"All right, we can deal with the rest after we return. For now, let's quickly seize Perseus's authority and divine power."
After a light kiss with Liliana, Sora released her and patted her head.
"Mm…"
Blushing deeply, Liliana nodded and whispered softly.
Thinking about soon possessing the powerful divine power herself, Liliana was filled with excitement and anticipation.
"Heh heh heh… God Slayer, you want this witch to seize my authority? Impossible! She didn't defeat me by her own power, so she won't gain that woman's approval!"
Perseus, still unable to move on the ground, laughed fearlessly as Liliana approached.
Sora naturally knew that the "woman" Perseus referred to was Pandora. Even if humans defeated gods, they could not seize the gods' authority and power themselves.
Of course, there were exceptions—like when Sora defeated Verethragna and gained his approval to receive his authority. But such cases were extremely rare; so far, no one else besides Sora had done it.
Usually, when gods were defeated and returned to myth, Pandora would use her power to strip their authority and grant it to humans she approved of. So, in a way, the God Slayers were created by Pandora—she was their "mother."
"You don't need to worry about that. Just obediently give up your authority and power, Perseus."
…
"Liliana, take action!"
Shrugging indifferently at Perseus, Sora said to Liliana.
With his connection to Pandora, he just needed to open a backdoor for Liliana. If Liliana dared to act spoiled with him, next time he would give her a harsh beating on her butt!
"Yes, my king!"
Without any doubt about Sora's order, Liliana immediately thrust her sword toward Perseus, who was on the ground.
However, just at that moment, when the girl's sword was about to pierce Perseus's heart, it suddenly stopped!
"What's wrong, Liliana?"
Frowning, Sora asked the girl.
"Hahaha… hahahahaha…"
Before the girl could answer, Perseus's triumphant and scheming laughter was heard.
"Perseus, what have you done to my dear knight?"
Looking at Liliana, whose eyes were vacant and who had become like an emotionless puppet, and then at Perseus on the ground whose pupils flickered with an unusual light, Sora immediately understood. Although he still wore that wicked smile, it now carried a chilling coldness.
"Hahaha… Godslayer, you should know, right? The dragons and serpents slain by us Steel Heroes are the fallen forms of the Earth Goddess. The beauties won after victory all obey the goddess herself who serves the hero."
Seeing his ability take effect, Perseus breathed a small sigh of relief and explained to Sora with a proud expression.
As long as he used this witch to restrain Sora, he would have more time to recover his wounds and strength. Although he knew this Godslayer was strange and powerful, Perseus had a blind confidence in himself. Next time, if he was more careful, he would definitely not lose to him again!
"Heh… so you Steel Heroes, the serpent slayers, are like this?"
Nodding with great interest, Sora guessed what Perseus was up to but didn't care much.
"Therefore, the girl who serves the goddess as a witch will also obey me and pledge loyalty to my victory. Thus, with the witch's help, the hero defeats the evil monsters—this is the truth of mythology."
"She cannot disobey me, the godly hero. The witch obeying us is fate! Hahahaha…"
Now barely able to move and feeling the power in his body continuously recovering, Perseus grew more excited. At the height of his excitement, he laughed triumphantly again.
"No, no, no, Perseus, although what you say might be true, there is one thing you forgot."
Shaking his head, Sora gave a look that said, "Perseus, you are wrong."
"Uh… forgot? What did I forget?"
Pausing, Perseus looked thoughtful. As a god, how could he forget things like a lowly mortal?!
"Hehehe… You forgot that Liliana is my woman, so she only obeys my orders!"
With a wicked smile, a strange gleam flashed in Sora's deep, night-like eyes. Sora activated the power of their contract, and Liliana, who had been controlled by Perseus, instantly regained consciousness.
Coming to her senses and recalling what had just happened, the girl felt a chill of fear in her heart. Looking at Perseus on the ground, disgust and anger flashed across her face. Without hesitation, she thrust her sword through Perseus's heart.
"How… is this possible…"
Looking at the magic sword piercing his heart, Perseus was full of disbelief. He never expected his confident authority to fail…
He had once pierced the heart of the Godslayer, and now he was being repaid in the same way by the Godslayer's knight. It felt like a dramatic irony!
"Hahaha… Godslayer, witch, this round is your victory!"
"I will return, I will definitely return! Hahahaha…"
As a legendary hero, Perseus still had the heroic spirit. Knowing the situation was hopeless, he did not resist futilely and let the girl's magic sword completely crush his heart. With a long laugh, his body turned into a burst of light dust and disappeared completely between heaven and earth.
Frowning, Sora was certain Perseus was dead, but his last words left him somewhat puzzled.
"Liliana, how is it? Did you get Perseus's authority and power?"
Looking at Liliana who was still nearby, Sora asked.
"No, nothing at all…"
Feeling confused and sensing no change in her body, Liliana said with a disappointed expression.
"That shouldn't be. Pandora shouldn't be so stingy…"
Muttering to himself, suddenly a flash of insight struck Sora's mind.
The god he had slain, Verethragna, was the guardian of the god of light, Mithra. Mithra was the embodiment of the sun, and ancient Romans once worshiped the Persian sun god Mithra and the Greek hero Perseus as the same deity. Therefore, Perseus also possessed some of the sun god's authority and could even seal and suppress the powers and strength Sora had usurped from Verethragna as his "master"…
Thinking this through, Sora roughly understood the situation. The authority he received from the war god Verethragna contained the sun's immortal, resurrecting power, so Perseus should have it too. Although he and Liliana defeated him, he was not truly dead!
"I'm sorry, my king. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't have wasted Perseus's authority and power."
Liliana blamed herself for why neither she nor Sora had gained Perseus's authority and power, feeling deeply guilty.
Coming back to his senses and seeing the girl like this, Sora felt speechless but also somewhat amused.
"Alright, Liliana, it's not your fault. Perseus hasn't truly died yet, so even if I had acted earlier, we wouldn't have gotten his authority and power."
Patting the girl's shoulder to comfort her, Sora continued:
"Also, Liliana, you forgot again. Everything else doesn't matter to me; only you all are truly important. Remember that!"
Lifting Liliana's chin, Sora raised his voice and stared straight into the girl's eyes.
"Yes!!!"
Tears of endless emotion filled her eyes as she tightly embraced Sora. Even if she had to die for Sora now, Liliana would do so without hesitation.
"Hehehe… Actually, it's okay if we don't have the god's authority and power. At worst, I'll just replenish your magic more in the future!"
Thinking of some mischievous ideas, Sora's face broke into a naughty smile.
Understanding what Sora meant, the girl's cheeks flushed red, and she buried her face deeply in Sora's embrace, not daring to look up.
Whinny… whinny whinny…
Just as Sora was about to take this chance to get closer to Liliana, suddenly, the sound of a horse neighing came from the sky.
Both looked up toward the sky and saw Perseus's winged divine steed galloping away into the distance. Since its master had been defeated and left, it naturally returned to its master's side.
"Heh… That Perseus guy even left us a souvenir. Looks like we didn't come away empty-handed after all!"
"Liliana, wait for me."
With a wicked smile at the corner of her mouth, Sora ordered the girl and then vanished from the spot in an instant.
In the previous two battles against Perseus, both Liliana and him could only hop and fly around on their own, while that guy Perseus rode his divine steed so stylishly and freely. Sora had long felt a bit unfair about it.
His own [White Stallion] power could only be used for attack, not as a mount, so Sora had already set his sights on Perseus's divine steed. Naturally, he would never let it get away now.
In an instant, Sora appeared on the back of the Heavenly Winged Divine Steed. The steed, as if startled, darted and leapt wildly, trying to shake Sora off. As a principled divine steed, it naturally would not allow anyone other than its master Perseus to ride on its back.
"I caught it, but how do I tame it? Should I just beat it up?"
Sitting on the horse's back, Sora was a bit troubled. As the saying goes, "There is a proper order to learning, and each profession has its specialty." He had plenty of ways to train disobedient women, but taming a disobedient horse was something he didn't know how to do!
"Wait, maybe I can try this!"
An idea popped into his mind. Although he wasn't sure if it would work, Sora decided to give it a try.
With a thought, the divine power of [White Stallion] suddenly flashed out from Sora's body and blocked the forehead of the Heavenly Winged Divine Steed. At the same time, Sora issued a command to absorb.
The next moment, a flicker of fear appeared in the steed's eyes, and it struggled even more fiercely. Seeing it was effective, Sora's eyes gleamed with a strange light, and he increased the intensity. A powerful suction force appeared in the divine power of [White Stallion]. After a few breaths, amid the steed's miserable cries, it was completely absorbed.
At this moment, the White Stallion originally bathed in the solar divine fire within the divine power suddenly sprouted a pair of wings as pure as jade. Its might surged dramatically, and it flew back into Sora's body.
"King, have you tamed that divine steed already?"
Seeing Sora land on the ground, Liliana immediately ran over, her face full of eager excitement.
"Yeah, I didn't expect that after absorbing that divine steed, the [White Stallion] power evolved and its strength greatly increased. From now on, let's call it [Divine Winged White Stallion]."
Sora nodded and replied to Liliana. Then he activated the newly evolved power [Divine Winged White Stallion].
Whinny… whinny whinny whinny…
The sound of a horse's neigh came, and a magnificent White Stallion with a pair of wings on its back and flames on its four hooves stepped through the air and landed in front of Sora and Liliana.
"Hahaha… Liliana, let's go for a ride!"
With a girl's excited scream, Sora picked up Liliana and rode the Divine Winged White Stallion. The horse's pair of pure white wings gently flapped, lifting Sora and Liliana into the sky…