Campione 01

by Heretic God

  Erica rushed in, her blade flashing, facing an agile, evading Athena.

  Godou hazily looked to the battle between the two girls, while reciting the divine verse. In his mind was Verethragna's eighth form —— the [Ram].

  · Torii: A traditional Japanese gate, marking the boundary between sacred and profane ground. This is probably the most well known sight in a Shinto shrine.

  · Period Drama: A specific type of soap opera set in the past, dramatizing family/state/etc. situations for audience titillation. Particular popular with the aged in Japan and China.

  · Nero: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, last of the Julio-Claudians. Well known for killing his mother, suspected for the Great Fire of Rome, an altogether unpleasant man who was known for cruelty, sadism, drunkenness and womanising.

  · Dong Zhuo: Politician and warlord of the Later Han Dynasty, he killed all those who opposed his rise to power, eventually deposing the emperor himself. He was most well-known for the cruel tortures which he subjected his victimes to. For example, soaking a clothed soldier in fat and setting fire to his foot, so he could watch their facial expressions.

  · Oda Nobunaga: The ultimate unifier of Japan after its Warring States Period, he killed his brother to take on the throne, and was noted for destroying anyone (buddhist monks, protesting villagers, smaller, subservient clients) who got in his way.

  · Numidia: That is, modern Algeria.

  · Famous trick before the walls of Troy: She of course refers to the Trojan horse, devised by Odysseus to breach the seven gated city of Troy – from the inside.

  · The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk: A very strange one to use here, especially if you know the context of it. It's a Hegelian quotation, which refers to the way in which we understand history. As he implies, our 'wisdom' – that is, the logic and progress of history – will only reveal itself at the end, the 'dusk' of any event which we are considering. But I guess author-san wanted to sound learned.

  Chapter 5 - The Deathblow from Knight and Lord

  Part 1

  "Thus I do declare the name of God, that the world may now offer service, offer praise to the Eternal!"

  Halfway through her incantation, an aura of despair began to surround Erica.

  In addition, the actual temperature of the beach also fell to around twenty degrees.

  Sounds unable to be heard by the common ear – cries of despair, screams of futility, and the wailing of the hopelessness – all these sounds coalesced into a single body, hanging in the freezing air.

  All this were the effects brought forth by Erica's incantation.

  "Goddess Athena, as a subordinate of Kusanagi Godou, the knight Erica Blandelli humbly beseeches. If it pleases you, depart immediately. If thou suffers not to heed my pleadings, I shall defend mine Lord with mine blade!"

  The air rang with her firm declaration.

  Her back guarded by a magically summoned crimson banner, she faced the goddess with Cuore di Leone in her hand.

  Having heard her declaration, the goddess turned and acknowledged the girl for the first time.

  "Oh? As a stepdaughter of Prometheus —— as a follower of Hermes, thou art willing to die for your master?"

  "If necessary. To perish in a glorious manner for one's Lord, the knight feels only pleasurable satisfaction. In choosing as enemy the most ancient of goddesses, Athena, an understanding such as this is only natural."

  'Why is Godou… always making life hard for me?!'

  Erica mouthed quietly.

  That Athena could completely grasp the weaknesses of the Campione; and more specifically, Godou.

  Just from their short exchange, she managed to not only realize that unless Godou was forced into a corner, he wouldn't fight, and that he was a goody-two-shoes, and most of all, he even got kissed!

  Looking at the corpse-like Godou, sprawled on the floor, Erica's stare grew fiercer.

  When was this man ever going to learn?!

  Although this wasn't something that happened very often, there were simply too many holes in his defenses, plus he was too open to women, and so a kiss was easily stolen from him.

  As a general rule, Campiones had ridiculously high natural defenses against spells and other incantations.

  Even though his opponent was a god, the fact remained that he would not have been easily overwhelmed. But if the spell was somehow able to be performed directly on the body, then there was nothing to be done; if such a method was employed, even a mage such as Erica would have easily succeeded.

  "You're really such a troublesome fellow, making me work so hard…"

  While continuously muttering complaints, Erica formed her spell into an arrow, which shot towards Athena.

  If her opponent were a human, that strike alone would have been enough to finish him.

  Even if it was an extremely accomplished mage, it would have left him unable to stand.

  Her verses of despair were incantations of death, which chilled the hearts of her enemies, yet Athena merely shook her head.

  With a goddess as her foe, a weak attack like that would obviously have no effect at all.

  Erica lightly touched Cuore di Leone, then chanted:

  "O lion of steel, thou art the mind and body of sorrow and fury. Thou art the harbringer of grief to gods and spirits, one who will bathe in the blood of your foes— Appear before me, the spear of Longinus ——!"

  Gathering together the already coalescing incantations, she directed them to the blade of her favorite weapon.

  Erica raised Cuore di Leone, now charged with power, and dashed forward.

  In a flash, she crossed the gap between herself and Athena, then thrust with her sword.

  As though merely amused, the goddess simply leaned to the side, and so evaded the sword thrust. Erica, of course, was not impressed by this, but…

  She didn't end her move there.

  Face, skull, left shoulder, thighs, abdomen, chest, throat, and finally, her right wrist.

  Erica set those parts of the body as her target and kept up her attacks.

  Without a trace of hesitation, like a bolt of lightning or the gust of wind, she continued to press Athena.

  Each time Erica's blade neared the goddess, she would evade the strike.

  However, facing Erica's unpredictable and multi-directional style of combat, Athena finally gave up on dodging, and used the back of her hand to stop the final swing at her wrist.

  Under normal circumstances, something like that would have left her with half a hand, but the goddess's hand was as strong as steel, and warded off the blow.

  Having succeeded, Athena glanced at her hand; then her expression suddenly changed. She seemed… excited.

  "—— I see, as expected of one who dared challenge me— certainly, thou doth possess some ability."

  On the hand which just blocked Cuore di Leone, a thin red line had appeared.

  From that fresh cut, blood was trickling out.

  It was a sword wound.

  It was a simple fact that human weapons were completely incapable of harming a deity, let alone bother them. Forget swords, neither gunpowder weaponry and explosives, nor even chemical or biological weapons were able to do any damage.

  On what was a supposedly immortal body, somehow a fresh wound had appeared.

  While smiling and gazing at the blood dripping from her hand, Athena spoke.

  "How rare. One had long forgotten her previous instance of injury from a mortal."

  "My sword is currently infused with a spell on the same lethality level as the holy spear Longinus, with a power capable of extinguishing the Son of God or any wicked demon or deity. Even you, Athena, wouldn't escape unharmed if you were struck by this sword."

  Whilst lightly rattling her Cuore di Leone, Erica flippantly spoke thus.

  If her opponent showed any sign of movement, she planned on instantly attacking; however, Athena seemed completely unconcerned.

  What she did fe
el, was that due to the previous attack, Athena's attention was now truly focused on her body, and the previous uncaring attitude had disappeared.

  "Truly, mortal, your words ring true. That blade is extremely lethal to one's body, and may even be able to steal the very breath from me. Truly, one pities your current position. If thou had not stupidly vowed loyalty and devotion to that Campione, one wouldst have bestowed upon you a blessing, and accepted you as one's devotee."

  Even though Erica was facing her with a blade, Athena only gazed at her with a loving and caring expression, her eyes those of a protector, as though looking at a lovable pet, or a laboring gardener in a park.

  —— What to do now?

  Erica asked herself; if Godou was with her, perhaps the two of them could do something, but since she was alone, the situation was not exactly a rosy one.

  And her opponent was a goddess in combat.

  Even with a blade on par with the god-subduing spear Longinus, and her skills in swordplay and sorcery, just how much of that would make a difference – she was very uncertain about the outcome.

  In the past, Godou, before he was a Campione, much less a mage, managed to defeat Verethragna as a mere mortal.

  But that victory should be considered a combination of many coincidences, and a ridiculous amount of good luck. Furthermore, it was because the very person who fought was Kusanagi Godou, that he managed to pull it off. In addition, he had his 'secret weapon', the [Secret Tome of Prometheus], which no longer existed in the mortal world.

  It looked like escape was the only option.

  'Right now, the most important thing is to evade the deathblow she will send my way.'

  "Saint George! By thine holy title, bestow upon me the dragon slaying strength!"

  Erica loudly proclaimed thus.

  Even if she was planning to escape, there was no way she would just let her opponent off like that.

  Even when retreating, she must do so with awesome presence and grace —— that was Erica's knightly code.

  Cuore di Leone's form began to change.

  From a thin rapier, it transformed into a two meter long spear.

  Erica superbly wielded the heavy spear, and struck with speed three times.

  How would Athena respond? Would she retreat, evade it, or counter and advance?

  —— She retreated.

  The goddess leaped back with agility, far exceeding the striking range of the spear.

  Seeing Athena's response, Erica let a brilliant smile show; for those who knew her, it was a smile that showed that she believed her ploy would succeed.

  Advancing to combat a retreating enemy was the most effective means of employing her style of combat, which focused on devastating speed.

  "O Copper Red Cross, rend apart the armor of the dragon, rip out its organs! O my departed forebears, knights who lie now in eternal rest, I beseech you— bestow upon me thy outstanding military service!"

  Finishing her incantations, Erica flung out the spear she held.

  Originally an attack meant to be used against those that were even further away; these petty details were not something she would worry about now. The spear, flying from her hand, hurled like a silver-hued comet towards Athena's heart.

  —— This method of ranged javelin combat was particularly favored by the Etruscans[1F 1].

  Eventually, the Romans learned this method of warfare from them, and during the Middle Ages, the Knights of the Round table raised it up to yet another notch[1F 2]. However, facing this attack, Athena merely smashed it aside with her fist.

  The strange thing was, the spear that should have lain on the sand, somehow savagely continued to fly towards the goddess.

  "……Oh?"

  The silver spear had become a silver lion.

  Cuore di Leone had, in the blink of an eye, changed its form and jumped up while riding the force of the blow. Athena gazed at the teeth of the nearby lion while showing an admiring smile.

  "Really, you do quite amaze one ——"

  Athena evaded the lion's leap, and quickly struck with the side of her palm.

  Less than half the size of Cuore di Leone, she nevertheless attacked it anyway, hacking at the natural lines of the head, body and shoulder, turning it into a pile of animal parts.

  What really shocked Athena came immediately after this.

  "Cuore di Leone! Having received the blessings of both Holy Spirit and saint, complete thy work with an indestructible body!"

  Erica chanted the final line of the incantation, instructing her faithful blade with a new objective.

  ……The now fragmented Cuore di Leone changed form again, each part shifting to the shape of a lion. Athena now found herself surrounded by seven lions.

  "Ahahaha, you really know how to waste my time!"

  Having heard Athena's strident laughter, Erica whistled, and one of the surrounding lions bounded over to her side.

  —— with this, she didn't need to use any more tactics.

  Erica quickly picked up Godou, then jumped onto the lion's back.

  While her opponent was surrounded by six lions, as long as she did her best to escape without looking back – Even if the opponent was Athena, facing a dueling ground charged with a despairing incantation, and a Cuore di Leone blessed by God, there was no way she could easily deal with them and then still catch up with them… at least, she hoped.

  Erica sincerely prayed that her enemy would not come running, while encouraging the lion to hurry.

  In front of her, Godou was lying on the lion's back in deep sleep. Of course, there was no way he would just die like this. No matter how ridiculously unfair the circumstances, he was a man who would always find the means and path to victory; there was no way he would die so easily.

  She placed her hand on Godou's chest, confirming his warmth and his pulse.

  Having received the encouragement she was looking for, Erica let out a pleased, knowing smile.

  Part 2

  This so called near-death experience really was extremely discomforting.

  Godou, who had yet to fully awake, thought in his foggy mind.

  The eighth incarnation, the [Ram], offered miraculous powers of recovery. Regardless of how critical his body's condition was, its divine power would always bring a full recovery.

  While Verethragna was a god of victory, he was also a defender of kingship.

  Among the ten forms, the [Ram] had the deepest relationship with kingship. In ancient times when herding could be equated with wealth, the sheep, able to grow quickly and reproduce with abundance, was a symbol of vitality and prosperity.

  Fertile, productive, rich.

  The power to demonstrate vitality was a perfect representation of the sheep that exhibited these traits.

  But if he was killed instantly, then this ability would become useless... considering this, he couldn't help but break out in cold sweat every time he woke up from unconsciousness, since he must consciously use this ability before dying for it to work.

  To make it even more dangerous, this ability was only useable when he was on the brink of death.

  Godou personally experienced before the inability to use this power to heal conventional serious injuries.

  Of course, even with such harsh restrictions, it was still an astounding ability.

  Godslayers could seize the abilities of the god they killed.

  A divine power acquired this way was called an [Authority].

  This meant that the more gods one killed, the more powerful a godslayer becomes.

  Godou had only defeated one god so far — Verethragna, but it had been said that many godslayers were monsters holding multiple [Authorities].

  — Born to this world to fight the gods, warriors who represented mankind.

  Erica once described godslayers as this: they are warriors, kings, monsters, but at the same time also people; they were existences that went beyond common sense.

  Godslayers were born from neither innate ability, nor effor
t, and definitely not blood or destiny.

  Only victory could give birth to a godslayer.

  Even if one had innate talent, even if one worked harder than anyone in the world, without victory, one could never become a godslayer.

  That was way too strict, Godou thought.

  His own victory over Verethragna had entirely depended on a series of unbelievably lucky events.

  Forget normal people, even special people like prodigies or legendary masters would never be able to defeat a god. The difference in power was simply too great, great enough to make any comparison between the two completely meaningless.

  Only after a series of miraculous occurrences was it possible for man to defeat god.

  Yet a chain of unbelievable coincidences could give birth to a godslayer, granting them more power than any man could ever have.

  ......Even Godou himself thought this wasn't such a good idea.

  Only those born as gods or those reborn as godslayers could oppose one another, that was simply beyond all common sense.

  For such a thing to be achievable only through luck, that definitely wasn't a good thing. This kind of power should never be given to a single man, so Godou hoped to restrain himself as much as possible, not to abuse this power, but......

  He realized he was starting to gain control over Verethragna's powers.

  The first time he used the [Ram], it took him six hours to recover from unconsciousness. The second time it was only four hours. Every time he used it, the time to regain consciousness decreased.

  How short can this period shrink?

  When he switched to an incarnation, he could use numbers like these to describe his proficiency with the power. Of course, Godou didn't like falling to the brink of death, but to slowly gain control of such powers was yet another reason why he didn't like using them.

  His consciousness began to clear.

  As he woke up, Godou found himself lying on a stiff bed.

  Seemed like the bed came with pillows, but he wasn't sure why it was so soft and warm behind his head.

  "How does it feel? Can you get up?"

  Erica whispered beside his ear.

  Just like every time up until now, she had stayed beside his near-dead self this time as well.