Campione! - Volume 17 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 - Awakening 

Part 1 

"Back then, there were two other godslayers apart from you. In the end, the battle ended before I could meet them..."  

Feeling perplexed, the "King of the End" muttered.  

Then immediately, he nodded as though going "I see now."  

"The three of you had stepped into a journey through time. Through a deity of travel or a fairy of some land, you flew from this era across to the distant past—"  

"That's roughly what happened. I'm glad you understand, since it saves me from unnecessary explanations."  

Godou answered while thinking to himself.  

An unbelievable conversation resumed seamlessly from fifteen hundred years ago. However, the incident actually felt like it was mere months ago from his perspective.  

Still, casually chatting like this was not the answer going forward.  

Godou looked at Pallas Athena, collapsed on the ground. That giant body of the Gorgon Medusa had already shrunk in size, transforming back to a pubescent girl.  

Despite having released the seal using her life as the price, it was now impossible for her to sustain a serpentine dragon's body.  

Pallas Athena had turned back into her girl form. The countless bleeding lacerations carved over the Gorgon's body were gone, but conversely—A large hole had opened up on her chest.  

The hole's location was precisely that of the heart. Unquestionably, it was a fatal wound.  

There was no more bleeding. Instead, overflowing magic power was spilling out. The large volume of magic power was surging forth like a spring's source, starting to flow out from Pallas Athena's entire body.  

Magic power normally lacked a definite color. It was something colorless.  

But right now, the magic power flowing from Pallas Athena's body glowed golden.  

This golden magic power rose up high into the sky, spreading overhead like gas, turning the Minamibousou sky gold.  

Under the sky that was colored by a golden aurora, Godou walked over to the collapsed Divine Ancestor.  

"...You're in quite a sad state."  

"...'Tis verily worthy of chagrin. Due to the Holy Grail's activation, one's power as a goddess was absorbed and taken. Forsooth, 'tis a rather dismal battle situation."  

Despite mustering no more than a feeble voice, Pallas Athena still answered quietly.  

Even at this stage, she still refused to admit defeat. The young and tiny girl was even moving her arms and legs desperately, slowly, slowly trying to stand up.  

Truly living up to her identity as Athena's reincarnation, she possessed indomitable will and noble-minded principles.  

Witnessing this scene before his eyes, Godou smiled for an instant, but resumed a serious expression immediately.  

"You said the Holy Grail activated?"  

"Fifteen centuries prior, the goddess Gwenhwyfar created the Holy Grail as a vessel to contain the essence of the mother earth goddesses such as one, to be stored as magic power. Furthermore, the previous Witch Queen Guinevere prayed to the Holy Grail on her dying breath, wishing for the new Witch Queen's birth."  Speaking of which, that really was the case. Godou remembered.  

The cause of the mother earth goddess Athena's death was due to the Holy Grail sucking all of her life force away.  

"In the end, taking the form of a Divine Ancestor, the Holy Grail became one."  

"I see. Because the majority of the magic power in the Holy Grail was sucked from Athena, that's why you look like this."  

Realizing that, Godou knew it was just a simple mechanism.  

While feelings were stirred deeply in Godou, Pallas Athena pushed herself up in front of him, displaying a courageous smile.  

Even when carrying a lethal wound, she still endured desperately. What truly astounding mettle.  

"It seemeth that whenever the hero unsheathed the Divine Sword of Salvation, the Holy Grail—namely, oneself—would offer all magic power to the hero. 'Tis intentional that Guinevere prevented one from learning of this fact..."  

"Which is how you ended up in this state."  

Godou now understood how Pallas Athena came to be lying on death's door.  

Meanwhile, the "King of the End" was standing silently, some distance away. The Divine Sword of Salvation was stabbed upright on the ground in front of him. Illuminated by the sacred blade's brilliance, he was looking at Godou and Pallas Athena with eyes of determination.  

Nevertheless, slight weariness and chagrin could be seen in the hero's gaze.  

Godou felt a sense of dissonance. The "King of the End" did not look like a hero boasting of victory at all. Instead, he seemed to be enduring a sense of emptiness from an unsatisfactory victory.  

"It mattereth not, but..."  

Noticing Godou's doubts, Pallas Athena made a slight smile of wryness.  

"Only one standing in his position can hope to openly engage in the hero's behavior as it is... Do not begrudge his attitude towards battle. Putting that aside..."  

Pallas Athena tried hard to move her right leg, lifting her knee.  

She wanted to stand up, but evidently had little remaining strength. Only her entire body trembled. Even so, the girl inheriting Athena's indomitable spirit continued to declare boldly.  

"Despite these grievous wounds, victory is as yet undecided. Depart, Kusanagi Godou. Interfere not in one's duel against the 'King of the End'—Guh!"  

Pallas Athena spat out fresh blood along with her words.  

Her knees also bended, causing her to fall on the ground again. In spite of the that, silver-haired Divine Ancestor still blazed with fighting spirit in her eyes, weaving words of valor through her red lips, stained with blood.  

"Fufufu. Or perhaps, thou wishest to attack one together with the hero?"  "...No."  

Godou stepped in between the dying Divine Ancestor and the pale-haired aristocrat.  

He even shielded Pallas Athena behind his back, turning to face off squarely against the "King of the End."  

"No matter what, that guy's obviously the strongest here. Naturally, the most important thing to do right now is for me to help you so that your match against that man can be decided."  

"..."  

Pallas Athena was not supposed to have Athena's memories.  

Considering her haughty attitude, Godou felt that it would be hard for her to approve of this suggestion. However, the dying Divine Ancestor smiled generously instead.  

"If 'tis for such a reason, 'twould not be disagreeable to join forces in facing a common enemy . A relationship of aligned interests..."  

She whispered with her bloodstained lips.  

Even without memories, was it engraved somewhere in the depths of her soul that they had shared the same boat as bitter enemies at one point in the past?  

In any case, no different from the battle against Lancelot last time, Kusanagi Godou and Pallas Athena was going to cooperate in opposition against the "King of the End."  

Naturally, the dying former goddess did not amount to any significant combat potential.  

However, with a godslayer and his mortal enemy facing off against the strongest hero, it was as though time had rewound back to the moment of their farwell several months prior.  

Meanwhile, seeing the torturous and mysterious intertwined destinies between them—  

"Helping the weak and taking down the strong... How chivalrous, Kusanagi Godou."  

The pale-haired aristocrat voiced Godou's name for the first time after fifteen centuries.  

He was also smiling slightly. It was akin to a smile appropriate for the face of a traveler making a brief stop, feeling pity for a tiny flower on the roadside.  

Or perhaps, the face of a man who temporarily forgot the weariness of wandering.  

"I am most pleased to see a man among the godslayers who can exhibit chivalry even towards the gods. Be that as it may, I must apologize."  

Godou entered a stance. This guy was the same as in the past. Whenever he was about to bring forth great power, the "King of the End" always apologized!  

"I have met defeat twice by your hand in the ancient past. Nevertheless, having obtained a mother earth goddess' life through the Holy Grail... I am no longer the one you know."  

"Relax. I know that already."  

Godou glanced into the sky.  

The dark night sky was shining with golden radiance.  

This was the golden magic power flowing out of Pallas Athena, the Holy Grail. Next, all the light filling the sky descended towards the "King of the End," poured completely into his body.  

The result—An astounding amount of magic power currently filled the entire body of the "King of the End."  

Back when he awakened in ancient Gaul, he seemed to be in an abnormal state.  

But this time, having absorbed the Holy Grail's life force—namely, Pallas Athena's—the hero finally recovered his peak condition.  

Godou licked his lips and stared sharply at the "King of the End."  

"However, this is still better than when the great ritual of the covenant was invoked in Gaul. I can deal with this."  

Godou strengthened his tone of voice for his answer, partially as encouragement for himself.  

The explosive increase in magic power when facing off against multiple 

Campiones, to the point of being able to fight every opponent together—  

This was probably the great ritual of the covenant. In the past, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had also used the spell of Devil King extermination.  

But right now, Godou was the only godslayer present.  

Logically speaking, that kind of absurd power up should not be available here. In spite of that...  

"My apologies, but I have already recovered my total power due to obtaining the essence offered by the Holy Grail. Consequently, the great ritual of the covenant can be used naturally like this..."  

What!? Just as the unexpected confession rendered Godou in shock...  

He saw. The golden light filling the sky suddenly vanished. Instead, the "King of the End" was glowing golden from his entire body.  

At the same time, his magic power—rose dramatically.  

Instantly, he reached the same level of magic power as the time when the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was battling against Kusanagi Godou, Luo Cuilian and John Pluto Smith.  

Despite the fact that Kusanagi Godou was the only Campione present.  

Furthermore, the increase in magic power did not stop there. If a standard [Heretic God]'s magic power was considered ten, then after using the great ritual of the covenant, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven would have magic power comparable to thirty or forty on the same scale. However, the magic power of the "King of the End" had surpassed seventy, eighty, ninety, even reaching a hundred—  

Dumbstruck, Godou muttered:  

"No way..."  

None of the gods he had ever battled were weak.  

Having said that, the "King of the End" now possessed massive magic power more than all of them added together, his body surrounded by glorious golden radiance.  

"O Divine Sword of Salvation, hereby show your true form to the world."  

The "King of the End" spoke quietly to his favorite sword, stabbed upright in front of him.  

Then a giant magic circle manifested overhead in the shape of a square.  

Its side length was roughly ten meters. The square-shaped magic circle was subdivided into a grid of smaller cells with each cell depicting a weapon.  

If one were to count them, there would probably be hundreds of weapons and armaments.  

Most numerous were "arrows." In addition, there were swords, blades, bows, spears, axes, shields, cudgels, glaives, halberds, morningstars, ring-shaped objects, brick-like masses, etc, even things that could not be called weapons.  

Godou was reminded of a "mandala."  

Meaning "circle" in Sanskrit, a spiritual and ritual symbol in oriental magic depicting dozens or hundreds of deities and Buddhas. This was a mandela composed primarily from countless weapons replacing the deities and Buddhas.  

"Finally achieved, the great ritual of the covenant. The ultimate sword for exterminating all Devil Kings..."  

Pallas Athena whispered.  

Godou turned his gaze towards her in surprise. Covered in blood, the Divine Ancestor spoke solemnly.  

"Kusanagi Godou. Thou shouldst avoid the mistake of comparing this to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's imitation. The true exterminator of Devil Kings becometh more powerful in accordance to the number of enemies at hand..."  

So it really was as he suspected? Godou nodded. He had already figured it out somewhat.  

"At the present, his power hath increased in accordance to the number of Devil Kings walking the earth. The godslayers of the present generation number seven in total... The 'King of the End' has already grown to having power corresponding to this head count."  

"Indeed."  

The hero nodded and agreed with what the Divine Ancestor said.  

Without any intention of bragging about his power, he was speaking in a tone of voice so indifferent it was almost business-like.  

"When I descended upon the world in the past, I was bestowed countless heavenly weapons as gifts every time I finished my mission of Devil King extermination. The Divine Sword of Salvation is the form that unites them all. Consequently, this could be considered its true appearance."  

"Man, there should be limits to the number of weapons you can have..."  

Godou was greatly shocked. The legendary hero had received more than just a sacred sword as a gift. The true identity of the lightning descending from the Divine Sword of Salvation was a large number of weapons. Godou had already discovered this fact in ancient Gaul. However, he never knew that these were unbelievably the heavenly weapons bestowed by the gods.  

This was a shocking fact, more frightening than any other.  

Personally experiencing the reason why the assertion was made in the past that he "absolutely cannot defeat that man," Godou trembled greatly. Furthermore, just as he was gradually about to be overwhelmed by the powerful enemy—In that very instant...  

He heard a pleasant voice akin to heavenly music.  

"Foolish little brother. Is there any need for fear?"  

Startled, Godou turned his gaze to the voice's owner.  

A woman was slowly walking over to him. Her pace was calm and confident without any haste, reminiscent of the carefree and endless flow of the majestic Yangtze River.  

Matching the beauty of her voice, her face was so beautiful that the lovely court ladies dwelling in the heavenly palace of the moon would seem plain in comparison.  

Pallas Athena, all covered in wounds, and the "King of the End" also stared at this transcendent beauty.  

"Though the enemy may enjoy protection provided by the great ritual of the covenant, you too have your sworn elder sister, unique and supreme. Being the peerless sworn siblings that we are, how could there possibly exist a foe in this world whom we cannot handle?"  

The gentle and soothing voice was reminiscent of a moon guitar's tone color. Needless to say, the latest arrival was Kusanagi Godou's sworn sister, Luo Cuilian, of course.