Campione! - Volume Ex - Chapter 6.4

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「Be destroyed, gate of destiny. I shall cut open my own path by myself.」

Godou chanted shortly──the words of power were disappointingly short.

It was that kind of thing. For them godslayer, the act of standing against destiny was like that. It was just very much natural thing to do that there wasn’t any formalities to adhere to.

After all they became like this by fighting a god and slaying it thus gaining some of its power.

And then power that looked like wave was spreading from Godou’s body.

It was a surge that changed the way the world and universe was. A wave that erased the strings of karma that caused all kinds of phenomenon, and returned the pattern of the vast fabric called destiny back to being “plain”. With the existence called Kusanagi Godou as the source, it was spreading to every corner of the diverse worlds.

Ordinary person couldn’t see it. They couldn’t feel it.

However for the gods, of course it was different for them. Verethragna opened his eyes wide in wonderment.

「My arch-enemy. So you attempted to break the yoke of destiny……」

The youth didn’t even hide his irritation since his body was emitting lightning attacks unceasingly.

When he opened both his eyes widely, light of resolve was dwelling within his almond eyes. Verethragna who possessed the hero’s sword stabbed the divine sword in his hand into the ground.

Verethragna’s body immediately stopped emitting electricity. Zurvan spoke.

「What’s the matter, war god?」

「Use it, Zurvan. Kusanagi Godou has lost most of his weapons, and he is wounded. Attacking such man with a sword will affect my honor. You should be the one to hold the sword of salvation.」

「…………」

「In regard to martial arts I have slight superiority than you. You should accept the kindness of your pioneer.」

「……Very well.」

The divine sword of salvation floated up lightly and flew toward Zurvan.

The stone mask didn’t have anything like arm. However, the mask that was modeled after a lion had a “living snake” growing from its left and right side. The left side’s snake entwined around the divine sword’s handle and the mask took a stance as though it had hand.

「O lightning, accomplish the mission of devil king extermination.」

Lightning was shooting out from the divine sword that Zurvan lifted up in the air.

It became an attack of divine punishment that came down toward Kusanagi Godou on the ground. Godou who didn’t even have the godspeed of Raptor anymore had no way to dodge──.

In reality, his last ray of hope was only the authority of anti-destiny.

(Did something happen, or nothing has happened, which is it──!?)

There was far bigger chance of nothing happened, even after Godou used it with expectation.

But this time Zurvan who was also a god of destiny was in the battlefield. That was different from usual. And then, the lightning of salvation that fell from the sky reached Godou’s head──

*Hyuu-!* It was the sound of cutting through air.

Something that came flying from who knew where pierced the lightning above Godou.

The lightning of salvation was──easily dispersed. It became small light particles that were scattered everywhere, and then they vanished!

「…………The lightning of salvation was negated?」

Zurvan felt dubious. He lifted up the divine sword once more.

Lightning descended once more. It was pierced through along with *Hyuu-!* sound──by a yellow arrow. An arrow moving in godspeed that caught even a falling lightning. Both the shooter and the arrow weren’t normal. In addition the lightning of salvation was dispersed and erased, so it was even more absurd.

「Then!」

The god of time and also the god of destiny continuously unleashed thunderbolt.

All of them were pierced by yellow arrows. The arrows came flying from far beyond the empty sky, hiting the lightning with accuracy of one hundred hits from one hundred shots, and extinguished their targets.

Just whose backup was this──”a certain picture” formed in the back of Godou’s mind.

……In an unknown corner of the diverse worlds somewhere, there was a lush forest and beautiful spring.

……A good-looking man was standing on its side. He nocked a yellow arrow on his steel longbow with a refreshing expression, and fired it to the sky. The arrow crossed even the interstice of dimensiosn and reached to above his sworn friend’s head.

……An arrow that sealed even the lightning of salvation. It was the weapon that the strongest hero treasured.

……The hero fired arrows rapidly. The one with the role to hand over the arrows from the quiver was his kneeling little brother. His face’s feature was exactly the same like his beautiful big brother but, the little brother’s skin was brown.

「So the power of anti-destiny communicated with that guy──」

The great hero Rama and his little brother Laksmana realized their friend’s dilemma and they showed their chivalrous spirit like this.

Godou grinned and glared at his arch-enemy. The radiant fifteen years old youth, the war god Verethragna slowly drew near.

「Looks like I can focus to the battle against you with this.」

「I too have entrusted the meddlesome sword away. Now I can be carefree.」

「Yeah. Certainly you look like you’ve thrown away a heavy burden. Though for me, it’ll be great if you can also forget your match with me at the same time.」

Although it sounded like a joke, Godou was relatively serious.

But, Verethragna snorted.

「Foolish. It’s impossible to not settle this after coming this far.」

「That so?  Both of us have really good affinity with each other right?」

Godou spoke further.

「I also won’t mind if you put priority to friendship you know?」

「That is that, this is this. You and I aren’t just being connected with a favorable bond, we’re also god and godslayer who’re connected by a strong inverse bond. When such two people meet, there isn’t any choice of not fightning.」

「But you, regarding that sword, you hated it right?」

「Obviously. I will fight with my own ability as one warrior──I have that resolve. And yet, the sword of salvation and Zurvan nagging me for every single thing is irritating. As expected, I won’t feel satisfied if I don’t move my body and my authority as I wish.」

「Right now──can you do that?」

「Umu.」

Perhaps, this was also the effect of the anti-destiny.

But, it was also something trivial. Godou accepted his friend’s fighting spirit and spoke dispassionately.

「I see. Then, it can’t be helped.」

The talk was over. As expected, it seemed it would be impossible to have ceasefire here.

They reunited like this due to the guidance of a hapless fate.

At the end of the talk Verethragna──lunged with a spear hand. His hand opened its palm, his five fingers stretched out, and it lunged straight!

Godou warded it off with Camel’s kick, or that was his intention.

「Guhah!?」

「You are wounded just as I thought……. There is already no sharpness in your movement.」

The spear hand gouged his solar plexus. Godou writhed in pain.

Verethragna smiled calmly, then he punched the face, launched a middle spinning kick, striking the jaw from right below using his palm, and dealt an elbow strike to the heart with a smoothly flowing movement.

All of them were clean hits. Godou couldn’t defend at all.

(It’s harsh as expected……)

Godou realized it while being struck reapeatedly.

It wasn’t about technique or anything, the small-statured Verethragna was surpassing him in power.

Although he had let go of the divine sword, the Great Law of the Covenant was boosting him. While the combo the war god unleashed was fluent, its momentum that was like a surging wave couldn’t be stopped──.

Godou’s body and legs staggered. It was hard already to even stand.

As expected he couldn’t attack or defend properly in this state. What should he do to match Verethragna with his current self──?

When he found his answer, the pregnant Erica and their child came to mind.

Hesitation. Indecision. A big gambling that surpassed the authority of anti-destiny. However, his wild nature and battle instinct immediately made him cut away that doubt.

Even if the current me cannot defend──!

Verethragna’s left fist sunk into his stomach. He caught that thin wrist with his right hand.

「OOOOOOOOOO-!」

「What, the avatar of Bull!?」

The arm strength of Verethragna that tried to shake off Godou’s hand was immense.

Surely it could lift up even a thousand raging bulls. That was why, he also opposed with the avatar of Bull. He didn’t need Camel anymore.

Godou felt dizzy even while grabbing Verethragna’s hand with superhuman strength.

The toughness of Camel that was strong against intense pain had vanished and he got a lot closer to his limit. His consciousness was getting far away. But he was fine. He just needed to endure for thirty more seconds──.

Godou screamed as though to howl and carried it out.

「Gu……AAAAAAAAAAH!」

His head was creaking as though it would break down.

He was attacked once more with the burden of using two avatars at the same time. He had to end it quickly. Godou chanted the words of power in one breath.

「Come to me, for the victory! Immortal sun, lend me a quick, shining steed!」

「Oo! This time you call for the White Stallion──!?」

「It goes without saying for me, but you’ll also become the target. At Sardinia Island you rampaged as you pleased and tormented the island’s people right!?」

「!? So you intend to be burnt to death together with me huh, Kusanagi Godou!」

「I’ll have you accompany me, Verethragna!」

What he chose at the end was the fateful White Stallion.

The spear of sun that could be fired only toward great sinner who tormented the populace. It was also the weapon that consigned the war god of the east to oblivion in the past at Sardinia Island. It was something he stole using the divine tool Prometheus Tome.

Godou whispered to the friend right before his eyes.

He did that while pulling the thin arm along with Verethragna’s youthful form, that slender body along toward him.

「The match with you, with this──this conclusion is enough for me. What about you? How far……are you going to compete with me?」

「…………」

If he was asked where, then he would answer anywhere. If he was asked when, then whenever.

The youth had answered like that. But when he was asked 『how far』, he couldn’t answer right away. He was simply staring straight into Godou’s eyes with earnestness.

──From the eastern sky, a lump of flame came down.

It had huge size that would swallow the whole crater that had just been freshly created. The great hole that had a diameter of more than ten kilometer was instantly filled with flame of scorching heat.

Furthermore the flame didn’t weaken in intensity. It was burning up straight toward the sky.

Without stopping it became a flame pillar that reached until the cloud and scorched the sky.

The flame of cremation was too grand. Even the vitality possessed by Campione’s body, or the power of resistance toward magic that was overly tough, they weren’t a match against this.

Godou certainly saw it while being helplessly burnt and turning into ash.

Verethragna nodded with a peaceful expression. His expression became the same like that time when they first met in that nostalgic Sardinia Island.

The face of the youth that had the likeness of a big shot, with the attitude of leaving it to the wind where he would go. Within that face──.

.