dangerous sensation from the crimson spear blade.
"The god-slaying spear of Christianity—is this your trump card?"
The young war god spoke with calm expression and slight praise.
"Not bad, this is indeed a technique capable of harming gods—provided it can actually hit."
Erica on the side brightened up.
"Truly worthy of Ryuga-sama!"
Erica was extremely familiar with this technique. Even among all god-slaying weapons in mythology, the Spear of Longinus was one of the most special.
Not only because this spear had legends of killing the Son of God, but also because the one wielding this spear was originally just an ordinary person.
A holy spear that could let a mere ordinary person kill the Son of God would naturally be in the strongest tier for god-slaying characteristics.
In the original work, Erica had even used this spear to wound Athena. Now in Ryuga's hands, this spear's power was naturally several times stronger.
"This alone isn't enough—"
Just as Verethragna was about to remind Ryuga, he saw Ryuga's body bloom with light again.
"Seven priests took seven ram's horns and walked in circles blowing them, with armed men advancing before them... Those who dare rebuild this city of Jericho shall be cursed before Jehovah. When he lays its foundation, he shall lose his firstborn, and when he sets up its gates, he shall lose his youngest son!"
Accompanied by sacred incantations, Ryuga's physical capabilities were comprehensively enhanced.
"Divine Annihilation Privilege!"
Erica quickly recognized the origin of the incantation.
This technique from the Bible could grant humans power to rival divine beasts.
Her uncle Saint Paolo became a Paladin precisely because he fully mastered this technique.
Under the Pure Yang Breathing Method's influence, Ryuga's constitution had already reached a level rivaling divine beasts. Now with additional enhancement, his anti-god specialization increased by another layer.
"Getting interesting!"
Verethragna's eyes lit up.
With double enhancement, Ryuga seemed qualified to be his opponent.
If not for still needing to call back the last incarnation that hadn't returned, plus his earlier promise, he really wanted to fight the current Ryuga right away.
After obtaining Divine Annihilation Privilege, Ryuga's actions didn't stop.
The crimson long spear pointed directly at Verethragna's shadow, expanding his shadow into a fearsome dragon-like shape.
"By the name of the crimson cross and Saint George, you are a dragon!"
At this moment, Verethragna's shadow was given dragon attributes, while Ryuga's attack gained anti-dragon specialization.
This technique cleverly bypassed the deity's magic immunity characteristics, adding another layer of specialization to Ryuga's attacks.
Type advantage trumps all—specialization beats immortals.
With three layers of specialization, even the war god of Zoroastrianism unconsciously felt great threat.
If hit by Ryuga's long spear, even non-vital areas would cause damage equivalent to vital hits.
"You really have quite a few trump cards!"
After glancing at Ryuga's blade with slight wariness, Verethragna looked at Ryuga with an expression serious enough for battling same-tier war gods or god kings.
Facing three layers of specialization, if he still acted as casually as when facing King Mekar, he might actually lose.
However, as long as he treated this seriously, victory was still in the bag—
Just as Verethragna was thinking this, he suddenly realized Ryuga seemed to not have stopped chanting.
Wait, it's not over yet?!
Under Verethragna's shocked gaze, Ryuga held the Demon-Subduing Mudra with his other hand.
"Indra归命! Surya归命! Chandra归命! Agni归命... Rakshasa归命! Yama归命!"
(T/N: Here 归命 refers to submit)
A series of Esoteric Buddhist techniques exploded simultaneously.
All twelve blessings of the Twelve Deva Guardians were added to Ryuga's body.
Seeing Ryuga surrounded by layers of brilliant light, even the well-traveled Verethragna was stunned on the spot.
Through Ryuga's incredibly calm attitude earlier, he had indeed guessed that Ryuga must have trump cards, and they must be trump cards capable of harming deities.
But he never imagined Ryuga's trump cards would be so numerous.
In fact, the first three trump cards combined were basically enough to challenge deities. If encountering weaker deities, they might not even be his opponent.
But how could Verethragna have imagined that the previous three trump cards were just appetizers?
Ryuga actually summoned twelve sanctuary-level blessings in one breath.
"Is this... really something humans can do?"
Verethragna began to doubt his own understanding.
For deities, sanctuary-level power could be broken at will, but when all these sanctuary-level powers stacked together, the effect wasn't a simple one-plus-one relationship.
Take the current blessing of the Twelve Deva Guardians—even Verethragna himself didn't think he could destroy them all with one strike.
To be continued...
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