Li Zihan's decision to use Clairvoyance to check his surroundings was an entirely correct one.
The reason was simple: the servant of his greatest obstacle on this trip had already arrived.
"Care for a drink?"
The young man, who by all rights should have been getting lovey-dovey with Altrouge or trying to pull the casting couch routine on a certain eroge vampire, was instead sitting in a maid café in Akihabara, sipping coffee.
"Not for the moment."
A certain someone, who should have been a specialty product of the God-Slayer world, sat across from the young man, a faint smile on his face.
He was a man with an extremely unkempt appearance.
The gray coat wrapped around his body was no better than a tattered rag, and it was a bit dirty.
Judging by his height, he was probably fourteen or fifteen years old. He wore a hood, and the shadow it cast on his face made it so that only the lower half was visible.
Without a doubt, this was a very strange-looking fellow, so bizarrely unsettling that he was reminiscent of a group of people shouting "Ahura Mazda" before exploding—the kind of sight that would make you want to call the police.
But what was even stranger was something else.
Despite looking so suspicious, no one paid any mind to this dirtily-dressed man.
It was as if he didn't exist at all.
This fact could easily bring to mind the existence of so-called "ghosts."
However, this man was no vengeful spirit or malevolent specter.
He was closer to the original meaning of "gui" in the lands of Shenzhou—the spirits of all things, the ancestors who are worshipped.
An existence that gained form through human belief and was then repeatedly revered.
Yes.
He was a god.
The Zoroastrian god of war and victory, Bahram—or as he was more commonly known, the war god Verethragna.
"So, you are the Child of the Sage?"
"How truly strange. If my master hadn't told me you were the enemy, I might have mistaken you for Nergal."
The war god sized up the man before him, whose divinity rested somewhere between that of an underworld deity and a sun god, and who also carried the divinity of Tiamat. He began to smile, his eyes filled with curiosity.
This was not hard to understand.
Theoretically, this man was a God-Slayer who should have resonated with him upon appearance, generating immediate hostility.
As a God of Steel, his first instinct upon seeing him should have been the urge to kill.
And yet, the feeling this man gave him was that of a kinsman.
So this is the Child of the Sage?
He really doesn't seem much like those other fools.
But, in the end, they are all God-Slaying beasts.
A hint of cruelty flashed in the war god's eagle-sharp eyes—the kind of god who would raise his blade even against his own kind.
However—
That sliver of killing intent was quickly suppressed.
His primary mission was to ensure that this God-Slayer, who had likely spotted him with some form of celestial eye, was delivered to the world connected to Mithra's temple.
Combat was something to be considered only after that.
Besides...
A human city was not a suitable battlefield.
Though bloodthirsty and belligerent, the war god knew his priorities. A smile appeared on his face.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Child of the Prophet from another world."
His tone was gentle, as if chatting with a good friend rather than conversing with a mortal enemy.
This was a very strange thing.
As a god, Verethragna was an extremely violent fellow.
His name meant "He Who Puts the Enemy to Death," and in mythology, he once fought against the gods of Persia for eight hundred days and nights simply because he refused to appear in a fixed form.
Yes, he had once fought his own pantheon for nearly two years and three months.
For such a god to now be acting so good-tempered was undoubtedly a peculiar sight.
"I thought you would be a bit more violent."
The God-Slayer, who knew very well what kind of character the war god named Verethragna was, raised an eyebrow at the man who hadn't immediately drawn his sword.
"You are strong. If we were to fight here, it would cause immense destruction to the surroundings, regardless of who wins or loses."
Likely due to the influence of the time god Zurvan, he was permanently fixed in the state of "Verethragna," not yet consumed by madness. The war god smiled gracefully.
"Wanton destruction is the work of gods of destruction and Heretical Gods who have strayed from their myths."
"Although this is not a country established by the people I protect, to harm powerless civilians while my mind is clear is truly beneath a god's dignity."
"So, you're inviting me to fight in another area?"
The young man, unafraid of the challenge from a Heretical God, began to smile. He looked at the war god, who clearly had another agenda, a playful glint in his own smile.
"Do you think I'm stupid enough to just inexplicably leave my home turf and go to a battlefield where I'm unfamiliar with the terrain and might even be ambushed?"
He saw through it?
Verethragna thought.
But that's to be expected. Although they are both God-Slaying Beasts, there is a clear difference between the Child of the Sage and the Child of the Fool.
It would be truly strange if Prometheus's child were an impulsive monster.
"However, some things are not up to you."
With just the activation of his Wind Incarnation, the war god could easily drag anyone enveloped by his Authority to any corner of the Earth. The peace on his handsome face vanished.
In its place was the ferocity of iron and blood.
"This is a mission assigned by my King. If I fail to complete it, I will lose a great deal of face."
Seeing this, Li Zihan's eyes narrowed, his smile brilliant.
He didn't mind being pulled to a battlefield; after all, he already held the secret to certain victory in his grasp.
But—
To just obey someone else and fall into a trap like some dumbass would be far too ridiculous.
"You're overthinking things. I don't mind fighting away from home."
A Word-Spirit, seeming to echo from the distant edge of the sky, resounded throughout the area. In sync with it, the sounds of thunder and an eagle's cry reverberated by his side.
This sight caused Verethragna, who was also preparing to invoke a Word-Spirit, to have his pupils contract violently.
That was a compound Authority!
Lightning Speed.
The Authority Alexander usurped from the fallen angel Remiel, who presided over thunder and illusion.
It was a super-high-speed movement technique wreathed in lightning. Accompanied by the sign of walking sparks, it allowed one to enter a world of 'God-Speed' that no one could match, granting the user the agile motor nerves of a cat.
The other was his own incarnation—the Phoenix (which was actually an Eagle).
Then, the war god only saw Li Zihan's figure abruptly vanish. In the next moment, his vision blurred as a hand rapidly enlarged before his eyes.
The war god's falcon-like pupils suddenly shrank for no reason.
The God-Speed brought about by stacking two super-speed Authorities was simply beyond his comprehension.
But by now, it was already too late to react.
The hand enlarging in the war god's vision fiercely clamped down on his throat, lifting him into the air.
Immediately after, the war god heard the sound of sharp wind constantly scraping past his ears.
That was the sound produced by Li Zihan, who had entered a state of God-Speed, directly lifting the war god into the air, leaping up, his body half-transforming into lightning as he shot towards the sky.
If anyone had been on the scene, they would have been able to witness what "walking thunder" truly looked like.
He clamped a hand around the war god's neck and immediately shot into the sky, streaking across the heavens like a meteor before falling back down in another direction.
It felt like an instant, and yet it also felt like dozens of seconds.
In the next moment, the war god felt the hand clutching his neck suddenly tighten and throw him toward the ground.
"BANG!"
A muffled boom echoed across the sky.