A starless night, the descent!
"The goddess Athena has returned to her primordial form. According to the prophecy, she'll plunge both earth and starlit sky into darkness!" Zampalini reflexively reached for the pistol at his waist.
It couldn't be helped. Europeans had heard about the Starless Night for so long that when it finally arrived, fear and panic were only natural.
But that was all it was.
A few seconds later, the old man named Zampalini let go of his gun.
Because he believed that with the new king Akuto's power, power that towered above every Godslayer, he could absolutely resolve the Starless Night that the prophecy claimed could destroy the world!
The reactions of the other magic society leaders were almost identical to Zampalini's.
"His Majesty actually handed the Gorgon Stone over to Athena? But… if it's Lord Akuto, then even a triple-bodied Athena should still be manageable…" Paul muttered, already taking Akuto's victory as a given.
"The lie of the Starless Night will be shattered by His Majesty today." The witch Diana's cute doll-like face was also full of adoration.
Men fall for a woman's charm, and women fall for a man's strength.
Innate biology decided it: men would spread their seed as widely as possible, while women would bear the strongest man's offspring.
At this moment, because of the power Akuto had displayed, the witch Diana, already in a "conquered" state, felt a fierce, instinctive desire to bear that man's child.
Without thinking, Diana placed her small, pale hands over her slightly rounded lower belly.
She could feel it. Beneath the ornate white lolita dress, that warmth and vitality belonging to Akuto kept seeping into her, comforting her from within.
Normally, there would be a bit of space between Diana's belly and her white stockings. But now, because of the fullness there, her belly pressed snugly against the white fabric.
If it weren't hidden by the long white skirt, even a casual glance would have been enough to reveal the change.
But unfortunately, whether it was her teacher Diana or her maid Karen, both had their slightly rounded bellies covered by layers of skirt. Naturally, Liliana couldn't observe anything clearly.
"Diana-sensei, in your view, what's the difference between an ordinary Athena and Athena restored to her true self?"
"If I'm not mistaken, His Majesty should already possess the knowledge needed to deal with Athena. I just don't know whether the knowledge he obtained is complete," Liliana asked her teacher.
"Oh, that?" Diana smiled at her student.
Ah… girls really do change as they grow up.
Now Liliana came to her and asked about Akuto right away. She wasn't the Liliana who used to greet her teacher first anymore.
Diana, already experienced enough, saw straight through Liliana's little scheme.
Liliana was probably thinking: if Akuto's knowledge about Athena wasn't complete, she could use that as an excuse to use the "Teach" and "Instruct" spell, mouth-to-mouth, to "fill in" Akuto's missing knowledge.
Putting her intentions out so plainly… Lili really was adorable.
"Liliana, you're right. Akuto-kun really does know everything about Athena. But no one has used the 'Instruct' spell on him. Akuto-kun already knows the details himself."
Since Liliana was her student, Diana still tossed her a dose of reassurance.
"I see…"
Liliana was disappointed at first. But once she learned no one had used the "Instruct" spell on Akuto, she couldn't help smiling again.
Wait. Wasn't Diana-sensei's way of addressing him… kind of wrong?
Liliana suddenly realized something felt off.
Shouldn't Diana be calling him "Lord Akuto" or "Your Majesty" or something? Why was it all "Akuto-kun"?
Liliana only dared to call him that in her own head. What gave Diana the right to say it right in front of her?
Frowning, Liliana looked back at Diana.
And then she saw it: Diana, Karen, Lucretia Zola, Saint Raphael, even Erica's maid Arianna, every single one of them was staring at Akuto with that adoring look women reserved for their man.
Erica had told her that Akuto could grow stronger through women with special traits. Could it be… that besides Erica, they were all Akuto's too?
A terrifying thought surfaced in Liliana's mind.
No. Impossible.
Instinctively, Liliana rejected it.
She knew Akuto had only been in Italy for three days.
Winning over just Erica was already lightning-fast. How could he possibly have conquered so many beautiful girls with such different personalities at the same time?
Besides, among them were women from a previous era like Lucretia Zola and Saint Raphael, and even… a girl she didn't really recognize, dressed in monastery clothing, who looked like a middle schooler (Alesa). She didn't look like Akuto's woman at all.
Right. They must have simply sworn loyalty to him. That gaze was the gaze one directed toward their liege.
In the end, Liliana could only look away.
But even so, the possibility that "they might all become Akuto's" rooted itself in Liliana's mind, refusing to go away.
...
Elsewhere, as Athena restored her true body, Akuto began the final step.
As Perseus's power was gathered up, Akuto willed it, and the Usurpation Disc returned to his hand on its own.
Since it was confirmed that "Pandora won't acknowledge battles outside of fate," it was time to put the waste to use.
So Akuto rewound time in this area back to the instant Perseus vanished, and drew Perseus's power into his Usurpation Disc.
What? The world's fate wouldn't recognize becoming a Godslayer this way?
Fine. Then I'll be the one to recognize it.
"Wumm…"
With the Usurpation Disc in hand, Akuto's body rapidly began to mutate and evolve.
[Ding!]
[Usurpation Ring activation successful!]
[Target of usurpation: Unyielding Perseus.]
[Congratulations, host has obtained rewards: Pegasus the divine steed, authority of controlling maidens, Arrow of the Solar Disc, Solar Disc Seal, Sun God Flame, anti-dragon-serpent specialty, contract authority…]
The moment the mutation and evolution ended, Akuto once again heard the system's notification.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, host has completed a past-life objective: become a Godslayer (first god-slaying: Perseus).]
[Congratulations, host has obtained reward: Proto-Divine Kingdom (Gold)!]
[Proto-Divine Kingdom (Gold): As the name implies, a proto-form of a divine kingdom: a small world capable of growing into a transgressive-class world. The stronger the host becomes, the stronger the gods and life within the divine kingdom become, and the stronger the divine kingdom becomes. When needed, the host may directly borrow the divine kingdom's power to crush enemies, or draw upon its divine power to fight without any restrictions.]
Note: As long as a being is recognized as life within the host's divine kingdom, so long as the host lives, that being may be revived.
[Ding!]
[Detected rewards capable of fusion.]
[Fusion-eligible items: Proto-Divine Kingdom, Apocalypse world ownership, Akame ga Kill world ownership, Holy Lance That Pierces the World.]
[Would the host like to fuse the fusion-eligible rewards?]
"Oh? Fuse them directly."
He'd fused things several times already. Akuto knew the system's fusion wouldn't cost him any power, only strengthen what he already had, so he accepted without hesitation.
He was looking forward to what would come out of this. If his guess was right, this fusion would produce a real treasure.
[Ding!]
[Fusion function activating…]
[Fusion core: Holy Lance That Pierces the World (Red).]
[Fusion materials: Apocalypse world ownership (Red), Akame ga Kill world ownership (Red), Proto-Divine Kingdom (Gold).]
[Ding!]
[Fusion successful!]
[Congratulations, host has obtained reward: True: Holy Lance That Pierces the World (Rainbow).]
[True: Holy Lance That Pierces the World (Rainbow): This lance is the truth of the world, and also the truth that pierces the world. It holds endless possibilities, and can crush those possibilities completely.]
Exclusive Awakening Techniques: Sovereign Radiance / Dimensional Sovereign Radiance / Dimensional Explosion.
Sovereign Radiance: A move that maximizes one's own radiance and the world's possibilities. A step toward the future. With radiance alone, it can pry open the fissures of future and dimension, achieving the great feat of creating worlds.
Dimensional Sovereign Radiance: A move that seals the world's possibilities. Even across countless parallel worlds, if struck by Dimensional Sovereign Radiance and a single "fixed death" has been established once, it can erase that individual across all parallel worlds.
Dimensional Explosion: The final technique of Explosion magic. The stronger the conviction, the longer the chant, the greater the power. A taboo skill capable of truly destroying a world.
Note: The more worlds fused, the higher the lance's grade, the greater its might.
"It worked!"
Looking at the new lance that had appeared in his system space, Akuto's mood surged in a way it rarely did.
"So the Proto-Divine Kingdom was basically a 'catalyst,' huh?"
In this fusion, aside from the Proto-Divine Kingdom, the other rewards were things Akuto already had.
Before, Akuto only possessed world ownership. He could travel freely across timelines and revive at will, but in the end he was only a "Child of the World."
Now, even though he'd only fused two worlds that weren't especially high-tier, Akuto had still become a "Lord of the World."
The resources a Lord of the World could call upon were on an entirely different level from those of a Child of the World.
In other words, with the Holy Lance in hand, Akuto could be regarded as a powerhouse on the level of a single-station sub-Dragon God.
(End of Chapter)
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