"Authority is, by nature, something born from believing in oneself. It is born from the heart, and it grows stronger as the mind evolves."
"In terms of using the 'mind' to evolve 'Authority,' Godslayers and Sacred Gear users do share something in common."
"However, a Heretic God's 'fully becoming heretic' is not quite the same as either of those."
"A Heretic God's 'fully becoming heretic' is not an evolution of the mind, but rather a more direct descent of the true-body power that comes from drawing closer to the myth's essence."
From the information the system provided, Akuto came to understand why the states of "fully becoming heretic" and "a god's true body descending into the world" were so closely aligned.
It could be understood in pure numerical terms.
If peak Chief God-level strength could be quantified as "100," then in the Divine Realm, the true bodies of gods would range as follows: an ordinary god would have combat power of 50, while a top-tier god would have combat power from 100 to 1,000.
After becoming a Heretic incarnation, under normal circumstances, an ordinary god's combat power would be 5, and a top-tier god's would be 10.
But if they entered the state of "fully becoming heretic," then both ordinary gods and top-tier gods could draw down a stronger power from their own existence in the Divine Realm.
Thus, after fully becoming heretic, an ordinary god's combat power would become "close to 50," while a top-tier god's combat power would fluctuate somewhere above 100 and below 1,000 depending on the state of self-recognition and the upper limit the world could withstand.
…
"Overall, because the ceiling is capped, after fully becoming heretic, ordinary gods and top-tier gods don't open up an outrageous gap."
"But if it's in the Divine Realm, that becomes a different story—"
In the Divine Realm, the gap between ordinary gods and top-tier gods would be pulled completely apart, far more sharply delineated than in the human world.
In any case, for now, I should complete the system's task and try to get Verethragna to enter the fully-becoming-heretic state first!
According to the system, war gods like Verethragna are among the types most likely to enter the 'fully becoming heretic' state.
…
After thinking for a moment, Akuto extended a hand toward Verethragna, a broad smile on his face.
"My name is Sai Akuto. It's a pleasure to meet you."
To be honest, Akuto's impression of Verethragna was fairly positive.
Verethragna was someone who treated victory over opponents as his greatest interest. Frankly speaking, Akuto even felt a hint of envy toward Verethragna's carefree pursuit of battle.
Unlike Akuto, who still had the enormous weight of the exe world hanging over him.
All in all, even without the system's task, so long as he had the time, Akuto would still be in the mood to play a game with Verethragna.
Facing the hand Akuto offered, Verethragna fell silent for several seconds.
"Though I cannot recall why I despise that fate goddess, I am also glad to make thy acquaintance."
A few seconds later, the white-robed boy extended his hand as well.
"By the way, thanks for stepping in just now and helping us deal with that incarnation," Akuto continued, smoothly steering the conversation forward after their initial introduction.
"No need for thanks. By my intuition, it was also something I must do."
The boy frowned. He did not understand why he had done it, yet he simply felt he had to.
He did not know the answer, and yet within his heart there was a vast certainty.
"Are you planning to keep traveling from city to city and subdue the incarnations that have scattered?" Akuto asked.
Verethragna thought for a long while…
Akuto's question truly hit the mark.
What was he going to do next?
He did not have a clear answer to that either, but at this very moment, something faint and indistinct was already taking shape inside him—something he wanted to do.
"I do not know clearly. Acting just now was merely an instinctive sense that I had to act, for only then would I be complete."
"As for what comes after, I will likely continue to follow that feeling, and do what I believe I should do."
That was what Verethragna said.
In his current state, he was, without question, a Heretic God who had lost his sense of self.
As he gathered his incarnations, he would gradually lose the personality he had now, becoming the standard war-god type of Heretic God.
Just as he said, he did not know his purpose. He simply felt he ought to do it.
…
"If that's the case, then would you like to play a game with me?" Akuto asked with a smile.
"Oh? A game?"
The white-robed boy tilted his head. For some reason, hearing the word "game" made a ripple rise in his heart again.
"Yes. A game. A contest over 'divine incarnations.'"
"Your original plan was to keep wandering, and if you happened to run into the scattered divine incarnations, you'd subdue them along the way, correct?"
"Mm. That is indeed my plan."
"Then, are you interested in having a match with me?"
"Oh? A match… In what form shall this match take?"
The moment the word "match" appeared, it was as if Akuto had struck a keyword within Verethragna, and the boy's focus snapped into place.
"Of course, we compete to see who collects more divine incarnations."
"Oh? Interesting. So that is the method by which victory is decided?" Verethragna raised an eyebrow, showing immense interest in Akuto's proposal.
"Well? Shall we compare?" Akuto had noticed the essence of Verethragna's nature—he could not refuse a challenge from others.
"No problem. I have never refused another's invitation to compete, and I have never suffered defeat in any contest against another."
…
Very quickly, the agreement was made.
However, before the official competition began, Akuto deliberately invited Verethragna to a friendly match.
"Although from this moment onward it already counts as the official start, to deepen our mutual understanding, I suggest we begin with a friendly match. What do you think?"
"No problem. Whether friendly match or official match, I will not be defeated," Verethragna replied calmly.
"Good. Then take a look at the format I've prepared."
"First round, we compete in a game."
"Second round, we compete by retainers."
"Third round, we compete in martial attainment. Best two out of three."
"Oh? You've already decided the content of the friendly match?" Verethragna's interest surged. "Very well. I accept your challenge!"
…
Erica: "..."
Watching the two of them arrange a competition as if no one else existed, Erica could only feel speechless.
Were gods really this eccentric now? They actually played games?
That said, Erica was genuinely interested in the outcome between Akuto and the war god.
From Akuto's conversation and his analysis of the war god's power, Erica had already learned that the true identity of the white-robed boy was Verethragna, the Victory War God from myth.
As for Akuto, although she could not confirm it completely, he was likely possessed by "Holy Child Jesus," or some similar god bearing the title of "Holy Child Jesus."
One side was an omniscient and omnipotent Holy Child, and the other was a victory war god who had never known defeat.
Erica truly wanted to see who would win.
"The first match's event is… Go?"
As Akuto manifested a Go board, Erica's interest rose further.
As a genius girl, she had naturally studied Go as well. However, because there were too many things she needed to learn, she had only aimed to raise her Go skill to the level of an ordinary professional player, and no further.
"Oh? This is… a board game of play?" Verethragna said.
The instant he saw the board, a vast number of match scenes surged into his mind…
Although his self-recognition remained in a state of confusion, he was certain of one thing—he could definitely play Go. And in his games against others, he had never lost.
"Then, let the match begin." Akuto smiled faintly and placed the first stone.
…
While Akuto and Verethragna played, Erica and Saint Raphael watched from the side.
Unlike Erica, who understood the principles of the game, Saint Raphael truly understood nothing about it.
"Daughter of the Brandelli house, can you read advantage and disadvantage?"
So Saint Raphael could only continue asking Erica for an assessment.
"Mm, I can read a little, but only to the extent of seeing who's ahead and who's behind," Erica said with a frown, staring at the board.
"Is that so? Then who is ahead, and who is behind?"
"Holy Child-sama holds a slight advantage. War God-sama holds a slight disadvantage."
After brushing Raphael off with a few quick words, Erica poured all her focus into calculating the position.
In the end, she could only arrive at a discouraging conclusion.
Whether it was Akuto or Verethragna, both were at a level that could easily crush her.
Soon, the gap became unmistakable.
Using a star-point opening, Akuto seized the position rapidly through established patterns like the 3–3 and 4–4.
In the midgame clashes, Akuto used flexible tactical shifts such as the press-and-lean, for example Black 1 leaning to suppress White's attempt to extend, securing tremendous strategic space for himself.
By the endgame, even though Verethragna fought with all his might, he could not salvage the board.
"This game is my defeat."
Verethragna casually tossed a stone onto the board and acknowledged his loss with generosity.
"I observe thy line of play. It resembles neither the play of mortals, nor the play of gods. It is truly wondrous."
Verethragna could see that Akuto's way of playing differed drastically from ordinary lifeforms.
"You're right. My line is the extreme of predictive methods—the optimal solution after exhausting computing power. Even if you altered your usual approach in the midgame, it would still be difficult to save the overall position."
As he spoke, Akuto smiled and waved a hand forward. The board and stones dissolved into golden motes and vanished.
…
Akuto's own computing power was strong, but not to the extent that he could completely suppress Verethragna from the opening.
The reason he could achieve this was, in truth, thanks to the God of the Bible.
Long ago, the God of the Bible had used Go to train computing power, and a massive number of game records and predictive variations were stored in the database.
After casually digesting those records, Akuto's Go attainment had reached a frankly astonishing level.
If Verethragna continued to refine his Go skill, perhaps in the future he might have a chance to defeat the current Akuto.
But as things stood now, Akuto's Go strength was undeniably above Verethragna's.
After suffering defeat, the way Verethragna looked at Akuto grew even sharper, even more brilliant.
"Foreigner, thou art the only existence who has ever granted me defeat. Even if fate severs, even if time and space collapse, I will still carve thee into my memory."
"However, our contest is not yet finished."
"The next contest… I recall it is a retainer contest, yes?"
"Yes. Correct. It's a retainer contest." Akuto nodded.
"However, before the retainer contest, I do not require any special preparations."
"Raphael?"
Akuto looked to Saint Raphael, signaling her to come over.
"Yes." Though puzzled, Saint Raphael still adhered to knightly conduct and stepped before Akuto.
"Here, I grant you my blessing."
As he spoke, Akuto stepped in front of Saint Raphael, lifted her smooth chin, and pressed a deep kiss to her lips.
(End of Chapter)
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