Chapter 2: A Promise to Fight, Or Not to Fight?
Yumesaki looked up and stared straight ahead, only to find a blonde girl blocking the way between himself and Verethragna.
Her long blonde hair fluttered gently in the sea breeze, and she was dressed in a striking red outfit. Bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, the contrast against her golden locks made the deep red of her clothes stand out even more intensely. It was a hue reminiscent of a blazing fire, and with her pure gold hair, she looked very much like a knight wearing a lavish crown upon her head.
Her beautiful face, in particular, was far more perfectly proportioned than any doll's, radiating more vibrant energy than any model or actor ever could, and it was filled to the brim with majesty and self-confidence. It was the kind of face that, once seen even a single time, could absolutely never be forgotten.
"Regarding the god that has manifested on this island, I ask that you thoroughly tell me everything you know. My name is Erica Blandelli. There is no need for you to state your own names; simply consider compliance as your payment."
That was right. The girl standing right in front of them was none other than the main heroine of Campione.
She was the genius girl of the Copper Black Cross who had already attained the rank of Great Knight at a remarkably young age. As a bit of extra context, a Great Knight was considered an expert at the absolute pinnacle of this world. Aside from the Campione themselves, it was incredibly rare for them to ever find a matching opponent. The only thing that could pose a true threat to a Great Knight was another Great Knight.
For an ordinary person even to think about obtaining this title and wielding the power of a Great Knight, it would take at least over a decade, if not decades, of grueling effort. Even then, the number of Great Knights in this world remained exceedingly small and rare. Yet Erica, this main heroine, was only in her teens this year and had already walked all the way to the peak of life, making her a natural-born genius. And a genius, naturally, possessed the pride of a genius—one could even say she wore it completely on her sleeve.
This particular point was perfectly clear from the words she had just uttered.
Unfortunately for her, those words were completely misdirected.
Verethragna merely glanced at Erica a few times before instantly pulling his gaze away. A beautiful human, no matter how exquisite, was simply not worth his attention.
"I shall come looking for you, my fellow kin. I look forward to our battle."
"Only an idiot would want to fight you," Yumesaki rolled his eyes. "You don't need to come looking for me, because I am not interested."
Verethragna paid no heed to Yumesaki's rejection and instead burst into a hearty laugh. A decision made by him was obviously not going to stop halfway just because of someone else's refusal. No matter whether the other party agreed or not, he would come seeking Yumesaki to determine who was superior, unless he encountered an event that even a god could not refuse.
Once he finished laughing, Verethragna transformed into a gust of wind and vanished from the spot.
Yumesaki knew this about him all too well. His expression soured, and he could not help but let out a cold snort.
"Humph!"
At the exact same time, another cold snort rang out, belonging to none other than Erica, who had been completely and utterly ignored by both of them.
She stood there with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her eyes staring directly at Yumesaki.
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's like you've never seen a handsome guy before."
Because he was being pestered by a troublesome deity, Yumesaki's tone inevitably came off a bit rough around the edges.
Erica asked, "Who was that boy just now?"
She could tell right away that the youth was no ordinary human. There was a very high probability that he was a mage as well, though she just couldn't tell which magic organization he belonged to. Generally speaking, a teenager that famous should have already been recognized by her. Yet she had never heard of this youth before, which made her incredibly curious as to who he actually was.
"Weren't you looking for traces of a god? The one who just left was exactly that."
"Huh?"
Erica wore a completely bewildered expression. The answer was so far out of left field that she couldn't even process it for a moment.
Yumesaki said, "I'm telling you, the one who just left is the very god you are searching for. The Persian God of War, Verethragna. You can go run after him right now if you want."
"That guy is currently heavily wounded, with less than one-tenth of his power remaining. If you're capable of killing him, who knows, you might just leap straight into the heavens and become a new generation of Campione. You have my full support."
"Brave girl, hurry up and go create a miracle."
Erica glared sharply at Yumesaki, her tone dipping into displeasure. "Do you take me for a fool?"
"I don't think so," Yumesaki shook his head.
Although this main heroine of Campione was rather proud, she definitely wasn't stupid. On the contrary, this woman was nicknamed the she-fox, meaning she was incredibly cunning.
Erica held back the strong urge to roll her eyes and said, "Since I am not a fool, then do you really think I would believe your words?"
"You mean, you don't believe that you can take that guy down yourself."
Yumesaki was a bit surprised, not expecting the other party to actually have a decent amount of self-awareness.
Erica was almost driven to angry laughter by Yumesaki. "I mean, I don't believe that man was a god in the first place!"
Ah, well...
Yumesaki wore a completely speechless expression. An opportunity had been practically handed to her, yet she was useless.
But if one really thought about it carefully, even though Verethragna was severely injured, he was still a genuine, unadulterated god. If Erica had actually listened to his words and gone out of her way to look for trouble with him, the chances of her being beaten to death by the deity were vastly higher than her chances of becoming a Campione.
A divine being was truly not something an ordinary person could touch; even a heavily wounded god could instantly vaporize a normal human. Erica was no exception.
The primary cause for this kind of outcome was that the gap between humans and gods in this world was simply too massive. The greatest among humans were the Great Knights. Fundamentally, there were no experts who surpassed the level of a Great Knight. Yet a Great Knight in the eyes of a god was practically akin to an ant; a god could drop a Great Knight dead with a single glance. Therefore, even a severely injured god wouldn't suffer from a situation where a tiger descending to the plains gets bullied by dogs.
Yet, under the exact conditions of such an absurd disparity, the Campione still came to be.
So, how exactly did a Campione appear?
To put it simply... it was a miracle.
The birth of every single Campione was a miracle within miracles. The male protagonist, Godou Kusanagi, goes without saying—anyone who knew the plot knew exactly how that guy became a Campione. As for the other Campione, not a single one of them managed to reach that state without a series of bizarre miracles.
Take the King of Swords, Salvatore Doni, for example.
He was an idiot who knew absolutely nothing other than how to fight. At the age of twenty, he was possessed by Saint George in a Turkish museum, his body completely taken over. He was controlled by Saint George to travel all the way to Ireland, spending his days hunting for gods and killing them. In the end, he discovered the gate to the fairy world to enter the Astral Realm, where the king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Nuada, manifested and engaged in a one-on-one battle with Saint George.
The result was that only the spiritual body of Saint George was successfully eradicated, and Doni regained his free body, immediately turning around to battle King Nuada. However, King Nuada at that exact moment was already on the verge of death. Furthermore, during the time the King of Swords was being controlled, he had long learned all sorts of techniques and knew Nuada's weaknesses. In this way, he was able to secure a massive advantage, strike down King Nuada, and become a Campione.
As for the rest of the Campione, every single one of them fell under the intersection of destiny, utilizing all kinds of coincidences to give birth to a miracle to defeat a god and become a Campione. When it came to slaying a god in a completely open, fair, and manly match to become a Campione, it fundamentally did not exist. Because the upper limit of humanity in this world was practically locked shut; no matter how hard one worked, there was no way to reach the realm of the divine. Even the cultivators from the eastern regions were no exception. Of course, this was also deeply related to the knowledge of their heritage.
Therefore, a situation where Erica could just swoop in and pick up an easy kill on Verethragna was fundamentally never going to happen. On the contrary, the probability of her being wiped out reached as high as 99.999%.
In fact, her not believing Yumesaki's words was a massive stroke of luck. If she had actually believed him, Yumesaki might have had to waste a bit of time going out of his way to rescue her from hell.
"In short, hurry up and tell me who that man really was, and who you are yourself."
Completely unaware that she had unconsciously escaped death, Erica held back the burning desire to throw a punch at Yumesaki and continued to interrogate this liar whose mouth was entirely full of nonsense.
Yumesaki was utterly speechless, letting out a single critique, "Shouldn't the focus you're paying attention to be the god that appeared in this place? Why are you asking for our identities instead?"
Erica smacked her forehead as it suddenly clicked for her, and she couldn't help but say, "If it weren't for your mouth being so full of rubbish, how could I have been distracted so easily by you?"
"Where is the god? Besides, I saw a giant wild boar here just a moment ago, where did it go?"
Yumesaki pointed toward the sky and said, "If it's about the boar, I already sent it to outer space. As for the god, that teenager just now really was the Persian God of War, Verethragna. I am absolutely not lying about that point."
Erica: "???"
She looked at Yumesaki's completely honest face, and the impatient expression on her own features gradually turned stiff. At this exact moment, she suddenly realized something.
"You really aren't lying?"
"Why should I lie?" Yumesaki asked back.
"That youth really is the God of War originating from Persia, Verethragna?"
"Genuine and unadulterated, certified true."
"Then who might you be, Sir?" The gaze Erica directed toward Yumesaki slowly transformed into one full of deep respect, and the haughtiness on her face shifted into something far more polite.
It was important to remember that just a moment ago, she had heard that youth refer to Yumesaki as his fellow kin. If that teenager really was Verethragna, then the man in front of her was clearly a divine being as well.
Unbelievable. What sin did Sardinia commit to suddenly have two Heretic Gods pop up out of nowhere? What's more, these two Heretic Gods had even made a promise to engage in a battle right here. The most famous island in Italy wasn't going to sink, was it?
Thinking up to this point, Erica's breathing unconsciously grew heavy, and her limbs went stiff.
Seeing Erica's rigid body, Yumesaki knew exactly what was running through her head. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and say, "You seem to be overthinking things. I have absolutely no plans to fight Verethragna. Also, my name is Yumesaki. You can just consider me a traveler."
Yumesaki?
Erica instantly recognized that this was a name from the eastern regions. However, the problem was that as a Great Knight, she was no stranger to the mythology of various nations, yet the name Yumesaki didn't match any god within the eastern mythological systems at all. At the very least, she had never heard of a deity named Yumesaki.
Could he be some minor, obscure god?
But if he was obscure, a minor deity wouldn't appear in mythology, and furthermore, wouldn't possess the qualifications to manifest as a Heretic God. For a moment, Erica was thrown into complete and utter confusion.
What exactly was going on here?
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