"WHOOSH!"
With a sharp sound of tearing air, the war god's figure shot down from the sky. Like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, his momentum unabated, he smashed directly into the ground.
"BOOM!"
Amidst the muffled explosion, the war god, who should have been able to escape any enemy with God-Speed, slammed into the earth, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and scattering crushed stones. The falling debris created a continuous, crackling sound that filled the air.
A massive crater was formed in an instant.
The interior of the giant pit was littered with the scattered rubble and fragments of various buildings, and the ground continued to crack outwards like a spiderweb.
It was as if something was about to drill its way out from beneath the earth, a sight that made one's hair stand on end.
"BANG!"
However, in the next moment, the dust and smoke that had risen from the ground were blown away by a violent gust of wind that erupted like an explosion, revealing the scene within.
The war god, wreathed in a fierce gale, stood in the center of the storm. His clothes were undamaged, but the gaze he directed forward was filled with an unprecedented gloom.
To be able to react at the last moment while under attack by an enemy possessing a dual God-Speed, and then activate an Authority to protect himself—this was, without a doubt, an incredibly impressive feat.
After all, both the Authority to become lightning, Lightning Speed, and the Phoenix Incarnation were top-tier God-Speed Authorities.
If the enemy had been a stationary target like the Illiterate Herrscher, they likely would have been crippled in a single wave, only to be killed outright in the next exchange.
But—
Verethragna did not feel that breaking free from the dual God-Speed at the last second was anything worth celebrating.
"Prometheus, that child-doting fool, truly created an incredible monster."
The war god, who knew for a fact that the "King of Souls Awaiting the Day of Resurrection"—Remiel—was not among the gods slain by this man, gazed at the distant youth, his eyes heavier than ever before.
Lightning Speed should have been the Authority of another God-Slayer—the Black Prince Alec.
But now, Li Zihan had used Alec's Authority with ease.
The truth was already obvious.
Prometheus had given him the one Authority that should never be bestowed upon a God-Slayer.
The Authority to steal the wisdom and power of the gods—the Fire-Bringer.
He had completely transcended the very concept of a God-Slayer.
Relying on his father's Authority, he had modified it according to his own understanding, relentlessly hunting gods and God-Slaying beasts, seizing their wisdom, their mana, their authorities, and even their divinity...
Thinking of this, even Verethragna felt a chill run down his spine.
He seemed to understand why, upon seeing his enemy, he had first thought him to be Nergal rather than his mortal foe, a God-Slayer.
The Authority of the Fire-Bringer had been pushed to its absolute limit in his hands. Having seized the divinities of the Sun and the Underworld, he was a god.
A god living in the mortal world.
Perhaps, he should now be called a "God-Eater."
Verethragna thought.
After all, if one were defeated by him, what would be taken was far more than just a simple Authority.
Although he had long anticipated it, truly facing an existence that was a living embodiment of a collective of God-Slayers, the eerie pressure still made him feel a sense of crisis, as if he were falling into an abyss.
However...
This is what makes it interesting, isn't it?
A smile spread across the war god's face.
The winner takes all, the loser is left with nothing. Isn't that what war is all about?
If the only price of defeat was having one's dignity trampled with no substantial loss, then it would be nothing more than child's play.
"Although my mission does not require your annihilation, allow me to test your skills on behalf of my King."
The war god, whose only task was to use the Wind Incarnation to guide his enemy into the space connected to the Infinite Time Temple, grinned.
It was the unique smile of a top-tier hunter who has encountered a fierce beast like a lion or a tiger.
The man has the heart to harm the tiger, and the tiger has the intent to wound the man.
He felt a sense of joy for the fierce battle that was about to unfold.
Therefore, let him unleash the Authorities of his other identities.
The war god, who possessed a far more renowned name in India, smiled.
To fight the child of Prometheus... no, the child of Surya, with that identity, was also a matter of fate.
The faith in Verethragna originated from the ancient Aryans.
The ancient Aryans were a nomadic people who diverged as they migrated, establishing different civilizations.
One of these branches successfully overthrew the original inhabitants of the Indian region and became its masters.
There, the war god, whose name in Persian mythology was actually Bahram, acquired another name.
In Sanskrit, Śakra (释迦) means "the able, the capable"; deva (提婆) means "heavenly being, god"; Indra (因陀罗) means "king, conqueror."
The combined meaning is: the one who is able to be the ruler of the gods of the heavenly realm.
Yes, Verethragna's other name is Śakro devānām indraḥ.
When translating from Sanskrit to Chinese, for the sake of convenience, it was shortened to Indra, and then, to conform to Chinese grammatical structure, the original word order was reversed, resulting in the translation "Dìshìtiān" (帝释天) - Śakra.
"Incredible power. Only this is worthy of being a god's nemesis, not merely his prey."
A thick wave of curse power erupted from within Verethragna's body. Like an invisible, burning flame, it caused his coat and clothes to whip about without wind, rustling loudly.
"RUMBLE—!"
Astonishing thunder constantly rolled within the heavy clouds. Thick bolts of lightning, like colliding meteors, flashed within the dense cloud layer, roiling back and forth, making the sky grow exceedingly oppressive.
That was definitely not an Authority Verethragna should possess.
Among Verethragna's Ten Incarnations, only the Goat was related to lightning, but that incarnation was incapable of such large-scale electrical control.
The war god, knowing full well that the power of "Verethragna" alone was not enough to fight the Child of the Sage, was now truly unleashing his own brilliance.
The brilliance that only a God-King should possess!
Just as the shell of Perseus contained the divine authorities of Mithra and Hades, the war god now revealed his own divine authority, one far more sublime than that of Verethragna.
"Showing your other side, are you?"
The face of the young man, who had inherited the Saint Graph of the great hero Karna, turned grim for the first time in a long while.
Just as Mash, due to her possession by Galahad, instinctively loathed Lancelot, he absolutely detested the existence known as Śakra.
"Prometheus's... no, Surya's beloved son."
As if in provocation, the war god, who could now be called either Verethragna or Indra, smiled at the one to whom he was karmically linked and spoke with a taunt in his voice.
"Let me see if you, who were granted the Authority of the Fire-Bringer by Surya, can truly make me retreat."