Campione 14

by The Eighth Godslayer

  Throwing out his trump card before the horrific attack reached him, Godou then leveraged his residual momentum to defeat his enemy.

  As a result, Godou's summoned [Boar] crashed boldly through the stone tiles of Piazza del Campo to make its way to the ground surface. At the same time, Godou prepared to charge straight into Doni.

  The instant the divine beast was about to penetrate the surface, Doni's swinging magic sword struck the [Boar]'s pitch black forehead.

  ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

  The beast's roars resounded.

  Swung by the silver arm, the magic sword stabbed itself deeply into the [Boar]'s forehead. The divine beast was destroyed by the time half of its head surfaced aboveground.

  However, Doni went "Oh no!" and cried out.

  Although it was excessively reckless, Godou did indeed manage to block one strike from Doni's sword.

  Doni's sword of mental nothingness was achieved by letting the sword and the body move naturally. Hence, Godou knew that as soon as he launched a powerful attack, Doni would involuntarily attack in return—

  The result ended exactly as he predicted. Godou nodded greatly. However—

  "Although I did wonder if it would turn out like this when you agreed to the match, Godou... You never let down expectations, do you?"

  Gazing at the "price" paid by Piazza del Campo, Erica remarked in amazement.

  There was a deep crack resembling a fault line.

  The ground was cracked open deeply in a straight line, tearing the plaza apart from one end to the other.

  Very likely, this resulted from Godou choosing Piazza del Campo itself as the target when summoning the [Boar].

  As soon as the pitch-black divine beast surfaced from the ground, it immediately caused destruction to the plaza.

  Godou covered his head in his arms. Oh well, because the [Boar] was exterminated before it truly began to wreak destruction, one should be satisfied that only this level of damage resulted...

  "W-Wait a minute. That was no fair at all. How about another match!?"

  On the other hand, Doni kept harassing him, refusing to accept the result.

  While reflecting on his own actions, Godou treated Doni's protests as meaningless noise.

  Although the destruction was a terrible result, one should probably count their blessings that a commotion's embers were smothered before they could be truly set ablaze.

  Nevertheless, why would Doni be interested in slaying a divine beast?

  Just as Godou was about to question him, sirens could be heard in the distance.

  Police or firefighters were apparently on the move. Naturally, they must be heading here. Probably for the sake of calming down this commotion, Erica took out her cellphone and contacted someone...

  Part 4

  In the end, Piazza del Campo's "aftermath" was handed over to Doni's subordinates to take care of.

  Having fled the scene for now, Godou and company were seeking refuge in a nearby bar. Standing before them was the young man named Andrea Rivera.

  He was wearing silver-rimmed glasses and dressed neatly in a suit.

  Known for his serious demeanor, he was the one who served as Doni's butler.

  Upon hearing of his job title, Godou was filled with the deepest sympathies.

  After handling the aftermath by making some calls to local magic associations in Siena and issuing a few orders efficiently, Andrea Rivera swiftly turned around to face Godou again.

  "Regarding this incident, let's consider it the fault of my lord, Salvatore Doni. We will take charge of the aftermath."

  "I-I'm sorry. I've made trouble for you."

  "No, as someone who serves a king, this is simply a part of my duties. Please don't let this weigh on your mind... Anyway, putting that aside, may I have a word with you?"

  Ashamed of being Doni's accomplice, Godou was bowing his head when Andrea addressed him.

  "A Campione causing trouble on momentary impulse is something that cannot be helped. There is no need to respond graciously to my lord's acts of folly. But please bear in mind the suffering and disaster brought upon the innocent commoners when you guys are horsing around."

  Righteously and resolutely, Rivera used a calm tone of voice to admonish the king.

  Truly befitting of Doni's chaperone. Godou was greatly impressed with this fact while feeling indebted to him. The Devil King's Butler turned to Erica:

  "So, Erica Blandelli, may I rely on you to handle the divine beast incident? I must take that idi—Sir Salvatore back to a certain location."

  "Of course you may, Sir Andrea."

  Erica displayed a puzzled expression towards the young man who had almost called his lord an idiot.

  "However, where do you intend to take Sir Salvatore?"

  "Sir Salvatore was heavily injured in the fight against Kusanagi Godou and must go recuperate. He needs to be placed in a quiet environment for now so as to recover his energy."

  "Eh!?"

  Being the man in question, Doni was completely stunned to hear his butler's words.

  He was the man who seemed completely fine in health apart from a sunburn from the [White Stallion] last night.

  Doni's face was filled with a frivolous expression of puzzlement.

  "What is this about, Andrea? I do have a bit of a burning sensation all over my body, but apart from that, I don't really think there's any problem with my health."

  "Nonsense. This is an excellent opportunity. Why don't you just take it easy and rest for three or four months, okay?"

  Switching instantly away from his respectful attitude towards Godou, Rivera addressed Doni as equals.

  On closer examination, Rivera was twitching slightly near his temples. Probably due to anger. It was some time later when Godou would nod in understanding after hearing that these two men were friends from before Doni became a godslayer.

  The Devil King's Butler spoke with what one would call a "sullen look of seriousness and austerity."

  "I have already prepared for you a hospital no different from a prison on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. You will be forcibly hospitalized in a special sickroom on the twelfth floor underground. All you need to do there is cure your brain inside a jail akin to Alcatraz. You fucking lowlife whose mere existence causes trouble to the world, you're even worse than trash!"

  Thinking back, Rivera's outpour of curses and insults was probably the climax of the whole affair.

  Although Godou did suffer some hardship afterwards, no commotion could be worse than crossing paths with a Campione.

  After Doni was taken away to be punished for his follies, Godou and Erica stayed the night in Siena.

  The next morning, the weather was raining unfortunately. However, Rivera had arranged for a car and chauffeur to send them on the way. Thus Godou and Erica reached the incident's stage without issues.

  This region of Casentino was located on the eastern side of Tuscany.

  An area surrounded by natural habitat, one could find lush green fields, hills, forests and valleys.

  In accordance with its designation as a national forest park, the region was virtually devoid of manmade structures apart from roads and the scattered homes of residents, as far as Godou could see along the car journey.

  As for Monte Falterona which Doni had mentioned, this was Erica's explanation:

  "A streamlet that is born in Falterona / And not a hundred miles of course suffice it... This is Dante's Divine Comedy. Purgatorio, Canto XIV."

  "So this is the river it's referring to."

  Godou and Erica sat side by side in the rear seats as the car sped along its way. A stream was flowing beside the road. It was the Arno River.

  It was supposed to progressively widen as it flowed through the lands of Tuscany to become a wide and major river.

  Probably due to the rain, the river volume seemed to be higher than normal.

  "So the only place we need to visit is that Falte whatever mountain?"

  "It w
ould be ideal if it were as simple as that. However, the target seems to have left its lair and moved its habitat elsewhere."

  "Where did the monster appear yesterday?"

  "Medieval castle ruins at the foot of Monte Falterona. Having said that, the ruins are just a few castle walls that remain standing. Apart from that, there's nothing."

  Erica opened and examined a map of the area as she spoke.

  "In fact, yesterday's divine beast-like organism has made an appearance in some other castle ruins. Crashing into and damaging the castle walls, it even caused a ruckus before leaving. Luckily, no humans were caught up in it, but seeing as it's quite close to the city after all... It could get dangerous."

  "That's very true. By the way, that eel monster that's like a snake—"

  After listening, Godou tried to probe an issue that had been bothering him.

  "Since it has gone to castle ruins twice, could it be that it likes old places?"

  "That could be true. Alternatively, it might prefer to be near water."

  "Water?"

  "Yes. Since ancient times, cities and villages have always been constructed near water. Based on the terrain, the Arno River basin naturally contains many towns and structures built since ancient times. Also, the second appearance was this place."

  "Eh, that's really close to the river."

  Seeing the spot on the map Erica was pointing to, Godou nodded.

  "We will be in this place, contemplating our next move while we wait for the Florentine magi who are tracking the beast. If my predictions are accurate, we could very well discover the target today."

  "Then let's stay in this area to search for now."

  "It'd be wiser to wait for their investigation's report first."

  Godou and Erica went on standby at a town near Monte Falterona and the Arno River.

  Then at a time one could consider late night, Erica's cellphone received a report of discovery.

  The two instantly got on a car and rushed towards the Arno River.

  Then Godou saw it. Beneath the pouring rain, a black and slender creature was swimming on the surface of the flooded river. Indeed, it did look like a giant eel.

  Putting on a raincoat, Godou braved the rainstorm to enter the torrential Arno River.

  He wanted to observe the "enemy." But perhaps because it sensed his presence, the black creature submerged itself into the water.

  Erica was rather intrigued by this wariness, uncharacteristic of a vicious monster.

  "Clearly it remained calm when the searching magi discovered it. Perhaps it's because it realized you're a Campione, Godou?"

  "Are things like divine beasts capable of that?"

  "It wouldn't be strange, no, because it's a supernatural creature after all. Among the monitoring personnel, a spirit vision user apparently saw that it's a divine beast with ties to a snake deity."

  "So, handling it like an eel isn't actually going to work."

  In any case, there was nothing to discuss until it was caught.

  Thus the overnight chase began.

  Furthermore, they requested support from the Florentine magi to use search magic, communicating by cellphone and pursuing by car.

  When dawn almost arrived, or rather, during morning...

  Godou and Erica finally faced off the monster again.

  The place was a rural town called Poppi on the shore of the Arno River. Around here was a medieval fort dating back to the fifteenth century.

  Using borrowed binoculars to observe the monster that was roaming leisurely, Godou and Erica murmured to each other.

  "Not only is it not an eel, it's not even a snake..."

  "It should be called a dinosaur instead. I remember seeing a similar one in an old movie."

  A certain action movie whose stage was set in a theme park where dinosaurs had been brought to life using the power of science.

  Not far from their eyes was a species resembling the dinosaur that became a symbol of the movie. Called the velociraptor in the story, these carnivorous dinosaurs were slender, agile, cunning and vicious.

  "A true dinosaur fan would probably call it something like the Deinonychus or the Utahraptor."

  "Oh my, that name really suits its appearance."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Deinonychus. It means 'terrible claw' in Latin."

  Hearing the explanation of Erica who was proficient in linguistics, Godou nodded.

  The black Deinonychus before them was walking upright on its tough hind legs, with a massive, sharp, hooked claw on each foot.

  Its body was roughly seven meters long, with a slender torso and a very long tail.

  Its dorsal outline was probably impossible to see except for when it was swimming on the surface of the water.

  Especially due to its black color, it was indeed quite easy to be mistaken for a snake or an eel.

  "Normally, no one would expect a dinosaur in this river."

  Finally figuring out how the eel description came about, Godou muttered as he summoned the [Boar] to defeat the creature.

  The battle needed to be finished immediately because it would be troublesome if the enemy escaped into the water. The pitch-black giant boar swiftly sent the dinosaur flying in accord with expectations.

  Godou could no longer remember how much time it took to knock out the enemy. Roughly three or four minutes perhaps?

  After all, there were other problems outside of combat. The [Boar]'s howls were mixed with shockwaves as usual and ended up smashing the ground which had softened from the pouring rain.

  As it happened, Godou's foothold on a hillside collapsed as a consequence.

  Rolling down the slope, Godou fell into the Arno River and spent several hours in a predicament, drifting along the flooded river's turbid currents.

  Nevertheless, Godou would naturally come to forget what happened in this region.

  This stemmed from the never ending series of conflicts that arrived henceforth from May of that year, after he became a Campione.

  A duel with Doni at the beginning of May, followed directly by the expedition to Tuscany. After returning to Japan for a week, he was called to Italy again by Erica and forced to attend a seance with dozens of magi. When the end of May rolled in, the great event of Athena's duel happened—

  Thereafter, battles and troublesome incidents still continued to take place in succession.

  Various matters, such as the fact of traveling being more exhausting than combat, were inevitably buried in the back of his mind.

  Consequently, Godou had almost forgotten about this incident after the passage of nine months. Nevertheless, what happened back then was going to lead Godou into yet another troublesome adventure.

  Chapter 2 - News from Italy

  Part 1

  Kusanagi Godou had spent the year end and New Year's in the South Seas, practically on the equator.

  When it finally came time to return to his home and country, he really felt quite removed from the New Year's spirit.

  Furthermore, his grandfather was traveling in Bhutan and his little sister Shizuka was vacationing in the Caribbean. Although his mother was in Japan, this was the time of the year when she occupied her days with New Year parties, so Godou hardly ever saw her.

  Anyway, Godou finally returned home to Japan.

  "Since it happens to be January, I believe we should pay a New Year's homage before the winter vacation ends. As a New Year's event, let's all go to Mariya's place."

  " "......" "

  At the Kusanagi residence, Erica and Liliana gazed subtly at Godou when he invited them.

  As a side note, Ena had already returned to her ancestral home at Chichibu a while ago.

  "A New Year's homage? I recall it being a Japanese custom. To make a wish at a shrine at the beginning of each year."

  "A godslayer making wishes to gods? What would that be like, I really wonder..."

  "I-It doesn't matter, okay? I can do New Year things just like ordinary people. Besides
, I'm not even sure what gods exactly are worshiped in Japanese shrines!"

  Liliana murmured with heartfelt emotion while Erica expressed her doubts sardonically.

  In response to the two knights' reactions, Godou blurted out sacrilegious words.

  In spite of it all, the trio departed for Shiba Park anyway, to pay a visit to Nanao Shrine whose origins and deity worshiped were unknown to them despite their frequent visits.

  "Welcome back, Onii-sama. You've been working hard this January!"

  "Thank you, everyone, for visiting despite the cold weather. Please step this way."

  Entering the confines of Nanao Shrine, they were greeted and received by the Mariya sisters.

  Hikari and Yuri. Shinto shrines always had their "busy period" before and after the year end. As Hime-Miko, the two girls had been working for the past few days consecutively. Godou greeted the sisters who were dressed as miko.

  "Have you been coming here every day since the year end, Hikari?"

  "Yes. Despite how I may look, I was actually acting as Onee-chan's substitute!"

  "From what I have heard, Hikari has been very diligent. She worked incessantly over New Year's Eve and the first three days of January."

  The older sister's gentle gaze rested on the younger sister who had answered in a joking tone of voice.

  As one of Musashino's important sanctuaries, Nanao Shrine was where Yuri was stationed as the proper miko responsible for the "Hime" role. For the time being, Hikari was still an apprentice.

  But because her older sister had followed Godou on his trip to Malaysia, Hikari became her substitute.

  "By the way, this shrine really does not have many visitors."

  "This place was never popular in the first place."

  Liliana and Erica looked around inside the shrine inquisitively.

  Information about Nanao Shrine was restricted by the History Compilation Committee. Consequently, very few knew its location here, apart from nearby residents.

  Hence, visitors were usually quite rare. But today was different.

  There were roughly ten people enjoying the New Year spirit as they casually strolled about. This number of ordinary people was usually not seen in this shrine. They were all members of the elderly. Apart from Godou's group, there were no other young people.