Marquis Voban was blasted from the ground like a spring. Opening his giant wolf's jaws, he let out a savage howl. With the sound of his howl, the raging hurricane, crashing lightning, and pouring rain returned, sweeping across this part of Tokyo in an apocalyptic scene. One corner of Tokyo was completely swallowed by natural disaster. Under a Campione's authority, those reinforced-concrete structures were as fragile as flower petals.
Roy's taunts and arrogance had thoroughly awakened the wolfish bloodlust within Marquis Voban. Carrying the gale and thunder with him, he charged into the downpour without the slightest care. Amid his roar, he collided with Roy's fist. The two rapidly darted between the city's buildings, sonic booms and thunderous explosions ringing out from time to time. One skyscraper after another was pierced by their bodies and fists, reduced to rubble.
"Between Campiones and Disobedient Gods, which one is the greatest disaster to humanity?"
Princess Alice stood in the ruined top-floor room of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. She gazed at the pitch-black sky that nearly covered the entire Tokyo metropolitan area, watched the lightning flashing through the dark clouds and the explosions and bombardments in the distance, and listened to the terrified cries of civilians and the honking of cars. Even this princess, who loved joining in the fun and possessed almost no sense of good or evil, wore an expression of unbearable pity.
This was practically a modern war.
"You sneaky vixen who loves doing bad things in secret and peeping on others actually showing compassion? Could some authority have made the sun rise in the west?"
A cold male voice suddenly rang out from the ruined top floor of the hotel. Upon hearing it, Princess Alice showed no surprise. She merely tightened the coat around her fragrant shoulders, hiding her exposed jade-like collarbones beneath the fabric, then turned around with a radiant smile.
At some point, a young man in his mid-twenties had appeared behind Princess Alice. He was sitting on the only remaining chair in the ruined room, legs crossed. His neatly combed black hair and dark-gray jacket gave him the air of an elegant young nobleman.
He was Alexander Gascoyne, England's Campione.
"What wind blew you from the English countryside all the way to this Far East Island Nation? There doesn't seem to be any news here about the Holy Grail you seek."
Princess Alice's smile was bright and radiant. Holding her collar with one hand, she was as elegant as a noblewoman, her manners flawless.
Yet it was precisely this perfection that made the princess seem somewhat false, as if this were not her true self.
Princess Alice was already very familiar with Alexander Gascoyne, so she did not mince her words with him.
"Put away that hypocritical smile. You foul-tempered woman aren't some perfect great noble!"
Seeing Princess Alice put on this false front with him, Gascoyne inexplicably grew irritated.
The Campione who possessed Divine Speed stood and approached Princess Alice, reaching out to grab her.
But just as Gascoyne's hand was about to touch her, Princess Alice's fair jade hand inconspicuously slipped into her sleeve, while her body took a step back.
Gascoyne's face stiffened. He said unhappily, "...What do you mean by that?"
"I should be asking what you mean, Lord Alexander Gascoyne. Grabbing a lady's hand without asking is hardly the act of a gentleman."
A faint smile lingered at the corner of Princess Alice's mouth, but her tone was calm and cold...
"You aren't..."
Thinking of the information he had seen in his intelligence reports, and the intimate behavior between Princess Alice and the New King, Gascoyne's expression filled with anger.
Gascoyne was a very rational Campione, however, and quickly calmed down. He urged her, "...Stop being difficult. I came to save you this time. Hurry up and leave with me."
"Oh? The Black Prince coming to save his archenemy? How astonishing... But forgive me for refusing. I have already been summoned by King Roy. If I leave with you, I may provoke King Roy's wrath."
Princess Alice's tone held a faint trace of mockery. Her beautiful eyes fixed on the Black Prince, making Gascoyne feel extremely uncomfortable.
He forcibly suppressed his anger and tried to keep his tone level. "...Then aren't you worried about my anger?"
"You won't get angry, Lord Black Prince... Your personality is simply too reserved and too bothered by trouble. You calculate everything before acting, and you won't take a risk without absolute certainty. As a Campione, I don't know whether I should praise or mock such a personality."
Princess Alice turned her head back toward the distant battlefield between Marquis Voban and Roy. Displaying one's authority so recklessly in battle was something Alexander Gascoyne would always avoid whenever possible. That should have been reassuring, but this man's excessive scheming made him gloomy and insufficiently manly, the sort of gloom women found particularly unappealing.
Fortunately, Alexander Gascoyne was not good at dealing with women either.
"Give me a reason, Lord Black Prince. Give me one reason why you came here to save me. If it's satisfactory, I'll leave with you... Don't tell me you've fallen for me and came here out of jealousy?"
Princess Alice suddenly blinked mischievously and giggled, her body trembling slightly.
"Stop joking around, you troublesome woman!"
Alexander Gascoyne turned away in embarrassment and anger, ignoring Princess Alice. "...Since you don't appreciate my kindness, just pretend I was never here."
After a pause of 5.3, he continued, "...My compatibility with that New King is extremely poor."
"Yes, although King Roy is reckless and utterly uninhibited, he does resemble you in certain ways. He is very rational and calculating. Two Campiones who are equally skilled at scheming could never get along amicably."
Princess Alice nodded lightly, agreeing with the Black Prince.
"I have a feeling that one day, one of us will inevitably die at the other's hands."
After saying this, Alexander Gascoyne activated Divine Speed and left.
"An unreserved woman can only become a loser in life, and an unreserved man will also fail to find a girl with whom he can spend the rest of his life... So, I still prefer Roy's frankness."
Watching the Black Prince leave, White Princess sighed softly. He had once had a chance—a chance to approach her heart, a chance to win it. But he was an unreserved man, and he had thrown that chance away.
Then faint worry appeared on Princess Alice's face. "...King Roy, if you keep fighting like this, you'll be defeated and perish."
Having learned some of Roy's authority traits and those of Marquis Voban's authorities, the princess gradually grew anxious..
Chapter Forty-Four: Hesitation Means Defeat! (Please subscribe!)
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"I say, boy, what is it? Is this your limit?"
On a patch of grass in the park, Marquis Voban, transformed into a werewolf, stood facing Roy.
This was Shinjuku Gyoen, famous in Tokyo, Japan. The battle between Roy and Marquis Voban in the city had eventually carried them to the area around Shinjuku Gyoen.
"Hah... Although I hate to admit it, 'never turning back until I hit a wall' isn't my motto. As you said, Marquis, I've more or less reached my limit."
Roy was covered in wounds, and his Cardinal's robes had been torn in several places. His skin was stained with blood, which streamed down his body, making him look like a dying man who had just crawled out of a pool of blood.
For a Campione, however, injuries that looked terrifying were at most superficial wounds, far from damaging his muscles and bones. The reason Roy said he had reached his limit was that the duration of his Lord of Light authority had expired.
The wings of light behind him vanished, as did the angelic halo above his head. Roy returned from an angel's body to a human one. In other words, Roy had now lost his greatest mobility.
During this period, he had worked hard to study magic. Relying on magic power far superior to that of ordinary magicians, he could still use magic to fly. But mortal magic could not grant him the Divine Speed of an authority. Ordinary flight had no meaning in his battle with Marquis Voban, unless he could use an angel-level spell.
"Hmph. You forced this old man into such a predicament. As a newly born member of our kind, you have done well. Your authority is powerful, but it has too many restrictions. Once I know how to bind you with its rules, victory will be mine with ease."
Although Marquis Voban was ruthless and cunning rather than a qualified warrior, the ancient Demon King did not begrudge his praise for Roy, who had fought him to the final moment.
"Ease? Marquis, nothing about your current appearance looks easy. To anyone else, you seem to be more seriously injured than I am."
Roy drew a deep breath and continued provoking him.
He could no longer use Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, Lord of Light, or Sword of Judgment today. Sodom's Sin could not deliver a killing blow to Marquis Voban either. According to the Council of Sages' intelligence, Marquis Voban still possessed Punisher of Blazing Fire, which he had usurped from Zhurong. In fact, those two authorities were somewhat similar.
Isaac's Redemption was not an offensive authority. It was used for a final escape or a desperate struggle. Jacob's Ladder also could not deliver a fatal blow to Marquis Voban. Aside from Roy's ultimate and strongest authority, he had indeed reached the end of his strength on the surface, losing the ability to contend with Marquis Voban.
"You're still stubborn even with death staring you in the face. You have more courage than I expected..."
Marquis Voban's body returned from its werewolf form to that of a human. As Roy had said, his injuries looked even more severe. Some of his flesh had been scraped away, exposing the pale bones beneath, and he had lost a great deal of blood. If he had been an ordinary man, he would have been dead several times over.
Under Roy's fierce and unstoppable assault, Marquis Voban had been beaten like a sandbag, only occasionally managing to exchange injuries through desperate means and inflict some superficial wounds on Roy.
If Roy could use Lord of Light for a long time, and if his Magic Power were abundant, he might even have been confident of beating Marquis Voban to death with his fists.
But those were only ifs. They were the weaknesses of Roy's current authorities, the areas he needed to make up for in the future.
"Boy, your Magic Power should be running low, shouldn't it? Those fists of yours hurt when they strike these old bones of mine. But that kind of explosive power also consumes a great deal of your Magic Power. I wonder how many more punches you can throw?"
Marquis Voban's wolf-like pupils fixed on Roy as he spoke in a cold, savage voice.
"Instead of asking how many punches I can throw, why don't you come over and find out, Marquis?"
Roy raised an eyebrow, his tone still fearless and arrogant.
"Heh. Losing control of my emotions after your provocation earlier was my mistake. Your authorities are far too strange. I cannot guarantee that you aren't still hiding some killing move. Laugh at this old man's caution all you like. I don't dare approach you now, but your mockery will have to be paid for with your life."
Marquis Voban narrowed his emerald-green eyes, displaying a wolf's cunning, caution, and prudence.
"I won't mock your caution, Marquis, but... hesitation means defeat!"
Roy spoke in a low voice. The corners of his mouth spread into an even more arrogant smile.
"My body has reached its limit, but my soul can still continue fighting. Boy, since you have forced me this far, don't regret it. Let me show you this old man's decisiveness! This is the first time I've used this authority in eighty years. Using it against you, a fellow member of my kind, makes it worthwhile!"
Marquis Voban once again let out earth-shaking laughter. Then his laughter abruptly stopped. His body stiffened as if he had died, losing every trace of life.
Before Marquis Voban's "corpse" could fall, a world-shaking dragon roar rang out. His soul broke through the shackles of his body, transforming amid a burst of change into a black dragon more than forty meters long. The dragon possessed the same violent emerald-green eyes as the marquis. Its powerful body was monstrously ferocious, like a gigantic war machine.
"Now that you've seen this form of mine, are you ready to welcome death? I shall send you on your way to the Underworld!"
The black dragon raised its head and roared, shaking the sky and earth with booming echoes. The voice of the dragon's roar was none other than Marquis Voban's.
The giant dragon extended one claw and seized his own fake-dead body. This authority was the marquis's killing move when facing a life-or-death crisis. To prevent Roy from having some strange technique he had yet to use, he had decisively activated this authority, preparing to kill Roy here with the body of a dragon.
"Black Dragon of the Underworld, an authority usurped from the ancient Mesopotamian Earth Mother Goddess, Inanna..."
"Inanna was also known as Ishtar, the Lady of Heaven and the goddess of Venus. She was the predecessor of Aphrodite in Greek Mythology. At the same time, Ishtar was a goddess with two aspects in one. She and her elder sister, Ereshkigal, could be said to be the same person."
"...Ereshkigal was the goddess of the Underworld. A Campione's authorities were usurped according to the Campione's compatibility. Thus, although you killed Inanna, you did not obtain the authority of the goddess of heaven. Instead, you obtained the power of the goddess of the Underworld."
Roy calmly explained the origin of this authority.
From Marquis Voban's authorities of transforming into a werewolf and summoning servants of death, it was clear what his personality and compatibility were like. He had an immense affinity with death and the Underworld.
"Hahahaha! You learned all this from that little girl of the Council of Sages, didn't you? But what does knowing the origin of my authority matter?"
The black dragon of the Underworld laughed wildly, as though victory were already assured.
"It's true that I didn't turn 'wisdom' into a means of attack, but I'm not the sort of person who waits helplessly for death!"
The Magic Power within Roy stirred once again. He activated his fifth authority—Isaac's Redemption!
This authority was originally used to produce a brief return to one's peak at the moment of suffering severe injury, allowing one to fight desperately or escape. Roy was not seriously injured now, however, so he did not need to suppress his wounds temporarily. Instead, he used this authority to squeeze himself dry and temporarily restore his Magic Power.
"Come, Marquis! I can still fight!"170
Roy straightened his body and stared fearlessly at the enormous black dragon before him.
"Only a cornered beast fighting back. You have already reached your limit. Your fearlessness is worthy of praise, but that is all. Your life ends here!"
The black dragon of the Underworld opened its enormous jaws and unleashed a tremendous dragon's breath, scorching the earth beneath its feet into dead charcoal.
"Ten Plagues Coercion!"
Roy struck again, using the counterattack defense of Jacob's Ladder to block the dragon's breath. A layer of burn marks appeared across his skin. A searing pain traveled from his nerves straight to his mind, making him groan.
At the same time, the curse of God's Ten Plagues surged into Marquis Voban's body when he launched his attack. But the marquis was now a dragon of the Underworld, and he forcibly endured the curse. As a Dragon-Serpent, he naturally possessed powerful immortality. Moreover, the black dragon before him was a creature of the Underworld. The present Marquis Voban could truly be called an immortal monster.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! This curse can actually make my soul feel fear. No wonder it is God's punishment upon Egypt!"
The black dragon cried out in pain. God's Ten Plagues was a famous myth, so how could Marquis Voban fail to recognize the source of Roy's move?
"Marquis, this authority is your strongest power, isn't it..."
Burning smoke still rose from Roy's skin. The pain made his thoughts sluggish, but a victorious smile appeared on his face.
"...The final piece of the puzzle is complete. It is time for this war to end. Victory belongs to me. Victory belongs to the Lord of Hosts!"
Roy shouted loudly. As his voice fell, a golden hand suddenly extended from the mosaic-like distorted void in his right shoulder.
Upon seeing that golden hand, Marquis Voban, transformed into the Underworld Black Dragon, cried out in shock, "...What is that?!"
It was a giant hand bathed in gold and shining with holy radiance. Extending from Roy's right shoulder, it seemed like a dragon's claw or a divine finger, as if it contained every mystery and miracle. Merely seeing it made Marquis Voban's scalp prickle, his blood flow accelerate, and an unsettling dread rise within him.
The Third Hand spread its five fingers and stretched its joints. As it moved, the space around it seemed to twist, shatter, and turn into an illusory river of time, as though this hand did not exist in this world at all, but in a higher phase and dimension beyond human understanding.
"The God of Christianity is the One God. All miracles should be governed by the One God. In Christianity, the right side represents equality. The Son of God can heal every illness with his right hand, and people use their right hands to baptize believers. Every miracle of Christianity is contained within this right hand. Ah, I don't fully understand it myself, so you can simply treat this hand as the Hand of God."
Roy raised his right arm, and the Third Hand on his shoulder made the same motion. As the golden giant hand moved, a power that Marquis Voban could not comprehend at all filled it.
"Are you trying to tell me that this hand is God's right hand? How is that possible?! An Almighty God like God cannot descend as a Disobedient God. Because of the paradox, this world simply cannot support omniscience and omnipotence. That is the most basic knowledge concerning Campiones and Disobedient Gods!"
"...Furthermore, the god you slew was Michael. How could you possibly summon such a Miracle Hand?"
Marquis Voban, transformed into the black dragon of the Underworld, roared in disbelief. His dragon's roar contained immense fury and... a trace of fear that was difficult to detect.
"If you insist on an answer, Marquis, perhaps I can give you one, though I don't think it is actually the answer you want¨¨."
"Michael was known as the God-like Being and stood at God's right side. In the Bible, several titles used for Michael should not have belonged to an angel, because they were honorifics reserved for the Son of God. Thus, some later scholars believed that Michael was actually the Son of God. Only this could explain why Michael possessed the title 'Son of God' in the Bible. Only this could prove that Michael had not blasphemed against God."
Roy's tone was unhurried. He simply stood there, quietly watching Marquis Voban grow increasingly agitated.
This was not arrogance or confidence. It was an obvious fact. The moment Roy summoned this Divine Right, Marquis Voban's defeat had already become reality.
"Have you read the Dead Sea Scrolls, Marquis? The Dead Sea Scrolls recorded that Michael, the Son of Light, led the Angel Legion as the Vice-Lord of Heaven and Lord of Light into battle against the army of Belial, the Son of Darkness. They fought for six days and six nights, winning three battles apiece. On the Seventh Day, the Lord personally entered the battle and easily secured victory with the Light of the Right Hand. Therefore, I named this final authority 'Light of the Right.' It is the supreme authority of the King of Kings, the Lord of Hosts, Yahweh!"
The index finger of the Third Hand on Roy's right shoulder pointed at the Underworld Dragon that Marquis Voban had become. At the same time, Roy delivered his final judgment. "...Although it is difficult to believe, accept your defeat, Marquis! Before this right hand, all your struggles are meaningless. Before this right hand, victory will inevitably belong to me!"
Fourth-Fifth Chapter: "Who Resembles God the Most"
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