Kusanagi Godou was the seventh God-Slayer in the world.
During his spring break in his third year of middle school, he traveled to the Italian island of Sardinia to return an item left behind by his grandfather's old flame.
Along the way, he encountered the Heretical Verethragna.
Coincidentally, the item his grandfather had him deliver to his old lover—a witch from Sardinia—was a divine tool corresponding to the Prometheus myth of stealing fire.
With the help of a beautiful foreign girl he met on the road, he successfully used the Promethean divine tool to usurp one of the Heretical Verethragna's incarnations and slay him.
Because of this, he successfully became a God-Slayer, obtaining Verethragna's Authority of the [Ten Incarnations].
However, suddenly becoming a king was still a bit much for a high school student to adapt to.
Feeling that a peaceful life was more his style, Kusanagi Godou stepped out of a high-end black sedan.
Then, surrounded by a throng of powerfully built men in uniform, he arrived at the headquarters of an organization that seemed to be called the History Compilation Committee.
Did something happen?
Kusanagi Godou wondered, noticing the anxious expressions on the faces of the people around him.
But he didn't ask.
Reading the atmosphere was a necessary skill for people from the Far East, and Kusanagi Godou was naturally proficient.
The current atmosphere was not suitable for questions.
Besides...
The History Compilation Committee is a government agency, right?
Having grown up with his most prominent impression of government being officials bowing in apology on television, Kusanagi Godou felt a little uneasy.
If only Erica were here.
Kusanagi Godou thought of the girl named Erica, who had provided him with immense help when he slew the Heretical Verethragna.
Erica was the young lady of a magic society, extremely knowledgeable about the various organizations and affairs of the hidden world. If she were here, she could surely give him a lot of advice.
Unfortunately, Erica was not here.
As a member of an organization under the King of Swords, she had suddenly received a letter from her uncle. The words were somewhat vague, but the attitude was extremely firm, demanding her immediate return to their magic society far away in silly Italy.
When he called, he couldn't reach Erica, only her attendant.
The answers he got were also rather vague.
However, he could roughly gather that, for some hidden reason, Erica could no longer stay by his side.
What on earth happened?
Still unaware that the entire world was watching the impending conflict between him and another of his kind, Kusanagi Godou felt a bit helpless.
He came from an ordinary family. Without anyone informing him, he would naturally not know that another God-Slayer, after killing the Heretical Lugh, had declared himself the King of the Far East.
A God-Slayer with no territory of his own suddenly issuing a declaration of rule over a region that already had a ruler...
What would happen next was easy to imagine.
When gods fight, mortals suffer.
Erica's uncle, who doted on her, had naturally taken his niece away.
Without Erica to provide him with news and intelligence, Mr. Kusanagi Godou was as good as blind. He had no choice but to follow this group of burly figures into the rather magnificent building.
As an ordinary person, I just need to cooperate with the government.
With this being his only real option, Kusanagi Godou sighed internally.
---o---
The moment he stepped inside, Kusanagi Godou saw an exceptionally handsome young man walk over and bow deeply to him.
"My deepest apologies for disturbing your life, Your Majesty."
Surprisingly, the voice that came out was a woman's.
Hey, hey, what's a woman doing with such a handsome face? Is she planning to wear a suit and bowtie and compete with men for women?
Kusanagi Godou was at a loss for words.
"N-No, it's fine, I wasn't busy with anything."
Suddenly faced with a government official bowing to him, Kusanagi Godou felt flustered and quickly expressed that he didn't mind.
"By the way, you are?"
Not knowing the identity of this person who had suddenly appeared to bow and apologize to him, Kusanagi Godou asked.
"Sayanomiya Kaoru, Section Chief of the Tokyo Branch of the Japan History Compilation Committee."
The handsome girl, who came from the prestigious Sayanomiya family and had been promoted with incredible speed, stated her official identity fluently.
"Um, is there something you need from me?"
Having been brought here without knowing anything, Kusanagi Godou asked, feeling the slightly strange gaze of the handsome-but-actually-a-girl woman on him.
"You do not know?"
Sayanomiya Kaoru, who had assumed Kusanagi Godou would have received some information from the Copper Black Cross, spoke with a grave expression.
"The newborn King left a declaration in England: 'I am the King of the Far East.'"
The words were concise, but the intended meaning was delivered in full.
Someone has their sights set on the Far East and is declaring war on me?
Kusanagi Godou was stunned.
He had heard from Erica before that a Child of Folly—a God-Slayer—was a special existence that appeared only once every one or two hundred years.
How—
How had another God-Slayer appeared right after he had become one?
"In other words, someone wants to occupy the Far East?"
Kusanagi Godou, who in theory was the supreme ruler of the Far East and could kick the imperial family out of their palace and move his own family in without issue, seemed to understand something.
Why Erica had been forcibly recalled by her uncle, why the people who brought him here all wore such anxious expressions.
Was it all because of that guy?
A trace of displeasure rose on the face of Kusanagi Godou, who had never truly been a pacifist at heart.
"Then, who is the one who has challenged me?"
Knowing he had been targeted, Kusanagi Godou frowned and asked Sayanomiya Kaoru.
His Authority, [The Persian Warlord], was not suited for one-on-one combat. It required a large amount of intelligence to formulate a plan and bring out its maximum effect.
Faced with Kusanagi Godou's question, Sayanomiya Kaoru was hesitant. She was unsure what level of intelligence to provide him.
Two God-Slayers were about to fight, and the victor would become the King of the Far East.
If the victor was not Kusanagi Godou, any family that had provided him with significant aid would surely be purged.
This concern weighed on Sayanomiya Kaoru's mind.
However, she had to provide at least some basic assistance.
"Please accept this. It is all the information we mortals were able to gather for you."
Sayanomiya Kaoru, who had obtained photographs of a certain area, took out a folder and handed it to Kusanagi Godou.
It was all superficial intelligence, lacking any substantive analysis.
"To use a nuclear weapon in the suburbs just for a combat advantage... He truly is a tyrant."
Seeing in the intelligence file that the newborn King had used a thermonuclear weapon to weaken a god, Kusanagi Godou's expression turned grim.
Nuclear weapons were an eternal source of pain for the Far East.
"If he becomes King, he will surely bring great disaster."
"For the sake of the people, I will be the one to defeat him."
Author's Note:
ps: Countdown to the Grass Chicken King and the protagonist becoming sworn brothers.