This Spiritual Foundation fusion was just like the previous fusion with Solomon. Metatron and Michael had many similarities. The previous fusion with Solomon's Spiritual Foundation had allowed Roy's Jacob's Ladder to evolve, while this fusion allowed his Sword of Judgment to evolve.
It was like gaining a new Authority. Roy's Sword of Judgment was no longer limited in its number of uses. As long as he still possessed Magic Power, he could use it infinitely.
By changing the order of priority, this sword could be granted the ability to cut through anything. It could even cut through things like concepts. However, it did have weaknesses. Roy could only change the priority of one thing at a time, and concepts also had their limits.
Roy still could not perform an attack like, "The sword above, the world below," and split the world apart with a single slash. But once he became stronger in the future, it might be possible...
Chapter 104: Human Evil Is Human Love
"Alexander Gascoyne, I have been waiting here for you for quite some time."
Roy gripped the Sword of Judgment tightly in his right hand and turned slightly sideways. His Double Pupils, unlike those of ordinary people, fixed on the Black Prince. The coldness and regret in his eyes made the English Campione feel a chill run through his heart for no apparent reason.
However, Gascoyne was ultimately someone who had accomplished the great feat of slaying a god. He quickly calmed himself. After running through the causes and consequences in his mind once, he understood everything.
"Hmph, so you have been monitoring me all along. Should I feel honored to have earned your attention?"
Gascoyne cursed inwardly, immediately realizing why he had been exposed.
Roy's Magic Eyes could see through the past. However, because the past was too vast, Roy needed a precise observation target in order to use this ability.
The Black Prince understood at once. Roy had been observing everything he did. Therefore, when he had secretly followed Roy to seize the Holy Grail and investigate the secrets of the Last King, all those hidden actions had actually been exposed beneath Roy's eyes.
This Authority is somewhat absurd!
Magic Eyes capable of seeing through the past were troublesome enough to leave anyone helpless. Even if only one second had passed, that second was already part of the past.
It was not impossible to break this Authority and carry out an ambush or assassination. First, the assassin could not be someone Roy knew, and neither could anyone related to the assassination be someone he knew. Since he did not know them, they would not be exposed. There were seven billion people in the world, and Roy could not truly use his Magic Eyes to observe the past of all seven billion.
Second, the assassination and ambush had to become a sudden impulse. There could be no planning beforehand, or they would be easily exposed.
However, against a Campione as powerful as Roy, fulfilling both conditions made success nearly impossible.
"Among the Campiones of the present age, the only one who gives me trouble is you, Alexander Gascoyne... The Sect Master is aloof and untouched by worldly affairs. Although Lady Aisha always brings calamity, she is kind by nature. John Smith is highly responsible and principled. Salvatore is obsessed with swords and battle, and has no interest in external things."
"...Only you, Gascoyne, have a personality somewhat similar to mine. You are also vengeful and fond of causing trouble for others. If I were to say who was most likely to disrupt my plans, it could only be you, Gascoyne."
"If you had simply done your own thing and avoided getting involved in this mess, I would have been too lazy to bother with you. After all, you are a Campione, and not someone easy to deal with. But you just had to appear here, try to seize the Holy Grail, and even hear news of the Last King. I imagine you are planning to search for the Last King as well, Gascoyne."
Roy's expression was half-smiling as he watched the Black Prince's ugly expression. He knew he had guessed correctly.
This man was also a typical Campione: he did as he pleased and never considered the consequences. Normally, Roy admired the Black Prince, because he was a man who planned before acting, just like himself. But now that Roy was facing a powerful enemy, an unstable factor like the Black Prince was best eliminated.
"Pursuing the Holy Grail is my lifelong wish, as well as my father's dying will. Now that I know the Holy Grail is in your hands, I am afraid I will have to trouble you constantly until I obtain it."
Alexander Gascoyne spoke almost threateningly. If a Campione kept watching someone like a fly, that person would probably find everything going wrong and grow unbearably annoyed.
Although the Black Prince was not the strongest Campione in terms of combat power, his Authorities leaned more toward support. Precisely because of that, being targeted by someone like him was absolutely irritating.
"I have no interest in letting a fly buzz around me. It seems I have no choice but to swat this annoying fly dead."
Roy said with some regret, "...I originally had an immature idea. I did not want to oppose the Great Covenant Law by killing other Campiones. Although Campiones are called Demon Kings, compared with Disobedient Gods, they still possess enough humanity to communicate. It is precisely because Campiones exist that Disobedient Gods cannot destroy Human Civilization through disasters."
"...When I have the strength to spare, I still care about the people. If this world lost its Campiones, then before new Campiones were born, the Disobedient Gods might destroy modern human civilization."
This world's special nature had led Roy to discover that one major reason modern civilization had been able to emerge was the Last King's dereliction of duty. He had allowed ancient Campiones like Marquis Voban and Sect Master Luo Hao to continue living. Thus, during the past three hundred years, the Disobedient Gods had been killed by them before they could carry out large-scale acts of destruction, allowing Human Civilization to develop.
It could be said that this world absolutely could not lack Campiones. Otherwise, once the Disobedient Gods descended and began wandering, human civilization would regress, resulting in a devastating disaster.
Why were Campiones called Demon Kings, yet all magicians revered them so? Apart from fearing the Campiones' own power, another reason was that Campiones were the protective umbrella of humanity in this world.
"Someone who carried out an act almost akin to a massacre in Tokyo, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, actually claims to care about the people. What a joke."
Alexander Gascoyne sneered.
"I said that I only protect the people when I have strength to spare. When fighting an expert like the Marquis, how could I have the leisure to care whether others lived or died? ...I am not a saint whose life can be threatened with the lives of ordinary people. I do not care about the lives of others. But neither am I a tyrant who revels in slaughter and bloodshed. I still feel sympathy and pity for ordinary people!"
"...This is human love, and also human evil!"
Roy answered the Black Prince's mockery seriously, without becoming angry at all.
········· send flowers···········
He was human, selfish and self-serving, and when his own life was threatened, he would abandon others to protect himself;
He was human, possessing enough compassion and empathy for the weak to pity their frailty and offer them help and love when he had strength to spare;
He was human, and at the truly crucial moment, he could release the greatest brilliance of humanity, understanding sacrifice and what it meant to perform a heroic deed.
Humanity was inherently a complex species in which love and evil coexisted. Human love was also human evil.
Love produced evil, while evil revealed love. Within the complex group known as humanity, the two were inseparable.
"You think you have me at your mercy?"
The Black Prince flew into a rage. Roy's overly serious expression seemed to tell him that he had nowhere left to escape.
Campiones were proud. How could Gascoyne tolerate Roy's provocation?
0...
"That is only natural. Your existence has already affected me. I have determined that if you do not die here, you will cause me countless troubles in the future. Now that you have seen the Holy Grail, your father's dying will, which you inherited, can also come to an end."
Roy tightened his grip on the sword in his hand, and killing intent surged in every direction.
"Arrogant, Roy Crowley!"
Alexander Gascoyne's expression twisted almost grotesquely, as if he had completely lost his reason. He shouted, pulled a fountain pen from his suit pocket, and seemed about to use it as a medium to activate some Authority. Then...
Then Gascoyne threw the fountain pen away and turned, transforming into lightning as he fled into the distance!
As he flew through the air, Gascoyne's expression became calm. He was not someone who easily lost his reason; his earlier display had merely been an act. He was not a Campione skilled at facing enemies head-on, nor did he have any confidence in defeating Roy, who had defeated Marquis Voban. Moreover, he had serious doubts about the Authority Roy had named Athena's Protection. With everything shrouded in uncertainty, why would he stay and fight instead of running?
Roy was not surprised at all by the Black Prince's escape. He had already predicted this Campione's choice from his personality. When Gascoyne transformed into lightning and vanished, Roy also transformed into light and flames and followed, leaving only one sentence behind:
"I will stop him. Follow me, Athena!"
The Goddess of Wisdom did not think much about it. She simply obeyed Roy's order and followed him.
Guinevere and Lancelot looked at each other, both seeing astonishment in the other's eyes. Somehow, they had gone from the protagonists of the stage to supporting characters.
"Uncle, what should we do now?"
Guinevere asked in confusion.
After pondering for a moment, Lancelot said, "...Let us leave first. We are going to Japan!"
"Okay!"
The Divine Ancestor and her guardian vanished from the spot.
Chapter 105: Angels Above, Dragon-Serpents Below
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Alexander Gascoyne possessed almost no Authorities with offensive capabilities. He was a thoroughly noncombat-oriented Campione.
If the Authority stolen by slaying a god was the one most compatible with its wielder, then Gascoyne's Authorities revealed his personality. To defeat an enemy, he had to lay traps in advance. To defeat an enemy, he had to possess information. His fighting style relied on cunning deception to seize victory.
However, Gascoyne's fighting style was completely countered by Roy's Clairvoyance. No matter how flawless his acting was or how airtight his schemes seemed, everything he did would be recorded by the world and then seen by Clairvoyance.
From the moment he first entered Roy's sight, he had already lost any possibility of victory.
Those Magic Eyes must have limitations. To learn something, he has to determine the time, place, and people involved. Only after gathering those three elements can those troublesome eyes function.
After learning that Roy possessed this ability, he had conducted in-depth research into those eyes. Human history was far too long, and the number of humans who had appeared on this planet exceeded hundreds of billions. Combined with Earth's total area, Gascoyne did not believe Roy could know everything about the past. Roy must need a medium—in other words, the elements of time, place, and people—before he could learn what he wanted to know.
So long as I put enough distance between us, leave behind a few decoys, and flee irregularly across the world, I can escape the gaze of those eyes for a while.
Gascoyne transformed into lightning and moved at Divine Speed. Looking back, he saw Roy, likewise transformed into light and flames, pursuing him relentlessly. The Campione sighed. If he had been a man from the Heavenly Empire, perhaps he would even have said, If Gascoyne was born, why was Crowley born as well?
Before Roy appeared, Gascoyne had been the fastest Campione. Relying on his Authority of Divine Speed, he came and went without a trace. Even when his plans failed, he had enough means to escape. But after Roy appeared, his opponent possessed the same Authority of Divine Speed, along with Clairvoyance, which completely countered his schemes. Those two abilities alone left him gasping for breath.
At this rate, I will be caught! I hope this Authority can hold him back for a while.
Gascoyne formed a plan. His Magic Power surged, and while moving at high speed, he waved a hand and activated an Authority he could use only once a month—Great Labyrinth!
This Authority came from the famous Greek myth of Minos's labyrinth. It was an Authority Gascoyne had usurped after killing Minos. As its name suggested, it had no offensive power, but it could imprison even Campiones and Disobedient Gods for as long as three or four months.
With a wave of Gascoyne's hand, strange white mist appeared all around them. Roy, who had been following behind him at Divine Speed, suddenly felt his surroundings change. The white mist became a solid labyrinth, and he was imprisoned deep within it like the Minotaur.
"Great Labyrinth, is it? Then let me tear it apart!"
Seeing himself trapped inside the labyrinth, Roy's expression did not change. He raised the Sword of Judgment and slashed at the suddenly appearing labyrinth!
"Thou art guilty!"
"Riiip—"
Like the sound of silk being torn, the Great Labyrinth was directly cut open by Roy, revealing the scenery outside. Before the opening could close, Roy passed through it at Divine Speed and crossed the labyrinth.
There was one simple and brutal way to escape a labyrinth: blast straight through it and proceed in a direct line.
Roy's Sword of Judgment possessed the ability to cut through sin. The Word Spirit actually judged the sinfulness of whatever it was about to cut. Because the target was guilty, the Sword of Judgment could necessarily cut through it. The Sword of Judgment's priority was eternally above sin. Thus, once the target's guilt had been judged, nothing was uncuttable under the influence of priority.
This was the Authority with the highest upper limit among the abilities of Roy's Divine Right. It could cut through not only matter but also intangible things such as concepts. In theory, it could even cut through things like fate and causality. The reason Roy could not do so now was simply that he was not strong enough and lacked sufficient knowledge.
"How can this be?!"
Seeing that his once-a-month Authority had failed to hold Roy back for even a second, even Gascoyne could not help crying out in disbelief.
He realized that he had misunderstood Roy's Sword of Judgment. It was definitely different from the magic sword of the King of Swords, Salvatore. Salvatore's sword was said to cut through anything, but it only cut matter. Roy's sword could even cut through Authorities and concepts!
Although the sword's power seemed somewhat insufficient—it had only cut open the Great Labyrinth for an instant, after which the labyrinth restored itself—that momentary gap was enough for Roy, possessing Divine Speed, to cross the labyrinth and return to reality.
"Alexander Gascoyne, this ends here. This place is about to become your grave!"
Suddenly, Roy's voice echoed beside the Black Prince's ear. Gascoyne was fleeing at full speed with Divine Speed when he suddenly felt a pain in his internal organs, as if an aircraft traveling at several hundred kilometers per hour had abruptly dropped to zero. The impact of changing from motion to stillness made him so uncomfortable that he nearly spat blood.
He discovered that his Divine Speed had been cut off again by that sword!
This time, Gascoyne did not dare use Divine Speed again. He feared that the moment he activated it, Roy's sword would cut it off. If he suffered that sudden transition out of Divine Speed several more times, he would die without even needing to fight.
By then, Roy was already charging toward him at lightning speed, holding the sword in his right hand and clenching his left fist.
"Saint Martha Subdues the Dragon!"
"Boom—"
The fist imbued with the power of a giant dragon smashed into the Black Prince's chest with unstoppable force. Even a Campione's body could not withstand that dragon-slaying blow. The sound of bones shattering came from his breastbone.
At this point, Roy had completely locked Gascoyne's Divine Speed with the Sword of Judgment. Although the sword could not temporarily cut anything else, once Gascoyne's Divine Speed was restrained, he was the easiest Campione to fight!
"Ugh—"
The Black Prince spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling his organs churn violently. He did not know whether his spleen had ruptured. Roy had held nothing back in that punch. Against a noncombat-oriented Campione like him, the blow had nearly cost him his life.
Gascoyne did not dare continue fighting. He knew that once he was dragged into close combat, he would certainly die.
His mind reacted in an instant. The Black Prince's body once again transformed into lightning, instinctively attempting to enter a state of Divine Speed. But as lightning began to flicker across his body, the Sword of Judgment in Roy's right hand followed like a shadow and slashed down again.
"Ahhh—!"
The Black Prince screamed. His internal organs were already badly injured, and he once again experienced the pain of his speed suddenly changing. Becoming a Campione had only changed his strength and body; it had not strengthened his will. Gascoyne, who had once been nothing more than an ordinary magician, could not endure such pain and could only lessen it with his screams.
Aside from Marquis Voban, whose will had been tempered by three hundred years of life, the only Campiones with truly extraordinary wills were the Sect Master and Salvatore. The remaining Campiones were, in essence, still ordinary people.
Even Roy, if he suffered a grievous enough injury, would find it difficult to endure through sheer will. He, too, had only been an ordinary person in the past and had never trained his will.
"Angels, sound the trumpet of the apocalypse!"
Roy's killing intent had been decided. He recited the Word Spirit of Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. As the trumpet of the apocalypse rang out, the Gate of Heaven opened wide, and more than a hundred angels appeared before Gascoyne.
In the past, the Black Prince could have easily shaken off these angels with Divine Speed. But now that Divine Speed was useless, the hundreds of angels formed a battle array, becoming enemies Gascoyne had to take seriously. With their appearance, Gascoyne knew that escape through the sky was no longer possible. There were enemies blocking the front and pursuers behind!
Since the sky is impossible...
Gascoyne rapidly descended. In a short time, he and Roy had flown from America to Canada. If he could not escape through the sky, he would use the complicated terrain of the earth to find a way to shake off his pursuers.
The Black Prince's idea was sound. But the moment he began descending, he saw a tall goddess with an exquisite appearance and a wreath on her head standing upon the earth, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow.
The Goddess stood atop the head of a gigantic serpent. Hundreds of other snakes stood ready around the giant serpent. It was truly angels above and Dragon-Serpents below.
Gascoyne now had nowhere to go in the sky and no way into the earth. He was almost certainly doomed!
Chapter 106: The Fallen Demon King
Athena drew her bow, nocked her arrow, and fired in one fluid motion. Her bow was no ordinary object. As the world's most famous Goddess, every item and weapon on Athena's person was a powerful Divine Artifact.
The arrow transformed into dazzling starlight as it shot from the earth toward the sky, like Arash's divine arrow that brought down the stars. It pierced straight toward the Black Prince's chest.
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