Watching Godou and Paolo, Gantz remarked emphatically.
"That said, you're quite a 'decent' person despite being the seventh Campione. Could this be an omen of cataclysmic change? I never would have expected the birth of a sensible Devil King."
"Pay attention to what you're saying, Gennaro."
Paolo spoke as if reprimanding his subordinate.
"No matter how sensible or benevolent, a Campione cannot possibly be a harmless existence. I can predict with certainty that Kusanagi Godou will become a world-shaking Devil King in the future."
"P-Paolo-san?"
"My apologies. Based on the reports so far, although I've garnered that you have no such intentions... But inevitably, you will undoubtedly become 'that type of existence.' Regrettably, I am a man who has dealt much with the various Campiones. This experience informs me."
"I see."
At that moment, Godou could only think to himself that "Paolo-san sure loves to worry" and did not try to object.
It was only months later, after encountering a number of his kin and reflecting on his own atrocities, when Godou was struck deeply by how prophetic Paolo's words were.
Seeing Godou reserve his judgment for now, Paolo remarked with heartfelt intensity.
"By the way, I never would have expected Erica to set her sights on the seventh Campione..."
"Oh dear, that's certainly true. I could not have foreseen that our lady would..."
"That female fox huh..."
Staring into the distance, Clarens and Gantz were also overcome with emotion.
They apparently regarded Erica as something of an unbridled horse—Just as Godou racked his brain for a response...
"Hello everyone, did something happen? You're all bearing rather eccentric expressions. It's a little unusual."
Accompanied by the sound of the door opening, Erica entered.
The male magi immediately resumed their usual countenance and straightened their sitting posture. Clarens answered on their behalf with an innocent look:
"Nothing at all. Anyway, are you ready to set off, my lady?"
"Yes. I also intend to visit Florence for gathering intelligence."
Erica had changed into a red jacket and black jeans, a simple coordination of rossonero colors. Pulling a trolley case behind her, she looked completely like she was about to go traveling.
Before setting off for Tuscany, Godou and Erica were simply making a quick visit to the [Copper Black Cross] headquarters.
Next came the real journey. The pair's subsequent destination was the ancient city of Florence. The Arno was the major river in the Tuscany region flowing through this city.
The eel-like monster was located in the mountainous region near the Arno's source.
Part 3
"This comes as quite a surprise. I can't believe you'd want to take something like a train."
Seeing his companion looking a little bored, Godou struck up conversation.
This was taking place in the spacious first class compartment on the express train which had just departed from the Milan station.
On the other hand, this daughter of the Blandelli family, currently sitting beside Godou, had once asserted in no uncertain terms that "I shouldn't need to take buses or trains, okay?"
"Well, this supposedly reaches Florence faster than traveling by car or by plane. Considering the way you are, you'd probably accept Gennaro's offer of 'let me take you there by car' or the like."
Erica replied with an expression of annoyance.
"And would there be anything wrong with that?"
"Of course there would. Precisely because of him. He'd probably use the opportunity to play Japanese children's cartoons nonstop in the car. Trying to show them off to you."
"C-Cartoons?"
"I definitely have no wish of partaking in anything like that."
Godou recalled the terrifying face of Gennaro Gantz.
That manly, bearded face. If a bandana was wrapped over his head, he would immediately become a fearsome pirate. It was impossible to associate that face with anime. Nevertheless, Godou did not get the impression that Erica was lying...
"People have all sorts of hobbies."
Godou simply responded with a brief comment. While they were talking, the train really started to get going.
Mineral water, coffee, wine, champagne and other drinks were offered in the first class car. There were also various snacks and fast food.
However, Erica slowly opened a basket she had brought herself.
"What is that?"
"I told the girl who is my assistant to bring me clothes for changing, but she turned out to be quite quick on the uptake. She asked me to take this on my journey as well."
The basket was lined with quite a few handmade sandwiches.
Various fillings in toasted bread—uncured ham, mozarella cheese, proscuitto, lettuce, rucola and other vegetables. The sandwiches were quite visually appealing.
"Eh, these look very delicious."
"She's an apprentice in the [Copper Black Cross]—As a mage in training, she was almost expelled for her lack of aptitude. But because she's quite skilled in domestic chores, I tried her out as my assistant. Quite an interesting girl. I'll introduce her to you in the future."
Judging from the way Erica spoke of her, Godou imagined a girl in her early teens.
It was slightly later when Godou finally learned that she was Arianna-san and actually older than Erica. Only then was Godou struck by the shock of Erica's patronizing description.
In any case, Godou enjoyed the food, thoughtfully prepared by the maid he had never met before, as they continued the train journey.
The aerodynamic high-speed train took two hours to reach Florence from Milan.
During this time, Godou spent his time leisurely, chatting casually with Erica while he read Italian newspapers. Despite the fact that he was going to be approaching a monster's lair soon, he did not feel particularly nervous.
Somehow, his instincts were informing him.
Even if that eel-like giant organism really turned out to be a divine beast, he was not going to suffer in a desperate battle.
Godou knew this instinctively because he was capable of using a divine beast himself, the [Boar]. Speaking of desperate battles, those would occur only if the divine beast's master, a [Heretic God] or a Campione, was nearby—
"After all, I shouldn't be running into those guys."
Godou muttered to himself as they got off the train at the Florence station platform.
His battle against Melqart, the ancient Middle Eastern divine king, had taken place a month earlier. As for the fight with the godslayer Salvatore Doni, that was last night.
These momentous events should not be happening all the time. In terms of probability, it should be impossible.
Looking up, Godou found a vast expanse of the Italian sky, illuminated by the glow of dusk.
The red of the setting sun was mixing mysteriously with the darkness of evening, an exotic sight unlike dusk in Japan.
"Let's spend tonight in Florence and have a chat over dinner with the magi of this city. The [Capital of Lilies] is the magic association responsible for handling the incident. We'll first obtain information from them—"
Just as Erica began to speak, her cellphone rang with an incoming call.
Godou had a worrying premonition. To him, this melody sounded like an ominous sign. Indeed, it was the apostle from the realm of absurdity, the person capable of blowing theories of probability right out of the water—
"What's the matter, Uncle? Eh, Sir Salvatore?"
Then Godou realized he had forgotten about the most dangerous element.
The ancient city of Florence was one of the best known places even in Italy.
The river passing through this city, the Arno, followed the terrain of the Tuscany region and flowed from east to west into the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ancient city of Pisa, famous for its Leaning Tower, was located near the river's mout
h.
Indeed, water was essential to human life, thus giving rise to cities adjacent to bodies of water.
Given that Godou was on a journey to the Arno's headwaters...
It would only be natural to advance east from Florence.
However, the car picking up Godou and Erica went south of Florence instead, taking them to the city of Siena located roughly in the center of Tuscany.
This was also a city with ancient origins, said to be a colony of the ancient Roman Empire of old.
A historical zone preserving streets straight from medieval times, the entire city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Renowned as "the world's most beautiful public square," Piazza del Campo was the city's most famous tourist attraction.
Despite being a plaza covered with red brick, it was actually not flat.
The plaza's surface was shaped like a bowl and sloped gently. Townsfolk and tourists would take up sitting or sleeping positions on the sloping surface, spending their time as they pleased.
"Coming to this place feels like a variety show's trip planning..."
Recalling his itinerary for the past day, Godou felt especially weary.
Lake Garda, Verona, Zurich, Milan, Florence and Siena.
These were all historically ancient cities and tourist destinations. But Godou passed through all of them with nary a stop, finally arriving here at Siena. What an exhausting trip, even crossing national boundaries.
By the time they arrived in Siena, night had fallen completely.
Although this was no time for touring around, Godou and Erica were still led to Piazza del Campo. Instead of sightseeing, the purpose was for meeting a certain someone.
"Ah Godou, it's been a while, my dear friend!"
The young man, who had parted ways with Godou only this morning, was waiting for him.
His cheerful frivolity carried a certain Latin quality indeed, suiting his personality quite well. Salvatore Doni was the Campione renowned as the King of Swords.
A black, short-sleeved shirt. Cotton pants. A pair of sneakers. He was dressed casually as usual.
Furthermore, a long cylindrical case laid fallen by his feet. Undoubtedly, it contained that dangerous and lethal weapon.
"Just come over yourself if you've got any business. We're on the way to somewhere else."
"Well, my dear aide is an excessively strict person, so I'm currently grounded from travel. He said I'm not allowed to go outside for now because I've caused too much trouble lately."
"Wow, your aide turns out to be someone with normal thought processes... But then again."
Godou replied to Doni who was grumbling on his own.
The message of "Let's meet briefly, okay♪" was transmitted from Doni to Paolo to Erica to finally reach Godou. He could have ignored it, but that would probably spur Doni into his ridiculous antics again.
Godou only came to Siena because he was worried about this issue.
"So let me say this. Even if you're grounded, don't get us involved."
"But you're going to exterminate the divine beast that's lurking in Monte Falterona, right?"
Doni asked with a grin.
To think he would receive the news so quickly as soon as the incident happened.
Godou shrugged. Although Doni looked like a carefree idiot—No, he really was a fool in actual fact. But at the same time, he was also cunningly astute. Godou was deeply struck by how important it was not to underestimate this man.
"Sorry, but could you step aside...? Just a minor suggestion."
"You mean you want to slay the monster in my place?"
"Yes yes. This opportunity to make a quick trip and be back before that annoying Andrea discovers, just yield that to me. You and me, we're best buddies, right?"
Godou was quite surprised. Indeed, Salvatore Doni was a belligerent man, but this sort of request seemed really out of character.
"Sir Salvatore. Allow me to point out that there is merely one monster sighted at Monte Falterona, the one that has been recognized as a divine beast. For a Campione of your stature, Sir, it would simply be a weak enemy."
At Godou's side, Erica interjected with a probing tone of voice.
Godou nodded. Indeed that was the truth. Even as a novice, Godou did not consider a divine beast to be any sort of threat. Even more so for Doni, the experienced warrior. Yet for some reason, he wanted to defeat the divine beast himself.
His insistence was quite strange. Tossing troublesome chores to Godou would probably be more suited to his liking.
"For a trivial task of this nature, I think you can just leave everything for us to handle."
"Yes, you have a point there, but I also have various circumstances on my end."
Doni smiled casually in response to Erica's intervention.
"Circumstances? What do you mean?"
"Well well. Some things need to be kept secret—"
Playing the fool to evade Godou's question, Doni picked up the cylindrical container on the ground.
Then he drew out a longsword of iron. This was the weapon with which he used his silver arm authority to manifest ultimate sharpness. Doni casually entered a stance with his sword.
"You intend to slay me to prevent me from exterminating the divine beast?"
"Of course not. Didn't we just have a deadly duel yesterday? I have no intention of having a rematch suddenly on the very next day. This is just a wager. Let's play a game."
Doni readied the longsword before him, pointing its tip at Godou.
"You win if you can block one strike from my sword. I'll yield the divine beast extermination to you this time. However, if you're unable to stop me... Let me do as I please."
"I can't stand you. Just deciding all that on your own..."
Godou bent forward slightly in response to Doni's sudden declaration.
He was taking the posture of a defending infielder in order to guard against Doni's sword.
Speaking of which—Godou noticed something. Even though it was not yet seven at night, Piazza del Campo was empty apart from the three of them.
Did Doni use some sort of suspicious magic to drive people away, or did he use his influence as a Devil King to prohibit access?
In any case, a match was already unavoidable.
"Godou, do you really intend to fight!?"
"The situation will get weird if I leave things to this guy, so there's no choice."
Godou answered Erica who was a little worried. At the same time, he kept his attention focused on Doni.
The enemy raised his right arm, holding the sword in a stance.
In the parlance of Japanese swordsmanship, this would be called the hassou-no-kamae stance.[1] But since Doni's original posture was a flexible and natural stance, he really seemed like he was sticking to his claim of not intending to fight seriously.
Only because of that he was making this sort of attacking stance, intending to enjoy the game.
That said, this was still a dangerous game of death where one false move could lead to one's demise—
(...I guess I'll just have to try evading using the [Raptor]'s speed.)
(...Please be careful. This isn't an opponent who makes things easy.)
After whispering this reminder, Erica immediately retreated.
It was finally time for Godou vs Doni, one on one. The enemy's right arm glowed with silver radiance.
The previous night's battle had taken place roughly twenty-four hours earlier. Nuadha's silver arm authority, which Godou had sealed with the [Sword]'s spell words, was already recovered and currently usable.
"Hoho. We already know each other's tricks. This will be no different from yesterday."
Doni smiled quietly. This was different from his usual idiotic smile.
Rather, this was a smile of delight with a hint of malevolence, coming from a man who enjoyed risking his life in battle. The frivolous and handsome face instantly transformed into that of a dauntless warrior.
Godou and Doni were sep
arated by a mere distance of five meters.
All Doni needed to do was pounce while swinging his sword and the distance would instantly shrink to zero.
However, the speed and acuity of Doni's swordsmanship was great enough to unlock Godou's [Raptor].
Verethragna's seventh incarnation possessed speed equal to lightning. Since Godou was unable to make precise movements due to the excessive speed, it was not that useful for making attacks.
On the other hand, it was quite a handy ability for defense and escape.
In order to use divine speed the instant Doni swung his sword, Godou readied his posture.
However, he suddenly trembled for the air around him felt rather heavy.
This was due to Doni's gaze. Without glaring at Godou or making threats, he was simply gazing cheerfully. One could even call it a gentle and quiet look.
But Godou was certain his intentions had been seen through.
Every single motion of Kusanagi Godou's body down to the smallest fingertip, the violent pounding in his heart resulting from the sudden battle, his breathing—
All were seen through completely. Heard. Observed. A complete grasp.
"He really is an opponent for which defense won't work huh..."
Godou muttered to himself. Just as his foe mentioned, they already knew each other's tricks.
Salvatore Doni's eyes were capable of seeing through divine speed. He also possessed mysterious movement techniques allowing him to close in before one could react, as well as horrifying swordsmanship that was challenging to evade.
Although this was only going to be a split-second battle, was Godou really capable of defending against martial arts as varied as a sword god's?
His gaze met with Doni's. The enemy went "Hmph" and smiled fearlessly. Godou had to muster his courage at this moment. If possible, he still wanted to take the least risky route and use the [Raptor] to evade—
However, in order to crush the enemy's strongest technique, Godou had no choice but to use his strongest power!
"The one unblunted and unapproachable, oath-breaking sinners be purged by the iron hammer of justice!"
"I hereby swear! I shall sever all existence in this world, slicing them in half with but a single cut!"
Precisely because they knew each other inside and out, they were able to have this sort of simple clash.
Campione 14 Page 2