Campione 04

by The Hero

Standing on the normally not-very-stable back of the gigantic monster, which had leapt off the ground, even under these difficult conditions, Liliana still clung on to the black fur for dear life, though she had already fallen down.

  If it were Erica, she would have thought of something, somehow.

  The knight who was equal to Erica would probably be the same, and Liliana did not betray his expectations.

  On the other side, Perseus was relying on his superb sense of balance to stand firm.

  Although his body was swaying, he did not fall over, as expected of a god. A being of a completely different dimension compared to humans, and in contrast, Godou was on his knees, his hands grabbing on to the black fur.

  "Well, I didn't think that I could have thrown you off that easily..."

  Speaking in a low voice, Godou started to move.

  On all fours, on the back of the [Boar], Godou shifted into a riding position, like a wild beast.

  When he had summoned the beast, for some reason his own body had also gained the charging power of the boar. Also, the jumping movement of the [Boar] was also a result of being telepathically manipulated by Godou. (Of course, it would not have been possible if the [Boar] resisted)

  ... Could it be that this guy, was not like one of those [Summoned Beasts] from a video game, but rather an offshoot of me? That seemed like a rather dangerous relationship, as Godou's mind and body were overly linked to it, at times. That would mean that it were a personification of his destructive tendencies. It was a rather ominous premonition.

  Leaving that fact aside, Godou, like a beast, dashed forwards on all fours.

  His target was obviously Perseus.

  The footing was poor as the body of the beast was constantly quaking from when it jumped, it was worse than riding a rampaging horse.

  To be able to maintain your balance in these unfavorable conditions, was certainly an admirable feat, but purposely standing on two legs in such a situation would not be wise.

  With the stance of a boar, Godou charged at Perseus, preparing to grab him by the legs in a tackle.

  If he attempted this on flat ground, it would mostly likely be evaded by Perseus.

  However, this was no flat ground. On this unpredictable field, the hero who cared about his appearance and hence would not go down on all fours could only stand firm against Godou's unsightly assault.

  Very quickly, Perseus was knocked off his feet, and fell off the back of the boar.

  Although something of this extent would not be enough to defeat him, but it was a way to buy some time.

  "Ku - !"

  The body of the hero flailed through the air as he fell.

  Simultaneously, a tremendous impact could be felt from the pitch-black back of the boar, the tremors spreading through its body. The [Boar] had landed on the ground.

  From the plaza where it had been summoned to the harbor was about a few hundred meters in a direct line, and it had crossed that entire distance in one jump. Though it had such a massive body, it possessed such incredible jumping power.

  "Wait! There's no need to do anything more! Return to where you came from!"

  Godou hurriedly commanded the [Boar] which was fiercely charging towards the castle.

  The boar stopped.

  The beast growled in a low voice, retreating a few steps, stomping on the ground, as if in defiance of Godou's order to stop. It seemed to be resisting, shockwaves could be felt from its back due to its movements - this was bad.

  Priceless historical buildings were going to be destroyed again, at this rate.

  Godou concentrated and issued a 'disappear already!' command telepathically, but the [Boar] did not cease its growling.

  Just when he felt despaired and powerless.

  " - Kusanagi Godou, please take note! Perseus has returned!"

  The warning from Liliana reached his ears, and Godou turned his head around, frantically searching for the enemy's location.

  "You have my praise, just this time. Though it was neither graceful nor stylish, your attack was still successful. That I acknowledge."

  Speaking with eloquence, Perseus was riding upon the white winged horse - Pegasus. It seemed like he was caught by the white horse after he fell off the [Boar].

  And then, as he rode upon Pegasus, Godou noticed a few rings on his back had been shining.

  The lights were like the golden rays of the sun, to Godou, it seemed as though Perseus had his back to the sun.

  Godou then realized.

  What had stopped the [Boar] from charging on, was not his order, but the unimaginable strength of the divine energies emitted by those rings. What is this? What kind of power is this?

  "The power you had usurped, was it from a war god of victory? My distant comrade, by one that came from the east... Truly unlucky."

  Perseus spoke in a voice filled with pity, and the rings began to shine brighter.

  "My ancestors, the light of the east, grant me power - in your name I request this miracle. By the oath of the serpent-slaying warrior, now is the time to grant me this strength!"

  In response to these words of power, the rings shone with even greater intensity.

  Like the blazing sun that illuminated the sky and the land, it was a very warm, gentle light. The [Boar] began to growl as the light rays fell upon it.

  - Rrroooooooooo......

  Doesn't seem like its usual self. This was the first time Godou had heard it produce such a sound. Seemed almost as though it was howling.

  "Wh, what is that?"

  Godou murmured in shock.

  The surface supporting his weight disappeared, and Godou felt the sensation of free-fall.

  The power of the ferocious [Boar] had totally vanished - Godou fully realized this fact.

  "Wings of the witch, grant me the power of flight!"

  The one who had swiftly chanted the spell words was Liliana.

  Falling along with Godou, she had immediately recited the incantation to obtain flight capabilities.

  Like a glider gliding through the sky, she quickly changed directions and headed straight for Godou, then grabbing on to his body tightly, and finally descending slowly towards the ground.

  They were almost at ground level.

  Though they had avoided the impact of falling, they could not prevent falling during their landing.

  "O, ouch.... thanks for saving me, Liliana-san. I almost fell to my death."

  "Kusanagi Godou, earlier, just what was that power Perseus had used...?"

  "Not a clue. All I know is that he had fully sealed my authority."

  The serpent-slaying words of power had sealed the power of Athena.

  That was understandable as Perseus had defeated Medusa, who was of the same being as Athena, and the hero who had decapitated her, and this myth served as the origin for Perseus' power to seal the goddess of serpents.

  However, to seal Verethragna's - the Persian war god's powers, how did that happen?

  But first, they had to fix their posture.

  Godou and Liliana stood up, albeit painfully, they had hit the floor of the harbor in an undignified heap, rolling a few rounds, their bodies covered with bruises.

  And right then, in front of them, was Perseus on his winged horse, hovering in the air, with his bow ready.

  A single arrow was fired.

  Like a flash of lightning from the heavens, the arrow planted itself into the ground near Godou's foot.

  And exploded. The arrow blew up like a bomb, creating a shockwave. Godou and Liliana were flung aside violently. Were that a real bomb, they would probably be dead.

  When Godou could finally pick himself up off the ground, the second arrow came.

  The target was not the ground near his foot this time, it was aimed directly at his head. Godou sensed the incoming danger, and instantaneously activated the [Raptor]. Besides this form, there were no other viable options.

  Hastened, he felt the world around him slow down.

  The trigger for
the [Raptor] form was a high-speed attack, and it granted the user superhuman speed and a lightweight body. A speed that exceeded the arrow, evading death.

  However, as Perseus was about to fire his third arrow -

  The rings on his back began to shine, and the speed of the [Raptor] form began to fade.

  With only his normal mobility remaining, Kusanagi Godou could not dodge the incoming arrow. It struck dead center, in the middle of his chest, near the area of his heart.

  - His strength had vanished. To the Campione, this was the first time it had happened.

  As his consciousness started to grow thin, he desperately activated the last form, hoping that Perseus would not notice this last-ditch attempt to hang on to life, and then he thought of Liliana.... worried for the girl's safety...

  And with that last thought, Godou lost consciousness.

  Part 5

  There were no forms that could be used to fight Perseus.

  For example, the pitch-black [Boar] that Kusanagi Godou had summoned.

  That was a fearsome summoning art, something that even if a highly skilled magician had tried for a hundred days straight, would not be able to summon such a divine beast. And he had only used ten seconds to do that.

  This was a powerful authority possessed by a devil king Campione.

  However, Perseus had used some divine secret technique, sealing the divine beast.

  And then finally, shot Kusanagi Godou dead.

  - This was all my fault. Liliana Kranjcar who witnessed the entire fight from the start could only look on, horrified, as the dead body of the Campione had collapsed on the ground.

  If only she had used the spell, [Instruction], on him...

  If he could have used the spell words of the [Sword] that even suppressed the Marquis Voban, the fight would definitely have turned out differently.

  Because of her indecisiveness, someone had died. And it was someone who fought against the gods for the sake of mankind - a savior of the world, a bringer of discord, one of the devil kings.

  Magicians hailed the Campiones as [King] for a reason.

  The main reason was fear, but besides that, when the [Heretic Gods] brought suffering and disaster to mankind, they were mankind's last bastion of defense, the only saviors of the world.

  That was how it should have been, but she had done nothing but caused his death - !

  "... Hm. I am feeling a strange unease."

  Ignoring the currently despairing Liliana, Perseus had a troubled expression

  "I should have just defeated this young godslayer, but I do not feel the sense of elation that comes after victory. Did I make a mistake somewhere - such a detestable premonition. Why is that?"

  Walking towards the body of Kusanagi Godou, he spoke in a low voice.

  Does he plan to desecrate his body? Could a hero be capable of such a hideous act - perhaps he would really do it. In those ancient times, warriors had sometimes beheaded their fallen enemies, which had happened surprisingly often.

  At the very least, she had to protect the body of the [King].

  Her mind made up, Liliana picked up Il Maestro, but Perseus ignored her, continuing on his path towards Godou.

  - And immediately, Perseus fell over.

  Liliana witnessed it.

  In the Santa Lucia harbor, barely illuminated by the street lights, the shadow of a hero.

  A figure of a young girl appeared from the darkness, in her hands a huge sickle, with a blade of pure black. This was Athena, her form swathed in darkness, and the sickle in her hands had cleaved into the hero's back.

  Perseus' response was also perfect.

  Although it was an attack from the back, he had executed a forward roll reflexively, preventing a fatal wound.

  However, it was still a severe wound, his blood flowing freely as he jumped back. His beautiful visage had turned into a grimace of pain.

  "You, as Athena, I never thought you'd be capable of such underhanded tricks!"

  "As I thought, when the hero has finished the godslayer off, he would then relax his guard - Fufu, admittedly, I may have violated the rules of a duel, but I will spare your life this once. Have I not said it before? That I will only retreat for a short while, and that he was my prey to hunt... which you have not yet slain."

  Athena snickered while saying that.

  Perseus nodded furiously.

  "I see. In other words, the boy has not been defeated yet... Even so, attacking me from the back in jest is simply too harsh."

  "Do you think you have the right to be saying that? Doing things in jest, isn't that you instead?"

  Terrible, that would be the word used by humans to describe Athena's smile then.

  Perseus' smile was a strained and bitter one.

  "Ugh, I'll have to give it to you this time. May I ask if you have cooled off a bit?"

  "Of course. If you will withdraw now, I will spare you. How does that sound?"

  Perseus shrugged his shoulders at Athena's suggestion.

  "I cannot comply with that."

  "If that's the case, then you leave me no choice. I will strike you down!"

  "You intend on striking me, the one who possesses the serpent-slaying words of power, down? Fufu, I already have an idea of why you would want me to withdraw."

  "What do you mean by that? I do not understand."

  "Taking into account your intention to stall for time, and my current wounded body, in order to benefit the both of us, why don't we both retreat for now?"

  ".... Hm. That's fine with me. Until you have recovered, I'll comply with that."

  "You have my gratitude. Then, when the Campione is fully healed, we will meet once again on the battlefield."

  Hearing Perseus' words, Athena raised her brows.

  "You intend on fighting this guy again?"

  "Can't I? It is a rare chance for me to fight a godslayer and the Queen of Serpents both simultaneously. It may be somewhat thick-skinned and shameless of me to say so, but when there is such an opportunity in front of me, I will definitely not let it slip away."

  He smiled, unabashed, even as Athena stared at him dangerously.

  Hmph. With a strained expression, Athena lightly nodded.

  - What's going on? Liliana was thoroughly confused.

  The situation had developed in an unexpected way. With Athena holding her sickle, Perseus wielding his magnificent sword, and Godou who had perished in battle, she had expected the two gods to be clashing with each other in combat.

  Were they saying that the young King had not yet perished?

  Why did Athena immediately stop her attack? She had already given Perseus such a terrible wound, wouldn't it be more advantageous for her to press on the attack -

  "The time of battle, we shall decide some other time - until then!"

  Mounting his beloved horse that came at his whistle, Perseus bid them farewell. Even though the wound had not yet closed, he could no longer feel the pain.

  Pegasus galloped, rather, flew towards the sea at night.

  " - Well then, I leave Kusanagi Godou in your care, girl. He should be awakening soon. Ah, and also, make sure to duly prepare him for Perseus.... I will be the only one to defeat him, should he perish in battle before then, I will definitely never forgive him!"

  Leaving those words behind, Athena departed.

  The ordeal of Liliana Kranjcar and Kusanagi Godou, who was lying on the ground as though he were truly dead, was nowhere close to being over.

  Chapter 4 - The Man from the East

  Part 1

  Between the Italian Peninsula, shaped like a long boot, and the island of Sardinia in the west was a vast area of ocean. This area could be considered as part of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

  One of the types of vessels that frequented these waters was, for example, ferries. These ferries went to places like Genoa, Palermo, Naples and Cagliari in circumnavigation. There are also many yachts used for cruising.

  Because the natural resources of the sea were
abundant, naturally there will be fishing boats.

  In the early dawn, before sunrise, the catch obtained from the fishing nets that were cast in the sea would be filled with many varieties of fishes. However, in the midst of a school of unmatured Pacific Bluefin tuna, there was one lone human caught there.

  ..... Having drifted for god knows how long in the Tyrrhenian Sea, being swept here all the way from Naples, but was still energetic and in high spirits, if you would like to describe that life form as still being human, that would be perfectly fine.

  Untangling himself from the fishing net full of Pacific Bluefin tuna, he climbed up onto the boat.

  Making himself at home without any permission, he sat down on the fishing boat, and said to the dumbfounded fishermen,

  "Fuu - I almost thought I was done for this time. Ah, would you mind giving me the direction to the nearest land from here? It's fine, I'm really good at swimming. Eh - you'll lend me a boat? Sorry for troubling you - I see I see, which region is this ocean in again? Sardinia? That's just great. Seems like things are going to get more interesting!"

  From the time when Kusanagi Godou had vanished without a trace, one night had passed.

  It was around nine plus in the morning when this was discovered, as Arianna was worried when she found that he was not in his room, and subsequently searched the whole villa, confirming that he was indeed not around.

  "What happened to Godou-san? Could he have gotten into an accident?"

  "Hmmm, maybe I went a little overboard with my jokes - "

  In the rented villa on Sardinia, the girls were having a meeting in the living room. Yuri was pacing around the room in distress, and on her face was a look of worry.

  On the contrary, Erica was not particularly worried about it.

  That blockhead must have accumulated too much stress living in this female dormitory-like environment, and thus decided to run away, it should be enough if we let him relax for a few days. He was asking for Genaro Gantz' contact information yesterday, there's a possibility he's already at his house by now.

  Thinking that everything was within her calculations, Erica's attitude was calm and composed.

  After telling Arianna that there was no need to worry, she asked her for an espresso.

  "Yuri, didn't I say it before? Godou is a delicate person inside, even though he's like that, and because of that he needs some time to himself occasionally. And thus, we'll leave him alone for the time being. Afterwards, pulling him by the ears and bringing him back would be much more effective, anyway, he's someone who can survive wherever he goes, there's no need to worry about him."