"I smell a conspiracy."
Rimuru was sharp. From Damien's few words, she picked up on something off. "Godou's tablet was his grandfather's inheritance, and his grandfather got it from some witch."
"If that's just coincidence, it's way too convenient."
Lucretia Zola—the witch who appears in the Sardinia arc—was among the pinnacle of human mages. She had decades of friendship with Godou's grandfather, Kusanagi Ichirou.
From what Damien knew, the pair had schemed together several years before the main events began. What exactly they had planned, he didn't know.
Additionally, the two Heretic Gods on Sardinia were very likely summoned by Lucretia herself.
"So according to you, Lucretia and Ichirou were plotting to have Godou accomplish the great feat of god-slaying?"
Summon Heretic Gods on one side, send the grandson carrying the tablet to Sardinia on the other. As a result, Godou encounters Verethragna, makes contact, and meets the conditions to activate the Prometheus Grimoire.
"No, something's not right."
Rimuru shook her head, her brows slightly furrowed. "If god-slaying feats could be artificially engineered like this, would it even align with how the Circle of Usurpation works?"
"Looks like you noticed it too."
Damien nodded. "A mere earth-rank witch and an ordinary human. First, why would they suddenly decide to slay a Heretic God and cultivate a Campione? Just the idea of scheming against Heretic Gods to manufacture one defies common sense."
If something like that were possible to plan, there would have been countless Campiones over the millennia.
Setting aside authorial plot convenience, rationally speaking, Damien believed both Kusanagi Ichirou and Lucretia Zola were nothing more than pawns being manipulated by some hidden hand.
In other words, for such a grand game of chess, the player behind the scenes was operating at far too low a level!
"Kusanagi Ichirou is just a mortal. He couldn't possibly harbor that kind of ambition."
"As for Lucretia, simply attempting spirit vision on a Heretic God nearly caused her to lose control of her magic."
It was less that they had plotted this and more that some higher existence had been pushing events toward this outcome.
"The Netherworld…"
At that moment, Damien thought of the Heretic God hiding in Japan's Netherworld, the one known as the Old Man—Susanoo.
If Godou becoming a Campione had an old Heretic God like Susanoo pulling the strings behind the scenes, then none of this was strange anymore.
After all, in the original story, Susanoo had once helped Japan seal away the Monkey God—the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong in this world's terms. Not only that, he had turned the Monkey King into Japan's enforcer to deal with invading Heretic Gods and Campiones.
A deity capable of sealing Heretic Gods and converting them into pawns could certainly lay plans centuries in advance, taking a huge gamble to cultivate a Campione like Kusanagi Godou.
"Kusanagi Godou was probably under Susanoo's observation from the very beginning."
His grandfather Kusanagi Ichirou was very likely one of Susanoo's chess pieces. Everyone, including Lucretia, had been maneuvered into the exact situation Susanoo wanted.
First, Japan had been under Susanoo's control since ancient times. Everyone there was essentially providing cover for his activities as a Heretic God. He had detached from myth and lived freely among humans.
But as more Campiones appeared, Susanoo felt the pressure and withdrew to the Netherworld.
Yet Japan still didn't have its own Campione. Relying solely on the Monkey God wasn't enough to protect the land.
"Susanoo needed a Campione to draw attention away from him. Moreover, this Campione had to meet very specific conditions—personality, how he would change after gaining power, bloodline, and so on."
The key reason Damien suspected Susanoo's involvement in Godou's transformation was Godou's cousin, Kouzuki Sakura.
In the story, Kouzuki Sakura was the reincarnation of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, one of Japan's Three Noble Children.
If there wasn't something fishy going on there, no one would believe it.
It was clear that Kusanagi Godou wasn't some ordinary Japanese high school student. He very likely shared a bloodline with Susanoo—perhaps even a direct descendant. Only then would he qualify in a bloodline-obsessed nation like Japan to serve as the vessel for Tsukuyomi's reincarnation.
"In other words…"
Rimuru's expression grew darker. "By making contact with Godou, Hinata has probably already drawn Susanoo's attention?"
"Isn't she in danger?!"
"Well…"
Damien wasn't as worried as Rimuru. "If this were Susanoo from a thousand years ago, right after descending, Hinata would probably be dead by now for touching his carefully laid plans."
"But now…"
Susanoo had long since lost his former spirit. He claimed to have 'graduated' from being a Heretic God, but in reality he was just afraid of fighting strong opponents and worried about being defeated and sent back to myth.
"Seeing this unexpected person—Hinata—approach his pawn and even take away the Prometheus Grimoire he had specially prepared… Susanoo must be panicking right now."
Yes, panicking.
Susanoo would definitely suspect a conspiracy—for example, that someone else was backing Hinata and had come to disrupt his plans in order to lure him out of the Netherworld and slay him to usurp his Authorities.
"To be cautious, I think Susanoo will first send Japan's mystical-side spellcasters to make contact with Hinata."
"If things develop that way, it'll prove our guess is correct."
After entering the country, Hinata hadn't used any flashy methods. Given Japan's mystical-side surveillance, there was no way they could have noticed her so quickly under normal circumstances.
The only thing that could possibly have exposed her was Kusanagi Godou.
However, even if an ordinary person was hypnotized and controlled by Hinata, what reason would there be for Japan's mystical community to suddenly take notice of him?
Unless they already had guilty consciences of their own.
^^^
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com/XElenea