"Well, after killing the King of the End, I should be able to become the new King of the End, right?"
Aslan narrowed his eyes, sensing the changes in his body…
Then felt no changes at all. Even the Divine Sword of Salvation, which should have been his war spoils, had turned into a rusted cleaver that looked like it had corroded for thousands of years.
Not a trace of divinity.
No, that wasn't entirely accurate.
Aslan narrowed his eyes further, spotting invisible golden threads wrapped around the Divine Sword of Salvation.
Without hesitation, he almost immediately raised his hand.
"Come forth, Minelauva Iris!"
Golden magical power surged, and amid the spell, a female knight wielding a massive sword and clad in heavy armor manifested.
The Sixth Beast Vassal, Minelauva Iris.
One of the strongest Beast Vassals of the Fourth Primogenitor, possessing the ability to sever karma.
Minelauva Iris gripped her greatsword with both hands and slashed fiercely at the Divine Sword of Salvation.
The next second, all the golden threads snapped.
The threads, as if having lost their purpose, drifted aimlessly.
"Heh, low-grade threads of fate dare to snatch food from my hand?"
Aslan sneered, kicking the Divine Sword of Salvation toward Pandora.
With the aid of the Circle of Usurpation's power, he seized the identity and Divine Authority of the King of the End from the sword.
A new King of the End was born!
Aslan closed his eyes, feeling the authority granted to him by the King of the End Spirit Status.
The Privilege of Devil King Annihilation!
When facing multiple enemies that fit the definition of Devil Kings, his power would multiply significantly.
"As expected, the stronger the Divine Authority, the more unavoidable side effects it carries."
Sensing this Divine Authority, Aslan shook his head slightly.
It must be admitted—this Divine Authority was truly different from those obtained by slaying Heretic Gods. Those were mere fragments compared to the Authorities in the Little Garden.
The Privilege of Devil King Annihilation, strictly speaking, had reached the level of a Four-Digit Authority—and a very strong one among Four-Digit Authorities.
However, unlike the Eastern War God's Ten Incarnations Divine Authority, this one didn't delve too deeply.
It was an addition from the King of the End.
But as Aslan pondered,
In the original void, the severed golden threads seemed to sense the birth of the new King of the End.
They all surged forward, wrapping tightly around his body.
"Finally showing yourself, Goddess of Fate."
Aslan sneered, suddenly reaching out. He grabbed the golden threads and yanked hard, dragging a figure out of the void.
It was a young goddess with shimmering golden hair, expressionless and unclothed.
In Greece, she was known as the three Fates: Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis. In Norse mythology, she was Skuld. In Celtic mythology, she was Morrígan…
She was the most primordial Goddess of Fate, who drove and regulated the destinies of all, and the representative of the Power of Historical Correction.
She was the Goddess hidden in mythology, controlling fate, and the deity who bestowed the King of the End status upon Rama.
"You appeared because I became the King of the End, and fate slipped from your control?"
Aslan muttered to himself. After seeing the Goddess of Fate's blank expression, he suddenly thought of something.
"Maybe this can be fully operated—making the Gods work for me and perfecting this King of the End Spirit Status?"
Aslan pinched the innocent face of the Goddess of Fate and murmured softly, completely ignoring her struggles in his embrace.
Struggles? Were struggles useful? Once this Goddess of Fate was discovered by him, her destiny was sealed.
There would only be one path: death.
It should be noted that the so-called Goddesses of Fate in mythology, in reality, mostly couldn't even enter the Three-Digit category in the Little Garden.
What face did they have to still want to control fate?
Even the top Almighty Domains controlled the Little Garden's situation through omniscience to manipulate information.
Two-Digit entities were nearly the same. There was never such a thing as fate.
Oh no, that wasn't entirely accurate. It was somewhat absolute.
More precisely, the only existence in the Little Garden capable of influencing the fate of Gods was the Little Garden's Central Core.
Yet even the Little Garden's Central Core influenced things subtly and gradually.
In fact, the Little Garden's Central Core's support for Aslan had never ceased—it was all covert, unseen aid.
Slowly shifting situations to favor Aslan.
On a small scale, Gods couldn't locate him through prophecy; even if they tried, only errors appeared, or instincts failed at critical moments requiring intuition.
On a large scale, it was the Protagonist Halo—smooth sailing, with time, place, and people all on his side.
Without the Little Garden's Central Core's support, Aslan, with even a bit of bad luck, could be instantly detected just by muttering in his mind to harm a certain Two-Digit entity.
It seemed unremarkable, but this was Aslan's true capital for roaming the Little Garden.
Of course, the Goddess of Fate he captured certainly didn't possess such abilities. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a cleanser like the King of the End.
And she wouldn't have been caught.
The Goddess of Fate frowned in displeasure. A slight emotional anger appeared on her expressionless face.
Then, after Aslan pinched her neck again, she suddenly stopped moving and became expressionless once more.
"This King of the End identity shouldn't be limited to Arthur. I think anyone with a world-saving heart could bear the Gods' protection and serve as this King of the End."
Aslan said softly to the Goddess of Fate.
"What do you think?"
The Goddess of Fate said nothing, only staring at him calmly. At this moment, Aslan was the man grasping the throat of fate.
Of course, fate had to be controlled by him.
In the Campione world, there were many Gods worthy of serving as the King of the End. Whether it was Verethragna he had killed before, or Mithras in the Little Garden he had once slain.
Or Rama, whom he had just killed…
Thinking this, Aslan fell silent.
(Am I really the villain? Why have I slashed everyone connected to Saviors/Kings of the End?)
(Ahem, ahem, ignore those losers. Now I'm the King of the End.)
Even Aslan could boldly claim that all Gods related to Steel qualified to be the King of the End.
Lancelot could too. Steel Goddesses were also Steel.
Of course, among them were surely his old friends—members of the former Ouroboros.
Aslan was certain this enticing King of the End Spirit Status would tempt them to taste it and fight for it.
Especially the Almighty Domains whose Spirit Statuses had long stagnated.
As long as the King of the End Spirit Status had potential to become Two-Digit—even if it was just bait—they would forge it at their own expense.
A Two-Digit opportunity was worth them abandoning reason and going fully mad.
"Alright, happily decided."
The corner of Aslan's mouth curved into a wicked smile. He was always utterly unscrupulous.
His stance had always aligned with the Little Garden, Shiroyasha, and Human History. Naturally opposing the Gods.
Tricking the Gods, Aslan felt no psychological burden.
"I just hope when the Gods realize the true source of the King of the End Spirit Status is the final Savior chosen by mythology, they won't curse."
"No, I can't bear a pot this big. I need someone to share it."
As he spoke, Aslan pinched the small face of the captured Goddess of Fate again. He lowered his head, as if remembering something.
"What do you think about you carrying this pot?"
"If you don't speak, I'll take it as agreement."
Aslan laughed heartily.
A King of the End Spirit Status born in fictional mythology, recognized by the Little Garden's Central Core as having Two-Digit potential.
But how many would smile in this play?
Aslan was cautious and careful. How could he bear such a massive pot alone?
Besides this captured Goddess of Fate, Aslan also thought of another perfect pot-bearer.
His beloved, troublemaking Canaria.
It was common knowledge that the Campione world's mythology was fiction. So, who was the ancient sage who helped humanity create this fictional mythology?
Hard to guess.
Right, Canaria?
Double pot-bearers for safety.
As for Aslan, he was just a passing Savior Arthur who accidentally saved the world and ended up as the King of the End.
What did this world's pot have to do with poor, innocent Arthur?
As for Aslan, shouldn't he still be gathering with Karyou in Arcadia right now?
Shiroyasha could testify.
Having a persona and scapegoats was truly delightful.
Aslan showed a faint smile, then slapped this Goddess of Fate into his Pseudo-Mythology.
Thanks to her relevance to mythology and the Power of Historical Correction, along with her unique Spirit Status and nature.
Killing her would be too wasteful. Better to use her as an Artifact Spirit.
It would also accelerate the formation and forging of his Pseudo-Mythology.
And make this Goddess of Fate more fitting of her name.
Of course, it would also make it easier for Aslan to shift blame, throwing the black pot onto her and Canaria.
The Power of Historical Correction and the Fictional Historian were a perfect pair.
Of course, it must be admitted—the innocent divine girl looked quite appealing. At least she was cute, right?
If it were a man, Aslan might have killed him long ago.
"Next, time to return and see how Athēná's affairs have been settled."
Aslan showed a faint smile. Athēná had specifically borrowed the Blessing of the Goddess of Victory from him, preparing to clean house in Greece herself—for revenge.