"Gu... Uh!?"
Enduring the pain, Godou looked up high to see a bird of prey resembling an eagle or a falcon, flying majestically amidst the [Sword]'s spheres of light that filled the sky.
The instant Godou discovered the bird of prey, it instantly vanished.
Godou could feel the shockwave caused by the lightning speed of its descent. Immediately, a crack suddenly appeared on a stone step in the ruins three meters away from Godou. It was a mark left behind as if dug by some sharp object.
—Divine speed!?
Seeing the bird of prey appearing in the sky again, Godou realized it was the [Raptor] incarnation.
The bird of prey had apparently used its sharp beak or claws to slice open his left shoulder just now. But just like Godou in the past, it was incapable of controlling its own excessive speed. This resulted in the poor accuracy of its attacks.
Who knew if Circe realized the same thing, for she chanted new spell words.
"O immortal sun, I beseech you to send forth dawn's horse-drawn carriage!"
Gliding in the air, the bird of prey transformed into a bronco.
Its fur was pure white. Enveloped in golden flames, this time it was the [White Stallion].
Furthermore, while all this was happening—
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
The tusked, black divine beast kept producing roars with shockwaves, vigorously trying to sweep the air clean of spell words. If this continued, the [Sword]'s total destruction would only be a matter of time.
Then there was the [White Stallion] manifested in the air.
The golden flames all over its body were burning much stronger than last seen before.
The [Stallion] looked as if it had resolved itself to ignite all kindling for the purpose of incinerating Kusanagi Godou together with itself to the bitter end.
Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, Godou knew that if he was struck by this attack, he could very well die for real—
Since the [Camel] incarnation was not currently active, Godou did not have the same resilient vitality as last time.
What should he do!? How could he fight his way out of this crisis!?
Just as Godou gnashed his teeth in the face of this challenge—
'Godou-san. Even if the [Sword] cannot slice through Verethragna's incarnations, it can still sever their connections to the goddess!'
A sudden lesson. These were thoughts transmitted through psychic sensing.
Godou glanced at the user of psychic sensing for an instant. Surrounded by the [Swords] left behind by Godou, Yuri was nodding emphatically at him from afar while she sat collapsed on the ground out of exhaustion.
Having received a spirit vision, the Hime-Miko promptly transmitted the knowledge to him.
Moreover, Godou had wielded this weapon—the [Sword]'s spell words numerous times already. He was convinced he knew very clearly how to use it to realize Yuri's suggestion.
Godou deliberately closed his eyes.
Whether the [Boar] which kept destroying [Swords] with its roars or the [White Stallion] charging towards him from the air, Godou no longer looked at them.
Compared to these two beasts, Godou had more important things to capture.
Namely, the magic itself that had turned these incarnations into Circe's possessions.
Normally, Godou was not capable of sensing that vague and ambiguous presence. Just as Erica described, he was a man with zero talent in magic. However—
It was a completely different matter when he used Verethragna's [Warrior] and [Goat] incarnations.
Whenever either of these incarnations was active, Godou was imbued with magical control surpassing all magi in order to manipulate spell words and lightning. Hence he was surely capable of seeing—
The pulsation of power. The divine power woven by the goddess Circe. The telltale signs of an authority in use, one that concealed fire attributes.
"That's it!"
The instant he perceived it, Godou opened his eyes wide.
Although the [White Stallion] overhead was falling like a burning meteor, Godou remained motionless. Instead, he gave orders to attack.
Under his directions, two beams of light flew towards separate directions.
One beam targeted the head of the [White Stallion] charging at Godou. The other flew towards the back of the [Boar], Circe's current mount.
The two lights of the [Sword] splendidly severed what Godou had seen.
These were the magically woven links that connected the incarnations to the goddess. At the same time, the [White Stallion] collided directly with Godou's body. However, he was completely unharmed.
The [White Stallion] was reabsorbed into Godou's body. Furthermore, the violently howling [Boar] also vanished and returned to within Godou as well.
Originally riding on the black divine beast's head, Circe was tossed into the air by the loss of her mount.
Godou ordered five [Swords] to fly towards the falling witch like a meteor shower. This was in order to sever Circe's magic of [Hero Confinement], the secret art used to steal Verethragna's incarnations.
—Slice. Godou could feel slicing on target.
The five [Swords] pierced Circe's body one after another. At the same time, Godou recovered what had been stolen from him. The incarnations of the [Wind], the [Bull], the [Raptor], the [Ram] and the [Goat]—
Although he could live without these powers, they were comrades who had accompanied him through situations of life and death after all.
For this once, Godou nodded strongly to acknowledge the feeling of the incarnations' return.
"Guh! Then I call upon the wheel of dawn!"
Despite losing Verethragna's incarnations, Circe remained standing in the sky. Pointing her finger at the eastern sky, she chanted spell words.
"I implore you to become my spear for piercing the ground, incinerating all existence!"
Many stars were scattered over the South Seas' sky.
During this inappropriate time, the sun rose from the east. Circe was probably planning on unleashing her strongest fire attack on the same level as Verethragna's [White Stallion].
The glow of dawn illuminated the South Seas and the uninhabited island with a rosy tint.
Released by this sun, golden brilliance flew towards Godou on the ground. Nevertheless, Godou gave instructions to the remaining [Swords] in the air to intercept.
Several hundred spheres of light sliced apart the golden flashes, destroying them before they could reach the ground.
Even if the sun's strongest light was used as an attack, so long as it was Circe's authority, the [Sword] could cut it. That said, the blades of spell words were also diminishing in number through use.
The [Swords] Godou created were almost entirely used up for intercepting sunlight.
There were only about a hundred left—the ones Godou had ordered to form a defensive formation around Yuri. Godou turned his gaze over there and exchanged nods with Yuri.
Now was the time for switching the remaining weapons from defense to offense. Godou and Yuri were thinking the same thing simultaneously.
"Evil-doers, tremble before me! Hindrances, begone from my sight!"
Godou accelerated all the remaining [Swords] and sent them flying towards Circe. The swarm of [Swords] proceeded to mercilessly slice through her as she stood in the air.
"Kyaaaaah!?"
Circe screamed as she crashed down to earth.
Her brass prostheses also gave off breaking noises. Nevertheless, Godou's enemy was a goddess. This fall could not have caused any significant damage to her.
On the other hand, Godou had felt clearly the slicing sensation from the sword.
He had cut rather deeply into Circe's divinity. She was already carrying a half-dead and battered body. It would come as no surprise if she consumed all her strength and collapsed on the spot
.
But despite this being the reasonable outcome—
"Guh..."
The goddess made herself hover using magic again.
Circe's left prosthetic arm was already lost from launching the earlier attack. Due to the damage caused by Godou's [Sword], her left prosthetic leg was greatly twisted out of shape while her waist area was also cracked severely.
Panting heavily, she no longer displayed the elegance of a beautiful girl from fantasy.
She was literally covered with wounds. Nevertheless, Circe still floated up into midair, casting her haughty gaze down at the god-slayer who had pushed her this far. Her beautiful face and sharp glare exuded unyielding vigor.
She still intended to fight, resolved to defeat Godou by any means necessary, so as to treasure him like a toy in the exact manner she had declared.
However, perhaps due to a Campione's animal-like instincts regarding battle...
Godou still sensed that Circe was lying on death's door. She was currently about to collapse. Victory would be obtained simply by landing a blow or two on her—Godou was convinced.
But in the face of imminent defeat, Circe smiled instead.
"Fufufu. As expected, this body prevented the situation from developing favorably. In that case, I have no choice but to risk all on a gamble."
A blue shadow manifested behind her, floating in midair.
It was an ambiguous humanoid silhouette with a poorly defined outline. Clad in armor, an angular impression was exuded all over. Standing roughly five meters tall, its height was not impressive enough to call it a giant.
Then there were the steel bow and arrows—Familiar weapons Godou had seen before.
This was the being that Circe had called the "divine spirit of the bow." Using the [Warrior]'s ability to obtain deep understanding of target deities, Godou was able to see past his true nature.
"This guy is the power you stole from Odysseus, right?"
Godou spoke as he looked up at the figure and Circe.
The authority to "strip hero's of their power using beauty and magic." Odysseus was the hero who possessed this power of bow and arrows and was also intimately linked to the goddess.
Her ability to use a portion of his powers was not surprising. However.
"Although probably stronger than divine beasts, I can't see him as a match for us."
Godou spoke as he cast his eyes of the [Warrior] at the bow-wielding figure.
Ultimately, this "divine spirit of the bow" was merely an imitation of Odysseus. An existence possessing an ego on the level of a divine beast but lacking a human's mind and intelligence.
Godou did not think he could become Circe's trump card in her desperate situation—
"Yes, it is exactly as you say. Please feel free to mock the superficiality of a desperate woman. I plan on using this to cast my final magic."
Final? Just as Godou frowned in response to these dangerous words—
Circe suddenly stabbed her remaining right arm prosthesis into her left breast. The sharp fingertips of brass dug into white and tender flesh, resulting in a spurt of fresh blood!
While Godou watched dumbfounded, Yuri also gasped and went "Hmm!?" in the distance.
The beautiful goddess' fingertips were stabbed where a human's heart would be located. Blood gushed out like a geyser but the flow soon stopped. This was a most bizarre move on her part.
"By this crimson blood I swear upon heaven and earth. Should I fail to vanquish Kusanagi Godou in this trial of magic, I shall personally put an end to my immortal life!"
What!? Godou was rendered speechless. Circe's declaration was filled with spell words.
This was a curse. A coersive curse the goddess had cast upon herself. She had no choice but to do this in order to realize her goal—
What a truly absurd curse this was!?
But in the next instant, Circe's magical power expanded several fold!
This level of power was comparable to that of Godou's past enemy, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, when he summoned Zhu Ganglie and Vaisravana. Godou was reminded of what his beautiful sworn sister, Luo Cuilian, had informed him before.
A deity's strength was directly proportional to the intensity of their ego, obsessions and sense of identity!
"I see... Swearing to defeat me with your last and only magic, even going as far as to bind yourself with a curse—you have elevated the motivating element of 'defeating me' to the maximum!"
Godou trembled in response to his beautiful foe's cunning plan.
He now realized clearly what prompted his sense of unease before the battle. The reason why he did not find this goddess, on the very verge of death, "weak" at all. It now made perfect sense logically, she was terrifying precisely because she was wounded.
Because she was so close to death, Circe did not cherish life.
Hence, she was able to lay everything on the line for the sake of defeating Kusanagi Godou, converting her life into a weapon even if the price was its forfeit. She even went as far as to make this task her greatest and only identity!
...The goddess of dawn, Circe, began to chant loudly.
Using her immortal life as a price to obtain magical power, her goal was to release her final magic.
"Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy."
Godou realized the true nature of Circe's magic. Indeed, it was that poem!
"His guile and brilliance recognized by the people on earth, his renown even reached the heavens. His name is—"
Odysseus!
While the goddess chanted and Godou nodded, in that very instant—
The bow-wielding figure—the "divine spirit of the bow" which was only a black shadowy mass, suddenly obtained a material body. A warrior fully armed with bronze armor, a steel bow and steel arrows.
He stood five meters tall or so. Circe landed lightly on his left shoulder.
"A subordinate god huh..."
'The hero Odysseus was definitely not the goddess Circe's subordinate... Perhaps he should be more aptly called an allied god.'
Yuri whispered in Godou's ear using psychic sensing.
Then accompanied by a massive crash that shook the earth, Odysseus landed on the ground.
His left shoulder carried Circe while he wielded in his right hand the weapon of the "Pan-Eurasian hero," the bow of steel. The helmet's face was pulled down deeply, obscuring his true face.
Nevertheless, Godou was certain that Odysseus was glaring at him with great hostility.
"Is this guy the strongest steel? The one who manifests at the end of eras?"
'—No, the hero Odysseus does not appear to carry the traits of the [War Gods of Steel]. Nevertheless, I can sense astounding power coming from that bow. Please be careful, Godou-san!'
Perhaps because spirit vision showed her the formidable abilities of this user of the blue bow, Yuri's voice seemed to be trembling slightly.
But then again, since he was not a member of [Steel], Odysseus likely did not possess their troublesome abilities of "indestructibility."
Godou took delight in this particular point then turned his glare towards the wandering hero.
Part 4
"As the descendant of the great god Zeus, the indomitable hero Odysseus hereby arrives unannounced! I beseech the gods to hear me and bear witness! Please carefully observe my wit and guile, that which descends upon the earth again after eons of absence!"
A deep, sonorous voice was heard from the bronze helmet.
A rich desire to show off combined with a talkative manner of speech. Nevertheless, his words were not objectionable.
Odysseus was famous for coming up with the "Trojan Horse" ploy. He was the wandering hero, not only valorous and cunning but also an eloquent orator. This sort of man would not give others an impression of boring rigidity.
However, the summoner Circe proclaimed to the talkative giant soldier of bronze.
"Your Highne
ss Odysseus. Our reunion greatly pleases me... But please wait a while, for this place is my battlefield!"
This announcement's effect was akin to inserting a key into Odysseus' vocal cords.
In the next instant, out from the bronze helmet came nothing but groans rather than human speech.
Goooohhhhhhhhhhg!
This resembled a monster's howls more than a hero's cries. Listening to this howl with a satisfied expression as she sat on Odysseus' left shoulder, Circe nodded with a smile on her face.
She probably believed that so long as a hero was valorous, wit and eloquence were redundant.
"Well, I guess men pretty much all look like that in front of women..."
Feeling slightly sympathetic for the hero, Godou could not help but let his true feelings escape.
But of course, he still remained highly vigilant. Since Odysseus was giving off an exceptionally strong aura of killing intent, there was no room for carelessness.
"Your Highness, please use your bow to annihilate Kusanagi-sama!"
Goooohhhhhhhhhhg！
In response to Circe's command, Odysseus began to shoot.
Nocking a steel arrow onto the steel bow, he drew the bowstring to its maximum limit. But instead of Godou, the arrowhead was aimed at the South Seas' starry sky.
Whoosh! The steel arrow was shot, accompanied by the bowstring's sound, disappearing into the darkness of the night sky.
Then a rain of arrows immediately descended from the sky above!
Numerous arrows of blue-white light rained down upon the island like a meteor shower. The arrows most likely numbered in the tens of thousands.
The massive number of arrows fell down upon every corner of the island.
This was literally a rain of arrows. There was no place to run at all. If one were to stand there helplessly, dozens of arrows would pierce the body instantly—
"Damn it!"
Cursing away, Godou invoked the [Raptor] incarnation.
This was the ability of divine speed only available when confronted with a high speed attack. From Godou's perspective, the pouring rain of arrows moved as if under slow motion playback. Meanwhile, he could travel at lightning speed.
In order to evade all the arrows, this was the only incarnation he could use. There was no other choice.
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