Campione 15

by Son of the Goddess

  The unidentified god was just about to swing the great blade in his hand to slay Kusanagi Godou!

  Ordered to leave by Kusanagi Godou just now...

  The girls serving him immediately took action to obey his command. Liliana used flight magic to carry the two Campiones with them, landing at a spot three or four kilometers away from the center of the commotion.

  This place happened to be the boundary between the wasteland of death and ordinary grassland.

  Over a thousand Frankish warriors were resting at this place. They were the people who had just escaped from the archdemon's fireballs.

  Seeing them, Madame Aisha's eyes suddenly flashed brightly.

  But she immediately noticed "some sort of phenomenon" and pointed in that direction.

  "E-Everyone! This is terrible, look!"

  Madame Aisha was pointing to a tornado that was advancing rapidly across this plain in Germania.

  The tornado entered the wasteland of death. Up in the sky over in that direction, a giant ball of light manifested. Undoubtedly, the Divine Sword of Salvation was about to awaken.

  The tornado was heading in that sphere of light's direction.

  "Swift and fierce as a gale... One of the devil-slaying heroes... Godou-san!?"

  Having received a spirit vision, Yuri whispered solemnly then suddenly called out with a face full of worry.

  Naturally, the one who was startled upon hearing her words was the clever and sharp Erica.

  "That's the 'King of the End''s companion! The one who was blocking in front of Godou and Sir Salvatore last time!"

  "Then it's two against one now. That's very bad for His Majesty!"

  "Liliana-san!"

  Ena was surprised while Yuri gazed at the silver-haired knight.

  Urged by the Hime-Miko's gaze, Liliana instantly started preparations. She summoned the "trump card" that Kusanagi Godou had saw earlier.

  A slender bag made of cloth. Opening it, a steel-colored weapon was revealed inside.

  'I have only one parting gift for the two of you who are about to embark on this journey through time.'

  'That said, depending on use, it can easily be turned into a weapon capable of annihilating an army. Hence, I only permit one single use. Prudently decide on the timing."

  'Well then, goodbye. May luck accompany you always.'

  This was the astounding parting gift that the masked hero had bestowed upon their departure.

  Seeing this object, Erica stared wide-eyed.

  "Lily, this is!?"

  "John Pluto Smith-sama's magic gun... The tool entrusted with His Highness's magic projectile authority, for the sake of traversing the corridor of time!"

  While shouting these words, Liliana pulled the trigger of this large-caliber revolver.

  Currently on the other side of time, what was Smith doing? Liliana had no idea. Perhaps he was still waiting at Plutarch's Residence, or maybe he had returned to his base of operations, Los Angeles.

  However, it was definitely transmitted.

  After cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger, Liliana could feel the massive divine power residing in the gun.

  She pointed the muzzle towards the wasteland of death which was being devastated by lightning. From the muzzle, a flash of pale light was released, flying like a ferocious dragon of light.

  Liliana did not aim at any target. The steel-colored magic gun did not require anything of that sort.

  The pale flash of light automatically flew towards the target depicted in Liliana's mind—the war god of wind. Furthermore, it transcended ordinary speeds to achieve divine speed.

  John Pluto Smith's magic projectiles were even able to reach the realm of divine speed!

  "Ama no Murakumo, pass this message to His Majesty! Tell him that Liliana-san will find a way to deal with the war god of wind!"

  Ena desperately called to the partner far away.

  The war god of wind had suddenly appeared, blocking in front of Godou.

  However, having received Ena's message passed through Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, Godou decided to trust his companions and continued to rush forward with the [Raptor]'s divine speed—

  Then he witnessed it, the flash of pale light, suddenly flying over.

  It was quite similar to the magic projectiles often used by the masked godslayer. Residing in it were divine powers that ordinary bullets could not possibly possess, such as automatic tracking and reaching the realm of divine speed.

  The magic projectile unerringly struck the masked war god's flank.

  As a member of indestructible [Steel], the war god was completely unharmed. However, the impact from the magic projectile sent him flying far away.

  There were no more obstacles. It happened exactly as Ena had told him through Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi. So this was the true identity of the "trump card" held by Liliana!

  Feeling gratitude for his companions' assistance, Godou finally arrived before the "King of the End."

  The gray hero was currently pouring a massive amount of magical power into his raised sword. From high above, the white sphere of light was releasing lightning with greater intensity.

  Using divine speed to reach here, Godou slashed with Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi.

  Rather than aiming at the "King of the End"'s body, he targeted the Divine Sword of Salvation that was raised towards the sky.

  The instant the two sacred swords of steel clashed violently, Godou chanted spell words.

  "O immortal sun, I beseech thee to grant radiance to the stallion!"

  Verethragna's third incarnation was the [White Stallion]. Having caused great suffering to the Franks, the hero had ironically become "the enemy of the populace," sufficient to be targeted by the light's hammer of justice.

  At this moment, Godou allowed Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi to absorb the [White Stallion]'s might.

  The black divine blade of Wakoku[4] was infused with golden splendor, becoming a "fragment of the sun" in the form of a sword. Withstanding this massive power completely, the Divine Sword of Salvation also erupted with dazzling brilliance.

  The blades of the mystic sword of white and the sword of black struck each other for roughly ten-odd seconds.

  Then the white sun disappeared from overhead. The rainstorm of lightning also stopped. Attacked by the fragment of the sun, the Divine Sword of Salvation suffered extreme damage as expected.

  The "King of the End" proceeded to disappear again. His strike with the sword just now had exhausted all his power.

  Having lost its owner, the Divine Sword of Salvation fell down, its tip stabbing into the ground.

  But Godou was battered all over as well, his left arm dangling limp. Due to the strain of using the [Raptor] and the [White Stallion] simultaneously, his brain suffered searing pain as though it were being cut open. Also, not only was the paralysis accompanying the end of the [Raptor]'s usage still present, but it also happened immediately...

  Finally, victory was obtained at long last.

  However, Godou glared at the Divine Sword of Salvation, stabbed upright in the ground.

  The hero's sword was still infused with platinum light, shining brilliantly. Godou spoke with certainty:

  "You're still alive, right?"

  'Yes, it is as you say. But even so, the fact of your victory does not change. Truly, you were magnificent.'

  The Divine Sword of Salvation answered in an aristocrat's cool tone of voice.

  Indeed—Godou nodded. Even with the body destroyed, so long as this sword existed in the world, the "King of the End" would not perish. Surely, he was going to reawaken countless times.

  "The heroes of steel pretty much all have immortal bodies, right? So this is the form of your immortality..."

  'Indeed. Provided the Divine Sword of Salvation continues to exist, I can resurrect repeatedly on the earth. Even if the blade is covered with rust and decrepit beyond compare, so long as the correct sequence is executed, I can descend once again. In the same manner as th
at performed by my fake mother this time...'

  This was the manifestation of the "King of the End"'s immortality. Godou muttered softly:

  "This is such a troublesome power..."

  'My apologies. Our reunion shall come eventually. Pray that some sort of ill fate shall arise and bind us by then.'

  "Why?"

  'Meeting and slaughtering opponents for whom I bear neither anger nor hatred... Isn't that simply too tragic?'

  Leaving these words behind, the Divine Sword of Salvation vanished.

  Most likely, it had gone off somewhere, in order to remain in deep slumber at some place in this early fifth-century world, patiently biding its time for revival.

  Pondering the wandering hero's future direction, Godou sighed.

  Epilogue

  After Godou and the other's battle ended, the world welcomed peace once more—Of course that was impossible.

  Early fifth-century Europe was a war-torn era to begin with. The embers of war and turmoil scattered in various places were being lit ablaze. Or perhaps, they were already burning with great intensity.

  It was clearly very dangerous if the modern Campiones continued to linger in this era.

  "They're all individually capable of destroying armies by themselves to establish their own country."

  "Also, it's absolutely impossible for these three—Godou, Sir Salvatore and Madame Aisha—to live in seclusion together, right?"

  "As expected, returning as soon as possible is imperative."

  "E-Excuse me, everyone. Saying such things so loudly seems to be a bit..."

  After the battle, Ena, Erica and Liliana were all nodding at one another. Despite raising objections cautiously, Yuri was not defending anyone in particular.

  That said, they were unable to return immediately to the modern world.

  Madame Aisha's "corridor" only opened on the night of a full moon. Also, the night after the "King of the End" disappeared was a crescent moon, which meant they needed to wait half a month for the next full moon.

  After learning of the situation, a certain man smiled frivolously.

  "Just use the same method as when we came here. All I need to do is make that corridor go berserk and the entrance will automatically open, then it'll suck us all in, right?"

  "Who knows if the same thing will happen as last time, so that's a definite no!"

  "Oh well, whatever. But waiting half a month is too boring."

  "This will proceed firmly no matter how boring!"

  Naturally, Godou immediately rejected Doni's opinion and chose the honest route of "waiting."

  However, there were other things that needed to be handled during this period. Namely, returning to Colonia Agrippina to disband the alliance of the Franks of which Doni and Madame Aisha had assumed the role of great chieftain.

  This turned out to be surprisingly difficult.

  Godou originally thought that the matter could be easily dealt with using Madame Aisha's charm authority.

  "I-I already expressed my wish to retire, but pushed by everyone's zeal, I ended up going back again!"

  The main culprits included the woman who uttered this comeback declaration as well as certain people who intended to have her resume the great chieftain's role as "Salvatore Doni the Second."

  While they were busy handling these matters, more and more people began to worship Kusanagi Godou as one of the city's bigshots.

  They all regarded Godou as Colonia Agrippina's ruler in practice. For some reason, the number of servants (female) working in Godou's residence doubled.

  Influential people from neighboring areas would frequently bring beautiful women along to offer their "greetings" at the residence. Such was the strange situation that evolved.

  During this time, although Erica, Yuri, Liliana and Ena had some slight disputes between the four of them, Godou still managed to live his days peacefully—

  Before he knew it, the night of the full moon was already fast upon them.

  The corridor was located in Uldin's forest.

  That night, Godou's group informed the Hunnic godslayer of their "departure."

  With Liliana present, reaching that place did not take much time. During the daylight hours of that day, the modern time travelers all paid Uldin's fortress a visit. The liberal Uldin prepared a feast in advance to wait for the group's arrival.

  "Well, I can smell the scent of war spreading from various places. Right now, I'm considering how to handle those cities downstream."

  Uldin spoke while bumping cups with Godou who was drinking water.

  The Hunnic Devil King's base of operations in this forest was located on the Rhine's shore while Augusta Raurica, Colonia Agrippina and many other Roman colonial cities were situated downstream on the shores of this river.

  Uldin was literally the most powerful person in the Rhine basin's area.

  "Since you are leaving, comrade, it can't be helped. Why don't I simply take my tribe to visit various places, thereby using this opportunity to find a man fit to be my proxy? Not a bad idea. Perhaps I might end up nurturing a promising child."

  No way—While listening to Uldin speak, Godou began to imagine.

  A person nurtured in such a manner could very well end up as "Attila, the great king of the Huns" one day, leaving his name in history while being protected by Devil King Uldin.

  "By the way, comrade, I saw your battle against the war god who was holding the strange blade."

  "Just as expected, huh."

  Godou was told that during that battle, Uldin had also visited the vicinity of Colonia Agrippina.

  In that case, being able to scout the Franks and the "hero who exterminated all godslayers" was no surprise as long as he sent out those pterosaurs. Godou nodded.

  "It is quite unclear how strong he is. However... It's quite strange how easily he exited the stage in contrast to that title."

  "Even if that guy turns into a sword, it looks like he'll still reawaken again."

  One day, the "King of the End" was going to fight the godslayers of this era. Not Kusanagi Godou.

  Godou told Uldin these warnings as a parting gift.

  "That's why it's possible that you'll meet that guy in the future."

  "Got it. When the time comes, I will be very careful. When we saw that war god together, Ruska also spoke a strange oracle."

  Uldin's wife, Ruska, was a very powerful user of spirit vision. Just like Yuri's predictions, her warnings could not be ignored.

  "This is what Ruska said. That war god will further increase in power during his incessant wandering. A hero who persists in the journey of Devil King extermination."

  A journey undertaken to defeat all Devil Kings, increasing in power throughout his wandering days, finally completing his mission.

  This was almost like a role playing game, Godou thought. Then thinking over it once again, it was probably the opposite. It was probably the story of the "King of the End" that served as the prototype myth for this sort of "legendary hero's saga"...

  Spontaneously, Godou looked up at the sky. Up until now, it had been a red evening sky.

  But now, the sun had already set, causing the sky to darken.

  Hanging high in the eastern sky was the full moon, shining clear and bright. It was about time to set off. That said, always being unable to enjoy a relaxing journey could be considered the source of Godou's troubles.

  "We ended up spending almost two months here huh."

  Godou muttered with heartfelt emotion.

  This was like taking a long summer holiday in advance and felt quite unbelievable.

  Then back to time in the present...

  A girl stood upright on a mountain's peak at an altitude of 1912m above sea level. She was dressed in a white garment reminiscent of ancient Greece. Her silver hair reached down to her shoulders while shimmering with faint light as though droplets of the moon had melded into it.

  Adding to the allure of her young but beautiful face was a pair of eyes, the col
or of darkness—

  It was currently nighttime on the peak. The girl exuded a quiet sense of beauty, quite fitting for the pitch-black darkness of the night.

  However, the wind blowing around the peak was quite noisy. A strong gust of wind, blowing across the southern Mediterranean Sea, was producing rumbling howls.

  This lone peak of Mont Ventoux stood on the land known to humans as Provence.

  Moreover, the name of Mont Ventoux even carried the meaning of "wind"...

  Nevertheless, even the bone-chilling wind was unable to disturb the girl's serenity. Her white garment and silver hair fluttered in the wind while she was standing casually on this snowy peak.

  Naturally, rather than an ordinary mountain climber, the girl was a supernatural existence.

  "Thou hast arrived, O wind king."

  The girl smiled with delight and whispered.

  From between the stars shining above the mountain peak, a gust of whirlwind was blowing here.

  Blowing from the gaps between the stars, the wind changed forms before the girl, turning into a war god whose body was wrapped in white cloth and whose face was hidden behind a red mask.

  "Hoho. Since the previous Witch Queen appointed the war god of the lance as her knight, one should require an equivalent servant. O wind king, respond to mine invitation."

  The girl was meant to serve the hero, the "King of the End."

  The wind king was the war god whom one could call his right hand man, rather than the likes of a subordinate god. Like Lancelot du Lac of old, the wind king was a god assisting him as a brother-in-arms. His valor rivaled that of the war god of white. A top-class warrior and a hero at the same time.

  Having spent a month's time to complete the wind king's invitation ceremony, the girl smiled with queenly dignity.

  "In that case, what follows ought to be searching for the slothful hero, is it not...?"

  The girl gazed into the eastern sky while murmuring.

  "Or perchance, that hitherto unencountered opponent, bound to one by ill fate. Hohoho, truly a conundrum herewithal."

  The girl was unaware that three hours later, three godslayers were about to return from ancient Gaul. Among the three was a youth named Kusanagi Godou.