Chapter 95: The Great Melee of Gods and Demon Kings
While a 'Godslayer' can obtain the authorities of a 'Heretic God,' they cannot increase their physical tenacity through them. The number of authorities merely diversifies their combat methods without bringing a qualitative leap in power. Quantitative change does not trigger qualitative transformation so easily. No matter how strong the 'Godslayers' are, they cannot reach the level of easily pulverizing a planet.
It was precisely because of this that Rama, as well as Lancelot, Lakshmana, Hanuman, and Guinevere who followed him, did not believe anyone could truly kill the 'King of the End.'
"The Demon Kings have gathered—it is the perfect opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop!" Guinevere spoke with great excitement, as if she couldn't wait to see the scene where the 'King of the End' would display his prowess and strike down all the Demon Kings rampaging through the world.
However, the 'King of the End,' Rama, merely let out a disinterested sigh.
"Tsk, what a nuisance."
It was as if to this hero, this mission-like battle was a complete waste of time. But he was a hero, after all, and he needed to exercise his duty to kill these Demon Kings ravaging the world as quickly as possible to lighten the burden borne by the earth.
Throughout history, Rama had personally slain an uncountable number of Demon Kings; his hands had long been stained with the blood of these tyrants. But as he killed more and more, he finally felt exhausted. Though his body remained peerlessly strong, his heart was weary.
During every awakening thereafter, he would act like a machine, expressionlessly carrying out his duty, crushing and killing these Demon Kings hopping about the world one by one, before falling back into slumber. The countless cycles had gradually made Rama numb.
"Boring... so boring... These Demon Kings can never be finished off; they will only end when this planet dies! Every Demon King who prided themselves on their strength turned to ashes in my hands, but so what? No matter how powerful I am, I cannot stop them from continuing to sprout like bamboo shoots after a spring rain!"
"Sigh..." With a sigh, the 「Salvation Dungeon Blade」 in Rama's hand, which released a white-gold radiance at every moment, let out a trembling hum as if sensing its master's state of mind.
"Combat is not my wish, but even I cannot sever this destiny. Demon Kings, if you are capable of it, then by all means, try to slay me." Rama declared, looking toward the distant horizon where the sky met the sea.
At that moment, the island beneath his feet began to vibrate. Rama focused his gaze on the azure ocean. With the island as the center, vast sheets of seawater kicked up giant waves, surging toward them. Following this was the appearance of six full Demon Kings.
Aside from Marquis Voban, who was still in a soul state and had not fully recovered after being beaten by Shirou, the other Demon Kings were all gathered here.
The 'King of Martial Arts' Luo Hao, the 'Pluto' Annie Charlton, the 'Black Prince' Alexander Gascoigne, the 'Queen of the Bewitching Cave' Madame Aisha, the 'King of Swords' Salvatore Doni... and, following closely behind, the Seventh Demon King—Orihara Shirou!
The moment his gaze met Shirou's, Rama felt an inexpressible surge of emotion welling up in his heart.
"That incomparable curse power... you are the strongest Demon King I have encountered to date... and, you have a power about you that feels familiar to me..." As Rama spoke, his pupils suddenly shrank. "You actually possess divine power!?"
Seeing Rama's astonished expression, Shirou gave a casual shrug. "Is that so strange? I've simply taken the power of the gods who became my defeated foes for my own."
He spoke lightly, but aside from Luo Hao and Salvatore who had experienced it firsthand, the other four 'Godslayers' all showed shocked expressions.
"If you have an authority that can seize the divine power of the gods, then it makes sense," Annie Charlton speculated.
Alexander Gascoigne agreed completely with this guess. "No wonder. The matter of a Demon King appearing in London and fighting the three Great Chief Gods caused a sensation across the entire world." Of course, the explanation the ordinary people received was merely a "natural disaster."
While the Demon Kings were discussing this, the shadow at Rama's feet suddenly lengthened, and from it emerged a man with a face similar to his, but with bronze skin and a face full of rage. As soon as he appeared, he glared with wide eyes and shouted angrily: "Brother, there is no need to waste words with these Demon Kings! Let us annihilate them again as we did in the past, destroy these Rakshasas upon the earth, and return the world to a state of clarity!"
This man was Rama's younger brother, Lakshmana. For Rama's sake, Lakshmana was capable of even abandoning his wife and children. Therefore, Rama's trust in Lakshmana was peerless.
"Brother, you are right. We cannot waste any more time. The heat in my body is nearly uncontrollable; if we delay any further, unimaginable natural disasters will occur in human society!"
Rama's expression gradually became serious, and a chilling Steel sword-qi began to emanate from his lean frame. At this moment, Rama finally looked like the King of the End, like the most famous Great Hero of Indian mythology.
He slowly raised the 「Salvation Dungeon Blade」 glowing with white-gold light, took a deep breath, and said to the gathered Demon Kings: "I did not wish to fight, but this is destiny. None of us can escape it!"
However, hearing Rama's somewhat tragic words, Shirou laughed heartily.
"Then let's cut down destiny!"
Shirou's words drew agreement from Luo Hao. "Hahahaha! Well said! As the strongest people in the world, we naturally should not be bound by so-called destiny. If it stands in our way, we shall cut it down!"
Salvatore Doni was also quite excited. "I didn't expect the day would come when we'd fight side by side. Let's see who takes down this 'King of the End' first!"
The other three Demon Kings remained silent. They had never even met Shirou before, so they weren't familiar, having only learned some relevant information through their respective magic societies. Now seeing him with their own eyes, they had their first impression of Shirou's personality.
It seemed the new 『King』 was on friendly terms with Luo Hao and Salvatore Doni.
Alexander Gascoigne spoke of the intelligence he knew: "It is said the three of them have all challenged each other. Luo Hao and Salvatore ended without a victor, but both challenged that Orihara Shirou, and he was the final winner."
Saying this, Alexander Gascoigne remembered something else. "Right, just a while ago, Marquis Voban also fell at his hands."
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